Innovative 'Bubble wrap' harvests drinking water in deserts
MIT engineers have built a new gadget—think bubble wrap, but smarter—that can pull drinkable water straight from dry air.
Tested in Death Valley, it collected up to 161 ml of water per day, beating other passive devices in tough desert conditions.
How it works
The secret is a special hydrogel shaped into little domes that soak up moisture at night.
Sandwiched between glass layers with cooling films, the trapped vapor turns into liquid during the day and runs down channels for easy collection.
A game-changer for the thirsty
Thanks to its clever design, the device keeps out salt and delivers drinking water without any extra filtering.
With billions lacking reliable clean water worldwide, this could be a real game-changer.
A step toward solving global water shortages
Since it doesn't need electricity and can be scaled up for bigger needs, this tech could help bring safe water to some of the world's driest places.
As the researchers put it, it's "a new way to harvest drinking water from the atmosphere"—and maybe a step toward solving global water shortages.