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From Refugee Roots to “Water from Air”: The Real Story Behind Omar Yaghi’s MOF Breakthrough
Experimental MOF devices aim to turn dry air into drinking water (illustration)Dear Cherubs, sometimes reality reads like a motivational poster that got a PhD. Omar Yaghi’s journey—from a childhood in modest conditions in Amman to reshaping how we think about water—comes close, minus the stock photo sunset.
Born in Jordan and later building his academic career in the United States, Yaghi is widely recognized for pioneering metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs—materials so porous they make your kitchen sponge look emotionally unavailable. According to the American Chemical Society, MOFs are crystalline structures designed at the molecular level to trap gases and liquids, including water vapor from the air.
THE SCIENCE THAT SOUNDS LIKE MAGIC
Here’s the pitch: pull clean drinking water straight out of desert air. No pipes, no grid, just chemistry doing its quiet flex.Yaghi’s team demonstrated MOF-based devices that can capture water even in low humidity environments—think below 20 percent, where most of us would simply accept dehydration as a lifestyle. According to research published in Science and reported by MIT News, early prototypes were able to produce usable amounts of water using sunlight as the only energy source.
Now, about those headline-grabbing claims—machines generating up to 1,000 liters per day. That figure is often reported in popular summaries, but it’s not representative of current household-scale MOF devices. Most experimental systems produce far smaller quantities, though the technology is evolving. In other words: promising, not quite “infinite desert tap” just yet.
Still, the concept holds serious weight. The World Health Organization notes that billions of people lack reliable access to safe drinking water. A decentralized solution—something that works off-grid—could shift the conversation from infrastructure to independence.
FROM SCARCITY TO SCALABILITY
Yaghi has framed his work around “water independence,” a phrase that sounds like a startup pitch but lands closer to a humanitarian goal. Imagine homes generating their own water the way solar panels generate electricity. That’s not sci-fi anymore; it’s early-stage engineering with real-world implications.And yes, there’s a poetic symmetry here. A child who once waited for water deliveries every two weeks now builds systems designed to eliminate that wait entirely. It’s giving full-circle energy, minus the cliché.
As for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2025—there is currently no verified record confirming that Yaghi has received it. He has, however, been widely considered a strong candidate for years, with multiple high-profile awards already under his belt. So while the Nobel claim is, at best, premature, the impact of his work is not.
If you’re into stories where science meets survival—and occasionally humbles global infrastructure—this is one to watch. As noted by thisclaimer.com, some of the most transformative ideas tend to emerge from constraint, not comfort. Turns out, scarcity can be a pretty effective research assistant.
And if MOFs keep scaling the way researchers hope, the future might involve fewer pipelines and more… well, invisible ones. Air, but make it drinkable.
Sources list
Experimental MOF devices aim to turn dry air into drinking water (illustration) #art #books #chemistryBreakthroughs #cleanWater #desertWater #environment #futureTech #mofTechnology #omarYaghi #renewableSolutions #scienceInnovation #sustainability #travel #waterScarcity
American Chemical Society — https://www.acs.org
MIT News — https://news.mit.edu
Science Journal — https://www.science.org
World Health Organization — https://www.who.int
thisclaimer.com — https://thisclaimer.com -
New post! On the #chemistry of #purple, my favourite colour 💜
https://keiran-rowell.github.io/dyes/2025-11-05-aniline-and-the-german-chemical-industry/
This tale winds its way past sea snails and togas 🏛️, coal tar and dream snakes 🐍, industrial conglomerates and chemical theory ⌬ ⟷ ⏣, to flow back in recirculation to fundamental light-sensitive cells themselves 👁️💡🦠
Spend time with this hue right at the edge of our perception 🎨
#benzene #Kekulé #dyes #BASF #organic #porphyrin #GravitysRainbow #Pynchon #Perkin #rhodopsin #HistoryofScience #orbitals #art
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New post! On the #chemistry of #purple, my favourite colour 💜
https://keiran-rowell.github.io/dyes/2025-11-05-aniline-and-the-german-chemical-industry/
This tale winds its way past sea snails and togas 🏛️, coal tar and dream snakes 🐍, industrial conglomerates and chemical theory ⌬ ⟷ ⏣, to flow back in recirculation to fundamental light-sensitive cells themselves 👁️💡🦠
Spend time with this hue right at the edge of our perception 🎨
#benzene #Kekulé #dyes #BASF #organic #porphyrin #GravitysRainbow #Pynchon #Perkin #rhodopsin #HistoryofScience #orbitals #art
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New post! On the #chemistry of #purple, my favourite colour 💜
https://keiran-rowell.github.io/dyes/2025-11-05-aniline-and-the-german-chemical-industry/
This tale winds its way past sea snails and togas 🏛️, coal tar and dream snakes 🐍, industrial conglomerates and chemical theory ⌬ ⟷ ⏣, to flow back in recirculation to fundamental light-sensitive cells themselves 👁️💡🦠
Spend time with this hue right at the edge of our perception 🎨
#benzene #Kekulé #dyes #BASF #organic #porphyrin #GravitysRainbow #Pynchon #Perkin #rhodopsin #HistoryofScience #orbitals #art
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New post! On the #chemistry of #purple, my favourite colour 💜
https://keiran-rowell.github.io/dyes/2025-11-05-aniline-and-the-german-chemical-industry/
This tale winds its way past sea snails and togas 🏛️, coal tar and dream snakes 🐍, industrial conglomerates and chemical theory ⌬ ⟷ ⏣, to flow back in recirculation to fundamental light-sensitive cells themselves 👁️💡🦠
Spend time with this hue right at the edge of our perception 🎨
#benzene #Kekulé #dyes #BASF #organic #porphyrin #GravitysRainbow #Pynchon #Perkin #rhodopsin #HistoryofScience #orbitals #art
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New post! On the #chemistry of #purple, my favourite colour 💜
https://keiran-rowell.github.io/dyes/2025-11-05-aniline-and-the-german-chemical-industry/
This tale winds its way past sea snails and togas 🏛️, coal tar and dream snakes 🐍, industrial conglomerates and chemical theory ⌬ ⟷ ⏣, to flow back in recirculation to fundamental light-sensitive cells themselves 👁️💡🦠
Spend time with this hue right at the edge of our perception 🎨
#benzene #Kekulé #dyes #BASF #organic #porphyrin #GravitysRainbow #Pynchon #Perkin #rhodopsin #HistoryofScience #orbitals #art
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CH3+ reacts with a wide range of other molecules and has been theorized to be the cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry, yet until now has remained undetected.
The discovery vindicates the theory that CH3+ can form in the presence of strong UV radiation. UV radiation is destructive to complex organic molecules, but under the right conditions it can facilitate it. There is evidence that the solar system disk was UV radiated by a nearby star. -
CH3+ reacts with a wide range of other molecules and has been theorized to be the cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry, yet until now has remained undetected.
The discovery vindicates the theory that CH3+ can form in the presence of strong UV radiation. UV radiation is destructive to complex organic molecules, but under the right conditions it can facilitate it. There is evidence that the solar system disk was UV radiated by a nearby star. -
CH3+ reacts with a wide range of other molecules and has been theorized to be the cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry, yet until now has remained undetected.
The discovery vindicates the theory that CH3+ can form in the presence of strong UV radiation. UV radiation is destructive to complex organic molecules, but under the right conditions it can facilitate it. There is evidence that the solar system disk was UV radiated by a nearby star. -
CH3+ reacts with a wide range of other molecules and has been theorized to be the cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry, yet until now has remained undetected.
The discovery vindicates the theory that CH3+ can form in the presence of strong UV radiation. UV radiation is destructive to complex organic molecules, but under the right conditions it can facilitate it. There is evidence that the solar system disk was UV radiated by a nearby star. -
CH3+ reacts with a wide range of other molecules and has been theorized to be the cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry, yet until now has remained undetected.
The discovery vindicates the theory that CH3+ can form in the presence of strong UV radiation. UV radiation is destructive to complex organic molecules, but under the right conditions it can facilitate it. There is evidence that the solar system disk was UV radiated by a nearby star. -
Interstellar organic chemistry gets a boost as JWST detects a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+) was detected in a young star system with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
The methyl cation molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule
https://esahubble.org/images/heic0601a/
#JWST #Orion #CH3+
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Interstellar organic chemistry gets a boost as JWST detects a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+) was detected in a young star system with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
The methyl cation molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule
https://esahubble.org/images/heic0601a/
#JWST #Orion #CH3+
1/n -
Interstellar organic chemistry gets a boost as JWST detects a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+) was detected in a young star system with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
The methyl cation molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule
https://esahubble.org/images/heic0601a/
#JWST #Orion #CH3+
1/n -
Interstellar organic chemistry gets a boost as JWST detects a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+) was detected in a young star system with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
The methyl cation molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule
https://esahubble.org/images/heic0601a/
#JWST #Orion #CH3+
1/n -
Interstellar organic chemistry gets a boost as JWST detects a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+) was detected in a young star system with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
The methyl cation molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule
https://esahubble.org/images/heic0601a/
#JWST #Orion #CH3+
1/n -
🌿🤖 Scientists invent yet another way to make organic molecules, because nature's methods just aren't good enough. Meanwhile, Nature Communications can't even figure out how to display their website properly. 🚀🔍
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56374-z #organicchemistry #innovation #science #news #technology #NatureCommunications #HackerNews #ngated -
Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Frameworks as Battery Electrodes
Use of hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) with redox-active imide units as cathode active materials for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries
https://www.chemistryviews.org/hydrogen-bonded-organic-frameworks-as-battery-electrodes/
#chemistry #chemistryviews #chemviews #chemiverse #research #chemelectrochem #chemistryeurope #electrode
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I took down all my spooky molecular model decorations and decided to be a bit seasonal with something else.
I present...tryptophan.
Just in time for Thanksgiving season.
:Hehe:
#Photography #Chemistry #MolecularModel #OrganicChemistry #Contaminant #Toy #ChemistryLove #Organic #MolecularModelKit #Chemist #Toys #OrganicChemistryMolecularKit #MolecularKit #OChem #Thanksgiving
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More Spooky Season décor!
Time to get even spookier. It is tetrachloroethylene (PCE). OOOOOH!
PCE is a chlorinated organic contaminant that, oddly, gets more toxic as it breaks down.
On point with the Halloween theme!
#Photography #Chemistry #MolecularModel #OrganicChemistry #Contaminant #Toy #ChemistryLove #Organic #MolecularModelKit #Chemist #Toys #OrganicChemistryMolecularKit #MolecularKit #OChem #Halloween
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Spooky Halloween décor for my office.
Not the skull, the pyridine model! The purple ball is meant to be nitrogen.
Pyridine is an organic contaminant often derived from coal tar. Have you smelled that chemical before? Oof, smells like rotten fish.
#Photography #Chemistry #MolecularModel #OrganicChemistry #Contaminant #Toy #ChemistryLove #Organic #MolecularModelKit #Chemist #Toys #OrganicChemistryMolecularKit #MolecularKit #OChem #Halloween
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Happy birthday to chemist William Henry Perkin (1838-1907)! This #lino block print ‘William Henry Perkin Discovers Mauve’ is about how the British chemist & entrepreneur made the serendipitous discovery of the 1st synthetic organic dye: mauveine.
Perkins entered the Royal College of Chemistry in London in 1853 when he was only 15, studying with August Wilhelm von Hofmann. 🧵1/n
#linocut #printmaking #sciart #chemistry #MastoArt #dye #histsci #chemist #FashionHistory #purple #mauve #colour -
I am a Trinitarian, if not exactly a good Catholic, so I like to find threes of things. Once you're alert to the ubiquity of three-fold equilibria among fundamental concepts, it's hard not to start seeing triangles in everything…Jewish art and architecture is really good at evoking triplets of things, isn't it? Marvellous. I think of crystals and pyramids and sequences of numbers and all sorts of fun things, when I glance towards the Tree of Life. Kabbalah is closed to me but…c'mon, look at it! of COURSE it's powerful! It's like higher mathematics (cf. the intricate radial and cylindrical symmetries of Muslim art and architecture and its spectacular knowledge of tesselations.)
There is a holy trinity of goat acids. I do not lie! One can speak sensibly, in chemistry, of the goat acids. There are three medium-chain fatty acids, three 'normal' (i.e. straight-chain) alkanoic acids, that are the goat acids.
Caproic acid, hexanoic acid, CH3(CH2)4COOH
Caprylic acid, octanoic acid, CH3(CH2)6COOH
Capric acid, decanoic acid, CH3(CH2)8COOHAll of them have a name which refers to the goat as seen below. The Latin word for goat is capra (and caprea and capriolus and some others, Latin is a bit loosier-goosier with alternate spellings and word-forms than English) and thus supplies the root for all these chemical names. And all these acids and certain compounds of these acids are especially commonplace in goats. Cute widdle bouncy gotes which my esteemed colleague Kaylin Evergreen detests. She is (to me anyway) a priestess of Queen Hera, the formidable matriarch of the Hellenic deities whom I honor as best I can, in whose guidance I have trusted in many lean times and bitter moments. Hera bears among other epithets the name of Ἥρη Αἰγοφάγος, Goat-Eating Hera! Hence I am always getting a bit of stink-eye from Queen Hera about my own…dalliances with gotes. In the past, as it were. oh dear
Anyway! I have had a long-time fascination with this little chemical triplet, which I once remember seeing pop up in a diagram showing how those three acids could be resolved on a liquid chromatographic column. They're "model compounds" indeed: showing that you can resolve the three acids cleanly with your analytical equipment is a good demonstration of the effectiveness of chemical analysis.
They're found among many living things, not just goats; they're among the common lipids of organic life on Earth. Valerian root is another material that tends to be rich in the goat acids and thus valerian has a characteristic stench about it. I happen to regard it as a more or less pleasant smell in moderation (I guess I would) but I will allow as how it's a bit overpowering of other smells. They're just a bit more volatile than other organic acids likely to be found, so…you smell them more.
~Chara of Pnictogen
#goat-acids #goats #chemistry #organic-chemistry #Hera #trinities -
Tholins: Everyone’s Favourite Forbidden Ice Cream!
Tholins are a class of molecules formed by from ultraviolet irradiation of simple carbon-containing compounds to create organic compounds.
Molecular Nitrogen (N2) and Methane (CH4)
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☀️ Solar Radiation and Cosmic Rays ☀️
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Ethylene (C4H4) and other simple molecules
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Benzene (C6H6) and other complex molecules
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Nitriles, hydrocarbons, and negatively charged organic ions such as amines and phenyls
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Tholins (as a complex molecular slush)Tholins can be found throughout the solar system and are believed to be a major constituent of the interstellar medium. They give a reddish, organic surface covering on certain planetary surfaces. While astronomers have yet to get their paws on a naturally deposited tholins, they have been able to recreate them in the lab using a combination of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen.
On Saturn’s moon Rhea, the outer crust is composed of methane ice. Over millions of years of ultraviolet irradiation from the Sun and cosmic rays, the methane ice has broken down some into a complex slush of organic molecules that turns the surface of the moon’s trailing hemisphere a reddish-brown hue. While the entire moon is affected, the trailing hemisphere shows it most prominently as it faces away from the direction of travel, with the leading hemisphere shielding it from dust and ice that Rhea’s gravitational pull vacuums up from around Saturn.
A similar process occurs on other celestial bodies such as Pluto, Charon, Arrokoth, and Neptune’s icy moon Triton. Some of the closest tholin deposits to us are found on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, where tholins are believed to have stained much of its heavily cracked surface a deep reddish-brown hue.
However, on Saturn’s moon Titan, tholin formation occurs at high altitudes and precipitates down in the formation of organic compounds to tint the surface of the moon a reddish brown beneath its predominantly methane atmosphere. These tholins scatter light, deepening the amber hue of the atmosphere and acting as a screen helping to protect the surface from ultraviolet radiation. These particulates then accumulate on the surface of the moon and become a part of Titan’s “soil”.
Tholin snow, eh? What a cursed snowcone that must make.
Could the formation of tholins in the outer solar system help shed some light on the origins of life on Earth? Does the presence of tholins increase the habitability of certain celestial bodies? Perhaps, and that’s why they’re a subject of great interest to astrobiologists as well.
Recommended reading
- Tholin on Wikipedia
- Dissecting the Dirt on Titan, NASA Science Editorial Team, May 2007
- Cassini Spacecraft Reveals Evidence of Tholin Formation at High Altitudes in Titan’s Atmosphere, NASA Science Editorial Team, May 2007
- Tholins and their relevance for astrophysical issues, Cambridge University Press, Feb 2008
#tholins #astronomy #astrobiology #chemistry #planetaryscience #pluto #titan #rhea
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#29 Genetic evolution and mutation.
What you see in four steps is the cell division created with a metaball algorithm. You should know that my two favorites in generative art are metaballs and noise. And they are both similar because the results look like organic fluid or very soft materials.
Also, I thought to try these 4 quadrants instead of an animation because often you do not have time to watch a whole animation. But both have their existence.
#genuary #cells #celldivision #genart #art #mastoart #fediart #p5js #noai #genuary2026 #code #math #programming #artwork #minimalism #coding #generativeart #generative #artforsale #simplify #creativecoding #random #life #biology #chemistry #organic #evolution #genes #dna
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High-performance materials for the adsorption and separation of hexane isomers
https://www.chemistryviews.org/carborane-based-covalent-organic-frameworks/
#chemistry #chemistryviews #chemviews #research #chemiverse #hexane
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As an organic chemist, should you specialize in synthesis method development or total synthesis?
In his inspiring talk at #Lunteren2026, Alois Fürstner from the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung shows how his group is excelling at both and makes the point that there is important cross-fertilization between the two research directions in his group.
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Interesting talk by Antonio Echavarren at #Lunteren2026. He talked about the use of gold-carbene catalysis to perform complex and enantioselective transformations in organic synthesis.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacsau.3c00159
#Synthesis #OrganicChemistry #Chemistry #Catalysis -
Interesting talk by Antonio Echavarren at #Lunteren2026. He talked about the use of gold-carbene catalysis to perform complex and enantioselective transformations in organic synthesis. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... #Synthesis #OrganicChemistry #ChemSky #Catalysis
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@heydebigale Hello from Melbourne. I work in #analytical, #biological and #environmental #chemisty Pictures show some of my work. A periodic table by electronegativity, 3D printed NMR spectra and the Chirality-2 teaching app for #Organic chemistry.