Wow. They'd have enough salt to last foreve
Exactly. Can you guess the reason cost wasn’t mentioned? There would be no shortage of water anywhere in the world if cost was not a factor.
Great point.
There are many many ways to desalinate water. If these scientists had developed a way that beat the others byo cost —then the cost savings would be their headline.
The biggest 20th century revolution will be when energy and desalination costs fall sufficiently to make it economical to desalinate seawater and pipe it 1000 miles inland to any desert in the world for desert farming.
That will effectively result in turning the deserts green and doubling the size of the habitable earth.
The elements for that are already in place.