Cold as a Corpse?

[HPL]

I was watching a vampire movie on the sci-fi channel and at one point during the movie, the hero pulls out a thermal veiwer that shows the body tempreture of the people in the room. The vampire sticks out because she's 41-42 degrees farenheit. The hero then says "Cold as a corpse"

But this bothers me somewhat. Obviously, I don't know how hot or cold vampires are supposed to be, but wouldn't corpses actually be in thermal equlaibrium with the atmosphere? Thus, room tempreture(and it didn't look like the room was at 40 degrees).

[Alessan]

But this bothers me somewhat. Obviously, I don't know how hot or cold vampires are supposed to be, but wouldn't corpses actually be in thermal equlaibrium with the atmosphere? Thus, room tempreture(and it didn't look like the room was at 40 degrees).

Well, yeah. Whereas all the living humans in the room would be radiating heat, causing the only one not radiating heat to stand out.

[Ringo]

My experience has been that when you touch a corpse they seem cool, and I've thought for a bit that the perception is at least partly based on your expectation that they'll, as another (you were hoping) living human being, be somewhat warmer than room temperature.

But, in a comparative situation as described, Alessan's right.

[HPL]

I realize that. My question is, wouldn't a corpse be at room tempreture, not significantly below that?

[monkeyfist]

If we think of other “dead tissue” we encounter, such as chicken or meat, once removed from the fridge, they would eventually rest at room temperature, but this would take a while.

In the movie, was it winter? Was the vampire in the warm "room teperature" room for an extended period of time, say many hours, or did the bloodsucker recently enter from the cooler outside?

[David Simmons]

Yes. A corpse would assume room temperature, Even Rush knows that. An easier test is that vampires don't have a reflection in a mirror. That's why I always wanted a mirrored ceiling. To guard against letting in vampires.

[CynicalGabe]

Hollywood failing to stick to reality? Just shocking, I'd say.

It sure gets my blood temperature up there.

[HPL]

If we think of other “dead tissue” we encounter, such as chicken or meat, once removed from the fridge, they would eventually rest at room temperature, but this would take a while.

In the movie, was it winter? Was the vampire in the warm "room teperature" room for an extended period of time, say many hours, or did the bloodsucker recently enter from the cooler outside?

The scene took place in a room that looked fairly comfortable, and nobody was wearing jackets, so I guess it wasn't particulary cool outside.

[Bear_Nenno]

The scene took place in a room that looked fairly comfortable, and nobody was wearing jackets, so I guess it wasn't particulary cool outside.
Was there a coat rack?

[Ranchoth]

Do "Buffy" vampires' hearts beat, BTW?

If that's the case, would circulating blood influence the body temperature, somehow?

[naita]

Had they been in the room for long? Cause if not the vampire could have come from somewhere cold and not had time to heat up to local room temperature.
Or vampires could have some mystical link to their coffins causing them to stay at the temperature where said boxes are stored. :D

[HPL]

Had they been in the room for long? Cause if not the vampire could have come from somewhere cold and not had time to heat up to local room temperature.

As I said, It looks pretty nice outside, and it was during the daytime, so unless the vamp just spent some time in a freezer or building the the AC turned way up, I would say no.

[Alessan]

Remeber, hot and cold are relative. When someone has a fever you say that their forehead feels warm, evern though there's no real difference betwee 98 and 100 degrees Farenheit- both are significantly hotter than room temperature. Likewise, a body at 40 degrees is cold relative to the expected temperature of a living human being.

Besides, "as lukewarm as a corpse" lacks poetry.

[Mangetout]

A body takes time to reach equilibrium with room temperature - because of this, it will in fact tend towards equilibrium with the average ambient temperature - i.e. (in most normal scenarios) it will tend to cool down at night and warm up a bit during the day - the result being that it will usually be a bit colder than daytime room temperature.

[DocCathode]

Do "Buffy" vampires' hearts beat, BTW?

Mostly, no. Harmony "Can I get a stethoscope so I can hear my heart not beating?" Generally, Buffy vamps don't breathe or have heartbeats. When Buffy is killed by the Master, Angel explains that he can't perform CPR "I have no breath." However, the Angel episode with the psychic doctor of the flying hands has a scene in which Angel is shot with a tranquilizer dart. Before he blacks out, we can hear his breathing slow. Angel's heart was restarted (I don't know if it was permanent) by an attack by electric chick.

IIRC Riley and the rest of the Initiative did use thermographic goggles to spot vampires-they stood out from the other human silhouettes due to being at or near room temperature.

A gang of supernatural criminals gather to steal a demon shroud. They need a vampire because the vault has a temperature sensor.

[Jackmannii]

Vampires just look colder because of the unnatural pallor. Maybe the comment about humans in the OP reflected the usual temperature of people at autopsy or upon arrival at the funeral home, since they generally have been in the cooler awhile.

By the way, for those interested, here are the causes of death for my last 10 vampire autopsy cases:

Heart failure due to transfixing by wooden stake: 5
Anaphylactic reaction to garlic: 1
Shock secondary to display of crucifix: 1
Overwhelming mortification at unreal movie portrayals: 3

[rainy]

Well the vamp could have spent the last several hours in the grave, assuming ground temperature. But that still is a little low according to the Illonois Solar Energy Association's page on earth sheltered housing.

quote: "For example, at a depth of 10 feet, the earth's temperature might range between 45°F-60°F."

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:tVZyRJcKBGYJ:www.illinoissolar.org/fact_sheets/10%2520ISEA%2520Fact%2520Sheet%2520-%2520Earth%2520Sheltered%2520Housing.pdf+underground+homes+temperature&hl=en

-rainy

And that'd be a mighty deep grave too!