The very nature of being human means that we strive to understand the world around us. Scientists have long considered experiments the best way to test a hypothesis and draw a conclusion. Over the last century, scientists have begun to study sleep more and more. We know it’s necessary yet we don’t fully understand it.  Such a vital function could contain so many important discoveries that we haven’t yet come across.

In this infographic we look at some of the most bizarre sleep experiments. What were they, who ran them and why? Did we learn anything from them or did they go horribly wrong? For the Silo, Michael Brown.