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YallHoller t1_j8u5y96 wrote

Reply to comment by jaxinpdx in Turkey earthquake: Girl survives 10 days under quake rubble - BBC News by UsernameEmanresu22

The day to nighttime temperature differences I was seeing might have allowed for reliable condensation to form on some reachable surface. This likely accounts for the bulk of it.

But, in addition, this is a woman. The majority of "common" scientific knowledge has been gathered almost exclusively by observing men (for stupid reasons which are *very* slowly being corrected.) Did you know that, unlike men, women can gain muscle mass on a calorie deficit? Our bodies are designed to handle prolonged environmental stressors better because that's sort of what having a second human using all of your organs for 9 months will demand.

Lastly, speaking as someone who was frequently trapped alone in a bed for days at a time due to paralysis (thanks! US ""healthcare""!):

a) You'd be surprised how little moisture the human body needs when you're effectively unable to move, especially when you're frequently unconscious. At that point your heart rate will be slowed, you'll minimize air consumption, etc. which means much less moisture leaves via your breath. Most people don't understand how much they fidget or otherwise use their body until they can't, and it's reasonably likely she was at least partially immobilized by rubble.

b) The body has surprisingly good mechanisms for self-sealing. Dried mucus makes life generally awful, but definitely serves the purpose of minimizing water loss through mucus membranes.

c) Rubble itself may have limited water loss by creating a semi-sealed environment of high humidity, or by covering her skin with impermeable material. I would guess this would also be a major contributor in her survival in those temperatures. *Something* had to be at least partially retaining her body heat, especially since no new calories were coming in.

​

Just some guesses. Although for what it's worth, am biologist.

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Formergr t1_j8up01j wrote

>Our bodies are designed to handle prolonged environmental stressors better because that's sort of what having a second human using all of your organs for 9 months will demand.

I read a book about the Donner Party disaster which focused on the women, and at the end they tallied up the survivors versus those who died. I don't remember the specific numbers, but women vastly outnumbered the men as survivors. And when researchers even adjusted for those who had children (who would have a much stronger survival instinct to stick around to protect them), even childless women outlasted the men at least two-fold (and no, the men weren't sacrificing for them or anything).

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uhh-frost t1_j8x2fbx wrote

It makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint too that the women survive. In some animal species when you’re calculating future population changes it’s the females numbers that matter, not the number of males. Pretty neat stuff to see history, current events, and environmental sciences all demonstrate similar things

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HugeFinish t1_j8unuxc wrote

That is interesting to me. Do you have a source that backs this up? Google isn't really telling me much besides men need more water than women because they are normally heavier.

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RoyalCities t1_j8vfovl wrote

Of course they dont. They're also wrong saying that men cant gain muscle while in a caloric deficit. Its harder mind you since you need to ensure muscle protein synthesis is higher than muscle protein breakdown by eating more protein than usual but it IS possible so I would take w.e. they said here with a grain of salt.

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pfonetik t1_j8vtkpm wrote

> Did you know that, unlike men, women can gain muscle mass on a calorie deficit?

Any source you can quote on that? Muscle mass is not produced from "calories". Calories are nothing more than a measure for energy. As a "biologist" you should know that, right?

Basically as long as you consume a high level of protein (0.8 - 1 g / lb of lean body mass) daily and introduce an external stressor for your body (e.g. weight lifting) your body will produce muscle mass to cope, whether you're male or female, even if your calorie intake is below your TDEE.

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samus12345 t1_j8u7bde wrote

Better listen to her, she's a whale biologist!

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YallHoller t1_j8uaxpi wrote

TBF appeals to authority are pretty irrelevant when someone can just ctrl+T and see if your information is valid, now that you've given them the relevant search strings.

But my real argument here is you're lumpy and you smell awful.

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