NOBEL PRIZE IN THE BAG

SCIENTISTS have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a structure compared to the enchanted handbag in Harry Potter.

- BY STEFANIE DAZIO

The committee said their development of metal-organic frameworks could play a part in solving some of humanity's greatest challenges.

An expert likened the discovery by Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi to Hermione Granger's beaded handbag.

From capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or sucking water out of desert air, the trio's molecular architecture can absorb and contain gases in stable metal organic frameworks.