Subject: Re: Re. All in the name of Science
Date: May 21 09:36:31 1998
From: Steve Mansfield - steve at nw.verio.net


> On Wed, 20 May 1998, Jack Bowling wrote:
> As for the comment in another e-mail that "lungs freeze" at -65C (sorry, I
> deleted before noting the author's name), there's a walk-in -70C freezer
> at the UW that I visit fairly regularly, and with no particular
> discomfort. Human lungs don't freeze at those temperatures.

That would have been me, and you're right, for short periods, yes, you're
going to be fine. It's not an instantaneous thing by any means. However
whoever it was that said that 55 minutes in normal winter clothing would be
likely hurting. I'm betting you are spending that kind of time in that
freezer per visit in just 'normal winter clothes'.

In many of the northern states where temperatures frequently can reach very
low temperatures (-30 and below, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas), they
frequently put out warnings on TV and radio recomending that folks avoid
staying outside for more than a few minutes if at all possible because of
this very danger.

--
Steve Mansfield steve at nw.verio.net
Verio NorthWest Network Engineer 425-649-7467