NOVA: Mysteries of Sleep

Monday, March 23 at 8 pm on KRCB, PBS member station. From fruit flies to whales, virtually every animal sleeps. But why? Why do we need to spend nearly a third of our lives in such a vulnerable, defenseless state? Scientists are peering more deeply into the sleeping brain than ever before, discovering just how powerful sleep can be, playing a role in everything from memory retention and emotional regulation to removing waste from our brains. So why are we getting so little of it?