Time To Call Fahrenheit 911

(I am in my neurobiology class. Most kids are biology majors, but a few are psychology majors. In either case, you have to be well-versed in science before this 400 level class. My teacher has been doing research about seizures for years and knows everything about them. We are talking about neural synapses.)

Professor: “So, as we see in the model, different temperatures can affect the neuron and can cause misfiring, either by being overactive or underactive. Yes, [Student]?”

Student: “Yeah, I was just wondering if a fever can be high enough to cause a seizure. And would that mess up someone for life? Or no, because we measure fevers in Fahrenheit and this is in Celsius so it wouldn’t change it enough…”

(The whole class just looks at her. Then after three seconds of silence…)

Teacher: “Uh, yes, it can cause a febrile seizure. I actually had one as a kid and I think I’m doin’ pretty all right.” *awkwardly laughs and moves on*

(I looked across to my friend and I buried my face in my shirt to hold back my laughter.)