The ocean floor is to be colonized.

[Anonymous No.1715778]

Gettin' this out of the way up front: If we could discuss the topic without the thread being an endless stream of Bioshock quotes and images, that'd be neat.

Anyway an ex-NASA engineer who specialized in developing small two man habitats for use in training astronauts underwater (as it simulates zero G and working on the exterior of the habitat prepared them to work on the exterior of the space station) is now partway through the construction of the first true seafloor colony. Not a lavish undersea resort like the Poseidon Undersea Resort nor a hotel like the Jules Undersea Lodge, but genuinely open to ordinary people provided they are willing to make it their permanent residence, living, working and raising a family underwater.

The pic is the two habitats nearing completion. They will be joined once sunk, not on the surface, as practice for expanding the colony in the future. They're modular and identical so they can potentially be mass produced, arranged around a central hub (yet to be built, the Scott Carpenter Station) and serviced by three boats and a submarine (which have alread ybeen bought, and are operational).

There are lots of potential benefits to living on the sea floor but the initial investment is high. If he's the first to build a proper city underwater and monetize it, others would follow. It would mean the dawn of a new age of exploration and conquest, a whole new frontier to settle.

http://underseacolony.com/

[Anonymous No.1715793]

I am uneasy about this.
I feel that living underwater, while fucking cool, may have serious implications towards human health in the long run.

[Anonymous No.1715811]

>There are lots of potential benefits to living on the sea floor


LOLOLOLOLOLOL

Like what?

[Anonymous No.1715816]

This would surely turn out to be a good idea.

I say put this guy in charge. He's very Captain-like.

[Anonymous No.1715839]

>>1715793

>>may have serious implications towards human health in the long run.

That's why we gave up, originally. Back in the 70s there were hundreds of experimental undersea habitats worldwide, mainly used for science or oil exploration. But a habitat open to the sea, we discovered, quickly became intolerably hot and humid. Humid because the ocean water would simply 'leak' into the contained air and hot because the materials used in the habitats were good insulators.

Compact dehumidifiers and aircons have been developed since, and new habitats built in the interim have taken away important lessons like "seal off the moon pool in it's own room". They also operate at 1.6 atmospheres on average so as to necessitate minimal decompression time, and for the comfort and health of the occupants.

Read the guy's site. He learned a lot of this firsthand, and his expectation is that a new generation of habitats which learn from the mistakes of the old will convince investors to fund them again. He, personally, has no problems; a lot of the technologie's he's developed in pursuit of this insane dream have been patented and he's managed to attract venture capitalists and corporate sponsors as a result. But for this to become commonplace, potentially interested companeis worldwide must be shown by demonstration that the old problems plaguing seafloor habitation have been solved.

[Anonymous No.1715864]

>>1715811

>>Like what?

Cultivating crops and animals that can't be raised in hatcheries due to inability to survive at surface pressures, performing experiments on deep sea life that can't be brought to the surface for the same reason, mining, oil exploration, etc.

[Anonymous No.1715875]

The site says that they are looking for families to move in. I love my family, but I don't think I could live with them for a year in a box the size of two elevators. In fact, I suspect I'd go Jack Torrance on everyone involved in about twenty minutes.

[Anonymous No.1715876]

>>1715839
Consider the sun.
Many, many studies (so many that it's pointless me citing references when Google will throw up a billion) have tied 'ol Sol up with health.
Vit D? Fine, you CAN get around this with supplements.
But what of sleep patterns? Artificial light doesn't condition the body clock the same.
Then there's the whole increased diabetes thing from being out of sync, yet more research is needed there.
I think you'd need constant shuttles back to the surface, this is pure speculation, but I believe living in a pressurized container for a while would induce agoraphobia.

[Anonymous No.1715898]

>>1715875

The interior of each module is about the same as a shipping container. And people have built fairly nice houses out of shipping containers. Pic related, other end would have two sets of bunks.

[Anonymous No.1715920]

Lets hope they don't discover any magic stem cell sea slugs of Elysia genus...

[Anonymous No.1715922]

Here's a photo of an aquanaut next to the Aquarius undersea lab, the only one the US still operates.

[Anonymous No.1715931]

Here's the Tektite 2, to my knowledge the largest undersea lab ever built as part of a US project.

[Anonymous No.1715937]

>>1715920

God damnit what did I tell you about that.

[Anonymous No.1715979]

You know, I always wanted to be a space trucker, but being a sub trucker could be cool too. What if there's hole cities underwater and bandit hideouts and sub pirates and I could be a fucking bounty hunter in a minisub... Oh my god I got a boner.

Where do I sign up?

[Anonymous No.1716025]

>>1715979

>>Where do I sign up?

Via the page apparently, but you must have a wife and at least one child, and have a relevant skill.

[Anonymous No.1716030]

>>1716025
Fuck. I don't even have a girlfriend.
I could steal a child, but a wife will be more difficult.

As for skills... I'm a good swimmer. I went scuba diving a few times. Does that count?

[Anonymous No.1716055]

>>1715864
Oil exploration is almost done exclusively by robots and at depths no human could survive in, even with a hardsuit.

What crops and fish can't be raised in hatcheries due to surface pressure?

What are you going to mine that can't be mined cheaply on the surface? Mining is a large scale operation.

Also how is this cheaper than using ROVs?

For scientific research you might have a point.

[Anonymous No.1716058]

I'mma go grab my scuba gear and become their first illegal immigrant. :D

[Anonymous No.1716074]

>>1716058
Fuck you. I hope you get harpooned, wetbody.

[Anonymous No.1716078]

>>1716055

>>Oil exploration is almost done exclusively by robots and at depths no human could survive in, even with a hardsuit.

Shallow water rigs are increasingly prevalent, and while robots do the surveying, they cannot do the manual labor such as thermite welding. Human divers are still used to do rig support repairs for instance, and they can only stay down for 2 hours at a time, so they have to be sent in shifts. They used habitats in the 1970s partway down the rig so that divers could operate for far longer since they didn't have to slowly decompress and surface between shifts.

[Anonymous No.1716090]

>>1716078
what's to prevent robots from doing labor in the future?

Also got a source for shallow water rigs becoming increasingly prevalent?

[Anonymous No.1716104]

>>1716090

>>what's to prevent robots from doing labor in the future?

Nothing. But running an automated undersea farming op totally sight unseen would be a bad idea for a bunch of reasons. You'd want at least a couple of humans on site to diangose problems, carry out repairs and so on.

[Anonymous No.1716111]

Damn it people this is some science fiction trying to become reality. Shut up, get married, have a kid, and sign up.

[Anonymous No.1716332]

It's sad that the first real colony is some ex engineer with a few underwater mobile homes, basically, when this huge monstrosity is being built in Fiji as a resort for the super-wealthy.

[Anonymous No.1716472]

Inside the oldest undersea hotel.

[Anonymous No.1716473]

Looks cozy, but the motorhome comparison was spot on, space appears to be at a premium.

[Anonymous No.1716477]

Better lighting in this one. It was built in the 80s and it shows.

[Anonymous No.1716500]

Would you kindly let me live there.

[Anonymous No.1716505]

>>1716477
Is that a ...crack?

[Anonymous No.1716509]

>>1716500

For fuck's sake. >:(

Here's a video tour of the only remaining undersea science lab in the US:

http://www.youtube.com/nurcbase#p/u/1/gSVYO8dx8LM

[Anonymous No.1716512]

>>1716505

It's a nylon rope you use to get down to the moon pool from the surface if it's dark.

[Anonymous No.1716521]

Bioshock. Sorry, I just had to say it.

[Anonymous No.1716523]

>This thread
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AquaNox

[Anonymous No.1716613]

won't happen
humans cant breath water
we will never see the bottem of the ocean

[Anonymous No.1716642]

>>1716613

The idea is to build pressurized capsules in which humans can breathe. I thought that was self evident.