Why is there always a little bit of heat being released from living human bodies (felt on the skin), that goes away making dead bodies feel cold to the touch?
In: Biology
Living things metabolize. That is, they are constantly taking things they eat and turn them into energy. Some of that energy might be used to do useful stuff such as move muscles, but some of that energy is converted into heat. Warm-blooded creatures such as mammals and birds go a step further in that their cells will do this just to maintain a warm environment which is optimal for the various chemical processes that keep the body going. Thus as long as a person is alive, their body will be warm. But once a person dies, the cells that used to metabolize food into energy die too, allowing the body to equalize with the ambient temperature of the environment which is generally colder than body temperature.
The heat is being generated by your pumping heart, moving blood throughout your body.
Once the heart stops, and the blood stops pumping, the movement ends and the warmth is no longer being created.
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