Stripping down science, the naked scientists.

The Naked Scientists. Now it's a fact that some drugs or therapies work better if they're administered at

certain times of the day. It's also a fact that people who do shift work suffer higher rates of heart disease and cancer.

In other words, time of day is very important to the way the body works.

And this week we're exploring how the body keeps time, why poor sleep can make you put on weight, and

whether bedtime stories can actually cause insomnia. I occasionally have trouble

sleeping and find that reading a book before bed really helps me to relax and feel tired.

I was considering getting one of those electronic book readers that are becoming popular nowadays

but then I was wondering, with the light of the screen stimulate your brain in touch away

that would prevent you from becoming tired.

The answer to that one is on the way.

Hello, I'm Chris Smith and I'm joined this week by Ben Vousler-Hellaben.

Hello and in the news this week, we'll find out how cells grafted into the eye can restore sight

to blind mice and explore a way to heal injured hearts by turning scar tissue back into cardiac

muscle. The Naked Scientists Podcast is powered by UK Fast, the UK's best hosting provider on the web at

UKfast dot-co. UK. UK.

Now the ancient Greeks are credited with first pointing out that some plants

appear to be able to tell the time by altering their leaf shapes during the day.

And some of the first evidence of the existence of a similar internal clock in animals, including in us,

was produced about a hundred years ago when scientists showed 24-hour patterns of activity

even in the absence of any time cues.

And now we know a lot more about how this whole system works and partly thanks to one of the

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