• IndictEvolution@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    So, I understand that because water is not compressible, animals without air in their bodies are safe at such high pressures in the deep sea, but what I’m wondering is what would it look like if a human in the deep sea was suddenly exposed to those pressures, as would happen if a submarine rapidly pressurizes? I know the lungs would collapse and whatnot because the air would be pressurized into I’m guessing a liquid, like how propane sloshes when under pressure in a tank, but what else? What causes the instant death? Maybe the water shoots into nose/mouth so fast it acts like a bullet and applies a bunch of force to the walls internally?

      • Reliant1087@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        I wonder if this is truly correct. By default human body is mostly water and made of things deniser than water. If water rapidly flows into the submersible, that might compress the air inside and cause the lungs to explode basically from the pressure differential in the chest cavity? Styrofoam in contrast is less dense and compressible.

        • WolfhoundRO@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          You can take this with a pinch of salt, but I believe that, based on your mention that the human body is mostly water, our bodies, down to our last cells, also have this internal pressure from the water in our bodies. The water is not compressible, but tissue is. And that would mean that not only our lungs will explode, but our entire cellular structures. It would be like squeezing oranges or lemons

      • Skylake08@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Holy shit and all of that happens within 2 nanoseconds I think? So that’s why the victims in that submarine wouldn’t even know it already happened because our brain takes 4 nanoseconds before we could process that pain.

        • talldangry@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Do take what I say with a grain of salt, but my late night napkin math says that (assuming a now rectangular human that’s 16 inches wide and 72 inches tall) a person should have a frontal surface area of 1100 inches, under 6000psi, that’d be about 6,800,000 pounds of pressure on them - instant death.

    • Windexhammer@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      If it was truly a rapid implosion as described by the Navy, then the whole thing will have crumpled like a steam implosion in which case, everyone inside is likely immediately dead from blunt force trauma.