• reddig33@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    It’s always strange to me how the body prefers 72 to 75 degrees F on the outside but 98 F on the inside. Anything approaching equalizing of interior with exterior temperature results in heat-related illness.

    • Deadrek@lemmy.today
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      3 months ago

      We basically run on tiny combustion engines. Exothermic reactions.

      We aren’t a passive 98 degrees, we would be hotter if it wasn’t cool enough outside. Higher heat would cause different cellular structures to become misshapen, leading to system breakdown. I’d be like trying to run a cpu cooling loop with boiling water.

      • Dremor@lemmy.worldOP
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        3 months ago

        And I’d add to that that if our thermal dissipation is overwhelmed, our internal heat build up. To do that heat dissipation, we need to have an environment that suck out more heat out of us than what we produce. If the environment is too hot, the heat build up and as Deadrek says, our internal inner workings beak down.

        That why we sweat. Water suck out a lot more heat than air, because it wants to saturate the ambiante air, and to do that it suck up our body heat to become steam. Rince and repeat (literally).

        But once the air is to humid, it gets more and more difficult for our sweat to evaporate, which makes it ineffective. That why we can kinda survive in a 90°C + sauna (albeit not for long, but for a different reason), but not in a 37°C (98°F) 100% humidity place like some tropical rainforest. At least, not without specialized acclimatation and survival techniques.

        • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          There’s actually theoretically an endothermic reaction we do. E coli can undergo an endothermic reaction if it has enough zinc. It’s entirely possible this is why we have an appendix. I’ll link studies if anyone is interested

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Anything approaching equalizing of interior with exterior temperature results in heat-related illness.

      Giggles in sauna

        • Dasus@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Which is why you visit an avanto, a hole in the ice. To take a dip. Or roll in the snow. Cold shower will do in a pinch.

          Then rinse and repeat. Literally.

          Good for the circulation, our built in cooling system.