A car running on water

Where is the catch?

Arthur C. Clarke’s famous paraphrase of J. G. Ballard 'that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic' seems to gain in strength every day. So much that we are all — even the most sophisticated or sceptical of us — ready to accept almost any 'new advance of science' as fact without serious questioning.

Sometimes technology does indeed appear to be close to magic. The Japanese company Genepax claims to have constructed an eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water. The press agency Reuters walked into the trap with open eyes and published their promotion video.

'It almost sounds too good to be true', says the British commentator on the video. Of course it is too good to be true. Can you find the catch?

You could as well claim that human beings can run on water. You don’t believe that? I am ready to demonstrate it: give me a bottle of water and I’ll run.

For a clear and scientific elucidation of the Genepax magic trick, I recommend Robert Rapiers’ blog post 'How to run a car on water'.