Shafted

The 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for over a month now have a lifeline to the surface but it's only 3.19 inches wide and life underground comes with its own peculiar set of hazards.

From Newsweek...

Decades of research has shown the human body is built to function on the rhythm of the rising and setting sun. If sunlight doesn’t tell our brains when we should be asleep—and if we don’t eat, exercise, and sleep on a fairly regular daily schedule—humans can develop all sorts of health problems over time. Disruptions to our body’s 24-hour clock can impair motor skills. They can make us irritable or depressed. To feel the effects of those disruptions each day would be like trying to live life in a constant state of jet lag.

All of this is bad news for doctors trying to care for the men trapped 2,230 feet underground. To be sure, some of the potential problems for the men have easy fixes: a 3.19-inch-wide supply line provides them with food, water, and nutritional supplements such as vitamin D, which can replace the nutrients they are not getting from sunlight. But the physical and psychological toll of the darkness is harder to combat.

What else goes down that hole?

Quite a bit. From Newsweek's Infographic...


P.S. They are now getting two packs of cigs a day to share. No news on the red wine but today's the day if they're going to get it.