Happy Groundhog's Day!

I was just reading an article on Groundhogs, and hybernation on MSN. It was actually quite intersting. Did you know...

Groundhog Day started in Europe, but it wasn't called Groundhog Day then. The holiday was Candlemas, a Christian holiday. The legend about the animal and its shadow was part of Candlemas, but the animal in question was the hedgehog. The Pilgrims brought the tradition to America but couldn't find a hedgehog here, so they seized upon the next best thing.

During hibernation the groundhog breathes about once every four minutes, its heart beats four times a minute, and its body temperature drops from a normal of about 99 degrees Fahrenheit (about the same as ours) to about 36 degrees--just above freezing. Actually, since the groundhog hibernates about eight months of the year, 99 degrees might be called its abnormal temperature. Nearly frozen and nearly dead is a groundhog's normal state!

And did you also know...
Wouldn't it be great if humans could hibernate? They might ... someday.
In fact, NASA is looking into it. Hibernation might be a way to send a crew of astronauts to another solar system--a journey that could take centuries.
Doctors are also interested. They'd like to be able to hibernate a single organ. It would be a way to preserve a heart or a kidney for transplantation.

I find all this facinating! Just facinating! I thought I knew all about hybernating, but turns out I just no nothing. NOTHING!