The Science of Everything-The Waking Up

Every morning, the human body performs a small biological miracle while the human mind files a formal objection. The heart adjusts, hormones shift, muscles begin answering messages again, and the brain slowly reconstructs the identity of the person lying facedown on the pillow. Within moments, that person is expected to remember a name, recognize a ceiling, locate a bathroom, operate clothing, and participate in civilization. This is an ambitious schedule for an organism that was unconscious five minutes earlier.Waking up is often treated as a simple event. You were asleep, an alarm made a noise, and now you are awake. Science, however, has discovered that the border between sleeping and waking is less like opening a door and more like restarting a government agency after a three-day weekend. Different departments return at different speeds. Vision reports first, judgment arrives late, coordination loses its paperwork, and memory stands near the coffee maker asking whether today is Tuesday.