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Not My Job: We Quiz Nobel Prize-Winning Scientist Michael Rosbash On Barflies

Jonathan Nackstrand
/
AFP/Getty Images

Most animals on earth sleep during the night and are awake during the day, except for the other animals that do the opposite, like raccoons (and Elvis Presley). But why? How do animals set their internal clocks? It was a mystery for centuries, but now we know thanks to Michael Rosbash and his colleagues, who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Medicine for figuring it out.

Rosbash's crew used fruit flies for their research on circadian rhythms, so we asked him three questions about barflies — the people who seem to spend both days and nights perched on bar stools.

Click the listen link above to see how he does.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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