Developed by British engineer James Bentham, the Solar Kettle can boil water simply by using sunlight. The portable thermos-like product uses a special thermal technology to boil water without the need for any power input, thus making it ideal for camping, picnics and outdoor activities.

The Solar Kettle features a thermal vacuum tube which absorbs and converts the sun’s rays into heat. Two exterior reflectors open out to maximize the amount of solar energy obtained, enabling the water inside to boil without the need for any further energy supply. The kettle also comes with an built-in stand so that it can be positioned to face the sun, along with a thermometer located on the lid, which allows the user to monitor the temperature of the contents. Read more

In the north and east of Lake Baikal ice cover began to form. Each year this process is different. It depends on weather conditions, not only from the timing and the rate of reservoir freezing, but also from such characteristics as transparency of ice, its thickness and the type of fracture.

The main factors are air temperature, amount of snowfall, direction and wind speed. So, at -20 ° C it is formed from 4 to 5 cm of ice per day.

Baikal is usually covered with a layer of ice till January. Only the long stretch of a 10-15 km in the beginning of Angara River does not freeze. Read more

Hard to believe, but a huge number of people on the planet, have never seen the snow. And for us, no blizzards, drifting snow and a mild winter is not winter at all. The snow never ceases to surprise us, inspires records and sets challenging tasks, and this is what our next Water-gallery is about.

1. How to make a snowman with the size of a high-rise building? When the frost recedes and the snow becomes sticky, many of us wake up a sculptor inside. But not everyone can become world famous like the residents of the city of Bethel (Maine, USA). In 2008 they built the biggest snowman in the world, with a height of 36.6 meters. Skating snowballs here was not enough – hard work on this construction site was needed to fill formworks with snow and to tamp each floor. The giant snowman took 6 thousand tons of snow in total. Lips of tires, Christmas tree hands, eyelashes of skis, 40-foot scarf and a 23-pound pendant in the form of snowflake, and voila, she is ready! She was named Olympia in honor of a state Senator. This legendary monument melted only in July, seven months after the gala opening. Read more

Parched regions of India depend on women who take on the time-consuming, inconvenient task of obtaining and carrying water

In India, monsoons aren’t just a weather system — they’re a lifeline, especially in areas without access to water. As drought threatens the country again this year, Reuters’ Danish Siddiqui looks at how water shortages affect villagers in one parched area of the country: an area in which safe drinking water is so scarce that men take on additional “water wives” to fetch it. Read more