Sleeping - Sleeping is a current recurring state characterized by reduced or absent of consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is also a heightened of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. It is observed in all mammals, all birds and many reptiles, amphibians and fish. The purposes and mechanisms of sleep are only partially clear and are the subject of intense research. Sleep is often thought to help conserve energy, but actually decreases metabolism only about 5-10%. Hibernating animals need to sleep despite the hypo-metabolism seen in hibernation and in fact they must return from hypothermia to eauthemy in order to sleep, making sleeping 'energetically expensive'