Word: follini
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Stefania Follini could be forgiven for losing track of time. On Jan. 13 the 27-year-old Italian interior designer descended into a cave near Carlsbad, N. Mex., where she was to live for more than four months as part of an experiment aimed at examining how the stresses of long-term isolation could affect space $ travel. Pioneer Frontier Explorations, an Italian research foundation, had selected Follini, one of 20 volunteers for the assignment, because she was judged to have inner strength and stamina. For 131 days she dwelled alone in a 20-ft. by 12-ft. Plexiglas module sealed...
...During Follini's subterranean stay, her sense of time had elongated. Her "day" extended to 25 hours, then to 48 hours. She tended to sleep for 22 to 24 hours, then burst into activity for up to 30 hours. She ate less frequently and lost 17 lbs. Her menstrual period stopped. In short, her internal biological clocks had gone out of whack...
...take their cue from temperature or barometric pressure, but many are synchronized with the cycle of light and darkness caused by the rising and setting of the sun. Experiments conducted in caves, like the one in New Mexico, and others in special laboratories purposely remove all such cues. In Follini's module the temperature was a constant 69 degreesF, and the only illumination was artificial. The aim of such experiments is to get the body to "free-run" and see what sort of patterns it establishes...
...conditions of Follini's underground life were extreme, but people's biological clocks can also be disrupted by the demands of everyday life. Jetting across time zones, working twelve-hour days or irregular shifts and even sleeping late can disturb biological rhythms and impair efficiency and judgment. Government officials and business leaders are routinely advised to recover from jet lag before starting negotiations...