This article was first published in the October 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
We spend more than 30 per cent of our lives in bed, but that does not mean we are good at sleeping. A 2014 University of Hertfordshire study found that six out of ten Britons don't get enough shut-eye; a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that one third of Americans don't either - and its consequences are far from trivial. "A sleep-deprived society is more accident-prone, more dangerous," says Jessa Gamble, author of The Siesta and the Midnight Sun. Gamble examined how military-funded scientists were engineering technologies, from stimulating drugs to brain implants, for people to sleep effectively. Sadly, there's no substitute for a deep rest, so Gamble recommends practising good sleep hygiene to maximise the quality of your snooze.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
