Learn about why room temperature is so important for getting a good night’s sleep. Plus, learn about the EPR paradox and a famous debate from the world of quantum physics with a special guest, astrophysicist George Greenstein. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how scientists figured out why room temperature is so important for sleep: https://curiosity.im/2LH1Mpb More from George Greenstein: “Quantum Strangeness: Wrestling with Bell's Theorem and the Ultimate Nature of Reality” — https://amazon.com Other publications from George Greenstein on Amazon — https://amazon.com Website — http://www3.amherst.edu/~gsgreenstein/ Amherst College bio — https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/gsgreenstein Want to support our show?Register for the 2019 Podcast Awards and nominate Curiosity Daily to win for People’s Choice, Education, and Science & Medicine. After you register, simply select Curiosity Daily from the drop-down menus (no need to pick nominees in every category): https://curiosity.im/podcast-awards-2019 Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about why room temperature is so important for getting a good night’s sleep. Plus, learn about the EPR paradox and a famous debate from the world of quantum physics with a special guest, astrophysicist George Greenstein.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how scientists figured out why room temperature is so important for sleep: https://curiosity.im/2LH1Mpb
More from George Greenstein:
Want to support our show? Register for the 2019 Podcast Awards and nominate Curiosity Daily to win for People’s Choice, Education, and Science & Medicine. After you register, simply select Curiosity Daily from the drop-down menus (no need to pick nominees in every category): https://curiosity.im/podcast-awards-2019
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/epr-paradox-and-quantum-strangeness-w-george-greenstein-and-temperatures-for-sleep
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why room temperature is so important for getting a good night’s sleep. Plus, you’ll learn about a famous debate from the world of quantum physics with a special guest, astrophysicist George Greenstein.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Scientists Determined Why Room Temperature Is So Important For Sleep — https://curiosity.im/2LH1Mpb (Cody)
Scientists have figured out why room temperature is so important for sleep! If you’ve ever had a hard time passing out in a hotel or in your friend’s guest room because it was too hot or too cold, then this research could explain why. According to a new study from a team of neuroscientists in Switzerland, it all comes down to what they call “Goldilocks neurons.” When the temperature is just right, these neurons increase rapid eye movement (or REM) sleep, which is a pretty essential part of your sleep cycle.
There's a lot of activity in your brain that takes place during REM sleep — in fact, your breathing, heartbeat, and brain activity increase to nearly the same levels as when you’re awake! Despite all that activity, one thing your brain can't do when you’re in that deep sleep is regulate your body temperature. Which is funny, since our bodies are really good at controlling our body temperature when we’re awake, or even when we’re asleep during non-REM cycles. We do that using mechanisms like panting, sweating, shivering, and getting goosebumps — but all of those things require a lot of energy. Since your brain is so active during REM sleep, your body pumps the brakes on those thermoregulation mechanisms when you’re sleeping. Of course, if the room gets too hot or cold and your body doesn't react, you're in trouble. So your brain has to have a way to shuttle energy back to thermoregulation when you need it. What’s a brain to do? Well it turns out that there are mechanisms in the brain that regulate the amount of REM sleep you get depending on the room temperature — as in, when the room temperature is comfortable, your brain gives you more REM sleep, and when it’s too hot or cold, your brain sacrifices REM sleep to conserve the energy it might need to thermoregulate. The researchers examined the brains of mice and found a specific population of neurons in the hypothalamus that does this, called melanin-concentrating hormone (or MCH) neurons. This study has far-reaching implications for sleep medicine, and shows that the amount of REM sleep you get is directly dependent on your environment. As for the BEST temperature for these neurons, the team found that temperatures at the high end of the body’s thermoneutral zone were best. That zone varies a lot from person to person, so experts generally recommend setting the thermostat for whatever temperature you find comfortable. Sleep tight!
George Greenstein 1 - The EPR Paradox and no such thing as position and speed (Both)
ASHLEY: A lot of the time, science can help us understand the world, but sometimes, it raises more questions than answers. And our guest today has an amazing example of that from the world of quantum theory. George Greenstein is an Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Amherst College, and author of the new book “Quantum Strangeness: Wrestling with Bell's Theorem and the Ultimate Nature of Reality.” Before he blows your mind, Cody’ll give a little background to set the scene.
CODY: Okay, so quantum theory was invented by a group of people, and Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr disagreed vehemently about its nature. Einstein thought it was incomplete, and Bohr felt that it was not at all incomplete, but that it was a profound philosophical discovery that you could not know everything about the microscopic world. Here’s George Greenstein on the nature of their fight and the surprising implications.
[CLIP 5:56]
ASHLEY: Pretty wild, right? Stuff like this is exactly why George Greenstein’s new book is such a great read. It’s nothing at all like a quantum physics textbook; it’s more of a story of his journey to try to wrap his head around quantum theory over the years. You can find a link to pick up “Quantum Strangeness: Wrestling with Bell's Theorem and the Ultimate Nature of Reality” in today’s show notes, and tomorrow you’ll hear the second part of our interview, to maybe help you wrap YOUR head around quantum theory just a little bit better.
CODY: And now, let’s recap what we learned today. Today we learned that your brain will let you sleep better if you’re comfortable with the temperature of your environment.
ASHLEY: And that according to what we know about quantum physics, there’s no such thing as position and speed in the natural world. [ad lib]
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Stay curious!