There is more than one way to extend the total work and leisure enjoyed during one’s life. In addition to living longer, one can sleep less if it doesn’t degrade the rest of the hours. Not too much research on the latter. Here’s a gem in this week’s Economist; the good news:

With the help of Chiara Cirelli, who also works at the University of Wisconsin, Dr Tononi has created a mutant fruit fly that sleeps only two or three hours a night. (A normal fly sleeps between eight and 14 hours.)

The bad news:

…though the mutant fly is capable of learning things, it forgets them within minutes. Healthy flies retain learned information for hours or even days.

Would you trade your memory like in Johnny Mnemonic, Memento or Paycheck for an extra six hours every day? It’s like living an extra 25 years.