The mystery of sleep and its necessity has puzzled scientist for years. Without the appropriate amount of rest the body begins to act out in the most bizarre ways. It is because of these strange behaviors associated with the lack of sleep that further investigation was needed. There has been a recent break through that has provided new insight in understanding sleep.

Here are 40 facts you probably did not know about sleep.

Parents lose an estimated 400 to 750 hours of sleep within the first year of a baby’s life. Most parents will agree that the numbers only increase, as the child gets older.

It has been reported that monkeys sleep roughly three hours more than humans, which may explain why they are stronger.

People who suffer from insomnia after losing a loved one may disrupt grieving if they take sleeping pills. Not all together a bad idea but grief will be replaced with guilt for not grieving.

REM sleep can be suppressed with sleeping pills like barbiturates. This is potentially harmful over a long period of time.

Three drinks is the equivalent of six for an individual who has slept half of the recommended hours for five days straight. We have all heard of the slogan no drinking and driving but no drinking before sleeping sounds more like it.

Staying awake for seventeen hours straight leads to a decline in performance and is equal to a blood alcohol level of 0.05%. Staying awake has the same benefit of being drunk but without the trouble.

Contrary to what you may believe, snoring does not happen during REM sleep.

Digital alarm clocks have tiny rays of luminous light that can interfere with your sleep cycle. The light makes a neural switch go off in the brain, which drops the level of key sleep chemicals within minutes. Now you can add getting rid of your alarm clock on the list of reasons you are late to work.

Sleep Apnea occurs in 10% of snorers. The disorder can stop breathing up to 300 times a night, which may increase heart attack or stroke in the future.

People can take small catnaps throughout the day making it impossible to know when someone is truly awake.

Dreams have not been reported in different species however; there are some animals that share the same sleep cycles as humans. This is evident in dogs that bark repeatedly in their sleep.

In 1998 a study was conducted by shining a bright light on the back of a humans knee. It reset the brain's sleep-wake cycle. It is still unclear as to how this study came about.

75% of a premature infant's sleep is REM. REM sleep helps with brain development. It is also the only sleep newborn rats, kittens, puppies and hamsters experience. Unlike some of these animals babies are much cuter when they sleep.

Dreams may not have any real significance but is simply the byproduct of sleep and consciousness.

When an elephant sleeps they usually stand however, they lay down when they are in REM sleep because after all deep sleep feels better lying down.

Ducks have the amazing ability to balance sleep and survival by keeping half of their brain awake while the other half sleeps. This means ducks will never be caught off guard by a predator.

Scientists went green even before 1953 when they made the decision to save paper instead of discover REM sleep.

Bizarre plot driven dreams happen most during REM sleep while non-REM dreams are more like thoughts. So no more waking up saying you dreamt your cell phone was ringing in the kitchen.

There was a time when scientist believed dreams only occurred during REM sleep however, it has been discovered dreams can happen during non-REM sleep as well.

There are scientists who believe dreams occur when humans try to fix past experiences or to remember pleasant experiences. They also believe humans dream about the things they would rather forget., which would explain most nightmares involving knitted sweaters from grandma on Christmas.

Only one person attempted the unthinkable,staying awake for more than 18 days. They experienced bizarre sypmtoms from their lack of sleep including paranoia, hallucinations, blurred vision and memory lapses as well as lapses of concentration. They won during a rocking chair marathon. Understanding which of the two is the most bizarre will prove more difficult.

Dreams during REM sleep causes eye movement leading scientists to believe that dreams play out like a movie.

According to the NRMA one in six fatal road accidents is because of fatigue. A little nap can go along way.

It is believed that sleep deprivation played a role in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill of Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident. May be some day soon 8 hours of sleep will a major part of job descriptions.

Loud noises at night can expose sleepers to suppressed immune system functioning, even if they do not awake. The sleep cycle during the first hour and the last two hours of sleep are greatly affected by sounds and unfamiliar noises.

Humans have an eternal alarm clock that some of them to wake up when they want is caused by a burst of stress hormones called adrenocorticotropin. Scientist believes this is the body's way of preparing for stress.

Experts believe the Internet's 24-hour accessibility is the cause of most sleep distractions. It's that and everyone's favorite shows coming on later and later.

Canada has seen great improvements on the road due to the extra hour of sleep during the fall. An hour of sleep each month should be a law.

The past 25 years has provided most of the information scientist and the world knows about sleep.

People in the pre-electric era had the right idea about sleep. They slept around 10 hours each night and altered their sleep patterns according to the sunrise and sunset.

Over time feeling tired begins to feel normal. No one knows that more than the mother with six children.

A group of young adults ranging in age from 18 to 24 years old who are sleep deprived performs worse than an older adult.

It has finally been documented that women need up to an hour more sleep than men. The loss of that hour can open the door for serious depression.

Teenagers may not agree but they need the same amount of sleep as young children, which is around 10 hours. Adults between the ages of 25 to 55 can live off of 8 hours and adults older than 65 require around 6.5.

Your body's ability to fall asleep and stay asleep is directly related to your body's temperature. Hot sleepless nights cause restfulness. Simply put air conditioners and fans are your friends.

In an extreme attempt to help the country soldiers placed tiny optical fibers around the retinas that signaled a bright light to the eye making the mind believe it has just awaken.

On average REM sleep occurs in spurts that total roughly two hours each night. It starts about ninety minutes after falling asleep.

A night on the grog will ultimately take you to sleep but don't expect to dream or to rest contently.