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The Dangers of Being Really, Really Tired

Posted by timothy on from the especially-if-you-have-a-bike-car-or-zamboni dept.

Sleepy Dog Millionare writes "Brian Palmer, writing for Slate, asks 'Can you die from lack of sleep?' and shockingly, the answer may very well be Yes, you can. Palmer points to 'ground breaking experiments' in the area of sleep research. It turns out that sleep deprivation can actually be deadly in rats. The obvious conclusion is that it is probably deadly in all mammals. So the next time you think you need to pull multiple all-night hack-a-thons, ask yourself if it's worth risking your life for."

13 of 469 comments (clear)

  1. If I were sleep deprived by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wouldn't be able to get a first post.

    1. Re:If I were sleep deprived by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      In the modern world it seems to be macho to go without sleep.

      Stop talking like a pussy, boy!

    2. Re:If I were sleep deprived by Shikaku · · Score: 5, Funny

      There's a whole new meaning to being dead tired...

    3. Re:If I were sleep deprived by jamesh · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sleep deprivation also causes you to miss jokes, and often also miss the whooshing noise that occurs after you miss them.

    4. Re:If I were sleep deprived by somersault · · Score: 4, Funny

      Raped Eye Movement

      You managed to spell the rest of your comment correctly, so was this just a Freudian slip or do you want to enlighten us as to the details of this horrific biological state?

      --
      which is totally what she said
  2. Ah...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    But did they feed the rats Jolt?

    It keeps me alive!

    Now if I can just do something about those damned bats...

    1. Re:Ah...... by jd2112 · · Score: 5, Funny
      Red Bull gives you Wiings.

      Too much Red Bull gives you Wings, And a halo.

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
  3. Lack of sleep IS dangerous by Macblaster · · Score: 5, Funny

    According to a reliable source, a lack of REM sleep in a group of people will cause them to go crazy and start murdering each other...

    1. Re:Lack of sleep IS dangerous by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Funny

      Death from too much work/too little sleep is so popular in Japan, that...

      I'm never going to understand Asian tastes...

  4. Rats make for lousy test subjects by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't know... so far, research indicates that any test will at some point cause death in rats. I've never read conclusions like "tests indicate that the rats live on just fine throughout the experiments".

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  5. Re:Depends what you're doing by Scrameustache · · Score: 4, Funny

    After working at my office all day, I started work on the survey project in my basement around 5pm on a Friday night and worked on it for a while and had a wonderful time

    You make slashdot proud.

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

  6. Re:Hack-a-thons? No. by Krneki · · Score: 4, Funny

    *Boss put his hands on his ears*

    Lalalalala, I can't hear you, lalalalalala!

    --
    Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
  7. My sleep story, how about yours? by JavaManJim · · Score: 4, Funny

    I had a night job at a factory one time. 11pm to 7am. This meant that I slept about every two days.

    I had a beekeeping hobby during the off factory hours. Can't put those little critters off. Once I was so sleepy I gathered a swarm into a box on the top of a 10' ladder. Then took a good nap up there with the idea or waiting for the bees to move to my box. Woke up a couple of hours later to an unpleasant dream which turned out to be reality. I had slept through a few bee stings. The swarm had moved, not into the box, but over and into my bee netting, clothes, hair, face, etc.

    It was just annoying because swarms are fairly placid. So I carefully pulled my bee covered bee netting off and put that in the box. Went and took a proper nap in a bed.

    You folks do anything interesting while sleep deprived? Leave out anything that could get you into trouble.