The Liquid Breathing System - The Abyss (1989) Discussion

[–] Romani_grl 10 years ago

Yep. Navy attempted it. It never got past animal testing. They threw a goat in, it drown and one of the guys pulled it out and gave it mouth to mouth. They never could get the goeat to go near the tank again.....or any of the men for that matter :)

Minte vreodata regula de trei

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[–] sam-151 10 years ago

Science fact, not science fiction. A lot of what Cameron does in his movies, is based on facts. It might not be all fact and all how it is in real life, or even completely possible IRL, but it is based on facts rather than fiction. One of the things that I really like about Cameron 😊

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[–] duckofprey 10 years ago

There are two items about this in the IMDB FAQ for this film

Here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096754/faq?ref_=tt_faq_sm#.2.1.9

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[–] facelessone 10 years ago

It's still not actually in use but it does technically work. It's called perfluorocarbon or PFC. The main problem with it is that while it can deliver oxygen to the lungs, it can't remove the carbon dioxide. They've tested a number of "scrubbers" or filters for this but haven't had much luck.

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[–] vscalesptt 8 years ago

The scene with the rat breathing an oxygenated perfluorocarbon fluid was real. The rat was breathing a liquid, and some countries actually censored that scene due to perceived animal cruelty. This is real technology -- perfluorocarbons are routinely used today in liquid breathing ventilators for premature newborns with severely underdeveloped lungs. The liquid is much more effective at carrying oxygen than water.

However, the scene with the actor in the dive-suit was faked. Ed Harris held his breath during the scenes with the fluid-filled helmet. These fluids are very viscous compared to air, and are extremely difficult to breath without mechanical assistance. Basically, you have to have a tube down your trachea and a circulation pump to force the fluid in and out of your lungs fast enough to provide the needed oxygenation and carbon dioxide removal. This is said to be deeply unpleasant for conscious people, and therefore is not in use on adults except for limited experiments.

"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not"

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[–] KLPE (525) a year ago

[deleted]

[–] moviechatterer (15639) 6 months ago

"routinely used today in liquid breathing ventilators "

what? nah! surely not , i call bullshit

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[–] Snaggelpuss 8 years ago

There has never been any water breathing system even for rats (THE FAQ IS WRONG) CAN THIS BE FIXED. its possible to extract oxygen fro air but the machinery is way to big to carry.

Theres lots of scammers looking for people to invest in this technology (THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS)

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[–] gasivodo 8 years ago

Go away puss'! Troll for fish elsewhere!

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[–] Snaggelpuss 8 years ago

Go stick your head under water and breath deeply!

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[–] Druff (1796) 8 months ago

I could have sworn they did a perfluorocarbon demonstration with a rat on the TV show 'That's Incredible' several years before The Abyss. It would have been 1981 or '82. I never missed an episode when I was a kid.

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[–] 123Guy (7281) 8 months ago

i think the started looking into this system in 1962

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[–] ExTechOp (2770) 8 months ago

Yes, I vividly recall "That's Incredible" demonstrating this BEFORE the movie, because I specifically remembered the show DURING the movie.

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[–] kinsayder 8 years ago

Hard to believe Cameron wasn't inspired by a scene from Gerry Anderson's 70s TV series UFO, where one of the characters has to adapt to breathing alien helmet juice for space travel:

http://i.imgur.com/XZY2fvD.jpg

I had nightmares about that as a kid.

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[–] wesperkins 8 years ago

Regardless of whether it's been tested or not, I wonder if the apparatus would let divers go deeper if they hit it to work. At what point would it not matter and it just be too deep, even if it worked? I have zero diving knowledge so no clue myself.

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[–] mikethemartian (6719) a year ago

It is a coolant. I worked at a company that would test how well hermetically sealed optical transceivers were by submerging them into the liquid at a certain temperature for a certain length of time.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40045180/

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[–] DoubleRD77 (96) a year ago

I am afraid of liquid breathing systems :(

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