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Insomniacs desperate for some zzzs may one day have a safer way to get them. Scientists have developed a new sleep medication that has induced sleep in rodents and monkeys without apparently impairing cognition, a potentially dangerous side effect of common sleep aids. The discovery, which originated in work explaining narcolepsy, could lead to a new class of drugs that help people who don't respond to other treatments. Between 10% and 15% of Americans chronically struggle with getting to or staying asleep. Many of them turn to sleeping pills for relief, and most are prescribed drugs, such as zolpidem (Ambien)...

Vice President Joe Biden spoke Friday at Davidson County Community College in North Carolina, WXII reports: The tour aimed to shine a spotlight on the importance of community colleges in the training of American workers. [...] President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal includes a new $8-billion Community to Career fund to forge partnerships between community colleges and businesses to provide training for workers. “Americans are tired of being tired,” Joe Biden said. “It’s clear that the American people have decided it’s time to get up. They’re tired of being told that we’re in a long, slow drift.”

For anyone who struggles to get a good night's rest, it could be a dream come true. Scientists have invented a technique which they say could help trigger deep sleep in the most chronic insomniac. Using medical equipment, they stimulated the brain with harmless magnetic pulses. These penetrate the nerves that control a type of deep sleep called "slow-wave activity" and made their brains produce these waves. More follows... Researchers believe the same principles could be used to create a machine which can electronically stimulate a deep-sleep power nap. This mimics the restorative benefits of eight hours of rest. Professor...