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Sleep patterns on a new planet
I was just wondering something and thought I would throw this idea out there and see what people made of it.
The scenario I am thinking of is humans leave the Earth and populate another planet. This planet has a day-night length of 32 hours, ie 8 hours longer than Earth.
Questions:
1. Would human sleep patterns remain in 24 hour cycles ie ~8 hours sleep and ~16 hours activity. Or would the sleep pattens elongate to coincide with the days on this new planet ie ~12 hours sleep and ~20 hours activity.
2. Assuming that human sleep activity stayed at 24 hour cycles would children born on the planet fall into 24 hour cycles or 32 hour cycles. (assuming external influences of adults 24 hour sleep patterns could be discounted)
I guess this is a kind of nature/nurture question but I really have no idea what the outcome would be.
Edit to add: Planet can support life and getting there is no problem.
The scenario I am thinking of is humans leave the Earth and populate another planet. This planet has a day-night length of 32 hours, ie 8 hours longer than Earth.
Questions:
1. Would human sleep patterns remain in 24 hour cycles ie ~8 hours sleep and ~16 hours activity. Or would the sleep pattens elongate to coincide with the days on this new planet ie ~12 hours sleep and ~20 hours activity.
2. Assuming that human sleep activity stayed at 24 hour cycles would children born on the planet fall into 24 hour cycles or 32 hour cycles. (assuming external influences of adults 24 hour sleep patterns could be discounted)
I guess this is a kind of nature/nurture question but I really have no idea what the outcome would be.
Edit to add: Planet can support life and getting there is no problem.
js374
I was just wondering something and thought I would throw this idea out there and see what people made of it.
The scenario I am thinking of is humans leave the Earth and populate another planet. This planet has a day-night length of 32 hours, ie 8 hours longer than Earth.
Questions:
1. Would human sleep patterns remain in 24 hour cycles ie ~8 hours sleep and ~16 hours activity. Or would the sleep pattens elongate to coincide with the days on this new planet ie ~12 hours sleep and ~20 hours activity.
2. Assuming that human sleep activity stayed at 24 hour cycles would children born on the planet fall into 24 hour cycles or 32 hour cycles. (assuming external influences of adults 24 hour sleep patterns could be discounted)
I guess this is a kind of nature/nurture question but I really have no idea what the outcome would be.
The scenario I am thinking of is humans leave the Earth and populate another planet. This planet has a day-night length of 32 hours, ie 8 hours longer than Earth.
Questions:
1. Would human sleep patterns remain in 24 hour cycles ie ~8 hours sleep and ~16 hours activity. Or would the sleep pattens elongate to coincide with the days on this new planet ie ~12 hours sleep and ~20 hours activity.
2. Assuming that human sleep activity stayed at 24 hour cycles would children born on the planet fall into 24 hour cycles or 32 hour cycles. (assuming external influences of adults 24 hour sleep patterns could be discounted)
I guess this is a kind of nature/nurture question but I really have no idea what the outcome would be.
Would we be able to survive on this planet? It's obviously a different size from Earth, or is around a different size star, or is close/further away from said star.
Also sleeping patterns would change, to fit around new work hours, that's all. The amount of time we sleep will probably be the same. So we would have more free time.
js374
I was just wondering something and thought I would throw this idea out there and see what people made of it.
The scenario I am thinking of is humans leave the Earth and populate another planet. This planet has a day-night length of 32 hours, ie 8 hours longer than Earth.
Questions:
1. Would human sleep patterns remain in 24 hour cycles ie ~8 hours sleep and ~16 hours activity. Or would the sleep pattens elongate to coincide with the days on this new planet ie ~12 hours sleep and ~20 hours activity.
2. Assuming that human sleep activity stayed at 24 hour cycles would children born on the planet fall into 24 hour cycles or 32 hour cycles. (assuming external influences of adults 24 hour sleep patterns could be discounted)
I guess this is a kind of nature/nurture question but I really have no idea what the outcome would be.
Edit to add: Planet can support life and getting there is no problem.
The scenario I am thinking of is humans leave the Earth and populate another planet. This planet has a day-night length of 32 hours, ie 8 hours longer than Earth.
Questions:
1. Would human sleep patterns remain in 24 hour cycles ie ~8 hours sleep and ~16 hours activity. Or would the sleep pattens elongate to coincide with the days on this new planet ie ~12 hours sleep and ~20 hours activity.
2. Assuming that human sleep activity stayed at 24 hour cycles would children born on the planet fall into 24 hour cycles or 32 hour cycles. (assuming external influences of adults 24 hour sleep patterns could be discounted)
I guess this is a kind of nature/nurture question but I really have no idea what the outcome would be.
Edit to add: Planet can support life and getting there is no problem.
Haha, bored much?!
Umm in answer to your question, sleep patterns would change.
SatanIsAwesome
Would we be able to survive on this planet? It's obviously a different size from Earth, or is around a different size star, or is close/further away from said star.
Also sleeping patterns would change, to fit around new work hours, that's all. The amount of time we sleep will probably be the same. So we would have more free time.
Also sleeping patterns would change, to fit around new work hours, that's all. The amount of time we sleep will probably be the same. So we would have more free time.
Or it rotates more slowly than Earth but is otherwise identical
maccy7
Haha, bored much?!
Umm in answer to your question, sleep patterns would change.
Umm in answer to your question, sleep patterns would change.
Can't sleep (figures really) so my mind was wandering...
How would they change? I thought the ratio between sleep and active periods would stay roughly constant but SIA thought only the active period would increase and sleep time would remain constant.
Sleep patterns adapt to lighting, but we have an optimal day length. This means yes, our sleeping patterns would change, but we'd suffer for it (being more tired and whatever).
Naturally we have a sleeping pattern of around 25 hour days. We already adapt that to 24 hour days for Earth. Can stretch it a bit further
Naturally we have a sleeping pattern of around 25 hour days. We already adapt that to 24 hour days for Earth. Can stretch it a bit further
js374
Can't sleep (figures really) so my mind was wandering...
How would they change? I thought the ratio between sleep and active periods would stay roughly constant but SIA thought only the active period would increase and sleep time would remain constant.
How would they change? I thought the ratio between sleep and active periods would stay roughly constant but SIA thought only the active period would increase and sleep time would remain constant.
Post above said it, sleep patterns would adjust to the lighting... I think.
Actually there's been studies done like this, only using caves and underground bunkers and such, not new planets. People will adjust to external cues like lighting and social/work hours to some extent, but not beyond a certain point. If the lighting is on a 28hr schedule for instance, most people can't adjust to this and will fall back to a pattern of about 24 hours. I think Czeisler 1999 found that it was 24hrs 11mins on average using this method to desynchronise peoples' cycles and then keeping them in dim light. He thought the studies showing that people naturally have 24.5-25hr cycles were methodologically flawed as they tended to let people turn the lights on when they chose and such. So basically, on this new planet, most people would probably stick to cycles of approximately 24 hours.
Some people do have naturally longer cycles (e.g. non-24hr circadian rhythm disorders), though probably not as long as 32 hours. Still, I think over the generations people with longer cycles would have a selective advantage due to being better synchronised with the environment and so their genes would increase in frequency in the population. Considering all the electric lighting and other advances we have nowadays though and that most people would still be sticking to 24hr cycles, a longer cycle might not actually be much of an advantage so maybe this adjustment wouldn't occur.
Some people do have naturally longer cycles (e.g. non-24hr circadian rhythm disorders), though probably not as long as 32 hours. Still, I think over the generations people with longer cycles would have a selective advantage due to being better synchronised with the environment and so their genes would increase in frequency in the population. Considering all the electric lighting and other advances we have nowadays though and that most people would still be sticking to 24hr cycles, a longer cycle might not actually be much of an advantage so maybe this adjustment wouldn't occur.
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