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ELI5 Hibernation - is there a way humans could hibernate like bears do?
August 10, 2023 · 5 min

How do bears manage to keep their muscles strong after hibernation? If bears can hibernate through the winter living strictly on fat, could people potentially do the same and just sit around and not eat anything? What mechanism allows seed to hibernate for thousands of years and simply wake up to the first sign of water? Would a bear that's raised domestically, including sleeping indoors, still go through hibernation?

... we explain like I'm five

Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community and in particular the following users whose questions and comments formed the basis of this discussion: ripghost, nesbiteme, riconquer, auswanderer, zodadoza, 7ambez, inspectormac9, coolappz and meowsaysdexter

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