Otter Alternatives to Conventional Wetsuits—Jacopo Buongiorno—MIT Department of Engineering
Finding Genius Podcast
Richard Jacobs
4.4 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 November 2019
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How do seals, orcas, otters, and other animals manage to survive in such cold waters? Simply put, they do so by virtue of one of the following: blubber (which is essentially just a thick layer of insulating fat), thick coats of fur which trap tiny gas bubbles that in turn insulate the body, and higher rates of internal heat generation.
Drawing inspiration from these approaches, Professor Jacopo Buongiorno from the department of engineering at MIT has helped develop a wetsuit that allows people—such as Navy Seals—to remain in very cold waters for longer periods of time than conventional wetsuits made from neoprene clothing.
On today's episode, Professor Buongiorno explains how traditional wetsuits work and why the one they've created outperforms them, the science and technology behind thermal conductivity, the feedback they've already received on this new product, and what's on the horizon. Tune in for all the details
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the Future Tech Podcast with Richard Jacobs. |
| 0:09.0 | Future Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, |
| 0:11.8 | Stem Cells, 3D printing, gene editing, |
| 0:14.6 | Bitcoin, blockchain, the microbiome, quantum computing, virtual reality, and exploring space |
| 0:21.0 | are much closer than you might think. |
| 0:23.0 | In fact, many early versions of these technologies are in play right now, |
| 0:27.0 | and the companies that are using these technologies are the focus of this podcast. |
| 0:31.0 | My goal for you, the listener, is to learn from these |
| 0:34.4 | podcasts. You may very well learn something that may change the course of your life |
| 0:38.2 | for the better. Steer you towards a new career or give you insight into |
| 0:42.4 | addressing a thorny medical problem. |
| 0:44.6 | Remember, this podcast and its content is informational and nature only. |
| 0:48.6 | No medical, tax, legal, financial, or psychological advice is being given. |
| 0:53.0 | If you've enjoyed the podcast, please listen, subscribe, like, and tell your friends about it. |
| 0:58.0 | Thank you. Hello, this is Richard Jacobs with the Future Check and Future Check Health |
| 1:08.3 | podcast. I have Professor Jokopo Bonjono. He's part of the Nuclear Engineering Department at MIT. |
| 1:16.0 | We were talking about artificial blubber that they're creating to keep Navy SEALs warm. |
| 1:21.0 | Which sounds really interesting. |
| 1:23.0 | So Chocopo, thank you for coming. |
| 1:24.7 | Yeah, my pleasure. |
| 1:25.8 | Thank you for inviting me. |
| 1:27.3 | So I guess, I don't know, is the human body not very resistant to water temperature with conventional |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Richard Jacobs, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Richard Jacobs and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.