In Frank Herbert’s Dune novels, water is so scarce on the planet Arrakis that it is absolutely sacred to the Fremen, desert dwellers, who wear special suits that capture and recycle almost all of their bodily fluids. Now, a YouTuber has built one for real.
In the first book of Dune, which has been adapted into two films by Denis Villeneuve and both have been an international success, the planetologist Liet Kynes explains the still life to Duke Leto Atreides as follows:
“In the open desert, you wear this filter on your face, this tube in your nostrils with these plugs to ensure a tight fit. You inhale through the mouth filter, exhale through the nose tube. With a well-functioning Fremen suit, you won’t lose more than a thimbleful of moisture a day…”, described Franks in his first book.
And so a “one-day build” project from the YouTube channel Hacksmith Industries was launched. Movie-inspired constructions are definitely a theme for these guys; they have already built versions of Thor’s Stormbreaker axe, Captain America’s electromagnetic shield, and a plasma lightsaber that cuts through doors, flesh, and plastic stormtroopers at 4,000 degrees.
How they created this real and functional distillation
The Stillsuit-in-a-day project is a much more humble enterprise, but undoubtedly a fascinating concept. Is it possible to capture, filter, and recycle bodily fluids to turn them into drinking water?
The new suit is quite faithful to the original material. The team starts with a waterproof suit-bag and installs a heat exchanger on the back, powered by a small battery. This creates a cold surface inside the suit, where moisture can condense and drip into a collecting bottle.
Next, a mask with a unidirectional filter is connected to a tube, so that the user can breathe fresh (filtered) air, but when exhaling, that warm and humid air is sent back into the suit and blown directly onto the condenser element to collect its water content.
A quick test shows that the concept produces drinking water, which apparently doesn’t taste worse than CamelBak water at best.
The final result may not pass the test of appearing in movies with Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet, especially because of the bulky gas mask in the front, but it is functional… to a certain extent.
In the exercise and sauna tests, Hacksmith’s video production manager, “Darryl”, undoubtedly generates enough moisture to drink in sips. But the suit has its limitations: it can only absorb moisture from the back of the neck.
However, it is a fun project that could have some relevance now that humanity is preparing to spend more time working with space suits on the Moon in the coming years and working to establish a colony on Mars.
