The Perils of Political Naps Do we really know how to sleep? The perils of political napping demonstrate that sleepy ideas about sleeping remain steadfastly secure. Recently Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York excoriated one organ of the press, in this case the New York Post, for reporting that he naps during the day. […]
Purpose Driven Sleep
Does sleep have a purpose? Certainly. Sleep is like food. Without sleep, animals die. During sleep we reorganize our brains, consolidate memories, grow skin, rejigger hormones, rebuild tissues. In sleep we continuously remake the internal information that makes us us. But does having a purpose make for better sleep? Purpose Driven Sleep Meaning matters. If people have a sense of […]
It’s Too Hot
Too Hot to Handle Some like it hot. Nearly sixty years ago, film director Billy Wilder presciently premised that two men fleeing the hotly pursuing Chicago mob could succeed by dressing as women, and then unexpectedly find true love. But what happens to hot men and women when the mercury keeps rising? The strange transports of […]
Driving Asleep
Ever driven while asleep? No? Are you sure? In America people fall asleep at the wheel all the time. Many sleep experiences are microsleeps, brief “lapses of attention” where much of your brain is asleep – but not necessarily all of it. Microsleeps are generally just seconds long. On the highway, a three second highway microsleep means […]
Sleep in Space
Humans adapt. We live in trackless deserts, on the tops of mountains, in pestilential jungles, in prisons and hospitals. To survive we sleep, for we need sleep like food. We adapt to sleeping in space. At the recent sleep meetings I had the chance to talk with Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, who runs the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory […]
