Vampire physiology question

[shapinglight]

We all know the whole 'unneeded breath' thing is silly, right? We do, right?Vampires may not need oxygen to live, but they do need to breathe in order to speak. Fine

Comments

[davesmusictank]

That is a good question and one i have thought of myself. For now i have no answer. I can only surmise that the blood does warm them up to a reasonable temperature but still feel cold to the touch against a human. In relation to this if they are undead how do they think as the brain itself needs oxygen and blood to survive.

[shapinglight]

In relation to this if they are undead how do they think as the brain itself needs oxygen and blood to survive.

This, I suspect, along with the question I asked, is one of those things you're supposed down to vampires=not natural.

[curiouswombat]

I think their breath would come out at their body temperature. So if they'd just drunk body temperature blood it might be 37*, but otherwise it would be room temperature as they are.

I think of them as basically poikilothermic!

[shapinglight]

Erm...you mean like a reptile?

[curiouswombat]

Yep!

Except they can't do a lot of basking in the sunshine...

[shapinglight]

Erm...no. They have a distinct disadvantage there.

[dalmeny]

Say the vamp has drunk the blood of one human. That's roughly 5 litres, which is roughly 5 kg. If the vamp weighs 70 kg, then there's not going to be much overall heating above room temperature. So, unless the vamp is drinking lots of people, or magic is invoked, I'd guess the temperature difference would not be noticeable.

I could pull out a physics textbook, but I want to go to bed soon :)

[dalmeny]

I suppose it might very temporarily warm the breath though, to get back to your original question.

[shapinglight]

Oh good. :)

[shapinglight]

Well, ultimately it all comes down to vampires=supernatural, I suppose. It doesn't really have to make sense.

But yes, I think they probably feel happier in a warm climate.

[felisblanco]

If they'd just drunken hot blood, straight from the source so to speak, then I suppose they might manage to heat up the air a bit but otherwise I'd think it, as well as themselves, should be room (surroundings) temperature. So even if a vampire's skin feels cold to the touch against a warm human's skin I'm not sure its breath would feel cold unless the air around it that it is using is cold, and then, would the person being breathed on feel any difference?

But then again you'd need a pumping heart to fill certain body parts with blood to make them function and that never seems to stop anyone having lots and lots of sex so I'm not sure logic features anywhere into vampire activity. ;)

[shapinglight]

All this is true. I am now inclining to the opinion that vampires prefer a warm climate, if only because it makes it easier to pretend to be human.

[infinitewhale]

I wouldn't think so. Even if they just drank a whole body's worth of fresh blood, it would immediately begin cooling both from the loss of a heat source, but also because it would come in contact with a cooler object.

Plus, a breath of air is only inside a body for a second or so. Nowhere near enough time to warm it much, especially without a heat source.

[shapinglight]

No, blood probably wouldn't warm them up enough. I think the posters above are probably right. A vampire's breath is only as warm as the surrounding air.

So they should all move somewhere hot. Easier not to be noticed.

Also, I bet they hate air conditioning.

On the other hand, if it was too hot, I suppose they could overheat. Hmm.

[infinitewhale]

I doubt they'd suffer overheating since they don't have a base temperature.

Which begs the question of how they don't freeze in cold places. We saw Angel in Ireland when it was snowing. I suppose they can go out for short intervals then rush back in where there's a fire. Like a snake or something.

[rahirah]

Magical antifreeze?