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I spotted this in a BBC Horizon episode, and it is a very common “error” based on a poor understanding of the concepts involved.
Speaking about inducing hypothermia to patients in order to slow down the metabolic rate of brain cells (thus reducing oxygen requirements and consequently reduce rate of cell damage and death), the presenter said the following:
[FWIW, this was a good Horizon episode, "Back from the Dead" although I felt it was too long for this subject...]
Speaking about inducing hypothermia to patients in order to slow down the metabolic rate of brain cells (thus reducing oxygen requirements and consequently reduce rate of cell damage and death), the presenter said the following:
[...] bringing down the core body temperature to about 18 degrees [centigrade], less than half our normal temperature [37 centigrade].So, can you spot the error??
[FWIW, this was a good Horizon episode, "Back from the Dead" although I felt it was too long for this subject...]
1. sciencebitches
???
2. Chris
0 Celsius is an arbitrary zero. They should have used absolute temperatures. Then we’re talking nearer to 6% reduction of temeperature.
3. Stavros
Neat 
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