sanscript: I can't believe that many actually fell for this sort of thing. I'm in no way any chemist, but anyone that has gone through highschool/college should know how one names certain basic compounds:
Mono = 1
di = 2
tri = 3
etc...
H1 is thus monohydrogen or just hydrogen/hydrid, whether it's the first or last compound.
H2 = dihydrogen
O1 = monoxide (oxygen is gas = oxide)
O2 = dioxide (as in
CO2 -
Carbondi
oxide)
O3 = trioxide (ozon)
In other words, dihydrogen-monoxide (H2O) is just plain water.
etna87: I'm not sure why you felt the need to explain that, but whatever. The funniest (or saddest) thing about this hoax is that she "speaks for New Zealand National Party on drug issues" (according to Wikipedia). One could also reinterpret her statement in her maiden speech that water is the "single most important issue facing New Zealand today" accordingly :-D
Actually, now that I think about it, it's probably rather sad. Apparently, nothing has changed after the incident either.
Well, it just came out, besides, I figured later that some might not know this...
But you're right, it is sad actually :). I haven't gone trough the internet to se where it started, how or who... it's not important anyway. However, it never surprises me to se that some people would rather use their energy to preach fear, rather than educate.
bevinator: Well technically the correct name for water is actually "hydrogen hydroxide," but that's just silly. Everybody calls it water.
In SCIENCE, just because something walks like a duck and talks like a duck doesn't necessarily mean anything in the slightest. (Poor Pluto.)
Yup, that sums it up :D