How the body adapts to extreme heat
Extreme heat kills, and when core body temperature sits above 37C for prolonged periods, heat exhaustion can progress to delirium, seizures and organ failure. At the University of Ottawa, researchers are asking whether the body can be trained to cope: women in their 60s, 70s and 80s sat shoulder-deep in 40C water for two hours a day, every day for a week. This group is among the most likely to die during heatwaves, so proof that older bodies can still acclimate would open a practical route to protecting them. Participants reportedly hated the sessions, but the stakes rise with every record summer.
What it shows: Reported by Science News and not verified by us: we could not trace this story to a published paper, so treat it as news rather than evidence we have checked.