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A neurologist uses carefully-timed pulses of noise to boost the size of brain waves responsible for good-quality sleep—and potentially better memory.

Can Sleep Quality and Quantity be Boosted Using Sound?

From fruit flies to whales, virtually every animal sleeps. But why? Why do we need to spend nearly a third of our lives in such a defenseless state? Scientists are peering more deeply into the sleeping brain than ever before, discovering just how powerful sleep can be, playing a role in everything from memory retention and emotional regulation to removing waste from our brains.

Why do we sleep? And what does sleep have to do with memory, trauma, and our emotions?

Mysteries of Sleep Preview

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Mysteries of Sleep

To measure the brain’s ability to form completely new memories, researchers teach kids made-up words for novel objects.

See how sleep helps children try to learn made-up words.

How Sleep Helps Children Learn and Remember New Words

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(This program is no longer available for online streaming.) From fruit flies to whales, virtually every animal sleeps. But why? Why do we need to spend nearly a third of our lives in such a defenseless state? Scientists are peering more deeply into the sleeping brain than ever before, discovering just how powerful sleep can be, playing a role in everything from memory retention and emotional regulation to removing waste from our brains. So why are we getting so little of it?

Harvard Medical School

Why do we sleep? And what does sleep have to do with memory, trauma, and our emotions?

Body & Brain

Colossal explosions shake a remote corner of the Siberian tundra, leaving behind massive craters. In Alaska, a huge lake erupts with bubbles of inflammable gas. Scientists are discovering that these mystifying phenomena add up to a ticking time bomb, as long-frozen permafrost melts and releases vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. What are the implications of these dramatic developments in the Arctic? Scientists and local communities alike are struggling to grasp the scale of the methane threat and what it means for our climate future. (Premiered February 2, 2022)

In the Arctic, enormous releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, threaten the climate.

Arctic Sinkholes

The top half of Jupiter in blue and green against a night sky

A composite image of Jupiter using images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.

Explore the cosmos, delve into ancient history, and follow an extreme rescue with NOVA’s most-watched documentaries released in 2022.

NOVA’s most popular science documentaries of 2022

Four bright orange loops brand off of a dark blue blob

A transmission electron micrograph of HIV-1 virus particles (orange) replicating from the plasma membrane of an infected H9 T cell. Credit: NIAID, Flickr

Scientists have cured a handful of people of HIV by piggybacking on treatments they received for blood cancer. But does that bring a widespread cure any closer?

Mysteries of Sleep

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Poor-quality sleep could prime the brain for an anxious day

Mysteries of Sleep

How Sleep Can Heal Our Brains

Can Sleep Quality and Quantity be Boosted Using Sound?

Blue Computer Light Alone May Not Be Messing With Your Sleep

How Sleep Helps Children Learn and Remember New Words

The Nightmare of Sleep Paralysis

Scientists Track “Social Jet Lag” Sleeping Habits With Twitter Data

Taming the Hidden Drowsiness Epidemic

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Explore More

Poor-quality sleep could prime the brain for an anxious day

Mysteries of Sleep

How Sleep Can Heal Our Brains

Can Sleep Quality and Quantity be Boosted Using Sound?

Blue Computer Light Alone May Not Be Messing With Your Sleep

How Sleep Helps Children Learn and Remember New Words

The Nightmare of Sleep Paralysis

Scientists Track “Social Jet Lag” Sleeping Habits With Twitter Data

Taming the Hidden Drowsiness Epidemic