We humans have enough trouble keeping our sleep schedules aligned with Earth’s sunrise and sunset, so one can only imagine what it must be like when you’re trying to get a good night’s rest on the International Space Station (ISS). Not only does the orbiting laboratory orbit our planet once every 90 minutes, which means the astronauts aboard witness 16 sunrises and sunsets each day, but the inhabitants of the planet are constantly experiencing weightlessness.
Astronauts on the International Space Station can’t lie completely flat on their beds. They sleep floating, tied to the wall.
So, thinking of a future in which space endeavors become increasingly common, scientists have created two sleep aid inventions. The first is a lamp that can sync with an individual’s circadian rhythm, and the second is an in-ear device that can measure the wearer’s sleep quality.
The “circadian rhythm” refers to the kinds of physical, mental and behavioral changes that occur to an individual over the course of a 24-hour period – and as you might imagine, one of those changes is how sleepy or alert that individual feels. This is, in fact, why this phenomenon is called the “internal clock”.
Related: Sleeping in Space: How Astronauts Get a Good Night’s Rest
But what’s most important about this study is that our circadian rhythms are directly related to the light we’re exposed to (as well as other things, like the temperature of the room we’re in).
In a way, experts say, sunlight is a key signal our bodies use to calibrate our internal clocks. This is why Daylight Saving Time is known to affect our sleep schedules, and why a sunrise alarm is an effective way to help you wake up organically rested and ready to go. In fact, the importance of light in guiding the circadian rhythm is the reason blind people sometimes have trouble sleeping, according to research. a report By University of California, Los Angeles.
Thus, astronauts on the International Space Station who witness more than a dozen sunrises and sunsets per day may need a little artificial light to help calibrate their internal clock — which is exactly the kind of lamp developed by an organization called SAGA Aerospace Engineerspurportedly to submit.
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now, European Space Agency (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen live on International Space Station Thus they are subjected to an intense sunrise condition in the laboratory. However, we hope that the invention of SAGA will ease the difficulties on the sleeping front.
According to the European Space Agency launchMogensen installed the lamp inside his crew cabin on the third day of his stay in space. The lamp adds to the list of other lighting developments on the International Space Station, such as Adjustable LED lights It was installed in 2016 and had a similar goal of promoting a more comfortable and relaxing environment for space explorers.
And in the evening, the European Space Agency explains, the lamp’s light will glow red to simulate a “quiet sunset” before bed. In the morning, the light will turn blue, “evoking the colors of the morning sky”.
What’s particularly interesting here is the fact that in space, there is no such thing as “heaven” the way we think of it. Astronauts on the International Space Station shrouded in the darkness of our universe. The sky below them is surrounding Land.
Meanwhile, while Mogensen sleeps, the in-ear device (which looks like an in-ear headphone) will measure his brain waves to determine how his sleep is progressing.
This part of the invention was developed by researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark. It’s a pretty big advance, given that the usual way to measure brain waves in space involves a large-scale EEG helmet. For a sleep study, such a huge thing is completely meaningless.
The European Space Agency reports that the lamp Mogensen is testing was actually used by SAGA’s founders during a two-month expedition to Greenland. During that experience on Earth, both users found that the lamp helped guide them back in time – a concept that begins to fall apart once we escape the bosom of Earth.
The results of this study will likely help scientists decipher the complexities of sleep patterns on our planet as well. Although it’s always been known that blue light (like smartphone screens) affects sleep schedules, here’s why Browser add-ons To mitigate the blue light on your screens, there could certainly be more evidence to support the nuances of this claim.
For example, some experts aren’t so sure Blue light blocking glasses It is a cure for insomnia, but many wearers suggest otherwise.
