The machine blends iron, bleach and sodium hydroxide to form a dark purple liquid mixture of ferrate, salt and water that gets metered into the water supply. (The color disappears instantly as it reacts with the water.) Common disinfectants ozone and chlorine can turn the water cloudy or, worse, leave behind harmful chemical by-products.

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In the right circumstances these channels will allow the passage of sodium ions (the liquid to be investigated must have these added in the form of sodium chloride, or common salt, if they are not present naturally).

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The best form of lighting, astronomically speaking, is the low-pressure sodium lamp.

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Eventually, when the pores closed completely, the primitive cells would have had a sodium pump that could power their cellular reactions, enabling more complex life to form.

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