Desalination boils or filters the salt out of seawater
A desalination plant strips salt from seawater by boiling it or forcing it through a membrane, leaving drinkable water and a salty waste called brine.
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A hot, dry pan turns a steak's crust into flavour
Dry heat pushes a steak's surface past 150°C, where amino acids and sugars react and rebuild themselves into thousands of new flavour compounds.
Water puts out wood fires but makes oil fires worse
A water extinguisher works on wood because it cools the fuel. On burning oil, the same water splits the oil into droplets and makes the fire worse.
A hydrogen fuel cell sends electrons round a wire to make power
A fuel cell splits hydrogen into protons and electrons, sends the electrons round a circuit and makes water. It can beat a petrol engine on efficiency.
Carbon dating can age remains up to about 60,000 years old
Carbon dating measures decaying carbon-14 against stable carbon-12 to work out how long ago an organism died, a method Willard Libby built in Chicago.