Today's interesting fact has to do with sleep and the brain.

In our busy modern lives, many of us find ourselves waking up tired.

There have been many proposed reasons for this lack of restful sleep.

It has been suggested that modern lighting has caused the problems, by resetting our body clocks.

It has been shown that bright blue light will reset our circadian rhythms.

Florescent and LED lights tend to be in the bluer range.

It has been suggested that looking at our bright computer screens and mobile telephones late at night does just this.

They have been studying the brain using MRI to determine what sections of the brain do various tasks and how they interact.

Several studies that have shown when we have a lack of sleep, sections of the brain can take a nap without our realising it.

These naps cause a reduction in ability, especially when doing repetitive tasks.

People will often do the 'wrong' things when these naps occur.

Drivers lose the ability to drive and have accidents, operators of machinery can mis-use their equipment, writers can type nonsense, and speakers can find they talk nonsense.

With a good night sleep, they find that the brain doesn't nap and accidents then are less likely to occur.