In space, no one can hear you snore (2024)

ASTRONAUTS have to put up with many inconveniences, but snoring bunkmates is not one of them. A new study shows that the microgravity aboard an orbiting craft virtually eliminates snoring and greatly reduces other breathing problems during sleep.

Researchers monitored five space shuttle astronauts. When asleep on Earth, they snored about 16 per cent of the time. In space, it was less than 1 per cent of the time. The orbiting astronauts also experienced only half as much apnoea and hypopnoea, two common breathing disruptions that can interrupt sleep (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, vol 164, p…