Follow your dreams

Sleep could kill you faster than hunger — and other wild and dreamy facts

We do it every night, yet sleep is still one of the most mysterious parts of human life. But thanks to science, we have uncovered some of the strangest truths about what happens when we close our eyes, from sleepwalking to lucid dreaming. Here are 12 weird and wild facts about sleep and dreams, backed by real research.

Brain scans show that the brain remains active during sleep, especially during REM cycles. It continues to organize memories, regulate emotions, and solve problems even when you're unconscious.

Within 5 minutes of waking, about half of a dream is forgotten. After 10 minutes, 90% vanishes. Scientists believe dream recall fades quickly because the brain’s memory-forming regions are less active while dreaming. So, next time you have a crazy dream, write it down!

Dreams about falling often occur in the first stages of sleep and may coincide with muscle spasms called hypnic jerks. This sudden contraction is believed to be a primal reflex—ironically, an evolutionary adaptation meant to prevent falling while asleep.

It is believed that, even if you don’t remember them, strangers’ faces in dreams are real faces you’ve seen before. The brain doesn’t invent faces; it pulls from your memory bank, often from fleeting encounters you don’t consciously recall.

It might be tempting to pull an all-nighter to meet deadlines, but chronic sleep loss causes severe immune dysfunction and organ failure, making it deadlier than starvation. In lab studies, rats deprived of sleep died in about 3 weeks, while those without food lasted around 4.

Contrary to popular belief, if you’re snoring, you’re unlikely to be dreaming at that moment. Dreaming typically happens during REM sleep when muscles are relaxed, making loud snoring less common compared to deeper non-REM stages.

Some sleepwalkers can drive, cook, or even play musical instruments while asleep. During sleepwalking episodes, the brain’s motor control areas are active, but consciousness remains switched off.

Even those born blind dream, but their dreams are filled with other senses like sound, touch, smell, and emotion. Studies show that blind individuals experience more vivid sensory dreams. Their brain compensates by enhancing non-visual experiences in sleep.

Lucid dreaming is when you become aware you’re dreaming and can sometimes control the dream. Studies using EEGs show that lucid dreamers activate the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s decision-making area, during sleep.

During sleep paralysis, you’re awake but unable to move or speak—and if that isn’t terrifying enough, it often comes with vivid hallucinations. Despite this, it’s a harmless phenomenon that occurs when the brain wakes during REM sleep while the body remains paralyzed—a safety feature that normally prevents you from acting out dreams.

Studies have found a correlation between night owl tendencies and higher intelligence scores. However, being a night owl also increases risk for depression, metabolic issues, and heart disease.

Most dreams condense time, but certain dreams—especially during lucid dreaming—can unfold in real-time, matching waking perception. A 2021 study confirmed that people can answer questions with facial twitches or eye movements while actively dreaming.

Hidden stories

Saved by the Bell: The surprising hidden origins of 10 familiar phrases

You’ve probably said or heard things like "the early bird gets the worm," or "close but no cigar," maybe without even thinking twice. They’re the kind of phrases you heard from your parents or picked up at school, and at some point, they just stuck. But here’s the thing: most people have no idea where they actually came from. English is full of these well-known sayings; clichés we repeat so often they’ve lost their punch. But the stories behind them are anything but boring. Here are 10 familiar clichés and their surprising origins.

If you’ve ever grabbed the last piece of cake, only to have the phone ring just as someone else walks toward the fridge, you’ve been "saved by the bell". But the origins of this cliché are much more dramatic.

There are two possible explanations for its history. One theory comes from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when there was a widespread fear of being buried alive. According to the story, some coffins were allegedly fitted with bells so a person could signal if they woke up underground, though there’s little evidence this was actually common. The more widely accepted origin comes from 19th-century boxing, where a fighter in trouble could be "saved" by the bell that ended the round just in time. Over time, that idea of a last-second escape became the meaning we use today.

You had a flight, but you overslept. You rush to the airport, but the boarding gate has just closed: you didn’t make it. That’s a perfect "close, but no cigar" moment.

This phrase, used today whenever someone nearly succeeds but falls just short, had its origins in early 20th-century American carnivals and fairs. Back then, many skill games, like shooting galleries, ring tosses, or strength tests, didn't just offer stuffed animals or candy as prizes; they gave cigars to winners. If someone came close but didn’t win, the phrase was "close, but no cigar." Some customs may have changed, but the expression stuck, and its meaning is still quite the same today.

These days, many people believe that acting early and with diligence has its advantages, or, as the saying goes, "the early bird catches the worm." But have you ever wondered where that idiom comes from?

In 17th-century Europe, most people worked in farming or trade, and getting an early start, arriving first at the market or beginning work at dawn, often meant a real advantage. In that context, it’s easy to see how the saying was established. "The early bird gets the worm" was first recorded in John Ray’s A Collection of English Proverbs (1670–1678), though even earlier variations appeared in William Camden’s Remains Concerning Britain (1605/1636).

Perhaps your grandmother once told you a few kitchen "rules of thumb," like using 1 gallon of water per pound of pasta or 2 parts water to 1 part rice. Simple guidelines that usually work, even if they’re not exact. But did you know the term "rules of thumb" was already used four centuries ago?

In 17th-century England, people didn’t just use feet for measuring; thumbs were also used as a quick, rough tool in everyday trades like brewing and textiles, where a thumb’s width meant roughly an inch. The expression appeared in writing in the 1600s, notably in a sermon by Scottish minister James Durham, and by the end of that century, it was already being used much like we use it today.

Experienced people often warn against celebrating a raise or promotion before it’s actually official; you know, "don’t count your chickens before they hatch." Can you believe this idiom dates back to the 6th century BCE?

It comes from Aesop's Fables, especially the story often known as "The Milkmaid and Her Pail." In it, a young girl daydreams about the fortune she’ll make from selling milk, eggs, and future profits, so much so that she accidentally spills the milk and loses everything. The fable warns against planning for success until it’s actually happened, just like the saying today.

If a friend isn’t returning your calls and says he’s "just been really busy lately," you might need to "read between the lines" to realize something else is going on. Today, the phrase simply means picking up on the hidden or unspoken meaning behind someone’s words or behavior. But its origins are more literal than you might think.

In 19th-century cryptography, "reading between the lines" meant to uncover secret messages hidden in invisible ink between lines of visible text. One common method involved applying heat, which would reveal the secret writing. By 1850, the phrase had moved beyond codes into everyday language and was used to describe noticing subtle hints or implied meanings, just as we use it today.

If you’re visiting a new city and a local recommends a restaurant with an uninviting exterior, but inside, the food is a 10 out of 10, that’s when you’re reminded: "Don’t judge a book by its cover." Today, the saying means you shouldn’t judge something or someone by appearances alone, and it comes from 19th-century literature.

An early version appears in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss (1860), where a character speaking about books says, "…they’ve all got the same covers… But it seems one mustn’t judge by th’ outside." The wording later gained popularity in the 1946 murder mystery Murder in the Glass Room, by Lester Fuller and Edwin Rolfe, where it appears more directly as "You can never tell a book by its cover."

You’ve probably said "better late than never" when you showed up late to work or finally remembered to wish a friend a happy birthday, just a day or two too late. While we often say it today almost as a joke, its roots are much older and more serious.

The idea dates back to ancient Rome and was reflected in Titus Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita (History of Rome), written between 27 BCE and 9 BCE. The proverb appears as "potius sero quam nunquam", expressing the idea that it is better to act late than not at all, especially when it comes to defending Rome and its traditions. Centuries later, Geoffrey Chaucer brought the idea into Middle English in The Canterbury Tales (1386) as For bet than never is late.

If you’re the cautious type who prefers to avoid trouble before making a decision, you’ve probably said "better safe than sorry" more times than you can count. But have you ever wondered where it actually comes from?

Unlike the previous proverb, this one doesn’t go back to ancient Rome, but it’s generally traced to 19th-century Irish literature. Even though the idea already existed in oral form, the phrase is credited to Irish novelist Samuel Lover, who, in his 1837 novel Rory O’More, writes it as "It is better to be sure than sorry," using it to highlight his character’s practical common sense.

Anyone who has experienced grief or loss can relate to the comforting saying, "Time heals all wounds." Today, we often share it in deep conversations with family or friends, but its roots go back much further than most people think.

It is believed to have originated with the Greek poet and playwright Menander around 300 BCE, who wrote Pantōn iatros tōn anagkaiōn kakōn chronos estin ("Time is the healer of all necessary evils"), suggesting that the passage of time can soften emotional pain. Later, Geoffrey Chaucer brought a similar idea into Middle English in Troilus and Criseyde (1380s), where it appears as As tyme hem hurt, a tyme doth hem cure ("As time hurt them, time cures them").