Is it possible to turn nocturnal

Both plasma melatonin and leptin showed peaks at h in the diurnal lifestyle group, and the night peaks decreased in the nocturnal lifestyle group. The changes in the patterns of melatonin and leptin were highly consistent with that of night-eating syndrome NES. Plasma glucose increased after all meals in both groups. I think, you know, we have a long ways to go. But slowly but surely we will build up our awareness and, you know, adapt to both the perils and the promises of a changed world.

First question: Could we do it? Could humans even become nocturnal? Could we adapt? Our bodies are programmed to respond to light. It also changes your body temperature. It changes your blood pressure. It changes your literal cognitive abilities. But humans, as Kelton pointed out, are weirdly adaptable.

And in fact, evolutionary clues suggest that maybe we could become nocturnal. So, back in the time of the dinosaurs, all mammals were nocturnal and so had these adaptations to nighttime activity. And then after the dinosaurs went extinct, mammals started to explore the daylight and develop more adaptations to daytime activity. And so, many diurnal — active during the day — mammals actually still possess some traits that allow them to make do in the night. And Kaitlyn mostly studies how animals react to human impacts.

If we did shift to night living, we would still probably crave some sunlight. MATTHEW: We might need sunlamps in our living situations because a certain level of sunlight is really necessary for, you know, a variety of health benefits for human bodies. Or maybe instead of sunlamps, we would rearrange our schedules to have kind of a dawn and dusk culture.

ROSE: If we did try to all collectively switch over to a nighttime society, it would be a huge logistical lift. We would have to reprogram computers and recalibrate assumptions. All the freight that gets shipped at night , all the garbage that gets collected , all the stuff that most of us never really see happening in the world would have to move into the daytime. Moving into being a nocturnal society would really mean recoding a lot of our popular representations of daylight and nighttime.

Nighttime is potentially threatening. It might… Weirdly, the infrastructure of making that social shift would be less of an impact than doing all of the cultural side of making that shift. We would have to really develop new ways of thinking about nighttime and daytime in order to support and maintain that transition. ROSE: The night is romantic!

We talked about this a little bit a couple of years ago on the night vision episode , about how if we could all see super well at night it would take some of the mystery and safety of the night away from folks who need it. So suddenly they get to take over and lots of other diurnal animals would suddenly have the opportunity to do that. She wrote a paper a couple of years ago showing that human activity has pushed mammals to become more nocturnal to avoid us.

So, shifted a lot more of its activity into the nighttime. And this held across continents, across types of human activity , whether or not people posed a threat — could just be as simple as hikers, you know, leaving no trace at night — and also across species. So, everything from really small animals… We were looking at terrestrial mammals, but from small ones all the way up to elephants, we saw this pretty striking shift.

So if humans were to decide to swap and become nocturnal instead, it could really mess stuff up for our animal friends who are trying to avoid us. And it made me think; if we invade the nighttime with our human technologies, are we going to be just super efficient hunters at night?

And might there be another wave of extinction because we start hunting nighttime animals that have absolutely no idea how to avoid us?

ROSE: Not all animals are as adaptable as mammals. If you are a reptile or an amphibian, it is way harder for you to change your relationship with the sun. This will be an easy meal for me. The intro music is by Asura and the outro music is by Hussalonia. The episode art is by Mattie Lubchansky.

The characters from our intro scene were played by Aiya Islam and Anjali Kunapaneni. If you want to suggest a future that we should take on, you can send me a note. We do love hearing your ideas! Again, this episode was inspired by a listener who asked for it.

So send your ideas in. If you are right, I will send you something cool. If you want to discuss this episode, or some other episode, or just the future in general, you can head to the Facebook group. And if you want to support the show, there are a couple of ways that you can do that. Head to FlashForwardPod. If financial giving is not in the cards for you, you can still help the show out. You can go to Apple Podcasts and leave a nice review for the show, or just tell your friends that the show is good.

That really, genuinely, does help. Guests: Dr. Alexandra Mariani, a listener who works the night shift at a hospital. One of their most recent series is Spider King. For fans of Jordan Peele and Lovecraft Country, this poignant and intimate body-horror narrative eviscerates the prison industrial complex while exploring the traumas that arise as a result of it.

Tab for a Cause : A browser extension that lets you raise money for charity while doing your thing online. Part of that ad money goes toward a charity of your choice!

Tavour : Tavour is THE app for fans of beer, craft brews, and trying new and exciting labels. Purple Carrot: Purple Carrot is THE plant-based subscription meal kit that makes it easy to cook irresistible meals to fuel your body.

Each week, choose from an expansive and delicious menu of dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and snacks! Purple Carrot, the easiest way to eat more plants! The voices from the future this episode were provided by If you want to suggest a future we should take on, send us a note on Twitter , Facebook or by email at info flashforwardpod.

This episode we are starting in the year So, join me as we enter two versions of NightWorld. CAT: Nancy will be there tomorrow. CAT: I thought they started next year? CAT: Okay, so remind me what packing lunch entails? CAT: Prepared, as always. CAT: Should we try to plan a date night? Gotta go. Sleep tight! See you later. ROSE: Not only was she grouchy, but her body was also unhappy. We really need to get better blackout curtains. Also, maybe a new AC? CAT: You know I sleep cold.

CAT: still groggy Yeah just… give me a minute. CAT: Okay, okay. CAT: Why would they? They never really see the sun anymore. CAT: No, because it would make me too sad. Journal Reference : Barry G.

ScienceDaily, 15 October University of Chicago Press Journals. Did early mammals turn to night life to protect their sperm?. Retrieved November 13, from www. Gigantic Mammal 'Cousin' Discovered Nov. But their origins have been less understood. In a new The last volcanic activity there ceased about 50 million ScienceDaily shares links with sites in the TrendMD network and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated. Print Email Share.