Likeafish extracts air from water to enable a new paradigm in underwater exploration and living

Air and water are two of life's staples - interestingly, two of the best ideas we've ever written up involve both. Airwater machines extract water from the air and now there's a machine which can extract air from water, on-the-fly. Isreali company LikeAFish has developed a new technology which will enable a new paradigm in underwater exploration and living. Likeafish’s tankless diving technology is able to extract air from water and could revolutionise scuba diving, offering unlimited dive time and no need for expensive and inconvenient refills. The appropriately-named company uses a method similar to a fish’s gills to extract the dissolved air present in all seawater to offer an indefinitely sustainable supply of oxygen to scuba divers, submarines and underwater habitats.

The device uses a battery-powered centrifuge to lower the pressure of seawater in a sealed chamber, enabling the air to escape, in a similar manner to opening a bottle of lemonade. After separation in the centrifuge, the air is transferred to an air bag for use by the diver. The first unit will be installed in Lloyd Godson’s BioSUB this year – the BioSUB is the world’s first self-sufficient, self-sustaining underwater habitat.

An additional benefit of the Likeafish system is that it offers consistent buoyancy. With conventional SCUBA equipment, a diver's buoyancy changes through using approximately 4 kg of air during the dive – this is not the case with Like-A-Fish’s gear.

The BBC has an excellent in-depth article on Likeafish here.