As a researcher, Bennett performed studies of
nitrogen narcosis,
oxygen toxicity, submarine escape,
decompression illness, ascent rates, and the effects of flying after diving. Bennett described helium tremors in 1965 and coined the name of
high pressure nervous syndrome (HPNS), a diving disorder resulting from breathing a high-pressure mixture of
helium and
oxygen known as
heliox at depths greater than about . Bennett was a consultant on the
James Cameron underwater science fiction film
The Abyss, in which a character experiences HPNS. Bennett is credited with the invention of
trimix breathing gas. In 1981, at Duke University Medical Center, he conducted an experiment called Atlantis III lasting 43 days, which involved compressing divers to an equivalent depth of , and slowly decompressing them to surface pressure, setting a world record in the process. In 45 years, Bennett published over 200 scientific papers and six books, ==Retirement==