The Good Men Project Become a Premium Member We have pioneered the largest worldwide conversation about what it means to be a good man in the 21st century. Your support of our work is inspiring and invaluable. New Type of Soil Waters Plants by Itself A new type of soil can pull water from the air and distribute it to plants, researchers report.
The self-watering soil could potentially expand the map of farmable land around the globe to previously inhospitable places and reduce water use in agriculture at a time of growing droughts. As reported in ACS Materials Letters, the team’s atmospheric water irrigation system uses super-moisture-absorbent gels to capture water from the air. When the soil is heated to a certain temperature, the gels release the water, making it available to plants. When the soil distributes water, some of it goes back into the air, increasing humidity and making it easier to continue the harvesting cycle.