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Human body’s normal core temperature is 37-38C (98.6 –100.4F).

If it heats up to 39-40C (102.2-104F), the brain tells the muscles to slow down and fatigue sets in. At 40-41C (102.2-105.8F) heat exhaustion is likely – and above 41C the body starts to shut down.

Chemical processes start to be affected, the cells inside the body deteriorate and there is a risk of multiple organ failure.Human body and extreme heat

The body cannot even sweat at this point because blood flow to the skin stops, making it feel cold and clammy.

Heatstroke – which can occur at any temperature over 40C – requires professional medical help and if not treated immediately, chances of survival can be slim.

There are a number of things people can do to help themselves. These include:

  • wearing damp clothes which will help lower the body’s temperature
  • sticking one’s hands in cold water
  • placing fans next to windows as this will draw air from outside, which should be cooler
  • wearing looser clothes
  • having a lukewarm shower rather than a cold one
  • fanning the face rather than other parts of the body

A South Korean research team has developed a sensor capable of measuring goose bumps on the human body in real time.

The sensor uses a stick-on transparent conductive polymer to quantify how big the bumps are and how long they last.

It works by recording a drop in the sensor’s capacitance – its ability to store an electrical charge – caused by it being deformed by the buckling of the skin’s surface.

The sensor uses a stick-on transparent conductive polymer to quantify how big the goose bumps are and how long they last

The sensor uses a stick-on transparent conductive polymer to quantify how big the goose bumps are and how long they last (photo Wikipedia)

The engineers say it could be used to study changes in people’s emotions.

The work was carried out at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and details have been published in the Applied Physics Letters journal.

The article explains that the thin, flexible, square sensor, whose sides are about 0.8in long, was tested on the arm of a subject who was asked to grab ice cubes to induce the reaction.

Although, by its nature, this involved a response to physical stimuli, the researchers noted that other scientists had previously shown that goose bumps could be used to deduce changes in a subject’s emotional state brought on by music, movies and other causes.

“In the future, human emotions will be regarded like any typical biometric information, including body temperature or blood pressure,” Prof. Young Ho-cho told the journal.

Although more work needs to be done to correlate the measurements with specific emotional states, and only certain strong reactions might result in goose bumps, the journal still suggested the technology could ultimately be used to create kit to personalize adverts, music and other services based on the user’s reactions.