Archive Gallery: The Science of Sleep

PopSci rounded up a veritable who's who of sleepwalkers for this story on somnambulism, or activities performed by sleeping people. Here are some of the most fantastic tales:

• The Russian banker who, while awake, decided not to take a risk by purchasing part of an oil company. His sleeping self, however, had a different plan, and wrote a letter instructing his agents to invest heavily. He made $2.5 million.
• The woman who hid her diamond ring from herself while she was hypnotized.
• The man who went to sleep with paper and a pencil and woke up to a "perfectly coherent essay." Important: this man's name is Dr. John D. Quackenbos.
• The man who couldn't swim while he was awake, but regularly traversed a two-mile wide river in his sleep.

We also noted that "somnambulism is generally confined to children or to the youthful - in other words, to those happy people who still preserve illusions." In other words, if you want to write essays in your sleep, be sure never to lose your childlike sense of wonder.

Read the full story in Minds That Work While Bodies Sleep.