Scientists at Trent University have created a synthetic fibre that could help people breathe directly from oxygen in the water.

After studying the sub-aqua abilities of the land-based beetle, Dytiscus marginalis, researchers at the Nottingham university have extrapolated the insect’s natural talents and adapted them to perform around human parameters.

The Diving Beetle is covered with microscopic hairs that act as a water barrier and trap a layer of air enabling it to continue breathing in much the same manner as gills. Oxygen is allowed into the body while carbon dioxide diffuses back into the water. The boffins postulated that a similar system could be used at our size and began conducting experiments.

After the fifth test subject drowned - ha, no, I jest. A synthetic material was created, wrapped around an oxygen-absorbing instrument and submerged. This device positively registered that a supply of oxygen was getting through the material.

But don’t start getting all Man From Atlantis on me just yet.

1. The material only works if there is a constant flow of water against it to replenish the oxygen and take away the carbon dioxide. So, no standing around to admire the views.

2. Its effectiveness depends entirely on the gas content in the water. If the water is starved of oxygen, so will you be. If it’s polluted with methane, so will you be.

3. For it to supply an average human with enough oxygen to survive under water, the researchers calculated that the material would have to have a surface area of about 970 square feet. The average human body has a surface area of about 21 square feet. That would be one baggy costume.

For these reasons its only practical use, at the moment, would be for supplying oxygen to fuel cells on small exploratory machines.

But, as per usual, science has completely neglected to think about whether or not it should be raping another of Earth’s natural resources ‘just because it’d be really cool’ instead of finding some way to replenish them. It’ll be no good them bragging that they can have their cameras filming deep sea life indefinitely if all the deep sea life is floating at the top of the water with no oxygen left to keep them alive.

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Keywords: Atlantis, Beetle, Nottingham, Playing God, Trent University, Underwater