What new technology could give the world an abundant new source of fresh water?

A research team led by Richard Crooks of The University of Texas at Austin and Ulrich Tallarek of Germany's University of Marburg have developed a method of desalinating water that can run on a single store-bought battery.

The invention, called a water chip, shown at left, uses a small electrical field to remove 25 percent of the salt from water, according to a press release. The team is reportedly confident in their ability to raise that number to 99 percent.