A 2009 study examining the sleep/wake cycles of S. invicta found that the worker ants averaged a mammoth 253 sleep episodes ...

It's a cold, drizzly night in a forest west of Melbourne. I'm sitting on a damp log, clutching a thermos of lukewarm tea and watching a koala snooze on a branch above me. Suddenly, it lifts its head.

Once, conservationists relied on methods like listening for koalas – they make loud bellowing and growling noises – or using a spotlight at night to spot shining eyes. Today, methods like ...