Audio Transcript:
Underwater Bubble Bugs. (SOUND EFFECT: bloop!)
I'm Bob Karson with the discovery files -- new advances in science and engineering from the National Science Foundation.
(SOUND EFFECT: underwater sounds)
These insect scuba (or scu-bug) divers breathe underwater by living off of bubbles surrounding their bodies. Certain species have developed this unique personal breathing mechanism as a way to search for food in the drink, or even hibernate down there.
The bubble itself (or should we say, "buggle") is an ingenious work of nature. It's really kind of an external lung. Tiny, waxy hairs work together to repel water away from the breathing holes and trap a thin layer of air. Oxygen is extracted from the water, allowing the insect to stay under for indefinite periods.
Dive depths of the little buggers have, for the first time been calculated by researchers at MIT. How low will they go?
(the bugs, not the researchers). (SOUND EFFECT: sub sonar sound)
Because of available sunlight, food sources, and number of underwater predators -- usually no farther than maybe several yards. But, according to the study, if they wanted, they could go as deep as about 30 yards before the pressure collapses their bubbles.
The bubble concept could someday provide oxygen for fuels in autonomous underwater vehicles. And if you're thinking, "hey -- a bubble might be a novel way for human scuba divers to breathe&" it's been tried. It would take a surface area in square yards larger than an average condominium.
Didn't mean to burst your bubble. (SOUND EFFECT: bloop!)
"The Discovery Files" covers projects funded by the government's National Science Foundation. Federally sponsored research -- brought to you, by you! Learn more at nsf.gov or on our podcast.
