Breathing liquid?

[Ice9]

I'll go on record as saying, human lungs will never be able to handle breathing liquid. Maybe 200 years from now, when someone invents some kind of Boose-Einstien condensate that works like a liquid, that has the viscosity of air, then all bets are off. Until then, I remain skeptical.

But wouldn't that be far too cold to inhale and survive?

 

[roakey]

It exists, here it is: LiquiVent (A New Therapeutic Agent for Potential Enhancement of Pulmonary Ventilation Techniques)

Roak

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Not that Wikipedia is an absolute source, this page is an entertaining and thought expanding read;

Liquid Breathing

Trivia for the Abyss is a page that is quoted below;

Fluid breathing is a reality. Five rats were used for five different takes, all of whom survived and were given shots by a vet. The rat that actually appeared in the film died of natural causes a few weeks before the film opened. According to James Cameron, the scene with the rat had to be edited out of the UK movie version because "the Royal Veterinarian felt that it was painful for the rat". James Cameron repeatedly assures that the rats used for this take didn't suffer any harm.

These are hardly credible sources; can anyone link us to facts about whether the rats lived after breathing the liquid?

 

[bolantej]

not that it matters, because if you spring a leak while submerged, you're screwed, just like with air.

 

[roakey]

These are hardly credible sources; can anyone link us to facts about whether the rats lived after breathing the liquid?

I don't know about the rats, but this is a human who breathed LiquiVent and lived:

LiquiVent® Baby

Roak

 

[Bob Vincent]

Well I had enough air in the water ....... But

 

[SNorman]

I thought they used this for some medical procedures? I think I remember reading the liquid is ventilated through the lungs so you don't have to work very hard (if at all) to move the liquid through your lungs.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

But wouldn't that be far too cold to inhale and survive?

There's always somebody wanting to throw a monkey wrench into what was potentially a great idea.

 

[jmichaels]

Does this mean I have to get my tanks inspected AGAIN?

 

[grassyknoll]

Yeah, but who wants to lug around a couple of twin tanks full of fluid?