 |
Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
 |
Aqua Sciences Water From Atmospheric Moisture
Aqua Sciencs has developed a fully self-contained mobile freshwater generation system that can produce up to 1,200 gallons of fresh water per day by pulling it from atmospheric moisture.

(Aqua Sciences emergency water station)
Aqua Sciences is now under contract to the Pentagon to provide fresh water to US troops in Iraq. The company's secret technology was developed from original ideas from DARPA.
"The program focused on creating water from the atmosphere using low-energy systems that could reduce the overall logistics burden for deployed forces and provide potable water within the reach of the war fighter any place, any time," said Darpa spokeswoman Jan Walker.
Incredibly, water is currently airlifted to troops using C-17 cargo planes, then trucked the rest of the way. This costs $30 per gallon. Aqua Sciences can supply water for about thirty cents per gallon.
The company refuses to describe the basic principles behind the device, providing only tantalizing clues: think of rice used in saltshakers that acts as a magnet to extract water and keeps salt from clumping.
The problem of finding potable water on our world is taken to extremes by Frank Herbert in his 1965 masterpiece Dune. In the novel, the planet Arrakis has no surface water at all; the natives use remarkable technology to gather moisture. One of the many devices used is the windtrap:
Stilgar stopped at a yellow rock wall. He pressed an outcropping and the wall swung silently away from him, opening along an irregular crack. He led the way through past a dark honey-comb lattice that directed a cool wash of air across Paul when he passed it. "That air felt damp." A man behind them said "Plenty of air in the trap tonight."
(Read more about windtraps)
Using these simple devices, the natives were able to pull millions of decaliters of water from the planet's atmosphere.
These aren't the only efforts to bring Frank Herbert's Dune technovelgy to life:
Read more about Aqua Sciences makes water from air and take a look at the Aqua Sciences website. Thanks to MrX_TLO for the tip and the reference for this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/6/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.
| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories -
("
Engineering
")
Philippines Coast Guard Cuts Chinese Barrier
'Each of the four areas is enclosed by a sonic wall...'
Giant Lunar Surface Test Bed Built On Earth
Astronauts first walked the site, then flew over the site at a few hundred feet in a small Cessna.
Zai Pits (West Sahel) And Dew Collectors (Dune)
'Each is planted most tenderly in its own little pit.' - Frank Herbert, 1965.
Away Rude Mechanicals! I Want Self-Sensing Variable-Stiffness Artificial Muscles.
'... it is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature.' - HG Wells, 1898.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
|
 |
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
18 Wheels Mutant Centipede Vehicle
'If a centipede were a dinosaur and made of metal to boot...'
Octopus Suckers Inspire Transdermal Patches
'...a capsule which he placed against his wrist.'
Robotic Hands Have More Than One Use
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Space Weather To Universe Weather
'It radiates outward in a cone which, by the time it has reached our section of space, is many lightyears across.'
That's MOXIE! Terraforming Mars Baby Steps
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock.'
'No, I'm Not A Robot' - Robot
'... with a weird simulation of life, the ten forked ends of each arm commenced a rattling pressing of the buttons.'
Missing Jet Finally Found
Ah, what could have been - still in the future.
Philippines Coast Guard Cuts Chinese Barrier
'Each of the four areas is enclosed by a sonic wall...'
Barista Robot Perfects Latte Swirl With Multi-DOF Wriggle
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Vendetta 2023 All-Terrain Skateboard Could Use Neal Stephenson's Smartwheels
'If you surf over a bump... If you surf over a pothole...'
Safe Street Rebel Autonomous Vehicle Luddites And Schachner's 1931 Robot-Deranger
'Then the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and they stood an instant transfixed...'
The Electric Balance Bicycle And The Decline Of Western Civilization
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
'Droplet' Battery Microscale Power Pack
'...a power pack the size of a pea.'
ARX-5 Doing Robot Arm Dancing
It's Data's day - at last.
CD, DVD Bit Rot And PKD's Civic Notification Distorter
'...copy two of the original document no longer can be superimposed on copy one.'
Inbiodroid Prometheus 2.0 Telepresence Avatar Robot
My prize robot, tall, dashing would speak and act for me...
More SF in the News Stories
More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories
|
 |