Humans are curious by nature, and when this curiosity crosses all limits, they do unthinkable things. One such thing happened in 1972 when a man went into a cave for six months to test how the human body responds when there is no way to know what time of the day is it. Does it sleep in the same cycle? Or, does it respond unexpectedly?

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French explorer Michel Siffre first went into a cave for two months in 1962. 10 years later, he took up the challenge again, but this time for six months. Siffre was 33 when he went inside the Midnight Cave, Texas in 1972 and wanted to learn what impact time has on the body and its human circadian rhythms and how is the sleep-wake cycle affected in the absence of knowledge about time.

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He kept in touch with a team on the outside who were instructed not to contact him. However, Siffre was free to reach out to them in case he needed to. Since he did not have a clock, he slept when he wanted to and woke up whenever his body felt it could. 

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Siffre has no idea of the length of his days, or how much he slept 

He conducted various experiments to know how his brain perceived time. He also worked to achieve the "48-hour sleep/wake cycle".

"I decided I would stay underground for six months to try to catch the forty-eight-hour cycle," he told Cabinet magazine in 2008.

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Siffre revealed that he did manage to reach the 48-hour cycle on two occasions. He said, "There were two periods where I caught the forty-eight-hour cycle—but not regularly. Siffre revealed that he would be awake for 36 hours at a stretch and then sleep for 12 hours. However, he obviously did not know about it when he was in the cave.

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His wake-sleep cycle was quite random most of the time. He said that sometimes he would sleep for two hours and sometimes for 18 hours. However, he could never tell if he had slept longer or for only a short duration. He did not know if he was experiencing a longer or a shorter day.

The experiment also took a toll on his mental health, as he recalled that he turned bitter from the isolation. 


Isolation hits scientists in Antarctica

Recently, a group of South African scientists stationed at a research base in Antarctica raised alarm after one of their colleagues allegedly attacked them and sexually assaulted another. Authorities are in touch with them to ensure their well-being. Being caught in a place where they have nowhere to go has created panic. 

Dion George, South Africa’s environment minister said that it might be a case of Cabin Fever. "You can imagine what it’s like, it is close quarters and people do get cabin fever. It can be very disorientating," he said.