Midnight Research.

Random facts about sleep
1. 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
2. Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.
3.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.
4.  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.
5. Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.
6. Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.

Hmmm... so what does this mean for me? Well, slight increase in paranoia that maybe I am indeed part of a government experiment (*1) or perhaps genetically part duck (*4). Although this paranoia could be a result of consistently walking around with the equivalent of a good part of a bottle of booze in me at all times (*2). I am by no means the most sleep deprived person in the world right now (*3), my best effort was around 4 days.... but still perhaps its time I got offline (*5) . Ophelia wanders off to shine a torch onto the back of her knee!!!! (*6)

FFS!