Search for new way of life

Bid to prove seas can be good habitat for human growth.

There are probably easier ways to set a world record, but Rudiger Koch has found his method 11 meters under the sea.

He's been living in a submerged capsule off the coast of Panama for two months--which means he has about two more to go.

"The last time I checked, I was still married," he joked, as fish swam through bright blue Caribbean waters outside the portholes.

But Koch, a 59-year-old aerospace engineer from Germany, has grander plans than simply notching a record.

His stunt, he says, could change the way we think about human life--and where we can settle, even permanently.

"Moving out to the ocean is something we should do as a species," he said.

"What we are trying to do here is prove that the seas are actually a viable environment for human expansion."

Koch's 30-square-meter capsule has most of the trappings of modern life.

It has a bed, toilet, television set, computer and internet--even an exercise bike.