▼ Summary
– The article discusses the phenomenon of “tundra tongue,” where a tongue freezes to a cold metal surface, popularized by a scene in *A Christmas Story*.
– A graduate student, Anders Hagen Jarmund, investigated the science behind it after his own childhood experience, leading to two published academic papers.
– Jarmund’s research was motivated by personal and shared experiences from his cold hometown, where such incidents were common among children.
– The study involved reviewing historical records, identifying 113 cases in Scandinavia, with the earliest documented case dating back to 1845 in France.
– The earliest recorded case involved a French schoolboy who lost skin on his tongue and lips after his tongue froze to a metal bridge.
The iconic scene from the holiday film A Christmas Story, where a child’s tongue becomes fused to a freezing pole, is more than just movie magic, it’s a real winter hazard known as “tundra tongue.” While often played for laughs, this painful mishap can cause genuine injury, making it crucial to understand the science behind it and the safest methods for release. A graduate student’s personal childhood experience with a frozen lamppost sparked a formal investigation into this peculiar phenomenon, leading to published research that clarifies the risks and proper response.
Anders Hagen Jarmund, now a graduate student at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, recalled his own frigid encounter from his youth in a very cold Norwegian town. He and his friends had all experienced the startling sensation of their tongues adhering to cold metal, which led them to question just how dangerous it could be. This curiosity evolved into a master’s thesis project, where Jarmund enlisted colleagues to explore the underlying physics and medical outcomes. Their work resulted in two separate academic papers published in medical journals.
The research began by scouring historical records. The team uncovered 113 documented cases of tundra tongue across Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The earliest incident they found dated back to 1845, involving a French schoolboy who froze his tongue to a metal bridge. That historical account noted the boy lost skin from his tongue and lips when he forcibly pulled himself free, highlighting the potential for injury from an improper response. This legislative action underscores that the risk was taken seriously enough to prompt official safety measures.
(Source: Ars Technica)
