The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold • Hacker News Board

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#121

Post by samplatt » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 4:00 AM UTC

teddyh wrote: post #69

noir_lord wrote: post #51

I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…

You’re one of them ! “They're almost like normal humans, except they have no knowledge of what it means to be cold. ” — http://absurdnotions.org/F1992.html Of course, there are those other people as well… http://absurdnotions.org/an20020702.gif

God, I love being one of those people. It's like a superpower with the added benefit of getting to irritate other people.

Yes, I am also a morning person, why do you mention?

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#122

Post by samplatt » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 4:01 AM UTC

grecy wrote: post #103

noir_lord wrote: post #51

I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…

eh. My family is Australian since a while back, and I moved to the Yukon to live. I thoroughly enjoy riding my bike to work at and beyond -40(C/F), and am always out snowshoeing, snowboarding, ice fishing, bison hunting etc when it's in range of -25 to -40C. The coldest I ever saw was -48C (-54.4F) as a daytime high (before the windchill). It was about a degree colder overnight. It was glorious, and I hope to crack -…

You're not from south-coast WA are you?

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#123

Post by mlboss » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 4:14 AM UTC

henrikschroder wrote: post #87

batmansmk wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On that point, I wanted to share something you may relate to: my Filipino wife is always freezing in SF. I'm from Scandinavian descent, I could live as naked as a jaybird in the Bay Area weather. Where can't I find a blanket thick on the left, thin on the right? :)

Things Americans do that completely baffle me: In a double bed, they have two pillows, but only one blanket, and end up having fights and struggles about the blanket. You've already solved the problem with the pillows. You don't fight over a shared pillow. Come on, you can figure out how to solve the problem with the blanket as well. "You can have two blankets in a double bed?" Yes. There you go. You're welcome.

You cannot do spooning with two blankets.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#124

Post by aaron695 » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 4:20 AM UTC

> The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

This is just bullshit. Total bullshit.

The cold kills more people than the heat. Hot climates are better for health. Hot climate and climate controlled is the best

Just because under some pretty specific conditions people accidentally survive is not remarkable. It's just an odd story.

They even talk about people undressing, or it blunts our sensation of thirst or people hiding themselves when they get cold, how is that remarkable? It's interesting and scary perhaps, it's informative.

What allows us to survive in the cold, or space or on water or anywhere is our intelligence, and our intelligence pre-planning how to be safe. It's our high abstractions.

Do you learn to swim, wear a life jacket, check the weather before boating or trust your remarkable body?

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#125

Post by wutbrodo » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 4:31 AM UTC

grecy wrote: post #103

noir_lord wrote: post #51

I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…

eh. My family is Australian since a while back, and I moved to the Yukon to live. I thoroughly enjoy riding my bike to work at and beyond -40(C/F), and am always out snowshoeing, snowboarding, ice fishing, bison hunting etc when it's in range of -25 to -40C. The coldest I ever saw was -48C (-54.4F) as a daytime high (before the windchill). It was about a degree colder overnight. It was glorious, and I hope to crack -…

Unless it's Aboriginal, your ancestry for the purposes were discussing is definitely not Australian. The timescale that non-Aboriginal Australians have been around is pretty small, likely not long enough for substantial adaptations to climate to kick in. As an easy example, consider how different Aboriginal and Eurasian-descended Australians are in skin color (excluding those descended from similarly sunny climates).

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#126

Post by nostrademons » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 5:54 AM UTC

noir_lord wrote: post #51

I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…

Dunno. Half my ancestry is from Guangdong, China, a tropical climate. I grew up in Massachusetts, and I do fine with cold. My wife is Taiwanese (also tropical) and grew up in California and hates the cold.

Then again, the other half of my ancestry is from Ireland & England. Am I fine with cold because it's more about where you grew up and became accustomed to, or because I got my mom's genes? It's a good question, but the rest of my dad's family (currently living in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal) seems to do okay.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#127

Post by nostrademons » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 6:00 AM UTC

henrikschroder wrote: post #87

batmansmk wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On that point, I wanted to share something you may relate to: my Filipino wife is always freezing in SF. I'm from Scandinavian descent, I could live as naked as a jaybird in the Bay Area weather. Where can't I find a blanket thick on the left, thin on the right? :)

Things Americans do that completely baffle me: In a double bed, they have two pillows, but only one blanket, and end up having fights and struggles about the blanket. You've already solved the problem with the pillows. You don't fight over a shared pillow. Come on, you can figure out how to solve the problem with the blanket as well. "You can have two blankets in a double bed?" Yes. There you go. You're welcome.

There may be ulterior motives at play: it is much harder to cuddle with multiple blankets between you.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#128

Post by gumby » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 6:19 AM UTC

moltar wrote: post #100

gumby wrote: post #28

As it happens I'm leaving for a camping trip in the snow tomorrow morning. It's the sierras (relatively warm) and I'm leading a bunch of inexperienced scouts (so not a particularly grueling trip) but still with opportunities for danger. I was surprised how many of these SV kids signed up and were then pulled by their parents -- 50%! Only a few years ago these trips were immediately oversubscribed, with nobody getting…

Maybe it’s because of the news about scouts declaring bankruptcy?

I am certain that had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#129

Post by adrianN » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 6:46 AM UTC

mlboss wrote: post #123

henrikschroder wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things Americans do that completely baffle me: In a double bed, they have two pillows, but only one blanket, and end up having fights and struggles about the blanket. You've already solved the problem with the pillows. You don't fight over a shared pillow. Come on, you can figure out how to solve the problem with the blanket as well. "You can have two blankets in a double bed?" Yes. There you go. You're welcome.

You cannot do spooning with two blankets.

Yes you can.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#130

Post by opsunit » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 6:47 AM UTC

DonaldFisk wrote: post #79

Wildgoose wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "jumper" tends to be Northern English, I don't think it's used around London, (but I could be wrong). I believe our Viking cousins in Norway and Iceland use "jumper" as well. Incidentally, we also use the word "pullovers".

They're also called jerseys.

Or goalposts.