Nearly 97% of the Earth’s water is unpotable salt water. With the current expensive and energy guzzling nature of desalination, fresh water is becoming increasingly difficult to come by.

“The scarcity of fresh water resources and the need for additional water supplies is already critical in many arid regions of the world and will be increasingly important in the future.” -U.S. Geological Survey

Scientists at MIT have fine-tuned a computer simulation that would allow graphene, the strongest material currently known to man, to serve as the perfect low-cost, low-energy filter to harvest seawater as a consumable resource.

Graphene is the strongest material known to man at 200 times stronger than steel. It is the thinnest possible material feasible, and scientists have said that it almost conducts electricity too well to be used in computers. If you had a saran-wrap thin piece of graphene, an elephant standing on a pencil might not be able to break it. Graphene has the properties to revolutionize electronics and countless other aspects of the world. It may very well change our lives forever.