Undersea habitat for humans to be trialed in 2025

A pioneering undersea habitat will be tested in 2025, allowing humans to live underwater for weeks at a time.

Around 90% of marine life lives within 200 meters (650 feet) of the surface. But divers can only reach those depths for 10 minutes, and must then spend six hours decompressing. The Vanguard habitat, housing three people, will create “a permanent human presence in the ocean,” one scientist told IEEE Spectrum, allowing researchers to do seven years’ worth of work in 30 days without needing to surface.

Trials will begin in a submerged quarry in Wales: If successful, a larger modular format, Sentinel, could hold six people, who could live in it for “months, if not years.”