Explorer Lives Underwater For 31 Days

Fanghawk

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Explorer Lives Underwater For 31 Days

Fabien Cousteau, the granson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, has spent a month underwater to draw attention to the effects of climate change on the oceans.

<a href=www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/11840-Why-Games-are-Terrible-at-Water>When it comes to spending time underwater, most of us usually measure it based on how long we can hold our breath. For Fabien Cousteau, grandson of famed explorer and conservationist <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cousteau>Jacques Cousteau, a little extra time was required. In an effort to draw attention to ocean issues, and break a record previously set by his elder, Cousteau has completed a mission requiring him to spend 31 days underwater near the Florida Keys.

Back in 1964, <a href=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Without_Sun>Jacques Cousteau spent 30 days underwater for his documentary World Without Sun, proving that it was possible for humans to live and work on the sea floor. For the past month, Fabian has been making a similar attempt, broadcasting his experiences aboard the deep sea lab Aquarius. Located 63 feet below the surface, this is the longest mission undertaken on the Aquarius habitat, which hoped to study the effects of climate change on the reefs.

Cousteau wasn't completely without comforts underwater, as Aquarius is equipped with hot water, air conditioning, and even a mini-kitchen with a fridge and microwave. Regardless, emerging for the first time after 31 days must have been quite a shock; Cousteau specifically noted the impact of feeling sunlight and fresh air for the first time in weeks. The team also had to spend 16 hours in decompression starting Tuesday,

As impressive as the feat may be, it will have even more benefits for the scientific community. Thanks to the benefits of literally living underwater, Cousteau and the researchers were able to gather two years worth of data in the span of a month. They've also left behind monitoring equipment to observe the effects of ocean acidification on the reefs, including coral probes the size of human hair.

Sources: RTE News

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Kuala BangoDango

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Am I missing something here?

This guy is getting attention for living underwater for 31 days? ...63 feet below the surface? ...And somehow he beat a record?

As an ex-submariner for the U.S. Navy I'm a bit confused. As submariners we live for weeks, even months at a time underwater...often at hundreds of feet down. Do we not count or something? Is this "record" for civilians only?

*Edited for spelling mistake.
 

JaceArveduin

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Kuala BangoDango said:
Am I missing something here?

This guy is getting attention for living underwater for 31 days? ...63 feet below the surface? ...And somehow he beat a record?

As an ex-submariner for the U.S. Navy I'm a bit confused. As submariners we live for weeks, even months at a time underwater...often at hundreds of feet down. Do we not count or something? Is this "record" for civilians only?

*Edited for spelling mistake.
Probably does have something to do with being a civilian, and I'm fairly sure it's a good deal smaller than our current subs are.
 

crimson5pheonix

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Kuala BangoDango said:
Am I missing something here?

This guy is getting attention for living underwater for 31 days? ...63 feet below the surface? ...And somehow he beat a record?

As an ex-submariner for the U.S. Navy I'm a bit confused. As submariners we live for weeks, even months at a time underwater...often at hundreds of feet down. Do we not count or something? Is this "record" for civilians only?

*Edited for spelling mistake.
It may be for a permanent underwater station. A sub can rise at any time, but this was in a habitat anchored to the sea floor. Otherwise I'm not sure :\
 

BoogieManFL

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Kuala BangoDango said:
Am I missing something here?

This guy is getting attention for living underwater for 31 days? ...63 feet below the surface? ...And somehow he beat a record?

As an ex-submariner for the U.S. Navy I'm a bit confused. As submariners we live for weeks, even months at a time underwater...often at hundreds of feet down. Do we not count or something? Is this "record" for civilians only?

*Edited for spelling mistake.
Maybe it's the small group of people.. Or purely for non-military purposes. Good question. Isolation would change that for a lot of people I imagine, where on a sub you have duties and people to talk to to help focus your mind and pass the time.


EDIT: Looks like he wasn't alone so that's out.
 

Nurb

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Dec 9, 2008
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It's like a david blaine not-so-magic-trick stunt.... He does it, people know about it, but don't really care and wish they didn't waste time reading about it.
 

lacktheknack

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Nurb said:
It's like a david blaine not-so-magic-trick stunt.... He does it, people know about it, but don't really care and wish they didn't waste time reading about it.
Speak for yourself. I, and I'm sure many, many others, think that the 31-day living under the sea is really cool and I feel enriched from reading about it. Same with David Blaine, he does crazy stuff that stretches the limits of the human body and it's really damn cool.

If you think that this article was a "waste of time" reading, you may wish to abandon internet science/tech news articles altogether.
 

Nurb

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Dec 9, 2008
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lacktheknack said:
Nurb said:
Same with David Blaine, he does crazy stuff that stretches the limits of the human body and it's really damn cool.
You fool, you've doomed us all with those words.

Also:
 

Gethsemani_v1legacy

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Oct 1, 2009
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Kuala BangoDango said:
Am I missing something here?

This guy is getting attention for living underwater for 31 days? ...63 feet below the surface? ...And somehow he beat a record?

As an ex-submariner for the U.S. Navy I'm a bit confused. As submariners we live for weeks, even months at a time underwater...often at hundreds of feet down. Do we not count or something? Is this "record" for civilians only?

*Edited for spelling mistake.
A submarine, while technically submerged, can rise to the surface at any time. This record pertains specifically to living in an underwater station without the ability to get to the surface without leaving the station. But yeah, my first thought was "doesn't the personnel on modern submarines stay under for longer than that?"
 

Thaluikhain

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Eh, I wonder what the crews of SSBNs think about...

Goddamnit, too slow.

...

I was hoping the article itself would say he was living in the water for a month, not just in a submerged thingy, but no.
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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31 day? give me fast internet, provide shipments of supplies and new electronics and ill give you 31 years. no, seriously, the only reason i leave my house, ever, is because i have to go to work or get supplies. id be perfectly happy living alone in isolation if i had internet access.
 

Jessta

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Strazdas said:
31 day? give me fast internet, provide shipments of supplies and new electronics and ill give you 31 years. no, seriously, the only reason i leave my house, ever, is because i have to go to work or get supplies. id be perfectly happy living alone in isolation if i had internet access.
I was thinking about this how would they even get internet under the sea?
Could they like, have a sort of anchored water tight buoy floating above it with a sort of lan line running down a thick rope and a router inside that or something? I mean I imagine having the data run 63 feet would slow things down considerably but still that's feasible right? Or does 63 feet of water just not interfere with internet as bad as I would think it would.
 

Strazdas

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May 28, 2011
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Jessta said:
Strazdas said:
31 day? give me fast internet, provide shipments of supplies and new electronics and ill give you 31 years. no, seriously, the only reason i leave my house, ever, is because i have to go to work or get supplies. id be perfectly happy living alone in isolation if i had internet access.
I was thinking about this how would they even get internet under the sea?
Could they like, have a sort of anchored water tight buoy floating above it with a sort of lan line running down a thick rope and a router inside that or something? I mean I imagine having the data run 63 feet would slow things down considerably but still that's feasible right? Or does 63 feet of water just not interfere with internet as bad as I would think it would.
erm, the intercontinental cables are under the sea.

Move fiberoptics into the underwater station, make the translation to thernet local. its EASY, i got one on my table, i got foberoptics coming straight to my table, its not high technology. Fiberoptics transfer data at the speed of light, so 63 feet would hardly increase your response lag. Of course, it would be wise to secure the cable just so passing by fish dont decide to chew on it or something, but other than that its waterproof already.

I mean, they already had communications in there, im sure he wasnt in dead silence.
 

SadisticFire

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Jessta said:
Strazdas said:
31 day? give me fast internet, provide shipments of supplies and new electronics and ill give you 31 years. no, seriously, the only reason i leave my house, ever, is because i have to go to work or get supplies. id be perfectly happy living alone in isolation if i had internet access.
I was thinking about this how would they even get internet under the sea?
Could they like, have a sort of anchored water tight buoy floating above it with a sort of lan line running down a thick rope and a router inside that or something? I mean I imagine having the data run 63 feet would slow things down considerably but still that's feasible right? Or does 63 feet of water just not interfere with internet as bad as I would think it would.
You'd be correct in thinking you're wrong! Interwebs travel at the speed of light, which in feet, would be 982080000 feet per second. So if you add 63 feet to what ever you using, you not even within a hundreth of a percent of increasing your ping. And honestly, yeah, I could definitely do this too. Regular shipments, a decent gaming PC, internet. The worse that could happen is my feet fall asleep and I pace around a bit in a cramped spot.
I mean I'm month into my summer vacation and I haven't left the house. Can I get recognition now?