In note 2580, Metlay writes:
> That wasn't bogustech they were feeding us in "The Abyss." Oxygenated
> chlorofluorocarbons CAN in fact be breathed by living organisms with
> no bad aftereffects; they really DID dunk the rat for that scene, although
> I'll bet Ed Harris didn't consent to do it himself. |-> In fact, the old
> UK TV show "UFO" postulated aliens that breathed CFCs in their space suits
> to minimize ballooning in vacuum. It'd make an interesting starship design,
> though; a lot like a Dolphin ship but even weirder to live in.... I wonder
> if there would be any advantages?
I don't know about advantages, but the one *big* disadvantage is that it
would kill the crew! :-)
Seriously, super-oxygenated CFCs as a breathing medium have been studied
for years (I think Duke U. has been one of the centers for study). The
rat in "The Abyss" really was breathing fluid. If a human were to try
the same thing, they'd suffocate. The problem is one of volume, the
reason a rat can breath fluid while a man can't is the same reason an
ant can carry 30 times it's own weight. Muscle power drops by the square
of the volume. For a human to breathe fluid, he/she would have to push
hundreds of times the volume of a rat's lungs worth of fluid in and out
of their human lungs. The human diaphragm isn't strong enough to do that.
It tests on fluid breathing, rats lived (low enough lung volume), and
dogs died after about 15 minutes (due to muscle spasms in their diaphragms,
caused by exhaustion). Unless a fluid with a much lower density (one
approaching air) can be found, fluid breathing for humans is strictly in
the realm of SF.
Regarding deep subs a hidden meson gun platforms, I suspect that it's
an exercise in futility after about TL 10. Even now (what are we? TL 8?),
we can image deep (> 1 mile) ocean currents from LandSat, using thermal
imaging techniques. (There was great article about this in Scientific
American sometime in the last 2 years, but after over an hour of searching
last night, I couldn't find it.) If we have this capability now, image
what a TL 15 thermographic scanner/magnetometer combination can do!!
Any H2O ocean will be as transparent as glass.
I think the sub-tectonic meson platform has a better shot at concealment.
Later,
Mark F. Cook
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