The cave scientist who revolutionized chronobiology leaves the world a remarkable scientific legacy

His scientific work has received international recognition.

A push to discover the human body

He had everything an adventurer had. Michel Sever's work in increasingly harsh conditions was a real contribution to research into the human body and more specifically to chronobiology.

In 1962, when he was only 23 years old, Michel Sèvres locked himself in the Scarasone chasm, in the Italian Alps, with a telephone line as his only means of communication with the outside world.

Her goal then was to study the biological rhythm of sleep without the influence of sunlight to see how it affected the body and brain as well. She then spent more than two months underground with no way to find her way in time.

In 1972, ten years later, he isolated himself again in a cave for 205 days in order to confirm the results of his previous experiment. This time, his work, also funded by NASA, was carried out in the United States, specifically in the Midnight Cave in Texas. When he emerged, 300 people were waiting for him.

Unconventional experiences

Speleologist Michel Siffre is said to have spent about a year underground during his lifetime, doing extensive work in caves. A scientist himself, he was used to risking his body to new experiments.

While underground, he faced ice, rockfalls, and constant humidity, but he also faced loneliness. The caver spent his days underground studying, keeping a diary, or even thinking about various geological questions, as he recounted in an article published in the journal the world.

Last unforgettable trip

Michel Siffre's last work was in 1999 in the Clamaus cave in Hérault. This allowed him to better understand the sleep cycle. Then, wanting to succeed in understanding “the effect of aging on biological rhythms”, he locked himself away for 69 days, and all information related to the caveman's health was monitored using computers. He was actually equipped with electrodes throughout his underground work, but he was also equipped with a probe that allowed his temperature to be measured, according to comments reported by the British newspaper “Daily Mail”. Released.

I am deeply saddened to learn of the disappearance of cave scientist Michel Siffre in Nice.

He was passionate about cave exploration from a young age and was a pioneer in underground confinement experiments, notably participating in an extreme experiment in 1962 in which he isolated himself from the world… pic.twitter.com/GtvQ0uORnq

– Charles Angie Ginesy (@ca_ginesy) August 25, 2024