Since last Saturday, the 15 volunteers of the Deep Time expedition have resurfaced after 40 days spent without a clock or light in the cave of Lombrives, in Ariège. The objective was to understand how humans adapt to extreme conditions. The Franco-Swiss shipper Christian Clot, at the origin of this experiment in which he took part, shares his impressions with us and specifies what the scientific repercussions of this adventure could be.
– Why Doctor – How are you at the end of these forty days without natural light and without time markers?
Christian Clot – I’m not bad, even if there is physical and mental fatigue. Considering the experience we’ve had, I’m doing very well. We have the impression of having been tossed between different worlds and territories. It was very intense.
– How did you react when it was announced to you, last Thursday, that the experiment was over and that you only had two days left before leaving the cave?
It was a huge surprise. No one expected the experiment to end so quickly. For us, we had been in the cave for 30 days. We had lots of plans, things to do. There was great confusion. It felt like something was being taken away from us. There was a lot of sadness when leaving. Some had clung to the cave and did not want to leave it. Besides, hardly anyone wanted to go out. Seeing the sun, the sky and the birds again, obviously it did us good but we still have a taste of unfinished business.
WE LIVED 40 DAYS UNDERGROUND!
My team and I left the Grotte de Lombrives this Saturday, where we lived for 40 days with no indication of time! pic.twitter.com/EFtilbvkLk— Christian Clot (@ChristianClot) April 25, 2021
– What was left for you to do?
We still had a lot of work to do to finish visiting the cave. We still had expeditions planned to discover certain corners. We also did a lot of work listing all the wall inscriptions and cleaning up, but all of that wasn’t finished. Everyone was engaged and so we wanted to finish it.
– How did you count the days?
We considered that a cycle represents a day of 24 hours. This cycle lasted from waking up to when we went to bed and, therefore, each awakening corresponded to a new cycle. The problem is that without a way to tell the time, it’s impossible to know how long each night lasted.
– How did you spend your days?
They were divided into three major activities. First there was all the scientific work with lots of protocols and tests to go through individually or in groups. Then there was all the work in the cave: listing the wall inscriptions, making the 3D topography of the cave, cleaning it, listing the insects, taking care of the plants that we grew and the management of the camp and food. Finally, there was the free time that we occupied with reading, discussions, visiting the cave, games… of leisure are more important than in normal times!
– What was the hardest part?
There really hasn’t been one thing harder than another. The 10 degree temperature and 100% humidity were not easy on the body. Many participants felt cold. The first night was difficult because we didn’t know what time it was. Then it went very well.
– What was the scientific objective of the expedition?
We are working on adapting to new life constraints, on changing our way of life. We want to understand how this happens, is there one way to fit or multiple ways? We want to make live lots of different experiences to know if the same adaptive process starts each time or if it differs.
In this specific case, there was also a question of synchronicity of the group from which we removed the major markers of everyday life. We wanted to know what happens when these markers are removed. Since the start of the health crisis, we have been following several thousand French people through the Covaadapt study. We realized the loss of notion of time, that people could no longer project themselves. The confinements have had a strong impact on our relationship to time. I wanted to go further and set up an expedition in which the participants are immersed in a new territory of life and devoid of time markers.
– What did the tests consist of?
We have been following the participants for 2 years. Originally, we were to take them to four different places, for 30 days each time, with different climatic conditions. I reassigned this team to the Deep Time mission. Further tests were carried out before entering the cave with MRIs, genetic tests, lifestyle questionnaires… There was then a battery of examinations in the cave and at the exit. Each member of the expedition is followed intensively for 40 days and over a period of two years to study their rehabilitation.
In the cave there were three large test groups. First there were the objective examinations where data was collected with different devices to obtain maximum information about our movements, our sleep, etc. Then, each participant had to indicate everything he was doing, the emotions that this gave him and the perceptions he had of it. We clearly saw, when the end of the mission was announced, the gap between the perception of our sleep and reality. Finally, higher level tests were carried out. There was a specific dedicated place with computers to collect precise data on the decision-making process, smells, touch… We also took blood samples to obtain information on biology and genetics.
– What will be the applications of this scientific data?
There are two levels: in general, how a human group is able to recreate a functioning system in a new environment, how people work together and organize themselves. Then there is a more concrete application to prepare for future lunar and Martian expeditions. The experience is almost analogous and we are in contact with CNES and, more sporadically, NASA. The results may also be useful for those who work in similar conditions such as miners or submariners.
– When will we know the results?
I’m hopeful that we’ll get the first results out, especially the cave-only ones, by the end of the year. For social science work, such as group coordination and social functioning, this can happen as early as fall. For biological evolution and situational perceptions, it will take more time because these are complex analyses.
– Are new experiences planned?
We are going to resume what we had originally planned, which is to send these volunteers to four different climatic situations for 30 days and study their reactions. More generally, the mission of Deep Time must be renewed. We cannot get definitive results on just one group. I would like to do it but I also hope that other scientific teams will do it to compare.
– What do you remember of these 40 days?
It was important to mount this experiment now. We saw with the curiosity it aroused that the French need us to give them hope. We realized this in the cave: a human group does not function well if it has no goal, no hope. It is important to create things despite the current situation so as not to give up. Many of us, and I was one of them, have grown plants. Every morning, I went to turn on the lights so that they had light and I turned it off when I went to bed. When the first shoots, which we did not imagine possible in such an environment, appeared, it gave us a lot of happiness. Finding reasons to like something to give yourself the willpower is something that works.
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