With a wind speed of 19 miles per hour and a temperature of –2°F (–19°C), the wind chill (new style) here this morning is –24°F (–31°C). We figured this would be a splendid opportunity to test the Fuji X-T1 to see how well it works in the cold.
Alas, what we discovered is that the tester does not work in that kind of cold. (The Age Coefficient means you subtract one additional degree for every year you are past the onset of middle age, or 45. Thus to our staff tester it is –36°F.)
So, the test was a failure. However, that was no fault of the Fuji's.
inside the living room window
Speaking of cold, I read an interesting article in The Atlantic yesterday about people who try to lose weight by keeping themselves cold. They use icepack vests and train themselves to sleep in the wintertime with no blankets. The idea is that the body will spend an enormous amount of energy (and hence, burn fat) to keep itself warm.
As behavior, this seems fringey, but the article did make one very interesting point, which is that for 99.7% of human history, human beings' two biggest problems were finding enough to eat and keeping warm. For most prosperous first-world people today, these things are no longer much of a problem.
I now have the indoor temperature turned up to 72°F, which is excessive, sybaritic, and indulgent (and higher than I usually set it). And I am burning approximately zero fat. But I am mighty glad to be inside my little warmed-up box.
Mike
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Featured Comments from:
Dennis: "And this is why we come here instead of the blog of some gung-ho nature photographer who not only goes outside in the bitter cold, but camps in it to be up at daybreak on some remote mountain or who surfs in it. I'm going to remember that age coefficient, too (maybe I'll call it the age chill factor)."
Mike replies: Well I know Alex Buisse reads this blog and I hope he got a bit of a laugh out of it today.
Juha Haataja: Losing weight by keeping cold may not be such a good idea. Some new research points out that warm conditions may be better for losing weight: 'In fact, the researchers found that working out in the warmer conditions burned more calories as, they hypothesised, the body had to work harder in order to keep itself cool...additionally, the researchers found that, after exercising in the cold, participants felt far hungrier, piled more on their plates and consumed more carbohydrates.' The news item is available here.
"Anyway, to cope with cold is mostly a matter of wearing the right clothes. And one gets used to cold. After some days at –20°C it feels that –5°C is rather warm."
