Thursday, August 22, 2013

Drinking sweat

When I think of drinking sweat - aside from feeling nauseated - the science fiction nerd in me remembers the Fremen of Dune.   The Epic books by Frank Herbert describe a stillsuit that the Fremen wear which harvests all of the water excreted from their bodies. 

Amazingly enough we are one step closer to that reality.  Engineer Andreas Hammar has built a machine that turns our sweat into drinkable water.

The sweat machine was developed in Sweden and, according to Hammar the water extracted from the machine is actually cleaner than ordinary Swedish tap water.  Now if we can only convince them to integrate this technology into a wetsuit.  Imagine fresh water while diving, living in the desert, or in space.

For all of you who don't have access to a sweat machine.  You might be able to get your hands on some Pocari Sweat.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Pocari_sweat_500ml.jpg/110px-Pocari_sweat_500ml.jpg
It is actually a specially formulated beverage made by the Japanese.  The thought is you are drinking a replacement for what you have lost.  I have never tried it myself, but I hear it has a lite grapefruit flavor.  Sounds so tasty.. please pass the sweat.  

Links - 
For more info on the sweat machine : BBC News - Sweat Machine
Wikipedia on Pocari Sweat: Pocari Sweat 
 

No comments: