The promise of desalination as a panacea to the world's insatiable demand for freshwater has been held out for decades, and engineers and others have set their full intellectual powers to this task. Released in late April 2008, this report from the National Academies Press takes a close look at the feasibility of large-scale desalination schemes. One of the reports primary recommendations is that federal research and development on desalination be planned and coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and funded at the level of existing desalination research and development programs. The report also suggests that significant research efforts should be committed to developing cost-effective and environmentally sustainable ways to dispose of the salt concentrate generated by the desalination process. Visitors are welcome to download the entire report (a short registration may be required), or they can just browse around through the table of contents as they see fit.