Back on June 21, I received an email from my co-blogger, celtictexan, about a new discovery by John Kanzius (see picture above). According to a news video attached to the email, Mr. Kanzius developed a method for igniting salt water by exposing it to radio frequencies. According to the report, Mr. Kanzius discovered this method by accident while experimenting with a cancer treatment using radio frequencies. This reminds me of Fleming’s serendipitous discovery of penicillin over six decades ago.
Always the skeptic (see my posts on global warming), I remembered how the “discovery” of cold fusion by Pons and Fleischman back in 1989 caused quite a stir, only to lead to profound disappointment when no one was able to replicate their findings independently. But not wanting to discount this recent finding altogether, I signed up for a Yahoo! News Alert for the word “kanzius”; not being a particularly common name, I figured I wouldn’t be inundated with emails.
I was pleasantly surprised this month when reports started coming in that the Kanzius discovery had been replicated at Penn State University by Professor Emeritus Rustum Roy. According to Roy, the energy released is the result of the specific radio frequency of the Kanzius machine weakening the bonds between sodium and chloride, and hydrogen and oxygen. Some reports indicated that Professor Roy was trying to obtain federal funding to research this phenomenon in greater depth.
Skeptics are still claiming the whole thing is a hoax, and I have to admit, I’m not totally convinced. The crucial question is this: Does the energy expended (i.e. the radio frequencies) exceed that of the energy produced (the burning salt water)? A recent report claims that the flame’s temperature exceeds 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit:
http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=68148
Although I’m no physicist or chemist, I would think that’s a promising sign. Obviously, much more must be investigated, but the implications of something as abundant as saltwater being used as fuel are staggering. Bear in mind, there is absolutely no carbon released, so even Al Gore would approve!
Maybe this whole thing will come to naught. But at least the first hurdle of replication has been crossed. One thing for sure: I’m not going to cancel my Yahoo! News Alert any time soon!
Here’s a link to the lastest report on this topic:
I’ve also been skeptical of the whole thing as it seems to me this is something that would be kept very secret, not thrown out there for the whole world to profit from.
However it does seem to be remarkable. And yes a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen would burn very hot. Right up therewith a cutting torch.
I’m anxious to see the end result of this. I’ve said for many years that the government should undertake a policy to replace oil. It should be a project along the line of the Manhatten Project or the Lunar Landings.
We desperatly need to free ourselves of the need to import mideast oil.
For a recent critique of the Kanzius effect, see this piece by Dr. Philip Ball from London, England:
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070910/full/070910-13.html
I find it interesting that most, if not all skeptics are basing their critique upon theory rather than actual observation and experimentation. It reminds me of something I read once about Michael Faraday, the inventor of the electric generator. Faraday only had an eighth-grade education; had be been more educated, he would have known that it’s impossible to invent a machine that generates electricity.
Sometimes theory is driven by innovation, rather than the other way around. There’s a quote in the WKYC article (see link above) from Penn State research associate Tania Slawecki that illustrates this point:
“The steam engine wasn’t invented because thermodynamics existed. The steam engine was invented and then thermodynamics came along. We’ve got lots more to discover about this invention, too.”
Maybe the Kanzius “discovery” will prove to be nothing more than an elaborate hoax. But maybe not. In the meantime, we need to continue to think outside the box.
Interesting. I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. I mean it’s similar enough to electrolysis and microwaves to be feasible.
Here is my guess as to how it works, and how everything stacks up.
1) Radio waves are a form of radiation that we can manipulate. Microwaves are radiation as well.
2) The water has to be saltwater as it has the chemical properties of facilitate conduction of electricity. Pure water, distilled water, cannot conduct electricity as it is minerals suspended in conductive water that actually conduct the electricity. The water is just the medium.
3) This sound like electrolysis, the current way of extracting oxygen and hydrogen from water. The current way is extremely energy intensive, so it’s generally regarded as unfeasible. This is what is holding back the water powered car. Internal combustion engines will adapt readily to hydrogen, but the problem has always been storing the very volatile element or extracting it.
4) Currently there is research to deliver electricity over the air through radio waves. Tesla also did some research on this back in the day, and there are rumors that he even had an electric car that would run by pulling power out of thin air. I would like to see how these two dovetail.
5) To wrap everything up, I’m guessing he figured out how to deliver electricity over the air. The frequency he found excites the electrons enough to get them to jump which causes electricity which causes the electrolysis. Specifically one side gets ionized then discharges to the other side like lightening. I can’t say if this would be a one way or two-way event, but I would think it would be a two way event based on the oscillation of the radio wave.
Would I normally think about passing radio waves through water. No. I have better things to do like unlock the secrets of Asian cuisine, but I’m glad someone does.
I’ve been wrong about these things before, so I wouldn’t quote this as fact.
Sounds like logical theory to me. I am anxious to see what comes of it. The only downside I see right now is that there would quickly be a fuel tank full of salt. We still haven’t heard what the power requirement for the initial microwave will be either.
Here’s another commentary, this time from a Finnish theoretical physicist named Matti Pitkanen. Don’t worry; it’s in English!
http://matpitka.blogspot.com/2007/08/burning-saltwater-by-radiowaves-with.html
Mr. (Dr.?) Pitkanen seems to draw some of the same conclusions as portablenuke. I’m not well enough versed in the sciences to follow all his arguments (I don’t even know what the Planck constant is – although I do know who Max Planck was), but at least he discusses it intelligently, rather than rejecting it out of hand, as Dr. Ball does. Be sure to read the comments, too.
I’m encouraged that bona fide smart guys are looking at this seriously. Like portablenuke and celtictexan, I’m not ready to stick my neck out just yet. I’d categorize myself as cautiously optimistic.
One last thing: I signed up for another “kanzius” alert – this time with FreshPatents.com. Assuming Mr. Kanzius has filed a patent application for this invention(and that’s a fairly safe assumption; he has at least four pending patents that I know of), as soon as that patent is published for opposition, I should be getting an email informing me. I’ll keep everyone posted on this and any other developments as I find out about them.
Here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry on Dr. Pitkänen:
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:7BN_ZzgVQ5gJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matti_Pitk%C3%A4nen_(physicist)+matti+pitkanen&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us
(I had to link to the cached page; for some reason, this page is not currently available.)
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/quantumzone/photoelectric2.html
Here’s an article by a skeptic who’s at least willing to keep an open mind:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/editorial/112_0711_technologue/
According to Dr. Roy, the effect may have something with the particular radio frequency (13.56 Mhz), which apparently is a harmonic of the natural frequency of sodium ions.
I’ll continue to report here, unless there’s a major breakthrough (in either direction), in which case I’ll start a new post.
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