Future Invention: Breathe Like A Fish

Future technology may allow us to Breathe Underwater Like Fish.

Alan Izhar-Bodner has invented an apparatus that extracts the air out of water for breathing.

Seawater contains 1.5 to 2.5% air, 34% of which is oxygen. Air can be dissolved in water by increasing pressure and released when that pressure is decreased.

This is known as "Henry's Law".

The system uses the "Henry Law" which states that the amount of gas that can be dissolved in a liquid is proportional to the pressure on the liquid. Raise the pressure - more gas can be dissolved in the liquid. Decrease the pressure - gas dissolved in the liquid releases the gas. This is exactly what happens when you open a can of soda; carbon dioxide gas is dissolved in the liquid and is under pressure in the can. Open the can, releasing the pressure, and the gas fizzes out.

By using a centrifuge, Bodner's invention separates air from water and transfers it to a container that can be used as a source of oxygen for a diver.

Human beings have been thinking about how to breathe underwater since they started swimming. This long-held desire plays an important part in one of the first great science fiction novels, Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The technology can also be used for submarines and underwater habitats utilizing the oxygen in the water instead of replenishing air from the surface.