As if you needed another reason to love naps, research out of the University of Lubeck in Germany indicates that your memories develop better during sleep. Gawker reports:

"A group of scientists at the University of Lubeck think that taking a short nap after learning information speeds up the process by which information is retained. In an experiment, the researchers had two groups of people memorize one set of illustrated cards, and then, after a 40-minute interval, learn another set of cards. Both groups were then tested on the first set. As you might imagine, one group napped during the break, while the other stayed awake. And guess what? The lazy, sleepy group did better."

Lazy sleepiness for the win! The AFP reports:

The best way to not forget a newly learned poem, card trick or algebra equation may be to take a quick nap, scientists surprised by their own findings reported. In experiments, researchers in Germany showed that the brain is better during sleep than during wakefulness at resisting attempts to scramble or corrupt a recent memory. Their study, published in Nature Neuroscience, provides new insights into the hugely complex process by which we store and retrieve deliberately acquired information -- learning, in short. The positive impact of short periods of sleep on memory consolidation could have implications for memory-intensive activities such as language training."

This does not explain why my repeated efforts to learn French have made me sleepy. But it does mean that naps plus French class may be a winning combination. Vive le petit somme! What's your fave reason to take a nap? What excuse do you use for napping? What activity absolutely puts you to sleep? Post a comment below and let us know.