Any Star Wars fan worth his shipment of spice will, of course, recognize the tall, white object in the photo above: it’s a moisture vaporator, a marvelous machine that pulls fresh water out of the very air and enables human life to survive on the desert planet Tatooine. Nifty idea, but it’s just science fiction, right?
Apparently not… Wired.com is reporting that a company called Aqua Sciences has developed a machine that does exactly what Uncle Owen’s condensor units supposedly did, and cheaply to boot (about 25 cents to the gallon, according to the company’s website). Naturally, the first customer is the Pentagon, which has long sought a way to keep U.S. troops easily supplied with a sustainable water source while operating in arid places like Iraq.
The company spokesman quoted in the article is coy about how the thing works — it’s apparently got something to do with salt — but the gadget is described as a “20-foot machine [that] can churn out 600 gallons of water a day without using or producing toxic materials and byproducts.” In addition, the machine is not dependent on humidity, like other types of condensation-type technology. Very cool… the only thing I find disappointing is that the actual units look more like ordinary reefer trailers than anything Luke Skywalker ever tinkered with. Ah, well… that’s the curse of being a science-fiction fan, I guess: nothing ever looks as cool when it’s finally invented for real as it did when it was imagined in the movies.
For a second I thought it was a binary load lifter . . . very similar to your vaporators in most respects!
As long as you can speak Bocce… (Wow, they play Italian lawn games on Tatooine!)
Maybe there is a solution to Riverton water, eh Jas?
I remember a similar picture that demonstrated the difference between an average 6ft human male and the penis of a Blue Whale.
What the Hell else is there to do on Tatooine?? Uncle Owen is trying desperately to grow a lawn (says it’ll be just one more season . . .).
Chenopup: Thanks for planting THAT image in my head!
What to do on Tatooine… um, well, there’s pod racing… watching the Sarlaac eat stuff… bantha herding… driving your skyhopper through Beggar’s Canyon in search of womprats… um…
Yeah, growing a lawn so you can play bocce sounds like a pretty good plan, actually…
watch the Sarlaac eat stuff?
I wonder if it’s a much fun as watching the carp at Lagoon?
Funny thought though.
Actually, watching the carp is probably more fun. They at least swim around a little. The Sarlaac just sits there, waiting…
I never got the point of the Sarlaac. It takes 1,000 years to digest you, but I figure that you suffocate to death in about 3 minutes. So as horrible deaths go, it’s not one of the worst.
Wookie sex, now that’s a nasty way to go.
Not for the Wookiees! 😉
Yeah, the Sarlaac was pretty silly… not even the CG tentacles in the Special Ed could make it look like anything other than a giant visualization of a teenage boy’s worst nightmare (the dreaded vagina dentata!).
You are absolutely right about the v.d. (I can’t resist). Yes another motif Lucas picked up from Campbell without understanding its meaning.
Special Ed . . . snicker . . .
Interestingly enough, fans of the Dune books by Frank Herbert have long maintained that the Sarlaac was a rip-off of the giant Arrakean sand-worm, but that creature as described (and visualized in the David Lynch film version) looks more like a giant penis. With teeth. Because these genitalia-monsters always have lots of teeth. Which gets into Freudian territory as opposed to Campbellian or Jungian, doesn’t it?
Incidentally, Dune fans also think that the entire planet of Tatooine is a rip-off of Dune’s setting, the desert world of Arrakis. Personally, I think they’re wrong, because the only real similarity in the environment is desert and sand; I definitely don’t see much similarity in the cultures of the two worlds.
Wow, you guys have seriously got to get out more.
I will carefully try to avoid the conversation about Wookie sex and genitalia-monsters, and just make sure you’re both aware that George Lucas made a guest appearance on the Colbert Report last night. If you missed it, check out Comedy Central’s website (or I’m sure you can find it on YouTube). Here’s a teaser: Steve & George ended the show with an actual Light Saber duel.
You may begin salivating now…
Thanks for the tip, Brian. You’ll have to forgive Robert and myself. This sort of discussion is what results when you combine fanboy enthusiasm and academic training in literary analysis. Scary, ain’t it? 😉