You Don’t Exist For One Third Of Your Life

Humans have split the atom, we can stream movies from space and are working towards everlasting life. 


So why in the world are we still spending a third of our lives unconscious?

In this episode of The Rest Is Science, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens ask a deceptively simple question: Can human beings cure sleep? Why do evolutionary forces cause us to lie helpless for eight hours a night when predators might lurk? Why can elephants survive on two hours but bats basically exist to nap? And what really happens inside human bodies when we try to cheat this essential system?

From WWII amphetamines to witch trial torture tactics, fatal insomnia to the strange possibility that dreams are just your brain…shivering, this episode explores the biology, history, and weirdness of unconscious human sleep.

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Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Researcher: Sophia Constantinou

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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