According to the United Nations, about one-fifth of
the world’s population lives in areas where water is scarce.
Therefore, technologies to produce clean water from undrinkable
sources, such as seawater, river or lake water, and contaminated
water, are urgently needed. Now, researchers reporting in Nano
Letters have developed a wood-based steam generator that, with the
help of bacterial-produced nanomaterials, harnesses solar energy to
purify water.