Martian Game - Want to play?

clark · 2004-04-20 09:51:55

Here is a game that is fairly popular on Mars.

The game is called, "Abandon Ship"

You can play by yourself, or with as many people as you like. Young, old, boy or girl, all can play.

So, what's this game that is so popular? How do you play?

I'm glad you asked.

Abandon Ship is a game where you try and hold your breath for as long as possible. The game begins by someone shouting, "Abandon Ship!" Once the words have been uttered, everyone holds their breath for as long as they can, the winner being the person who holds their breath the longest.

Actual contests usually involve playing the game in a small pool of water, to make sure no one is cheating. However, if water is hard to find, a simple honor system can be observed.

I invite anyone who wants to play this Martian game to have a go, using the honor system. Just hold your breath as long as you can, and then, if you want, post how long you held your breath.

Ready... Set... Abandon Ship!

clark · 2004-04-20 10:03:47

Okay, I came in at 1 minute and 39 seconds.

Bill White · 2004-04-20 10:13:48

Okay, I came in at 1 minute and 39 seconds.

I used to do this in Spanish class, back in high school. The teacher was really boring and I had a great view of a big clock with a sweeping second hand.

It helped pass the time.

Rxke · 2004-04-20 13:01:05

*gasp* *choke*

3 mins 4 sec! And i'm a heavy smoker! (actually, i stopped last week...(I hope))

To be honest, i've been playing 'hold yer breath' for fun since a child, swim instructors hated me for doing that, it freaked them out, and several times i was pulled out of the swimming pool because they thought i was unconsious (heehee)

But i was cheating, kinda: The simple trick is to hyperventilate (breath in and out real fast) several minutes before doing it... Result: Your body is 'hyperoxygenated' and you actually don't feel like you even want to breathe... For a looooong time. So dunno if this counts...

And, strangely enough, humans can hold their breath longer when in water, some kind of ancient 'reflex' from the time we were sea-dwelling creatures? This effect has a name, but i forgot...

Palomar · 2004-04-20 13:19:48

*gasp* *choke*
3 mins 4 sec! And i'm a heavy smoker! (actually, i stopped last week...(I hope))
To be honest, i've been playing 'hold yer breath' for fun since a child, swim instructors hated me for doing that, it freaked them out, and several times i was pulled out of the swimming pool because they thought i was unconsious (heehee)

*Rik: Our Resident Man from Atlantis!

And, strangely enough, humans can hold their breath longer when in water, some kind of ancient 'reflex' from the time we were sea-dwelling creatures? This effect has a name, but i forgot...

*Ever seen babies put into water? I mean babies...who can't even yet -crawl-? They can swim. And they know instinctively when to go up for a breath of air...then they dive back down and start swimming underwater again. Freaked me out, the first time I saw that on a documentary! I think it was filmed in Russia. Cute, pudgy naked little babies, swimming around, going up for air and then back down, as if it were so natural. Sure, we all start off in a gestational sac of fluid...but while an infant is inside the gestational sac there's no going up for air! Incredible.

I tried "abandon ship." I held my breath for 20 seconds, started getting dizzy/light-headed, decided to quit. Maybe when I'm feeling better I'll try it again.

--Cindy

clark · 2004-04-20 13:23:30

Well done Rxxe! I've heard that some pearl divers can hold their breaths for upwards of 15-20 minutes... not sure if it's true, but man, imagine the lungs on them!

I used to do competitive swimming (500 meter free style, 50 meter free, and 100 meter back), but it's been a while since all of that. Even then (I wasn't the best by any stretch of the imagination) I couldn't hold my breath for nearly that long.

I have some more Martian games, but this is one that is easy to play among people in a situation as this (the message board).

I look forward to any others who want to play.

Abandon Ship!

Bill White · 2004-04-20 15:19:33

Hyperventilating now. . .

Bill White · 2004-04-20 15:22:13

Exhale after 55 seconds

No inhale for another 45 seconds

Mundaka · 2004-04-21 00:59:25

Byron · 2004-04-21 07:29:57

58 seconds for me...lol. Ric, I'm amazed that you can go for more than 3 minutes (!)...same with you too, Mundaka - I'm highly impressed with both of you.

As for me, I'd be afraid of incurring brain damage going that long without breathing..lol. I don't think I've ever been able to hold my breath for much more than 75 seconds or so, even as a kid.

Yeah, I know I've been gone a while...just been a bit preoccupied as of late.

B

Edit...Cindy, I've known about the ability of babies being able to swim for years...doesn't surprise me a bit. What I've never been able to understand is the "inability" of large numbers of people not being able to swim, considering it's not that hard to keep your head above water...I think it's more of a panic reaction than anything. Interestingly enough, at the university that I went to (UNC-Chapel Hill), it was a *requirement* that you pass a comprehensive swim test before you could graduate, which I've always thought was an excellent idea.

Rxke · 2004-04-21 12:38:13

Clark, funny thing is... I can't even swim properly! (heh, makes being able to hold yer breat double-practical, i guess...)

I *can* swim, but it's not the crawl or anything like that, people tend to compare it to the way dogs swim: i make an extremely amount of splashing/trashing around, not moving fast at all.
Sometimes i manage what they call err... 'school-strike' (Schoolslag) in Belgium, dunno what the English term is... Both hands like praying against your chest, then move them outwards etc...

Oh, another lame trick to keep your breath longer is to count ('silently) fairly slow, so you think you're only let's say ten seconds holding your breath, and your watch says 30...

Oh, and exhale very slowly, gradually in little 'bursts' when you get the feeling your lungs are getting too much pressure... (If that is allowed, but why not, under water or "on Mars" you can't draw breath, so exhaling isn't cheating?)

BTW fear of braindamage: it is impossible IIRC, your body "forces" you to gasp before that happens...

clark · 2004-04-21 12:45:14

Well done, all who have played! Keep on trying.

Rxxe, I think it's called the breast stroke out here in the States. Something akin to how a frog swims, right?

Exhaling isn't againt the rules either.

I know this is a pretty old game, but so is just about every game we all play. Just trying to imagine what games they might play in space. What better than "Abandon Ship", since in the case of an actual situation where people would have to abandon the ship, they better know how to hold their breath for as long as possible.

Rxke · 2004-04-21 13:01:08

Yes breast stroke, thanks...

On a slightly more macabre note: about the decompression...

Did you ever see the footage with the monkeys they subjected to 'explosive decompression' (very sudden pressure-drop)

Extremely disturbing..., and they lost conscious (due to haemorrageing?) after a mere minute...
No pressure is not the same as no oxygen... *shudder*

clark · 2004-04-21 13:30:35

Eww, monkey splatter.

I've never seen it, but I think I can imagine the rather messy results.

The bit about exsplosive decompression is why I think they suggest that the best course of action if you get 'spaced' is to try and exhale (by hyperventilating) all the air in your lungs.

You can last about 30 seconds or so, or so I've heard.

Knowing what to do when you're about to get spaced is something I've picked up along the way...

Byron · 2004-04-21 14:15:01

Another thing I've heard about sudden decompression is that you have to keep your eyes covered to keep from going instantly blind...which kinda sucks if you're trying to jump from one airlock to another or whatever. And assuming you were able to survive the experience, your skin would be lobster-red from all the burst capillaries in your skin.

In other words, hard vacuum is something that will have be avoided at all costs....god forbid we ever see the space equivalent of the "300 Club"....lol.

B

clark · 2004-04-21 14:17:22

I would imagine that you might experience some hearing loss from this whole adventure.

What's the 300 club in refrence to?

Bill White · 2004-04-21 14:25:35

Another thing I've heard about sudden decompression is that you have to keep your eyes covered to keep from going instantly blind...which kinda sucks if you're trying to jump from one airlock to another or whatever. And assuming you were able to survive the experience, your skin would be lobster-red from all the burst capillaries in your skin.
In other words, hard vacuum is something that will have be avoided at all costs....god forbid we ever see the space equivalent of the "300 Club"....lol.
B

I have read that human skin can resist vacuum reasonably well and unprotected hands and arms have survived "glove box" environments without loss of function or permanent damage.

Eyes, ears and mouth are a different story, of course.

Byron · 2004-04-21 14:26:21

I would imagine that you might experience some hearing loss from this whole adventure.
What's the 300 club in refrence to?

Yeah, your ears wouldn't fare too well either, I don't think.

As for the "300 Club", glad you asked, as that's an annual ritual that the "winterovers" down at Pole Station in Antarctica like to perform when the outside temp drops to minus 100 degrees F. First of all, they fire up the in-house sauna to 200 degrees plus, and the participants take their clothes off (at least down to their skivvies..lol) and roast themselves for a while. Then, when everyone is good and hot, they all run outside into the negative 100-degree cold...all the way out to the barber pole if they can, before dashing back inside. Having experienced a 300-degree swing in temperature upon your bare skin, you get to be a member of this very exclusive club...lol.

As much fun as it sounds, I do believe I'll take a pass on this one...LOL...

B

Bill White · 2004-04-21 14:30:01

Wear a "snoopy cap" with earplugs (w/radio?) airtight goggles and a nose and mouthpiece with emergency oxygen along with spandex suit covering all skin and perhaps someone could survive as long as their oxygen held out.

Standard garb for a settlement might include an emergency belt kit containing a tight snoopy cap, goggles and a nose/mouth piece with 60 minutes of oxygen.

clark · 2004-04-21 14:32:14

To all who read the following, my deepest apologies...

We've mentioned eyes, ears, and with Bill's recent post, the mouth, as all suffering a bit more than the rest of our body under a decompressive environment such as space. Well, yours truly just follows that train ride to the eventual train wreck. Again, sorry for this...

What about the anus?

Mundaka · 2004-04-21 15:21:22

clark · 2004-04-21 18:05:16

Sure, the body can go without O2 for five minutes and most of the gray matter will be fine... but five minutes of a space environment?

You won't be pretty no mo.

Thanks for the understanding Mundaka.

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1 2004-04-20 09:51:55

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#2 2004-04-20 10:03:47

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#3 2004-04-20 10:13:48

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#4 2004-04-20 13:01:05

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#5 2004-04-20 13:19:48

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#6 2004-04-20 13:23:30

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#7 2004-04-20 15:19:33

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#8 2004-04-20 15:22:13

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#9 2004-04-21 00:59:25

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#10 2004-04-21 07:29:57

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#11 2004-04-21 12:38:13

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#12 2004-04-21 12:45:14

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#13 2004-04-21 13:01:08

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#14 2004-04-21 13:30:35

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#15 2004-04-21 14:15:01

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#16 2004-04-21 14:17:22

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#17 2004-04-21 14:25:35

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#18 2004-04-21 14:26:21

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#19 2004-04-21 14:30:01

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#20 2004-04-21 14:32:14

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#21 2004-04-21 15:21:22

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

#22 2004-04-21 18:05:16

Re: Martian Game - Want to play?

Board footer