Fifteen people have emerged from a French cave after spending 40 days in voluntary isolation with no sense of time or date.
The eight men and seven women who took part in a scientific experiment emerged from their self-segregation in the Pyrenees on Saturday morning.
With big smiles on their pale faces, the 15 participants left the Lombrives cave to a round of applause and basked in the light of day while wearing special glasses to protect their eyes after so long in the dark.
Members of the French team that participated in the Deep Time study (Renata Brito/AP)
“It’s really warm!” said one.
Updated / Saturday, 24 Apr 2021
14:37
The volunteers spent 40 days in the cave system
A group of 15 French volunteers have left a cave where they had stayed for 40 days, in an experiment examining the limits of human adaptability to isolation.
Dazzled by the light and with pale faces but otherwise healthy, the group led by French-Swiss explorer Christian Clot emerged from the Lombrives cave in Ariege, southwest France.
The underground isolation experiment saw the subjects, aged between 27 and 50, give up watches, phones and natural light, exchanging modern comforts for a cave system with a constant 12 Celsius temperature and 95% humidity.
Members had to generate their own electricity with a pedal bike and draw water from a well 45 metres below the earth.
Ever wonder what it would feel like to unplug from a hyperconnected world and hide away in a cave for a few weeks? Fifteen people in France found out.
After 40 days in voluntary isolation in a dark, damp and vast cave, eight men and seven women who took part in a scientific experiment emerged on Saturday from their self-segregation in the Pyrenees.
With big smiles on their pale faces, the 15 participants exited the Lombrives cave to a round of applause and basked in the light of day while wearing special glasses to protect their eyes after so long in the dark.
LOMBRIVES CAVE, France - Ever wonder what it would feel like to unplug from a hyperconnected world and hide away in a cave for a few weeks? Fifteen people in France found out.