第1850期:Ancestors 'had less sleep' than we do

From artificial lights to late-night TV and now our smartphones, modern life is often blamed for ruining our sleep. But this study suggests our ancestors didn't get any more sleep than we do.

从人造灯到深夜电视，再到现在的智能手机，人们常常指责现代生活破坏了我们的睡眠。 但这项研究表明，我们的祖先并没有比我们睡得更多。

The researchers monitored traditional societies in Namibia, Tanzania and Bolivia, where people live like ancient hunter-gatherers once did. They found they slept on average six and a half hours a night.

研究人员监测了纳米比亚、坦桑尼亚和玻利维亚的传统社会，那里的人们过着古代狩猎采集者的生活。 他们发现他们平均每晚睡六个半小时。

Surprisingly, natural light didn't have as big an influence as was thought. Most people fell asleep hours after sunset. However, temperature was important. The morning's coldest point was when most people woke up. Insomnia was also extremely rare.

令人惊讶的是，自然光的影响并没有想象的那么大。 大多数人在日落后几个小时就睡着了。 然而，温度很重要。 早上最冷的时候是大多数人醒来的时候。失眠也极为罕见。

词汇表

artificial lights 人工照明
ruining 破坏
traditional 传统的 （这里指古老的、远古社会）
hunter-gatherers 依靠狩猎为生的人
natural light 自然光
insomnia 失眠