Life/Sleep cycles for a 36/hr (rotation) day inhabitable planet

It is interesting to think about. To me, it seems our brains adjust themselves to daytime, and night-time hours, and basically have 2 cycles to go through each day. Is this an inherited trait that has just been the same because of the amount of time we have for our days and nights on Earth? If we all packed up for a new planet that was sustainable, but with a slower rotation, giving us, let's say, 36 hour days. Would our bodies adjust to the difference in time (be it over the course of a few years, or an extended period of time of 50-???'s of years) to the point for us to actually be active for at least 25-30 hours per day? If so, would our sleep cycle need to increase? Would our repair mechanisms increase in efficiency? Or would we stay the same, and have to have 2 rest periods a day? Your thoughts...

Hmm... Good question. Another question to add to that would be; do we slow our seconds down to match the timing of the new planet, so we still have 24 hour days, just slower than Earth's 24 hours?

That might be easier to adapt to. I think we would have trouble, anyway, because evolution has us used to the length of the days here on Earth.

I think the organism would adjust to it eventually, and i don't see why other life could not grow into this cycle from the start either..

At the end of the day, you will still be governed by light and dark. Your body needs the two to be complete and functional. But changing from one system to another would probably be a shock, but definatly possible i imagine.

It's definitely an inherited trait, a biological circadian rhythm. Most humans seem to actually settle into a 25-hour day in a laboratory setting deprived of any time clues.

Originally posted by Quasar
Hmm... Good question. Another question to add to that would be; do we slow our seconds down to match the timing of the new planet, so we still have 24 hour days, just slower than Earth's 24 hours?

That's pretty crazy as well. Slowing the seconds down marginally, and gradually seems like it would be easier for the human to adapt to. Our workdays would go by so slow!

Well since 24 and 36 are multiples of 12 you could have a couple 'regular' days in a row, and then a couple 'long' days so that for every 21 day Earth cycle you'd have:

Earth cycle - 21 days
Mars cycle - 11 days
Hybrid cycle - 14 days, including 8 normal days and 6 'long' days.

Of course this might only work for a while. It might necessitate breaking the long days into two short days.

I'd think they'd still calculate hours in Earth time, with a 'Mars Time' Clock next to it. Probably use Military time - going from 0000 hrs to 3600 hrs. People would probably run 6 hour shifts, on one, off two. Increase the duty pay and everyone's happy.

For ex:
0-6hrs on
6-18 hrs off
18-24 hrs on
24-36 off

Thing is people are very adaptable, though it's true, some people become ill doing night shift work; others seem to thrive.

There might need to be some technology breakthroughs, use of Melatonin, and Bright Light Therapy.

Originally posted by SpadeofAces
Our workdays would go by so slow!

Yeah, it would be equivelant to an a 12 hour work day. I think the second hand goes around slow enough. Imagine adding an extra half second to that second hand!

[edit on 31-7-2007 by Quasar]

Originally posted by djohnsto77
It's definitely an inherited trait, a biological circadian rhythm. Most humans seem to actually settle into a 25-hour day in a laboratory setting deprived of any time clues.

Curiously, approximately the same length as a Martian day. It's as if we originally evolved on Mars or something.

I agree with Simon that we’d probably settle into the 36-hour day based on the new sunlight/darkness cycle.

As to how we’d change timekeeping… I think we’d best leave the second, minute and hour alone (so that measurements such as feet-per-second and miles-per-hour don’t change meaning). Just make timepieces that have 36 hours to the day.

I know I would adjust to sleep longer and be awake longer. I think it depends on the persons personality. Being a night person, I would have more hours to sleep, and maybe become a morning person. I were a Morning person, I might become a Night person due to more sleep. I think all people, due to more sleep, would benefit and probably be both morning and night people. I guess such a planet could only help the human species as we have adapted to our Earth hours. (Jet lag being an example of the effects.) I suppose that due to more sleep, people would have more energy and healthier. hmmm, sign me up, I'm tiered of 5 hour night sleeping.

A persons circadian rhythm can easily be changed to match a different day/night cycle. It's one of the devices that are used to extract information from prisoners. By altering the light /dark cycle of their enviroment, time is stretched or compressed at the whim of the interrogator. Thus a day can become two, or two days can become one.
If it works in this situation, I'm fairly certain that unfettered people could adapt to a 36 hr rotation without too many problems.