Did Military Funding Solve the Water Shortage Problem?
A company called Aqua Sciences, based out of Miami Beach, can now harvest water from atmospheric moisture - essentially getting “water from thin air.”
Interestingly, although Aqua Sciences wasn’t directly funded through military contracting, it will find early uses in hydrating our troops in Iraq - where it will bring water transportation costs from $30 a gallon to $.30 a gallon.
Darpa gave millions to research companies like LexCarb and Sciperio to create a contraption that could capture water in the Mesopotamian desert.
But it was another company, Aqua Sciences, that developed a product on its own and was first to put a product on the market that can operate in harsh climates.
“People have been trying to figure out how to do this for years, and we just came out of left field in response to Darpa,” said Abe Sher, chief executive officer of Aqua Sciences. “The atmosphere is a river full of water, even in the desert. It won’t work absolutely everywhere, but it works virtually everywhere.”
So this kind of innovation was an indirect response to military funding of an unpopular war. Though the Iraq War has brought death, suffering and destruction to Americans as well as Iraqis, one indirect legacy might be worldwide access to fresh water.
I’m not saying the ends necessarily justify the means, but it is an argument for high military funding in peacetime.
Speaking of funding that leads to innovation, isn’t the Space Program awesome? I found a list online of products that we’ve been able to help directly or indirectly because of our ventures into space:
-Scratch-resistant lenses
-Solar energy
-Improved golf ball aerodynamics
-Improved forest management
-Radiation insulation
-Laser angioplasty
-Human tissue stimulator
-Voice-controlled wheelchair
-Engine lubricant
-Emergency response robots
-Self-righting life raft
-Better brakes
-Advanced lubricants
-Microcomputers
-Portable coolers
-Pool purification methods
-Enriched baby food
-Improved weather forecasting
-Programmable pacemakers
-Automated urinalysis
-Improved aircraft engine
-More efficient wing designs
-Safer bridges
NASA has made our world safer and more efficient. A relatively small company from Miami Beach reduced the cost for fresh water for our troops by two decimal points. Imagine what can be accomplished with more funding for NASA, and thereby more money for subcontractors that NASA employs.
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