[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

View post   
File: 92 KB, 720x581, isay.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3020489 No.3020489 [Reply] [Original]

/sci/ how the fuck do shark respiratory systems work?

>> No.3020494
File: 50 KB, 440x360, Trollface.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3020494

Well you know how water is H2O right?

Shark lungs breaks the bonds between the hydrogen atoms and the oxygen atom, and breathes the oxygen atoms.

>> No.3020496

gills. pretty easy

>> No.3020511

>>3020496
Well, yes, but how exactly do the gills deoxygenate the incoming water?

>> No.3020549

>>3020511
counter currrent exchange occurs via blood stream running counter currently across a flow of water with disolved oxygen in it.

Heres how it works in a picture like format

Gill: Low Oxygen end --> Middle oxygen --> High oxygen end
Water: Low oxygen end (higher than in gills though) <-- medium oxygen (higher 02 contant than gills though) <-- High oxygen end (higher 02 content than gills though)

The arrows are the direction the fluid flows. Basically, counter current exchange is extreemly efficient because the blood is constantly intaking 02 through chemoismotic diffusion.

>> No.3020552

>>3020549
btw, the ends line up with each other rather perfectly. Example, low oxygenated water is at the same point as low oxygenated blood. This keeps 02 constantly diffusining into the blood

>> No.3020557

>>3020549
So the shark is just running water over exposed blood vessels?

I know it's stupid, but I have to ask if that's possible for us, or if they have a special blood vessel for it.

>> No.3020558

>>3020552
might help if my explanation was bad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countercurrent_exchange

>> No.3020563

>>3020489
they don't have respiratory systems per se they just breathe saltwater like other reptiles

>> No.3020575

>>3020557
Well, the blood vessels are in a special cavity (gills obviously) that isn't in "direct" contant with all the water. Sharks constantly push water into their gills through swimming, so water wouldn't normally be pushed through that area if the sharks weren't constantly swimming.

Its not really possibly for humans unless you had some radical surgery and wanted to live in the water for the rest of your life.

Humans have lungs filled with air sacs called alveioles (spelling). These difuse 02 in and C02 out from the air in your lungs which then difuses directly into attatched blood vessels which act as the pulmonary vein.

>> No.3020583

>>3020563
No they definitely have respiratory systems they're just different than ours.

>> No.3020587

>>3020575
So if we surgically alter ourselves to have these special blood vessels, and pour fresh water on them, we'd be able to oxygenate our blood?

Alright, I'm going to need 30 test subjects. Half of you will be in the control group, where we will perform the surgery but only give you regular blood vessels, not the new ones. You will most certainly die. The rest of you will be able to spend the rest of your life in pools, providing you survive the procedure.

Any volunteers?

>> No.3020620

>>3020587
we wouldn't need new blood vessels per-sey they work the same as sharks (same structure). We would need a new system to use water instead of air to get 02 into our systems.

And i almost guarentee your expriment would fail ethics boards lol ):

>> No.3020679

>>3020620
Fuck the ethics board, I'm kidnapping homeless people.

So blood vessels directly exposed to fresh water will absorb dissolved oxygen?

Don't actually need to kill people to do that. Just take a blood vessel, clamp it off, let the oxygen in it be absorbed, then dunk it in water and watch for absorption.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something here.

>> No.3020734

>>3020587
<span class="math">0_{2}[/spoiler] is very dilute in water meaning it will barely difuse into our blood vessels. Since we can't have a counter current exchange inside our lungs I'd say it pretty impossible to manage to make our lungs work in water. Not to mention, how are you going to get the oxigen depleted water out of your lungs?

>> No.3020772

>>3020734
The water won't be going in your lungs.

I'm going to surgically move large numbers of blood vessels to the surface of your skin, and hold them in place with wire mesh. Then we'll seal your trachea, dump you in a vat of highly oxygenized water, and see how long you go before you die.

It's in the early stages, after all.

>> No.3020865

>>3020772
>highly oxigenated water
Hahaha, that water is either too cold or under too much pressure for any human to survive in. Let's just say room temperature water is adequate enough. Then you'd just have to get the blood flow of the very large surface area of your lung capillaries to go against water current (aka, the direction of where you'd swim forward). That should be fine for gas exchange but I wonder the repercussions it'll have for CO2 levels and thermoregulation.

>> No.3020932

>>3020865
Hmm, so the problem is more complex than what I thought of in 5 minutes. Alright...

How about I create a gill system mimicking a sharks, built from stem cells, and graft it onto a person, connecting the blood vessels and all?