Time Waster

#1

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

How time works

First the science bit behind time itself. We need to understand time, the way that time works in relation to space and how space, time, light and gravity all effect time. This is in order to see how time works and what we are really missing. When it was first suggested that the earth was a sphere in three dimensions as oppose to a flat two dimensional plane of sorts the idea was largely scoffed at, until experimental evidence proved it to be true. The same can be said with space-time, albeit with a extra dimension involved - it was once thought that space and time where separate and that the universe was merely an assortment of cosmic bodies arranged in three dimensions. Einstein however introduced the concept of a forth dimension time, that meant that space and time were inexorably liked. The general theory of relativity suggests that space-time expands and contracts depending on the momentum and mass of nearby matter. The theory was sound, but needed proof. The proof came recently with NASAs gravity probe B, which demonstrated that space and time where indeed linked. Four gyroscopes were pointed in the direction of distant star and if gravity did not have an effect on space and time, they would remain locked in the same position. However, scientists clearly observed a frame dragging effect due to the gravity of the earth that meant the gyroscopes were pulled very slightly out of position. This seems that the fabric of space itself can be altered and if space and time are linked then time itself can be stretched and contracted by gravity. Facts on the Universe Light speed - Travels at 299,792,448 meters per second or 186,000 miles per second. The furthest star we can see is 13 billion light years away. Our sun is 8.3 minutes away traveling at light speed. Its 90,968,000 miles at its shortest and 94,074,000 at its furthest. It would take us 200 days to travel there in a space shuttle. The moon is 238,837 miles way. There are billions of galaxies in one universe. If you where to reduce the universe time line to 24 hours then human life would only last for

7 seconds. This is due to the fact that the stars play a major part in time keeping, along with light and gravity. The most accurate clock in the world is the universe. It would be measured by the pulsar rotating round earth. Imagine us in that vast sea of stars and as they all rotate, time is measured by the speed that other stars rotate around us such as the pulsar moving round our planet would enable us to measure time. As the universe expands, it pulls time with it as space and time are linked. Therefore if the universe started to contract time would move backwards, such as the big crunch. Earth is gradually slowing down. Every few years, an extra second is added to make up for lost time. Millions of years ago, a day on Earth will have been 20 hours long. It is believed that, in millions of years time, a day on Earth will be 27 hours long. Facts is that A day on Mars is about half an hour longer than a day on Earth. There is no time at the north/south pole as all time zones fall in to one place making it impossible to define the time! Every day is about 55 billionths of a second longer than the previous day.

768 planets and counting There are two main ways of measuring time: dynamic and atomic time. The former relies on the motion of celestial bodies (including the earth) to keep track of time, whether its the rotation time of a distant spinning star such as a pulsar, the motion of a star across our night sky or the rotation of the earth. However, a spinning star notwithstanding (which can be hard to observe), these methods are not always entirely accurate. The old definition of a second was based on the rotation of the earth. As it takes the sun one day to rise in the east, set in the west and rise again, a day was almost arbitrarily divided into 24 hours, the hour into 60 minuets, the minuets into 60 seconds. However the earth doesnt rotate uniformly. In fact its rotation decreases at a rate of about 30 seconds every 100,000 years due to factors such as tidal friction. Scientists have devised ways to account for the changing speed of the earths rotation, introducing leap seconds but for the most accurate time you have to go even smaller.

10

11

The wasted space of night

This is photography taken at night exploring the spaces that are normally so busy during the day - that are now empty at night. The freedom at night is endless as no-one is around. You can fully appreciate the peacefulness of night-time. The eerie disposition of the night makes it beautiful and poetic.

12

13

14

15

16

17

Sleep
Youre tired. You could put your head down on a desk right now and fall asleep immediately. You went to bed late last night, had trouble falling asleep and woke up too early. And lets not kid ourselves: Tonight will be the same unless well, read on. This is the classic not-so-shut-eye experience of many Americans who think they are sleep-deprived and possibly need pills or other treatment to fix their insomnia, teeth grinding, jet lag, restless or jerky legs, snoring, sleepwalking and so forth. Reality is quite different. For instance, insomnia is said to be the most common sleep disorder, but these dissatisfying sleep experiences only get in the way of daily activities for 10 percent of us, according to the National Institutes of Health. And in almost half of those cases, the real underlying problem is illness (often mental) or the effects of a substance, like coffee or medication. We sleep better than we think we do For most of us, sleep deprivation is a myth. Were not zombies. The nonprofit National Sleep Foundation (which takes money from the sleep-aid industry, including drug companies that make sleeping pills) says the average U.S. resident gets 7 hours a night and thats not enough, but a University of Maryland study earlier this year shows we typically get 8 hours and are doing fine. In fact, Americans get just as much sleep nowadays as they did 40 years ago, the study found. We need less sleep as we age Well die without sleep. The details are sketchy, but research suggests its a time when we restore vital biological processes and also sort and cement memories. Last year, the World Health Organization determined that night shift work, which can lead to sleep troubles, is a probable human carcinogen. On the upside, the latest research suggests we need less of it as we get older.

18

You can sleep like a baby (Or Thomas Edison) Multiple, shorter sleep sessions nightly, rather than one long one, are an option. So-called polyphasic sleep is seen in babies, the elderly and other animals (and Thomas Edison reportedly slept this way). For the rest of us, it is more realistic and healthy to sleep at night as best we can and then take naps as needed. EEGs show that we are biphasic sleepers with two alertness dips one at night time and one mid-day. So talk to HR about setting up a nap room, like they have for NASAs Phoenix mission team members. Animals exhibit a range of sleep habits The three-toed sloth sleeps 9.6 hours nightly. But newborn dolphins and killer whales can forgo sleeping for their entire first month. However, the latter extreme is not recommended for humans. We grow irritable and lose our ability to focus and make decisions after even one night of missed sleep, and that can lead to serious accidents driving and using other machinery.

Get used to being tired, hit the desk The bottom line is that a good nights sleep is within the reach of most of us if we follow commonsense guidelines for sleep hygiene: Go to bed at the same time nightly Set aside enough time to hit that golden 7 hours of sleep. Refrain from caffeine, heavy or spicy foods, and alcohol, 4 to 6 hours before bed-time. Have a pre-sleep routine so you wind down before you hop in. Block out distracting lights and noises. Only engage in sleep and sex in bed (no TV-watching, reading or eating). Exercise regularly but not right before bed. But you already know all this and you dont do it. So your realistic plan might be to surrender to the mid-day desk nap.

19

Sweet dreams
Blind People Dream People who become blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion. It is hard for a seeing person to imagine, but the bodys need for sleep is so strong that it is able to handle virtually all physical situations to make it happen. You Forget 90% of your Dreams extreme psychological disorder) but men and women have different dreams and different physical reactions. Men tend to dream more about other men, while women tend to dream equally about men and women. In addition, both men and women experience sexually related physical reactions to their dreams regardless of whether the dream is sexual in nature; males experience erections and females experience increased vaginal blood flow. Dreams Prevent Psychosis In a recent sleep study, students who were awakened at the beginning of each dream, but still allowed their 8 hours of sleep, all experienced difficulty in concentration, irritability, hallucinations, and signs of psychosis after only 3 days. When finally allowed their REM sleep the students brains made up for lost time by greatly increasing the percentage of sleep spent in the REM stage.

20

Within 5 minutes of waking, half of your dream if forgotten. Within 10, 90% is gone. The famous poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, woke one morning having had a fantastic dream (likely opium induced) he put pen to paper and began to describe his vision in a dream in what has become one of Englishs most famous poems: Kubla Khan. Part way through (54 lines in fact) he was interrupted by a Person from Porlock. Coleridge returned to his poem but could not remember the rest of his dream. The poem was never completed. Every human being dreams (except in cases of

We Only Dream of What We Know Our dreams are frequently full of strangers who play out certain parts did you know that your mind is not inventing those faces they are real faces of real people that you have seen during your life but may not know or remember? The evil killer in your latest dream may be the guy who pumped petrol in to your Dads car when you were just a little kid. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces through our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams. Not Everyone Dreams in Colour A full 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. The remaining number dream in full color. People also tend to have common themes in dreams, which are situations relating to school, being chased, running slowly in place, sexual experiences, falling, arriving too late, a person now alive being dead, teeth falling out, flying, failing an examination, or a car accident. It is unknown whether the impact of a dream

relating to violence or death is more emotionally charged for a person who dreams in color than one who dreams in black and white. Dreams are not about what they are about If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply symbolic language. The unconscious mind tries to compare your dream to something else, which is similar. Its like writing a poem and saying that a group of ants were like machines that never stop. But you would never compare something to itself, for example: That beautiful sunset was like a beautiful sunset. So whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely to be a symbol for itself. Quitters have more vivid dreams People who have smoked cigarettes for a long time then give up the habit have reported much more vivid dreams than they would normally experience. Additionally, according to the Journal of Abnormal Psychology: Among 293 smokers

21

abstinent for between 1 and 4 weeks, 33% reported having at least 1 dream about smoking. In most dreams, subjects caught themselves smoking and felt strong negative emotions, such as panic and guilt. Dreams about smoking were the result of tobacco withdrawal, as 97% of subjects did not have them while smoking, and their occurrence was significantly related to the duration of abstinence. They were rated as more vivid than the usual dreams and were as common as most major tobacco withdrawal symptoms.

22

External Stimuli Invade our Dreams This is called Dream Incorporation and it is the experience that most of us have had where a sound from reality is heard in our dream and incorporated in some way. A similar example would be when you are physically thirsty and your mind incorporates that feeling in to your dream. My own experience of this includes repeatedly drinking a large glass of water in the dream which satisfies me, only to find the thirst returning shortly after this thirst drink thirst loop often recurs until I wake up and have a real drink.

23

24

25

Animals vs. Humans

Not all animals sleep. It does not depend on what size or species of animal it is to how much sleep they need therefore some scientists have questioned whether it depends on the animals brain or what they do, such as if they live challenging lives. Facts on the Universe Other animals do dream and have nightmares like humans and obviously other animals do sleep - therefore there must be a reason for it- not just that we are lazy and incompetent, that is why it is a wonder why animals dont. Scientists have questioned whether it is to do with recuperation, learning, resting, as an evolutionary response, conserve energy or as brain therapy. Nocturnal Animal Nocturnal animal species like sea turtles or sea birds visit breeding sites at night to reduce the risk of predation. This enables them to protect themselves, as well as their offspring, in the course of their lifespan. Otherwise diurnal, nocturnal animals are also most active during the twilight hours. Nocturnal animals have highly developed senses of hearing, sight and smell which are specially adapted to make the most of nightillumination. Some nocturnal animals have vision that is easily adapted to night and day illumination, while bush babies and bats are able to remain active only at night. Many nocturnal animals have special eye cells called rods that enable them to capture light when it is dark, more than humans or other animals can in the same environment. Since the air is still at night and scents linger in the air it becomes easier for nocturnal animals to pick up and track scents, and find food. Their sharp hearing ability enables them to locate their prey as the latter flee over fallen leaves and twigs. The bodies of nocturnal animals have special adaptations to enable them to survive the dark. Nocturnal animals like lemurs have special eyes, while bats use echolocation. Echolocation refers to the bats ability to emit a high-pitched sound which bounces off objects within range and gives the animal information about the shape, distance and direction of the object.

26

27

Animals

Duration of sleep (% of 24 hours)

Duration of sleep (hours/day)

Giant Amadio North American Opossum Python Owl Monkey Human (infant) Tiger Tree Shrew Squirrel Western Toad Ferret Three Toed Sloth Golden Hamster Platypus Lion Gerbil Rat Cat Cheetah Mouse Rhesus Monkey Rabbit Jaguar Duck Dog Bottlenose Dolphin Baboon Hedgehog

75.4% 75% 75% 70.8% 66.7% 65.8% 65.8% 62% 60.8% 60.4 60% 59.6% 58.3% 56.3% 54.4% 52.4% 50.6% 50.6% 50.3% 49.2% 47.5% 45% 45% 45% 43.3% 42.9 42.2

18.1h 18h 18h 17h 16h 15.8h 15.8h 14.9h 14.6h 14.5h 14.4h 14.3h 14h 13.5h 13.1h 12.6h 12.1h 12.1h 12.1h 11.8h 11.4h 10.8h 10.8h 10.8h 10.4h 10.3 10.1

28

Squirel Monkey Chimpanzie Pig Human (adult) Guppy Grey Seal Goat Cow Asian Elephant Sheep African Elephant Donkey Horse Giraffe

41.9% 40.4% 39.2% 33.3% 29.1% 25.8% 22.1% 16.4% 16.4% 16% 13.8% 13% 12% 5.8%

9.9h 9.7h 9.4h 8h 7h 6.2h 5.3h 3.9h 3.9h 3.8h 3.3h 3.1h 2.9h 1h

29

30

31

Intriguing Facts
The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses. Its impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it. Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means youre sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning youre still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day. A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year

32

One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children. The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eyemovement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper. REM sleep occurs in bursts totalling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep. Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. Its possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless. REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.

Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analogous to watching a film No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans. Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep. Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting - to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains. Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless by product of two evolutionary adaptations - sleep and consciousness. REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term babies. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hamster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all. Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brains sleep-wake clock. British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.

33

Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role. The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents. Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesnt wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle. The natural alarm clock which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up. Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period. In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving. Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a neural switch in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes. To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brains sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. Thats why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.

34

A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you wont dream much. After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when youve slept enough. Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours. Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode. Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnoea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hours) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal Some studies suggest women need up to an hours extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men. Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.

35

Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets. Most of what we know about sleep weve learned in the past 25 years. As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults. Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet. The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.

36

37

Time Waster
Editor Joel Brcher Austin Weight Creative Director Joel Brcher Photography Austin Weight Illustrations Austin Weight Paper Evercolor, 90 gsm Printed by Dittopress Ltd. www.dittopress.co.uk