Big Picture Science: Skeptic Check: Blue Light Special
Many of us
know the feeling: we intend to go to bed but pull out our phones for one last
scroll. Setting them aside hours later, we’re wide awake, unable to fall
asleep. For years, scientists have singled out blue light emitted from our
devices as the key culprit behind our post-scrolling insomnia, but the
scientific consensus is shifting. Although blue light signals to brains that
its daytime, surprising new research suggests that our glowing screens may play
a smaller role than previously thought.
We present the
fascinating science around biological mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness, why
circadian rhythms have more in common with your grandfather’s clock than you
might think, and why scientists who question the role of blue light in causing
nighttime restlessness, still don’t let our phones off the hook completely.
Guests:
- Michael Gradisar – clinical psychologist and sleep researcher, former professor at Flinders University in Australia. Currently serves a head of Sleep Science at Sleep Cycle, a sleep tracking app company
- Jay Dunlap – geneticist and molecular geneticist at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth who works the molecular basis of circadian rhythms
- Mariana Figueiro – photobiologist, Director of the Light and Health Research Center and Professor of Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-blue-light-special
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