We often make a big play out of the fact that our Buccaneer connectors work in hostile environments – including underwater. This got us wondering about other amazing products that have achieved this feat of engineering.
Flares
This baffles audiences every time they see it in a movie. Surely flames and water do not mix? Yet they do. Underwater flares emit high-pressure jets of compressed air at the tips which produce a protective bubble, enclosing the flame and shielding it from the water.
As you probably already know, in Vermont it is illegal to whistle underwater. It is, however, perfectly possible. Simply encase any standard whistle in a plastic box and when the box fills with air the whistle will work. Alternatively, you could buy one designed specifically for use underwater, like these.
Inspired by James Bond’s Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, Rinspeed has designed the sQuba – a car that not only floats, it can be driven when fully submerged. Possibly a useful piece of kit for the British summer.
We had to include ourselves, of course! No need to worry about the fish (below) – our Buccaneer connectors are designed to work securely and safely in the most hostile conditions, including underwater, in deserts or in freezing temperatures.
Phones
There’s really no need for a bulky waterproof iPhone case anymore. Sony, Samsung & Apple have all released smartphones that are IP67 or IP68 rated, which means they can be fully submerged to a specified depth. Unfortunately, you can’t update Facebook whilst swimming, but it’s still great news for anyone who has ever dropped their phone in the bath.
Making valuable use of their time, a couple of Google researchers in Australia thought they’d take their phones out to the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef to see if Google Voice Search would work underwater. It did.
There’s no scientific reason why a pogo stick wouldn’t work underwater, but we felt this impressive world-record attempt deserved a place on the list none-the-less. We see a new craze starting.
Liquapel has created new technology that will waterproof your tissues. Simply coat your tissue in their liquid repellent and it won’t absorb any water at all. Of course, that would make the tissue fairly useless, so what’s the point? Well, they want to use the technology to coat and protect electronic gadgets.
In a scientific test, a group of Swedish researchers pulled 21 babies underwater, and none of them inhaled any water. This is due to the Bradycardic response, which causes babies to hold their breath and open their eyes when submerged. Rather than throwing your baby in a swimming pool (which we do not advise) you can recreate the effect by blowing on their faces. What’s more, until they’re around 6 months old, babies placed in water, tummy-side down, will move their arms and legs in a swimming motion.