Reference Terms
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Desalination
Desalination or desalinization refers to any of several processes that remove the excess salt and other minerals from water in order to obtain fresh water suitable for animal consumption or irrigation, and if almost all of the salt is removed, for human consumption, sometimes producing table salt as a by-product. The traditional process used in these operations is distillation - essentially the boiling of water at less than atmospheric pressure, and thus a much lower temperature than normal. Due to the reduced temperature, energy is saved.
In the last decade, membrane processes have grown very fast, and Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) has taken nearly half the world's installed capacity. Membrane processes use semi-permeable membranes to filter out dissolved material or fine solids. The systems are usually driven by high-pressure pumps, but the growth of more efficient energy-recovery devices has reduced the power consumption of these plants and made them much more viable; however, they remain energy intensive and, as energy costs rise, so will the cost of R.O. water.
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Earth & Climate News
November 16, 2025
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Nov. 13, 2025 Arctic sea ice is disappearing fast, and scientists have turned to an unexpected cosmic clue—space dust—to uncover how ice has changed over tens of thousands of years. By tracking helium-3–bearing dust trapped (or blocked) by ancient ice, ...
Nov. 13, 2025 Researchers discovered that living horsetails act like natural distillation towers, producing bizarre oxygen isotope signatures more extreme than anything previously recorded on Earth—sometimes resembling meteorite water. By tracing these isotopic ...
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Nov. 9, 2025 Researchers from the University of Vienna discovered MISO bacteria that use iron minerals to oxidize toxic sulfide, creating energy and producing sulfate. This biological process reshapes how scientists understand global sulfur and iron cycles. By ...
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Latest Headlines
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Nov. 5, 2025 Scientists discovered 6-million-year-old ice in Antarctica, offering the oldest direct record of Earth’s ancient atmosphere and climate. The finding reveals a dramatic cooling trend and promises ...
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