Anyone who’s gone through an all-nighter or has had bouts of insomnia knows that getting adequate sleep is a key part of feeling good. Next to regular physical activity and avoiding risky things like smoking, ensuring that we usually have a good night’s sleep might be the most impactful thing we can do to improve our odds of a well-lived and long life.
But despite sleep taking up about one-third of our time on Earth, scientists have only barely begun to scratch the surface of understanding why sleep is so important. Here are some of the few lessons we’ve learned to date.
