![]() The last thing, Emily, that I think you will really appreciate is that one thing that zoos do with some of the really big animals, like, that Nell was talking about, like lions, right? - that is, like, a big, furry cat. ![]() There's a lot of surface area, a lot of moisture and a lot of heat because it's, like, a tube to your innards. And that's because there's a lot of moisture, obviously, right? Like all those membranes around your mouth. HERSHER: So yeah, it's just - it's an incredibly efficient way to affect your body temperature. You'll see like, like, frogs with their mouths open, trying to like, thermoregulate in that way. The one that most people will be familiar with from the animals that live with them in their homes is panting, right? So that's - you'll see dogs doing it - tongue out. HERSHER: So most animals are doing other stuff. HERSHER: Mostly because you have hair or fur. HERSHER: Well, I mean, just to build on what Geoff was saying, first of all, like, why doesn't it work to sweat if you're an animal? KWONG: Rebecca Hersher, what are some of the other ways that our fellow critters cool themselves off? As it returns to the center of your body, it cools your core. So the blood near the surface of your skin is cooled. It literally - the water molecules sort of take the heat off of your body, out of your body. You know, so sweat, to get back to kind of how it works, is - it's evaporative cooling, right? Like, so basically the water on your surface of your skin just carries away heat from your body as it evaporates, and that is a.īRUMFIEL: Yeah. And that is actually an alternative to sweating - is covering yourself in something else. So a lot of animals that have to discharge heat - let's take pigs, for example - they spend a lot of time rolling around in mud. Don't other large animals have to dissipate heat?īRUMFIEL: Yes, Nell. We can't discharge our heat without some help. Without sweat, we overheat and die as a species because we're large, warm-blooded animals. KWONG: So in what way did we develop sweat glands?īRUMFIEL: The thought is that, literally, sweat is essential to human thermoregulation. And, of course, the big difference between chimps and humans is that chimpanzees are forest dwellers, so they live in the shade, whereas we ventured out into sunnier climates and had to evolve better ways to keep cool. So chimpanzees, for example, a close relative, have sweat glands but mainly just in their hands, probably to help improve their grip. And evolutionary biologists think that that probably is an essential adaptation for making us human. And a lot of what I'm going to tell you is actually based on reporting by Joe Palca and Pien Huang, who are two correspondents who've also been looking into sweat.īRUMFIEL: So we have an enormous number of sweat glands on our body. I think it's fair to say that humans are uniquely sweaty, sweaty creatures. Geoff Brumfiel, are we unique in this, we humans with our sweat?īRUMFIEL: Yes, yes. And that was as much as I knew about sweat and, honestly, as far as I wanted to take this exploration, until now. As the most naked of the apes, we really have what I want you to now consider a superpower when it comes to full body sweat, courtesy of millions of eccrine sweat glands. We are gathered here today to show some kindness to our pit stains and those beads of dew that form on your upper lip. You're listening to SHORT WAVE, the daily science podcast from NPR. KWONG: Today on the show, our panel of sweats-perts give you a whole new perspective on your perspiration. REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE: Nothing says summer quite like sweat. And also, it turns out it's really cool in a lot of other ways that we're just going to tell you today - a little bit about what we found out about sweat. And somehow, sweat won out.īRUMFIEL: Well, because sweat is really essential to being human. GREENFIELDBOYCE: There was a list of options, and we voted on it. NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE: Don't blame me. Geoff, I'm going to start with you because I heard that this harebrained idea of a series of sweat was yours? I have three reporters with me - Geoff Brumfiel, Nell Greenfieldboyce and Rebecca Hersher. Instead, thank evolution for doing you a solid - really a liquid - and meet this small army of sweat Avengers we've assembled to show you why sweat is sweet - or at least super interesting. Well, lucky for me and for you, there's nothing like a nice layer of sweat to cool you down. I'm in Alaska right now - yeah, to see friends, but honestly, to escape the muggy conditions of Washington, D.C.
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