Randy Gardner

Similar non-contact technology using radar signals can now measure breathing rate through clothing and blankets from a distance of several feet, opening new possibilities for monitoring breathing at rest in homes and care facilities.

The world record for the longest time without rest is approximately 11 days, achieved by Randy Gardner in 1964.

And during the recovery rest that followed, his breathing patterns showed extraordinarily deep and slow respiration as his body compensated.

Astronauts on the International Space Station report that their breathing during rest in microgravity feels different.

This is why a recovery night often feels particularly restoring, even if it is not especially long.

The longest well-documented stretch without sleep was set by Randy Gardner in nineteen sixty-four when he stayed awake for eleven days and twenty-five minutes as a high school science fair project in San Diego.

Gardner was monitored during the final days by the Stanford researcher William Dement, the same Dement who had founded the first sleep disorders clinic.

When the experiment ended, Gardner slept for about fourteen hours and forty minutes and woke feeling more or less normal.

The, the, the man was a high school student.

His name was Randy Gardner, okay? Now, Randy Gardner voluntarily stayed awake for a science fair experiment and set the record for the longest period-

Ooh

... without sleep.

[laughs] Right.

Not forced.

How long did Randy Gardner, the 1964 high school student, stay awake? [upbeat music]

Was he playing video games?

This is why a recovery night often feels particularly restoring, even if it is not especially long.

The longest well-documented stretch without sleep was set by Randy Gardner in 1964, when he stayed awake for 11 days and 25 minutes as a high school science fair project in San Diego.

Gardner was monitored during the final days by the Stanford researcher William Dement, the same Dement who had founded the first sleep disorders clinic.

When the experiment ended, Gardner slept for about 14 hours and 40 minutes and woke feeling more or less normal.

On the subsequent nights, your brain experiences a massive surge in REM dreaming sleep to help restore cognitive and emotional processing.

The closest scientifically documented case to this scenario is Randy Gardner, a 17-year-old student who intentionally stayed awake for 11 days, 264 hours for a s-" Dude, they had him hopped up on some shit.

"For a science fair project in 1964.

When the experiment concluded, Gardner slept for 14 hours and 46 minutes straight.

Total deprivation in humans has never been taken to lethal extremes for ethical reasons, but extended periods of voluntary deprivation have been documented, and they provide a vivid picture of what happens to the human mind and body when the drive is denied.

The longest scientifically documented period of intentional deprivation is two hundred sixty-four hours, or eleven days, achieved by a seventeen-year-old high school student named Randy Gardner in January nineteen sixty-four in San Diego, California.

Gardner undertook the experiment as a science fair project, and it quickly attracted the attention of the media and the scientific community.

His experiment was monitored by a Stanford researcher named William Dement, one of the founding figures of modern research in this field, who recorded Gardner's progressive cognitive decline in meticulous detail.

Torture experts call it effective.

The longest documented case came in 1964, when a seventeen-year-old high school student named Randy Gardner stayed awake for two hundred and sixty-four hours, nearly eleven days, for a science fair experiment.

By day five, he struggled to concentrate.

By day nine, he was paranoid, hallucinating, and convinced a shadowy presence was in his room.

It's just not advisable.

Randy Gardner recruited two friends to help keep him awake, Bruce McAllister and Joe Marciano.

They attempted the record-breaking time to go sleepless as their submission for the 10th annual Greater San Diego Science Fair.

About the fourth or fifth day, you know, it was like, are you kidding me? This is hard.

NIH guidance notes that after several nights of losing even one or two hours of sleep per night, functioning can deteriorate substantially.

Chronic inadequate sleep is associated with problems involving attention, reaction, time, memory, mood, and physical health.

And I think that's actually more relevant to most of us because very few listeners are going to attempt Randy Gardner's experiment.

I mean, please don't.