116
Curious minds want to know!!
(mander.xyz)
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Does that mean they can bite into the ice cream without their teeth hurting?!
Uhhh... Actually, after giving it some thought, yea probably. Might lose a few teeth in the process though.
But do they get head-freeze if they eat it too fast?
This was fun researching and theorizing. Thanks for asking.
We experience brain freezes when a sharp temperature drop comes into contact with the roof of the mouth and back of the throat, causing the blood vessels to constrict, which in turn causes the arteries in the brain to expand. It isn't exactly clear where the "pain" comes from though; it is theorized that the arterial wall's expansion triggers the trigeminal nerve (relays sensory info between face and brain) and is registered as a pain sensation.
Shark anatomy is entirely different in structure, such as they don't have the same complex nervous system. Also, considering they are ectotherms, their body responds in completely different ways to changes in temperature than we do.
So considering what we know about shark physiology and the current theory on the mechanics behind "brain freezes", probably not.
Thank you for this!
And, ok, check, cross ice cream off my list of ways to defend against shark attack.
TIL sharks are probably immune to brain freezes.
!theydidtheresearch