Disturbing simulation shows how a body implodes at 3,800m below sea level
Warning: This article contains content that some readers may find distressing
There are some horrible ways to go, but thankfully, most of us will never have to experience them and will hopefully pass away peacefully in our sleep. Still, that doesn't stop the internet from being filled with horrifying simulations that show what would happen to your body if you were blasted into space or dropped to the bottom of the ocean.
In the aftermath of the Titan submersible disaster that sadly claimed the lives of all five onboard, there became a morbid obsession with what would happen to the human body at such a depth.
The OceanGate sub was deemed destroyed by a catastrophic implosion that was potentially caused by a failure in the carbon-fibre hull combined with the great pressure at that depth. The Titan was lost 93 minutes into its proposed two-hour descent, suggesting it was around 11,500 feet deep (3,500 meters). This isn't too far from the wreck of the Titanic lying at approximately 12,500 feet (3,810m) beneath the surface.
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As the National Ocean Service confirms the average depth of the ocean is 12,080 feet (3,682m), it gives you some grasp on just how deep this is.
Even though it's hard to give an exact depth that a body would be ''crushed' underwater, the fact that the deepest recorded free dive is only 831 feet also adds context to how deep we're going here.
YouTube channel Atomic Marvel has simulated what would likely have happened to the doomed Titan passengers at the depth of the Titanic. An implosion at this depth would take just 20 milliseconds, and with the brain's response time being 150 milliseconds, those onboard thankfully wouldn't have been able to register what was happening. The adiabatic compression was said to release as much energy as 50kg of TNT, while the BBC reports that the weight of the water would be equivalent to that of the Eiffel Tower, amounting to tens of thousands of tons.
A slow-mo version of the implosion sees the submarine being crushed from all angles and shattering into pieces. It also has a bloodier view, showing a simulated body being similarly concertinaed and then blasted out with other parts of the sub. This matches up with the Coast Guard stating that presumed human remains were found among the wreckage, which were later used to identify the five victims via their DNA.
The video might not be the most scientific, but according to former US nuclear submarine officer Dave Corley, an implosion at this depth would include speeds of 2,414km/h, which works out at 2,200ft per second. Corley also reiterated that the hull collapse and explosion would incinerate the bodies and turn them instantly to dust.
It was an uncomfortable watch for many, with one horrified viewer writing: "I'm feeling a weird mix of horror, marinated in disgust, a pinch of fear, topped with a layer of 'huh, this is pretty cool'."
Another added: "It's always disturbing to me when people die so quickly that they probably didn't even realize they were dead. You are there and then you are gone."
Others found it fascinating, as someone said: "Not the worst way to die tbh. You’d have no time to react or feel fear, and it would be completely painless. Just gone in an instant."
A fourth concluded: "Let's be honest, this is way better than running out of oxygen."
While the 'haunting' final moments on the Titan sub have been recorded, experts can only hypothesize about what really happened at that great depth. Sadly, even those inside likely couldn't fathom what was going on.