The science of sleep and circadian rhythms is the topic of this week’s Science Weekly podcast with Alok Jha, which is hosted on the website of The Guardian.  It focuses on the topic of sleep and its importance to health, well-being and mental sharpness.

University of Oxford professor Russell Foster, PhD, discusses recent developments in our understanding of sleep cycles and how our body clock or “circadian rhythm” is programmed at a cellular level.  The podcast also includes a discussion of how our eyes entrain the circadian rhythm and why this biological system is common to all living organisms.