Why sleep? Scientist delves into one of science's great mysteries

According to the journal Science, the function of sleep is one of the 125 greatest unsolved mysteries in science. Theories range from brain "maintenance" — including memory consolidation and pruning — to reversing damage from oxidative stress suffered while awake, to promoting longevity. None of these theories are well established, and many are mutually exclusive.

Now, a new analysis by Jerome Siegel, UCLA professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Sleep Research at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and the Sepulveda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, has concluded that sleep's primary function is to increase animals' efficiency and minimize their risk by regulating the duration and timing of their behavior.

CIA Pushed Limits of Sleep Deprivation

WASHINGTON – A year after the Bush administration abandoned its harshest interrogation methods, CIA operatives used severe sleep deprivation tactics against a terror detainee in late 2007, keeping him awake for six straight days with permission from government lawyers.

Interrogators kept the unidentified detainee awake by chaining him to the walls and floor of a cell, according to government officials and memos issued with an internal CIA report. The Obama administration released the internal report this week.

If a House was Dreaming....

Urbanscreen's field of activity is to put large-scale projections on urban surfaces. Founded in 2008, the company Urbanscreen from Germany develops these concepts and transfers them into a dialog between art and marketing.

One of their projects is called 'How it would be, if a house was dreaming,' and it's without a doubt one of the most amazing spectacles you've ever seen.