Dream On

You might suffer from insomnia every now and then, but have you ever considered the astronauts? Betcha never lost too much sleep worrying about their lack of rise-and-shine mornings and undoubtedly funny-tasting coffee substitute. In fact, zero-gravity snoozing habits are more relevant than you think. Launching a series of Penn Humanities Forum programs on "Sleep and Dreams" will be a discussion with former astronaut and biomedical researcher Jay Buckey, M.D., about the challenges of sleeping in space — floating over the bed posing the least of troubling problems. Dr. Buckey's been around, and he'll definitely have lots of stories to share: Aboard the 1998 Space Shuttle Columbia, for instance, he orbited the Earth 256 times over 16 days in order to study the effect of zero gravity on the human nervous system and on melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone regulating the body's ability to sleep. By studying the body's ability to adapt to space — thereby removing all earthbound factors — he and other like-minded scientists hope to learn why, despite our many slumber-related amenities, we just can't fall asleep on Earth.

"Space-Lag: Tomorrow's Tired Astronaut," a lecture by Jay Buckey, M.D., Tue., Sept. 14, 5 p.m., free (registration required), Dunlop Auditorium, Stemmler Hall, University of Pennsylvania, 3450 Hamilton Walk, 215-898-8220.

—Tami Fertig

— Respond to this article in our Forums — click to jump there