Nitrogen Absorbtion at 2-3' mark?

[HowardE]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Take a deep breath. David Blaine's latest stunt is spending a week living in an 8-foot acrylic sphere filled with water.

The 33-year-old magician, shirtless and with an oxygen tube in his mouth, slid into his snow globe-like "human aquarium" Monday at Lincoln Center.

In a week, he will remove the device and attempt to hold his breath underwater longer than the record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds.

He also will try to escape from 150 pounds of chains and handcuffs during the breath-holding finale, which will air live in a two-hour ABC special, "David Blaine: Drowned Alive," on May 8 (8 p.m. EDT).

"As a kid, I always was obsessed with Houdini," Blaine explained Monday.

"I don't think about death, but I am prepared for it," he said, adding that his only fear is "the fear of the unknown."

Blaine said he started training in December, with some help from U.S. Navy SEALS. He lost 50 pounds so his body would require less oxygen.

The water in the sphere will be kept at a balanced temperature to help keep his core temperature near 98.6 degrees. His gear includes a diving helmet that allows two-way communication with his support team.

Blaine invites visitors to stop by and wave at him. The water should be nice and clear; he will be fed and, uh, relieve himself by tubes.

His previous feats of endurance include balancing on a small platform for 35 hours, being buried alive in a see-through coffin for a week and surviving inside a massive block of ice for 61 hours. In 2003, he fasted for 44 days in a suspended acrylic box over the Thames River in London.

Although it says he has an oxygen tube... I doubt it's oxygen.

 

[gcbryan]

He said: "...is breathing the equivalent of 86.181% Nitrogen."

Is that any better? If he goes deeper is he breathing the equivalent of 110% Nitrogen?

 

[Charlie99]

If he goes deeper is he breathing the equivalent of 110% Nitrogen?

Yes. I would prefer to call it 1.1ata ppN2, but it is the equivalent of 110% N2 at sea level.

You can see the same sort of relationship with your O2 analyzer. The scale reads in %, even though it is really measuring ppO2. Calibrate your O2 monitor at sea level, then take it into a dry chamber at 33' and it will read 72% when measuring EAN36. Were it not offscale on most analyzers, when you measure EAN36 at 66' depth, it would read 108%.

GCBryan, go back and look again at the post you originally objected to. It is clear that elcameroon understands the difference between partial pressure and % of each gas in a mix.

There are additional trace elements but lets keep it simple. 3' is 12/11's atmospheres of pressure = 1.091 ata. That mean's that Mr. blaine is breathing the equivalent of 86.181% Nitrogen.

 

[gcbryan]

Yes. I would prefer to call it 1.1ata ppN2, but it is the equivalent of 110% N2 at sea level.

You can see the same sort of relationship with your O2 analyzer. The scale reads in %, even though it is really measuring ppO2. Calibrate your O2 monitor at sea level, then take it into a dry chamber at 33' and it will read 72% when measuring EAN36. Were it not offscale on most analyzers, when you measure EAN36 at 66' depth, it would read 108%.

GCBryan, go back and look again at the post you originally objected to. It is clear that elcameroon understands the difference between partial pressure and % of each gas in a mix.

This will be my last post on this subject but there is no equivalent to 110% N2 at sea level because you can't have 110% (more than 100%) at sea level.

 

[scubapolly]

Although it says he has an oxygen tube... I doubt it's oxygen.

If it was 100% O2 he'd have to take air breaks to avoid total body toxicity.

Might be nitrox though.

 

[HowardE]

If it was 100% O2 he'd have to take air breaks to avoid total body toxicity.

Might be nitrox though.

The media outlets almost always call it "oxygen" - that's all I was saying. I don't think he's on pure O2.

 

[serambin]

This will be my last post on this subject but there is no equivalent to 110% N2 at sea level because you can't have 110% (more than 100%) at sea level.

1. He isn't at sealevel, so the pressure isn't 1 bar on the surface.

2. Who cares if he gets bend, dumb stunt. Only in America...

 

[ScubaMike14]

1. He isn't at sealevel, so the pressure isn't 1 bar on the surface.

Actually Lincoln Center in New York City is probably 1 to 2 feet above sea level (give or take). And it appears that the "orb" he is in, is on a pedestal. So I'd guess that in reality he is about 10 to 12 feet above sea level.

Mike Rushton

 

[doctormike]

Here are my pix of this guy... I stumbled across him dinner at Rosa Mexicana near Lincoln Center...! Good thing I had my camera with me. I went back the next morning around 6 AM when there were no crowds...

http://homepage.mac.com/mikerothschild/temp/PhotoAlbum264.html

(A few of my dive photos from Scuba Club Cozumel are on the same page as well)

Sounds like he didn't make the apnea record he was hoping for at the end of the stunt anyway, he got pulled out after about 7 minutes. Even if he did break the announced record, it sounds like it wound't have counted anyway:

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blaine :

"On May 1, 2006, Blaine was submerged in an 8-foot diameter, water-filled sphere (isotonic saline, 0.9% salt) in front of the Lincoln Center in New York for a planned 7 days and 7 nights, using tubes for air and nutrition. He concluded this event by attempting to hold his breath underwater to break the world record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds. In a change to the original stunt plans, whilst attempting to break this record, Blaine also tried to free himself from handcuffs and chains put on him upon coming out after the week in the sphere.[2] Blaine held his breath for seven minutes and eight seconds before being pulled up by the support divers, thus failing in his attempt.
Before the stunt, Mark Harris of the British Free Diving Association spoke out, saying that Blaine would have an unfair advantage. "[Since] he will be breathing compressed air under water... he will have a much higher concentration of oxygen molecules... in competitive freediving, we are positively banned from breathing pure oxygen before the event."[3]

Even if Blaine had succeeded in holding his breath for more than eight minutes and fifty-eight seconds, the feat would not have been officially recognized as a new world record. This is due to the fact that judges from the International Association for the Development of Apnea (IADA) would have had to be present to verify that Blaine breathed no pure oxygen for at least two hours prior to beginning his attempt at the world record. The world record for holding one's breath after having breathed pure oxygen is actually closer to fifteen minutes.[4]

He did nonetheless succeed in setting a record for being fully submerged in water for more than 7 days straight (170+ hours). It remains to be seen, however, whether this feat shall be recognized by the various record-keeping insitutions, e.g. Guinness World Records."

 

[Misplaced Priority]

I don't think, in my edumacated guess, that the nitrogen absorption is an issue. But, I wonder what effect if any breathing compressed air for a week could have on the lungs. Seems as though it could at least be irritating to the tissues. Good visibility for Sherwood though.