Today I heard on NPR that researchers were close to creating an efficient technology for extracting clean potable water from dry air, using a combination of solar energy (or heat energy) and a compound. Previously we required very moist air to achieve this, but the new technology can do this in arid environments, hinting at a real possibility of helping those in water scarce areas such as deserts.

Interestingly, I wrote about this in my novel, Themis. Science fiction writers often predict technologies in their writings, which poses the question: Is our imagination an accurate predictor of things to come? I personally think so and its one of the reasons why I write. To exercise ones imagination is in a way communing with something greater, something massive and far reaching. Where the divine and science mingle. That’s the realm I like to play in.

MIT article–On water from air.