"Deep Time", forty days under the ground

"Deep Time", deep time.This is the name given to the adventure attempted by fifteen volunteers, all confined without benchmarks at the bottom of an Ariège abyss to study the evolution of the biological rhythms of a small recluse community.In order to better prepare for future interplanetary expeditions, but also understand the loss of benchmarks heralding neurodegenerative diseases.

A few hours were enough for everyone to lose the concept of day and night.Very quickly, the rhythm is turned upside down.The band dislocates, disperses in clusters, according to the sleep phases of each.500 meters from the life camp, the lion gallery was fitted into a dormitory, sheltered from the ambient noise.Under a low vault, the tiny tents, equipped with summary camp beds, are planted on sandy and soft soil.It is forbidden to speak and wake up your neighbors.

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It was 8 pm, this Sunday, March 14, when the gate of the Lombrives cave, near Tarascon-sur-Ariège, closed on eight men and seven women, plunging them into an unprecedented adventure."Deep Time", or forty days of confinement at 400 meters underground deprived of natural light and temporal landmarks."Five thousand people climbed Everest;Five hundred joined the international space station;Nineteen have experienced out-of-time or two-time experiences, never in groups: you are the first!"Launched in a solemn tone Christian Clot, the chief of the expedition.

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Barda on the back for an hour of walking zigzaganous on a boxed ground, pockets of water, the adventurers crossed the hull, the "passage of the crime" - a narrow and low tunnel - leading to an impressive cathedral of rock.In a column, they faufiléed between the cascaces and the cold and dripping stalagmitic walls, cut in chimeras.Here, a witch with her hooked nose and her big hat;There, a giant mammoth.After 800 meters of hiking, they reached the belly of the earth, the gallery of the Grand Cemetery: their life camp.There is a gas stove, a library, a sink, folding chairs and one hundred and fifty cases.Almost 5 tonnes of equipment, including 1.5 tonnes of food, transported to the back of men.Fresh, canned, lyophilized products.A chocolate tablet per day and by participant, some candies and celebration menus for birthdays.This first evening, in a sound and warm atmosphere, around burgers and chips, excitement and emotion were palpable.

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Christian Clot imagined and mounted in record time - four months - this timeless experimentation.The Franco-Swiss explorer has braved the polar cold of Siberia alone, faced the Amazon jungle and the arid steppes of Patagonia, survived the burning heat of an Iranian desert ... Its only goal: "Scientifically question our adaptabilityFaced with crisis situations, ”he repeats.In order to expand the field of his research on human faculties of acclimatization to changes, he founded Human Adaptation Institute for four years ago."Deep Time" registers it as the last project, inspired by the world pandemic and its disturbing counterpouss that a Covadapt study, diligent by the Institute, noted.According to this survey carried out with thousands of people, 40 % of them said they had, over the confinements, lost the concept of time;69 % declared to experience a "weak to major" feeling of moral fatigue, and 26 % admitted mentally and morally, even exhausted.“Our goal is to understand the reactions of the human body without natural light, no watch, no knowledge of external events, adds Clot.Thus, we will observe live how our organism adapts when it is disoriented, how the brain reacts."And he underlines:" Never the impact of this type of temporal rupture on our cognitive and emotional functions had been studied by researchers.»»

Two bikes generate electricity: each person must pedal an hour a day to produce enough energy

However, they are not the first scientists to try isolation in a closed environment.In July 1962, Michel Siffre went down to the bottom of the Gouffre de Scarasson, on a glacier, in Italy.But Christian Clot pushes the experience even further, causing a whole group there.Aged 27 to 50 years old, volunteers were selected from 1,500 candidates, according to their physical and psychological skills, but also their motivations.There is Emilie, Martin, Marie-Caroline, Johan, Alexis, Margaux ... jeweler, resuscitator, rope, nurse, teacher.Or researcher, like François, 35, director of innovation and public affairs in the defense and reservist industry in the French army.In his 10-kilo bag authorized, a favorite knife and twelve books: historical novels, science fiction and a lot of essays."We live in a dictatorship of the emergency where we always have to go faster," he deplores.“Deep Time” is a break in this pressed world.Going against our society is what interested me: evolving, growing up, getting out of my comfort zone.It’s exhilarating to add a small stone to the building of a project that goes beyond us...»»

The heap of stones supposed to be the tomb built by Hercules, son of Zeus, for Pyrene, his love, watches over the new roommates of the cave.Just behind were installed dry toilets and sanitary facilities where hot water is rationed: 10 liters per person for forty days.Further on, the troubled waters of an underground lake. Un sentier longe les bords, serpente entre des blocs jusqu’à la « base scientifique»» où règne une obscurité totale.The cold stings the skins: it is between 10 and 12 ° C.And humidity, the rate of which is 95 %, infiltrates thermal clothes.An uncomfortable, unpleasant feeling that increases at night when the bodies stop ... guided by front lamps, the teammates enter their ephemeral laboratory, rudimentary hut sheltering a battery of instruments and technical devices.Outside the notebook, in a tent, the stored equipment;Next door, two electricity generators.Each person must pedal an hour a day to produce enough energy to work on the fifty scientific, French and international protocols, committed.Among the fields under study: cognition.It is a question of assessing how our brains apprehend time and its evolution in such circumstances.Since its new residence, the team also participates in research on epigenetics (the study of reversible changes in gene activity), psychiatry, psychology, sleep study, group sociology or evenAgronomy, ecology and geography. « Entre six et sept heures d’activité par jour sont prévues, dont deux consacrées aux travaux scientifiques»», estime Jérémy Roumian, directeur des opérations et des partenariats.

This human adventure is above all a scientific experience in vivo

In the common room, lit by a large ball of white light, paintings display the tasks and locate the participants."For practical and security reasons, insists Jérémy Roumian, everyone must say where they are.»» Quotidiennement, il faut aller puiser avec un seau 100 litres d’eau à 80 mètres de profondeur, dans un gouffre, puis en filtrer le calcaire.It is also necessary to evacuate almost 35 kilos of waste every day, because La Roche is quickly permeated ... After the first days, the group took its bearings.Some prepare meals;Others read, play chess or ping-pong, meditate.A voting booth, where you can confide in a camera, is available.Three team members improvise a concert with two guitars and a violin.Two others do fitness.Arnaud, a young biologist, celebrated his 30th birthday.Each minute is its share of unforeseen events.D and DIY system take precedence.Damien, a cordist, has the gift of knowing everything to repair everything, without ever losing his smile.Between these walls, patience is an asset.The hours pass and the conscience of time fades, says photographer Bruno Mazodier, present the first week.Analyzed by sensors placed above the eyes of the sleeping participants, the biological tempo of each has become sacred.Rest times shift.We then speak of cycle, the interval between the raising and the next awakening, around 24 hours.

This human adventure is above all a scientific experience in vivo.The teammates are closely monitored;their behavior, scrutinized.In the common room, 24 hours a day, two cameras record movements, interactions and distances to study sociability, withdraw.Christian Clot monitors his troop discreetly, tirelessly.Measures are taken regularly: temperature, heart rate, tension, etc..Participants are also punctually subject to detailed questionnaires.On the surface, around thirty specialists, including nine researchers (psychologists, biologist, doctor, ethologist, neurobiologist) and three speleologists, will study all the data collected at their exit.In forty days, the first results will be published. « Deep Time»» est un confinement poussé à l’extrême, le pire des scénarios envisagés.Shipping will be useful to understand new pandemics, but also to prepare space or submarines missions, assures Christian Clot."I hope," he said, "that we will provide concrete answers and solutions to the authorities.»» Lui vit cette aventure « comme un bond dans le futur»».Exhilarating but dizzying.