A recent study by MIT engineers has unveiled a groundbreaking method to produce hydrogen gas by exposing pure aluminum from soda cans to seawater. The team found that this simple reaction, when accelerated by caffeine, can efficiently generate hydrogen, a clean energy source, without carbon emissions. By treating aluminum with a rare-metal alloy, they managed to scrub it into a reactive form that interacts with seawater, producing hydrogen. The addition of coffee grounds was discovered to significantly accelerate the reaction, leading to the development of a reactor for marine vessels and underwater vehicles. This reactor would utilize recycled aluminum pellets, gallium-indium, and caffeine to produce hydrogen on demand, eliminating the need to carry hydrogen tanks and allowing for a sustainable cycle of hydrogen production. The team also addressed the challenge of recovering the alloy post-reaction, making the process more cost-effective. By leveraging seawater as the source of ions to retrieve the gallium-indium, the researchers have demonstrated a feasible and environmentally friendly approach to harnessing hydrogen from readily available resources.