Sleep. It’s the place where we’re all Vikings. Or donuts. Whatever it is that happens to you in your dreams. It’s the most horizontal you can be in a day, and it’s usually pretty relaxing. Man, who doesn’t love a good sleep? But what happens if you don’t get enough of it?

Everyone’s probably pulled an all-nighter at some point in their lives, whether for work or pleasure. You stay up all night, the morning comes around, you just figure “oh well. Been up this long, might as well stay up for a whole day.” 

At some point, though, that gets old. Usually we don’t go beyond a day or two at the most. And it’s fairly well known that at some point, you’ll start suffering some ill effects from not getting sleep.

The mechanics of how this works are not as well known, however. Nor is it always really clear exactly what goes wrong when you don’t get enough sleep, or just how bad things can get for you. So let’s take a look at what medical science tells us about sleep, how much you need, and what you’re risking if you don’t get enough. 

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Most of the world seems to be based around the idea that we need 8 hours of sleep per night. We’ve divided our 24 hour periods into 8-hour segments as adults in the western world. You work for 8 hours you sleep for 8 hours and the other 8 hours is when you fit in everything else you need to do.

Realistically, it’s not always that simple. Medically speaking, as an adult, you should be getting at least 7 hours of sleep per night. The younger you are the more sleep you’re going to need. Babies are out there living the high life getting a recommended 16 hours of sleep per day. They’re basically cats until they’re a year old.

Hours of sleep is not a blanket thing, however. People are different and you can’t say specifically that everyone needs this many hours. Some people can function on less sleep, and some people are going to need more. In general, it’s the quality of your sleep that you need to be concerned about, as opposed to how much of it you get.

Sleep quality is concerned with how well you slept, rather than how long. Some nights you hit the pillow, you’re out like a light, and you wake up with your alarm in the morning. Ideally, you feel refreshed, and ready to start your day. That was a good, quality night’s sleep.

On the other hand, sometimes you lay down and you stare at your ceiling, you stare at the display on your clock; you toss and turn; you wake up three times to go to the bathroom, and in the morning you somehow feel worse than you did when you went to bed the night before. You could have had the exact same number of hours, but that was not quality sleep.

If you’re getting good sleep, you probably don’t need more than 9 hours as an adult. That’s not to say anything bad is going to happen to you if you sleep from 12:00 to 12:00 on a Sunday, it’s just that you probably won’t get a ton of benefit from those extra hours. 

How Long Can You Go Without Sleep?

In 1986 a man named Robert McDonald broke a world record by staying awake for nearly 19 consecutive days. His total hours was just below 454. That’s a hell of a long time to be awake and it’s generally not recommended. He had to be monitored the entire time and, as you might expect, people had to observe him non-stop to make sure he didn’t fall asleep. 

You can start feeling the effects of sleep deprivation after as little as 24 hours. Sleep deprivation has been likened to drunkenness. Going without sleep is like having a blood alcohol level of 0.1%. in most places in the world, that’s above the legal limit. That means you’re going to be suffering some cognitive impairments, slow reaction time, brain fog, all that stuff. The symptoms are all very similar to drunkenness. 

In addition to those various impairments, your stress hormone production actually begins to go up. So you’re going to start producing more cortisol and adrenaline. This is because your body knows you’re lacking sleep and trying to help you out.

By 36 hours of not having sleep, you’ll start having physical symptoms. They may not be obvious from the outside, but you’ll be suffering from hormone imbalances. Your appetite and body temperature can suffer, and your mental state will continue to deteriorate. Irritability is a very common symptom.

After two days of not having sleep, you can start experiencing something called microsleep. That happens when you’re still trying to stay awake but your brain has had enough of your shenanigans and actually shuts off for several seconds. You may not even notice it happens, and it’s like a little reset switch went off for less than a minute.

You’ll begin to notice some serious symptoms within three or four days of not sleeping. This can include hallucinations, paranoia, and even psychosis. Interestingly, there isn’t a ton of research on what happens when you stay awake this long because it’s not considered ethical to make someone do it. At this point, sleep deprivation is essentially torture, and your average doctor doesn’t want to do that to a patient. At least not in a way that would allow them to write about it in a scholarly journal after the fact.

We do know that your hallucinations can become longer and more complex at this level. It’s hard to speak without slurring, even walking without stumbling around is difficult. And by 120 hours you can experience psychotic breaks with reality.

But, just like not everyone needs the same amount of sleep, not everyone’s going to have the same experiences. The world record holder for sleep deprivation suffered very few ill effects from his experience, so your mileage may vary. As a general rule though, you probably don’t want to try it yourself.

Sleep Deficiency and Deprivation

A lack of proper sleep can manifest itself as either sleep deficiency or sleep deprivation. The terms are similar enough that you might want to use them interchangeably, but there is a technical difference between the two. Sleep deprivation could be considered more acute while sleep deficiency is more of a chronic issue. Sleep deprivation is one factor or symptom of sleep deficiency.

Additionally, sleep deficiency might involve sleep disorders that affect the way you sleep, the inability to get to sleep when you want to, or consistently poor-quality sleep.

About 1 in 5 people in America get less than 5 hours of sleep per night which qualifies a sleep deprivation. That’s essentially an epidemic. Your bad sleep can be caused by a number of things, some of which are in your control and some of which aren’t.

Sleeping at night can be hard if you take naps during the day. This throws off your natural cycle. Likewise, using devices like phones before bed has been shown to cause poor sleep. Caffeine and other drugs can affect your ability to get good, consistent sleep as well. All of this contributes to sleep deprivation which can spiral into sleep deficiency if it’s allowed to keep happening.

What Happens Physically When You Don’t Sleep

We briefly looked at what happens when you don’t get enough sleep, at least in general terms. Now let’s get a little more specific about what’s going to happen to your mind and body if you find yourself suffering from sleep deprivation for too long.

When you suffer from a lack of sleep, and that doesn’t mean not sleeping at all, that just means not getting the full, proper amount of sleep you need, you can expect that it will affect your mood the next day. There’s a good chance you’re going to be more irritable and experience other negative feelings but you otherwise or shouldn’t be affected by. You’ll also be feeling stress more acutely. 

People who did not have depression before developing sleep disorders have nearly double the risk of developing depression as those who don’t have sleep disorders. As many as 80% to 90% of people with depression suffer from insomnia. The effect on your mental health really can’t be overstated.

Poor sleep will also affect both your memory and ability to learn. In fact, your ability to learn new things can be reduced by as much as 40% if you’re not getting the proper sleep. This ironically flies in the face of the idea of a college student pulling an all-nighter to study for an exam, as you’re actually working against yourself at this point.

Just one night of sleep deprivation could affect both your balance and coordination making you clumsier and slower to react during the day. You literally walk differently when you haven’t had enough sleep.

There are also noticeable, physical tolls of not sleeping properly. Your immune system will suffer from a lack of sleep and that means you are more likely to get sick and stay sick longer. Even a simple cold is going to hit you harder and last longer when you suffer from sleep deprivation.

We have probably all seen somebody and thought they looked tired, and there’s a reason for that. You literally look different when you’re not getting enough sleep. You’re more likely to have puffy, red, or drooping eyes. Dark circles, pale flesh, and a drooping mouth were all noted as well. And because sleep affects cortisol levels, a lack of sleep could lead to more wrinkles. 

A lack of sleep has also been linked to weight gain. The same regions of your brain that are stimulated by smoking marijuana that can lead to the munchies are stimulated when you don’t get enough sleep. That means you’re inspired to eat more when you sleep less which can lead to obesity.

A lack of sleep later in life can also lead to dementia and Alzheimers. It can also put you at risk of hypertensive heart disease. Basically, sleep deprivation is bad for you across the board. There aren’t a lot of areas of your personal health that are going to improve if you’re not sleeping, but there are plenty that are going to get worse.

Arguably, the most Insidious thing about this is that it’s a game of inches. Each of these things grows slowly. So nothing is affected terribly at first, it’s just many little things chewing away at your overall health to make you feel worse in a way that’s really hard to even notice at first.

Can Lack of Sleep Kill You?

There are two ways to look at this question. If you fail to go to sleep for a long time, it’s not like your body is just going to seize up and you’re going to crap out. Lack of sleep isn’t like a gunshot wound. Lack of sleep has never directly killed anyone that we’re aware of. That said, chronic sleep deprivation can lead to accidents and earlier death. And there is evidence of lack of sleep being lethal to animals. 

There is actually a genetic condition called fatal familial insomnia which can develop over time and increase in severity the longer it goes. As it progresses mental and physical deterioration occur, including a breakdown of your body’s autonomic systems. Your ability to regulate your breathing and heart rate can suffer and that can ultimately be fatal to those who suffer from it. This is, of course, different from simply not getting enough sleep and suffering a fatal result.

Today, cars take up a significant part of our lives. They help us get from point A to point B with relative convenience and provide us with a freedom and independence that public transportation is mostly incapable of providing.

However, today’s cars are more or less uniform in terms of their style and features. So it is always fascinating to look back and see what might have been if the more curious automobile-related inventions of yesteryear had actually caught on.

10 Charvolant

The Charvolant (aka the kite-carriage) was a carriage pulled solely by kites. It was invented in the 19th century by English schoolteacher George Pocock who had a great interest in kites and their ability to lift small items, light loads, and even people.

The Charvolant could hold several passengers and move at a fairly fast speed, depending on the pace and the type of wind present. Several reports of kite-carriages traveling around England circulated shortly after the bizarre invention and attracted considerable attention from the press and the public.

Pocock believed that Charvolants were the most pleasurable, safe type of travel and could be used for naval and military purposes as well as for crossing rivers. However, not everyone was of the same opinion. Critics stated that using wind for travel was not feasible because it is fickle and changeable, not to mention that it would suit only those who wanted to go in the direction toward which the wind was blowing.

9 Horsey Horseless

Back in the early years of the US auto industry, horse-drawn carriages and automobiles shared the roads. But the cars scared horses, resulting in dangerous situations. Nonetheless, a solution was soon proposed by Uriah Smith, a member of a strict Protestant sect known as the Seventh-day Adventists.

Smith had designed a car that had a big wooden horse head stuck on the front of it. As an added bonus, the hollow head of the horse also served as a fuel tank.

Smith’s logic was simple: If a car looked like a horse, other horses wouldn’t be scared of it. By the time the horse could discover its error, the strange automobile would be long gone and the horse would have no reason to grow frantic. Unsurprisingly, the Horsey Horseless did not take off. It is unclear if it was ever even produced.

8 Routefinder

The Routefinder was an early satellite navigation system that showed UK automobile drivers the roads they were traveling down, the mileage covered, and the end point of their journey. The curious device consisted of a little map scroll inside a watch which was to be manually scrolled as the driver moved along the route. Several scrolls could be fitted into the watch for a trip.

The disadvantages of the Routefinder included a limited number of available journeys, the inability of the system to respond to changes of direction, and no warning of roadwork or traffic ahead. The Routefinder never took off since automobile drivers were scarce in Britain at that time.

7 Running Boards

Back in the day, if you didn’t want your dog riding inside your car, it could ride “safely” on a running board attached to the car. Some were simple running board–based boxes and shields while others, such as the Bird Dog’s Palace, were sturdy external steel enclosures.

The latter were quite elaborate. They came in several sizes and included a barred door that could be released without the driver leaving his seat and an oilcloth cover that could be unrolled and buttoned into place if the weather got bad.

The most terrifying and dangerous pet carrier must have been the dog sack, an actual canvas sack that (thankfully) had a head hole and was hooked and clamped to the side of the car.

6 Wrist-Twist Steering System

In 1965, Ford engineers came up with the Wrist-Twist steering system which replaced one large steering wheel with two small handheld wheels that were twisted like dials. The new system promised a more comfortable ride, a better view of the road, and easier parallel parking.

It was said that the steering effort required by the Wrist-Twist was only a fraction of the effort required by a regular steering wheel. This was because only the forearm, wrist, and hands were involved as opposed to the full arm, torso, and the neck involved in standard steering.

Adaptation to this new kind of steering was said to be instantaneous. It is worth mentioning that the man who engineered the Wrist-Twist was actually a missile engineer who knew nothing about cars.

5 Water Mobile

The water mobile (aka the Vacationer) was an amphibious luxury cruiser proposed by industrial designer Robert Zeidman. His interest in amphibious vehicles came from wartime service. Unsurprisingly, the water mobile was to be targeted toward ex-GIs who could finally have their own amphibious crafts.

The six-wheeled water mobile could turn into a yacht or a trailer, thus providing the best of both roads and water. It was supposed to be 10 meters (34 ft) long and could house up to six people.

Amenities included a stove, shower, dishwasher, sink, oven, fridge, freezer, and bathroom. A bunk could also be built into the driving compartment for those drivers who wished to hire a paid chauffeur-pilot.

4 Glare-Proof Glasses

Glare-proof glasses were cone-shaped shields fastened onto regular spectacle frames. Holes were cut in the middle of the 2.5-centimeter (1 in) shields to give the wearer visibility.

Glare-proof glasses eliminated headlight glare from approaching cars. When meeting an oncoming car, the driver would simply turn his head slightly to the right, which would automatically cut off the glare from the car lights and allow the driver to focus on the side of the road.

This helped drivers to avoid road accidents. But the same could not be said for drivers who, upon sighting individuals adorned in these ridiculous glasses, would burst into a fit of laughter and possibly lose control of the wheel!

3 Pedestrian Safety Devices

Pedestrian safety devices were placed in front of early cars to catch pedestrians who had been hit by cars. They were patterned after the cowcatcher device, which was invented in 1838. That device was attached to the front of a train to clear obstacles off the track.

Pedestrian safety devices varied in both their form and their precise function. Some, such as the Protector, were made in the form of seats so that a pedestrian who had been hit would be scooped up from the street and propped up onto the seat.

Others, such as the Man-Catcher, rolled a fallen pedestrian in front of the vehicle until the vehicle could be brought to a stop. This saved the pedestrian from being crushed to death.

2 Fifth-Wheel Parking

Most people hate parallel parking and avoid it at all costs. Thus, it is a shame that fifth-wheel parking, a system invented by Brooks Walker in the 1950s, never took off. Fifth-wheel parking was a system that was supposed to ease the difficulty of parallel parking. It used a hydraulic pump and the car’s spare tire, fitted underneath the car, to guide the car in and out of parking spaces with ease.

Walker’s first prototype was created on his own Packard Cavalier sedan, and he demonstrated his fifth-wheel parking at numerous auto shows in 1953. The big car companies were not enthused, however, and the next 20 years saw Walker fitting and modifying different cars to further develop his system.

His ultimate goal was to create a system that could be applied to any car with no changes to its basic structure. As we know today from our continued struggle with parallel parking, his system was never implemented.

1 Ford’s Soybean Car

In the 1940s, Henry Ford experimented with making plastic parts for automobiles. These experiments eventually resulted in what became known as the Soybean Car or, more recently, the Hemp Car.

The frame of Ford’s Soybean Car was made of tubular steel and had 14 plastic panels attached to it. The exact ingredients of the plastic panels are unknown, but it is believed that they were made from a chemical formula that included ingredients such as soybeans, wheat, hemp, flax, and ramie.

The Soybean Car was designed for a number of reasons. First, Ford wanted to engage in a project that combined industry with agriculture. Second, there was a shortage of metal at the time due to the ongoing world war and Ford hoped that his new plastic materials would eventually replace the traditional metals used in cars. Finally, Ford claimed that plastic panels made the car safer than traditional steel cars.

In 1941, Ford unveiled the Soybean Car at the annual community festival called Dearborn Days. By that time, however, America’s entry into World War II had suspended all auto production. When the war ended, an abundance of cheap metal quickly ended the appeal of the plastic car.

Laura is a student from Ireland in love with books, writing, coffee, and cats.

It’s always impressive when something record breaking happens. The hottest day on record. The most expensive hamburger ever made. Even a personal record can be remarkable, whether that’s running your fastest mile ever or beating your taco eating record. And while these onetime achievements are very interesting, there’s something to be said for a sustained, long-term achievement that can happen over a very long period making it that much more impressive.

10. Ricardo Abad Ran Marathons 607 Days in a Row

Many people consider running a marathon to be a great achievement in life. Some people train for months to run the biggest marathons in the world and not everyone is able to complete them as they can be extremely physically demanding. And not to diminish anyone’s achievements or hard work when it comes to running marathons but no one in the world runs marathons like Ricardo Abad runs marathons. In fact, Abad holds a record for essentially marathoning marathons. He ran 607 consecutive marathons in 607 straight days. 

Initially Abad, a runner and factory worker from Spain, had the idea to do 500 marathons. After he reached that goal he intended to do another 500 for a full 1,000 but even Superman has his limits. After 607, Abad had to call it quits with a record that was still far above his closest competitors.

9. St. Petersburg Florida had Sunshine 768 Days in a Row

Natural records can happen any time and in any place. Often there’s no way to tell it’s happening until it’s already happened. That was likely the case when the city of St. Petersburg in Florida managed to pull off the unexpected weather feat of having pleasant, sunny days for over two straight years. 

St. Petersburg calls itself the Sunshine City, a title well-earned on February 9, 1967. That was the first day the sun rose over the city after some cloud cover the previous day. Then the same thing happened on February 10th. Same on March 10th. July 10th. And even February 10, 1968. It wouldn’t be until Tuesday, March 18, 1969 that the people of St. Petersburg would have to bid the sun goodbye and endure a little cloud cover like the rest of us.

8. Marble Bar, Australia Had a 160+ Day Heat Wave

As sunny as things get in Florida, the temperature there is not necessarily record breaking. And for sustained, oppressing, absolutely horrid temperature records then you need to go to the other side of the world and visit a place called Marble Bar, Australia.

Heat waves are nothing new and, unfortunately, they’re becoming more and more commonplace these days. In the United States, the average heat wave lasts for four days. These can be incredibly serious as well since people who are unable to manage the temperatures with things like air conditioning or adequate shelter and water can suffer ill effects potentially even dying. 

In Marble Bar, it’s not unusual for temperatures to reach over 120F or 49C for about 8 months per year. But it was their 1923 heat wave that makes it such a noteworthy place. Every day for 160 to 170 days (there are contradictory figures), the temperature was around 100F or hotter. 

7. In 1862, a Storm in California Lasted Over 40 Days

You may recall that the Bible made mention of a quite significant flood that lasted for 40 days and 40 nights somewhere in the Book of Genesis. Any storm that lasts for more than a month would surely seem cataclysmic to people back in that day and age and, if we’re being honest, it’d probably be worse today because people can share doomsday theories on social media. Somewhere in the middle is what the people of 1862.

Beginning in December 1861, the rains that drowned out hundreds of miles of land in California lasted for 43 straight days. The Central Valley, home to cities like Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield was under 15 feet of water. One third of the property in the state was destroyed. One in 8 homes was swept away. Over 200,000 cattle died. When the new government of California was inaugurated on January 10th, he had to row to the governor’s mansion and enter through a second story window. It’s estimated around 4,000 residents died as well.

6. Dale Webster Went Surfing 14,642 Days in a Row

The difference between a hobby and a job tends to be that no one pays you for hobbies so you do them for the joy you get out of it. And, with that in mind, what hobby do you have that you’d be willing to stick with for 14,642 days in a row without a break?

Dale Webster, sometimes known as Everyday Dale, liked to surf. And so he went surfing every day for about 40 years. He started his surfing marathon in September, 1975. Every day, he’d catch at least three waves, usually in a place called Bodega Bay. No matter the weather, he was out there.

Webster called his 40 year streak quits on October 4, 2015. That was because he had kidney surgery on October 5th and was put on bedrest for a few weeks. 

5. Lakeview Gusher Spewed Oil From a Geyser for 544 Days

Have you ever seen a video of an oil well going off? It happens in movies sometimes, and you may see clips on the news of these oil geysers spouting into the air. But when we see them they’re in little clips and often it seems like the next logical step is that someone caps it somehow and stops the oil from spewing out. But that’s not always the case. 

The Lakeview Gusher, an oil geyser that blew its top in California in 1910, raged for 544 days without anyone stopping it. It formed an entire lake of oil and produced 18,000 barrels per day for a total of 9 million before it stopped. 

Drillers were looking for oil about 100 miles north of LA at the time. When the geyser went off, it shot oil 200 feet into the air. The volume and power seemed to be more than people could handle and rather than controlling it they tried to deal with it. Sandbag walls and pipes to redirect the oil were established even as it formed a crater around the initial geyser, destroying the undersized derrick and other equipment.

Eventually the well collapsed on its own somewhere deep in the earth, sucking everything back to the depths as quickly as it had appeared.

4. An Alpine Swift Can Stay in Flight for 200 Days Straight

We’re always impressed when we see a human who can run fast or lift a huge amount of weight. And it’s likely a bit of human arrogance that makes us focus so much on incredible things humans can do as opposed to what other creatures in the world can do. That’s a shame because there are some animals out there that leave humans in the dust in every conceivable way. Take, for instance, the humble alpine swift.

These small birds can be found in parts of Europe and Asia and, for the most part, seem unremarkable. To see what makes a swift a real standout, you have to have a lot of time on your hands. An alpine swift is able to stay in the air for 200 days in a row without ever touching ground once.

Researchers were able to determine that the swift has such remarkable flight stamina after putting a tracker on one. The tiny birds, which weigh under half a pound, summer in Europe then migrate to Africa for the winter. The point of tracking was mostly just to see how the birds handled their migration. Where they go, how long they spend there, how long they stop, and so on. 

What the team discovered when the birds returned to Europe and the tags were collected was that, when the birds aren’t breeding, they aren’t landing. Because the sensors collect data on acceleration, the angle of the bird relative to the ground, and the angle that light is hitting the bird to determine sunrise and sunset, they were able to determine the birds never actually went to ground. They can sustain flight or a glide for 200 days. 

The birds eat flying insects, so that aspect of how they manage their marathon was easy enough to understand. But how they slept was another matter. Clearly, the birds are able to sustain flight while sleeping or, as some speculate, they may not really need to sleep at all. 

3. A Man Went to Disneyland 2,995 Days in a Row

Have you ever heard the term “Disney adults?” It’s a name given to adults who are such fans of all things Disney that they devote an intense amount of time and money to supporting their fandom. That can include buying what seems like an inordinate amount of Disney merchandise and, in particular, visiting Disney theme parks frequently. Some people will go so far as to make almost weekly trips to Disneyland and Disney World. And, to be clear, these are adults. They may have children that come with them but typically, to meet the definition, they do not.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who meets the status of a true Disney fan and a Disney adult more than Jeff Reitz. Because of the covid restrictions in 2020 that saw Disneyland closing its doors to visitors, Reitz had to end his unbroken streak of regular park visits. Prior to the closing he had been to Disneyland every single day for 2,995 days. 

Reitz started going to the park in 2011 and would often head there right after work. He’d spend an average of three to five hours walking around then head home. When the park finally closed, cutting his streak off, he actually had difficulty adjusting to life without it. According to Reitz, he started falling into a depression and found it difficult to even get out of bed some days. 

2. Donna Griffiths Sneezed for 976 Days in a Row

In terms of physical achievements there are probably many that any of us would be happy to reach. Being the best at something; the strongest or the fastest or the smartest could hardly be seen as a bad thing. But there are plenty of personal, physical achievements that are less desirable and then some that are just weird and unpleasant.

Donna Griffiths holds the dubious honor of having spent more time sneezing than anyone else in the world. She started sneezing on January 13, 1981 and stopped sneezing September 16, 1983. That’s 976 days of sustained sneezes. It was estimated she belted out one million sneezes in her first year alone. 

1. Valeri Polyakov Spent 437 Days in Space

Most missions to the International Space Station see astronauts spending about six months in space. That’s a decent length of time to not be on an actual planet anymore. Astronaut Mark Vande took that to extremes when he spent 341 days in space. That gave him the record for the longest spaceflight by an American astronaut and it’s very impressive. Just imagine nearly a whole year in a place where you can’t go out to get food or water or medical care, or even visit a friend. You can’t even go out for some air. Your life is sustained by what you have with you and what can very rarely be brought to you. Definitely not for the claustrophobic or the easily rattled. And despite Vande’s amazing achievement, it’s not the record by any means.

Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov has the current record for longest time a human has spent in space. From 1994 to 1995, Polyakov spent 437 days aboard the Mir space station. He only completed two missions in his life but in that time he could have almost made it to Mars and back.

Polyakov volunteered for his extended stay in space to be something of a guinea pig. The plan was to assess the effect of prolonged space flight on the human body and mind. After he returned, Russian officials determined that he had suffered no permanent or even long lasting effects from his experience apart from a decline in mood that lasted a few months before returning to normal.