Permanent Undersea Homes Soon; Temporary Ones Now 122
MMBK writes "Dennis Chamberland is one of the world's preeminent aquanauts. He's worked with NASA to develop living habitats and underwater plant growth labs, among other cool things. His next goal is establishing the world's first permanent underwater colony. This video gets to the heart of his project, literally and figuratively, as most is shot in his underwater habitat, Atlantica, off the coast of Key Largo, FL. The coolest part might be the moon pool, the room you swim into underwater."
seasteading.org (Score:0, Interesting)
In won't be government agencies that will develop the first successful seasteads (and someday spacesteads), it will be the people trying to get away from them!
Funny. (Score:2, Interesting)
I've dove in that lagoon and checked out the labs they have there. One is used as a hotel that you can book a room in, the other is a lab. It cracked me up that through the window of the research lab I could see a small fish tank with a fish in it.
thousands of years doing it already (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why? (Score:2, Interesting)
Like moving to another, living underwater might keep you safe from certain mass extinction events on the surface of the Earth.
We could also build a city a few hundred feet under the surface. Wouldn't be able to sustain it without the resources on the surface for quite a while yet, though.
Hygiene (Score:5, Interesting)
The thing they didn't cover very much, is the one thing that is actually most important: hygiene.
Bacteria and especially fungi absolutely thrive under pressure, and a mild case of Athlete's Foot can rapidly become severe, even hazardous as the infection gets worse. Fungal infections were one of the most serious problems onboard the previous endeavors, as they were impossible to eradicate once established in the living areas. Bacterial infections were even more dangerous, as the partial pressure ratio of gases in the atmosphere-and also the bloodstream-effectively doubles, giving the bugs plenty of fuel.
They did touch on the hygiene issue with the shower, but didn't say why other than the obvious reasons? But if you're going to live underwater, under more than one atmosphere, hygiene becomes absolutely vital.
Re:Why? (Score:1, Interesting)
Once you pass outside of 25 miles off of the coast of the US, you are in international waters. You can do whatever the hell you want to, as long as you don't make a nuisance of yourself. Funny, that's how the US proper used to be...
he's patented the key technology (Score:3, Interesting)
Dennis Chamberland: "So, the key problem is carbon dioxide scrubbing"
Interviewer: "And you've solved it?"
Dennis Chamberland: "Yep!"
Interviewer: "So, what is it?"
Dennis Chamberland: "I'd lose my patent if I told you."
So, basically, he wants us all to live underwater, paying patent royalties to him. You'll be paying for two gas bills- one to heat your underwater habitat, the other to breathe.
I'd really like to know how someone working on this for NASA managed to get a patent. That patent should be public property.
Re:Good luck calling 911 (Score:2, Interesting)
That's a false dichotomy. It's entirely possible to be both.