Jet Lag? NASA Has an App for That.

Did you know that jet lag gets worse as you get older? Well, travelers, we can finally say “There’s an app for that” for jet lag; a new app uses data from NASA to create a screen-based solution to try and curb everyone’s least favorite travel accompaniment—the app gives you a “light” schedule to help.

NASA knows that jet lag can really screw a person up. The astronauts on the space station face a constant rotation of sunrises and sunsets, leading to a completely wacky sense of circadian rhythm. But they came up with a solution: take in bright light at certain times and avoid it at others.

Now, the everyday airline passenger can take advantage of NASA’s knowledge with a new app called Timeshifter. The app was based on the NASA plan and is designed to help people recover from jet lag as fast as possible. Here’s how it works: you put in your flight details, say whether you’re a morning person or night person, and make a mention of your sleep patterns. Then, voila—the app gives you a personalized jet lag plan to help you acclimate.

Timeshifter will tell you when to get bright light, when to sleep, when to find darkness, and more. The suggestions are designed to be easy to do and take little time.

“If you sit inside of a plane and it’s dark and you need to see bright light, all you need to do is look at an iPad or watch a movie or do some work,” Mickey Beyer-Clausen, Timeshifter’s CEO, told WIRED. “If you’re outside in the sun and you need to avoid light, you just put on your sunglasses. It’s very easy to be compliant with, and it’s only a few hours a day, depending on how many time zones.”