Water

Not all planets orbit stars - some drift freely through the cosmos on their own. These cold, dark worlds don’t make great candidates for hosting life, but a new study suggests that their moons could be more habitable than they might seem.

Most fish utilize a mouthful of water to swallow their prey. According to a new study, however, moray eels are unique in not doing so, allowing them to feed while out of the water … with some help from a second set of jaws in their throat.

New research led by the University of California Riverside has identified a relatively simple catalyst that can remove common pollutants called perchlorates, helping reduce water and soil pollution not just on Earth but potentially on Mars one day.

If you want to know how much water a plant is taking up, one of the best places to look is in its leaves. A new material known as AquaDust could help scientists more easily do so, without harming the plant.

Ducks have specialized feathers that keep them from getting too wet. Now, engineers at Virginia Tech have investigated the physics behind how they work and developed synthetic feathers that could help ships glide through the water more easily.

A new sponge-like material likened to a Swiss Army knife could help scientists tackle the problem of phosphate pollution and algae blooms, with the ability to not just capture phosphate from water sources but allow it to be collected for reuse.

The Greenland Ice Sheet is associated with a range of environmental issues, but now researchers have discovered a surprising new problem. Glacial meltwater was found to be unexpectedly high in mercury, which could end up in ecosystems and seafood.

Water scarcity is one of humanity’s most pressing problems. Now, engineers at Caltech have developed a system that can tap into two sources to produce drinking water, by purifying dirty water during the day and collecting droplets from fog overnight.

Surfaces in contact with salty water usually end up with a corrosive layer of salt caked on. Now, engineers at MIT have made these minerals so easy to remove that they often just fall off on their own – by forming “crystal critters.”

Desalination is an important technology that may help expand the world’s supply of drinking water. Now, engineers in China have demonstrated a new, relatively simple design for a solar still with a high efficiency and low cost.

In many parts of the world there may not be much precipitation, but there is a fair amount of water vapor in the air – particularly at night. An experimental new device draws in that vapor, then uses it to irrigate edible plants.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo have developed a new method for 3D printing graphene aerogels that work well as water filters. The team says this technique helps make graphene aerogels scalable and stable enough to be used over and over.