/sci/ - Science & Math

Cons:
1. This is the kind of interior space you get for your money (see pic)
2. Might be difficult to convince most women to live underwater
3. Pets consume oxygen, each family unit can supply for a maximum of six people
4. Insular community, everyone would know about everyone's dirty laundry
5. Power failures would mean temporary evacuation to surface boats
6. Must be a minimum of 12 miles from shore to build freely
7. Colony would be an easy target for terrorists
8. Surfacing may require decompression

Because this is essentially a one man endeavor it's not the grand futuristic vision of undersea colonies we might hope for, but rather a tried and true network of compact interconnected modules. Not steel cylinders thankfully but angular composite kevlar enclosures with acrylic windows.

Pic related, the interior of the prototype. The final family modules will have room to stand up and be about three times as long.

By the way, this is another great book to pick up if you're into this sort of thing. It's just been optioned for film, although I expect they'll fuck it up somehow.

As an aside, this is another great book to pick up if you're into this sort of thing. It's just been optioned for film, although I expect they'll fuck it up somehow.

This was also a handy technical guide to some of the concepts he was discussing.

Also unless you have the budget for a proper minisub, this thing ($7,500) is how you and most other colonists will be getting around.

>>2046485
i'm already living on a cloud

umad, mad scientist?

Undersea homes are actually already available for purchase if you have 1.5 mil laying around, but they're constant 1atm (connected to a surface dock by stairwell) and only 21 feet deep.

If the angular look is startling, realize it's the product of modern materials tech. All older undersea bases used steel cylinders because it was necessary to withstand the water pressure, but the advent of newer materials, particularly composites and high strength plastics has made it possible to build structures which are rectilinear and make better use of space.

Pic related, Seabase 1, open to scientists and "eco tourism": http://www.seabase1.org/

Why exactly would anyone want to do this?

>>2046506

>>Why exactly would anyone want to do this?

Some people want to live in the mountains. Some people want to live in the desert. Some people want to live in the sea.

It's quite beautiful in the first 600 feet, after all. Pic related.

Man, these threads are so hit and miss. Some days they get hundreds of posts, and others, almost none. Could be the fact that it's 5:30am in the states.

I find it incomprehensible that so many would want to live in a space colony, with nothing but radiation blasted vacuum surrounding them, and so few by comparison would want to live in a rich, living system like the ocean.

I'm often a participant in them, but right now I'm way too high to do much.

>>2046525
Well, that's the "last frontier", we forget about the ocean even existing. We are strange animals.

>>2046542

>>Well, that's the "last frontier".

It sure is. But it's not the next one. If we cannot colonize the sea, we cannot colonize space; the sea is cheaper to live within and has more abundant in situ resources, all of which are more valuable (rare metal nodules especially) than what we can get at in space right now.

We have better reason to live in the sea than in space and it's cheaper to to so. We're only just beginning to build in the sea now, with half a dozen high profile projects aimed at permanent seafloor installations. That's a good sign. It means that once civilians living in the sea is commonplace, civilians living in space can't be far behind.

I'd live underwater, but I think the reason people would rather live in space is that it's romanticized a lot. The majesty of the sky is played up a lot more than the majesty of the sea.

The only annoying thing is the power situation. A tethered generator on the surface that could break or sink isn't terribly convenient.

It would certainly be great fun in tropical regions though.

>>2046587

>>The only annoying thing is the power situation. A tethered generator on the surface that could break or sink isn't terribly convenient.

Actually, it'd have to be designed so you could sink it. Otherwise it would be carried off/destroyed by the first hurricane to pass overhead.

One possibility is to have a solar panel each module can raise to the surface on a retracting zipline (with power cord umbilical) that would retract as storms approach. But the "hub" to which the modules connect would need a support buoy with an air compressor, so that the external air tanks could be constantly topped off. That way in the event of a storm, there's plenty of air in reserve to ride it out.

The best solution, but probably very controversial, is a nuclear reactor. The same sort that Navy subs use. It's powerful enough to hydrolize air from seawater, and the other product is hydrogen fuel for submarines powered by fuel cells. It's ideal, except for the political hurdles involved in building a civilian nuclear reactor underwater.

>>2046485
I'd only live in an undersea colony if they had magical syringes lying around everywhere that would make me shoot bees out of my hands.

I'm always kinda confused when people ask why anyone would want to live underwater. Have they seen underwater landscapes? Coral reefs? Seagrass meadows? The shimmering surface as a sort of "sky" overhead? What's not to like?

>>2046620
Indeed. I telecommute anyway, so I'd be happy to live and work underwater.

This is the first colony section, on the left a family unit, on the right the "Leviathan"; a larger section likely to be used as a communal gathering place, for schools, a doctor's practice and so on.

>>2046640
How long is it until these things are built and being deployed?

>>2046651

The manned test of those two modules is in 2012. Both are presently partway through construction, up until recently he had live webcams following the progress, but he seems to be having trouble keeping them online lately.

The central "hub" of the permanent colony, and also the largest undersea habitat ever built, will be sunk in 2014. But that depends largely on the success of the manned tests.

Somewhat unrelated but do you know if anyone has actually built a sizeable luxury sub? US Submarines have had proposed ones on their website for something like 10 years now and I have seen numerous 3d renders from others. I have never been able to find any pictures of one thats actually been built though.

>>2046682

They're for sale, purportedly. In several sizes/pricepoints. But come to think of it you're right, I've never seen one in photographs. Have they not sold any?

Do you have asperger's, or some form of autism, Mad Scientist? Your frequency of posts, and almost aloof style really strikes me that way.

>>2046821
Pretty sure he's just not a native English speaker, bro.

>>2046821

>>Do you have asperger's, or some form of autism, Mad Scientist?

Haha oh god I hope not.

>>Your frequency of posts, and almost aloof style really strikes me that way.

I've been told this, and it's alarming. I don't mean to come across that way and I don't know why I do. It's not intentional at least.

The frequency of the posts was mainly to get all of the relevant info in here, and to keep the thread alive. I posted it when most would either be asleep or at work and only realized that after the fact.

If I ever become a millionaire, I'd be all for it. As it stands, though? I've been in an RV for months at a time, and the novelty wore off pretty quickly. I imagine it'd be the same situation for me if I were to live underseas.

Excuse me if I'm being an idiot, but I assume it would be possible to get a fibre optic internet line that far down?

If so then I'm all for it. Low cost community living of the future, it's a brave new world.

>>2046856

Running a fiber optic cable (as well as a power cable) 12 miles out would be enormously costly in itself.

However if the community were on privately owned land with the consent or even involvement of the owner, it could be much closer to the shore, making direct connectivity with the internet and power grid a lot lower cost.

Best to remember that the price of an undersea dwelling is cheap mainly in comparison to a residence on coastal land; it's still a $35k outlay, and the recurring cost of life support means absolutely everyone must be employed, preferably doing something relevant to the upkeep of the structureor seafood cultivation and export.

The one thing you'll never see in an undersea colony is a hobo.

>>2046525
A hull breech is far less serious in space than several hundred feet below the ocean.

Plus mobility and power generation are easier.

>>2046957

>>A hull breech is far less serious in space than several hundred feet below the ocean.

Depends if it's a 1.6atm or an ambient pressure habitat. If the latter, hull breaches aren't that much of a threat. You can apply some silicone sealant to the breach from outside and let the pressure push it into the cracks.

I don't see the point in living underwater except for "It looks nice if it isn't too deep" argument.

It probably costs a shitload of money to build and maintain those structures. Also, not self sufficient and probably cramped living conditions.

Not to mention constant fear of hull breach, fuck that.

>>2047039

>>It probably costs a shitload of money to build and maintain those structures.

As stated, the initial outlay per family module is $35,000. Of course it's smaller than a typical home and closer to an RV in interior room so that's not as great as it initially sounds. Even so, compared to even the smallest beachside condos, it's nothing.

>>Also, not self sufficient and probably cramped living conditions.

It's more self sufficient than your house. The power will come from a mixture of solar, tidal and (one day) nuclear. The interior room is equivalent to a large RV or mobile home, and while that doesn't suit many, the line of takers will be long enough to populate the colony many times over.

It may seem crazy to you, but some of us prefer compact living space. And there are plenty who, for their own reasons, would prefer to live underwater.

>>2047069
if I can have 1,000 sqft then I'm cool. I am attracted to it but the major disadvantage would be the lack of convenience, if I want a new video game, or internet or other supplies it would be more difficult.