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Various images of the developing world suggest that clean
drinking water is appreciated. Not all locales have sources
of above ground running water.
There is a variety of starch than can absorb 2000 times its
own weight in water [link]. I think a simple technology,
where you dig a slight
hole, then put some of that stuff,
possibly atop a mesh for cleanliness where it pulls moisture
from the soil and dew (overnight) would produce a gooey
mass that could be eaten to fully hydrate a human. 1/2 a
gram would be sufficient to gather a liter of water.
Now, if this starch can be produced at $2/lb (454g) then it
is near 1/10th of one cent to fulfill the drinking water
requirements of a human at the developing world.
It gets better though. They could test it on goat/human
urine. Does it merely absorb the urine or does it separate
the ions to outside the gel making an edible “drink”? This
could provide an easier point source for gathering water
than soil/dew.
Also, if you put it in milk, does it absorb the water making
“instant curds” or something like wet powdered milk out of
regular milk?
USDA report on starch that absorbs 2000 times it weight in water
https://naldc.nal.u.../download/26332/PDF
[beanangel, Oct 16 2017]
Superabsorbant Polymer
https://en.wikipedi...erabsorbent_polymer
[FlyingToaster, Oct 16 2017]
Water tree
https://en.m.wikipe...erminalia_elliptica
... and a video of a tree being tapped [EnochLives, Oct 16 2017]
Road Jelly
http://news.nationa...ime-oregon-highway/
Fish+car=jelly [mylodon, Oct 16 2017]
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So ... all the effort of toilet-training your goats to use the right
spots would be amply rewarded by a generous serving of goat-
piss porage, which might or might not have been meaningfully
filtered? |
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This might work. However, my instinct tells me that a starch gel will absorb other small molecules besides water. Some water will be absorbed as a hydration shell around the starch, but the gel will also contain large pores that will absorb water plus gloop. |
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Starch gels were once used for separating DNA and other molecules by electrophoresis, so it certainly doesn't exclude those molecules. |
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It would probably exclude bacteria, though, and maybe even viruses. But probably not heavy metals, urea and other tiny things. |
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Good for stiffening shirts. (not that I own any shirts) |
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This could be placed in lines on roadways to collect floodwater and slow traffic. |
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There are some plants that accumulate and store large amounts of water, purifying it in the process. Some rainforest vines (possibly rattan, but I'm not sure) store so much water that you can cut a section and pour the water out. There's also a desert plant that stores water in a huge underground tuber. |
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Such plants would be a better option, since they (a) are renewable and (b) purify the water as they absorb it. |
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//Such plants would be a better option, since they (a) are renewable and (b) purify the water as they absorb it.// |
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They also are capable of reproduction. Plant 50 and next year you'll have a hundred. |
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Unless the Monsanto bastards get there first....in which
case you’ll have to pay through the nose to purchase new
seeds each year. |
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Aka the stuff they put in diapers? |
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How do you convince it to let go of the water its absorbed
once you've eaten it? |
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[bean] old umm bean, the substance isn't starch, it's a polymer grafted onto a starch. Not edible. |
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But, I think it'd be cool to dig a shallow trench, toss in some powder and seeds, then pee in it. That's presuming of course that roots will wick water away, while the surrounding dirt won't. |
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i thought about adding some color to it so the color would look right when it was completely full of water. If you eat it before it is full of water it could take water away from the human ingesting it. |
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I wonder if it would be possible to explode somebody by replacing the contents of medicinal capsules with super-absorbant, high-expansion polymer? |
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If you had a highly absorbent teaspoon of something.
And then applied one cup of water.
You'd have a cup of water mixed with a teaspoon. |
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1 cup+1 teaspoon = not exploding. |
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If you mixed it, and it absorbed air using the water as catalyst |
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1 cup+ 1 teaspoon + 24 cubic meters of air |
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by those calculations, you would explode. |
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what happens if you eat some that has not absorbed
its full capacity of water? do you turn into a raisin? |
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