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Permanent Undersea Homes Soon; Temporary Ones Now
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."
It was tried in the 1960s in the Red Sea
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
I hope to god this doesn't turn into a real life Bioshock... or maybe not, Rapture seems like a cool idea without the Adam mutated splicers.
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.
Thank you for that lame song in my head all day.
You're kidding me right?
Deliveries go to a PO box at a nearby port (for now, otherwise in the future you can bet UPS will have subs -- business will adapt). Service calls would be handled by the local techs in the /community/, fresh water will of course have to be shipped in or desalinated, poop will feed the plants (or the kelp, it's the freakin ocean, plenty of things poop in it as-is (including us)), electric comes from whatever the handiest source happens to be (there's always tidal but I would say geothermic will become dominant, it might even drive research for these habitats). Who the hell would use gas down there? Hello, closed space...
Concerning natural disasters I'd probably want to be at the bottom of the ocean during anything you can possibly think of, so long as i'm not sitting on top of one of the many fault lines that are under the ocean. You would be untouched by pretty much anything else short of a catastrophic impact event. Aliens might even miss you when they scan the planet while invading, for all the good it would do!
Watercooling your servers would be a nightmare, salt corrodes such things quickly. It'll be bad enough with the salt water in the air. Would make for a good intercooler for an oil bath of some kind though!
I think it's possible and expect to see it within my lifetime. I just don't think many people will buy in to it but we're not really "there" yet. But we will be.
Various Sea Gypsy cultures have been living out their entire lives on the water surface for eons.
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?
Having lived below sea level in Holland for the most of my life: duh.
The only difference between "crackpot" and "visionary" is the degree of of appeal the crack/vision holds for you.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Leela: "Five thousand feet!"
Farnsworth: "Dear Lord! That's over one hundred and fifty athmospheres of pressure."
Fry: "How many athmospheres can the ship withstand?"
Farnsworth: "Well, it's a space ship. So I'd say anywhere between zero and one."
Here we go - just start replacing current coastal buildings with these, and when the sea level rises 8 or 10 feet, everyone will be ready.
[JohnHodgemanVoice]You're welcome![/JohnHodgemanVoice]
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Some people have brought up sea-steading or escaping tyrannical governments, but wouldn't a cruise ships fill that role more effectively at a fraction of the cost? (That's assuming the thinking of the movement is sound. The French are not exactly tyrants, but they had no problem bombing that green-peace vessel in the 80's. If you're rich enough to live in an underwater city, you're probably better off buying your way into to a nice Western Country...)
Maybe I'm missing something. Feel free to fill me in.
Homer: Stupid Flounders
The MAFIAA is a bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes
They really need to beware of predatory lending practices when financing these habitats... they could very easily become underwater on their mortgage!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
There have been underwater habitats off of key largo for a while now, since the sixties, at least, and from what I've seen (in ads for UW vacations, and a discovery special about a UMD research vessel) they're pretty cramped. Also, they're saturation dives albeit shallow ones.
I wouldn't want to live in anything with a moon pool for the saturation reason alone, leaving out the small space and constant danger. It certainly wouldn't be a good place to raise a family (what would extended saturation dives do for children's developing bones, I wonder.)
Considering the expense and danger, these things will always be just a curiosity. A pretty neat one, though. I wish they'd kept the Abyss set open for dive tourism. That would've been a pretty awesome dive.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
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.
[End Of Line]
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.
Please help metamoderate.
> Yeah I'm torn between "visionary" and "crackpot."
That's a false dichotomy. It's entirely possible to be both.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.