Originally published at: Walking upside down on the ceiling of a frozen lake in Finland | Boing Boing
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I read some account of an old story where somebody is sawing a fishing hole, and is aware a stranger is staring at him, possibly not aware of what he’s doing. The fisherman starts talking to his “partner” on the other side of the ice, complaining he’s not doing his share of sawing. He gets into a big argument with him, and then tells them to come up, and they’ll switch sides, if it’s such a big deal, but his partner refuses. “Fine, stay down there and sulk, see if I care.” and starts fishing, to the consternation of the onlooker.
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as someone with a life-long fear of falling through ice. this video is one of the most terrifying things i’ve seen in quite awhile.
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Cool, but points off for not using this music.
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So how are they “sticking” to the ceiling? I have to assume the suit can be… inflated? in a way that makes them buoyant. Needs more @DiveGirl!
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It’s like watching people play with mercury.
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Wow, that is so cool, pun intended, I wonder how that was performed?
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Or
Or
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They’re in drysuits, which are basically like a waterproof grown-up sized onesie (the kind with boots). There are snug rubber seals at the wrists and neck, and you climb into them by opening a waterproof zipper. On demand (you push a button) they get air squirted in from your tank, and you can “burp” excess air out a one-way flapper valve.
A weird side-effect is that when your boots are above your head, the air tends to accumulate at your feet, which makes this kind of “walking” easier.
A wetsuit is also bouyant, and you could theoretically do this by balancing carefully in a wetsuit. But because your body stays dry in a drysuit, you can put up with icy water for longer than you could in a wetsuit.
I did this kind of diving once, and it’s completely surreal. The air bubbles really do have that weird “mercury” look about them. I’m glad I did it, but once is enough. Even with a drysuit, my face got really cold very quickly.
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Late to the party as usual, but what @nosaj said!
They can trap air in their drysuit feet/legs specifically and look “pinned” upside down. Love the effect of them gathering air; inside caves your air on the ceiling looks just like shiny mercury gliding around the rock formations (pic below), and they use that effect here with light reflecting on the floor.
Loved when they released the wheelbarrow and “balloon” which then drifted off to the depths above (below).
It definitely chills me to the core thinking about it, only because even in a drysuit, that water is super damn cold!
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havent dove 1 degree c water but diving 6 degrees regulary i fell pretty toasty in 5 mil drysuit with a thermal undrlayer and a 10 mil hood 10 mil hood was a game changer.
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Yeah, I thought it was interesting that the bubbles seemed to seek out the cut holes. I wonder if that’s due to a specific phenomena or just coincidence. Nice pic!
And thanks, @nosaj!
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I suspect that because the water rises into a hole, it’d carry the air in its movement. Solid ice is at a stable height, but water (and air) are always finding the exits.
@Darth_Innocuous - you are a braver soul than I, but I’ll up my hoody game and see if it helps. I’ve got a 7mm hood and boots, but it’s my torso that seems to feel chill the fastest, even in a hybrid drysuit. Hands, too, of course, because you can’t lay line with bulky gloves.
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Mettälä deserves all the clicks and likes.
Also, they deserve all the fun they had. Those vids are really good. Just FTR, this reminds me of Tenet. A lot.
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A photographer friend found dry gloves to be a game-changer. Plenty of dexterity, and still warm.
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Just adding to this excellent comment:
When learning to dive in a dry suit, there is specific training in what to do if you get inverted, with all the air going to your feet, because the valve to let air out of the suit is on one of your wrists, and won’t work if the air is in your booties: basically tuck and rotate with giant balloons at your feet.
It could be a real problem - there is 1 atmosphere of pressure difference per 33 ft of depth. An uncontrolled ascent is very bad in diving.
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There is a rover designed for exploring the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn that operates on this principle. NASA's Undersea Robot Crawls Beneath Antarctic Ice in Test for Icy Moons | Space
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That is marvellous. The use of air is inspired. It reminds me of underwater Brine Pools.
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