Scientists have created a solar-powered device that can get drinkable water from air in the desert. If future space travellers visit a dry desert planet and need to find a drink, it's possible they could one day use a similar device there, too, but in the meantime, something like this could be a huge help to water-deprived people who live in arid climates.

The device, which looks a little like the EG-series power droid from Star Wars, uses a custom-built metal-organic framework (MOF) to seek out water, even in dry climates with humidity as low as 20 per cent, and trap it in vapour form. It's reported in the journal Science.

MOFs are one, two, or three-dimensional chemical compounds. If chemistry were a toy chest, MOFs would be made using a box of Straws and Connectors. Their look depends on which metal ion or cluster of metal ions (connectors) are linked by whichever organic molecule (straws). MOFs are extremely versatile because their chemical characteristics can be modified according to different uses.