this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2024
79 points (95.4% liked)

Ask Science

8644 readers
8 users here now

Ask a science question, get a science answer.


Community Rules


Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.


Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.


Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.


Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.


Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.


Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.


Rule 7: Report violations.Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.


Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.


Rule 9: Source required for answers.Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.


By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.

We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I know evolution is governed by chance and it is random but does it make sense to "ruin" sleep if there's light? I mean normally, outside, you never have pure darkness, there are the moon and stars even at night. In certain zones of the Earth we also have long periods of no sunshine and long periods of only sunshine.

I don't know if my question is clear enough but I hope so.

Bonus question: are animals subject to the same contribution of light or lack of it to the quality of sleep?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Does this mean humans in far north climates have different methods of determinating sleep times? Because I'm originally from close to the equator and I'm the summer I'll be awake until near midnight when at least we get some dusk, but the nightless days really screw me up

[–] Contramuffin@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago

Ah, so this goes more into the nuance of what exactly determines the time of the circadian clock. It is very well documented that animals in the arctic circle still have circadian clocks even if it's perpetual light or dark. I left out for simplicity that the level of light matters - that is to say, if there's a time where it's slightly dimmer and a time that's slightly brighter, that is enough to adjust the circadian clock to the correct time. The adjustment process will be slower and weaker than usual, but it does happen.

Also, I hinted that animals do take in multiple measurements to determine the correct time, and that plays a role in this case. In general, light tends to be the measurement that animals will default to, but where light variation doesn't exist, animals can and do utilize other measurements to determine the time. Eating (among other things) turns out to be a relatively strong signal, so circadian rhythms end up being somewhat self-reinforcing. After all, I would expect that you only eat when you're awake.

But in general, circadian rhythms and the ways that animals adjust their rhythms to the correct time is a huge rabbithole

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I've severe sleep problems.

I live on a quite a northern latitude. Finland, but the very southern end of it. (The Arctic circle only starts about at the most northern 1/3 of Finland)

I'll upload two pictures, taken from the same spot at different times.

Which one is later, which is earlier? One is taken at 00.30 and one at 2.30. No peeking at the exif data before guessing.

Sunset or sunrise?

Couldn't tell you, as we don't really have those in the way you do.

[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I was wondering why it was so dark.

I used to live in. Jyväskylä. But the pictures and context you gave seem to be Uusimaa region.

I'm guessing the second one is dusk, assuming your camera didn't flip the image. Sun goes in a circle here.

The rolling blackout curtain from Ikea is what helps me a lot (I think the "fyture" one?)

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Second one is pretty exactly dusk, yeah. Or 8 minutes after, technically.

The first one is dawn. Two hours apart and apparently in the same place, more or less.

And Uusimaa would fit, yeah, but I'm in Varsinais-Suomi. Same thing latitude wise though, but dawn and dusk are two minutes earlier in Helsinki than in Turku.