According to Einstein’s theory of special relativity, virtually everything with mass can be turned into energy. That, as Sherlock Holmes would say, is elementary. Outside of Albert Einstein’s work, and far beyond the borders of any conceivable logic, however, many desperate for either fame or for a solution to the so-called ‘Energy Crisis’ have become convinced that saltwater can not only be converted to energy, but can be a source of cheap, useful power.

Take, for example, this video. In it, an unidentified reporter visits the home of John Kanzius, an American inventor who discovered a fairly effective way of separating hydrogen and oxygen from a saline solution using radio waves. The result is a bright, colorful flame as the hydrogen is ignited the instant it separates from its oxygen bonds. The water appears to burn like a fuel.

What the reporter, who is, at best, naive, then claims is where the bad science rears its ugly visage. As is perhaps expected, he claims that salt water can thus be used as a fuel, and, even worse, that scientists are “baffled” by the chemical reaction.

Let’s start with that first part. Although there is an output of energy as Kanzius directs radio waves to the solution, the water, first, is not burning. The hydrogen is. Though this bright, hydrogen-burning flame may seem impressive, it is not, truly, a significant output of energy. Quite simply, more energy is going into the system (via the radio wave transmissions) than is coming out, instantly destroying any claim that this salt water can be used as an alternative fuel. I’ll repeat that: The experiment results in a loss of energy, not a gain.

I’ll lend Mr. Kanzius the benefit of the doubt and assume that his goal is not that to achieve fame through bad science. At least here, this is a case of news reporting dismissing science entirely for a big story. Mr. Kanzius himself, on several occasions has admitted that this does not mean saline can be used as a source of fuel. There is, however, the problem of that last part of the video clip, where he says downright that this chemical reaction could be a method of powering an automobile. Whether this is a result of poor editing or a true claim, I can’t say for certain. What I will say is that it’s wrong, wrong, wrong.

And then there’s that second part, where the unidentified man claims that scientists have been left “baffled” by the experiment. I won’t waste much time on this, so I’ll just go ahead and state that this is utter trash. There is no question as to what’s occurring in the experiment, and I have very, very little doubt that there isn’t a true scientist anywhere in the world who could be baffled by the notion that things burn.

So what are we left with? Well, an admittedly cool experiment, but nothing closer to ending our fossil-fuel woes. We’re also perhaps left with a little bit of knowledge: If the media claims that something has “baffled” scientists, well, it probably isn’t science.