is, or can liquid oxygen be used to breathe in a diving apparatus for
deep sea diving( such as in the movie "the abyss") ???? we all breathe
it for 9 months in the womb, so is this possible?? or where can I go
to find out more??

Hello,

Liquid breathing is in fact not science fiction, it is science fact.
Alliance Pharmaceutical Corporation manufactures Liquivent which is
used for the sole purpose of liquid breathing. This is accomplished
due to its oxygen rich content in a mix of perflourocarbons. It has
been tested on mice, and is currently in Phase 2-3 clinical (human)
testing in the United States, Canada, and Europe. More information can
be found at the links below, a couple articles on liquid breathing,
and the actual homepage for Alliance's Liquivent (which is being
developed first for medical usage, and then maybe perhaps for
industry; i.e. high pressure dives in which air breathing is not an
option). Also, from the DVD extras on the Abyss special edition (I own
it and have watched the documentary), the rat used in the scene of the
movie which you saw was an ACTUAL test of Liquivent, and not special
effects. It's quite interesting to see science fiction come to
fruition. Thanks for letting me help you with your question.


Search Strategy:

"liquid breathing" on google:
://www.google.com/search?q=%22liquid+breathing%22


Additional Links:


ScienceWeb article on liquid breathing:
http://www.scienceweb.org/movies/abyss.html

totse.com article on liquid breathing:
http://www.totse.com/en/technology/science_technology/bpool.html

Liquivent Product Sheet:
http://www.allp.com/LiquiVent/lv_fact.htm


Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question, if you require
more information, please clarify the question, or if you find this
answer satisfactory, please feel free to rate it. Thank you!

skermit-ga

Your question is answered, cheyanne11-ga, but your statement "we all
breathe
it for 9 months in the womb" still puzzles me. Is the fact that they
would contain liquid oxygen the reason why pregnant women are advised
not to smoke? :)

Fascinating question, and I'm glad to hear progress is still being
made.  I remember quite a while ago seeing a picture of a mouse
immersed in liquid on the cover of a science journal.

While it is true that we "breathe" amniotic fluid for 9 months in the
womb, we don't get any oxygen that way--the oxygen comes from the
mother's lungs, through her bloodstream, across the placenta and
through the umbilical cord.  At birth, a valve switches the flow of
blood from the umbilical cord to the lungs.

The term "liquid oxygen" usually refers to pure oxygen in its liquid
form, which can only occur at extremely low temperatures or high
pressures.  But gaseous oxygen at normal temperatures and pressures
can dissolve to some degree in various liquids (including water,
allowing fish to respirate); Liquivent is one such liquid.  Besides
the unusually high solubility of oxygen in perflubron (the chemical
name of Liquivent), it also flows easily and doesn't mix with body
fluids.  This combination of properties is what makes it possible to
breathe the liquid without drowning.

poincare made some important clarifications on how you asked the
question, and skillfully sumarized. If we missed the point you had in
mind tell us.  Neil