A group of people lived in a deep cave for 40 days. What happened to them?

In mid-March 2021, a group of 15 peopleman sank to the depths of the French cave Lombrivs. This was done as part of the Deep Time experiment, the organizers of which wanted to find out how quickly people can get used to the conditions of complete isolation. During their stay inside the cave, the volunteers were completely cut off from the outside world, generated electricity using a pedal bike and extracted water from a well 45 meters deep. Sensors were attached to their bodies that sent information about their health to doctors outside. The experiment lasted exactly 40 days and during this time the scientists collected a lot of interesting data, and the participants gained experience and talked about their impressions. In the future, researchers will publish a detailed report on the reaction of the human body to complete isolation, but for now let's talk about what is known at the moment.

Participants in the Deep Time experiment see sunlight for the first time. They had to wear safety glasses

Is it possible to live in a cave?

The Deep Time Experiment began on March 14, 2021.Within its framework, a group of 15 people, which consisted of eight men and seven women, plunged into the depths of the Lombrives cave in southwestern France. Inside it, 3 rooms were made in advance for living, sleeping and conducting research. Volunteers slept in tents and regularly conducted scientific experiments - this was important for their involvement in the mission. The group of people was accompanied by the Swiss adventurer Christian Clot, so everything worked out well. The experiment was completed on April 24, 40 days after its start.

Deep Time group before the experiment

According to Science Alert, due to the lack ofsunlight volunteers very quickly lost track of time. According to one of the participants in the experiment, they allegedly stayed underground for no more than a month, but only about 23 days. They were also heavily influenced by the complete absence of smartphones and other electronic devices. Experiment participant Marina Lancon shared that they seemed to pause life:

For the first time in our life, we had free time, and we could pause to truly live and complete our tasks. That was great.

However, despite the good impressions, the womanglad to see sunshine again and to hear birds singing. For a while after going outside, people had to wear sunglasses so that their eyes could get used to the light. At the moment, it is impossible to say exactly what happened to their organisms during their stay in isolation. The staff of the Institute for Human Adaptation, who are the main organizers of the experiment, have combined the collected data and are currently studying it. After a while, they will be able to share the results in one of the scientific journals. If something interesting is found, I will definitely write about it - subscribe to the Telegram channel so as not to miss out on fresh material.

Group after returning to the surface

See also: Why do young people and adults feel loneliness differently?

The consequences of isolation

Now we can only say that living in a cavewithout access to communication and light it is quite possible. At least a month in such conditions, something terrible is unlikely to happen to a person. However, in the long term, living in the dark can lead to serious health problems because sunlight affects:

• muscle growth and development of the whole organism as a whole;
• work of the cardiovascular system;
• the work of the immune system;
• metabolism.

Also, don't forget that sunlight is important.for the production of vitamin D and strongly affects the mood - the lighter, the better a person feels. Earlier, I talked about poker player Rich Alati, who once had to sit all alone in a dark room for a month. He began to sleep worse, see hallucinations and experience other unpleasant consequences.

Rich Alati during the experiment

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Lack of communication with civilization is also capable ofcause serious problems. In the course of numerous studies, it has been proven that lack of communication can cause depression - you can read about what it is and why it needs to be treated here. However, remoteness from civilization is useful because a person cannot read news that can harm the psyche.