Sergio Jésus Rico Velasco, a Mexican chemical engineer, who developed this Solid Rain, had attempted to discover an absorbent material that could soak up a lot of liquid in a tiny space- something for baby nappies.He later realized that this wonderful polymer could double up as a solution for Mexico's drought problems. Almost an entire liter of water can be stored in just 10 grams of the polymer, which then converts into a thick gel, and supposedly stays that way for up to a year, without evaporating.In case some of you just got interested in buying it, it is available for around $25 per pound. Happy? There's more.According to the Modern Farmer magazine, a one-season study using Solid Rain was carried out by the Mexican government, and not surprisingly, a 300 percent increase in the crop yield was observed.Solid Rain has also bagged the much deserved Ecology and Environment Award.Wait, there's more. Let's not mistake powdered water for Solid rain as they both are actually very different versions of the same thing. Powdered water, which is basically water coated with silica particles, may not just beat droughts and solve the world's water problems, but do stuff even more than that.Turns out, powdered water can help combat global warming too, and might have a number of applications in transport and storage of volatile materials.Basically, it is 95 percent water, and is coated by a layer of silica that prevents it from getting back into its liquid state.The best thing about this miraculous new invention is that it has the ability to soak up gases (including carbon dioxide) as much as 3 times faster than normal water. It also has a variety of applications in the field of chemistry.Source: Medindia