Why do we sleep?

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Guest presented by Liz Bonnin.

We all instinctively know that sleep is incredibly important but science doesn’t actually have a satisfying answer for why we need to sleep. There are multiple theories, but now, new research from Imperial College London has suggested that the leading idea might actually be incorrect. Science journalist Ginny Smith explains.

Nearly 80 years ago, one of the rarest elements in the world, promethium, was first discovered, but it’s properties have only now been revealed. Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London, tells us what this means.

What’s the scariest animal on the planet? Lions, crocodiles, or maybe tigers might come to mind. Yet a recent study has found that animals around the globe fear our voices far more than sounds of any other predators. Professor Liana Zanette explains how her research could help conservation efforts.

Finally, we answer one of your questions. Listener Mary Evans got in touch to ask: ‘do you think it's likely that people who are widely travelled and used to eating local food and drinking tap water would have more diverse bacteria in their gut?’ Expert on all things microbiome, Megan Rossi, joins us in the studio to answer Mary’s query. If you have any questions you think we can tackle, you can always email us at [email protected].

Presenter: Liz Bonnin Producers: Hannah Robins, Ella Hubber, Sophie Ormiston Researcher: Caitlin Kennedy Editor: Martin Smith

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about the
0:03.8	podcast I work on. I'm Dan Clark and I commissioned factual podcasts at the BBC.
0:08.6	It's a massive area but I'd sum it up as stories to help us make sense of the forces shaping the world.
0:15.3	What podcasting does is give us the space and the time to take brilliant BBC journalism
0:19.8	and tell amazing compelling stories that really get behind the headlines.
0:23.7	And what I get really excited about is when we find a way of drawing you into a subject
0:28.4	you might not even have thought you were interested in.
0:30.2	Whether it's investigations, science, tech, politics, culture, true crime, the environment,
0:36.1	you can always discover more with a podcast on BBC Sounds.
0:39.7	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
0:45.0	Hello, welcome to Inside Science with me, Liz Bonin.
0:48.9	This week, what species in the animal kingdom
0:52.0	is the most fearsome?
0:54.2	And we answer one of your questions about the benefits or perils
0:58.4	of eating suspect food on your travels.
1:01.8	But first, we all know that sleep is important and we regularly get new information about
1:07.3	how much we need, how to make sure we get enough of it, what happens to your body if we don't, it can be a lot
1:14.0	enough to make you so anxious to get to sleep you can't no just me then
1:19.0	but what exactly happens to our bodies when we sleep?
1:23.2	New research from Imperial College London has suggested that one of the leading theories
1:28.1	may actually be wrong.
1:30.2	Science journalist and neuroscience expert Ginny Smith is here to explain all.
	...

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