In which the press and the government prove they don't understand scientific basics

[unixronin]

ERIE, Pa. - An Erie cancer researcher has found a way to burn salt water, a novel invention that is being touted by one chemist as the "most remarkable" water science discovery in a century.

John Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer.  He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn.

[...]

The radio frequencies act to weaken the bonds between the elements that make up salt water, releasing the hydrogen, Roy said.  Once ignited, the hydrogen will burn as long as it is exposed to the frequencies, he said.

[...]

Roy will meet this week with officials from the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to try to obtain research funding.

The scientists want to find out whether the energy output from the burning hydrogen — which reached a heat of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit — would be enough to power a car or other heavy machinery.

OK.  Who else sees the beginner-obvious problem with this "discovery"?

Hint:  The Laws of Thermodynamics.

This is, of course, beyond both the AP and the government bureaucracy.

Comments

[jmkelly.livejournal.com]

It is you, pal, who do not understand journalism, in particular the art of writing ledes. "New way to use radio-frequency electrolysis of salt water to produce hydrogen at low cost" does not snag a reader's attention. "Burn salt water" does. If the burning salt water actually turns out to be hydrogen a few paragraphs later, well, what's the harm? What did you pay for your ticket, sir? We'll cheerfully refund the entire amount.

I admit the "burning hydrogen -- which reached a heat of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit [OMGZWTF!!1!!]" was kind of silly.

As for the second law of thermodynamics -- that's only part of the equation. If one could use solar power to run a radio-frequency generator to electrolyze seawater in, say, San Diego, and pipe the resulting hydrogen to, uh, Duluth, the overall loss of energy would be inconsequential; you'd have a healthy fraction of the original solar energy when and where you wanted it, rather than in San Diego.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

Assuming that the headline is there for just attention, all they are doing is hydrolysis with RF radiation. The only potential twist is the actual frequency. If they chose a resonant frequency for [salt] water, there may be a slight energy advantage. You would likely lose that advantage in conversion losses, but it could be there. (Resonant frequencies are really fun, you try to divide by zero. {constant / (c^2 - w^2)} where w is frequency in radians, and c is the resonant frequency.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/crossfire_/]

I love it when you get something for nothing.