Alan Turing’s Only Chemistry Paper Yields Desalination Technique

An example of a Turing structure. (Credit: L. Yang and I.R. Epstein/Youtube) Water, it’s safe to say, is pretty important. A key necessity for life to flourish, the substance is also chemically important, the “universal solvent” that enables many familiar reactions. Also, we need to drink it or we die. It’s becoming an increasing concern. South Africa’s Cape Town barely managed to push back its “Day Zero,” when taps would literally run dry, into 2019. The American Southwest faces a similarly dry future. And yet, Earth is pretty wet — 71 percent of the surface is water covered. But as Samuel Taylor Coleridge reminds us, “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” Most of that water is salty, and our human digestive systems just can’t stomach it. So unless evolution kicks into gear ridiculously quickly, our best bet is simply to get better at taking the salt out of ...