What we really feel when we feel "cold"

[Permalink]

2 Likes

I think this is an oversimplification too. It’s not only the absolute temperature of our skin that we sense, but a temperature gradient and rate of change at neuroreceptors.

Replace “jiggly” with energy and he’s on to something.

Two words: Thermal diffusivity. At least that’s what I kept expecting to hear while watching this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_diffusivity

i just figured i couldn’t handle minnesota’s deep freeze.
geeze. work in saint paul. when i leave at midnight.
-17 degrees. yuk

1 Like

When that sciency guy began by assuming that the audience for his video can just barely manage automatic breathing, I know that I’m not going to learn anything. That video starts by comparing the sensation (qualia) of temperature from books vs. metal HDD cases - “C’mon! Try it yourself!” - like, what, people can’t figure this out on their own? Really! Bueller?

Of course, I don’t live the in the 'States, so it’s possible I’m not-at-all the right target…

At EPCOT, they used to have a demonstration with two interleaved coils, one hot and one cold. You could touch only the hot coils, or only the cold coils, or you could place your hand so that it covered both hot and cold coils. When you did this, your hand felt hot and cold at the same time. Mind was blown.

If you have your doctorate you may refer to it as wibbly-wobbly.

1 Like

What I really feel when I feel cold is cold. You can’t get more real than that. Science explains things. It does not replace them.

That isn’t a mercury thermometer in the video as the narrator states. A mercury thermometer would have a sliver colored fluid.

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.