#desalinization

We seem to have hit on a really good one here, thanks to a collaboration between MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).  I couldn’t even cram all the benefits of this thing into my diary title.  

This device breaks the record for rate of fresh water production from seawater by a solar device, and as awesome as that is, it’s actually kind of a charming side note.  The bigger breakthrough is that the device can keep running up near this rate for a long time without getting fouled by salt accumulation, and it does this by emulating natural processes that occur in the sea.  That cuts costs by about 10x compared to typical solar desalination, making the cost of the fresh water it produces comparable to that of tap water.

This is real, as legit as MIT and SJTU... which is pretty legit.

MIT’s Solar-Powered Desalination System More Efficient, Less Expensive

A team of researchers at MIT and in China has developed a new solar-powered desalination system that is both more efficient and less expensive than previous solar desalination methods. The process could be used to treat contaminated wastewater or to generate steam for sterilizing medical instruments, all without requiring any power source other than sunlight itself. Many attempts at…

Engineers have constructed a device that not only generates electricity from the sun, but also distills freshwater from seawater. Solar farms that install such two-for-one systems could help meet the increasing global demand for drinking water while cranking out useful power.

Postcard of Bernie Madoff Community College (formerly Charles Ponzi School of Business), on the outskirts of Pandaemonium, Lower Hell.

Though Madoff remains alive (as of this posting), serving out his 150 year sentence in federal lockup, the small, rural college was renamed in 2009 in eager anticipation of his arrival.

This charming postcard, part of the rotating collection at the Gruenwald Historical Archive and Cosplay Warehouse, was sent to Baby Gruenwald in 2009 by Pope Sergius III, the notorious 10th century pontiff, as a way to keep in touch with his old pal, and tells of his recent enrollment in a ceramics class.

For decades after its founding, and even during the pre-State days, Israel dealt with major challenges in water shortages and desertification. With its water supply entirely dependent on rainfall, which can fluctuate dramatically year to year, the country would routinely find itself in a perilous position regarding water usage nationwide.