What makes us tick?
You share an ability with creatures large and small. Bats wake up to hunt because their clock tells them it’s dusk ― summer or winter, no matter. A white-crowned sparrow fattens for weeks ahead of migration time because his clock triggers. A honeybee knows the exact time to visit a particular flower ― when that flower is making nectar. Her “alarm” goes off and she flies to that flower to sip the sweet liquid. Biological clocks exist and you have one. Why you can set your alarm clock and wake up when you want takes us to the frontiers of knowledge. We barely understand how the clock works. According to experts, no study has rigorously investigated your question. So, I cannot answer your question completely but I can explain how bio clocks work and discuss an alarm system that bees learn. Perhaps your alarm system evolved from a similar need. Worker bees have no daily rhythm when they first emerge from their cocoons as adults. They work in the hive tending the queen, keeping house, and c
