In space, no one can hear you snore

Wake up, sleepyheads: This scene from Aliens shows Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, right) and her fellow space travellers waking up from cryosleep. Researchers are applying techniques used for trauma and heart attack patients to develop ‘low metabolic stasis’ systems that could be used in missions to Mars.

From Aliens to Interstellar, Hollywood has long used suspended animation to overcome the difficulties of deep space travel, but the once-fanciful sci-fi staple is becoming scientific fact.

The theory is that a hibernating crew could stay alive over vast cosmic distances, requiring little food, hydration or living space, potentially slashing the costs of interstellar missions and eradicating the boredom of space travel.