Stefania Follini
Born (1961-08-16) August 16, 1961
NationalityItalian
OccupationInterior designer
Known forSpending 130 days in isolation in a cave for an experiment on circadian rhythms

Stefania Follini (born 16 August 1961) is an Italian interior designer. She is known for being involved in a 1989 experiment on circadian rhythms, in which she voluntarily isolated herself for four months in an underground room thirty feet down a cave in Carlsbad, New Mexico, away from all outside indications of night and day.[1] The experiment lasted from January 13, 1989, until May 22, 1989. In total, Follini spent some 130 days in the cave, thus breaking the women's world record for longest cave isolation.

Career

Hailing from Ancona, Italy, Follini worked as an interior decorator. Out of 20 candidates, Follini was chosen for the experiment because she possessed an "introspective nature" and "mental discipline".[2] At that time, she was 27 years old.[2]

Experiment

The scientific experiment commenced on January 13, 1989.[2] It was organised by Pioneer Frontier Explorations[3] and NASA.[4] It took place in the "Lost Cave" in New Mexico.[5] Inside her 20-by-12-foot (6.1 by 3.7 m) acrylic glass room, away from all cues to the normal 24-hour daily cycle, her biological clock drifted away from its regular rhythm to following first a 28-hour day,[5] and later on a 48-hour one.[3] She started staying awake for up to more than twenty hours and sleeping up to ten hours at a time. Her only companions were her guitar,[6] a computer, two "friendly mice"[1] named Giuseppe and Nicoletta,[4] a few frogs,[5] and grasshoppers.[7] During the course of the experiment, she was reported to have felt gloomy, with no human to cheer her up.[5] Her only mode of communication was via the computer terminals.[8] To curb her boredom, Follini would decorate the cave with cutouts made from cardboard.[7]

With her slowed-down daily cycle, her meals were more spread out and she lost 17 pounds (7.7 kg) in weight.[7] Follini mostly fed on beans and rice, which partially resulted in her losing vitamin D.[4] She reported that at one point her menstrual cycle had stopped. She regularly did judo to maintain her strength and flexibility.[1] When she finally emerged from the cave at the experiment's end on May 22, 1989,[9] and was asked to guess the date, she estimated that it was March 14[9] or 15[4] — only two months from the start of the experiment instead of the four that had actually transpired.[1] She was described as "looking pale and thin" after coming out from the cave.[2] Having spent about 130 days in the cave, she broke the world record for women for the most number of days spent in isolation in a cave.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "After 130 Days of Cave Life, A Return to Glare of the Sun". The New York Times. May 24, 1989.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Weingartem, Paul (May 24, 1989). "No Light, Voices For 131 Days, But The Mice Were Friendly". Chicago Tribune.
  3. 1 2 Toufexis, Anastasia (June 24, 2001). "The Times of Your Life". Time. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Allen, Caroline (June 7, 1989). "AFTER 130 DAYS IN A CAVE, ITALIAN WOMAN SAYS SHE'D RETURN". Associated Press.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Arnold, Nick (2009). Horrible Science: The Terrible Truth About Time. Scholastic. p. 28.
  6. ↑ "No Outside Link : Time Flies for Isolation Researcher". The Los Angeles Times. May 16, 1989.
  7. 1 2 3 "Woman Emerges After 130 Days Alone In A Cave". Philly.com. May 24, 1989.
  8. ↑ "Isolation Researcher Loses Track of Time in Cave". The New York Times. May 17, 1989.
  9. 1 2 Allis, Tim; Haederle, Michael (June 12, 1989). "Ace in the Hole Stefania Follini Never Caved in". People.
  10. ↑ "Cave woman ending her isolation". Daily News. May 23, 1989. p. 7.
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