4 ms·

This seems like it'd be easy to test and important if true. Has there been any follow-up?

heavyset_go 6y ago
Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think such an experiment would pass an ethics review. Researchers would probably be limited to investigating people who, for whatever reason, were forced to subsist on ocean water.
- ericmcer 6y ago
  I am pretty confident someone would be a willing test subject. Just attach a world record to it: “longest time surviving on ocean water”
- gerdesj 6y ago
  It sounds like a job for the military. Those branches for which death at sea is a likely possibility. Perhaps start with what can be achieved with catching fish and work towards seawater intake, very, very carefully. It is quite likely that some forces have already done the research ...
  - qbasic_forever 6y ago
    What's the end goal? To remove the need for naval ships to carry a supply of freshwater? They still have to have enormous supply chain and logistics figured out to keep fuel, ammo, food, medicine, people, etc. at the front lines and out at sea. I'd bet, if anything, the navy would be way more interested in figuring out how to run their ships off of saltwater instead of their people.
    - brazzy 6y ago
      > What's the end goal? To remove the need for naval ships to carry a supply of freshwater? No, to improve the survival chances of shipwrecked sailors.
  - simplicio 6y ago
    Bombard's wikipedia page mentions the French and Taiwanese militaries conducted lost-at-sea exercises that supported Bombard's findings. The page doesn't have much in the way of citations, though, and I couldn't find anything on google about either the French or Taiwanese efforts (though I only spent a minute or two looking). As other posters have mentioned though, the take-away isn't really that you can subsist soley on seawater, but that using seawater to supplement fresh water from rain and liquids from fish can allow one to survive for long periods at sea without an initial store of freshwater.
- ClumsyPilot 6y ago
  This sounds like an experiment that would pass, because there is no real danger to particioant, as long as their vitals are monitired and intervention is avaliable if needed
- jojobas 6y ago
  Why not? Having volunteers drink saltier and saltier water while controlled for any organ function abnormalities doesn't sound too bad, Mars 500 was way worse.
  - heavyset_go 6y ago
    To me, at least, it seems like experimenting to see how much poison it takes to hurt or kill someone, except this poison is salt water and not something like cyanide or bleach.
nraynaud 6y ago
It is true, mostly because he drank little seawater.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think such an experiment would pass an ethics review. Researchers would probably be limited to investigating people who, for whatever reason, were forced to subsist on ocean water.

ericmcer 6y ago
I am pretty confident someone would be a willing test subject. Just attach a world record to it: “longest time surviving on ocean water”
gerdesj 6y ago
It sounds like a job for the military. Those branches for which death at sea is a likely possibility. Perhaps start with what can be achieved with catching fish and work towards seawater intake, very, very carefully. It is quite likely that some forces have already done the research ...
- qbasic_forever 6y ago
  What's the end goal? To remove the need for naval ships to carry a supply of freshwater? They still have to have enormous supply chain and logistics figured out to keep fuel, ammo, food, medicine, people, etc. at the front lines and out at sea. I'd bet, if anything, the navy would be way more interested in figuring out how to run their ships off of saltwater instead of their people.
  - brazzy 6y ago
    > What's the end goal? To remove the need for naval ships to carry a supply of freshwater? No, to improve the survival chances of shipwrecked sailors.
- simplicio 6y ago
  Bombard's wikipedia page mentions the French and Taiwanese militaries conducted lost-at-sea exercises that supported Bombard's findings. The page doesn't have much in the way of citations, though, and I couldn't find anything on google about either the French or Taiwanese efforts (though I only spent a minute or two looking). As other posters have mentioned though, the take-away isn't really that you can subsist soley on seawater, but that using seawater to supplement fresh water from rain and liquids from fish can allow one to survive for long periods at sea without an initial store of freshwater.
ClumsyPilot 6y ago
This sounds like an experiment that would pass, because there is no real danger to particioant, as long as their vitals are monitired and intervention is avaliable if needed
jojobas 6y ago
Why not? Having volunteers drink saltier and saltier water while controlled for any organ function abnormalities doesn't sound too bad, Mars 500 was way worse.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  To me, at least, it seems like experimenting to see how much poison it takes to hurt or kill someone, except this poison is salt water and not something like cyanide or bleach.

nraynaud 6y ago

It is true, mostly because he drank little seawater.