A man who spent 93 days at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean - and knocked 10 years off his physical age by doing so - was joined by his mum and his brother on the sea floor.
Dr Joseph Dituri, a retired US Marine naval officer, broke the record for the longest time lived underwater by residing in a 100 square foot pod at the bottom of the sea for more than three months.
In addition to smashing the record, which was previously 73 days, Mr Dituri's feat was designed to research the effects of high pressure environments on the human body.
After going through a physical when back on dry land, medics found that his vitals and telomeres - a DNA sequence that usually retreats as we age - were 20 per cent longer than they had been before he went beneath the waves.
He added that he also has 10 times more stem cells than at the start of the research.
Other beneficial effects of the deep-sea hibernation were that he now gets 60 to 66 per cent deep REM sleep at night, a 72-point drop in cholesterol and that his inflammatory markers have been slashed in half.
But being in such a strange environment would've undoubtedly had some effect on the researcher's mental health.
These pressures were likely eased when on day 81 his mum and brother faced the deep sea dive to come visit him.
He wrote on Instagram: "Family is the lens through which we learn about life and on day 81, my mother, along with my brother, proved their indomitable spirits - again.
"Traveling over 1,000 miles from New York and then 22 feet deep to meet me on Saturday, they turned an ordinary day (in the life of this mission anyway!) into a memory we’ll cherish for all our years left on the planet!"
The massive changes in his physical health have been attributed to the pressurised environment, which is known to have a number of positive effects.
One similar form of treatment is the hyperbaric chamber, which improves brain health, leading to better cognition.
Dituri's research allowed him to see how human bodies respond to pressurised environments for a longer period of time.
His pod was similar to what spacemen and women will experience while travelling to Mars.
Speaking to the Daily Mail about the pod he called home for 93 days, he said: "You need one of these places that is cut off from outside activity.
"Send people down here for a two-week vacation, where they get their feet scrubbed, relax and can experience the benefit of hyperbaric medicine."
During the getaway, he worked out for an hour five days a week but could only use exercise bands. He has still maintained the mass he developed down there weeks later.
He added that his metabolism has increased, allowing his body to become "leaner".
His stem cells, which are already touted as a way of reversing visible aging, have multiplied by 10.
