A human guinea pig says she made friends with mice and learned some English during her 130 days in an underground cave.
Stefania Follini of Ancona, Italy, smiled and waved at reporters and well-wishers as she emerged Tuesday afternoon from Lost Cave, ending an experiment that began on Jan. 13 and was designed to help researchers study the effects of isolation.Would she do it again?
"Sure," said the 27-year-old interior decorator, who volunteered for the experiment.
Follini, who lost 17 pounds during her solitude and now weighs 90 pounds, appeared healthy and happy as she answered questions from reporters.
Although she had no contact with humans, except through computers, Follini said she didn't feel lonely during the experiment and adopted two cave mice as pets. She named them Giuseppe and Nicoleta.
"There was some difficulty in communicating with the mice," she said through an interpreter. "But I was always right."
The experiment was designed to resemble interplanetary travel. The University of Ancona in Italy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and several U.S. universities took part in the experiment.
Follini's only contact with the outside world was through computer terminals linked between her 10-foot-square plastic-enclosed underground habitat and the researchers' house trailer above the cave.
She had no clocks, her menstrual cycle stopped and she lost track of how many days had passed. When she was told Monday the experiment was almost over, she thought she had been in the cave about 80 days. She tended to sleep about 10 hours and stay awake 20 to 25 hours.
Three video cameras and microphones monitored Follini constantly. Only the bathroom was out of sight of cameras. She said she didn't mind the lack of privacy.
"I rarely thought about it," she said. "Sometimes I felt it was a strong presence, but generally I was not bothered by that."
When Follini climbed out of the cave into the midday sun, she appeared disoriented. But she quickly donned sunglasses handed to her, then grinned and waved at the 60 onlookers.
At the news conference, she said she thinks her isolation will make her more thoughtful, outgoing and decisive. And she said her outlook has improved.
"I consider myself more important," she said. "I love myself more and consequently I can love people and the world more."
Scientists plan to examine her intensively during the next few months to find out if her isolation affected her mentally and physically.
The researchers chose Lost Cave because it maintains a constant climate of 74 degrees and 99 percent humidity and is relatively close to Houston, home to NASA and many researchers.