Oh man, a year underground? What do you do all that time? On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 9:15 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
> *Italian 'cave dweller' Montalbini dead at 56* > > ROME — Italian sociologist Maurizio Montalbini, who spent months dwelling > in caves to study how the mind and body cope with complete isolation, has > died at 56. > > Montalbini died of a heart attack Saturday while in a mountain hamlet near > the central Italian town of Macerata, said Guido Galvagno, a longtime > colleague. Galvagno said the death did not appear connected to Montalbini's > record-breaking cave stays. > > Montalbini spent a total of two years and eight months underground since he > started his experiments in the 1980s, according to a biography on his Web > site. > > In 1987 he claimed his first world record after spending 210 days alone in > a cave in the Apennine mountains. A year later he led an international team > of 14 spelunkers, including three women, to take the world group record with > an underground stay of 48 days. > > During his endurance experiments Montalbini subsisted mostly on a > high-calorie diet of powdered foods and pills similar to those used by > astronauts on space flights. Scientists on the outside monitored him through > instruments. > > Montalbini's biography says his experiments were done in collaboration with > NASA and top universities worldwide. They yielded insights on the effects of > long-term isolation including weight loss, changes in the perception of time > and in the sleep and menstrual cycles. > > For the sociologist, who worked with drug addicts before turning to > spelunking, the experiments were also a personal challenge of willpower and > endurance. > > "One cannot fight solitude, one must make a friend of it," he said after > his 1987 exploit. "I succeeded in doing this. I carried everything inside me > for seven months - affections, convictions, ideals." > > Montalbini broke his solo cave-sitting record in 1993 by living a year and > one day in an underground base built to study the reactions of individuals > and crews on simulated space missions. > > In his last experiment, which ran through 2006 and 2007, Montalbini spent > 235 days in the base built in the Apennine "Grotta Fredda" (Cold Cave). > > Montalbini, who had no children, is survived by his wife, Galvagno said. > > > http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iStdd5Es3GPzK-bsoZQCwsdh7-zAD9AR2T980 >
