A group of French volunteers emerged from a cave after passing 40 days subjected to a study that explored the limits of human adaptability in isolation conditions.
The 15 participants lived in the Lombrives cave in southwestern France without telephones, watches or sunlight.
They slept in tents, generated their own electricity and had no contact with the outside world.
The aim of the project was to test how people respond when they lose their sense of time and space .
The so-called Deep Time experiment culminated on Saturday, with the exit of the cave of eight men and seven women, aged between 27 Y 50, who had taken part.
The scientists supervising the project entered the cave a day earlier to tell them that the experiment was about to end.
Smiling, but looking confused, the group left voluntary isolation amid applause. They wore dark glasses to allow your eyes to adjust to the sunlight.