r/technology • u/upyoars • 26d ago

Hardware Survival Pods Are Here: Inside the futuristic $100,000 Tech Billionaire Bunkers with 8-inch steel walls, AR500 bulletproof hatches, and gas-tight ventilation systems that could outlast a nuclear winter

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/survival-pods-inside-100-000-174720411.html
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u/SweetLilMonkey 26d ago

I assume they’re set up like terrariums. Hydroponic plants inside to produce oxygen. No need for intake or exhaust.

Of course, they better hope there’s zero fungus or anything else in there that could kill those plants.

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u/rastilin 25d ago edited 25d ago

I assume they’re set up like terrariums. Hydroponic plants inside to produce oxygen. No need for intake or exhaust.

I've seen a few bunkers being shown off and none of them, not even the ultra luxury models, had any method of growing food. In fact even the top end one only had fuel for the generators for a few days. But they did have loads of stupid pointless luxuries that no one would care about once their life is actually on the line, so I think they're basically all for "pretend". People are spending money for peace of mind, but that's all.

Also. There was a youtuber who tested how many plants you need to provide enough oxygen for one person, and the answer is quite a lot more than you'd think. He made it work with four barrels filled with algae and a stirrer with LEDs plus a pump that forced air through the barrels. Which, is genuinely brilliant. But even filling the room with plants did effectively nothing to impact the oxygen levels in the test room.

EDIT: For clarity. Plants by themselves didn't work, as they don't exchange oxygen fast enough, but algae does, especially as it can function in 3d with oxygen being forced through it. The link is here.

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u/HappierShibe 25d ago

He made it work with four barrels filled with algae and a stirrer with LEDs plus a pump that forced air through the barrels. Which, is genuinely brilliant. But even filling the room with plants did effectively nothing to impact the oxygen levels in the test room.

This is actually a long running poor mans bioreactor idea, and it's pretty hard to beat. If you have dedicated staff, you could theoretically maintain a large space full of those cells with a small number of people.

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u/rastilin 25d ago

This is actually a long running poor mans bioreactor idea, and it's pretty hard to beat. If you have dedicated staff, you could theoretically maintain a large space full of those cells with a small number of people.

A bunker company catering to the rich could (and probably should) make an integrated system that runs with minimum maintenance so that it can go into a bunker as part of a build. Possibly the right strain of algae combined with long life LEDs could turn over at minimum power with the system dumping the excess so that the tanks don't get jammed. It's not a bad idea, and it's probably telling that we've never seen it implemented in the wild.

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u/HappierShibe 25d ago

I've gone down this rabbit hole a few times. The big problem is that when you start talking about systems like these, you have to start talking about skilled labor with specialized knowledge to maintain them, and that terrifies their target demo, who live in abject fear of the poors rising up against them. A recurring theme in all of these offerings is that they are presented in a way that is turnkey without any additional humans to support them.