So, how long can you hold your breath underwater?
I bet not as long as Aleix Segura Vendrell from Spain!
A professional free diver, he managed to hold his breath for 24 minutes and 4 seconds, and
I just can't wrap my head around this fact!
But it got me wondering: could people live underwater?
Come to think of it, living underwater would have loads of advantages.
For example, hurricanes and tsunamis wouldn't be dangerous anymore: in a deep-water house,
you wouldn't even feel the raging waves.
People wouldn't need aquariums anymore, what with fish swimming around everywhere.
You wouldn't need a swimming pool if you decided to throw a pool party.
There would be more space for guests, and you’d be able to play hide-and-seek among
the corals.
On a more serious note though, people, unfortunately, aren't designed for living underwater.
Remember how your fingers get wrinkled when you spend too much time in the water?
Now imagine your whole body looking like that!
Eww!
Plus, your muscles are built to help you move on land.
That's why, if you spent all your time underwater, they would atrophy, and you’d become incredibly
weak.
What I mean is that if people had to spend their lives in the water, they’d have to
evolve and turn into a completely different species.
And if you think growing gills would be enough, think again!
Let’s be honest, your limbs aren't the most effective implements when it comes to swimming.
That's why you’d also have to grow fins.
You don't have enough body hair or body fat to stay in the water for a long time and not
get hypothermia.
So, you’d probably need scales.
Plus, if you decided to live in a lake or river, you wouldn't be able to see clearly
because the water wouldn't be that transparent.
But even if you chose the ocean as your new home, you’d have the same problem.
Yes, closer to the ocean surface, the water is much clearer than in any lake.
And your gills would supply you with oxygen, which would prevent you from blacking out
as you move deeper.
But at a depth of 650 ft, it would already be too dark for you to see anything.
And don't forget about the water pressure!
Let's say you decide to avoid these problems altogether and settle in the shallows where
you wouldn't need any pressurized airspace.
But then, how would you communicate with those around you?
Your ears and eyes have been developing for thousands of years to work in the air.
That's why underwater communication would be a huge challenge.
You’d be able to talk if you saved some air in your lungs.
But sooner or later, you’d run out of any way to make your vocal cords vibrate, producing
sound.
Electronics wouldn't work underwater (which you probably know if you've ever dropped your
smartphone in the toilet.
I have).
That means that you’d have to communicate with the help of hand signals.
But I guess darkness, along with murky water, would make communication difficult.
Also, have you ever tried to munch on a hot dog at the bottom of a river?
Yeah?
Tell about it in the comments!
Then you know that eating underwater would be one of the most challenging things.
And finally, the biggest organ of your body, meaning your skin, would have to go through
the toughest trial.
Returning to those wrinkled fingers: this effect is created by tiny bubbles of water
that get trapped between the two layers of your skin.
And the most shocking thing is that it doesn't happen because your body absorbs liquid!
On the contrary, it's a particular way your skin changes to be able to grip stuff when
it's wet!
In other words, if your fingers didn't get pruney, they’d be too slippery for you to
hold onto anything!
This coping mechanism sounds cool, but, in fact, it isn't.
Scientists still don't understand the reasons completely, but when you spend too much time
in the water, your skin starts to break down.
That means developing wounds and infections until eventually, it falls off completely.
Then they call you Lefty.
So, if you lived underwater all the time, you’d need to replace your good old skin
with something completely different!
However, scientists don't deny that one day, genetics might go as far as to modify humans
so that they’re able to live underwater!
Write down in the comments below which modification you’d be looking forward to if you had to
live underwater!
Me, definitely gills!
But wait!
What if people didn't have to change?
What if they just adapted to the existing circumstances?
Nowadays, the idea of the colonization of Mars comes up more and more often.
Meanwhile, people forget that the ocean is much closer and even more livable!
And since the surface of our planet is 71% water, and oceans hold more than 96% of all
this water, why not make it a new home for future generations?
Of course, people would have to deal with a number of serious challenges, like I mentioned
before.
Underwater cities and colonies wouldn't be built deeper than 1,000 feet.
Any deeper than that and the structures, along with their inhabitants, would collapse under
the incredible pressure.
See for yourself: if you went out of the 1,000-ft-deep underwater city without some kind of protection,
like an atmospheric diving suit, you’d be affected by the pressure of 30 atmospheres.
It means that the pressure you’d feel would be 30 times stronger than that on land at
sea level.
Granted, humans are tough creatures and can withstand the pressure of 71 atmospheres.
But only for a short time and not without bad things happening to our bodies.
Yes, the ocean would definitely have a crush on you!
Anyway, even at the depth of 1,000 feet, the walls of the buildings in an underwater city
would have to be super thick and massive.
Only this way would they manage to withstand the water pressure and protect the people
inside.
The colonies would also have to be pressurized.
If they weren't, who knows how it would influence their bodies!
Plus, people wouldn’t only have to solve the problem of oxygen supply, but also figure
out how to maintain the correct ratio of various air components.
That's why there would be a lot of plants in underwater cities.
And special artificial light would help those plants produce oxygen.
One of the main problems in underwater colonies would be an infection.
If someone got sick in such an enclosed space, the virus would spread very fast.
That's why cities would be equipped with huge machines filtering, cleaning, and disinfecting
the air inside.
But at least underwater colonies wouldn't suffer from a lack of food!
Living on the ocean floor, you’d get access to all the seafood you can find there (and
that's a lot!).
People would eat fresh fish, shellfish, and edible kinds of seaweed.
Other traditional foods, like grains, vegetables, or fruit, as well as fresh water, would be
transported to underwater cities through tunnels connected with the surface.
On the other hand, the inhabitants of the ocean colonies would most likely learn new
ways of farming.
They’d probably start to grow salt-tolerant crops!
For example, some plants that grow in salty soil absorb freshwater by making themselves
saltier than their surroundings.
And such plants bring more harvest per acre than, for example, sunflowers.
Or people could set up farms raising shrimp and fish, which are perfect sources of protein.
Thanks to saltwater farming, people would use less freshwater.
No droughts would affect the harvest.
Plus, it would be possible to grow special plants for making ecologically friendly fuel,
such as biodiesel, more cheaply.
There would be a lot of scientists living in underwater colonies.
It would help them to get a better understanding of the processes going on in the ocean.
Also, they’d be researching the ocean floor, looking for new, yet undiscovered resources.
The metals and minerals they might find could be used later in the construction of new underwater
colonies.
And now, I have some good news: the technology to make underwater colonies possible already
exists!
These colonies can easily support up to 100 people, and scientists are working on ways
to make this number bigger.
The main problems so far are creating working evacuation routes, figuring out how to get
enough air, and how to make the environment humid enough (oh, the irony!).
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