circadian rhythms

Everyone has a set of genes that keeps the body on a 24-hour rhythm. As we get older, though, the main clock can malfunction. Researchers say a backup clock may try to compensate.

Late-night coffee, tea or cola does more than keep you up, scientists say. The amount of caffeine in a double espresso can delay the internal clock in cells throughout your body by about 40 minutes.

Over drinks in the light of a full moon, a group of Swiss sleep researchers recently realized they could put a bit of folklore about the moon's disruptive effect on sleep to the test. The answer surprised them and didn't quite win over some other scientists in the field.