Life Aquatic With Nutjob
By Sarah Gillham
The lengths people will go to in the name of science will never cease to amaze me. 'Googling' this notion finds 'scientists' baking themselves in ovens to see what will happen; living in barrels to more readily formulate philosophies...the list goes on. Today however we will concentrate on the most recent crazy scientist who has recently re-surfaced after a 12-day 'ordeal' in an underwater capsule where he survived only by the O2 created from algae and electricity generated from his own peddle power.
All in the name of demonstrating the principle of sustainability in a closed ecological system, Lloyd Godson, the crazy Australian scientist, had his capsule (with him inside), submerged at the bottom of a flooded quarry on the New South Wales/Victoria border.
As the capsule measured just 9m2 Godson was in danger of the nauseating effects of claustrophobia however found he only suffered a mild case of cabin fever, stating "It starts to play on your mind a bit after 12 days obviously. You start to get a bit of cabin fever, but you know I handled it surprisingly well. I thought it was going to drive me a bit more nuts than it did."
"It's nice to feel the sunshine on the face and the breeze here", he said upon re-entry of dry land.
In case you fancy doing your bit for the environment and trying this yourself, Godson provided his O2 using an Israeli developed 'Biocoil' system and algae drenched with his own urine, now available at your local Toys 'R' Us, or so I've been told.
Surprisingly, Godson received funding for his unusual project from the Australian Geographic magazine. A psychiatrist, I mean psychologist, also monitored him remotely during his stay at the bottom of the quarry.
It is thought that the results of his findings could provide information on the pressures of living in a foreign environment whilst also aiding planning for future underwater or space travel.
Godson strongly believes that his work is paving the way for 'plant-based life support systems' for such applications. So watch this space - or not, as the case may be!
If you thought that was madness, try these for size:
Crazy chemistry
Microwave madness
Stress makes you stupid
All in the name of demonstrating the principle of sustainability in a closed ecological system, Lloyd Godson, the crazy Australian scientist, had his capsule (with him inside), submerged at the bottom of a flooded quarry on the New South Wales/Victoria border.
As the capsule measured just 9m2 Godson was in danger of the nauseating effects of claustrophobia however found he only suffered a mild case of cabin fever, stating "It starts to play on your mind a bit after 12 days obviously. You start to get a bit of cabin fever, but you know I handled it surprisingly well. I thought it was going to drive me a bit more nuts than it did."
"It's nice to feel the sunshine on the face and the breeze here", he said upon re-entry of dry land.
In case you fancy doing your bit for the environment and trying this yourself, Godson provided his O2 using an Israeli developed 'Biocoil' system and algae drenched with his own urine, now available at your local Toys 'R' Us, or so I've been told.
Surprisingly, Godson received funding for his unusual project from the Australian Geographic magazine. A psychiatrist, I mean psychologist, also monitored him remotely during his stay at the bottom of the quarry.
It is thought that the results of his findings could provide information on the pressures of living in a foreign environment whilst also aiding planning for future underwater or space travel.
Godson strongly believes that his work is paving the way for 'plant-based life support systems' for such applications. So watch this space - or not, as the case may be!
If you thought that was madness, try these for size:
Crazy chemistry
Microwave madness
Stress makes you stupid
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