TEDx is all wet

In the latest example of TED Spread, we see that a TEDx event in Maksimir gave a slot to scam artist Ivan Jakobović who claims to have converted a car to use water as a fuel.

The supposed mechanism is that the hydrogen and the oxygen atoms in the water are separated so the hydrogen can be burned, but that separation process uses more energy than the burnt hydrogen generates.

A skeptical blogger posted on the TEDx events organizing page that Jakobović is a scam artist and got into an email exchange with the organizers as well and ended up banned from the event.

I can't say I'm surprised, of course. TED and TEDx events are ripe pickings for faux-intellectuals, scam artists and fools who are able to give a presentation. This events location in an obscure nation shows there are too many events for the central organizers to manage beforehand. There are plenty of good TED talks, but viewers can't see it as a place to let their skeptical guard down.