Hibernation: The Metabolic Rate Plunge

This is a real physiological model, not a stylized animation: a hibernating mammal's core body temperature and metabolic rate are coupled through the genuine Q10 temperature-reaction-rate law, driving a 3D animal through the actual torpor/arousal cycle documented in ground squirrels and similar hibernators — weeks of deep, near-ambient torpor punctuated by short, costly, thermogenesis-driven re-warming bouts. Adjust the Q10 coefficient, torpor set-point, burrow temperature, arousal interval and time compression to see how each one reshapes the temperature and metabolic-rate curves, and watch the live energy tracker show why the strategy still saves energy overall despite the arousal cost.