Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: SF Chinese (ID:kexuejiaodian), author: SF

/ tr. by Stephen Kelly (Stephen Kelly)

Translation | Li Shijie

Editor | Liu Jiayu

The original article is published in Science focus 2022.12.

The villain in the movie Black Panther 2 lives in the undersea kingdom of Atlantis. In the future, can we also build "underwater cities" and live at the bottom of the sea?

In Black Panther 2: long live Wakanda (Black Panther:Wakanda Forever), a villain named Namo lives underwater and rules the mysterious kingdom of Atlantis. Let's ignore the part of the film about underwater breathing and the authenticity of Atlantis, and focus only on the fact that Namo's people live in cities in the depths of the ocean. Philip Pauley, a futurist who works to tap the potential of underwater cities, says the idea is not as implausible as it sounds.

"Jacques Cousteau was a pioneer in building underwater bases," Mr. Polly said. "in the 1970s, he built a lot of underwater bases. Those bases tend to be small, but as long as there is enough time, money and resources, it is not difficult to build larger habitats."

Polly's underwater community attracted the attention of filmmakers and NASA. The underwater community he designed uses a dome structure, which consists of a central biosphere and eight spherical structures as a whole. "on the surface of the dome, the water flows more easily, and such structures can withstand more pressure," he said. in terms of cost, the construction cost of a square structure is lower. However, the choice of shape depends on where you want to build the underwater city. If the current is strong, it is risky to build square structures in these places. "

Polly added that the location of underwater communities is crucial. Underwater communities built near the surface have easier access to supplies and can easily escape in the event of an accident. "the deeper the underwater building, the higher the cost, because you need to choose more durable and expensive building materials," he said. "

Even so, building underwater communities in deeper waters means that strong water pressure can be used to generate electricity, providing a continuous supply of clean electricity to the community. "of course, we can also use a range of renewable energy sources such as waves, solar energy, wind power and so on," Polly said. "

Similarly, in the underwater community, there are a variety of foods to choose from. "you can bring livestock, poultry and even fish to the underwater community," Polly said. "in the underwater community, not only can you grow vegetables, but it is also possible to raise livestock." As for the source of oxygen, it can be made from sea water or transported from land.

But Polly acknowledges that living underwater for a long time can affect mental health. "it can lead to loneliness," he said. "for mental health, you need sunlight and vitamin D. it may be possible to simulate sunlight with LED lights, but if underwater cities are built in shallow waters, people won't feel isolated."

Polly believes that building underwater cities also provides a solution to potential problems such as overpopulation. "this is more feasible and much cheaper than building a permanent base on Mars."

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.