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Japanese Company Says Laws of Physics Don't Apply — to Cars

Fantastic Lad, among many others, points out another in a long series of claimed "powered by water" cars, this one by a Japanese company called "Genepax," which interestingly enough does not have so much as a Wikipedia entry. What's scary is the uncritical, even serious-sounding, presentation by Reuters of such extraordinary claims quite unbacked by extraordinary evidence. "Almost sounds too good to be true" isn't the half of it; if cars could be made which would run as "long as you have a bottle of water inside" to pour into the fuel tank ("even tea," repeats this report), not only would you know about the car, but you'd notice the long lines of people buying generators, laptops, and power tools that run on the same technology. The snippet Reuters is carrying says "Jun. 13 — Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water. The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car's tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car. Genepax, the company that invented the technology, aims to collaborate with Japanese manufacturers to mass produce it." Fantastic Lad, deadpan, goes on: "Check out the Reuter's story and accompanying video. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there some sort of conservation of energy thing happening in the whole 'separating hydrogen from water' game? I wonder what the real story is on this. Investment fraud? Magic?" Show your work; bonus points if you use Haiku.

34 of 736 comments (clear)

  1. Screw water by ijakings · · Score: 5, Funny

    I want my Mr fusion and I want it now!

    1. Re:Screw water by Cctoide · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm going to invent a car that runs on strawmen.

      Check back tomorrow for the press release.

      --
      "Let's face it, it's a good story. Accuracy would kill it."
    2. Re:Screw water by dcam · · Score: 3, Funny
      --
      meh
    3. Re:Screw water by udippel · · Score: 3, Funny

      The guy in the suit looks very smart. He is a smart guy.
      The credulous reporter is from the leading global news organisation, Reuters. She is a smart girl.

      Smart guy meets smart girl, and both produce a smart story.

      Whom shall I believe, smart guy and positive story on Reuters, done by a smart reporter; or some geek on 'News for nerds, stuff that matters'? Do you even own a suit?

      Temptations, temptations ...

  2. Whats the problem.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Whats the problem? My windshield wipers have been running on water for years.

    1. Re:Whats the problem.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah and my boat runs on water.

    2. Re:Whats the problem.... by toriver · · Score: 5, Funny

      Since one Jesus walked on water you probably need two or three Jesuses to run on it.

  3. haiku by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny


    water runs your car
    rain, tea, and cool gentle mists
    maybe piss does too

    1. Re:haiku by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Funny

      maybe piss does too

      Yes, but only if you are using a reciprocating internal combustion engine that has pisstons.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    2. Re:haiku by Hatta · · Score: 4, Funny

      Are those R Kelly lyrics?

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    3. Re:haiku by sconeu · · Score: 5, Funny



      Lisa, in this house
      We obey the Three Laws of
      Thermodynamics

      ---

      Cap'n, I canna
      Break the laws o' physics
      But Genepax can

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  4. uunnngh by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 5, Funny

    Profane Muthafucka
    Would purchase a water car
    And fuel it with sperm.

    --
    Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
  5. Haiku by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Garden hose pressure
    Spins turbine blades to release
    BS upon world

  6. In this house... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    we obay the laws of Thermodynamics

    1. Re:In this house... by elyons · · Score: 3, Funny

      MC Hawkings said it best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bueZoYhUlg

  7. This car has no trouble running on water... by SamP2 · · Score: 4, Funny
  8. Summer by Robaato · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rainy season comes
    bringing with it a fresh crop
    of nutball scammers

  9. Deep thoughts..... by RatPh!nk · · Score: 5, Funny

    car runs on water

    being fooled is never fun

    want to buy a bridge?

    --
    Argh. The laws of science be a harsh mistress.
  10. Water Car Haiku by introspekt.i · · Score: 3, Funny

    Funny to my mind
    Magic Water Powered Car
    This Haiku Stinks Bad

  11. Re:Running cars on water? by jamie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also, if you pour dirt into the radiator, it cleans your hoses with the power of mud.

  12. Haiku by Weaselmancer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Homer Simpson says
    In this house we all obey
    Thermodynamics

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  13. Water car haiku by cunamara · · Score: 5, Funny

    Car running on water
    driving in a desert.
    Which way do you go?

  14. Haiku by Tabernaque86 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Haikus are easy,
    but sometimes they don't make sense.
    Refridgerator.

  15. Poor education -- haiku by istartedi · · Score: 5, Funny

    Poor education
    Drool from your lips runs the car
    Reporters buy it

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  16. Re:Running cars on water? by HiVizDiver · · Score: 3, Funny

    You owe me a new monitor and keyboard.

  17. Tea? by stranger_to_himself · · Score: 4, Funny

    .."long as you have a bottle of water inside" to pour into the fuel tank ("even tea," repeats this report).. With what we're currently paying for bottled water, I think you'd be better off sticking with gas.
  18. Re:Screw water haiku by wsanders · · Score: 3, Funny

    Mr Fusion Car
      Running on Water
    Everybody make money!

    --
    Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
  19. WTF? by MacDork · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lake zombie Jason,
    scary machete killer,
    is in the front seat.

  20. Re:Mines better! by fishdan · · Score: 5, Funny

    H2O powers cars
    Pigs fly out of my buttocks
    Your check is in mail.

    --
    Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
  21. Re:Not saying it's credible at first glance.. by flyingsquid · · Score: 5, Funny
    Can you not see how this is an impossible self-contained system? You can't convert water to its component gasses and back, and expect to make an energy profit.

    Hello? Did you even watch the video? It's pretty impossible to argue with what the video shows.

    The video clearly shows a little, blue car with the words "Water Energy System" in small, green letters. What's more, the car has the words "H2O POWER", in big, white capital letters, written on it. "H20 POWER" is written on the front, the back, AND even the sides, in ALL CAPS so it's impossible to miss that this car uses H20 POWER. If it's NOT powered by water, then how come it says "H2O POWER" all over the car, Mr. Smarty Pants?

    If that wasn't enough to silence the skeptics that the car uses H2O POWER, the video features a guy in a suit talking about the car. The fact that the guy talking is wearing a SUIT clearly shows that these guys are professionals, because professional people wear suits. Now, I can't tell what he's saying, because it's in Japanese. But that's not important. The fact that he is saying it in JAPANESE is the important thing. Because that PROVES that he is Japanese! And everyone knows that Japanese people are very, very smart. To top it all off, the video is narrated by a woman with a sophisticated-sounding British accent. The same kind of sophisticated British accent you will hear on the BBC, one of the world's most reliable news organizations. You can't argue with information that is presented with a sophisticated sounding foreign accent.

  22. Haiku points! by Chas · · Score: 3, Funny

    This season a car
    It breaks the laws of physics
    Investor fraud aye

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  23. Haiku? I'll give it a shot. by jcr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fools and their money
    Parted by free energy
    while wiser men laugh

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  24. A limerick by Bloater · · Score: 4, Funny

    There once was a car from Japan
    that seemed like a zero-point scam.
    Then slashdot derived
    that the H2O drive
    got more energy out than you can.

  25. Haiku by BMojo · · Score: 5, Funny

    If water was fuel
    No smoking near the ocean
    The world could explode

    --


    -BMojo