Water? There’s an Algorithm for That

Rising temperatures and worsening droughts are increasingly dehydrating the American West. Arizona’s Zero Mass Water is trying their hand at creating new sources of drinkable water, such as hydropanels strapped to buildings.

Ryan Bradley pressed Zero Mass one further, commissioning a car-mounted hydropanel for mobile living. The verdict? “I’d put my trust in these panels,” he writes.

Absorbent panels suck moisture from the air; solar heat helps form droplets that accumulate and are pumped into a tap. From Zero Mass HQ, fan speeds are adjusted remotely based on changing landscapes and water vapor in the air, using, of course, predictive algorithms.

Wired