Cold hands, cold heart

September 7, 2006 6:02 AM

Suppose for a moment that a segment of the human population had a body temperature 10 to 20º F lower than normal, maybe even to the extent of being fully cold-blooded. What different abilities and/or difficulties would they experience? What new diseases would they suffer? What would they be immune from? And, most importantly, how would you kill them?
posted by unSane to Science & Nature (14 answers total)

How would you kill them? It seems like all of the usual ways would still work.
posted by box at 6:04 AM on September 7, 2006

Response by poster: Let's say the usual ways didn't work.
posted by unSane at 6:07 AM on September 7, 2006

Suppose for a moment that a segment of the human population had a body temperature 10 to 20º F lower than normal

Barring other changes, they would die.
posted by grouse at 6:07 AM on September 7, 2006

Let's say the usual ways didn't work.

Why not? You have proposed a hypothesis contrary to fact, ask all sorts of hypothetical questions, and then make up rules as you go along. This is a silly game.
posted by grouse at 6:10 AM on September 7, 2006

Wouldn't this make them a completely different species? Humans have a tendency to die at body temperatures below 90ºF. Unless we're suspending our disbelief, in which case I don't know.
posted by saraswati at 6:10 AM on September 7, 2006

Well, how do you kill other cold-blooded things, like snakes?
posted by jeanmari at 6:16 AM on September 7, 2006

Response by poster: Hint: check tags

Here's the kind of thing I'm interested in. Research indicates that the leprosy bacillus multiiplies much faster in a cold-blooded environment. However reptilies can tolerate huge quantities of the bacillus and remain asymptomatic (only humans and armadillos get leprosy). So it's likely that cold or cool-blooded humans would be extremely vulnerable to leprosy. What else?
posted by unSane at 6:17 AM on September 7, 2006

There are some studies that suggest that individuals with a lower body temperature would live longer, due to having a slower metabolism.
posted by jefeweiss at 6:17 AM on September 7, 2006

most importantly, how would you kill them?

i'd hug them until their blood overheated
posted by pyramid termite at 6:20 AM on September 7, 2006 [2 favorites]

How would you kill them?

Liquidiser.
posted by meehawl at 6:21 AM on September 7, 2006

If it will help people to parse the question better:

Forget "How would you kill them?"
And forget "Let's say the usual ways didn't work"

Instead, think "What ways of killing them would be more effective due to the lower body temperature, and also what ways, if any, would become possible at that temperature that aren't possible at real human temperatures?"
posted by Bugbread at 6:21 AM on September 7, 2006

I would think that a cold blooded person might be very resistant to most bacteria that target humans. It's my understanding that human bacterial pathogens are usually optimized for a pretty specific temperature range. So a human that had a much lower body temperature than normal (assuming their immune system worked normally) would easily fight off normal bacteria. Of course the lower temperature may expose them to risks from bacteria that are not common in humans because they reproduce optimally at lower temperatures.
posted by jefeweiss at 6:22 AM on September 7, 2006

I'm not so familiar with Fahrenheit (my guess is about a 3-9 degree Celsius change) but it certainly sounds like it's a significant temperature change to kill. Why? The cells denature (basically cells, especially enzymes, need a specific temperature, pH etc. with little room for deviation, otherwise they can't operate and effectively 'die').

If these people had actually evolved so the cells could operate in these conditions, then the resulting people would probably be a bit slower, however many pathogens may find the body unsuitable as a host due to the lower temperature.

Of course, chances are that the existance of such people would also suggest the existance of pathogens that are specifically evolved for them (we assume these colder people also do things such as use antibiotics and the like).

'Course IANABiologist
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 6:22 AM on September 7, 2006

Also if they were cold blooded, they would almost certainly have to go into some sort of torpor in low temperatures. So if you could get them in a building and turn the air conditioning way down low, they would get slower and slower.
posted by jefeweiss at 6:27 AM on September 7, 2006