Page 13 - aruba-today-20231230

science Saturday 30 december 2023
A13

Penguin parents sleep for just a few seconds at a HEALTH

time to guard newborns, study shows DOCTOR ON DUTY
Oranjestad

By CHRISTINA LARSON mented fashion. Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
Tel. 527 4000
AP Science Writer Scientists have docu-
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a mented a few other ani- San Nicolas
challenge for all new par- mals with special sleeping Imsan 24 hours
ents: Getting enough sleep adaptions. While flying, Tel.524 8833
while keeping a close eye frigatebirds can sleep one Women in Difficulties
on their newborns. For half of their brain at a time, PHARMACY ON DUTY
some penguins, it means and northern elephant Oranjestad:
thousands of mini-catnaps seals can nap for 10 or 15 Paradera: tel. 588 6638
a day, researchers discov- minutes at a time during Seroe Preto: tel. 584 4833
ered. deep dives, for example.
Chinstrap penguins in Ant- But chinstrap penguin mi- Women in Difficulties
arctica need to guard their crosleeps appear to be a OTHER
eggs and chicks around- new extreme, researchers Dental Clinic 587 9850
Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
the-clock in crowded, noisy say. Urgent Care 586 0448
colonies. So they nod off “Penguins live in a high- Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
thousands of times each stress environment. They +297 588 0539
day but only for about four breed in crowded colo- Women in Difficulties
seconds at a time to stay nies, and all their preda- EMERGENCY
vigilant, the researchers re- tors are there at the same Police 100
ported Thursday in the jour- time,” said Daniel Paranhos Oranjestad 527 3140
nal Science. This image provided by Won Young Lee shows wild chinstrap Zitterbart, who studies pen- Noord 527 3200
These short “microsleeps,” penguins on King George Island, Antarctica. Associated Press guins at the Woods Hole Sta. Cruz 527 2900
totaling around 11 hours Oceanographic Institution San Nicolas 584 5000
per day, appear to be in Massachusetts and was Police Tipline 11141
Ambulancia
911
enough to keep the par- taching sensors that mea- ative functions if not, they not involved in the study. Fire Dept. 115
ents going for weeks. sure brain waves. They col- could not endure,” he said. Microsleeping is “an amaz- Red Cross 582 2219
“These penguins look like lected data on 14 adults The researchers did not ing adaptation” to enable
drowsy drivers, blinking over 11 days on King collect sleep data outside near constant vigilance, TAXI SERVICES
their eyes open and shut, George Island off the coast the breeding season, but he said.q Taxi Tas 587 5900
and they do it 24/7 for sev- of Antarctica. they hypothesize that the Prof. Taxi 588 0035
Taxi D.T.S.
587 2300
eral weeks at a time,” said The idea for the study was penguins may sleep in lon- Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
Niels Rattenborg, a sleep hatched when Won Young ger intervals at other times A1 Taxi Serv. 280 2828
researcher at the Max Lee, a biologist at the Kore- of the year. Women in Difficulties
Planck Institute for Biologi- an Polar Research Institute, “We don’t know yet if the TRAVEL INFO
cal Intelligence in Germa- noticed breeding pen- benefits of microsleep are
ny and co-author of the guins frequently blinking the same as for long con- Aruba Airport 524 2424
new study. their eyes and apparently solidated sleep,” said Paul- American Airlines 582 2700
“What’s surprising is that nodding off during his long Antoine Libourel, a co-au- Avianca 588 0059
588 2244
Jet Blue
they’re able to function OK days of field observations. thor and sleep researcher Surinam 582 7896
and successfully raise their But the team needed to at the Neuroscience Re- Women in Difficulties
young,” he said. record brain waves to con- search Center of Lyon in AID FOUNDATIONS
Chinstrap penguins, firm they were sleeping. France. They also don’t
named for the thin line of “For these penguins, micro- know if other penguin spe- FAVI- Visually Impaired
black facial feathers re- sleeps have some restor- cies sleep in a similar frag- Tel. 582 5051
sembling a chinstrap, usu- Alcoholics Anonymous
ally lay their eggs in pebble Tel. 736 2952
nests in November. As with Narcotics Anonymous
many other kinds of pen- Tel. 583 8989
guins, mated pairs share Fundacion Contra Violencia
Relacional Tel. 583 5400
parenting duties. One par- Centre for Diabetes
ent tends to the eggs and Tel. 524 8888
chicks alone while the oth- Child Abuse Prevention
er goes off fishing for family Tel. 582 4433
meals. Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
While the adults don’t face Women in Difficulties
many natural predators in General Info
the breeding season, large Phone Directory Tel. 118
birds called brown skuas
prey on eggs and small
fuzzy gray chicks. Other
adults may also try to steal
pebbles from nests. So the
devoted parents must be
always on guard.
For the first time, the sci-
entists tracked the sleep-
ing behavior of chinstrap
penguins in an Antarctic
breeding colony by at- facebook.com/arubatoday/