爲什麼冬天女性的手更冷

Cold hands mean a warm heart, as the popular phrase has it.

有一句流行語是這樣說的：“你是一個外冷內熱的人”。

However women may have colder hands than men at this chilly time of year, according to scientists.

但是，科學家表示，在一年中寒冷的時刻，女性的手通常要比男性的冷。

Females and children are thought to need to put their hands in their pockets more because they have less muscle mass, which generates heat to keep the body warm.

女士和孩子把手翻入口袋，被認爲是因爲含有更少的肌肉質量，而這種物質能夠產生熱量，從而保持身體溫暖。

Researchers at the University of Cambridge tested this by asking people to plunge their hands into icy water for three minutes.

劍橋大學的研究要求人們把手放進冰冷的水中3分鐘，得出了這個觀點。

Those with more muscle saw their hands heat up again more quickly, based on images taken with a thermal imaging camera.

據熱成像照相機拍出的照片顯示，那些含有更多肌肉質量的人，手能更快的熱起來。

It came as a surprise to experts, who thought fat was more important in warming up people's hands when they get cold.

這樣的結果無疑驚呆了一些專家，他們那些認爲脂肪纔是使手熱起來的主要因素。

The study's lead author, Stephanie Payne, said: 'Being aware of the effects of body composition on how cold your hands get is crucial.

這次研究的領導Stephanie Payne表示，意識到身體組成因素對手的冷熱程度影響十分重要。

'For example, women and children are less likely to have a high muscle mass so cold-weather gear, such as gloves, should be produced and marketed with that in mind.'

舉個例子來說，女性和孩子在寒冷的天氣中，肌肉質量會偏低。舉個例子來說，手套的製作和市場都應該以此牢記。

The study by a team of biological anthropologists is the first of its kind and used 114 volunteers willing to plunge their hands into ice-cold water.

此次研究是由生物人類學的一支團隊首創，並有114個志願者參與，將自己的手放入冰冷的水中。