A group of volunteers is preparing to live in complete isolation deep in a cave in southwest France for 40 days as part of a wide-ranging study into human behaviour.
The seven women and seven men taking part in the Deep Time project will survive in the depths of the cave system at Lombrives, Ariège, to study how humans manage and live together in completely unknown situations, and how the brain deals with time when there is no physical indication of its passage.
Scientists, psychologists, doctors, a nurse, a jeweller and a maths teacher are among the volunteers taking part in the experiment, led by Franco-Swiss researcher Christian Clot.
Alors que @Thom_astro se prépare pour repartir dans l'espace, nous allons avec #deeptime40 vivre 40 jours sous terre pour étudier la vie "sur une autre planète", hors du temps. Des missions complémentaires pour préparer notre futur, ici et dans l'espace.https://t.co/xhJ94Cv2kE pic.twitter.com/W3Gqpgxugy
— Christian Clot (@ChristianClot) March 1, 2021
Mr Clot said he had been considering such a study for several years, but decided the time was right to act after France went into confinement in March 2020 because of Covid-19.
The caves have sheltered humans for thousands of years. Traces of Neolithic life have been found there.
