Elephants' sleep. Free Technical Library News

NEWS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NOVELTY IN ELECTRONICS
Free technical library / timeline

Elephant sleep

10.03.2017

Scientists attached motion sensors to elephants' trunks and let the animals roam the savannah to find out how they sleep in natural conditions. It turned out that in the wild, elephants need half as much sleep as in a zoo, and four times less than a person.

Sleeping elephants were previously observed only in zoos: in the wild, animals do not like to sleep with strangers: predators and noisy herbivorous neighbors interfere with them, so the company of people also does not allow elephants to sleep. In zoos, elephants sleep for four hours, but it is impossible to judge from this data how they behave in their native savanna - animals in captivity, as a rule, sleep more than in natural conditions.

Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa decided to finally find out how and how much elephants sleep in nature. To do this, scientists decided to measure the activity of the trunk - the most mobile limb of the elephant. If the trunk does not move for more than five minutes, the elephant dozed off, zoologists reasoned. A gyroscope on the neck showed whether the elephant was sleeping standing up or lying down, and GPS tracked the movements of the herd.

It turned out that in their natural habitat, elephants sleep for a maximum of two hours, and often standing up. On the ground, they fit only once every three to four days and spend in this position for about an hour. Researchers believe that only this hour every three days allows elephants to enter the REM phase. It is in this phase of sleep that people form long-term memory and dream; if elephants dream of anything, it is most likely during these brief periods. But with memory, a contradiction arises: it is known that elephants remember events of many years, and for the formation of such memories, they need REM sleep to a much lesser extent than humans.

Moreover, elephants need peace and quiet to sleep. If they feel that there are predators, people, or a noisy ungulate grazing in the bushes nearby, the whole herd takes off and can walk up to 30 kilometers, sacrificing a night's sleep in order to find a quiet place.

The mode of elephants depends weakly on the time of day, the scientists found out. At least the gray giants are clearly not guided by sunrises and dawns, but fall asleep when the humidity and temperature suitable for sleep are established, usually in the early morning, before sunrise.

By studying the sleep of different animals, scientists learn new facts about the habits of these animals themselves, and about the phenomenon of sleep in general. Perhaps further study of elephant dreams will help answer the still unanswered question of why people sleep.

<< Back: Fractal antennas for smart clothes 11.03.2017

>> Forward: Adata SD600 SSD 10.03.2017

Latest news of science and technology, new electronics:

The existence of an entropy rule for quantum entanglement has been proven 09.05.2024

Quantum mechanics continues to amaze us with its mysterious phenomena and unexpected discoveries. Recently, Bartosz Regula from the RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing and Ludovico Lamy from the University of Amsterdam presented a new discovery that concerns quantum entanglement and its relation to entropy. Quantum entanglement plays an important role in modern quantum information science and technology. However, the complexity of its structure makes understanding and managing it challenging. Regulus and Lamy's discovery shows that quantum entanglement follows an entropy rule similar to that for classical systems. This discovery opens new perspectives in the field of quantum information science and technology, deepening our understanding of quantum entanglement and its connection to thermodynamics. The results of the study indicate the possibility of reversibility of entanglement transformations, which could greatly simplify their use in various quantum technologies. Opening a new rule ... >>

Mini air conditioner Sony Reon Pocket 5 09.05.2024

Summer is a time for relaxation and travel, but often the heat can turn this time into an unbearable torment. Meet a new product from Sony - the Reon Pocket 5 mini-air conditioner, which promises to make summer more comfortable for its users. Sony has introduced a unique device - the Reon Pocket 5 mini-conditioner, which provides body cooling on hot days. With it, users can enjoy coolness anytime, anywhere by simply wearing it around their neck. This mini air conditioner is equipped with automatic adjustment of operating modes, as well as temperature and humidity sensors. Thanks to innovative technologies, Reon Pocket 5 adjusts its operation depending on the user's activity and environmental conditions. Users can easily adjust the temperature using a dedicated mobile app connected via Bluetooth. Additionally, specially designed T-shirts and shorts are available for convenience, to which a mini air conditioner can be attached. The device can oh ... >>

Energy from space for Starship 08.05.2024

Producing solar energy in space is becoming more feasible with the advent of new technologies and the development of space programs. The head of the startup Virtus Solis shared his vision of using SpaceX's Starship to create orbital power plants capable of powering the Earth. Startup Virtus Solis has unveiled an ambitious project to create orbital power plants using SpaceX's Starship. This idea could significantly change the field of solar energy production, making it more accessible and cheaper. The core of the startup's plan is to reduce the cost of launching satellites into space using Starship. This technological breakthrough is expected to make solar energy production in space more competitive with traditional energy sources. Virtual Solis plans to build large photovoltaic panels in orbit, using Starship to deliver the necessary equipment. However, one of the key challenges ... >>

New method for creating powerful batteries 08.05.2024

With the development of technology and the expanding use of electronics, the issue of creating efficient and safe energy sources is becoming increasingly urgent. Researchers at the University of Queensland have unveiled a new approach to creating high-power zinc-based batteries that could change the landscape of the energy industry. One of the main problems with traditional water-based rechargeable batteries was their low voltage, which limited their use in modern devices. But thanks to a new method developed by scientists, this drawback has been successfully overcome. As part of their research, scientists turned to a special organic compound - catechol. It turned out to be an important component that can improve battery stability and increase its efficiency. This approach has led to a significant increase in the voltage of zinc-ion batteries, making them more competitive. According to scientists, such batteries have several advantages. They have b ... >>

Alcohol content of warm beer 07.05.2024

Beer, as one of the most common alcoholic drinks, has its own unique taste, which can change depending on the temperature of consumption. A new study by an international team of scientists has found that beer temperature has a significant impact on the perception of alcoholic taste. The study, led by materials scientist Lei Jiang, found that at different temperatures, ethanol and water molecules form different types of clusters, which affects the perception of alcoholic taste. At low temperatures, more pyramid-like clusters form, which reduces the pungency of the "ethanol" taste and makes the drink taste less alcoholic. On the contrary, as the temperature increases, the clusters become more chain-like, resulting in a more pronounced alcoholic taste. This explains why the taste of some alcoholic drinks, such as baijiu, can change depending on temperature. The data obtained opens up new prospects for beverage manufacturers, ... >>

Random news from the Archive

Flying over Venus 18.02.2011

The European space probe "Venus Express", circling around Venus since April 2006, measured the density of its upper atmosphere in an unusual way.

The control center, located in Darmstadt (Germany), deployed one of the two solar panels of the device "upright" - so that it stood across the direction of its movement, and the other remained parallel to the course. Then the probe's orbit was lowered closer to the surface of the planet, to a height of 175 kilometers from it, and they began to watch how the device tends to turn under the oncoming flow of Venusian air.

According to the results of measurements, the atmosphere in the circumpolar regions at such a height turned out to be 60% more rarefied than previously thought.

See full Archive of science and technology news, new electronics

All languages of this page

Home page | Library | Articles | Website map | Site Reviews