Artificial gills (human)

Artificial gills (human)

Artificial gills are devices that exist in science fiction, and being developed in reality, to extract oxygen dissolved in water, thus allowing humans to survive underwater.

It is generally thought that they would be unwieldy and bulky, because of the massive amount of water that would have to be processed to extract enough oxygen to supply an active diver, as an alternative to a scuba set. However, Like-A-Fish is an ongoing attempt to develop such a system in the real world.

As sea water contains 7 ppm oxygen, 1,000,000 kg (1,000 tonnes) of sea water holds 7 kg (1,000 short tons holds 14 lb) of O2, the equivalent of 5,350 litres (1,400 U.S. gallons) of oxygen gas at atmospheric pressure.

An average diver with a fully closed-circuit rebreather needs 1 litre (roughly 1 quart) of oxygen per minute. As a result, at least 192 litres (51 gallons) of sea water per minute, or 3.2 liters (3.5 quarts) each second, would have to be passed through the system, and this system would not work in anoxic water.

Natural gills work because nearly all animals with gills are cold-blooded and so need much less oxygen than a warm-blooded animal the same size [http://express.howstuffworks.com/mb-gills.htm Why don't people have gills? ] ] .

Like-A-Fish

Like-A-Fish Technologies is an Israeli business, founded by Alan Bodner in 2001, that is developing a human artificial gill system; they have developed a prototype.Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4665624.stm|title=Inventor develops 'artificial gills'|accessdate=2007-09-14|publisher=BBC News|date=2006-01-31|author=Lakshmi Sandhana] Like-A-Fish's technology uses a centrifuge causing lower pressure at the center, where dissolved air comes out of the water.Cite news|url=http://www.isracast.com/Articles/Article.aspx?ID=63|title=Like A Fish - Revolutionary Underwater Breathing System|accessdate=2007-09-14|publisher=IsraCast|date=2005-12-14|author=Iddo Genuth, Tomer Yaffe]

The key issue remaining is battery life. Currently a one kilo battery would only last for one hour, whereas a regular scuba tank can last longer (depending on depth). The biggest possibilities lie in underwater habitats, which have access to electricity, but need constant refilling of air tanks. Additional possible uses include systems for scuba divers and submarines, among others.

Like-A-Fish currently holds patents in Europe for its system. [cite web|url=http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?IDX=WO0240343| title=Open-circuit Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (WO0240343)|publisher=European Patent Office | accessdate=2007-09-18] [cite web|url=http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?IDX=EP1343683| title=Open-circuit Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (EP1343683)|publisher=European Patent Office | accessdate=2007-09-18]

References

ee also

* Henry's Law
* BioSub
* Scuba set

External links

* [http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/mg18925331.300-breathing-in-oceans-full-of-air.html New Scientist article] - history of attempts to develop artificial gills and the principles and problems involved (subscription required)
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4665624.stm BBC Article] A BBC article about the Like-A-Fish system
*Cite web|url=http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=397|title=Breathe Like A Fish Thanks To Alan Bodner|accessdate=2007-09-14|publisher=Technovelgy.com|year=2005|author=Bill Christensen|work=Science Fiction in the News
* [http://www.likeafish.biz/ www.likeafish.biz Official website]
* [http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=746 'Like A Fish' Underwater Breathing System: Artificial Gills for U.S. Navy SEALs?]
* [http://mindmistress.comicgenesis.com/tidalw17.htm Specific publication reference dates from an unusual source]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Artificial gills — The term artificial gills can mean: *Imitation gills put into stuffed fish for the sake of appearance. See taxidermy. *An inaccurate term for liquid breathing breathing sets. *Artificial gills extracting oxygen from water to supply a diver. See… …   Wikipedia

  • Gill — A gill is an anatomical structure found in many aquatic organisms. It is a respiration organ whose function is the extraction of oxygen from water and the excretion of carbon dioxide. The microscopic structure of a gill is such that it presents a …   Wikipedia

  • Scuba set — A scuba diver in usual sport diving gear A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work… …   Wikipedia

  • Scuba diving — Not to be confused with Self contained breathing apparatus, which describes breathing sets used out of water. Scuba diver Scuba diving ( SCUBA originally being an acronym for self contained underwater breathing apparatus, now widely considered a… …   Wikipedia

  • Liquid breathing — Intervention MeSH D021061 Liquid breathing is a form of respiration in which a normally air breathing organism breathes an oxygen rich liquid (such as a perfluorocarb …   Wikipedia

  • Kagaku Sentai Dynaman — Dynaman redirects here. For the Mega Man enemy, see Robot Master. Kagaku Sentai Dynaman Genre Tokusatsu Created by …   Wikipedia

  • Red blood cell — Human red blood cells (6 8μm) Red blood cells (abbreviated RBCs; also referred to as erythrocytes or simply, as red cells[1]) are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate organism s principal means of delivering oxygen (O2) to the… …   Wikipedia

  • evolution — evolutional, adj. evolutionally, adv. /ev euh looh sheuhn/ or, esp. Brit., /ee veuh /, n. 1. any process of formation or growth; development: the evolution of a language; the evolution of the airplane. 2. a product of such development; something… …   Universalium

  • Life Sciences — ▪ 2009 Introduction Zoology       In 2008 several zoological studies provided new insights into how species life history traits (such as the timing of reproduction or the length of life of adult individuals) are derived in part as responses to… …   Universalium

  • chemoreception — chemoreceptive /kee moh ri sep tiv, kem oh /, adj. /kee moh ri sep sheuhn, kem oh /, n. the physiological response to chemical stimuli. [1915 20; CHEMO + RECEPTION] * * * Sensory process by which organisms respond to external chemical stimuli, by …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”