I've heard it said that the human body loses a significant portion of its heat through the top of the head. Anyone know why this is? Does the brain generate more heat than the rest of the body, causing a greater thermal gradient resulting a a greater heat flow? Or are there convection currents in the body that carry thermal energy up through the head like a chimney? Does the skull have a greater coefficient of thermal conductivity than the rest of the body, allowing thermal energy to flow more readily out of the heat? Or maybe there's another reason that the biologists out there can share.
In any case, I'm glad I have my hat because its starting to get cold here.
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Here is Dad's weird theory. First there is a significant amount of blood flow through the brain so it acts like a radiator. Also discounting people with "fat heads", there is not a lot of insulation around the skull which helps the heat transfer. Does the amount of heat we loose just by breathing count? My favorite: That's what my mom told me to make me wear a hat. It's a "Mom Thing"
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I think that's why some people take insulin shots! Hit's fur more insalation...heh-heh-heh! wunce, wehehn me en ma fren's was hup on da mounten, we was so freezin cold, sa we drank sum stuff called insulin!
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