Both intestines and lungs are epithelial tissue covered in mucus. I'm not that shocked by this news.
Edit: though I don't like the title. It's not breathing. It's absorbing oxygen.
Breathing involves inhalation and exhalation.
Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
31–40 of 177 posts
Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#32dumb question -- is it not possible to just directly oxygenate blood? like what stops having a special IV that takes blood out, oxygenates it, and puts it back in?
Yes, it's entirely possible; it's called ECMO. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extracorporeal_membrane_oxygen... It's very risky and requires a nurse at the bedside 24/7, so it's a last-ditch sort of intervention.
why is it risky?
Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#33And here I've only been exhaling with them this entire time. This is a whole new world.
The article actually starts with this gem:
> On a good day, things exit through the anus.Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#34Poor mice
My thoughts exactly
Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#35Poor mice
My thoughts exactly
Yes, and what about the pigs?
The detached coldness in the writing about the experiments on these creatures dates all of us.
I find it odd how this can float by while we pine over the potential sentience of a server at Google.
The acceptance of the brutality is inherent to our false sense of modernism.
Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#36This reminds me of the scene in The Abyss where the rat is forced to breathe in oxygen-rich perfluorocarbons[1]. I think this idea of introducing oxygen through perfluorocarbons has been explored but not sure it’s made much headway in humans to date [2]. This paper seems like a clever idea to introduce the liquid anally where oxygen can diffuse through the linings, and to also use same liquid (because of its viscosit…
The fact that it was an actual rat actually submerged in actual perfluorocarbons and actually breathing the stuff still blows my mind.
Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#37Both intestines and lungs are epithelial tissue covered in mucus. I'm not that shocked by this news. Edit: though I don't like the title. It's not breathing. It's absorbing oxygen. Breathing involves inhalation and exhalation.
Well I think most of us have the exhalation part figured out by now.
Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#38Poor mice
Exactly my thoughts
Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, it's entirely possible; it's called ECMO. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extracorporeal_membrane_oxygen... It's very risky and requires a nurse at the bedside 24/7, so it's a last-ditch sort of intervention.
why is it risky?
You need to treat lots of blood continuously, so you have to cut a bypass into the largest, irreplaceable blood vessels, unlike smaller operations like kidney dialysis where you can just "plug into" an arm.
Mechanical pumping of blood is a problem as it damages blood cells. Infection is a severe risk. Any break in the operation or a temporary "plumbing issue" where the machine connects with the body can be fatal. So you need 24/7 monitoring capable of really rapid response.
Re: Mammals can breathe through their intestines (2021)
#40This reminds me of the scene in The Abyss where the rat is forced to breathe in oxygen-rich perfluorocarbons[1]. I think this idea of introducing oxygen through perfluorocarbons has been explored but not sure it’s made much headway in humans to date [2]. This paper seems like a clever idea to introduce the liquid anally where oxygen can diffuse through the linings, and to also use same liquid (because of its viscosit…
I had the exact same though - this could make the suits a reality - providing that the traveller does not need to take large doses of morphine to deal with the pain or are dosed with amyl nitrite. I bet you would be "gassy" for weeks on end - with a dangerous combination of both pure oxygen and methane - sounds like a party to me.
Liquid breathing hurts?