The Arndale shopping centre in Manchester is an impractical place to take a nap. Shoppers hurry through its drafty, off-white interior. People stop on curvy benches to eat Greggs pasties. Workers rush back to their desks before the end of their lunch break. No one notices the low throbbing sound emanating from a big black tent right in the middle of the building, opposite Starbucks. Then from the buzzing big top a line of people emerge, yawning: they've just had 15 minutes of top quality sleep. The Chronarium Sleep Lab landed at the Arndale shopping centre as part of the Manchester Science Festival, an 11-day long event taking in more than 100 installations and activities across the city. From periscope making to mushroom growing, much of the schedule is dedicated to stimulating people with the wonders of science. This is perhaps the only one designed to to put them to sleep. But it could be the most important. “Sleep deprivation is a massive future health hazard, ” says Dr Caroline Horton, senior lecturer in cognitive psychology at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. Research shows that people in the UK are sleeping several minutes a night less than they did 10 years ago. Many of us waste time awake in bed, our faces illuminated by blue smartphone light. Blue smartphone light can affect sleeping patterns (Jason Lock/Museum of Science and Industry)
The scientific community is yet to build a long-term body of evidence of the consequences, but lack of sleep has been associated with the rise of Alzheimer's, dementia, mental health disorders and slower recovery times from cancer treatments. Each day, the waiting list for spaces at the Chronarium fills up quickly. At their allotted time, volunteers gather excitedly at the mouth of the curtained enclosure and remove their shoes. Inside, white slings hang like pupae in a circle, bathed in soothing blue and purple light. There is much squealing as an assistant tries to help people climb inside the fabric, an aerial silk normally used for a kind of gravity-defying yoga. The silk cocoons are curtained off from the Arndale (Jason Lock/Museum of Science and Industry) A voiceover explains how to sit in the sling and stretch the fabric over the feet and head so that everyone is lying with their feet towards the centre of the tent. The voice instructs people to concentrate on the heaviness of their bodies against the soft fabric. As the tent grows dark, silence falls and a low humming starts.
No comments:
Post a Comment