Chemistry Nobel honors discovery to trap CO₂, bring water to deserts

STOCKHOLM — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for their development of new molecular structures that can trap vast quantities of gas inside, laying the groundwork to potentially suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere or harvest moisture from desert environments. Heiner Linke, chairperson of the committee that made the award, compared the structures called metal-organic frameworks to the seemingly bottomless magical handbag carried by Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” series. Another example might be Mary Poppins’ enchanted carpet bag. These containers look small from the outside but are able to hold surprisingly large quantities within. The committee said Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi were honored for “groundbreaking discoveries" that “may contribute to solving some of humankind’s greatest challenges,” from pollution to water scarcity. Robson, 88, is affiliated with the University of Melbourne in Australia. Kitagawa, 74, is with Japan’s Kyoto University, and Yaghi, 60, is with the University of California, BerkeleWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times