5 ms·
I wonder if this could be used for doping in aerobic sports? Could this elevate overall oxygen intake in a healthy person? My vague understanding is that oxyge
by qyph 11mo ago
I wonder if this could be used for doping in aerobic sports? Could this elevate overall oxygen intake in a healthy person?
My vague understanding is that oxygen intake is a big limiting factor in aerobic activities hence measurement of things like vo2max in sports science. ‘Blood doping’ has similar benefits though it’s also about having more blood period.
It seems unlikely that one could take a big enough suppository to help in a meaningful way in a marathon, but in a middle distance race lasting only a few minutes…
- semicolon_storm 11mo agoIt seems unlikely, athletes are consuming liters of oxygen per minute. Plus, the impact is at least partially offset by needing to carry the extra weight with you. Different story for apnea sports like freediving where a little bit of extra oxygen goes a long way.
- o11c 11mo agoA liter of liquid is a lot more than a liter of gas ...
- Liftyee 11mo agoIsn't liquid oxygen cryogenic (boils at -183C)? The engineering of keeping that ...there... gets interesting fast, especially when dealing with all the cold (absorbed heat from expanding gas) and containing the pressure while also releasing oxygen slowly.
- o11c 11mo agoUm yeah don't use liquid oxygen. But oxygen dissolved or otherwise absorbed in a material is fair game. Even without anything fancy, water can contain about 1% free oxygen, which is 8x what you could do with gaseous oxygen (which is in turn 5x what atmospheric mixture has). And there are a lot of chemical reactions that can produce oxygen much better than 1%. The trick is going to be avoiding heat changes.
- estimator7292 11mo agoThe oxygen gas is dissolved into a different liquid, some kind of perfluorate in this case. You can put more oxygen molecules in a given volume when dissolved in a liquid than if you just compress the gas.
- whycome 11mo agoWatch the abyss. The mouse!
- stevenwoo 11mo agoIn a trained person, the limiting factor as I understand it is the capacity of one’s blood cells to carry oxygen to the muscles. This method does not make more blood cells unlike the common doping methods used for aerobic sports like blood doping, artificial EPO.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 11mo agoCyclists have been doping by taking transfusions of their own, previously donated blood. The extra blood cells can then carry more oxygen than a non-treated human.
- djmips 11mo agoPedantic quibble - they haven't donated their own blood, maybe just stored.
- colechristensen 11mo agoThe surface area of your lungs is like a tennis court, there is a significant difference. This is being talked about in the ballpark of partial assistance during severe respiratory failure so more like delaying organ damage during a crisis than boosting peak athletic performance.