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Man Tries Living Underwater

treehugger.com — A man is going to try living in a sealed box underwater for two weeks, using algae to eat and to produce enough air for him to breathe.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 5, 2007

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  • corduroy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+62Digg headline next week:
    "Man Dies in Sealed Box Underwater, Covered in Algae"

    ;)
  • quickgold192, on 10/12/2007, -5/+63...because experimenting with living practices that could one day help the environment is a non-favorable trait
  • captainpete, on 10/12/2007, -4/+61I'd be more worried about where's he going to take a dump.
  • mc7winkie, on 10/12/2007, -24/+75Did anyone else read it as "Man tries living underwear"?
  • Sagags, on 10/12/2007, -2/+37concept art of his underwater home
    http://www.mobygames.com/images/i/23/49/209449.jpeg
  • Louis11, on 10/12/2007, -0/+33People dugg it.
  • DiggingDeep, on 10/12/2007, -27/+58I think this biologist is in the running for the prestigious Darwin Award.

    I wouldn't want him to die, but from a biological stand point, it'd help the gene pool.
  • lemon67, on 10/12/2007, -6/+35@knoit911

    hes doing it because a cow, llama, monkey, kangaroo....... cant use a bike to generate electricity.
  • AtheistAcolyte, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30@mikefitz2-
    Who knows? Maybe yours will be the exception.
  • DaffyDuck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21You mean eat algae and generate power with a stationary bike? That would be a no.
  • captainpete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Everything makes you fart. At least that's what I tell my girlfriend.
  • dlinkwit27, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15You've never peed in a pool?
  • MercuryOne, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15CNN.com April 10th, 2007

    Noted Marine Biologist Lloyd Godson died yesterday when he was unable to consume enough algae to fart out the oxygen necessary to live. Godson leaves behind two Bonsai trees, ages 6 and 7.
  • wssharp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14"In the modern world we need to remember that the availability of air is reliant on plants, and isn't some commodity that can be bought in a supermarket."

    haven't they heard of Perriair?
  • Gargot, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Not a very varied menu!
  • chesbomb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12i came into this thread thinking somebody was going to die.
  • heythisismyname, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Yah someone needs to tell this guy about submarines.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Sounds like fun!!! *Takes a cardboard box and jumps into a lake*
  • Louis11, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11No worries, the algae will take care of it.
  • dlroo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9So I was reading up on the nutritional value of algae and its actually pretty good. "They are excellent sources of many vitamins including: A, B1, B2, B6, niacin and C. They are rich in iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium and calcium." from wikipedia. So he might do fairly well, if he can stomach two weeks worth of the stuff.
  • kaptainKraken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9@coolestkidalive

    yeah but think of the smell when it comes out.
  • Louis11, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9"air quality stays at a high standard. If it doesn't then that's when I'll implement my back-up strategy." This strategy is, presumably, to get out of the box."

    For a crazed scientist, plan B sure isn't all that interesting.
  • absurdist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7If we don't open the box, is he alive or dead?
  • Poco, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8That is why I clicked on it. I wanted to know what living underwear was.
  • CommunistEagle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Eeew, it's touching me.
  • CaptainEO, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Breaking: Man Tries Living Underwater... in an octopus' garden, in the shade/near a cave.
  • AustinMeoang, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11My dad wears sneakers in the shower.
  • blaze03, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Perhaps he'll have to "recycle" the waste? D:
  • kungfugecko, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8If he's using a bike to power a generator...won't that excersizing expend his air supply pretty quickly?
  • noisician, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4the linked article is perhaps the one with the least info on this project.
    it didn't even mention that he just began his submersion (on April 3)!
    still, it is not exactly clear if there is a specific hypothesis he's testing or any real scientific purpose
    far as i can tell, it is more of a stunt to get kids interested in science and the environment
    which, i suppose, is an OK goal

    articles with slightly more info and a diagram of the "bioSub" --
    http://www.abc.net.au/goulburnmurray/stories/s1764308.htm?backyard
    http://www.abc.net.au/goulburnmurray/stories/s1836790.htm?backyard

    official site --
    http://www.biosub.com.au/the_latest.htmb
  • rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If he brought a few eggs, some hamburger and a bunsen burner, he could make a killer Joe's special.
  • DaffyDuck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Hopefully the box is made of lexan or thick glass so sunlight will allow the algae to grow faster but you still have a point. I'll be surprised if the algae produces enough oxygen for him. It's hard to say without knowing more details about the experiment.
  • mattsemail, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There are also solar panels as a back up if the bike does not produce enough power
  • danpat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I heard an interview on the radio about this with what I think was a former NASA scientist.
    The best quote for the NASA guy was "oh yeah, absolutely, i guarantee within 10 years there will be significant colonies of humans living underwater."
  • theseventhyear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2At least the octopus will let him and knows where he's been
  • merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is basically a small scale, simplified reproduction of biosphere 2.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2
  • theseventhyear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2not only will he have to pedal for hours, but by doing so he will use MORE oxygen!
  • mattsemail, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If something does go wrong there are compressors which will flush the habitat, otherwise he does have his scuba gear close by.
  • sparkysko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2 I don't think he's going to be very successful. The amount of wattage needed for the algae is going to be pretty high. A healthy human can generate up to a constant 80 watts by pedaling. At a minimum, he is going to need 2 watts of fluorescent (or other efficient light, NOT incandescent) per gallon of water that he wants to grow algae in. Ideally he'd have 4 watts per gallon. So that leaves him with about 20 gallons of water to grow his algae in. Even if he could grow enough AND generate enough oxygen, which I doubt. He'd need to consume 800,000 calories to generate the necessary 960 watt hours to power these 80 watt lights for 12 hours. (250 calories = 0.3 watt hours). You couldn't eat that much or sustain the bike that long.
  • koozebane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1After Sealab 2021, this all seems rather anticlimactic.
  • LocalDocal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Notice how it says "presumably."

    For all we know, his actual Plan B may run more along the lines of telepathically calling the Fishes of the sea for help.
  • ncurses, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If the box is light tight won't he die? Isn't he creating a closed system, meaning that the second law of thermodynamics forbids that he could live in the box indefinitely?
  • noisician, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@gumon
    that is at least part of his point - that planet earth is a self-sustaining container. we can live only in symbiosis with the rest of the ecosystem.

    "By sealing the box he is making a powerful statement, that much of what a human needs comes from a reciprocal cycle with nature. In the modern world we need to remember that the availability of air is reliant on plants, and isn't some commodity that can be bought in a supermarket."

    but yeah, more info would have been helpful.
  • Earlofnecromium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1please god give him a darwin award in advance.
  • exodii, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11. Live underwater.
    2. ???
    3. Profit!!
  • secondimpact, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh cool a David Blaine trick..

    No wait..
  • PabloMac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"...the availability of air is reliant on plants, and isn't some commodity that can be bought in a supermarket."

    He will be keeping some non-commoditized air as a backup, though.
  • wh00dini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1VIVA LOS BIO-DOME!!!
  • nomadxx7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am a little confused. Is he going to be submerged in the water or living in an air bubble created by the algae while underwater? If it is the prior than David Blaine tried that for a week and damn near died. If it is the later than I say go for it. Hopefully he has done the calculations correctly and the equipment is working properly. Nothing like dosing off and not waking because your equipment failed and the CO2 levels kept rising as you were sleeping. Hopefully we won't see a headline of how he failed this experiment.
  • DeskFlyer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Mmmmm...........algae.
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