Science & Technology

Can plants keep you alive in an airtight room?

By T.K. Randall
November 1, 2018 ·  22 comments

Kurtis inside his plant-filled cube. Image Credit: Twitter / Kurtis Baute The Canadian, whose goal was to raise awareness for climate change, opted to seal himself inside a plastic prison measuring 10ft by 10ft along with 200 plants to see how long he'd be able to survive.

Plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen through a process called photosynthesis and by filling the room with them he had hoped to be able to last for at least three days.

Baute started his challenge at midnight on Tuesday and while things started out promisingly enough, he ultimately had to abandon the attempt after just 15 hours due to high carbon dioxide levels.The main problem, he argued, was that the plants hadn't been getting enough sunlight.

"I could probably survive in the jar three days," he wrote on his website. "But my goal is not to just 'not die', my goal is to end this project without having turned blue, developed brain damage, gotten heat stroke, or just generally caused lasting harm to my body."

It remains to be seen whether or not he will attempt the experiment again.

Source: BBC News | Comments (22)

Tags: Plants, Oxygen