Dr Alf brings us an interesting post but there is an answer to the sleeping and working in air conditioning problem.

Air conditioned air produces positively charged ions which creates the soporific state that the Times of India article refers to.

The answer is carefully positioned ionisers which produce negatively charged ions to counteract the effects of the positively charged ions.

In my earlier worklife at GE Capital I used to sit in an air-conditioned office overlooking Piccadilly Circus in London.

I would walk down to Trafalgar Square in my lunch break and early in the morning before work and stand by the fountain. Fountains,waterfalls and fast running waters produce negative ions thus refreshing what would otherwise be a tired person and kick starting them into activity.

In Florida where I lived for a number of years in my earlier married incarnation I improved the sleeping arrangements with ionisers and attractive paddle fans to move the sultry air-conditioned air.

John Gelmini