Man to Live Underwater for 2 Weeks
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 04. 4.07
Marine biologist Lloyd Godson is attempting a brave experiment to investigate sustainable living. He's going to live in a sealed box for two weeks, which will be placed underwater. The experiment is taking place near Albury-Wodonga, in Australia.
Godson will be cultivating algae both as a food source, and to produce oxygen. He will also have electricity via a stationary bike that he's using as a generator.
The air supply is the most important part of the experiment, "We've got some gas monitors and back-up air supplies to make sure that the 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.
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.
MMMmmm.... algae for breakfast, algae for lunch... algae for...
P.S.
I hear they're making a movie about this with Pauly Shore.... oh... nevermind.
This is idiotic... we ALL live in a sealed container... It's called planet earth. So what exactly is he trying to prove?
This reminds me of Biosphere 2 on a much smaller scale. Good luck! Lots of insights can be learned from such experiments (we think we know eveything until we try...).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2
This guy was interviewed on Tripple J yesterday, he's going to demonstrate that algae can be eaten but most of the time a diver will deliver hot food to him.
That thing is going to smell awful! Where will he poop?
ha, you fools
Just you wait. One day you'll be walking through the mall and a hot babe dressed up as a scuba diver will over you a sample breath of Aspen Air or some crap!
That box will stink.
Bring strong drink.
lame ... useless ... boring ... and slimmy
guy should go protest down at Capital Hill if he feels necessity to lunge to free speach
OR actually invent something that will reduce CO2 and replenish O2
the world has enough voices, give them some hands instead already ...
peace Canada
Tune in next week! Man dies trying to Live Under Water for 2 Weeks.
@yaya ESAD.
I think it is good to promte awareness about the fact that we should be concerned about the current environmental conditions of our planet. Maybe that's his point yaya... Y.A.
:D
@Zach... obviously you have no concept of the carbon cycle or how we are currently introducing pollutants which have laid dormant in the Earth's crust for millions of years.
This box will be a complete, contained, example of a recycling environment where carbon is almost perfectly circulated from organism to environment to organism.
So where does he go to the bathroom, and what happens to it?
WHAT IF HE HAS TO POO?!?!?!!!!
or pee for that matter..
You can look at his website www.biosub.com.au
Basically this is a dream of Lloyd's to live underwater and with the environment being such a crucial part of our lives he wanted to highlight the fact.
I have to admire what Lloyd is doing, I don't think I would be able to live underwater in a small steel box while relying on algae to provide me with an atmosphere. I know how much effort has gone into the BioSUB project and it's a huge inspiration for other people to live their dreams.
The website explains the details more in depth.
Well, in my opinion, from the scientific point of view - I think its a daring attempt. I support it. Because people need to realize the importance of trees and other fossil feuls.
We need to re-cycle, preserve, our lifestyles as Kevin W. Weinberg once asked the question: Can social Engg replace Technology?
I think it can.
Interesting that he's growing algae in that little box as his food source. I have been scouring the Internet looking for information on small-scale algaculture for food like that, and I have been woefully unable to find any. There's plenty of information on biodiesel from algae, but very little on growing algae in a small space and using it for food.
I wonder how he's doing it...
I can buy both air and plants -- at commodity prices -- at my local supermarket.
Blahaha!
Wait, what?
This doesn't make any sense. In order for algae to produce oxygen, they need to oxidize the oxygen in water to free the hydrogen for hydrocarbon chains. That oxidation process has a positive delta-H, meaning energy in some for must be inputed. If he's eating the algae, it can't come from the bike generator because all that will do is burn the energy stored in his fats and create a closed cycle. The 2nd law of thermodynamics demands that in this energy transfer, some amount of energy would be lost to heat. So he must be getting energy input from OUTSIDE his closed box, just like the earth closed box system gets energy from the sun.
I mean it would be neat if he could demonstrate this strain of algae as a good source of food AND as a CO2 scrubber, but this project description here is severely lacking.
And one more thing, despite said author's desire to write everything from a wishy-washy grand statement standpoint, closing the box is nothing more than closing a chemical system and allowing for controls on the experiment.
Dobbs,
There is an energy input, I'd imagine. The sun. The sun still shines underwater.
I do agree the description is pretty thin, though. I mean, I'd love to know how he's going to grow algae fast enough to keep himself alive.
from a scintific point of view you go man ... from a sain mans point of view your an idiot
yumm algee