Breathing

After a recent dive, Todd and I kept breathing down the remainder of our oxygen-enriched breathing gas; it's a little expensive! And it has a great effect, increasing alertness. Just a few percent more oxygen has a real effect. This is good for diving, though breathing oxygen-enriched air puts hard limits on the depth you may dive, as at a certain depth oxygen becomes toxic, so with this kind of dive you do not exceed a certain depth (depending on the oxygen-nitrogen mix in your tank). This is all very interesting to know, and has significance for the high-altitude balloon project, as in that project I will breathe 100% oxygen. And, before the flights, I will be smart to 'de-nitrogenize' my own body tissues by 'prebreathing' pure oxygen, so even a bit of breathing like this teaches me a little about that process. I'm learning a lot that I can apply to the flying project by progressing in diving!