The art of nodding off appears to have been mastered by breeding chinstrap penguins, who take more than 10,000 naps a day, with each nap lasting an average of four seconds, according to a new study. The animals accumulate around 11 hours of sleep daily using this strategy, challenging a pattern observed in humans that fragmentation is detrimental to sleep quality.
“Microsleeps” or “micronaps” – seconds-long interruptions of wakefulness, which include eye closure and sleep-related brain activity – occur in humans who have had insufficient sleep, according to the study published in journal Science on Thursday. However, nodding off can be inappropriate and even dangerous in certain environments, such as when driving a car, and it is unclear whether they are long enough to provide any of the benefits of slee