Cool bit of technology - the Abyss Box
I majored in Marine Biology a long long time ago but switched over to computers when the January 1975 issue of
Popular Electronics came out with the MITS Altair 8800 kit on the front cover. I wanted to be Jacques Cousteau at the same time that every other Marine Biologist wanted to be Jacques Cousteau -- job market was thin to non-existent...
When you retrieve a critter from several thousand feet down, it will not survive for long at atmospheric pressures. Fish will have their swim bladders explode and crustaceans and nematodes become paralyzed -- their cells cannot operate properly.
Enter the Abyss Box --
from Wired:
AbyssBox Displays Deep-Sea Animals Under Pressure
Unless you're James Cameron, you've probably never seen a Mirocaris fortunate—a shrimp that lives in the hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. Or a little white crab named Segonzacia mesatlantica. That's because these deep-sea species can't survive in a standard aquarium—normal atmospheric pressure will kill them. Luckily, one of Europe's largest aquariums, Océanopolis, in Brest, France, has developed a solution: a unique high-pressure viewing cabinet called the AbyssBox (above). Visitors can now stare into the 4.25-gallon display and see the kinds of deep-dwelling sea fauna you used to have to spend a Titanic-sized budget to glimpse. Click through the photo gallery above to learn how it works.
A bit more:
The AbyssBox was inspired by deep submersibles — but with the water inside. It uses a system of pumps and valves to create a crushing 180 atmospheres of pressure—imagine an elephant standing on your fingernail. The force pushes against the cone-shaped window (above), forming a tight seal. The temperature is kept at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, while a thin stream of 86-degree water shoots along the base to mimic a hydrothermal vent.
Very cool -- made from (relatively) off the shelf parts but it's the idea that makes it great. I wonder how many people are reading this and thinking Hmmmmm... Opens up a lot of avenues for research.
Posted by DaveH at June 24, 2012 1:55 PM