User:Spacechimp555

The penultimate exhibit in the Jacques Cousteau Living Sea aboard the Queen Mary, "Man Re-Enters the Sea," comprised four small theaters separated by pneumatic-powered curtains. In the first theater, the tour guide would discuss a pair of models—one of a dolphin, one of a human—to emphasize how human physical limitations require us to use other methods to study the oceans. The second theater featured an array of diving suits over the years, leading up to modern scuba gear—with a nod to Cousteau and Emile Gagnan, inventors of the Aqualung. In the third theater, the guide described a diorama of underwater scientific habitats, such as those from the Sealab, Conshelf, and Tektite programs. Finally, the curtain would hiss open and the guide would lead the group into the fourth theater. There, behind a large metal desk (a "desk of the future") and dressed in a silver mylar aquanaut suit, sans helmet (he didn't need it), sans hair (for streamlining), a California Spiny lobster on his left, an Alaskan King Crab on his right, sat Dr. Jared Dranuc, the "underwater man of the future." As the fantastic narrative went, Dr. Dranuc's lungs, and any other air cavities, were filled with a neutral saline solution to balance the water pressure squeezing his body. His blood flow was re-routed, with the pulmonary artery and vein connecting the heart to a hockey-puck-sized device that oxygenates the doctor's blood through osmosis. Thus, Homo aquaticus could remain underwater for extended periods of time, if not indefinitely. Of course, the exhibit's Dr. Dranuc was a rudimentary robot. He could not stand up from his seat behind the expansive sci-fi desk, however he could turn his head and upper torso, and sweep one arm across the desk. Hidden pneumatic hoses would move his jaw as hidden operators, who could see and hear the audience, answered questions through a microphone in a computeresque monotone, all the while clicking and moving the robot, mostly for a comic effect. A popular exhibit in his heyday, Dr. Dranuc was lost when the Living Sea portion of the Queen Mary Tour closed. Today, the Homo Aquaticus Society is an exclusive association made up only of former Dranuc operators, aka "manipulators." [JFM, Queen Mary Tours, Dr. Dranuc, 1976-1980]