Spanish climber Beatriz Flamini has completed her unique experiment. The woman set a world record for the time spent by a man in a cave all alone.
According to El Pais, the 49-year-old Flamini decided to take this step for the sake of scientific interest, and not for seclusion.
“The course of the test was carefully monitored by scientists exploring the possibilities of the mind. Every day of her stay in the cave was filmed, and a documentary film will be released based on her experience,” the newspaper writes.
A resident of Madrid went 70 meters underground on November 20, 2021, and came out almost a year and a half later.
“The woman announced her initiative on social networks a couple of days before the start of the experiment. Beatrice returned to the surface on April 14, 2023, having managed to celebrate her birthday alone.
The woman spent 509 days in the cave, or one year, four months, and 22 days.
Flamini said that this time flew by very quickly – the woman did not have time to finish some things.
“When they came for me, I was sleeping. I thought that something had happened. I asked: “Already? Really? I didn’t even finish my book,” Beatrice said.
In the cave, the woman was engaged in physical exercises, drawing, knitting hats, and reading books.
“She read 60 books and drank a thousand liters of water. The conditions of the experiment required that she be cut off from the outside world, but she had a computer and a router to send text and video messages. This also allowed people watching her to monitor the condition of the woman and her needs,” the source adds.
Food, batteries, light bulbs, and whatever else she needed were given to her by members of her caving team. They had agreed in advance on a place where they would leave the supplies so that she could pick them up. According to her, Flamini did not have a watch or any other device that would allow her to tell the time.
“The stated goal of the experimenter, who describes herself as a ‘mountaineer, elite athlete, mountaineer, and caver’, was to remain in the cave alone, in isolation, without reference to time, news or contact with the outside world. Sources from her team admit that she once had to briefly interrupt her experiment due to problems with “router noise in the brain” and spend six days outside the cave, contacting only one person who was checking her equipment.
After that, she returned to complete the adventure, the details of which will be reflected in the documentary. From the very beginning, the production company was behind the project,” the Spanish media added.
Flamini said that her team should not have contacted her under any circumstances, even in the event of the death of one of her relatives.
“I didn’t talk to myself out loud, but I had an internal dialogue and got along well with myself,” the Spaniard joked.
The woman admitted that immediately after leaving the cave she was going to have a delicious meal and take a long-awaited shower.
“The subject will be studied by a group of psychologists, researchers, cavers, and trainers who observed her physical and mental health during the experiment.
Underground experience will be analyzed by scientists. Psychology researchers will also “work” with Beatrice’s personality and her evolution, because she may have developed “her perception of time,” the publication concludes.
An invited representative of the Guinness Book of Records could not confirm the existence of a separate nomination for the time of voluntary stay underground. Therefore, it is not yet known whether Flamini set a world record or her achievement is unofficial.