Bubbles (New Home, Part 4)

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Insects were the ultimate survivors. They could be found basically everywhere in almost every climate. Sure, single-celled organisms were still better adapted in most cases, but as far as more complex animals were concerned, insects took the price home.

Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, had already pretty early been one of the main research organisms for geneticists and developmental biologists all over the world. Honeybees were used as a model organism in neuroscience. The list went on and on.

It was only natural that insects should bring a solution to one of Michelle’s problems. More specifically, bugs that could live underwater.

The bugs in question needed to breathe air to survive, as insects usually did. But as they lived, ate and reproduced under the water surface, they needed to bring their own air along the ride. How they did it had actually been discovered before, but the info had never been used for human beings.

Still, the concept was there. And the moment Michelle had stumbled across it, she had been fascinated.

Those tiny bugs were theoretically able to dive down to 30 meters! At this depth, the air bubble needed to be very stable, exactly what Michelle needed. For the bugs, it was achieved by tiny hairs on their abdomen. The closer together those hairs were, the more stable the bubble was. At the same time, the hairs prevented water from entering the insect’s breathing holes.

”Nature is amazing”, Michelle said to herself. ”If only we could recreate this!”

Previous efforts to use this mechanism had failed mainly because a bubble for a human would be so huge that it hadn’t really been that practical. But in contrary to Michelle, they hadn’t been under pressure to find a way to save the human race.

”Let’s start designing this!” Michelle said and started sketching.

Maybe several small bubbles would work better than one big one. It would at least give the whole thing more surface area.

How about some kind of suit … covered in tiny hairs that held the bubbles? The hairs could be controlled by a computer, which would transport the bubbles according to their oxygen saturation. That would also make it possible for the wearer to always know how much oxygen there was left.

And no air tank! Several kilograms less to put a strain on the body. Free movement! Faster reactions!

Excitement rose in Michelle and made her laugh out loud. This was ingenious! A suit like that would enable people to leave the protective domes she had planned as main housing. That would make the tunnels connecting them unnecessary, saving a lot of work and precious air.

”We could even walk around and explore the ocean floor”, she whispered. ”Finally explore those depths we’ve never really reached. From the dirt and death on the surface to the silence and tranquility of the ocean floor.”

The sketch was finished and Michelle gave the paper an extensive look, before she headed out of her office and handed the schematics to her new assistant.

”Get me a prototype of this built as soon as possible.”

The new assistant nodded and quickly left, without saying a word. Nice guy. Michelle considered keeping him. She preferred her assistants silent.

Lost in thought, she wandered around the lab till she came to a stop in front of the water tank. The room was dark and nobody but her was there anymore. She looked at her watch.

”How time flies, it is already time to call it a day.”

One last time for that evening, she pressed her hand against the glass and stared into the unmoved water. Pictures of all the test subjects that had died in there flashed in front of her eyes.

”I will get there”, Michelle said. ”Sooner or later, I will get there. And I don’t care how many more lives it will cost.”

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Sources:

Bugs Use Air Bubbles to Survive Underwater

Life in a bubble

Drosophila Melanogaster

The honeybee as a model for understanding the basis of cognition

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