from Algis Kuliukas 8 november 2022
WHAT Talk #13
Gareth Morgan - Taking on Water

Dear One and All,
Please consider yourself invited to the next in the WHAT talks series which will take place on Sunday at 2pm UK time, 9pm West Australian.
The link to the Zoom meeting is at the end.

Gareth Morgan
Potted Bio
Gareth is Elaine Morgan’s middle son, which explains his interest in aquatic theories of human evolution, and he has done a considerable amount of original research on the subject.
He has written for various publications incl. New Scientist, SCUBA & Philosophy Today ,and his papers on different aspects of human evolution have kept him in the top 0.3 % of researchers on Academia .edu, while his ranking reached the top 0.1% in both virology & atmospheric science last year on the strength of his work in other fields.
He brings this multi-disciplinary approach to his interest in human evolution, where it found practical application in his recent experiments on salt water immersion in humans.

Talk Abstract.
There has been a great deal of research into the diet of early hominins that clearly indicates their dependence on marine food sources,
but very little thought has been given to what they drank. If their time was spent foraging in the sea, what did they do for fresh water?
A series of immersion experiments was carried out, to test the hypothesis that modern humans retain the ability to extract fresh water from sea-water through the eccrine sweat glands by reverse osmosis.

Meeting Link
Algis Kuliukas is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: WHAT #13 Gareth Morgan - Taking on water
Time: Nov 13, 2022 01:30 PM London

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Dr Algis Kuliukas
Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology

Gareth Morgan conducted 4 experiments:
1) the subject's hand was immersed in a sealed container of water for 3.5 hrs. The weight of the water was measured before & after the experiment.
2) the subject spent 4.5 hrs in warm, fresh water, without eating or drinking.
3) the subject spent 4 hrs in the sea (Mediterranean) and undertook moderate exercise, without eating or drinking.
4) 5 subjects spent 4 hours immersed in the sea, and were compared to 4 control subjects in an interior environment.
Measurements were taken of body Wt, urine quantity, urine density, air & water tps, before, during & after the experiments.

1) the hand absorbed 10 g of water.
2) a total of 250 g of water was absorbed.
4) participants produced an average of 1050 g of urine (vs 113 g on land, control). They lost an average of 1261 g of body-Wt (vs 454 g on land, control):
when immersed, the participants produced an extra 234 g of urine/hr, but lost 193.25 g of body-Wt/hr (vs control).
The amount of extra urine produced was significantly more than the extra Wt lost: it must have included water absorbed from the sea.

Regarding the density of the urine produced, the average density of the urine produced by the immersion subjects was 1018.3 g/litre, vs 1030 g/litre for the controls:
the immersed participants were better hydrated. After the experiment, none of the subjects felt thirsty.

Morgan plans to complete the study with 2 complementary experiments:
1) will use heavy water (DO2) to moisten the skin of a volunteer, followed by a saliva test, to show that deuterium has been absorbed & dispersed throughout the body fluids.
This is intended to put beyond doubt the fact that water is absorbed through the skin.
2) will involve a 6 to 8 hr continuous immersion in sea-water: are the observed effects sustained over time?

If the results of the experiment are as conclusive as the preliminary findings have suggested, it would have implications for several fields of research, e.g.
in a 32-yr-long study, Steven Blair (Univ S.Carolina) discovered: swimming confers previously unsuspected health benefits far in excess of those provided by other forms of exercise.
In a study of >40,000 men ages 20 to 90, he found that swimmers were 50 % less likely to die during the study period than were walkers or runners. No reason for this disparity has yet been suggested.
One possibility is that, if water is absorbed through the skin, it must help to flush out every inch of the interstitium & all the dead cells, lymphocytes, proteins & fats that can accumulate in the lymphatic system, which may go on to form arterial plaque, whereas water absorbed from the gut will take a more direct route to the kidneys. This could have major implications for a number of cardio-vascular conditions. [1]

Participants in the reverse osmosis experiment

For further details of the 3rd experiment, see below:

Abstract:
Reverse Osmosis is a well-documented function of the eccrine glands. The epithelial sodium channels in the apical membranes of the eccrine gland ducts re-absorb salt before perspiration is excreted to maintain water & salt homeostasis.
A series of experiments was devised:
- can water can be absorbed through the skin?
- if so, is the amount of water absorbed sufficient for normal hydration?
- can reverse osmosis operate in both directions? i.e. could a person immersed in sea-water absorb water through the sweat glands? if so, would surplus salt be excreted via the kidneys? or filtered out by the Na+channels before absorption?
An adult male subject underwent a series of immersions.
Measurements were taken of changes in Wt & the quantity & density of urine produced:
fresh water was absorbed at a rate sufficient to maintain normal hydration in both fresh & salt water.
In evolutionary terms, this mechanism would have provided a means of surviving a drought of any duration, simply by adapting to a sea-food diet,
but land-based hominins would perish after just a few days without water. [Read the paper 2]
______

> from Algis Kuliukas 8 november 2022
> WHAT Talk #13
> Gareth Morgan - Taking on Water
>
>
> Dear One and All,
> Please consider yourself invited to the next in the WHAT talks series which will take place on Sunday at 2pm UK time, 9pm West Australian.
> The link to the Zoom meeting is at the end.
>
>
> Gareth Morgan
> Potted Bio
> Gareth is Elaine Morgan’s middle son, which explains his interest in aquatic theories of human evolution, and he has done a considerable amount of original research on the subject.
> He has written for various publications incl. New Scientist, SCUBA & Philosophy Today ,and his papers on different aspects of human evolution have kept him in the top 0.3 % of researchers on Academia .edu, while his ranking reached the top 0.1% in both virology & atmospheric science last year on the strength of his work in other fields.
> He brings this multi-disciplinary approach to his interest in human evolution, where it found practical application in his recent experiments on salt water immersion in humans.
>
> Talk Abstract.
> There has been a great deal of research into the diet of early hominins that clearly indicates their dependence on marine food sources,
> but very little thought has been given to what they drank. If their time was spent foraging in the sea, what did they do for fresh water?
> A series of immersion experiments was carried out, to test the hypothesis that modern humans retain the ability to extract fresh water from sea-water through the eccrine sweat glands by reverse osmosis.
>
> Meeting Link
> Algis Kuliukas is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
> Topic: WHAT #13 Gareth Morgan - Taking on water
> Time: Nov 13, 2022 01:30 PM London
>
> Join Zoom Meeting
>
> https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83063982970?pwd=c2hRbzNvL0RSUkNYWlFTQ3djZU5PZz09
>
> Meeting ID: 830 6398 2970
> Passcode: 443305
> One tap mobile
> +13602095623,,83063982970#,,,,*443305# US
> +13863475053,,83063982970#,,,,*443305# US
>
> Dial by your location
> +1 360 209 5623 US
> +1 386 347 5053 US
> +1 507 473 4847 US
> +1 564 217 2000 US
> +1 646 931 3860 US
> +1 669 444 9171 US
> +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
> +1 689 278 1000 US
> +1 719 359 4580 US
> +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
> +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
> +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
> +1 309 205 3325 US
> +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
> +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
> Meeting ID: 830 6398 2970
> Passcode: 443305
> Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kccV0SHzJ5
> Dr Algis Kuliukas
> Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology