Scientists have developed a new solar-powered system to convert saltwater into fresh drinking water which they say could help reduce dangerous the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera.
Via tests in rural communities, they showed that the process is more than 20% cheaper than traditional methods and can be deployed in rural locations around the globe.
Building on existing processes that convert saline groundwater to freshwater, the researchers from King’s College London, in collaboration with MIT and the Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energy Systems, created a new system that produced consistent levels of water using solar power, and reported it in a paper published recently in Nature Water.
It works through a process called electrodialysis which separates the salt using a set of specialized membranes that channel salt ions into a stream of brine, leaving the water fresh and drinkable. By flexibly adjusting the voltage and the rate at which salt water flowed through the system, the researchers developed a system that adjusts to variable sunshine while not compromising on the amount of fresh drinking water produced.
Using data first gathered in the village of Chelleru near Hyderabad in India, and then recreating these conditions of the village in New Mexico, the team successfully converted up to 10 cubic meters, or several bathtubs worth of fresh drinking water. This was enough for 3,000 people a day with the process continuing to run regardless of variable solar power caused by cloud coverage and rain.
[Note: Not sure what metric they're using to calculate daily water needs here. Presumably this is drinking water only.]
Dr. Wei He from the Department of Engineering at King’s College London believes the new technology could bring massive benefits to rural communities, not only increasing the supply of drinking water but also bringing health benefits.
“By offering a cheap, eco-friendly alternative that can be operated off the grid, our technology enables communities to tap into alternative water sources (such as deep aquifers or saline water) to address water scarcity and contamination in traditional water supplies,” said He.
“This technology can expand water sources available to communities beyond traditional ones and by providing water from uncontaminated saline sources, may help combat water scarcity or unexpected emergencies when conventional water supplies are disrupted, for example like the recent cholera outbreaks in Zambia.”
In the global rural population, 1.6 billion people face water scarcity, many of whom are reliant on stressed reserves of groundwater lying beneath the Earth’s surface.
However, worldwide 56% of groundwater is saline and unsuitable for consumption. This issue is particularly prevalent in India, where 60% of the land harbors undrinkable saline water. Consequently, there is a pressing need for efficient desalination methods to create fresh drinking water cheaply, and at scale.
Traditional desalination technology has relied either on costly batteries in off-grid systems or a grid system to supply the energy necessary to remove salt from the water. In developing countries’ rural areas, however, grid infrastructure can be unreliable and is largely reliant on fossil fuels...
“By removing the need for a grid system entirely and cutting reliance on battery tech by 92%, our system can provide reliable access to safe drinking water, entirely emission-free, onsite, and at a discount of roughly 22% to the people who need it compared to traditional methods,” He said.
The system also has the potential to be used outside of developing areas, particularly in agriculture where climate change is leading to unstable reserves of fresh water for irrigation.
The team plans to scale up the availability of the technology across India through collaboration with local partners. Beyond this, a team from MIT also plans to create a start-up to commercialize and fund the technology.
“While the US and UK have more stable, diversified grids than most countries, they still rely on fossil fuels. By removing fossil fuels from the equation for energy-hungry sectors like agriculture, we can help accelerate the transition to Net Zero,” He said.
-via Good News Network, April 2, 2024
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CAN SPIDERS SCREAM?
POV: 1610!MILES 🗡️ [halloween one shot]
summary: What's your favourite scary movie?
word count: 2.4k
content/warnings: depictions of murder, blood and stabbing
a/n: unedited :/ tew busy and i have never written fic that isn't x reader so! that's all erm have fun?
“Oi, Miles — wake up, mate.”
With slight surprise, Miles opened his eyes to see the dimly lit living room. Freeing himself from the confines of his friend’s shoulders, he blinked a few times to make out a rather bemused-looking Hobie. The punk’s eyes left his a moment later, and Miles was soon bombarded with the troubles of a movie night with people who had never had Netflix before.
“Give me the remote back, I just wanna—”
“We are not watching Ghostbusters again, Pav!” Hobie let out a slight laugh as a stream of web, and then a remote control, flew past him — right into Gwen’s hand.
“Ghostbusters is a perfectly fitting title for the occasion!” Pavitr protested, Hobie narrowly dodging the hand that flew up in frustration.
“He’s got a point — that Murray lad is scary lookin’,” Hobie chimed in. Gwen narrowed her eyes at him, as if to say “thanks a lot, Hobie”, before turning to Miles.
“You know what? Maybe Miles should pick. He’s been asleep all night anyway.”
“Hey! Not my fault my ma’ made me clean the whole house ‘fore you guys got here!”
Miles’ eyes felt like closing again at the memory; who knew using your webs to help with chores would need so much clean up afterwards? Not one of his brightest ideas, since he was all out of webs now. Though he would’ve been out of a home if his mom saw the kitchen covered in them.
“Where are your parents anyway? Perhaps on a romantic outing?” Miles rolled his eyes, like it’d do anything to subdue Pavitr’s less-than subtle expression.
“On Halloween night? Your lot must love a thrill, mate.” Also a lot less-than subtle — thanks a lot, Hobie.
Cheeks prickling with warmth, he snatched the remote from Gwen’s hand, frowning at the TV screen. Halloween movie…
“Well, if he’s anything like Rio and Jeff, he should be able to pick a movie.” Gwen crossed her legs, and everyone else shuffled back on the tiny couch.
“Thanks,” he mumbled through gritted teeth. Gwen’s knee, Hobie’s elbow, and Pavitr’s stare prodding him at either side, Miles sifted through the different shows and movies.
“How about Annabe—”
“Nope nope nope…!” As the preview came up, Pavitr shielded his eyes. “Anything besides dolls.”
“At least it’s better than Ghostbusters,” Gwen muttered under her breath as Pavitr peeked through his fingers.
“Oi, Gwendy, cheer up, yeah?” Miles ducked his head as Hobie reached over to slap Gwen on the shoulder. “She looks just like you!”
“Hobie!” was shouted from both ends of the couch.
Miles smiled, and grimaced. At least the two of them could agree that Hobie wasn’t any good when it came to movie nights.
Looking through the movies, none of them really interested Miles, or his friends. Each one would be met with an excited “wait!”, and then a disappointed groan, or another heckle from Hobie (it was one way to decide not to watch the movie.)
“Dude, Halloween’s almost over. Let’s just watch Ghost—”
“Just gimme a sec…” At this point, Miles had given up on listening to anyone, clicking through titles after a glance. It wasn’t like it was helping, though.
“Pick your favourite, or something,” Gwen suggested with just as little enthusiasm.
“Well it’s not Ghostbusters…” he mumbled to nobody in particular.
“Hey, not you too, Miles!”
Scream 2 appeared for probably the 5th time on screen. It’d have to do, he supposed.
“You guys seen Scream?” His tone didn't have enough energy to sound like a question.
“Well Hobie hasn’t, because he lives in the stone age,” Gwen started. “And he looks like Ghostface.”
“Don’t need ol’ Ghosty when we’ve got murderers in government.”
“Dude.” All Miles got was a shrug from Hobie, and then a sigh from Gwen. Crossing her arms, she fell back on the sofa with a creak.
“What? Fed up already?” Hobie questioned, brow raising by a twitch.
“It’s been like, 4 hours and all we’ve been watching is Ghostbusters. We ran out of popcorn ages ago.”
“You guys finished the—” Miles stood up, looking into the bowl. All that was in it was his reflection, staring back at him with disappointment. “Damn…”
“That was all Gwendy — swear on my life.” Hobie declared half a moment of silence later.
“Was not!”
“Okay, okay! Fine! Let’s just watch Scream.”
Miles turned on the movie, chucking the remote on the spot he was sat in. The introductory sequence started, and the room went dark with the screen.
“I’m gettin’ more popcorn — caramel popcorn." That got a groan out of everyone.
“If y’all use your webs…!”
He didn’t finish his threat as he walked into the kitchen — his mom could probably do that for him anyway.
The kitchen door swung open, shutting on its own weight. Miles held his wrist out to the cabinet, but all that came out was a click — out of webs. Right, of course.
A crackling bag of “Crunch ‘n Munch” caramel popcorn on the stove, Miles leaned his arms on the counter, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. He’d been feeling groggy since he’d woken up, but the dreary tiredness was still lingering. Maybe sitting out here with microwaveable kernels popping on the stove would help. Stretching and letting out a groan, the cheap decorations on the windows caught his attention. He could guess that people were starting to head back from trick-or-treating. It was late, after all. Miles had grown out of it, at least for this year. Going out with his friends who technically weren’t meant to be here wasn’t exactly a good idea, though. Besides, being Spider-Man for Halloween again wasn’t really doing it for him.
Both of his parents were at work, but it didn't bother him too much. They were always busy, and so was he. All of them were keeping Brooklyn safe in their own ways, he supposed. And having the house to himself wasn't so bad.
Faint murmuring — excited, or panicked — could be heard from the living room. Miles laughed through his nose, the crackling of the popcorn getting louder as he haphazardly reached out to flip the bag. That was, until, a searing, high-pitched noise rang out.
Miles almost jumped, before realising that it was coming from the phone: the old-fashioned cordless phone his mom kept for emergencies, or, for making sure he was “actually at home like you said you’d be, because if you and your friends are out somewhere I don’t know about then—”
Better safe than sorry, he thought, picking it up without any thought but an exhale.
Click!
“Hello?”
The faint whirr of static could be heard on the other side; it was dull among the pop of the kernels and giddy buzz from the living room.
“Hello, Morales.” Okay, definitely not his mom.
“Uh, who is this?”
“Take a guess.” Miles took the phone away from his ear, frowning at the screen. These types of phones didn’t seem to give any useful information.
“Ganke? That you?” he humoured.
“Try again. Two more guesses.” His half-smile immediately dropped.
“Okay, nope. This is weird.”
Declining the call, Miles put it back on its stand, rolling his shoulders in discomfort. It was probably just a prank — kind of creepy nonetheless.
Krrrrr….! Miles’ attention quickly turned back to his popcorn, registering the smell of burning. Damn it…
Wooden spoon in hand, he turned off the stove, biting his lip as he assessed the damage. A second barrier of defence against his friends, at least. Come on man, you gotta wake up—
RIIING RIIING! Miles cursed under his breath, and then winced in guilt.
RIIING RIIING! Again? Well, it could be his mom.
RIIING RIII—
“Hello?”
“Why’d you hang up? Don’t you want to play a game?”
“Okay dude seriously? Couldn't you be at least a little original? I don’t have time for this, I literally just burnt my popcorn!”
Miles didn’t know why he was suddenly ranting to a stranger on the phone, but maybe it’d get them to break character, or something. It must be some kids behind the stupid crackly voice — or maybe it was his dad. He tried to stifle a laugh at the thought of his dad trying not to laugh and his tightened expression, even though nobody would hear. Well, whoever this was might.
“You’re making popcorn?”
“Uh-huh. Was gonna watch a movie, actually. And relax — you know, without weird phone calls at midnight.”
“How about this? I ask you a different question this time.”
“Yeah? What is it?” Miles let out a sigh, hands on his hips as the burning died out in the pan.
“What’s your favourite scary movie?”
“Not even a little improv..." he mumbled under his breath. Might as well stick to the script. “Uh, I dunno. Scream?”
“Scream? That one where the murderer wears a mask and goes around killing people?”
“Yeah, and where the murderer makes dumbass phone calls to their victims beforehand.”
“But that’s your favourite?”
“No..."
There was a pause on the end of the phone, before the modulated voice replied.
“You know... me neither.”
Bzzzt!
“Hey, what the…?!” Miles looked around him, but couldn’t make out anything. The power was out. “You can’t be serious…”
“Scream’s too old-school, don’t you think?”
There were equally confused reactions from the living room, and the voices of his friends got louder as he stepped into the hallway, phone in hand.
“Guys?” he called out, cordless phone by his hip and his own phone flash pointing into the hallway.
“They won’t hear you,” the voice from the phone said. Miles stopped, turning his phone and seeing something catch the light. "When you scream."
Moving, it shot towards him, his web-shooter sputtering empty air at the knife that surged past mere inches away from his face. No webs.
“Guys?!”
Miles pointed the flash up, only to see what looked like a Halloween mask that was melting: Ghostface. He would’ve laughed; it was crude at best. But right now, it was terrifying.
He booked it for the living room, pushing against the door only for it to push back against him. Locked — the panic surged in his chest, but his Spider-sense hadn’t gone off.
Thunk! Knife in wood — right where his face was a millisecond ago. His cheek stung only for a moment before he grabbed the knife out of the door, holding it to the darkness.
His mouth opened, and then closed. Should he call for his friends? Would it put him in more danger? Why couldn't he... Where did the masked person go—
A short breath came out of his throat, strangled. And then hot searing metal, right through his stomach. Why couldn't...
No, the metal wasn’t cold — it was the blood. The pain only seared for a moment, when the knife was pulled out. Miles’ hands went to the growing patch of darkness near his abdomen, bile in his throat and eyes wide, stinging from the dry air.
It was suddenly cold, and his mind was blank. Something that sounded like wind — a laugh, emerged from behind him.
He didn’t feel the second stab.
“Oi, Miles — wake up, mate.”
With slight surprise, Miles opened his eyes to see the dimly lit living room. Freeing himself from the confines of his friend’s shoulders, he blinked a few times to make out a rather bemused-looking Hobie. The punk’s eyes left his a moment later, and Miles was soon bombarded with the troubles of a movie night with people who had never had Netflix before.
“Give me the remote back, I just wanna—”
“We are not watching Ghostbusters again, Pav!” Hobie let out a slight laugh as a stream of web, and then a remote control, flew past him — right into Gwen’s hand.
“Ghostbusters is a perfectly fitting title for the occasion!” Pavitr protested, Hobie narrowly dodging the hand that flew up in frustration.
“He’s got a point — that Murray lad is scary lookin’,” Hobie chimed in. Gwen narrowed her eyes at him, as if to say “thanks a lot, Hobie”, before turning to Miles.
“You know what? Maybe Miles should pick. He’s been asleep all night anyway.”
“Huh?”
“We were doing fine!”
“No we weren’t, Pav — I was about to fall asleep.”
“Like Hobie said, Murray is a good representation of the horror genre!”
“And not the literal ghosts?”
“The ghosts too!”
“Hey.” Miles flinched a little at how close the voice was. “You alright? You look a bit pale, mate.”
The three of them went silent, attention turning to him. Hobie’s expression was laced with concern. Miles just nodded, though he wasn’t looking at anyone. He was fine, right? That was…
“Yeah, yeah — I’m cool. I just…” That wasn't real. He was fine. “Tired. Ma’ made me clean… and stuff.”
“Where are your parents anyway? Perhaps on a romantic outing?” He glanced at Pavitr, but it didn’t do anything to subdue Pavitr’s less-than subtle expression.
“On Halloween night? Your lot must love a thrill, mate.” Also less-than subtle. If it weren’t for the fog clouding his head, he would’ve been annoyed.
“Just watch… Anabelle, or something.” The sofa creaked as he pushed off of it. He winced at the feeling of his abdomen reeling in on itself. “I’m gonna get some—”
Two eyes met his: the reflection in the popcorn bowl. It was empty. Figures...
“That was all Gwendy, swear on my life.”
“Was not!”
“Oh, Miles is mad guys.”
“Hey, don’t look at me.”
It wasn't real.
“It was literally Hobie!”
Just a dream — of course.
“Miles…? Where are you goi—” Pavitr’s voice faded as the kitchen door swung shut behind him.
“Just need to call my mom,” he muttered to himself, grabbing the phone off the stand.
“Mira — I’m going to call this phone, okay? You need to call back from the call log. I'm showing you once.”
“Like—” This…
The call log appeared on screen.
Incoming:
31 OCT. 11:42PM
Accepted
31 OCT. 11:40PM
Accepted
31 OCT. 4:21PM
Missed
Only the last one was his mom. Miles clicked out of the call log, met with the tiny blue home screen. It read: TUE 31 OCT.
The time right now was 11:39PM.
RIIING RIIING!
RIIING RIIING!
RIIING RIIING!…
His friends were in the other room, still arguing about what to watch.
“…Anything besides dolls...”
“…It’s better than Ghostbusters…”
“…She looks just like you!…”
"...Hobie!..."
…RIIING RIIING!…
With half an inhale, Miles picked up the old-fashioned cordless phone, thumb over the green button. It was the phone he’d answered before, and for some reason, minutes into the future.
The phone he’d answer many, many more times to come.
thanx 4 reading! thats it okay cya i havent slept more than 6 hours in a hot minute goodnight x_x oh n tagging @phoenixinthefiles :P
find my masterlist here !
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