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15 individuals became literal cavemen after they lived in a dark cave for 40 days without any exposure to time.
As part of a human isolation experiment called "Deep Time", the group consisting of eight men and seven women lived from the Lombrives caves in the southwest of France with no phones, clocks, or exposure to sunlight – completely ensuring that they lost all track of time during the duration of their stay.
The experiment – which was led by the Human Adaption Institute and cost US$1.4 million to set up – was done to examine the limits of how much a human can adapt to isolation. It ended on April 24, 2021.
During their time in the cave, the volunteers were made to sleep in tents, and drew water from a well located 146 below the surface. They also created their own electricity by using a pedal bike attached to a generator. Inside the cave, the group had to acclimatize to an average temperature of 10 degrees Celsius and a humidity level of 100 percent.
Participants of the project navigating their way inside the cave. IMAGE: The Guardian
To monitor their vitals and behavior, scientists from France and Switzerland had the team members use sensors to monitor metrics such as their sleep patterns and social behavior.
One such sensor came in the form of a pill, which when swallowed, would measure the individual's body temperature and relay the information to a computer until the pill was removed naturally via defecation.
And with the whole objective of the experiment being to test their adaptability to isolation, the group had to rely entirely on their biological clocks to know when to perform their daily bodily functions, such as eating, sleeping, exercising, and doing tasks.
IMAGE: NZ Herald
Also, the group had zero communication with the outside world, and had no cellphones and electronics to use throughout the entire 40 days.
With such conditions, the group eventually lost all sense of time despite trying their hardest to count the days using the number of sleep cycles.
Completely disoriented.
By the end of it all, many of the participants had no bearing on how much time had passed at the end of the experiment. Some thought that they had only been in the cave for 23 days.
The group emerged from the cave on April 24 – all wearing special glasses to protect their eyes after being in the dark for so long, and were given a round of applause by onlookers waiting for them outside
Recounting their individual experiences, some team members revealed some things that they did to keep themselves fit and sane.
The group emerging from the cave after 40 days. IMAGE: Business Insider
John Francois – a mathematics teacher and sailing instructor – said that he'd run 10,000 meter circles in the cave to stay fit, although he had deep urges to leave the cave at times.
He said that the experience was unique for him because there were no obligations for the group other than to live and enjoy the present without worrying about the future.
Project director Christian Clot – who was also part of the group in the cave – said that it was interesting to observe how a group without any sense of time would come together to complete tasks and objectives. Without having ways of telling the time, they had to find other methods to schedule meetings and set up rosters for duties.
The participants gathered outside the cave to recount their experiences. IMAGE: The Guardian
Interestingly enough, many of the participants admitted that they'd enjoyed their time in the cave, with about two-thirds of the group saying that they would have like to remain in the cave for a little longer to finish up some of the projects they'd started whilst down there.
"Our future as humans on this planet will evolve," he said after completing the 40-day challenge. "We must learn to better understand how our brains are capable of finding new solutions, whatever the situation?"
What about you? Does the prospect of being placed in a cave without any sense of time or daylight scare you or excite you? Do you think you'd be able to keep yourself physically and mentally fit in such conditions for 40 days?
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Cover image sourced from All Andorra and Business Insider.
