<
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260703-the-arctic-ground-squirrel-could-revolutionise-emergency-care>
"In August, as summer draws to a close and the days shorten, a female Arctic
ground squirrel knows it's time to fatten up. The small, copper-hued rodent
scouts the tundra for whatever food she can find – grasses, sedges, and leaves
– until she retreats to her burrow to sink into a deep wintry slumber. About a
metre underground, her body winds down into slow motion. At just a few breaths
and heartbeats per minute, it would be easy to mistake her for dead.
As the ground above her freezes solid, reaching temperatures of -20C (-4F), her
body temperature plummets. Astonishingly, her brain cools to 0C (32F), her
abdomen to -2C (28F) and her hind limbs even down to -2.9C (27F) – colder than
any other mammal has been recorded alive. For eight months she lies here
without food or water, rousing only occasionally, until the ground warms and
she returns to life aboveground.
Like many mammals of northern climates, Arctic ground squirrels survive the
harsh winters of Canada, Alaska and Siberia by hibernating, but they're
somewhat unusual in the sheer length of time they spend in this state and
unique in that they survive at such cold body temperatures.
These extreme features have made Arctic ground squirrels, alongside some close
relatives, a popular study subject for scientists striving to better understand
what makes hibernation biologically possible – not just out of scientific
curiosity, but also in the hopes of someday applying this to humans.
Being able to slow down human metabolism could help doctors buy more time in
treating severe conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and traumatic brain
injuries, and induce beneficial cooling to protect vital organs. And, in the
distant future, this research might even pave the way to putting astronauts
into states of suspended animation to help them weather long-distance space
flights."
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
