Random thought.

[Vyperhand]

Was reading the latest comment and realized that someone making a magical camel that you could tap for water would be awesome.

Then I realized that something half keg half camel would be a kegel. :smallamused:

[Katana_Geldar]

Well, people put taps in trees...

But camels do not REALLY store water in their humps, it's more like a metabolisation process.

[Vyperhand]

*whoosh* Didn't even skim the hairspray.

[Katana_Geldar]

It would help if I knew what a kegel was...

[Conuly]

It's a type of exercise pregnant and older women do.

[The Dark Fiddler]

*whoosh* Didn't even skim the hairspray.

They don't store water, just like humans don't store food. We store it as fat instead (camels might store it as something else, but I think it's fat).

More complex then that, but that's really all I know.

[Linkavitch]

*whoosh* Didn't even skim the hairspray.

What do you need hairspray for?

[Berserk Monk]

If they want a camel, they should check in a swamp. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0564.html)

[Teddy]

They don't store water, just like humans don't store food. We store it as fat instead (camels might store it as something else, but I think it's fat).

More complex then that, but that's really all I know.

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's fat they are storing in their humps. When the fat is metabolized together with oxygen in their cells, water and carbon dioxide is produced together with energy, so they are probably using that water more effectively than we do (pretty much of it follows the air out when we breathe).

And a camel with a tap on the hump would be pretty awesome (but the magic would have to change the biological processes noted above). The two-humped camels could also store beer in one of their humps so that Durkon wouldn't have to drink that awfull "domestic beer" the humans drink.

[Tass]

Okay. A camel does not use the hump for water supply

They store fat to be able to go for long times with little food. While it is true that oxidation of fat produces a little water, that is very insignificant. Oxidation of fat also produces a damn lot of heat. To actually get more water this way, the camel would have to increase its metabolism, a bad thing to do in a desert. Oxidizing a gram of fat releases 37kJ, evaporating a gram of water only absorbs 2kJ.

Yes a camel can go a long time without water, it uses it very efficiently, and it can drink enormous amounts at a time, but it has nothing to do with the hump.

Abstract of Nature article (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v201/n4919/abs/201624b0.html)
Library of Congress FAQ (http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/camel.html)

[Boogastreehouse]

It would help if I knew what a kegel was...


It's a type of exercise pregnant and older women do.

Actually there are plenty of benefits to regularly doing kegals even if you're not pregnant or older (or even a woman!) Guys can exercise similar muscles and get a lot out of it too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kegel_exercise