30 interesting facts about sleep

What makes you sleep? Okay, we know it seems like a simple question with a simple answer, but scientists have yet to completely understand it. In reality, it should have been on our list of the 25 greatest historical mysteries. Researchers have been able to track brain waves and learn a little bit about what goes on in our heads at night using advanced technology for the last few decades.

1. When you don't get enough sleep for 16 hours, your performance drops to the level of a .05 percent blood alcohol level.
   
2. According to another report, people who get just 6 to 7 hours of sleep a night live longer than those who get 8 hours.
   
3. Do you have aches and pains in your body? According to one report, sleep deprivation lowers pain tolerance. Another reason to rest and sleep when healing from an injury is to allow the body to heal.
   
4. Spain began a movement to eliminate its world-famous siestas, or afternoon naps, after entering the European Union to demonstrate its commitment to integration.
   
5. Mattresses have plenty of time to collect some unpleasant things, with an average lifetime of 6 to 8 years. They've also been related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), according to one report.
6. Whales and dolphins just sleep for a short time. Their brain hemispheres alternate so that they can keep breathing.
7. Do you have aches and pains in your body? According to one report, sleep deprivation lowers pain tolerance. Another reason to rest and sleep when healing from an injury is to allow the body to heal.
8. Counting sheep, according to scientists, is inefficient for putting oneself to sleep. It's obviously too dull, and imagining a relaxing landscape works much better.
9. In 2004, Americans filled more than 35 million sleeping pill prescriptions, a figure that had more than doubled in the previous four years.
10. While people born blind do not see images in their dreams, their auditory, tactile, and olfactory experiences are enhanced.
11. Randy Gardner, 17 years old, set the world record for not sleeping when he stayed up for 264 hours and 12 minutes in 1964. He did not use any stimulants when he set this record.
12. Scientists are also confused as to why we need to sleep in the first place. Adaptation, energy conservation, regeneration, and brain plasticity are all common theories.
13. You can just dream about people’s faces you've already met.
14. Do you find yourself waking up many times during the night? You're not really alone, to be sure. Although figures vary, the average person wakes up between 2 and 6 times a night, with some participants waking up as many as 11 times a night in one study!
15. The fear of sleeping is known as Somniphobia.
16. Black and white dreams are seen by 12% of the population. That number was 75 percent before color television.
17. If falling asleep takes less than five minutes, you are most likely sleep-deprived. 10 minutes is the perfect period of time.
18. According to sleep experts, your favorite sleeping positions and your personality are closely connected.
19. When you die, you would have slept for about a third of your life, which is about 25 years for the average person.
20. By simulating a sunrise on soldiers' retinas, the British military was able to reset their body clocks and enable them to go without sleep for up to 36 hours.
21. A cat spends two-thirds of its life sleeping.
22. Humans sleep for one-third of their lives.
23. It is not unusual for deaf people to use sign language while sleeping.
24. Dysania is a condition in which it is difficult to get out of bed in the morning.
25. Unnatural movements during sleep are referred to as parasomnia.
26. It is estimated that up to 15% of the population sleepwalks.
27. Sleep deprivation kills you faster than food deprivation.
28. 50% of your dream is forgotten within 5 minutes of waking up.
29. Humans are the only mammals that willingly delay sleep
30. Sleeping on your front can aid digestion

BONUS

1. Snoring is a very common problem. About 40% of men and 24% of women are said to snore on a regular basis. For those who are particularly concerned, a surgical procedure called Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty may be used to stop snoring by squeezing the throat. Changes in your voice tone are one of the possible side effects.
2. During REM sleep, a burst of electrical activity passes through your brainstem every 90 minutes, which is also when you have dreams.
3. The average person dreams for 6 years of their lives.
4. Sleep deficiency was a contributing factor in the Challenger space shuttle crash, the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, and the 1989 Exxon oil spill.