3 ms·

Exactly. I want to know what cellular metabolic tricks they use to keep their foot cells working at just over freezing temperatures.

• soheil 6y ago
  What about a simple anti-freezing agent used in something like a car radiator? This doesn't seem like it should be such a mystery in the age of Google and Wikipedia. There are bacteria and other multicellular organisms that function just fine in extreme cold environments. See extremophiles, psychrophiles, etc.
  • deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  • Causality1 6y ago
    Freezing is not the only threat. The functioning of cells depends on proteins that only work effectively within certain temperature ranges. Ectotherms tend to have multiple different pathways for a given process that cover several different temperature ranges while endotherms don't. So, do birds have that? Do their feet still grow, heal, fight infections when they're cold or do they depend on time spent with their feet warm?