Right now, in Fiji, a massive undersea resort is under construction.

[Anonymous No.1731333]

http://www.poseidonresorts.com/poseidon_main.html

It's designed and financially backed by the biggest name in luxury submarine engineering, has been in the works since 2007 and will be the lagrest undersea structure ever built. 22 suites, two saucer shaped pods at either end containing a restaurant, a ballroom, a bar, a theater, teleconferencing rooms and a wedding chapel.

The significance is that in the process of building this, they're learning some pretty revolutionary lessons about how the seas could be colonized. How to build a large modular structure, expanding it after it's sunk instead of having to pre-assemble it prior to sinking, the way it's been done in the past. That may impart valuable lessons about how to manage the assembly of modular lunar/mars colonies, too. And you'll notice in following images that it's supported up off of the sea floor on struts so that any shifting of the sea bed due to geological activity won't damage the resort.

This is all possible because of advances in materials (mainly acrylic and carbon fiber) as well as lessons learned from past habitats (constant atmosphere is preferable, moon pools mean high humidiy which nececcitates aircon and dehumidifiers, etc) and with any luck it will herald a new generation of seafloor installations.

Why? Because we spend billions to send men to lifeless rocks in the sky in the hopes of finding even a microbe when bizarre unknown forms of life are dredged up out of the ocean every other month. Imagine what might be down there waiting to be found, provided we commit to putting explorers and scientists down there in a self sufficient capacity.

[Anonymous No.1731342]

Habitats built in the 60s and 70s typically used glass or older plastics and as a result had relatively small portholes. The shells were steel and the deepest habitat ever constructed was about 90 feet beneath the waves. Although this resort will be 40 feet deep (which is nothing to scoff at) we can do much better, and I expect we will.

[снайпер No.1731345]

I wouldn't want to live underwater, personally.

Cold vacuum of space, hell yes please and thank you.

[Anonymous No.1731346]

fuck yes. MOAR AWESOME OPTIMISTIC FUTURISM /SCI/.

[Anonymous No.1731348]

I would only go in there if it has been successfully functioning with no accidents or deaths for atleast 20 years.

Even then

[Anonymous No.1731351]

One of the benefits of permanent habitation at great depths is that scientists can dissect deep water species that would otherwise suffer great cell damage on the way up to the surface. It's also possible to go on scuba expeditions for 8-9 hours rather than 1 hour, as you no longer have to use up most of your air slowly ascending/descending to prevent nitrogen narcosis.

[снайпер No.1731352]

>>1731348
I prefer a death in vacuum to drowning, personally.

At least in a vacuum you don't really have time to realize you're dead.

[Anonymous No.1731356]

>>1731346
http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

[Anonymous No.1731362]

New forms of life aren't the only attraction. The land at the bottom of the sea is as rich in mineral resources as the surface was hundreds of years ago before we'd thoroughly exploited it. It's like a new frontier, overflowing with goods.

[Anonymous No.1731380]

It's a whole new world, cheaper to colonize than other planets and with more to offer; guaranteed discovery of unique, unknown forms of life and mineral wealth, as well as the potential to feed colonists via aquaculture.

I do not dispute that if we are to have a future, we must explore space. But let's not overlook the unexplored world of wonders here on Earth. We must explore outer space and inner space in tandem.

[Anonymous No.1731382]

>>1731352
You may have seen too many sci fi movies. Dying in a vacuum isn't much different from drowning.

[Anonymous No.1731389]

>>1731352
Dying in a vaccuum will be almost the same as drowning, just a bit faster.

So it would be better for that reason

[Anonymous No.1731394]

Don't people going to and from such an underwater facility require compression/decompression and the facility an exotic atmosphere?

[Anonymous No.1731404]

>>1731389
yeah but which one is more likely?

people go on submarines all the time with no problems.

astronauts get blown up and shit all the time, or have close calls all the time, even though they take every precaution possible.

[Anonymous No.1731405]

>>1731389

actually death in a vacuum would probably take longer.

underwater you panic and breathe and choke on water and pass out. in a vacuum you panic and try to breathe and just can't.

[Anonymous No.1731408]

>>1731394

>>Don't people going to and from such an underwater facility require compression/decompression and the facility an exotic atmosphere?

No, because this facility is a constant one-atmosphere structure. It's open to the surface, there are no moon pools. This wasn't possible until sufficiently light, strong materials could be produced as without an exotic atmospheric mixture the pressure exerted on the hull is much more powerful.

[Anonymous No.1731421]

the best reason for underwater colonies would be as a sort of ultimate safe house.

like if you have a lot of enemies, or if the economy goes crazy and anarchy breaks out, or you become a political target, then you can go and chill in your underwater house for a while.

[Anonymous No.1731428]

>>1731405
You try to breath and have your lungs ripped through your trachea.

[Anonymous No.1731449]

>>1731421

>>the best reason for underwater colonies would be as a sort of ultimate safe house.

Not really as it's tremendously vulnerable to attack. And if an asteroid hit, the shockwave would devastate any undersea habitat even worse than a surface structure due to the greater density of water.

However, in the event that the world really does become unlivably hot, an undersea habitat would have excellent insulation properties. Likewise with surviving in the aftermath of a nuclear war. The sea is rich in biomass for food and deep sea vents for power. It can be self sufficient using less space and resources than even a surface structure.

[Anonymous No.1731482]

No, says the man in Washington, it belongs to the Government.
No, says the man in Moscow, it belongs to everybody.
No, says the man in the Vatican, it belongs to god.

I rejected those choices... I chose


POSIDON RESORTS

A PLACE WHERE THE TOURIST IS NOT BOUND BY PETTY OXYGEN

they have pinnapples down there too

[Anonymous No.1731495]

>>1731482

Oh I see what you did there. You interrupted a serious discussion to reference popular culture. This resort is similar in concept to the undersea city of Rapture from the Bioshock games and you were able to make the mental connection between the two, and felt it meaningful enough to insert into the conversation. Well done.

[Anonymous No.1731512]

This sounded amazing until I remembered this picture

[Anonymous No.1731532]

>>1731428
No, your body obviously cannot produce enough pressure to expel your lungs. But you would probably experience incredibly painful cold in your lungs as all the moisture in them evaporated.

[Anonymous No.1731538]

>>1731495
See, that's the great thing about text. You can ignore it. I'm not obscuring the ideas of the other posters by shouting over them.

And, instead of doing that, you decided to outline my thought process, and further detract from the conversation to feel superior.

[Anonymous No.1731622]

>>1731532
No. I've seen a human exposed to vacuum before. You just pass out. During a flight space suit test, a malfunctioned and exposed the wearer to vacuum. Almost immediately, he begins to stumble backwards and falls over. He said the last thing he remembers experiencing was that the liquid on his tongue began to bubble. Then came unconsciousness, and if they hadn't repressurized the chamber fast enough, death. A painless and almost instant death, for the person experiencing it.

I'd rather die in vacuum than drown. Almost instantaneous unconsciousness sounds much better than what I imagine one would experience while drowning.

[снайпер No.1731635]

>>1731382
>>1731389
>>1731405
>>1731428
>>1731532
NASA's already done experiments on this.

You pass out in about 15 seconds. They even had an accident where a guy was exposed to vacuum. About 15 seconds of consciousness, with the last thing he remembers feeling being the water on his tongue boiling.

You can read more here: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html

Given the choice between 15 painless seconds before unconsciousness, or two to three minutes of agony trying to breathe water, I'll take the vacuum, si vous plait.

[Anonymous No.1731636]

>>1731622
a suit* malfunctioned

Also I imagine that drowning at an immense depth, one desirable for such a colony, would hurt considerably more due to the incredible pressure than drowning in shallow water, which is already bad enough.

[снайпер No.1731644]

>>1731404
yes but isn't it also true that far more people have died in submarines than on rockets and spacecraft?

[Anonymous No.1731682]

wow, if i had $30k to blow i would totaly book that place for me and my future wife