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A jacket that harvests drinking water from the air(news.utexas.edu)
52 points by ilreb 4 hours ago | 33 comments
phyzix5761 8 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I appreciate this style of writing. Straight to the point. No 12 paragraphs about someone's grandmother falling in love in Italy with a plastic bag.

karim79 3 minutes ago | parent [-]

You're probably talking about cooking/recipe blogs? I need those 12 paragraphs and all the ads to get to the recipe. It's dopamine.

erelong 26 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've heard of collecting water with tarps and assume this is like a vest form of that:

https://www.campingsurvival.com/blogs/camping-survival-blogs...

grugagag an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This reminds me of Dune. Does this really work tho?

the__alchemist 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Nearly all passive water-from-air devices described in articles are based on false claims. Peltier-based, desiccant/absorption/adsorption based, etc. All end up not working, or not existing. This has been common for ~10 years.

Which category does this fall into?:

  - Fraud
  - Incompetence / misunderstanding that wasn't cleared up prior to publishing an article
  - Neither; this works as expected
donkers an hour ago | parent [-]

The design seems reasonable. It seems like a scaled down version of this MIT one that uses similar principles:

https://news.mit.edu/2025/window-sized-device-taps-air-safe-...

So my vote is for working as expected.

tentacleuno an hour ago | parent [-]

Many thanks for your link to the article, it was a very interesting read; fascinating to learn how glycerol interacts with lithium salts...

johnnyApplePRNG 37 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Incredible innovation.

Wouldn't want to be drinking whatever this produces in the GTA though lol

karim79 16 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Assuming it's an "all-weather" jacket I think it would be cool for it to spout out umbrellas when it starts raining, batman style, to catch rain water as well and drop it into pouches. Mp3 player would be great as well.

PLenz 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Makes sense since we're speedrunning the other parts of the Butlerian jihad

EarlKing 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't know about the rest of you, but if somebody spots Shai-hulud out in the Sahara I'm outta here.

kreelman an hour ago | parent | next [-]

At the end of Dune.... Chani is heartbroken... Needing to get away...

   Oh I'm a leavin' on a Shai-hulud
   Don't know when I'll be back again..
AnimalMuppet 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Out of here to where?

whynotmaybe an hour ago | parent [-]

Outside of the environment?

Loughla an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Honestly, bring on Leto II. Fuck it.

keithnz 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

depending on actual conditions you are in, it could potentially double (or more) the time before you die of thirst if it was your only source of water.

brewdad 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I do wonder about the tradeoff between excess perspiration due to wearing heavier materials versus the ability to collect water, especially on the days where replenishing fluids is most crucial.

keithnz an hour ago | parent [-]

from what I can tell, you dont have to wear it?

loloquwowndueo 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

My first thought was “yay a stillsuit” - but this grabs moisture from the air, not the wearer’s body. So no. No stillsuit yet.

Kurd 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Lisan al-Gaib!

ashton314 13 minutes ago | parent [-]

But are you wearing it slip-shod, like the natives do?

sanex 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Seconded. I wonder which would taste better though.

3eb7988a1663 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Would you want it? I thought you were supposed to urinate and defecate in the suit so as to maximally retain moisture.

g-b-r 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Just wear it in reverse ;)

A big step towards a stillsuit anyways ;)

b3ing 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I wonder if it has microplastics, but probably depends what kind of fabric was used

NopIdoN 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

works in the rain

SadErn 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Vaporware has never tasted so good or been so refreshing.

elgertam an hour ago | parent [-]

Vaporwear*

jojobas 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

This sort of thing can't work as it would break basic laws of thermodynamics. Best case it's a dehumidifier with extra steps.

donkers 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Why would it break the laws? Per the article it uses the heat from sunlight to do some of its work, it's not some kind of magic fabric.

jojobas 2 hours ago | parent [-]

So a dehumidifier with extra steps.

Supermancho 2 hours ago | parent [-]

"extra steps" meaning wearable dehumidifier. Are there other wearable dehumidifiers to produce drinking water? I don't think so.

A reductive assessment (to a specific feature) of a novel idea, does not make it less interesting.

jojobas an hour ago | parent [-]

You can wear silica gel since about 1918 - only needs some heat to get the water out and cold to condense it.

Then again, why would you want to wear your dehumidifier (ok ok water harvester)? Is it for excursions into damp areas, so that you can then return to your dry home to extract water?

Then, I believe everything in this video still applies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGTRX6pZSns