Sandia tests heat shields for space

For decades, Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility has harnessed the power of the sun to expose aerospace materials to intense heat, replicating the harsh conditions of faster-than-sound flight and atmospheric reentry to ensure the materials’ ability to protect the rest of the vehicle. The most recent of these tests is in support of two exciting NASA missions.

This loofah-inspired, sun-driven gel could purify all the water you’ll need in a day

Devices currently in development that clean up dirty water using sunlight can only produce a few gallons of water each day. But now, researchers in ACS Central Science report how a sunlight-powered porous hydrogel could potentially purify enough water to meet daily needs — even when it’s cloudy.