Dean Kamen's water purification machine

[fiddlesticks]

@DanBlather

I think the whole thing is a scam. I looked for “prettygirlsmovingheavythings.com” and it wasn’t there.

WHAT? To GoDaddy.com!!!

[susan]

@even sven

Of course, there is a quick easy way to purify water contaminated by your standard paracites and bacteria- boil it. The problem is convincing people that it is a neccesary step (I often can’t be bothered myself, and have paid for it dearly pretty often) and making sure they have the firewood and time to do this.

Having firewood is a problem. This technology isn’t intended for a camping trip, but for people without access to resources and infrastructures.

[aerodave]

@Unintentionally Blank

Dija know he sponsors High School kids learning robotics? (google Kamen and FIRST)

Not just high school…FIRST reaches all the way down to grade school, with the FIRST Lego League. even 4th graders are out there competing with LEGO robots of their own design. I’m heavily involved in FLL myself, and so I get to see some of the ground-level impact of one of the many things Kamen has started. Besides being great for the kids, it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

[Voyager]

@even sven

Of course, there is a quick easy way to purify water contaminated by your standard paracites and bacteria- boil it. The problem is convincing people that it is a neccesary step (I often can’t be bothered myself, and have paid for it dearly pretty often) and making sure they have the firewood and time to do this.

Boiling is fine for bacteria, but the Kamen machine would also handle water with mud, sewage and Tostitos. Plus, it seems more of a start and forget thing than boiling is. We boiled our water all the time when we lived in the Congo, in Leopoldville, back when it was called that, and it was a big pain - but better than the alternative.

[Tuckerfan]

@Mangetout

It will work well in situations where the problem is parasites or pathogens or salts in the water - which, yes, is most of the problem drinking water scenarios. Although industrial pollution is not an insignificant concern, and this machine won’t be able to help in all of those cases.

I mean, I think it’s a great idea, and I just hope it lives up to the hype - because there’s quite a bit of it, The Segway didn’t.

You know that the Segway is just a way to reduce the costs of the wheelchair as the Segway uses the same electronics and software as the wheelchair. Kamen’s really not concerned if the Segway takes over the world or not, he’s just got to move enough of them to help him keep the wheelchair costs down.