Cars running on water? Here's another group of scientists who say yes, it's possible. Researchers from the University of Minnesota and Israel's Weizman Institute of Science have figured out a way to use the element Boron to coax water into producing hydrogen gas. That, of course, is quite flammable and can be used to power an internal combustion engine or a fuel cell. And the only emission? Boron Oxide, which can be converted back into Boron and used again.
We've heard things like this before, to a hail of incredulous comments and cries of "bullshit!". We've also heard of a guy in Australia who actually showed his water-powered scooter running on Australian TV but wouldn't reveal how it was done. And here it is again, and now they're saying we'll see a prototype by 2009. This seems too good to be true. Will the oil companies buy this out and kill it? Is this another fable, a la David Mamet's The Water Engine?
Water Engine for Real? Scientists Say H20-to-Hydrogen System Could Be Ready by Decade's End [Jalopnik]