105. Suitcase Sized Desalination, Electronic Skin, Reducing Tumors with Sound

News <p><a href='https://techxplore.com/news/2022-04-seawater-button.html'>From seawater to drinking water, with the push of a button</a> | TechXPlore (01:04)</p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;">MIT researchers have developed a portable desalination unit, weighing less than 10 kilograms, that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water.<ul><li style="font-weight:400;">Suitcase-sized device</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Requires less power to operate than a cell phone charger </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Can be powered by a small, portable solar panel, which can be purchased online for around $50. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Generates drinking water that exceeds<a href='https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/water-sanitation-and-health/water-safety-and-quality/drinking-water-quality-guidelines'> World Health Organization quality standards</a>.</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Runs with the push of one button.</li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Unlike other portable desalination units that require water to pass through filters, this device utilizes electrical power to remove particles from drinking water. <ul><li style="font-weight:400;">Eliminating the need for replacement filters</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Relies on a technique called <a href='https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-04646-0'>ion concentration polarization</a> (ICP)</li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Rather than filtering water, the ICP process applies an electrical field to membranes placed above and below a channel of water. <ul><li style="font-weight:400;">The membranes repel positively or negatively charged particles—including salt molecules, bacteria, and viruses—as they flow past.</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">The process removes both dissolved and suspended solids, allowing clean water to pass through the channel. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Once the salinity level and the number of particles decrease to specific thresholds, the device notif