New Crystal Glass may Allow Humans to Breathe Underwater like Fish

The core problem of underwater activity of divers is that humans cannot ingest oxygen from water, therefore, it is necessary to carry gas cylinders or to supply gas from the water surface, and the breathing problem has become one of the most complicated technologies in diving technology. But the water actually dissolves a certain amount of oxygen, fish is through the gills to absorb oxygen from the water to maintain life. In theory, if you can master the rapid uptake of oxygen from water, then humans do not need to carry gas in the underwater activities. But keeping breathing for a long time under water has always been considered unthinkable and impossible, scuba diving can only continue to be carried out underwater by carrying air or by piping. Because fish can absorb oxygen from the water by their gills, humans and mammals don't have gills, and they can't use oxygen in the water to support life.

Let the human fish breathe oxygen in the water for a long time to survive in the water, it sounds like science fiction, and Danish scientists have recently been able to get oxygen permanently underwater, which is a step toward that goal. It's because of the kind of crystal material they developed, this synthetic material is named Neptune crystal AquamanCrystal. This synthetic material can continuously ingest oxygen from air and water without any other means. The oxygen absorbed by the crystal can be released as long as it is heated slightly or exposed to low oxygen pressure. At present, it is difficult to produce this kind of synthetic crystal material in large quantities.

The implications of this finding are profound, says Christina Mackenzie, a professor at the university of Denmark, who led the research. She told the science daily: "this material can absorb oxygen from the air. Patients with respiratory dysfunction need daily oxygen, the technology will allow patients to get rid of heavy oxygen tanks. Divers may also use the technology in the future to carry a small amount of this crystal grain. The diver breathes the material into the water to absorb oxygen that is dissolved in water, so there is no need to carry gas cylinders or supply the gas from the water. So they named the crystal AquamanCrystal.

Neptune crystals have a spongy composition that absorbs oxygen.

Neptune crystals absorb oxygen and rely on cobalt ions. This is very similar to the ability of hemoglobin to absorb oxygen. Because oxygen is difficult to dissolve in water and blood, all living things on earth use metal ions to combine and transport oxygen. The hemoglobin in the blood of people and many animals depends on the combination of iron and oxygen. Myoglobin, the myoglobin in muscle cells, is also a similar molecule. Animals such as crabs and spiders rely on copper ions to combine and transport oxygen. The ability of metal ions to absorb oxygen is huge. So it's not surprising that this crystal glass has a powerful ability to absorb oxygen.