Could a jumping spider have an inner life after lights out? Dr Samantha Yammine gets to the evidence behind the dream question, starting with a researcher who noticed something odd on her windowsill.
Spiders in jars were hanging upside down, going still at roughly the same time each day. That could look like ordinary rest. What made the observation worth taking from the windowsill into the yard and the laboratory?
The answer sits in a part of the body associated with some very human nighttime activity. But recognising a sleep pattern and knowing what happens inside a spider are different achievements. A twitching dog, a remembered experience, a possible dream: how far can the resemblance carry the explanation?
Topics: jumping spiders, animal dreams, REM-like sleep, memory consolidation, consciousness
GUEST: Dr Samantha Yammine | http://samanthayammine.com | @science.sam
Originally aired on2026-10-29
