Slashdot made note of a Science Daily article that reports a new air-humidity water-harvesting technology that is especially useful in the desert. It is energy self-sufficient and harvests potable water.

In the Negev desert in Israel, for example, annual average relative air humidity is 64 percent – in every cubic meter of air there are 11.5 milliliters of water.

The technology is applicable to community as well as personal water-harvesting devices. The Science Daily article did not mention the science fiction connection to the idea, but the Slashdot article writer mentioned Frank Herbert's "Fremen collecting water from the air via moisture traps and dew collectors," in his Dune novel.