Who’s that enjoying their hibernation?

The Swiss Post team behind the Swiss Crypto Stamp is full of life. The team doesn’t hibernate, as there’s lots of work to do before the upcoming launch of the fourth generation of Swiss Crypto Stamps.

Three successful Crypto Stamp series – three different approaches to inspiring collectors to buy digital stamps: Swiss Post’s stamps with the digital image are proving a big hit. Just a few stamps from the current series 3.0 are now still available. Crypto Stamps promote the stamp in the age of digital assets and enhance Switzerland’s image in the world. To ensure everything runs smoothly, the Swiss Crypto Stamp team isn’t sleeping and is gearing up for the launch.

Why hibernation is beneficial

Hibernation is a very deep sleep that lots of mammals fall into to protect against the cold and scarcity of food in winter. The animals live off reserves built up in summer. The body temperature drops to a minimum. Calorific consumption is just a fraction of that in summer. The breathing rate falls. When temperatures rise, the body releases more adrenaline again. Energy is then suddenly available, and the animals awaken.

There are two types of overwintering that are often incorrectly classified as hibernation. Some animals, like bears, enter a winter resting period, which simply means they sleep for very long periods and wake up to feed on stored supplies. In contrast, poikilothermic animals – which don’t have a constant body temperature – go into a state of torpor where they don’t move. If temperatures drop too much, there is a risk of them freezing to death.

So what about people?

Researchers in biology find hibernation behaviour in 11 out of 17 mammal orders. Is this ability slumbering within us humans? Scientific articles from Greece and Spain suggest an extinct previous line of humans hibernated around half a million years ago. Some observations indicate that humans have an energy-saving mode in times of need. This is called torpor – a lethargic state.

At the Berliner Charité, researchers discovered in 2023 that people’s sleeping patterns change in winter. REM sleep (when we dream) lasted 30 minutes longer than in summer amongst the participants in the trial – and total sleep time is about an hour longer in winter. Researchers concluded that people should adapt their lives more to the seasons.

In harmony with the changing of the seasons, the next Swiss Crypto Stamp project will awaken soon.