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Permanent Undersea Homes Soon; Temporary Ones Now

Posted by timothy on from the meet-our-butcher-dexter dept.

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."

5 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. Cousteau by flyingfsck · · Score: 2, Informative

    It was tried in the 1960s in the Red Sea

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
    1. Re:Cousteau by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      One interesting problem that they encountered was human waste disposal.

      Their first approach was to vent it into the surrounding water directly. They had to stop doing this after the turds started floating to the surface and lingering. Most people don't realize this, but the Red Sea is actually quite calm due to it almost being a lake. These lingering turds posed a health risk, so they had to find an alternative method.

      Their next approach was to store the feces and urine in plastic bags. This proved to be a better solution, but often times they suffered from burst bags that spilled their contents all over, a shortage of bags, and stockpiles of bags when a trip to the surface had to be postponed.

      The project was canceled at this point, so they never tried any additional methods.

  2. Re:Good luck calling 911 by urusan · · Score: 3, Informative

    In the video he specifically addresses these concerns.

    It's not an exile. You can go outside into the surrounding sea and to the surface (either by swimming there directly or taking a vehicle).

    Not everything needs to be made underwater. Trade between land and sea will be important. The goal is merely to make that capacity available. Furthermore, even if everything is made underwater it won't be a single habitat that is self-sufficient, but rather a whole community of habitats. Friends, jobs, shopping, etc. will be available within the undersea community.

    It would certainly be very different, but I'm sure some people will like that a lot. Others may be willing to put up with the differences for other reasons, such as getting away from a government regime they strongly disagree with.

    The lack of sunshine issue you mention is a concern, but it does not seem insurmountable. Perhaps a sun lamp and vitamin D supplements would do the trick?

  3. Anybody Remember Seaquest by rossdee · · Score: 1, Informative

    There was a SciFi series called Seaquest DSV Starring Roy Sheider. TheSub of the title went round patrolling among undersea colonies.
    The second season was called Seaquest 2032.

  4. Re:Why? by DavidShor · · Score: 4, Informative

    Birth-rates decrease as living standards go up, which is why Japan and most of Europe are below replacement level. Latest estimate is that the world stabilizes at 9-10 billion.