On Demand
One Eye Open
It's a dangerous world out there, with predators always lurking. So what on earth would give every single animal in the kingdom the gumption to think it could lay itself down each day, let down its defenses, and go to sleep? Well, turns out that many species might not be as "out cold" as land mammals. We join Charles Amlaner and Steven Lima and their team at Indiana University who show us iguanas sleeping only half their brain at a time. That’s right. They sleep with one eye open. (Cue the Metallica). That way, the iguana can watch for predators, as the other half of its brain takes a rest.
While these creatures stay half awake to protect themselves, for humans, the dangers of sleep can come from within. We visit the Hennepin County Sleep Lab, where Dr. Carlos Schenck shows us some of the most terrifying sleep disorders around.
Documentary on PARASOMNIAS with Carlos Schenck
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Thanks for the program I heard on OPB. It was beyond interesting. Great job. Would like to learn more,......but I am going to sleep now!
We have a house without air conditioning. However, we have a 'whole house' fan plus we circulate the house air with a very well filtered furnace system. Our community air quality is good & we don't live on a street, but have a long driveway. My wife tells me that fresh air sucked in by the whole house fan is bad for her plus the filtered circulating air also makes things worse. I tell her that it is not the air, but some other problem which causes a problem for her. Is moving air "bad" for you when you sleep? Is outside air "bad" for you when you sleep? Thanks. V. Philbrick
I really enjoyed this program and it really got me thinking about the meaning, mechanics and purpose of sleep. You can find my reflections on this episode of Radio Lab here:
http://dixieyid.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-do-we-sleep.html
-Dixie Yid
not sure if this is the right forum, but can you tell me how to get in touch with the writer(s)/producer(s) of this episode.
It was excellent and I have an idea to share - not just fawning praise, but I'll do that too if necessary
David
Hi David,
You can contact us by sending an e-mail to radiolab@wnyc.org.
Radio Lab
The day before I heard this episode (thanks to the suggestion on This American Life) my 11-year old son asked me if fish sleep. I thought I might find the answer during the show. But, fish were never mentioned even though every other category of creature was mentioned. So, do fish sleep?
Hi Andrea, your son asks a very very good question. The short answer is: we have no idea! Fish don't have eyelids, so IF they sleep, they don't close their eyes when they do. So scientists have tried to monitor fish brain activity. But they've had to take the fish out of the water to do that, which makes the measuring kind of meaningless (because if you were a fish out of water, would YOU sleep?). so as far as we know, your son's question remains very much answered.
Your program on sleep was so devoted to mediocre revelations that you skipped over some facts I consider imperative, especially since you say your program investigates. I was floored when you mention so casually that "Dr. Whoever looked into the brains of cats and guess what he discovered?"Wow! now we know this and this about cat sleep.
How do you think he got into the brains of cats? Where do you think he got the cats? Do you think they volunteered?
All of you seemed so joyful that discoveries were made from more cruel animals experiments. But you didn't go there. You were focused on outcome. If you ever see a photo of a cat with this equipment put INTO his skull, you wull never forget it.
Are we all smarter now from your program? Did a researcher get big bucks for these enlightening tidbits? Didn't you just do a program on morality?
Your 'Radio lab' is on par with People Magazine.Terry Gross come back please!
Outstanding program. I learn more on RadioLab then in school. Please keep up the good work. Joe
who was the electronic music by? on the one eye open episode.
This show was painful to listen to. The extraneous noise and chatter was just over the top. While I enjoyed learning the facts as they appeared during the occasional lulls, I was definitely of mixed emotions as my car found its way out of the listening area of the local Public Radio station.
talk of predation risk makes me think of sleeping in the mountains. It's common to wake up multiple times throughout the night. My dreams are intensely vivid, some sticking with me for decades, and I wake up feeling well rested.
Your program was very enjoyable. Since listening to it, I've read several times that bullfrogs do not sleep. So, what gives? Are they the only animals in the entire world (along with fish possibly, according to the post above) that don't sleep? Are they unique among frogs - or do no frog species sleep?
Looking forward to - and waiting patiently for - season 6!
What is the name of the song you play approximately 40 minutes into the mp3?
Who is the artist?
It's awesome!
Thanks :) Great show, by the way!
I really enjoy your programs, both technically and topically. In this program there was a brief mention of night terrors, and I started thinking about nightmares. Since we need a "good night's sleep" so badly, why do our brains concoct stories that are so disturbing that they can wake us up and make it difficult to get back to sleep?
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