memory-for-trifles replied to your post: Nominally about “Star Trek: Enterprise” - but…
“Light Spock impression” is like my life’s mantra, so thank you for verbalizing that for me.
Also I can’t remember which is which because my brain is mush, but the ship usually feels cold to Spock (who I assume is representative of Vulcans). One episode where they all age rapidly has him cranking the thermostat in his quarters.
Thank you so much dear @memory-for-trifles, for participating in what is surely the best thing that can come out of someone watching two episodes of Enterprise: building an informed understanding of what it would be like to hug a Vulcan. A Worthwhile Pursuit. Captain James T. Kirk himself could be naught but proud.
I think you bring something very important to the table here, which is that Vulcan, as we know from “Amok Time,” is a hot planet. Vulcans would surely be accustomed to warmer temperatures than humans, and would find our starships cold. However, we also know that Vulcans can withstand cold temperatures for longer than humans, as in “All Our Yesterdays,” which sees Bones collapsing from cold and frostbite well before Spock. Of course, this is assuming Leonard McCoy is a representative sample of humans and not just a dainty Southern belle, which I grant is possible. But Dainty Southern Belle McCoy’s constant commenting on Spock’s “incredible Vulcan physique” would definitely imply that he’s much more environmentally tolerant than your average space human.
But what does this mean for a Vulcan’s resting body temperature? Well, I still don’t know! I have done some cursory Googling and have not come to a conclusive answer about whether endothermic animals from desert climates have different body temperatures to help cope with the heat, but I did get the idea that these creatures are just better in general at regulating their body temperature in the face of extremes. So that at least tracks with Vulcans. A thought: does Vulcan get freezing at night the way an Earth desert does?
To be perfectly honest, I’m now wondering if I am invested enough in this to see if I can find a good shot of one of those sick bay read-out screens during a scene where Dr. McCoy is pronouncing Spock healthy again after some sort of health mishap. I probably am.
