Volunteers who isolated themselves for 40 days in a cave to study a loss of sense of time and space
The 40-day experiment, conducted in France, sought to test the limits of human adaptability in conditions of isolation
A group of French volunteers emerged from a cave after spending 40 days in a study that explored the limits of human adaptability.
The 15 participants were living in the Lombrives cave in southwest France, without phones, watches or sunlight, as part of the experiment.
They slept in tents, generated their own electricity and had no contact with the outside world.
- The aim of the project was to test how people react when they lose their sense of time and space.
The scientists who supervised the project entered the cave a day earlier to say that the experiment was almost complete.
The group left voluntary isolation amid applause. Many smiled, but some had a confused face. They wore sunglasses to allow their eyes to adjust to the sunlight.
Volunteers wore sunglasses to protect themselves from sunlight
The explorer and scientist Christian Clot (center) is the project leader
The project director, Franco-Swiss explorer Christian Clot, said that time seemed to pass more slowly inside the cave.
A volunteer, Marina Launchon, 33, explained that the experiment "was like pushing a pause button" in life.
During isolation, the group had to organize different tasks - but they had no parameters to measure the time for each task.
Instead, they had to rely on their biological clocks and sleep cycles to structure their days.
They had few modern products at their disposal. For example, the volunteers had to produce their own electricity with a generator pedal and draw water from a well 45 meters deep.
Most volunteers agreed that time seemed to pass more slowly inside the cave
Scientists say the project will help them understand how people can adapt to live in extreme conditions.
Before the volunteers entered the cave, their brain activity and cognitive functions were analyzed and will be used in further comparative studies.
The purpose of the study is of particular relevance during the coronavirus pandemic, a time when containment measures put millions of people in isolation.
"Our future as humans on this planet will evolve," said Clot. "We must learn to better understand how our brains can find new solutions, whatever the situation."
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