TIME Best Inventions 2006

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ROBERT VISSER / PHOTOPRESS WASHINGTON

MEDICINE INVENTIONS

E-MAIL

The Rainmaker
The science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Case in point: this water-harvesting machine, which can pull up to 500 gal. of drinkable water per day out of thin air. Its precise workings aren't public, but they use a chemical process similar to the one that causes salt to absorb moisture from the air (and clump up your saltshaker). The water machine isn't particularly portable--it's 20 ft. long--but it will be a godsend for disaster victims or troops in desert combat.
Inventor: Aqua Sciences
Availability: Now; about $300,000
To learn more visit aquasciences.com

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