Migrating Birds Take Hundreds of Powernaps.

Ant writes "MSNBC reports that to help make up for sleep lost during marathon night flights, migratory birds take hundreds of powernaps during the day, each lasting only a few seconds, a new study suggests. Every autumn, Swainson's thrushes fly up to 3,000 miles from their breeding grounds in northern Canada and Alaska to winter in Central and South America. Come spring, the birds make the long trek back. The birds fly mostly at night and often for long hours at a time, leaving little time for sleep."

Comments

this early in the morning

[yincrash]

At 4:20 in the morning, I could a couple of power naps as well.

Re:this early in the morning

[theundergroundman]

I'm actually going to power up something else once it gets to 4:20 west coast time.

Re:this early in the morning

[freedom_india]

The fact that you could not complete your sentence properly shows your level of sleep deprivation:

At 4:20 in the morning, I could do with a couple of power naps as well.

Re:this early in the morning

[rf0]

"I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before I went to bed, drink a cup of sulphuric acid, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad and our mother would kill us and dance about on our graves singing Hallelujah."

So neh

http://www.phespirit.info/montypython/four_yorkshi remen.htm

Re:this early in the morning

[noidentity]

At 4:20 in the morning, I could [take] a couple of power naps as well.

Looks like you took one int he middle of that sentence!

Why they sleep only a few seconds

[Jamu]

Flap flap flap
Must stay awake...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'm falling!
Flapflapflapflapflap
Flap flap flap
Must stay awake...

Re:Why they sleep only a few seconds

[ari_j]

I dunno, something that straps to their beaks or similar

'e could grip i' by the 'usk!

Re:Why they sleep only a few seconds

[shadwstalkr]

I thought they slept while they hung around the necks of old sailors.

Did the same thing as a student

[Anonymous Coward]

When I was a student I also took several power-naps during the day to make up for lack of sleep.

They were called lectures.

Re:Did the same thing as a student

[CortoMaltese]

I actually attended (well, sort of) a course just because the lectures were held just after lunch in a lecture hall with very comfortable seats.

*sigh*

I wish my office walls weren't made of glass.

Re:Did the same thing as a student

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't worry, the academic staff return the favor during your graduation...

Wish my boss understands this

[wannabgeek]

I only take tens of powernaps during the day, and my boss is threatening to fire me. (True, each of them lasts longer than a few seconds ;-)

Electronic Arts applauds

[Green Salad]

The HR department at Electronic Arts applauds the innovation as a "best practice."

Ah shucks

[novus ordo]

"I think what's interesting about our findings is that even animals that should be highly adapted to sleep loss cannot go on indefinitely," Fuchs said. "That a need for sleep cannot be eliminated even in these species underscores the importance of sleep for many, if not all, animals."

I hope I'm not the one to break this to my boss...he might even try to disprove him.

Yep...

[DuranDuran]

> to help make up for sleep lost during marathon night flights, migratory birds take hundreds of powernaps during the day, each lasting only a few seconds

Yep, just like my crazy uncle. But instead of gliding, he uses the cruise control.

Re:Yep...

[rf0]

Its like the old joke that Uncle Harold died peacfully in his sleep. Its just all his passengers in the car that were screaming

Re:Maybe..

[grammar fascist]

Going by this logic, I can say that lions in jungle start rattling the nearest metal bars or objects they can find when they feel hungry because I observed this behaviour in a bunch of lions in the nearest zoo.

You're obviously not a real scientist. A real scientist would have let the lions out of the cage before making any observations.

Re:Humans Too

[Anonymous Coward]

I will be shocked when research is published that even educated fleas do it

yeah but do they get headaches?

[circletimessquare]

woodpeckers don't

Re:Not convinced

[tygerstripes]

Don't be stupid. Alligators can't balance on a wire.

Re:How do they avoid crashing?

[Harlow_B_Ashur]

Maybe their glide ratio surpasses that of a ball of uranium.

Re:Maybe..

[TubeSteak]

You're obviously not a real scientist. A real scientist would have let the lions out of the cage before making any observations.

Which is why all that we have left are the 3rd rate hacks.

Re:yeah

[Red Flayer]

I think technically, they hatch *when* they hit the ground.