Stefania Follini
Template:Short description Template:Infobox person 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.<ref name="New York 1">Template:Cite news</ref> 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".<ref name="Chicago 1"/> At that time, she was 27 years old.<ref name="Chicago 1"/>
Experiment
The scientific experiment commenced on January 13, 1989.<ref name="Chicago 1">Template:Cite news</ref> It was organised by Pioneer Frontier Explorations<ref name="Time 1">Template:Cite news</ref> and NASA.<ref name="AP 1"/> It took place in the "Lost Cave" in New Mexico.<ref name="Horrible 1"/> Inside her Template:Convert 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,<ref name="Horrible 1"/> and later on a 48-hour one.<ref name="Time 1"/> 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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a computer, two "friendly mice"<ref name="New York 1"/> named Giuseppe and Nicoletta,<ref name="AP 1"/> a few frogs,<ref name="Horrible 1"/> and grasshoppers.<ref name="Philly 1"/> During the course of the experiment, she was reported to have felt gloomy, with no human to cheer her.<ref name="Horrible 1">Template:Cite book</ref> Her only mode of communication was via the computer terminals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To curb her boredom, Follini would decorate the cave with cutouts made from cardboard.<ref name="Philly 1">Template:Cite news</ref>
With her slowed-down daily cycle, her meals were more spread out and she lost Template:Convert in weight.<ref name="Philly 1"/> Follini mostly fed on beans and rice, which partially resulted in her losing vitamin D.<ref name="AP 1">Template:Cite news</ref> She reported that at one point her menstrual cycle had stopped. She regularly did judo to maintain her strength and flexibility.<ref name="New York 1"/> When she finally emerged from the cave at the experiment's end on May 22, 1989,<ref name="People 1"/> and was asked to guess the date, she estimated that it was March 14<ref name="People 1">Template:Cite news</ref> or 15<ref name="AP 1"/> — only two months from the start of the experiment instead of the four that had actually transpired.<ref name="New York 1"/> She was described as "looking pale and thin" after coming out from the cave.<ref name="Chicago 1"/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>