Behavior/Humans

How to Live 13 Days Underwater Using Just Your Urine

And algae...

By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor

18th of April 2007, 13:04 GMT

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This is a real example of efficiency and self-support.

Lloyd Godson, 27, an Australian aquanaut and marine biologist, was able to survive 13 days in an underwater "biosub", breathing oxygen delivered by algae fueled with his own urine and pedaling a bike for electricity, going out unscathed.

The the 2 m (6.6 ft) high yellow steel biosub capsule, with a surface of 2 m (6.6 ft) x 3 m (10 ft), was submerged at a 5m (16.6 ft) depth in an abandoned flooded quarry on wetlands near the southeastern town of Albury, on April 5.

The revolutionary Israeli-developed "Biocoil"

system of green algae employed the nutrients from his urine to multiply while inhaling the carbon dioxide he produced, replaced by oxygen they produced. "I will be glad to get out in the sunshine and fresh air again. I have even had thoughts of running like Forest Gump, and just not stopping!"r elated Godson before surfacing.

Godson was funded in this project after winning a contest run by Australian Geographic. "He was not trying to break any underwater records. It's more of an experiment to use a few scientific concepts. He wanted to live his dream, which was to live underwater," said Godson's partner and support crew member Carolina Sarasiti.

Gordon received meals daily trough a manhole in his base, while the electricity supplied by his bike was completed with that delivered by a bank of onshore solar cells. "A single daily blast of fresh air was also provided from above, after trial and error with levels provided by the algae "biocoil"," said Sarasiti.

Gordon just wanted to check how a closed ecological system can work. "It's never been done before using air from the plants. The experiment had been designed to prove whether an underwater environment could be self-sustaining", added Sarasiti.

Gordon's physical and psychological state was constantly monitored and the data was sent to US for further research. "It's the first time this has been done so it's paving the way for future experiments in this area... like plant-based life-support systems for underwater or space applications, or whatever it may be," he said.

"We got some good data down there so it will be interesting now when we analyze all that and the right people will see it and we'll work on making improvements for the next one."

TAGS:

water | biosub | urine | algae | bike

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