SHOVEL READY: Lockheed Martin Throws More Dirt On Malthus’ Grave. “Cheap, clean water may soon be available for the whole planet. According to Reuters, defense contractor Lockheed Martin has developed a filter that will hugely reduce the amount of energy necessary to turn sea water into fresh water. The filter, which is five hundred times thinner then others currently available, lets water pass through but blocks all salt molecules. It will use almost 100 times less energy than other methods for making salt water drinkable, giving third world countries another way of expanding access to drinking water without having to create costly pumping stations.”

Well, this is the 21st century, after all.

UPDATE: Reader Joel Mackey writes: “That filter has huge implications for fracking and water disposal in the oil and gas industry.”

And reader Kevin Murphy emails: “Couldn’t hurt in Los Angeles either, which is 20 million people living in a desert amid decreasing water supplies. But the Greens will probably find something wrong with it.”