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Weekend


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November 3, 2000

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES AND RICH SONES, PH.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. Flying at 30,000 feet, you look out and spot geese right below the plane. They've got specially adapted lungs, blood, capillaries and muscles to survive the cold, thin air. Could a human adapt at this altitude?

    A. Most of us (outside a plane's controlled cabin) start feeling lightheaded and lethargic at 10,000 feet, report Neil Campbell, et al. in "Biology." At 17,000 feet, we start passing out from lack of oxygen. But like the geese, humans can adapt: There are permanent villages at 19,000 feet in the Himalayas and nearly that high in the Andes. The people who live at these altitudes are of smaller stature and have larger lungs and heart.


     
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