Florida Professor Breaks Record For Time Spent Living Underwater 43
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: A US researcher has broken the record for the longest time spent living underwater without depressurization. Joseph Dituri has spent more than 74 days at the bottom of a 30ft-deep lagoon in Key Largo, Florida. And he does not have plans to stop yet. On Sunday, he said he would stay in Jules' Undersea Lodge for at least 100 days.
"The curiosity for discovery has led me here," he said. "My goal from day one has been to inspire generations to come, interview scientists who study life undersea and learn how the human body functions in extreme environments," he added. The previous record for most days spent living underwater at ambient pressure -- 73 -- was established by two professors in 2014 in the same Key Largo lodge. Unlike a submarine, the lodge does not use technology to adjust for the increased underwater pressure.
Prof Dituri -- who also served in the Navy for 28 years -- is teaching his biomedical engineering classes online while he lives in the lagoon, according to the University of South Florida. To keep busy, the professor wakes up at 05:00 each day to exercise. He stays full by reportedly eating protein-heavy meals such as eggs and salmon that he can keep warm with his microwave. And while his underwater stay has proven ground-breaking, he is excited to get back to some above-ground activities. "The thing that I miss the most about being on the surface is literally the sun," he told the Associated Press.
"The curiosity for discovery has led me here," he said. "My goal from day one has been to inspire generations to come, interview scientists who study life undersea and learn how the human body functions in extreme environments," he added. The previous record for most days spent living underwater at ambient pressure -- 73 -- was established by two professors in 2014 in the same Key Largo lodge. Unlike a submarine, the lodge does not use technology to adjust for the increased underwater pressure.
Prof Dituri -- who also served in the Navy for 28 years -- is teaching his biomedical engineering classes online while he lives in the lagoon, according to the University of South Florida. To keep busy, the professor wakes up at 05:00 each day to exercise. He stays full by reportedly eating protein-heavy meals such as eggs and salmon that he can keep warm with his microwave. And while his underwater stay has proven ground-breaking, he is excited to get back to some above-ground activities. "The thing that I miss the most about being on the surface is literally the sun," he told the Associated Press.
Living underwater (Score:3)
So I guess we don't have to worry about sea level rise due to global warming.
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This kind of thing was first done in the Red Sea by Cousteau in the 1960s (The French guy who invented pretty much all scuba gear).
Rather than "invented pretty much all scuba gear," Jacques-Yves Cousteau, along with Émile Gagnan, designed the first reliable and commercially successful open-circuit-demand scuba set [wikipedia.org], known as the Aqua-Lung [wikipedia.org] in 1943 in Nazi-occupied France.
The Future . . . (Score:5, Funny)
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of Florida real estate.
Glad I didn't have to do much scrolling to find this comment. Of course, in south Florida, the future is now - it's already prone to flooding.
Military (Score:2)
What about military subs.
I was under the impression that SSBN subs like Ohio class, regularly spend months underwater.
Unlike this guy, they have no windows(and they are deep enough they couldn't see anything, even if they did), internet, or the ability to leave whenever they want.
Re:Military (Score:5, Informative)
Well, submarines maintain atmospheric internal pressure, and from what the article says this habitat has a pressure equivalent to the water at depth? So at 30ft about 2 atmospheres.
Re: Military (Score:2)
Thanks, that explains it.
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What about military subs.
Line 6 of the linked article: "Unlike a submarine, the lodge does not use technology to adjust for the increased underwater pressure."
Re: Military (Score:2)
This is Slashdot, you couldn't have honestly expected me to read all the way to line 6.
Also there are subs that keep at least part of the sub at depth pressures for extended times for saturation diving it looks like they can keep the sailors at deep pressures for weeks.
in saturation diving to house divers under pressure for the duration of the project or several days to weeks, as appropriate. The occupants are decompressed to surface pressure only once, at the end of their tour of duty.
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Well, we could have hoped that you'd do the author the simple decency of reading what they wrote. But you're right - this is Slashdot ; expecting reasonable behaviour from the denizens is too much to expect.
That would e a hell of a lot of investment in equipment and volume of equipment. You'd have to have a su
9 meters below sea level (Score:2)
Amazing that he could survive there for so long.
The average basement in any major city is deeper than that.
Not your Average Basement (Score:4, Insightful)
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I must admit, I'm equally confused. How is the air pressurised to be double that of normal air? What's the difference between him being in an air-bubble at 30ft down, and in the lower basement of a skyscraper? How does the bubble he's living in keep the water out? Surely if there's a pump, then someone is CHOOSING to keep the air pressure twice as high as it would be at the surface? Because... If I was in an airtight box 30 ft under the water, then couldn't the air in my box be at normal 1 atmosphere pressu
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Thank you, I greatly appreciate your reply. There is still one thing confusing me though:
there is a hole in the floor that is direct access to the undersea environment
If I submerge a metal tank underwater and drill a hole in the bottom so there is "direct access to the undersea environment", water gushes into that hole and the air is pushed out, isn't it?
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https://www.mrdf.org/project-n... [mrdf.org] : "During the 100 days, Dr. Dituri will be conducting ongoing testing of his own vital statistics, with the :
* Pre and post weight with two different methods for body mass control – bike / low impulse voltage (Akin to space station research) along with musculature measurements arm chest and back (comparison to see if size decreased)
* EEG Pre/ post and one per week to test brain activity
* EKG using state of the art waterproof sensors / heart rate variability as a means
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It's exactly the same as scuba diving. You have to equalize the pressure inside your lungs (and ears) to the ambient pressure, otherwise you can cause serious injuries or death.
We know you can dive to 10 meters easily. There's no concern with using normal are due to any oxygen toxicity or nitrogen narcosis (https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/injuries-and-poisoning/diving-and-compressed-air-injuries/gas-toxicity-during-diving)
The novelty here is how long he's spending living at this pressure. That's not somethi
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Obviously the vessel, not the air pressure, is what keeps the water out. Obviously there is no reason to over pressure the vessel. I would suspect he I may be over an atmosphere but no where near two.
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We can live at a range of pressures. The people of La Paz live at 2/3 atm.
Indeed we can but that range is from atmospheric pressure and below because there is nowhere on Earth that is deep enough and where people live to double atmospheric pressure there. Hence, we know that we can live for extended periods at lower pressure but not really at higher pressure - although I would agree that I would expect that modest over pressure cause no issues.
Obviously the vessel, not the air pressure, is what keeps the water out. Obviously there is no reason to over pressure the vessel.
Neither of those statements are at all "obvious" and based on the description neither are correct. It says that the lodge does not use te
Still have to care⦠(Score:1)
Tourist Attraction (Score:3)
The article is woefully lacking in details, but from the look of it Jules Undersea Lodge is actually a tourist attraction for divers. It doesn't look like any real research is conducted there. The hotel is open the the public and anyone can reserve a room for $1,125 a night. I'm sure plenty of people have tested the effects of extreme pressure on the human body before, so what does Dr Deep Sea hope to learn by eating salmon and eggs under the sea? It must reek in there.
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The same physics applies at increased pressure. Anyway, most toilets operate on hydrostatic pressure due to elevation change, and don't require pressurized water to flush. Ultimately your poo either flows downhill naturally or a lift station pumps it to a higher elevation so it can flow downhill to a treatment plant. The same principle would work on at any pressure. Centrifugal pumps are "constant head generating" devices, so they add to the existing inlet pressure.
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so what does Dr Deep Sea hope to learn by eating salmon and eggs under the sea? It must reek in there.
According to a movie Disney recently remade, "it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me."
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the message is clear (Score:2)
Ben Shapiro (Score:2)
60 years ago (Score:2)
Jacques Cousteau did a similar sort of thing back in '63
Anything! (Score:5, Funny)
These professors will do ANYTHING to not have to deal with students.
Florida man... (Score:2)
nuf said
asterisk (Score:2)
He reminds me a bit of John McAfee (Score:2)
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This is crazy (Score:1)