10,000 naps a day: how chinstrap penguins survive on microsleeps

Scientists studying the birds in Antarctica have found they snooze for 11 hours a day without falling deeply asleep

Spending your nights sleeping for just four seconds at a time might sound like a form of torture, but not for chinstrap penguins, which fall asleep thousands of times a day, new research finds.

Scientists studying the birds on King George Island in Antarctica found they nod off more than 10,000 times a day, allowing them to keep a constant eye on their nests, protecting eggs and chicks from predators. In total, the birds manage 11 hours of snoozing a day - without ever slipping into uninterrupted sleep.