It’s a great scientific irony that water is full of oxygen yet none of it is breathable to humans. But that might be about to change, thanks to a research team in Denmark and a bizarre crystal they’ve discovered.
Carrying the catchy label of [{(bpbp)Co2II(NO3)}2(NH2bdc)](NO3)2 * 2H2O, and what we’re going to call the Aquaman Crystal because we can, researchers at the University of Southern Denmark have discovered the Aquaman Crystal has an amazing oxygen absorption capacity, able to contain 160 times more of it than the air we breathe. A spoonful of this stuff could leach all the oxygen out of a room. But what’s fascinating is how the Aquaman Crystal reacts once it absorbs that oxygen.
Namely, it releases all that oxygen when exposed to heat or low-oxygen environments. And it doesn’t appear that this damages or alters the crystal; it can suck in the air, hold it, and then release it whenever it’s needed. This is kind of strange considering most things that absorb lots of oxygen tend to suffer damage, either because they corrode or because, well, they blow up. It also appears to work on the surrounding environment regardless of the actual medium, so it can take the oxygen right out of the water and pump it into your mouth, instead.
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