Culture | Sleepy heads

Why do people sleep? And other unanswered questions

A new book, “Mapping the Darkness”, explores the active world of sleep research

A series of images shows a man lying on a bed, as he participates in a sleep study.
Image: Science Photo Library

BIRDS DO IT. Bees do it. People do it, though often less than they would like to. Owls do it in the daytime. Even Caenorhabditis elegans, a primitive roundworm made up of a few thousand cells, does something that looks an awful lot like it. Sleep is an ancient, universal experience.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Sleepy heads”

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