This week, Japan will launch two saucer-shaped water purifiers into the canals of Osaka as well as the Osaka Castle moat. The solar-powered devices will clean the waterways of impurities, spouting the clean water back out their tops (and cooling those toasty solar panels). They weigh about 3.4 tons each and measure 5 feettall and 16 feet across. During the day, an array of solar panels power the machine’s filtration system, which pumps fresh oxygen into the water while removing impurities. At night, a 1.3-kilowatt solar battery energizes the LED lamps lining the edges of the Solar UFO.

The machines, developed by NTT Technologies, can purify up to 2,400 gallons a day. Frankly, that amount seems like the proverbial <<*pun alert*>> drop in the bucket, but it is a step in the right direction, particularly for the world's leading importer of exhaustible natural resources and one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels.

NTT Facilities also announced plans to deploy Solar UFOs in Tokyo-area waters in the near future.