• Question: will human ever able to breathe under water?

    Asked by tianxx to Charlie, Eoin, Jemma, Julian, Steve on 23 Mar 2011. This question was also asked by elkerobinson, katiesmith, lizziegeniuscollinson.
    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 22 Mar 2011:

      Hi Tianxx, Elke, Katie and Lizzie the genius
      This is very unlikely. There is good evidence that life began in the sea and evolved out of it – so that over millions of years creatures adapted to breathing the air. To breathe under water would need an odd sort of reverse evolution, and that would require people to be living in or under water for millions more years.

    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 22 Mar 2011:

      Thanks for the question, all of you! I am guessing that you mean without the help of an aqualung? Seems unlikely, science fiction movies aside. Our lungs are very well adapted to absorbing oxygen out of air, but not out of water, which is why we drown when submerged for long enough! To make the switch, a whole lot of things would have to change at the same time, which isn’t likely to happen. Would be great fun though!

    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 22 Mar 2011:

      Hi tianxx, elkerobinson, katiesmith, lizziegeniuscollinson,
      Humans have evolved to live only on land. Being able to breath underwater requires some very special organs called gills – which fish have. That allows the fish to extract oxygen from the water.
      Even whales and dolphins, which live in water can’t breath under water – thats why they need to come to the surface to get oxygen from the air. So, if whales and dolphins haven’t developed gills yet (and they’ve been living in the water for a long long time) then I doubt it if humans will.
      It would be cool to live underwater though!!

      Eoin

    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 23 Mar 2011:

      hi tianxx, elkerobinson, katiesmith and lizziegeniuscollinson. This question is obviously extremely popular!
      I really don’t think humans are going to be able to breathe underwater, sorry! We just don’t have gills, any way to absorb the oxygen that is dissolved in the water. On land, our lungs work very well in absorbing oxygen, but in water they are useless!
      Sorry but it looks like scuba diving is your only option if you want to swim with the fishes!

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