Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. Fabione Gusteau had some
Speaker 1: big shoes to fill or finns as it were. As
Speaker 1: the grandson of famed sea explorer, conservationist, and Scoopa pioneer
Speaker 1: Jacques Cousteau, Fabion spent his early days aboard his grandfather's
Speaker 1: ships Calypso and Alcione, and felt drawn to the oceanic
Speaker 1: family legacy. Today he's fulfilling that dream with Proteus, which
Speaker 1: he calls the world's most advanced underwater scientific research station
Speaker 1: and habitat to address humanity's most critical concerns medicinal discoveries,
Speaker 1: food sustainability, and the impacts of climate change. We spoke
Speaker 1: with Custo via email. He said there wasn't pressure placed
Speaker 1: on me to follow in the family fin steps, but
Speaker 1: growing up diving, starting at the age of four, and
Speaker 1: then taking adventures on the Calypso made for the most
Speaker 1: incredible class room. I learned so much from my grandparents
Speaker 1: and the other crew members. Having that access to the
Speaker 1: ocean and its marine life was unparalleled. Today, I maintain
Speaker 1: that same wonder I had as a kid. I'm still
Speaker 1: in awe of observing everything that the ocean has to
Speaker 1: offer and teach us. What the ocean has to teach
Speaker 1: is largely still unknown. According to Cousteau, only five percent
Speaker 1: of it has been explored. With Proteus, he's hoping to
Speaker 1: change that. A project of the Fabian custo Ocean Learning Center,
Speaker 1: Proteus was conceived as the underwater version of the International
Speaker 1: Space Station. Upon completion, the project will serve as a
Speaker 1: collaborative platform for researchers, government agencies, and corporations throughout the world.
Speaker 1: The concept was born from Mission thirty one, a June
Speaker 1: expedition that set a record for the most days lived underwater,
Speaker 1: breaking Jacques thirty day record by just one day. It
Speaker 1: took place at Aquarius, the world's only underwater marine laboratory
Speaker 1: as of now, which is located nine miles or fourteen
Speaker 1: klometers off the coast of the Florida Keys and sixty
Speaker 1: three ft or nineteen meters beneath the sea surface. The
Speaker 1: journey produced twelve scientific studies and nine thousand, eight hundred
Speaker 1: published articles from universities including Northeastern m I t In,
Speaker 1: the University of North Florida and it sparked the idea
Speaker 1: for Proteus. Becausto said, Proteus was very much a three
Speaker 1: am dream. After visiting oceanographer Dr Sylvia Earle on Aquarius
Speaker 1: and then leading Mission thirty one, there, I saw that
Speaker 1: more was needed to accommodate aquanauts for longer, and that
Speaker 1: more could be done to address additional needs that come
Speaker 1: with underwater living. The goal is to make Proteus approximately
Speaker 1: eight times the size of Aquarius and address the multitude
Speaker 1: of challenges that a company underwater living Like cooking, Custo explained,
Speaker 1: you can't cook with open flames underwater, but Proteus will
Speaker 1: have the first underwater greenhouse, which will allow us to
Speaker 1: grow fresh produce, and living underwater you burn three times
Speaker 1: as many calories as you do on land. Culinary adventures aside,
Speaker 1: Proteus is set to transform the landscape of ocean exploration
Speaker 1: when it does debut, though no official launch date has
Speaker 1: been announced. It will be located off the coast of
Speaker 1: Carasau in a bio diverse marine protected area in the Caribbean,
Speaker 1: about sixty feet or eighteen meters beneath the surface of
Speaker 1: the water. Will encompass four thousand square feet that's seventy
Speaker 1: square meters of space and accommodate up to twelve research
Speaker 1: scientists at a time. It will be made available for academics,
Speaker 1: private companies, scientists, and non governmental organizations that are involved
Speaker 1: in ocean exploration and research and development. It will also
Speaker 1: contain a video production studio, allowing the teams to create
Speaker 1: videos on site and also live stream with classrooms and
Speaker 1: learners of all ages around the world. Cousto said it
Speaker 1: starts with more people making the connection between the ocean
Speaker 1: and humans. The ocean is where life itself originated, and
Speaker 1: it regulates so much of what we experience all of
Speaker 1: the time every day, from providing oxygen to nourishment to
Speaker 1: provide adding countless jobs and trade and tourism. The live
Speaker 1: streams of Proteus will offer will lead to more people
Speaker 1: understanding what is going on down there is very much
Speaker 1: connected to what's experienced up there on land every day.
Speaker 1: Proteus will be the first in a series of underwater
Speaker 1: habitats leading to unparalleled research and discoveries and allowing for
Speaker 1: global collaboration amongst the most brilliant minds. As Cousto and
Speaker 1: his team continue to work toward building this new frontier
Speaker 1: in ocean exploration. He regularly reflects on his family legacy.
Speaker 1: As I continue to learn and discover more about the ocean,
Speaker 1: I keep in mind my grandfather's quote. People protect what
Speaker 1: they love. They love what they understand, and they understand
Speaker 1: what they are taught. Today's episode was written by Michelle
Speaker 1: Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler Flang. For more on this
Speaker 1: and lots of other curious topics, visit how stuffworks dot com.
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