Scientists discover how underwater mammals can stay submerged for so long.

Scientists discover how underwater mammals can stay submerged for so long.

www.bbc.co.uk

Scientists say they have solved the mystery of one of the most extreme adaptations in the animal kingdom: how marine mammals store enough oxygen to hold their breath for up to an hour.

The team studied myoglobin, an oxygen-storing protein in mammals' muscles and found that, in whales and seals, it has special "non-stick" properties.

This allowed the animals to pack huge amounts of oxygen into their muscles without "clogging them up".

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.sciencemag.org

Well what do you think this could lead to fellow ATS`ers?
Maybe a little human gene work and we could soon have aquaman, my bet is the military will work on this fairly quicky for obvious purposes, or maybe they already are....what you all think?



The findings are published in science, link is below

www.sciencemag.org...

reply to post by Heratix


I'm down for a little gene therapy fixer upper.

Alter the EA*RTH environment suit a bit to exchange more concentrate oxygen from each breath and so the body must hold the concentrated Oxygen in thicker bronchioles - alveoli allowing transfer disperse of Oxygen slowly thru lungs as the mammal is underwater holding its breath.

LOVE LIGHT ETERNIA*******

I thought sperm whales could stay submerged for longer than just an hour...Is it the same principle as described in your OP?

Interesting article OP; thanks for sharing! I can remember about 15 years ago I took a college course in adaptive biology in mammals and this topic was discussed while on the topic of aquatic mammals. Although, it was only theory at the time. Anyhow, there is another mechanism that allows the body to go longer on less oxygen; it is called the dive reflex. Incidentally, it is also the dive reflex that allows drowning victims to be "brought back to life" after being submerged in cold water for extended periods of time.

A fun little experiment that anyone can do at home, and is especially fun as a party trick or to get kids interested in science, is to get a large bowl of ice water, check your heart rate (pulse rate) and then submerge your face into the ice water. Immediately upon your face touching the ice water, your heart rate will drop significantly....if someone does not believe you, then place a friendly wager on it.

S&F



Dive reflex: en.wikipedia.org...

I wonder if that applies to turtles, alligators, etc as well?