Breathe Under Water Without Oxygen Tanks

[BJ_M]

Charlie Paglee writes "An Israeli inventor has developed a way for divers to breathe underwater without cumbersome oxygen tanks. His apparatus makes use of the air that is dissolved in water like the gills of a fish. With patents in Europe and the USA how long will it take for someone to use this to swim the English Channel underwater?"

http://www.isracast.com/tech_news/310505_tech.htm

[thecoalman]

I often wonder when you see something like this if it hasn't already developed by someone outside of the private sector. Obviously this would have military use.

[shelbyGT]

Hello, James Bond had this YEARS ago!

[thecoalman]

Hello, James Bond had this YEARS ago!

Captain Nemo had it nearly 150 years ago. :P

[ZAPPER]

Draeger (sp) rebreather? NASA had somekind of rebreather that was suposed to be good for like thirty days. I think that some cave explores used some of these like 30 million dollar units to check out some cave somewhere. (I could be wrong) Your average rebreather as I know is still a serious peice of hardware. I have seen a prototype of a tube and scrubber that reminded me of a Hawaiwn lay that floats around your neck. It may be on the market or on the wayside by now.

Given the volume of air that you inhale you only use a small percentage of actual oxygen. You can't go straight Oxygen either you will need other gas to dilute it. It sounds like when all of the kinks get worked out it will be a fun toy. ( My fingers are getting pruned just thinking about it)

[BJ_M]

you are thinking of closed loop systems as used for cave diving ... they use scrubber tech and are expensive (not 30 million though) ... same thing that keeps breaking down on the space (lab) junk floating somewhere up there.

you could go up to 24hours on a closed loop system - but are limited to much less than this for safety reasons (i think 12 hours max, 8 hours working)

[ZAPPER]

you are thinking of closed loop systems as used for cave diving ... they use scrubber tech and are expensive (not 30 million though) ... same thing that keeps breaking down on the space (lab) junk floating somewhere up there.

you could go up to 24hours on a closed loop system - but are limited to much less than this for safety reasons (i think 12 hours max, 8 hours working)

I don't think that an eight hour backpack would have impressed me. I could be wrong, but I thought that I had heard 30 day/$30 million. It has been awhile and I don't know the source. (may Nat'l Geo or something on the history channel) But something else to think about is gases dissolving in your body at depth. I am a big fellow and don't trust the tables. it only takes one tiny bubble to ruin your day (and life!) Adding too much bottom time is going to have to be re-evaluated.

[smearbrick1]

Anyone remember that stuff they "breathed" in the movie "The Abyss". I actually heard there was fact behind that hollywood magic. That there is actually something like that.

[BJ_M]

at that depth - they breath mostly helium

[garman]

Anyone remember that stuff they "breathed" in the movie "The Abyss". I actually heard there was fact behind that hollywood magic. That there is actually something like that.

Yeah, Ed Harris used liquid oxygen. Not sure if this is hollywood science or legit science. I think having your lungs absorbing liquid O2 would be detrimental to your health. -garman

[BJ_M]

yea == oxygen is toxic at those depths , except in very low concentration ..

oxygen is kind of toxic anywhere in fact -- you can die breathing pure oxygen

[offline]

So is it true at those depths, where helium is
required, the mere taste of alcohol will get you
blind drunk?

[smearbrick1]

Anyone remember that stuff they "breathed" in the movie "The Abyss". I actually heard there was fact behind that hollywood magic. That there is actually something like that.

Yeah, Ed Harris used liquid oxygen. Not sure if this is hollywood science or legit science. I think having your lungs absorbing liquid O2 would be detrimental to your health. -garman

I was reading about this. I guess it is oxygen dissolved in a liquid fluorocarbon. From what I've read, the rat experiment actually took place and actually did work. Some of the commercial names for this are:

LiquiVent
Perflubron

The sites for these particular brands appear to be touting them as a treatment for respiratory disorders. At first glance it appears that they are nothing more than something used in nebulizer treatment, but after some reading, it appears that they actually fill some patients' lungs with this stuff. Strange.

[BJ_M]

liquid fluorocarbon has been used with rates and mice - far cry from liquid oxygen (which would freeze you to death before the oxygen would kill you)

[thevoelk]

I thought Ed Harris was breathing amniotic fluid in "The Abyss". I'm not sure if I spelled it right, but it's the same stuff you would breathe while you're mother was pregnant with you. I haven't seen that movie in years, but I remember a line along the lines of"you're body used to breathe this stuff for nine months, it will remember how". If you've ever taken a scuba diving class (college gym credit) they hammer it into your brain that oxygen becomes toxic to the body at 273 feet below sea level, less if you do high altitude diving.

[vitualis]

It's liquid fluorocarbon and you can breath it if its oxygenated. I'm sure you people must have seen video clips on TV of rats breathing it when it was "cool" in the 1990s.

Breathing amniotic fluid will kill you quick. You don't get your oxygen from amniotic fluid as an foetus.

Regards.

[offline]

No one has attempted to answer my Q.

I know nitrogen narcosis, or O2 toxicity
for that matter, can occur at depths thru
the laws of partial pressures, but is
this the same principle that effects the
uptake of alcohol in minute amounts?
How do fats surrounding indvidual neurons
suddenly become more permeable? Is this
what causes the condition?

[ZAPPER]

No one has attempted to answer my Q.

I know nitrogen narcosis, or O2 toxicity
for that matter, can occur at depths thru
the laws of partial pressures, but is
this the same principle that effects the
uptake of alcohol in minute amounts?
How do fats surrounding indvidual neurons
suddenly become more permeable? Is this
what causes the condition?

Uh, my last biology class was 25 years ago. I don't know what effect alcohol will actually have at depth. I am not sure if O2 levels affect metabolism or how alcohol even works to make you stupid, but when I was younger some freinds and I would swear that breathing from a scuba tank would help sober us up. I would guess that an increase in O2 could help speed up metabolism, but I am sure that there is a limit to what your body can actully do

[BJ_M]

alcohol (and other things) is why I don't remember the answer

[BJ_M]

I have forgotten more than you ever learned and I learned nothing more than you have forgotten ..


bjm - 2005

[BJ_M]

just made that up .... i must be drunk

[BJ_M]

or 6000 feet down

[ZAPPER]

just made that up .... i must be drunk

Try sucking some bottled air and see if it helps one way or the other

[BJ_M]

/me grabs a can of PAM

[BJ_M]

/me calls 911

[ZAPPER]

/me grabs a can of PAM

You need to grab a can of RAID and kill that damb spider!

JK I kind of dig it.

[BJ_M]

I think the cig smoke from the baby irritates it

[ZAPPER]

I think the cig smoke from the baby irritates it

Maybe it attracts it

[Garibaldi]

This looks very interesting!