During frigid winter months when food supplies are scarce and survival becomes a struggle, some creatures unleash a natural superpower to withstand the energy bottleneck: hibernation. Amidst the chill, some warm-blooded animals can throttle their metabolism, significantly curbing their need for food and energy. Onlookers might perceive it as an extended nap, yet hibernation is anything but. While these furry animals appear peacefully nestled within their dens, their physiology contends with and overcomes significant stress.
Hibernation, or "torpor" as scientists call it, involves surviving near-freezing temperatures for months without food or water. This seasonal feat requires excessive weight gain, long periods of immobility, the ability to reduce metabolism to just one or two percent of its normal rate, oxygen deprivation, and dramatic swings in body temperature.
Were such physiological assaults to happen to humans, the toll would be catastrophic—causing obesity, metabolic disease, heart attack, stroke, muscle degradation, and more. But hibernators have adapted ways to do it effortlessly, naturally, and healthily. Come spring, they emerge from their dens in pretty good shape. Scientists are trying to learn their secrets.
"Understanding hibernation could be helpful for the future of humans," Ashley Zehnder, a veterinarian scientist, tells Popular Mechanics. "If we can understand how animals have adapted to hibernation, then we can make the link to specific human diseases." |
During frigid winter months when food supplies are scarce and survival becomes a struggle, some creatures unleash a natural superpower to withstand the energy bottleneck: hibernation. Amidst the chill, some warm-blooded animals can throttle their metabolism, significantly curbing their need for food and energy. Onlookers might perceive it as an extended nap, yet hibernation is anything but. While these furry animals appear peacefully nestled within their dens, their physiology contends with and overcomes significant stress.
Hibernation, or "torpor" as scientists call it, involves surviving near-freezing temperatures for months without food or water. This seasonal feat requires excessive weight gain, long periods of immobility, the ability to reduce metabolism to just one or two percent of its normal rate, oxygen deprivation, and dramatic swings in body temperature.
Were such physiological assaults to happen to humans, the toll would be catastrophic—causing obesity, metabolic disease, heart attack, stroke, muscle degradation, and more. But hibernators have adapted ways to do it effortlessly, naturally, and healthily. Come spring, they emerge from their dens in pretty good shape. Scientists are trying to learn their secrets.
"Understanding hibernation could be helpful for the future of humans," Ashley Zehnder, a veterinarian scientist, tells Popular Mechanics. "If we can understand how animals have adapted to hibernation, then we can make the link to specific human diseases." |
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