Mac Irvine, Popular Science
Nov. 23, 2013,
courtesy Université de Strasbourg and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Strasbourg, France
As if their home in Antarctica weren’t cold enough, emperor penguins
allow their exteriors to drop at least 7°F below their surroundings. The
change helps the penguins stay warm, a recent paper showed. When the
outer layer of feathers radiates heat to the sky, it becomes colder than
its immediate environment, so heat flows back in. The cycle keeps the
temperature underneath the plumage constant—and the penguin alive.
This article originally appeared in the December 2013 issue of Popular Science.
This article originally appeared on Popular Science
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