WIKIMEDIA, KAZUYANAGAE
Most animals have internal clocks that track the time of day, sending molecular signals for activity or rest accordingly. Two environmental cues that the body clock tracks are light and temperature, but when those cues don’t rise and fall together as they do in nature, the body clock can be thrown out of order.
In a study published in Cell Reports today (November 8), University College of London researchers monitored the behavior of fruit flies while subjecting the insects to different cycles of light and temperature. For some of the flies, light and heat varied together, with 12 hours of warm brightness and 12 hours of cooler darkness. For other flies, the cycles were off by anywhere from two to 10 hours.
When the cycles ...
