10 facts about Sleeping

There are many interesting facts about sleeping that you probably didn't know. The study of sleep is actually pretty modern, in fact most of what we have learned about it has happened in the last 25 years. With this in mind, I have put together a list of the top 10 amazing facts about sleeping.

1. The record for the longest period without sleep is over 18 days. This person experienced hallucinations, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory lapses.
2. It is almost impossible to tell if someone is really awake without medical supervision. People can have naps with their eyes open and not even know it.
3. Elephants lie down during REM sleep, but sleep standing up during non-REM sleep.
4. What is commonly known as the the "natural alarm clock" which allows people to wake up when they want, is caused by the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin.
5. The tiny rays of light from a digital alarm clock can actually be enough to disrupt your sleep cycle.
6. On average humans sleep about three hours less than other primates.
7. Ducks are able to balance the need for sleep and survival by keeping one half of the brain awake and other half in sleep mode.
8. Most of what we know about sleep we've learned in the past 25 years.
9. It has been suggested that the availability of the internet is one of the major influences of sleep distractions.
10. Studies suggest that women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men.

Sweet Dreams!!

Comments

Watch as Patrick Stewart Recites a Poem with a Yorkshire Dialect

In a scene from TOWN with Nicholas Crane, Patrick Stewart, of Star Trek and X-men fame, gets nostalgic over his childhood and recites a poem in his native Yorkshire dialect. His mother and aunt would recite the poem around Christmas time every year which is probably why he still remembers it many years later. Stewart was born in Mirfield - a small town in West Yorkshire England.

Wildlife conservation on ice: frozen zoos to save animals

On the edge: Disease and habitat loss is decimating wild amphibian populations globally, with more than 200 species needing urgent intervention through captive breeding, says Dr. Simon Clulow. In a south-eastern suburb in Melbourne, there’s a zoo. It has no visitors, and there are no animals anywhere inside it. Rather, the Australian Frozen Zoo houses living cells and genetic material from Australian native and rare and exotic species. This place, and others like it, could be a big part of the future of conservation. Department of Biological Sciences’ Simon Clulow and his colleagues make the case for ‘biobanking’ in a recent piece in Conservation Letters. Clulow is keen to stress that this doesn’t mean getting rid of conventional zoos or captive breeding programs. “Captive breeding has had some wonderful successes, and there will always be a huge place for it,” he says. PhD student and lead author Lachlan Howell agrees. “It was captive breeding that brought the giant panda back f...

Liu Xue: Sculpture

Chinese artist Liu Xue has created some fabulous anthropomorphic sculpture which are sure to tweak your “Eweeee, gross!” button, in a great way. The unusual hybrids are from his series - ‘We are the World’ and they aren’t far from it. Obese fat Buddha men sit on their frog legs or flippers while emaciated men and women balance on chicken legs or dog bodies. The different anatomies merge seamlessly into a viable being. They are distorted and somewhat monstrous – yet at the same time so realistic, one might believe they actually do exist. Liu lives in Beijing, Chaoyang, China and that’s about all we could find out about him. We would love to know a little about his process – any Chinese folks out there that could throw a little research our way? LINK: To Liu’s Website/Blog

Search This Blog