What health requirements would there be for creatures that helium in their blood? I've read that liquid helium is a very, very cold substance, and that got me thinking that if a certain creature had that substance in it's bloodstream it would need a lot of heat to stay alive.

With a boiling point of −268.93 °C, (the lowest recorded temperature on earth is −89.2 °C for reference), helium is only in liquid form at temperatures which are too low for vertebrates to live at, so no known organism could have liquid helium in its blood. Helium in the bloodstream would generally be present in a dissolved gaseous state, the same as other gases, rather than a liquid.

 

As a diver, sometimes we use helium as a component of breathing gas on deep dives, as breathing nitrogen at high partial pressure has a narcotic effect and too high a partial pressure of oxygen can cause convulsions and unconsciousness.

 

As a result, I'm sure I and many other divers have had a much higher than normal quotient of dissolved helium in our bloodstreams. One issue is that helium dissolves into and out of blood and tissues faster then nitrogen, so additional decompression is needed to off-gas on the way up to avoid decompression sickness.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimix_(breathing_gas)

Edited April 11, 201213 yr by Arete

Then what is helium's temperature when it's a gas?

> −268.93 °C.

With a boiling point of −268.93 °C, (the lowest recorded temperature on earth is −89.2 °C for reference), helium is only in liquid form at temperatures which are too low for vertebrates to live at, so no known organism could have liquid helium in its blood. Helium in the bloodstream would generally be present in a dissolved gaseous state, the same as other gases, rather than a liquid.

 

As a diver, sometimes we use helium as a component of breathing gas on deep dives, as breathing nitrogen at high partial pressure has a narcotic effect and too high a partial pressure of oxygen can cause convulsions and unconsciousness.

 

As a result, I'm sure I and many other divers have had a much higher than normal quotient of dissolved helium in our bloodstreams. One issue is that helium dissolves into and out of blood and tissues faster then nitrogen, so additional decompression is needed to off-gas on the way up to avoid decompression sickness.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimix_(breathing_gas)

 

Fascinating.

Okay, then what substance would the creature have in it's blood that would require it to get lots of warmth?

Okay, then what substance would the creature have in it's blood that would require it to get lots of warmth?

 

None, to my knowledge. Any inert substance is going to be at ambient temperature.

 

Some substances facilitate heat transfer more readily than others. For example, helium loses and gains heat about 6x as fast as air. This makes it a poor insulator and in diving, most divers in cold water with trimix will take an independent argon gas source to fill drysuits with due to its thermal inertia.

Well what elements have a melting point of 30 degrees Celsius or more?

Everything that is solid at temperatures below 30 °C and won't decompose before it melts.

Everything that is solid at temperatures below 30 °C and won't decompose before it melts.

 

Can you give me some examples?

Iron.

Then what is helium's temperature when it's a gas?

its gaseous temperature can be anything between its boiling point and its ionization temperature.

 

there isn't really any limit on it other than those just like everything else.

Iron.

 

So if they had a lot of iron in their blood would they need to live in a hot climate to stay warm?

You forget that WE have iron in our blood. However, ours is ionized and will therefore stay in a solution of water. (Yes I know it's a bit more complicated than that.)

You forget that WE have iron in our blood. However, ours is ionized and will therefore stay in a solution of water. (Yes I know it's a bit more complicated than that.)

 

Oh, right, isn't that why our blood is red?

Oh, right, isn't that why our blood is red?

 

Blood is red due to hemoglobin molecules. These molecules contain iron ions

Blood is red due to hemoglobin molecules. These molecules contain iron ions

 

What percentage of our blood is iron then?

What percentage of our blood is iron then?

 

Normal hemoglobin values vary according to age and sex, pregnancy, the altitude where you live, if you smoke... If you donate blood they will do you a test for free

 

 

What if the creature had 95% iron in their blood, or would that be an unhealthy percentage?