The gel material is cheap to make, and a single kilogram can produce liters of water in seemingly dry conditions. Reading time 4 minutes As the world becomes increasingly hot, fresh and clean water is ...

Q: You mentioned in an article once about using polymer crystals as a way to help with keeping potted plants watered. I've never tried them. Do they really do much good? Are they worth the price? They ...

Engineers find the hydrogel polyethylene glycol (PEG) doubles its water absorption as temperatures climb from 25 to 50 C, and could be useful for passive cooling or water harvesting in warm climates.

The vast majority of absorbent materials will lose their ability to retain water as temperatures rise. This is why our skin starts to sweat and why plants dry out in the heat. Even materials that are ...