10 Crazy Facts About Sleep You Never Knew

All people do it – from the day they are born to the day they die – and it is one of the things that they do not think that much about. People will have spent about 1/3 of their time on this planet asleep by the end of their lives. According to inventor Thomas Edison, that is a big waste of time. All animals need sleep to function well. Whether we are talking about a giraffe that just requires a little less than 2 hours per day or humans that think they require 8 hours to be at the top of their game, sleep is in fact a weird thing. Here are 10 crazy facts about sleep you never knew.

Blind People

Individuals born blind do not see visual images when they dream; however, they do have an increased auditory, tactile and olfactory experience.

Black And White Dreams

About 12% of individuals have black and white dreams. However, before color television, the number was 75%.

Body Clock

The British military determined a way to reset body clocks of soldiers so they can go for 36 hours without sleep by simulating a sunrise on soldiers’ retinas.

Sleep Deprivation

The 1989 Exxon oil spill, the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and the Challenger space shuttle disaster were caused due to some degree by sleep deprivation.

Appetite

Individuals who do not get sufficient sleep are more likely to have larger appetites due to the fact that their levels of leptin (an appetite-regulating hormone) drop, promoting increase of appetite.

Dreams

Some theorists say that the reason dreams are so strange and complicated is because they allow people to solve problems and think critically while awake.

Orgasms

While you are sleeping, women and men can experience orgasms just as powerful as when they are awake.

Humans

From all the mammals that exist on the planet, humans are the only ones that will willingly delay sleep. Even experiencing an overwhelming sleepiness, people will find an excuse to remain awake.

Sense Of Smell

Sound can disrupt sleep but scents cannot. According to a study conducted by Brown University, individuals cannot depend on their sense of smell to awaken them to the danger of fire.

Mattresses

With an average age of 6 to 8 years, mattresses have sufficient time to collect some nasty things and one study associated them with sudden infant death syndrome.