"Hibernation is really energy conservation," she says. In fact, it may actually leave animals with a sleep-debt after they awaken from it, Drew says. For one, although hibernation resembles a deep sleep, it is not thought to be related to sleep at all. Yet many misconceptions surround this powerful adaptation. Hibernation is often stimulated by harsh conditions, shorter days or colder temperatures, which drive an animal to begin putting on fat and otherwise preparing to hibernate. The creature will then stay in this period of inactivity until it gets the right signal-light or temperature-to stir from its torpor. "They turn down the pilot light really," says Kelly Drew, a neuropharmacologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who studies the brains of hibernating Arctic ground squirrels. This cools the creature's body and slows its heartbeat to just a few times per minute, for up to months at a time. Often hiding itself away from the elements and predators, the animal's metabolism will slow to less than a quarter of its normal rate. Here's what we know: Hibernation is when an animal goes into a state of extended inactivity. To answer that question, first we have to understand exactly what hibernation is. They want to know: Why don’t humans hibernate-and could they in the future? Researchers who hope to prepare humans for extended space travel have the same thought. While doing so, you may wonder: why not just go all out, skip the unpleasantness and spend the whole winter unconscious in a warm, cozy burrow? You may find yourself curling up with your Netflix for hours, sleeping for half the day, or staying indoors for unhealthy periods of time.
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