A Solar Panel That Turns Seawater Into Drinking Water Without the Waste

University of Rochester researchers built a solar-powered desalination surface from laser-etched black metal that draws a thin layer of water across itself, evaporates it with sunlight and deposits the salts in solid form instead of harmful brine. Tests on Pacific, Atlantic and Indian ocean water produced fresh water while recovering nearly all remaining salts, and the design could even be adapted to extract lithium.