Great article as always. I have read that we humans also can lower our heart rate. Freedivers heart rate can drop to below 40 bpm:
What’s happening here is known as the dive reflex – the body’s automatic, subconscious reaction to going deep underwater. What else happens? Blood shifts from your arms and legs to your core, the brain itself slows down, and – get this – your lungs shrink to the size of an orange!
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/see-this-guy-s-heart-rate-go-to-37-beats-per-minute
Also:
The most interesting thing is that while the reflex is subconscious, it can be trained
Swimming in ice cold water can also lower the human core body temperature without suffering from hypothermia according to this article:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4524884/
In an experienced ice swimmer with a high BMI (>35 kg/m2) and a high percent body fat (~45%), body core temperature decreased by 1.7°C while swimming and by 3.2–3.7°C after the swim to reach the lowest temperature in an official ‘Ice Mile’. The swimmer suffered no hypothermia during ice swimming, but body core temperature dropped to <36°C after ice swimming.
Oh wow, that's very interesting. I had no idea that we humans could also lower our heart rate if we swim in cold water, but I guess it makes sense. However, I would expect my heart to go crazy fast if I swam in ice water!
This comment thread reminds me of the Wim Hoff method which I recently came across after reading a book called "What Doesn't Kill Us." Although it's not entirely based around the same exact principles, Through the breathing methods that they use according to the book I'm certain the heart rate is affected. The main premise behind this method is triggering what most would consider a vestigial brown fatty tissue that we supposedly lose function over after being a baby.
Some details are here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/supercharging-brown-fat-to-battle-obesity/
Although it's not entirely the same a s what Geese use, I'm certain all animals (including us) have essential biological thermostat boosters... that is.. beyond the pituitary and hypothalamus of course . .. Hoff suggests that the only reason we get so cold in the winter is because we have made our modern life like a perpetual summer. Controlled temperatures inside. Layers and layers of clothing... I originally came a cross it when I was studying cold showers and their potential to help drain the lymphatic system, but this talk about brow fat blew my mind.
@valth Perhaps you could make an article on so called "vestigial" organs or perhaps other methods of maintain homeostasis through extreme conditions? I'd like to hear your take on whether you believe there is such a thing as an organ in our bodies that doesn't have a function or not. I know you focus mainly on animals, but it's not too far off of left field. Great post!
Thanks for adding even more information about this, @thegreatlife! This is a really interesting topic, and I must sadly admit that I don't think I have the knowledge to be able to make a good post about the topic you suggest. The only fields I have experience in is ecology, microbiology, conservation biology, and some genetics, so I feel like this is a bit out of my comfort zone. But I might look into it when I have some spare time to see if I'm able to wrap my head around it.
And again, thanks for leaving great comments!
Glad to be a help. I am always listening to audio books on this kind of stuff and I read in my spare time. I'm very interested about about different animals and their place in the world. I'm especially interested in dolphins and their communication systems. Sometime in the future, I'll make a post about either prairie-dog communication, or dolphin interaction. I bet you'd get a kick out of it.
The topic of how animals communicate is actually really interesting, so I'm looking forward to seeing your post about it! There are so many different forms of communication, and many species have solved the "communication problem" differently.