Doctors Explain How Small Bodies Can Survive Cold Exposure
Leyla Nordby holds her 13-month-old daughter Erika, who almost died from hypothermia, at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Canada. (Ian Jackson/AP Photo)
A 13-month-old girl wanders outside in bitter cold, clothed only in a diaper. Her heart stops, her toes and mouth freeze solid. Hours later, she's revived.
Miracle? No, just physics, say doctors.
"Babies have a smaller volume to a larger surface area," explains Kenneth Storey, a biochemist at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. "That means their body temperature falls more quickly, bad things happen sooner, and that is good."