New York gets to bed earlier than other major cities
So much for "the city that never sleeps." Jawbone makes a smart bracelet called UP that tracks your every step — literally — as well as the details about when you go to bed and rise. The point of the bracelet is to help people improve their health, but it also provides Jawbone with a treasure trove of data, as company data analyst Brian Wilt notes at the Jawbone blog.
Wilt uses this data to study cities, each of which, he says, has "a distinct 'thumbprint,'" a "unique way its citizens live their lives." He and his colleagues created unique data maps for New York and 20 other U.S. cities, plus some major metro areas around the world. Of these cities, Tokyo gets the least sleep (5 hours, 44 minutes), Australia gets the most (Melbourne: 6 hours, 57 minutes) and goes to bed the earliest (Brisbane, 10:57 pm), and Moscow is the last to bed (12:46 am) and last to rise (8:08 am).
But then Wilt narrows it down to seven of the world's largest cities — New York, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow, Dubai, and Madrid — and creates this chart:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"New Yorkers work hard and play hard, and they're the first to bed and among the first to rise," Wilt explains. If you click over to the site, the chart is interactive. And the city that never sleeps? Dubai, apparently. Granted, this is a self-selected sample of people who buy smart bracelets, but perhaps somebody should rewrite the lyrics of "New York, New York"?
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published