Shelly Fan in Singularity Hub:
It’s easy to take safe drinking water for granted. In most developed countries, access to safe water takes a simple flip of a kitchen tap or a run to the grocery store. But over two billion people worldwide lack easy access to clean water, which can lead to diseases such as cholera. And the problem is getting worse as demand for water in farming and other industries increases.
One blue-sky solution may literally come from the sky. A team from MIT developed a window-sized portable device that pulls water vapor from the atmosphere. The sandwich-like contraption includes an origami-like hydrogel to capture moisture at night. As day breaks, it releases water vapor onto glass panels where the vapor condenses into drinking water. The device, dubbed atmospheric water harvesting window, or AWHW, generated a modest amount of water in different environments—including a humid urban setting in Massachusetts and the desert of Death Valley.
More here.
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