hours

We thought that solar parks were a death trap for birds. 19,000 hours of video and an AI have just dismantled the myth

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During the last decade, the story of the energy transition has carried a shadow of suspicion. The visual image of a sea of ​​glass and silicon, dark and geometric, made us believe that the installation of large solar parks was equivalent to sterilizing the earth. We imagined a devastated ecosystem, an industrial desert where the hum of transformers chased away any trace of fauna. It seemed the inevitable price to pay for decarbonizing our economy. However, when science has decided to turn off the noise of public debate and turn on the cameras to observe what really happens under those plates, the result has broken all schemes. The AI ​​that watched the sky. One of the deepest fears was the theory that solar panels acted as a lethal mirage for birds. To clear up this mystery, an exhaustive study published in the scientific journal Diversity has resorted to the latest technology. A team of scientists installed high-definition cameras at five photovoltaic plants in the United States (spread across the desert Southwest, Midwest and Northeast) and collected more than 19,000 hours of daytime recordings over several years. Given the human impossibility of reviewing such a quantity of footage, the researchers developed an Artificial Intelligence model (MODT) designed specifically to detect and track moving objects. After filtering more than 4,000 hours of video, AI and human reviewers identified 68,646 bird appearances. An unprecedented find. Not a single bird collision with solar infrastructure was confirmed in all the observations analyzed. Far from colliding or being disoriented by the supposed “lake effect” of the panels, the images showed that the birds integrate the solar plant into their daily lives: they fly over it (an activity that accounted for around 54% of the observations), cross it underneath, look for food on the ground, preen and even nest in the metal structures themselves. More life inside than outside. Crossing the Atlantic, scientific evidence supports this coexistence. According to a study published in AgricultureEcosystems & Environmentcarried out by researchers in Poland, small-scale solar farms located in agricultural environments significantly increase birdlife diversity. After analyzing 43 photovoltaic parks and comparing them with 43 neighboring control areas, Polish experts documented that the vast majority of species improved their presence. Except for the meadowlark, which showed a negative reaction, species typically threatened in rural areas such as the wildcatcher or the northern stonechat appeared in much larger numbers within the park. As the study explains, the facilities provide them with safe breeding areas, tall grass (which is mowed late or left to grow) and fences perfect for perching, singing and monitoring their prey. This reality is identical in our country. As we recently explained in Xataka, Spanish photovoltaic enclosures are acting as authentic sanctuaries. The data collected by the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF) and audited by the environmental consulting firm EMAT in 2025 show an irrefutable pattern. In Minglanilla (Cuenca), 32 species of birds were found inside the solar plant compared to 19 in the external agricultural area. In Revilla Vallejera (Burgos) the balance was 39 versus 34, and in Trujillo (Cáceres), 31 versus 25. Furthermore, these enclosures not only house common birds, but have become home to protected or seriously declining species such as the curlew, the little bustard or the lesser kestrel. What is the secret of this explosion of life? The answer requires changing perspective. These parks are not being installed on virgin forests, but on fields that have been subjected to intensive agriculture for decades. According to Martín Behardirector of Studies and Environment at UNEF, by building a solar park a de facto “ecological exclusion zone” is created where tractors, pesticides and herbicides disappear. Human silence attracts weeds; weeds to insects; insects to small birds, and these to large birds of prey. The key: active management. If energy companies limit themselves to fumigating the land or sweeping the brushcutter to leave the ground bare for convenience, the park will effectively be an inert desert. For flora and fauna to return, will and active management are required: using native seeds, leaving wild ecological strips on the margins, allowing extensive grazing for natural control of forage and avoiding agrotoxins at all costs. The data has spoken. We had been fearing for years that solar panels would destroy life in the countryside. It turns out that, managed with rigor and sensitivity, they have the exact power to do just the opposite: heal the ecological wounds of centuries of agricultural exploitation and give nature a voice. Image | AnkerSolix Xataka | The largest study to date on solar panels and their effect on the field debunks several persistent myths

Last hours to participate in the draw for a Dreo Humidifier 713S! Only for Xataka Xtra members

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Last day to participate! If you want to anticipate the arrival of the heat (more heat, I mean), the Dreo Humidifer 713S that we raffle in Xataka Xtra It’s a great idea. And today, xatakeros, is the last day to sign up and have the option of taking it home. The draw is reserved for members of the Xtra Community, a community that you can join by only 30 euros a year and enjoy, in addition to exclusive draws, many other advantages. The winner will be revealed tomorrow, Friday, June 4, at 11:00. You will be notified by email and it will be announced both in the original article and on our dedicated Discord server. How to enter the draw for a Dreo Humidifier 713S This giveaway is reserved for members of the community of Xataka Xtra. If you are already inside, you just have to go to your subscriber area and check that you have checked the box to participate in raffles. If you already activated it in a previous draw, you don’t have to do anything else. Make sure you check that box to automatically participate in the exclusive Xataka Xtra draws | Image: Xataka If you still don’t know Xataka Xtra, you can join for only 30 euros a year (or from two euros per month) and access more exclusive giveaways like thisEl Consultorio, the Discord server, discounts on a growing catalog of digital services and monthly meetings with editors. The winner will be chosen at random from all participating subscribers, along with two alternates. If the winner does not respond within the period indicated in the legal bases, the first substitute will be contacted, and if he/she does not respond either, the second will be contacted. Winning a giveaway does not exclude you from participating in the following ones. You can consult the complete legal bases here. In Xataka | Subscribe now to Xataka Xtra

three premieres in 48 hours

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As the first months of 2026 have progressed, an unavoidable question has been imposed on the calendars of the large companies that have been made public: who was going to have the courage to stand up to ‘GTA VI‘ in November. He Sony’s latest State of Play has made it more or less clear than anyone else. But this collective flight may have an additional price, beyond the tacit pact of keeping distance from the giant: the entire weight of autumn has shifted towards September and October, and that entails additional problems. The State of Play. We have had an avalanche of news from Sony, and as expected, no game with a confirmed date was close to November. In fact, November is a solar. Some of them were ‘Marvel’s Wolverine’ (September 15), ‘Control Resonant’ and ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ (September 24), ‘Onimusha: Way of the Sword’ (September 25), ‘Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve’ (October 2), ‘Rayman Legends Retold’ (October 1), ‘Dune Awakening’ (on consoles September 22). And ‘Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis’, which prefers to wait until February 2027. And we already knew before the event that ‘Blood of the Dawnwalker’ was arriving on September 3 and ‘Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4’ and ‘Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter’ on the 17th. Polygon describe it like “a 200-car accident”: September has too many big games hot on each other’s heels, fighting not to get too close to the fateful November. Nobody wants November. Already in March 2025 some executives were talking to avoid the release date of ‘GTA VI’ like it were the plague. “There’s no point in swimming against the current,” said one. It has been assumed, not without some good sense, that competing with Rockstar’s game directly is losing money. In this State opf Play it has been sensed, in games like the new ‘God of War’ or ‘Until Dawn 2’, that games without a date at this point will go directly to 2027. Collisions. That is the problem with the entire weight of autumn landing in just two months. ‘Control Resonant’ and ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ share an exact date, September 24. ‘Onimusha’ arrives 24 hours later. ‘Wolverine’, nine days before. ‘Dune Awakening’ the same week. There are those who claim that “The spectators wonder how they are going to be able to afford all the games presented.” And it’s not just a matter of domestic economics: media coverage, space on release lists, critics having to decide which game to pay attention to… With a dozen big or very big games in two weeks, it’s impossible for them all to get the attention they deserve. Is it a good idea? The reaction of the companies is understandable, but… do all these games really have to be so afraid of GTA VI? There will be players from the Rockstar title and ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ who coincide, but… will they all? Is it worth giving up Halloween and cramming Konami’s title between ‘Wolverine’ and ‘Onimusha’? The very familiar, with nothing in common with ‘GTA’ ‘Rayman Legends Retold’ is another case: wouldn’t it have worked better during the holiday period, perhaps in a package with a console to make it easier for the Kings? Many questions, and without a doubt one certainty: there are times when panicking is the worst strategy. In Xataka | ‘GTA Online’ has become one of the most profitable video games in history. That’s a problem for ‘GTA VI’

“Going to the gym for an hour” is not worth spending eight hours sitting. And there is a deep evolutionary reason for that.

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They have slipped it on us and it is time to recognize it. For years, the gym boom has been received with enthusiasm: having ubiquitous and accessible sports facilities to get us out of our sedentary routine can only be understood as something positive. And yet, the way sport has entered our lives is deeply problematic: we have managed to create a “compartmentalized model” of physical activity that is leaking everywhere. So “going to the gym” doesn’t work? No, it’s not that. It’s not what the evidence says. Intense exercise is helpful. Very useful. And it is always better than doing nothing: but the idea of ​​going to the gym for an hour and that’s it forgets that the relevant unit is not the hour at the gym, but the energy pattern of the 24 hours a day. Let’s put it another way: Why do the Hadza They do not burn more calories than office workers despite walking 12 km a daywhy weight loss gym programs consistently disappoint or why the WHO has begun to separate “exercise” from “sit less”? The answer to these three questions is the same: the evolutionary biology of the human being. Two lines of research that converge at the same point. Between 2012 and 2018, a team from Duke University coordinated by Pontzer discovered that the body It is not dedicated to linearly adding exercise expenditure to basal expenditure. What it does is compensate for it (reducing expenditure on other vital functions such as inflammatory, reproductive processes or metabolic control). That is, doing an hour (or more) of intense exercise does not have to increase total energy expenditure. The second line of research arises from comparing people with the same weight and height. In ’99, the Mayo Clinic discovered that the daily difference in energy expenditure can be attributed to things like walking, standing, housework, and other types of small unconscious movements. To this we must add that a sedentary lifestyle is, in itself, a risk factor. In 2016, Ekelund and his team discovered that between 60 and 75 minutes a day of moderate physical activity are needed to eliminate the excess mortality risk associated with sitting for 8 hours or more a day. That is, one hour of exercise does not solve the problem. And the problem is that the public conversation doesn’t realize it. It is unbalanced: the dominant imagination since the 80s sees doing “a handful of hours of exercise” as a way to “buy” health. The very long debate about how many steps to take each day is exactly the same. The issue, as I say, is that the evidence is clear that we are not buying anything. And then? Should we close the gyms? Nothing of the sort. The important thing at this point in 2026 is to begin to understand that the correct unit to think about our physical activity is the full day. As the WHO says“more activity is better than little; any activity is better than none; (however) reducing a sedentary lifestyle provides independent benefits” and is worth addressing regardless of the exercise we do. The idea of ​​”training for an hour and then spending the rest of the day calmly” does not hold water. Going to the gym is positive, but it is not a papal bull: intense exercise works as something that adds to leaving a sedentary lifestyle. It does not replace it. Image | Anupam Mahapatra In Xataka | Cereals yes, but wrapped in black cardboard: the packaging business aimed exclusively at men

A Nazi officer has been watching you for two hours while you study, and has five million views on YouTube

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An austere room with an open door. Every three or four minutes, an SS officer entershe stares at the viewer and sees that he is doing exactly what he is supposed to do: studying or working. Except for a few threatening opening words and a sullen farewell, there is nothing more. With small variations (a Soviet officer, times that vary between one and four hours, setting in a sinister basement in some other video) we are facing a successful experiment with five and a half million views. Which connects with one of the most unique traditions of YouTube. The origin. It was published in September 2023 by the German channel Radical Living under the title “2 hours from a WWII German officer to help you study/work/focus.” The description, a laconic “Study with me.” The video accumulates more than five million views and carries, at the end of its description, the inevitable warning that “this work should only be seen as satire” and that the author condemns Nazi ideology. In March 2026 the same channel uploaded the soviet version: same formula, different uniform. Study with me. Having someone on the internet accompany you while you study is not new. The format is on YouTube since around 2014 and began to gain real traction around 2018, when creators around the world began posting recordings of themselves studying in real time, usually with lofi music in the background and visible timers, imitating the also inevitable Pomodoro technique. The mechanics are deliberately simple: the viewer puts on the video, sees someone working in silence (or, in this last variant, someone watching him) and that helps him to work too. Long live Lofi Girl. The absolute reference of the genre is Lofi Girlthe French channel created by music producer Dimitri, launched in February 2017, and which showed the continuous broadcast, livelofi music with an anime girl studying by the window. The channel exceeded 15 million subscribers in 2025 and the image of the girl with headphones has become one of the most recognizable icons of productivity culture on the internet. In July 2025 the character symbolically “graduated” with a video on TikTok showing her wearing a mortarboard and a laptop with the phrase “THE END.” Thus closing the era of the character’s continuous stream, which had lasted more than seven years. More variants. The success of Lofi Girl generated multiple imitations: the subgenre “dark academy“It brought gothic atmospheres, fireplaces, rain, dark wood and a fanfare of violins for those who prefer to study imaginatively in a Victorian castle (the success of ‘Wednesday’, in fact, did not come out of nowhere). Then came the fantasy environments: the library of Hogwartsa elven forestthe spaceship…Each variant adds layers of schematic roleplay, a narrative excuse for the viewer to “get in the mood.” The Nazi or Soviet officer is the latest mutation of that logic, taken to the point of absurdity (and of course, there is a Spanish version with Pepe Viyuela, who is already a subgenre in its own right) Why we like to be watched. There is a technical concept that may explain why these videos work: the body doubling. It emerged in the ADHD community to describe the fact that performing a task in the presence of another person (even if you don’t interact, review your work, or do anything specific) significantly improves your ability to concentrate and get started on tasks. There are already studies that talk about how body doubling It generates a feeling of responsibility that helps you stay on task. The presence (real or not, that doesn’t matter) of someone creates an external structure that the brain uses to regulate itself, something especially valuable for those who have difficulties with executive self-regulation. and the theoretical foundation It goes back even further: the psychologist Robert Zajonc described in 1965 “social facilitation”, that the mere presence of others increases the level of alertness and performance on tasks that we already master. That’s why it works to go down to work in a cafeteria, where no one knows each other. That’s why Lofi Girl works, and that’s why, in its own twisted logic, the SS officer works. In Xataka | We are experiencing a crisis of concentration. Experts are beginning to think that the problem is not mobile phones, but the algorithm

Nobody wants to spend three hours shopping on a Saturday anymore. And that is why hypermarkets are going down

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For decades, the hypermarket was the dominant format in the collective imagination of mass consumption. A huge parking lot, endless hallways, “everything under one roof” as a promise of efficiency and a comforting feeling of abundance. It was almost aspirational, a happy import. Today that promise does not advance, but rather recedes. According to Mercasa data cited by The Economistsupermarkets already concentrate 91.8% of the food commercial surface in Spain. Hypermarkets, on the other hand, have fallen by up to 8.2%. It is a modest percentage change – 1.3% loss in a decade – but very symbolic: the consolidation of one model and the withdrawal of the other. Not even the investment efforts of Alcampo or Carrefour have reversed the trend: in a decade, hypermarkets have opened 37 new stores and added more than 27,000 square meters. But its relative weight continues to fall. Even in market value there is stagnation. After a post-pandemic rebound, the hyper channel has returned to 10% quota in 2025, below the level of 2021. And the format that is growing the most is ‘large supermarket’, that of more than 1,000 square meters. In 2014 there were 3,501 such locations, in 2024 there were 4,836. Almost half of the food sales area in Spain is in the hands of this specific type of supermarket. The reading of some experts like Kantar points to a combination of factors: Smaller homes. Higher average age of the population. Urban context that favors small and nearby purchases. Less car culture than in countries like the United States. These are elements that explain a good part of this shift in consumption. It’s not that people buy less at the hypermarket, but rather that they often don’t even consider going there. The change is recognized from the chains themselves. Alcampo announced a plan last year to reduce the size of 15 of its hypermarkets and close 25 supermarkets. It is also renovating more than 60 stores and strengthening its logistics for the online channel. All with the idea, they say, of “adapting to smaller, more convenient establishments adapted to new needs.” The parent group, Auchan Retail, is also experiencing difficulties in other markets, especially in France, with several consecutive decline in sales. It reversed the trend in 2025 with a slight increase of 1.5%, but its business in Spain continued to fall 1.4%. Carrefour is not immune either. Although it bought 46 Supercor stores, its share has fallen to 9% at the end of 2025 and its parent company has also announced adjustments. In February of this year, yes, the company announced its Carrefour 2030 strategic plan in Spain, with the opening of more urban stores – generally in train and subway stations, tourist areas and even hotels – over the next few years. It is too early to know if we are facing the definitive decline of the hypermarket or if it is a minor correction, but although it maintains objective advantages (assortment, price, promotions, suitability for those who need to go by car…), and it is likely that it will retain its relevance in suburban contexts, the direction of the trend seems clear: the battle for surface area, frequency and proximity is being won by the supermarket. Maybe the change is not so much commercial as mental: we no longer think of the purchase as an event (which requires going to a very specific place, taking the car out, dedicating more time to it, setting aside a weekly time for it) but as a more spontaneous and functional routine. And in that logic, the supermarket – agile, close, practical, integrated into our daily lives – has the advantage. It is not that the hypermarket has failed, but that the context has changed. In Xataka | Mercadona’s engine is not the white label, but crushing its rivals in profitability by earning less per product Featured image | Annie Vo in Unsplash *An earlier version of this article was published in May 2025

Last hours to participate in the draw for a Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro! Only for Xataka Xtra members

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Time is running out, xatakeros! Tomorrow, May 22 at 9:00, the raffle for a robot vacuum cleaner ends Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Proan all-terrain cleaning device valued at 1,200 euros. We liked it a lot when we analyzed it, going directly to the top of those tested in 2026, and now a lucky xatakero or xatakera can take it home. The winner will be revealed himself Friday at 11:00you will be notified by email and it will be announced both in the original article and on our dedicated Discord server. This is, by the way, another of the advantages included in Xataka Xtra, a community to which You can join for only 30 euros per year. How to enter the draw for a Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro This giveaway is reserved for subscribers of Xataka Xtra. If you are already part of it, you just have to access your subscriber area and make sure that you have checked the corresponding box (bordered in red in the image below these lines). If you have already done so for previous draws, you don’t have to do anything: you will automatically participate in this one and all the ones to come. Make sure you check that box to automatically participate in the exclusive Xataka Xtra draws | Image: Xataka If you still don’t know Xataka Xtra, you can join for only 30 euros a year (or from two euros per month) and You can access more exclusive giveaways like this oneEl Consultorio, the aforementioned private Discord server, discounts on a growing catalog of digital services and monthly meetings with editors. The winner will be chosen at random from all participating subscribers, along with two alternates. If the winner does not respond within the period indicated in the legal bases, the first substitute will be contacted, and if he/she does not respond either, the second will be contacted. Winning a giveaway does not exclude you from participating in the following ones. You can consult the complete legal bases here. In Xataka | Subscribe now to Xataka Xtra

Eat breakfast as soon as you wake up or wait a couple of hours? This is what science says about perfect timing

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For decades we have heard the incomprehensible mantra that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, however, nutrition has been advancing to put the focus now when we eat and not what it is eaten. But here chrononutrition studies how the timing of our food affects our metabolism; has a lot to say about it. A schedule. If you are one of those who jump out of bed straight to the toaster or, on the contrary, one of those who need a couple of hours to pass for their stomach to “open”, you have probably asked yourself: what is the ideal time to have breakfast? And to answer this question, we have to turn to science. The biological clock. Something very important here is that our body does not process food the same at eight in the morning than at eight in the afternoon, all because our circadian clock and insulin sensitivity fluctuate throughout the day. According to classic reviews in this field, aligning the onset of feeding with the active phase of our circadian rhythm improves glucose homeostasis, lipid control, and thermogenesis. The bottom line here is that our body is better prepared to manage energy in the morning. The studies. Here, a large review published in 2023 followed more than 100,000 people and its results were conclusive in pointing out that eating breakfast after 9:00 in the morning increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 59% compared to doing it before 8:00. But constantly delaying the first meal of the day and shifting caloric intake towards the evening is associated with a higher cardiovascular risk and worse metabolic markers at the population level. Therefore, the premise we have on the table right now is that eating breakfast early offers a great advantage. But with nuances. Having breakfast early is good, but… Does it have to be as soon as you open your eyes? There is no clinical trial here that dictates that you should eat food at minute zero after waking up, and in fact, waiting a little can bring benefits metabolic under certain situations. One of them, which came from a trial published in 2025compared people who ate breakfast early, at 8:30, with another group of people who ate breakfast mid-morning, at 10:30. Here, surprisingly, mid-morning breakfast reduced the glycemic response of the following meal to make it more efficient. This indicates that the time interval between breakfast and lunch influences how our body processes sugar hours later. More cases. In the case of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a trial observed that delaying breakfast until mid-morning or even at noon managed to reduce the blood glucose that occurred after eating. What needs to be done. For most adults, science suggests that it is best to eat breakfast within the first hour or two of waking up, so there is no need to get out of bed and start eating because it seems to be the most efficient. But if we want to be precise, the limit may be nine in the morning, since delaying the first time we drink something too much in the day until noon and having dinner late is the perfect recipe for metabolic imbalance. In short, there is no need to force yourself to swallow toast with your eyes still glued to sleep. Letting your body wake up, doing your morning routines, and eating breakfast an hour after waking up not only respects your natural rhythms if you’re not immediately hungry, but it has solid clinical support. Images | freepik In Xataka | We’ve been telling ourselves for 100 years that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day.” The problem is that it is not true

start sleeping 8 hours every day

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Almost all of us know that sleeping poorly takes its toll on us the next day, where thinking becomes a task that it’s not easy at allin addition to having fewer reflexes or simply being much more tired. However, what happens inside the body when we alter our hours of sleep goes far beyond simple fatigue and contributes (a lot) to our aging. This is what a monumental study has pointed out, putting figures on this phenomenon. The essay. A recent investigation published in the prestigious magazine Nature has analyzed approximately 500,000 adults to find out how sleep duration affects our “biological age.” And the verdict, after measuring the state of almost all our systems, draws a very clear U-shaped curve: the sweet spot is between 6 and 8 hours a day. The biological clock. What makes this study a milestone is not only its gigantic sample size, which gives it enviable statistical power, but its approach. And normally aging studies are based on very general blood markers, but now science has opted to cross-reference data from genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and medical images. With all this information, what they have done is nothing more than create 23 different “aging clocks” that represent the state of 17 organs of the human body. This has allowed them to map in a coordinated way the relationship between the brain, which is affected by this lack of sleep, and the rest of the body. A curve. The main finding of this article focuses on the fact that the relationship between sleep and the level of aging does not follow a straight line, but rather has a ‘U’ shape. This means that people who systematically sleep between 6 and 8 hours have a lower “biological age” compared to their chronological age, in addition to having better general health. But at the extremes, both sleeping less than six hours and sleeping more than eight hours are associated with accelerated aging in most of the organs that have been analyzed. Because? There are reasons for both excess sleep and not enough sleep that justify this accelerated aging. If we focus on people who sleep little, we must take into account that during sleep the brain expands its channels to “clean” the accumulated metabolic waste, which interrupting it can cause accelerated brain aging. But in addition, lack of sleep increases the levels of pro-inflammatory molecules and we already know that inflammation sustained over time can cause irreversible damage to organs. Also in excess. We may think that sleeping a lot is the best thing there is, but the reality is quite different, as this study points out. The reasons for this are that spending 10 hours in bed does not mean sleeping well for 10 hours, since people who sleep ‘a lot’ tend to have fragmented, superficial sleep with micro-awakenings. This means that they spend more time in light phases and less in the restorative sleep that we value so much. But we must also keep in mind that sleeping for a long time can be a symptom of an underlying disease such as depressionsleep apnea or chronic inflammation that is not the cause of aging as such, but does cause great damage to the body. There are nuances. Although the data on the table are quite robust, the study itself points out a crucial limitation that is often the Achilles heel of epidemiology: the association does not prove chance. This means that we don’t know if we age faster because we sleep too little or if we sleep too little because our body is aging due to an underlying disease. As epidemiologists who have reviewed this type of literature point out, forcing a person to sleep 7 hours does not guarantee that their biological clock will suddenly turn back. Furthermore, the researchers themselves clarify that the interval of 6 to 8 hours is a population association. That is, it is what works on average for the human species, but it does not imply that this range is the strict and optimal dogma for the biological needs of each individual. Images | gpointstudio in Magnific In Xataka | We have become obsessed with “natural” sleeping pills. The problem is that we are not solving much

Sleeping four hours and working is equivalent to going to the office with six too many beers. Unless you have a ‘superpower’

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You’ve probably heard of businessmen, politicians or geniuses who claim to sleep just four hours and wake up refreshed with the ability to be very productive throughout the day. This is something that for medicine was simply a disguised sleep deprivation that would take its toll sooner or later; However, the most recent research suggests that it is possible to sleep this amount of time without consequences. Although it is better not to imitate them. Short sleepers. Here science has identified a condition called “familial natural short sleep”, which means that people who ‘suffer’ from it not only sleep little by choice, but their brain appears to perform nighttime maintenance tasks much more efficiently. That is why their restful sleep lasts much less than for other mortals. genetics is the great person responsible for this ‘skill’ and science has not ceased in its attempts to identify the targets that exist in the genome. One of them is genes DEC2 and ADRB1which were the first genes associated with this ability, since it was observed that members of the same family shared these mutations and slept for about six hours without negative effects. But these were not unique, since researchers have recently seen how a variant of the gene SIK3 reinforces the idea that the need for sleep is not a behavioral quirk, but rather an inheritable biological trait. For these people, sleeping 4 or 5 hours is not a sacrifice, but rather it is their natural state. Their cognitive performance is not affected and they do not experience the daytime sleepiness that would engulf anyone else. False productivity. This is exceptional, since for 99% of the population, between 7 and 9 hours of sleep are needed to have good cognitive performance throughout the day. In this situation, when we sleep four hours constantly without having this genetic advantage, we enter a state of chronic deprivation. And it is not something secondary, since the dangerous thing is that the human brain is terrible at evaluating how much damage it is suffering from lack of sleep, having the idea that “we are fine” when we are not. In fact, evidence shows that being awake for 17 to 24 hours produces cognitive impairment similar to having a blood alcohol level of 0.05% to 0.10%. In colloquial terms, trying to perform after sleeping four hours is comparable to trying to work on a night’s break where several beers have been drunk. And it is a sensation that some of us have experienced with clouded judgment and unstable emotional control. The danger. Sleeping little not only makes us think slower, but it is also known that there is a direct relationship between short sleep and high blood pressure, obesity and type 2 diabetes. In addition, during sleep it activates its ‘cleaning’ mechanisms to eliminate, for example, the beta-amyloid protein that is linked to Alzheimer’s. That is why interrupting this cleansing is not the best way to have an efficient nervous system. Don’t sell us productivity. At a time when there are many videos on social networks that suggest that sleeping a lot is a waste of time because it reduces our productivity on a daily basis, it is easy to fall into the practices of getting up at five in the morning and sleeping a few hours. But the reality is that if we weigh having good health or sleeping little to have more time to work, health logically weighs more. That is why the message we are left with is that, if we are not genetically “prepared” to sleep so little, it is best to avoid it as much as possible. Images | gpointstudio in Magnific In Xataka | If you fall asleep in less than five minutes, you don’t have a “superpower”: it’s a warning signal from your brain

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