1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve cameray. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hi again everyone, 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poulette 5 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: and I am an editor at how stuff works dot com. 6 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: Sitting across from me and certainly not out of his depth, 7 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. I'd like to be under 8 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: the sea, in an octopus's garden in the shade. Hey, nice, 9 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: thank you. We actually have a first for tech Stuff 10 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: to introduce. This is our very first audio request. We 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: had a fan send this in, so let's play the 12 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: audio request from Nate. Hey guys, this is Nate calling 13 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: in from London. I just thought you'd like to know 14 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: that one night a couple of weeks ago, I spent 15 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: two hours less sleeping because I was too busy reading 16 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: about submarines. Um. It was the day that Richard Branson 17 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: announced Virgin Oceanic, which is the mission to send a 18 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: special one man submarine to the deepest parts of Earth's 19 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: oceans and see what's down there and have a play. 20 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: I guess, but the submarine just fascinated me. It's an 21 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: amazing piece of tech from what I've read, and really 22 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: the idea of sending a person to those depths hasn't 23 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: been done for decades and certainly hasn't been done with 24 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: any kind of modern technology involved. And I thought that 25 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: would make a pretty awesome topic for a show. So 26 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: here's hoping you might do that one day. Love the show, 27 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: speech to you later. All right, guys, that was Nate. 28 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: Actually we have to tell everyone who that who Nate is. 29 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: Typically we we don't use last names with celebrity, not 30 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: just an audio request, but a celebrity audio request. This 31 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: guy is phenomenal? Is Nate links? Yes, he has a 32 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: he has a tech journalist hero Yeah. Formerly I've seen 33 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: at current editor of Wired dot co dot uk. Uh, 34 00:01:55,280 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: snazzy dresser, perfectly quafft fan of death metal. Nate is 35 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: a man of many facets. I'm not even joking. You 36 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: should follow his Twitter feed sometime you'll find listings of 37 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: bands that I never knew existed. I'm a punk rocker. 38 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: He's a thrasher, right, super cool guy, Nate, Thank you 39 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: so much for sending that in. And this is our 40 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: three first episode, so it's a new era. With tech stuff, 41 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: we thought we would tackle this topic. So we're talking 42 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 1: about deep sea exploration, and we're going to talk about 43 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: the deep Flight Challenger particularly, but before we do, let's 44 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: talk about kind of the history of deep sea exploration. Alright, yeah, 45 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's not been h This is certainly 46 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: not a technology that's been around for hundreds and hundreds 47 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: and hundreds of Oh wait, you mean it has been 48 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: around for a few hundred years. Basic, Well, if we 49 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: talk about the very basic technology, yeah, it's been around 50 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: for a few centuries. But even then we're talking about 51 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: some pretty limited explorations. So back in the day, which 52 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: was a Thursday, it's just weird, right, But back in 53 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: that Thursday, Um, back in the ancient times, essentially people thought, 54 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: all right, oceans have life in them. That's clear. We 55 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: could see the life. We we fish, we get fish. 56 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: But in general people thought, well, the deeper you go, 57 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: the less life you were bound to encounter, until you 58 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: reached a point where there's just no life. Right. You 59 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: get to a certain depth and nothing is living down there, 60 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: and by the time you hit the ocean floor, it's 61 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: just essentially a desert, a lifeless desert. That was the 62 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: thinking until probably about the seventeenth century UM. But the 63 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: one of the earliest forms of technology to test to 64 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: kind of figure out how deep the ocean was came 65 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: out of the days of the vikings, and that was 66 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: a sounding weight. Sounding weight, yeah, which is pretty much 67 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: what sounds like. It was a weight tied to a 68 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: line and you would lower the line over the side 69 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: of a boat until you hit the bottom and then 70 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: you would draw the weight back up to the surface 71 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: and you would measure how long the line was and 72 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: that would tell you how deep the ocean was. And 73 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: back in the earliest days, the way that you would 74 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: measure this is a sailor would hold the line out 75 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: between his arms, so he stretches arms out and one 76 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: length of that would be a fathom. That's hard for 77 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: me to fathom, and you know why because it seems 78 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: like that would be different for every sailor. Yeah, the 79 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 1: averages around uh six, it's like a six ft length total. 80 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: That was the That was essentially what a fathom was, 81 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: so not truly a standardized measure, right because it was 82 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: based upon whoever happened to be holding the line, and 83 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: if you had Stubby McGhee doing it, well, then you're 84 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: gonna have a lot more fathoms than if stretch over. 85 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: There was measuring out the line, but so not in 86 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: exact signs, but it was getting there right, It was 87 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: it was at least an attempt to measure how deep 88 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: the ocean and was. And of course we've heard the 89 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: term fathom before and things like or that's leagues. What 90 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: am I doing? I don't even know what I'm talking about. 91 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: Christ you gotta stop me before I do that. Actually, 92 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: when I think of fathom, I think it's really really 93 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: uh the game for the gonna say really really bad. 94 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: But no, actually a lot of people like it. It 95 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: was just very simple in which you're a dolphin. Anyway, Well, 96 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: I was thinking of the thing that was messing me up. 97 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: Was I think of a different Disney film than twenty 98 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: thousand Leagues under the Sea about the fathoms below. Yeah. See, 99 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:34,720 Speaker 1: that's the problem is that I'm thinking about I've got 100 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: a vacation planned where I'm going on a Disney vacation, 101 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: and Disney has taken over my entire world right now, Well, 102 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: are you going under the ocean? Though, No, I'm not 103 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: gonna go under the ocean, but we're gonna talk about 104 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: going under the ocean. So you know, let's skip ahead 105 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,719 Speaker 1: from the Viking days to that seventeenth century I was 106 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: talking about before that was the debatably that was around 107 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: the time of the first submarine. Um and I say 108 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: debatedly because it all depends upon whom you ask about 109 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: when the first submarine was created and how viable it was. 110 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: But there was a Dutch inventor, Cornelius van Drebble. Okay, 111 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: he created one that was a wooden frame sheathed in leather. 112 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: It had oars sticking out the side. It had very 113 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,239 Speaker 1: close fitting leather flaps ceiling the holes that the oars 114 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: went through, and was designed to go underwater. And he 115 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: tested it in the Thames. Supposedly, King James the First 116 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:34,280 Speaker 1: himself did a test ride on it. I can't imagine. Yeah, 117 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: that's gonna be like this very well, maybe an apocryphal story, 118 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,839 Speaker 1: because you think would the King of England and Scotland 119 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: put himself at such risk as to be in an 120 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: underwater a submersible vehicle in the first of all the Thames. 121 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: Have you seen the Thames? Oh? I have a few times. 122 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: It's a lovely place. Anyway, you wouldn't want to be 123 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: underwater there. So you know, I know, if if the 124 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: king did go in the submarine, I know why he 125 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: would want to Is that so he could see whales? Uh? Nice? Nice? 126 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: You know what we should also point out, of course, 127 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: if you didn't hear from Nate's accent, he is of 128 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: course British, so he's getting all these Anglo file jokes 129 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: that were going. So but no, I'm sure a lot 130 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: of people know of the UH Revolutionary War story here 131 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: in the United States, and this is not going to 132 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: make the UH people from the UK very happy. Maybe 133 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: I don't know. I guess that's all water under the bridge, 134 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: but I would be rid of us now. Yeah. Really, 135 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: so a lot of people probably remember that there was 136 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: a very rudimentary submarine used in the Revolutionary War between 137 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: England and the and what would be later the United 138 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: States the English colonies. Um, and uh, you know, I'm 139 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: going from memory, but I'm pretty sure it was. You know, 140 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: it's very simple and I think it only used a spear. Yeah, 141 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: essentially it was designed to ram into enemy shops. Yes, 142 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: it did not do very well, but it does get 143 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: a page in the history well, a paragraph in the 144 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: history books for you also hear about about attempts during 145 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: the Civil War as well, and right around that same time, 146 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: so you know, we're talking about wartime applications of submersible 147 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: vehicles made to disrupt either trade or or wartime ship movements. 148 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: But at the same time, or roughly around the same time, 149 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: just a few years after the Civil War, you had 150 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: a ship that was specifically trying to to plumb the 151 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: depths of the ocean and learn more about what is 152 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: going on deep in the ocean floor. That's around eighteen 153 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: seventy two to eighteen seventy six. Do you know what 154 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: ship I'm talking about? No, I don't, Jonathan, Why don't 155 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: you tell me? So we're going to talk about the 156 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: Deep Flight Challenger. Well, the Deep Flight Challenger is named 157 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: after two things. It's named after the Challenger Deep Trench, 158 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: which is a very deep trench in the ocean off 159 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:59,439 Speaker 1: in the Pacific Ocean. And it's named after the h M. S. Challenger, 160 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,440 Speaker 1: her Majesty's ship during the reign of Queen Victoria who 161 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 1: sat on the Thorn for sixty years throne. Sorry, now 162 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: it's an englished English Have you ever read the book? Now? 163 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: Queen Victoria sat on a thorn for sixty years. She 164 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: uh so so her Majesty's ship, the Challenger. Now, the 165 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,679 Speaker 1: Challenger started off as a warship. It was a corvette 166 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: class ship, and it was a It was used in 167 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: in various UH conflicts UH in various parts of the world, 168 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: but eventually was converted into a laboratory. It was a 169 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: floating laboratory. It's English, so I can say it like that. 170 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: I'm not saying. And anyway, they were They covered around 171 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: a hundred and twenty seven thousand kilometers, so around sixty 172 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: eight thousand, almost sixty nine thousand nautical miles and was 173 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: we we think of the HMS Challenger as being the 174 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: first real serious study of deep sea exploration. And they 175 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,199 Speaker 1: took samples for on the sea floor, and they did 176 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: essentially the same way. They would lower a weight down 177 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 1: into the ocean until it hit and it would actually 178 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: scoop up some of the betting on the sea floor. 179 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: When they brought it back up, they collected specimens of 180 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: deep sea life that no one had ever seen before 181 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: at that point. UM. It was the first real serious 182 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: study of that of that UH environment, and since then 183 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: various scientists and explorers and adventurers have been interested in 184 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,440 Speaker 1: really diving down and finding out more about that environment. Uh. 185 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: And I was going to talk a little bit about 186 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: a couple of other predecessors to the deep flight challenge. 187 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: For example, the bathosphere. I remember the bath sphere. I 188 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: can't say the bathosphere, but I remember it. Yeah. It 189 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: was developed in the in the thirties by William Beebe 190 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: and Otis Barton, and they were both from the New 191 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: York Zoological Society. And it was it was four and 192 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: a half thousand pound hollow steel ball. Well it's about 193 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: five ft in diameter, and the idea was that you 194 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: would carry this on a ship. You would use a 195 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: crane to move it over the ocean and then lower 196 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,960 Speaker 1: it into the ocean. It was not uh, it was 197 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: not powered in any way for for mobility. You would 198 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: actually lower it on a cable. Electricity would create the 199 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: necessary power for the oxygen system within the bathosphere. But 200 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: in order to circulate the air, whoever was in the 201 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: bathosphere actually used a handheld palm front fan to circulate 202 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: the air. They used chemicals to absorb carbon dioxide and 203 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: moisture so that that way it wouldn't that you know, 204 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: you wouldn't just have a coating of water all over 205 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: everything inside the bathosphere, and it wouldn't the air wouldn't 206 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: get stale, because you do have to find a way 207 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: to scrub the carbon dioxide out of a submersible. That's 208 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: one of the challenges. Yeah, I remember the you know, 209 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: things like diving bells and the diving suits that you 210 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: always see it the in the older movies where they 211 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: have the helmet and the hose and somebody's up on 212 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: the ship cranking the hand crank piston driven air pump, 213 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: so they were pumping bellows down into Yeah, yeah, yeah, 214 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: very similar. And yeah, so you have to you still 215 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:17,719 Speaker 1: have to deal with that because you've got to have 216 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: a source of air. The first thing dropped down to 217 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: around three thousand feet down into the ocean, which was 218 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,320 Speaker 1: pretty deep for the time being. And uh, and it 219 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: was they saw a lot of animals that had never 220 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: been observed before. They essentially wrote down everything they saw. 221 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: But again, they couldn't move around. It was just dropping 222 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,679 Speaker 1: down and then cranked back up and that's it. Uh. 223 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: Later on I read that there was there were some 224 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: sub scientists in the sixties who actually used essentially the 225 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,320 Speaker 1: bathosphere to descend into the Mariana Trench, which is the 226 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 1: deepest point in the ocean. They didn't go all the 227 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,319 Speaker 1: way down, but they went I think around thirty five 228 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,199 Speaker 1: thousand feet down, which is lower than anyone else has 229 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: ever been before. Uh, at least until we see if 230 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: the Deep Light Challenger project as a success. Um. There 231 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: were some other early attempts. There was the the Bathist Gaffe, 232 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: which was designed by a Belgian scientist, m August Picard, 233 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: possibly an ancestor of John Luke. And uh, this one 234 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: was attached to a tank, a free floating tank as 235 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: opposed to attached to a vessel, but same the same 236 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: sort of thing. It was lowered down into the ocean 237 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: and um, yeah, it had a little bit more freedom 238 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: of movement than the bathmosphere. You had the Alvin you 239 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: may have heard of the Alvin that was that was 240 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:45,079 Speaker 1: an early submersible as well that was used for exploration, 241 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 1: the the Johnson Sea Link. Uh. These are pretty funky 242 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: looking things that there. If you've ever seen The Abyss, 243 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: the film The Abyss, you know they're in those kind 244 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: of spherical saw it in the theater. Yeah, yeah, so 245 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: those things, that's that's kind of based on that that 246 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: design there's uh. They're also sometimes called deep rover submersibles 247 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: the UM there that are operated by the Deep Ocean 248 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,480 Speaker 1: Expeditions Company, So the deep rovers. They also look like 249 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: the ones that were used in The Abyss, and James 250 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: Cameron has used those for other projects, UM not not 251 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: the Abyss specifically, although again the vehicles in that movie 252 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: were based off of this UM. He used it an 253 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: Aliens of the Deep his his Uh, you know that 254 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: that Nature film of deep sea creatures being under the ocean. Yes, 255 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: he does. Apparently he's a big fan of that UM 256 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: and he's a customer of, or at least a potential 257 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 1: customer of, the same company that makes the Challenger UM. 258 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: So I guess we can now sort of talk about 259 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: what the Challenger is. Yes, you had an other thing 260 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: to add, well, I mean, I think our listeners probably 261 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,840 Speaker 1: will recognize that we're leaving out a pretty big step 262 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: in between, which is, you know, the development from going 263 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: from like a device like the bathosphere where you really 264 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: don't have a whole lot of control to modern you know, 265 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: well older and mid modern submarines development between and century, 266 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: and we really don't We probably should do a separate 267 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: podcast on that. But I mean, you know, we're we're 268 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: talking about machines that you know, can store air and 269 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: have powered to stay underwater for long periods of time, 270 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: some of which you know, can hold many many people. Yeah, 271 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: we should probably talk about the difference between a submarine 272 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: and a submersible. I think that would be Yeah. So 273 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: a submarine is essentially it's a boat that goes underwater, 274 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: is really what you're talking about. And it's and it's 275 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: a sustain it's a self sustaining kind of thing in 276 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: the sense that it doesn't depend upon a larger vehicle 277 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: to get around, uh more than a few kilometers, right, 278 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: Like most submarines can go incredible distances, especially the nuclear 279 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: submarines because you have that nuclear power going. Um. But yeah, 280 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: these these submarines are capable of traveling vast distances either 281 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: submerged or you know, they can you know, various forms 282 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: of travel. They could go either under the water, over 283 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: the water, not not on top of but you know, anyway, 284 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: the point being that they don't depend on a larger 285 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: boat to uh to travel around, right, They're not dropped off, right, 286 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: and some of them can stay underwater for weeks at 287 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: a time. Um, some of them use a caterpillar drive. Yeah. Yeah, 288 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: that'd be the Red October. Yeah. So what we're talking 289 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: about is sort of a step in between when I 290 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: when I and again in my head I'm thinking when 291 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: I think submarines, I'm thinking, you know, like the warships, um, 292 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: you know, large large submarines. This, this submarine, the weird 293 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: that that Nate specifically wants to ask about or did 294 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: ask us about, um, is a much much smaller machine. 295 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: In fact, it only holds one person. And this is 296 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: where we get into sort of the submersible realm submersibles 297 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: are are. It's kind of like the turns between a 298 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: boat and a ship, right, YEA. Arguably you could say 299 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: a ship is any vessel that's large enough to hold 300 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: a boat, and a boat is any vessel small enough 301 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: to fit on a ship. Square is the rectangle, but 302 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: not every rectangle is quare. So submersible tends to be 303 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: part of a you know, it depends on a mother ship, 304 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 1: you know, or some other vehicle where it is deployed 305 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: from that mother ship and then can go and explore. 306 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: But it can't travel vast different distances on its own. 307 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: It's not meant for that and uh. And that's the 308 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: case with the Challenger. It's also the case of other 309 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: big famous submersibles like the Mirror one and the Mere two. 310 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: These were developed by at one time the Soviet Union. 311 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: It's built by a company in Finland, and then when 312 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: they were finally produced, actually they were purchased by the 313 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: same exploration company that uses the deep rovers same the 314 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 1: same one uses the Mirror one and mir two for 315 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:04,119 Speaker 1: x opration. Uh So, like I said, it's not the 316 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,919 Speaker 1: only submersible out there. There's a one built in Japan 317 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,439 Speaker 1: that was called the Shinkai. That one currently holds the 318 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: record for the deepest submersible exploration, and that one went 319 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: down to six thousand Thus in the name, so they 320 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: name it after they dove. Yeah. Yeah, if they had 321 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,120 Speaker 1: gone just a little further than the one. Uh but yeah, 322 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: that's those are famous. We can't not mention them because 323 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: they are out there. But it's child's play compared to 324 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,360 Speaker 1: what the Challenger is supposed to do. You know, when 325 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: I think of a submersible too, I'm I'm thinking of 326 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: something that can't go very deep, just because you know, 327 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,960 Speaker 1: it's a smaller ship. It's it's sort of limited in 328 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:54,639 Speaker 1: its capacity, but this is a very unique, uh unique vessel. 329 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: So the ship was actually commissioned by somebody who is 330 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: a famous adventurer on his own, who sadly is no 331 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 1: longer with us, in an attempt to uh set a 332 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 1: world record, I believe. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're talking about Fawcett, 333 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: Steve Fawcett. Steve Fawcett, billionaire adventurer he uh he had 334 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: back in two thousand five, was thinking about investing in this, 335 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 1: this potential vehicle that would be able to break all 336 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:27,159 Speaker 1: records of deep sea exploration, manned deep sea exploration and 337 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: in fact unmanned as well. No unmanned vehicle would go 338 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 1: as deep as what he was looking for. He wanted 339 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: to have something that could go along the bottom of 340 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:38,400 Speaker 1: the Mariana Trench and and take a look firsthand at 341 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: this alien world that no one else has ever seen 342 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: in person, and most of us have only seen, you know, 343 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,640 Speaker 1: bits and pieces of it through unmanned vehicle footage. There 344 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: were there was one bathosphere uh journey that did go 345 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: down that low, so technically a couple of people saw 346 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: at one level, but they were not able to go 347 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: all the way down like like Fawcett wanted to. And 348 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: so Fawcett talked to a guy, um uh Graham Hawks. 349 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: Graham Hawks is a UH kind of an engineer inventor 350 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: UH marines specialist. Talked to Graham Hawks about the possibility 351 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:22,479 Speaker 1: of creating this this vehicle, and Um Graham Hawks is 352 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,679 Speaker 1: the head of Hawks Ocean Technologies, and he started to 353 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: work on the deep Flight submersibles and specifically the Deep 354 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: Flight Challenger. The sad store part of this story is 355 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 1: that Fawcett died in two thousand seven in an airplane crash. 356 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: And he died apparently just a couple of weeks before 357 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: they had planned to announce the Deep Flight Challenger and 358 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 1: the purpose for this vehicle to explore the Mariana Trench. 359 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: With his death, the whole project took a massive setback. 360 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: I mean, it was clearly a terrible tragedy. And also 361 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 1: it just it meant that the driving force was behind 362 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: this development was suddenly gone all right, And and Fawcett 363 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 1: was a champion of adventure and exploration and pushing human 364 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: achievement to the limits in every venue, and so to 365 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:17,199 Speaker 1: lose that that evangelist was a big blow. Well in 366 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: two thousand and ten, a fellow named Chris Welsh pilot 367 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: here who had uh was really interested in this project 368 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:28,719 Speaker 1: kind of took up the torch. So in twos ten, 369 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: three years after Faston's death, Chris Welch picks up the 370 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: the the the the torch and runs with it. He 371 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 1: starts to push for the project to start again and 372 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: gets the interest of Virgin Oceanic, which is a brand 373 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: new company formed by another incredibly wealthy adventurer thrill seeker, 374 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,360 Speaker 1: who also happened to be a friend of Steve Fawcett. Yeah, 375 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: and this was who Nate mentioned, Richard Branson. So Branson 376 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,679 Speaker 1: now has picked up where his friend left off and says, 377 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: all right, we want to use the Deep Flight Challenger 378 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,440 Speaker 1: to go on a series of five dives. And why 379 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: five Because he wants to visit the five deepest points 380 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: of each of the well, the the deepest point of 381 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 1: each of the five oceans, so that means the Mariana 382 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: Trench in the Pacific. And then he wants to go 383 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: to all the other deep points and all the other 384 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: oceans and uh and do an exploration run. And so 385 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,479 Speaker 1: the Deep Flight Challenger is his um, his vehicle of choice. 386 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,959 Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about this vehicle and 387 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: what makes it so special yet is fascinating. I have 388 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: to admit, um, it's about seventeen ft eight inches long, 389 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: twelve ft eleven inches wide and five ft seven inches high. 390 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: Um weighs about eight thousand pounds, and it's it's actually 391 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 1: made of carbon fiber and titanium. Uh, and you know 392 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: probably some other stuff. Well, if you duct tape maybe 393 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: according to Ram Hawks, if you had made it just 394 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:05,719 Speaker 1: from titanium, it wouldn't survive the pressures at three six 395 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,880 Speaker 1: feet because you're talking about massive amounts of pressure up 396 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,680 Speaker 1: to around say, oh, I don't know, twenty thousand pounds 397 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 1: per square inch. That's intense pressure. So you have to 398 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: be able to create a structure that's going to withstand that. 399 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: And the carbon fibers are extremely resilient. According to Graham 400 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:27,879 Speaker 1: Hawks in one interview I read I think it was 401 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,880 Speaker 1: with Popular Mechanics. He talked about how a computer laid 402 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: that down fiber by fiber to build this this structure 403 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: and uh, and it's meant to withstand that intense pressure. 404 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:45,679 Speaker 1: The the vehicle can hold up to twenty four hours 405 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: of oxygen, so you could go down for a full 406 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 1: day and night underwater, and you can go from the 407 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: very bottom of the ocean to the surface in right 408 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: around five hours. And it will can travel up to 409 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: a forty five degree angle when it's going up or down, 410 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: so you should be able to make about per minute, 411 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: yeah at that angle right right, And that's pretty interesting. 412 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: And then one of the one of the key features 413 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: of this vehicle is that it has wings. It's not 414 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: like if you look at a lot of submersibles, they 415 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: tend to look like tubes right with with a propeller 416 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 1: at one end or some other form of thruster at 417 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 1: one end, and then there might be a rudder there 418 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: that helps you guide which direction. But essentially the way 419 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,719 Speaker 1: that it works is that it uh it has some 420 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: uh as variable buoyancy where it will allow some water 421 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: in and then once it gets to wherever it's going, 422 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,119 Speaker 1: you know, it's bottom depth, in order to go back up, 423 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: it has to drop some weights and then it will 424 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: come back up. So, I mean, it's not it's not 425 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: terribly sophisticated. You've got something that provides some thrust and 426 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: then you control the vector of the thrust through either 427 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 1: a couple of different ways, Like you can have sutiple 428 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,240 Speaker 1: propellers and then you just you know, power on the 429 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 1: ones that will allow you to turn in the direction 430 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: you want to go, or you have a rudder, but 431 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: there's not a whole lot of control there. Hawks idea 432 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,159 Speaker 1: was to add wings to his submersible and make it 433 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: more like a plane. So it quote unquote flies underwater 434 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 1: with one major major difference from an airplane swings. Oh 435 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: they're upside down, lack right, So I guess we need 436 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,359 Speaker 1: to describe what lift is here. Yeah. Well, and in 437 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 1: the case of an airplane wing, if you were to 438 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: look at it from a cross cut, Yeah, a cross 439 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: cut of the wing, you would notice that, um, the 440 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 1: bottom of the wing is essentially a flat it's it 441 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: doesn't have any curve um. But the top of the 442 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 1: wing is more convex. Uh. It it's sort of a 443 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 1: it's sort of like a half tear drop in the way, 444 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: because the top of it bulges out towards the leading 445 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: edge of the wing and then tapers off towards the 446 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 1: back edge. And what happens in an airplane is the 447 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: air moving. As the air moves over the wing on 448 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,120 Speaker 1: the bottom, it moves roughly straight across and on the top. 449 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: Because it has to go around that bulge, it has 450 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 1: further to go in the same amount of time. So 451 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 1: if you if you have the same amount of time 452 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: to go a further distance, that means you're going faster 453 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: than someone who's you know, like if you're running a 454 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: straight line from A to B and I'm running a 455 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 1: circuitous line from A to B, and we both have 456 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: to leave A and arrive at B at the same time, 457 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: I have to run faster than you to get there. Yes, 458 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: so same sort of thing. The air going over the 459 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,400 Speaker 1: top is going to be moving faster than the air 460 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: going underneath. This also creates a difference in air pressure. 461 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:47,440 Speaker 1: It's what creates lift. We're oversimplifying, so please don't write 462 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: in and talk to me about how I'm wrong about this. 463 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: I've read X K C D, I understand. But the 464 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: that's the basic principle. So with the the UH the challenger, 465 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,719 Speaker 1: what they've done is the curve part is not at 466 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: the tops on the bottom, and the reason for that 467 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:06,120 Speaker 1: is they don't want lift. They want to counteract buoyancy. 468 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 1: So it's basically instead of of you know, the air 469 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: pressure difference sucking the plane up. It's pushing it's pushing 470 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 1: submersible down. Yes, except it's and it's water pressure, not 471 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: your pressure, right exactly, So it's someone, yeah, exactly, it's 472 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 1: it's hydrodynamic, not aerodynamic indeed, And so all you have 473 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: to do, this is all you have to do. I'm 474 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,440 Speaker 1: really oversimplifying. You provide thrust. If you provide thrust and 475 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,440 Speaker 1: you're moving forward, then the wings do the work of 476 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: working against the buoyancy and allow you to maintain or 477 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: dive deeper, dive deeper. And then the idea being that 478 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: if you just stop, then your buoyancy is going to 479 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: start pulling you up. You don't even have to you know, 480 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: you don't have to have as much of power thing 481 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: to go back up. You still might will probably have 482 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 1: to drop weights in order to surface, but that's what 483 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 1: allows it to to travel at these depths, and it 484 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: kind of apparently controls like uh an aircraft. Um well, 485 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,880 Speaker 1: it makes sense that in this case, because of its 486 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,840 Speaker 1: design um, the ship would have to continue, it would 487 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: have to stay mobile, it would have to keep moving 488 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:18,879 Speaker 1: in order to essentially stay to what we used to 489 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 1: say about sharks. Yes, and of course that's not always true. 490 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: Not all sharks have to move all the time where 491 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,639 Speaker 1: they drown, but you know, same basic principle, but they 492 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: do swim constantly, so they it's I think this is 493 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 1: a super cool idea. I also think it's interesting that 494 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: there's a patent on this device, by the way, and 495 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: if you want to look it up, you can, I mean, 496 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: you can do a free patent search Google patent searches 497 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: free and uh it's patent number seven million, one thirty 498 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: one thousand, three hundred eighty nine B one. Okay, And 499 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: that number again is seven million, one thirty one thousand, 500 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: three hundred eighty nine B one. And that is the 501 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: that that will show you the pattern that talks about 502 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: this submersible. Now, now the pattern is actually for a 503 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,400 Speaker 1: series of submersibles, not just the Challenger, because deep deep 504 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:13,040 Speaker 1: flight has UH not. They don't just make the Challenger. 505 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: In fact, they make all these crazy submersibles for really 506 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 1: wealthy private adventurer types like like Branson and fawcett Um. 507 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: So it's not just the Challenger, but a lot of 508 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: the basic UH technologies are explained in that pattern, including 509 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: they had to design a very comfortable chair because if 510 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,240 Speaker 1: you're gonna be uh going underwater for that long. You 511 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: want to have a comfortable seat. And you know, this 512 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: is designed for the non pilot, the non you know, 513 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 1: it's it's essentially a civilian adventurer. It's not meant for 514 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: uh military use or anything like that, So it has 515 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: to be comfortable because most of us don't put up 516 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: with that kind of stuff, right, But it is designed 517 00:29:54,320 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: for what While it isn't a military uh, it is however, 518 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: designed to do some scientific work. And it's not just 519 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 1: about adventuring. Although they've partnered with some pretty cool people 520 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: like Scripts Ocean Institute, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a lot 521 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: of other scientific organizations, and uh, the hope is that 522 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: the Challenger will be able to get a real good 523 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 1: look at this underwater world that we we hardly know 524 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: anything about, and and provide some information for scientific purposes. Uh. 525 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:34,280 Speaker 1: And you know, I'm really excited to see exactly how 526 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: much comes out of this, this uh, this project, and 527 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 1: and you know, they'll be interesting to see how challenging 528 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: the Challenger really finds going down to that depth. It's 529 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: a little it would be a little frightening for me, 530 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: I think to try to go down to that that 531 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: depth because um that intense pressure, I mean, the smallest 532 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: weakness and that thing is crumples. Yeah, right exactly. And 533 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: you know, the controls here are mechanical controls, like you know, 534 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: you move the the stick to the left and it 535 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: it mechanically moves the wings so that you roll. It's 536 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,040 Speaker 1: almost like flying a plane. You there's pitch and roll 537 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 1: as opposed to you know, you're not just heading down 538 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: or heading up or or you know, doing a vector turn, 539 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 1: vector based turn like you would with a regular submersible. Uh. 540 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: It's it's a fascinating approach and I'm really hoping that 541 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: it's a successful one will hopefully be able to find 542 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,400 Speaker 1: out before too much longer. Again, this project was originally 543 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: supposed to launch both figuratively and literally in two thousand seven, right, 544 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 1: and they're anticipating the possibility of going ahead with it 545 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: inven so it may not be but a few months off. Yeah, 546 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: And it's I'll be excited to see if it breaks 547 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,239 Speaker 1: those records. Those records pretty much stay broken because if 548 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:53,480 Speaker 1: it can get to the bottom of the Maria on 549 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 1: a trench, there ain't no deeper. Yeah, you know, well 550 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 1: there will, so you go, well, there's a lot of 551 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 1: information about it on Virgin Oceanic's website. UM, and it's 552 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 1: you you can learn more about the people on the 553 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 1: science crew, the people on the surface who are going 554 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,800 Speaker 1: to be with them at the time. UM. It is 555 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: interesting to note that while uh Sir Richard isn't going 556 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: down to the Mariana Trench, he is going to be 557 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 1: piloting uh one mission himself the second mission. And I'm 558 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: just going I hear they're actually gonna alternate? Are they 559 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: going to alternate? Here? That he's going to alternate? So 560 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 1: he does every other one. There's there's five of them 561 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 1: he'll do. So that means if he's doing even once, 562 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: he does two and four. Yeah, and so yeah, I mean, 563 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: these guys are brave, crazy people. But you need like, 564 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 1: if we didn't have these brave crazy people, think of 565 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: all the the projects that never would have happened. Absolutely, 566 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: the Space Race never would have happened. You know, all 567 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 1: the test pilots who have gone before, all of the 568 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: pilots who who are out there now, I mean without 569 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 1: the test ailets who actually were willing to put their 570 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: lives at risk to see if this stuff would work 571 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: the way that everyone thought it was gonna work. They 572 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: wouldn't exist. We'd still be getting around on horse and 573 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 1: buggy are dirigible? Oh that, by the way, that is interesting. 574 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: That's the way Hawks describes the difference between um, the 575 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: the Challenger based wing based submersible and the old submersibles 576 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 1: is like he says, you know, one, the old based 577 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: submersibles are essentially dirigibles. There's not a whole lot of control, 578 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:32,479 Speaker 1: and they're slow and sluggish and thing, you know, And 579 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: this is more elegant, like a like an airplane. So yeah, 580 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 1: that patent, by the way, if you do read it, 581 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 1: it's funny. It's it. It comes across to me as 582 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:43,960 Speaker 1: one of the snoodiest patents I've ever read, because it's 583 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 1: like it's like they're little subtle digs at other submersibles 584 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,280 Speaker 1: all the way through, which I think is is hilarious. 585 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: Um yeah, but so, Nate, thank you very much for 586 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 1: listening to our show. We really appreciate it. Thank you 587 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: for the audio request. That was awesome. I hope that 588 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: this was an interesting discussion. We're really looking forward to 589 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,880 Speaker 1: seeing more about this and the kind of technology that 590 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,600 Speaker 1: comes out of this, because you know that we don't 591 00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:13,759 Speaker 1: just get bio biological information. From these sort of procedures, 592 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:16,839 Speaker 1: we find out new ways to do things better. So 593 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:18,600 Speaker 1: it may be that this is just the first of 594 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:22,839 Speaker 1: many deep sea explorations that build on the foundation that's 595 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: set by the Challenger. And you know, with whe it 596 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,439 Speaker 1: being one of the virgin properties, it's only a matter 597 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: of time for Sir Richard is trying to figure out 598 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,320 Speaker 1: some way to take tourists down there. Well, I've already 599 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,080 Speaker 1: read that he's looking at he's already invested in other 600 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:41,719 Speaker 1: forms of submarine travel that well, you know, you can 601 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,640 Speaker 1: buy a ticket to go on these submarine or submersible 602 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,279 Speaker 1: UH journeys, although they are not designed to go as 603 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,319 Speaker 1: deep as the Challenger goes. And in fact, we should 604 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,719 Speaker 1: also add that while the Challenger sounds really really advanced, 605 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: deep Flight has not rested. UH. Deep Flight has continued 606 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:04,439 Speaker 1: to develop submersibles, including the I think there's one called 607 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 1: the super Falcon. The super Falcon is very similar in 608 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: design to the Challenger, but I think if it can 609 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 1: actually fit two people, not just one, and it doesn't 610 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,840 Speaker 1: go as deep as the the the Challenger does, but 611 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: it's it's it's like a faster, sleeker version of the Challenger, 612 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 1: but again not built to withstand the intense pressure that 613 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: you would find in a place like the Mariana Trench. Personally, 614 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:34,919 Speaker 1: I do want to say one thing to whomever does 615 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 1: eventually pilot this first trip, because you never know things 616 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 1: can change between now and when it launches. Be careful 617 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: because I read a book and in that book, the 618 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 1: megalodon still exists in the Mariana Trench, and I'm just saying, 619 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,319 Speaker 1: those sharks are enormous, So you've gotta be careful when 620 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,120 Speaker 1: you're down there because you never know when you run 621 00:35:54,120 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 1: into a megalodon. Okay, all right, there's a whole look 622 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,680 Speaker 1: about it. It's called meg I've considered it a documentary, 623 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:09,200 Speaker 1: just like Jaws. Yeah, yeah, the documentary job. So guys, 624 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,959 Speaker 1: thank you for listening. Uh. If you have any requests, 625 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,600 Speaker 1: you can email them to us. That address is tech 626 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: stuff at how stuff works dot com, or you can 627 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 1: let us know on Twitter and Facebook are handled there 628 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,839 Speaker 1: is tech Stuff h s W. We thank you again 629 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:28,520 Speaker 1: Nate for your wonderful suggestion. Hope everything is going well 630 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,120 Speaker 1: across the pond, and we will talk to all of 631 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 1: you again really soon for more on this and thousands 632 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 1: of other topics. Visit how stuff Works dot com. To 633 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 1: learn more about the podcast, Click on the podcast icon 634 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,960 Speaker 1: in the upper right corner of our home page. The 635 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: House Stuff Works iPhone FP has a ride. Download it 636 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 1: today on iTunes. Brought to you by the reinvented two 637 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,719 Speaker 1: thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you