Science in the News

Pulling Water from Thin Air

I found the article on print in class, however I found that the article was originally published by the MIT News website.

This device, developed by a team at MIT, is essentially a container for a material that collects moisture in the air. The material is charged by natural sunlight, and in return can collect up to 2.8 litres of water per day. This is a significant improvement from current devices that can only collect water from 100 percent humidity levels as this device can collect moisture even in 25 percent humidity levels, opening the opportunity for dry climate regions. The team continues to find various combinations of chemical mixtures to improve the results of water collection.

This is interesting that the device uses natural resources (moisture) we already have and is collecting it to usable amounts for humans. It could certainly be a game changer, but now I want to know if this device became a household item for citizens in drier climates, would these devices pull all the moisture out of the environment? How would the environment react to the mass use of this device, and would it have dangerous effects?

I want to continue to follow the study of this device and see how the chemical mixtures can make this more efficient, because even if this product does not work at all, it’s shining light on a new material and new chemicals that could be used for a variety of different purposes.

This scientific discovery delivers a small, but strong world impact. Although no where near becoming something we’ll see in our local stores, it could potentially benefit developing countries in fighting for the basic human right of water. It could also inspire or lead to more ground-breaking developments in the scientific field.