Locals from a village north of the Arctic Circle in Sommarøy , Norway , convenedat a town hallmeetinglast week to do out with clockwork constructions and live a life gratis of time – or at least , the pattern of continue track of the ever - present tick tock that chases us to our grave .
In this fishingvillage , the Sun never sets between May 18 and July 26 . Then , from November to January , the Sun never rises . The lack of a day / night cycle has the islanders asking for an prescribed time - free zona .
" During summertime , the sun does not set for 69 days , " Norwegian Kjell Ove Hveding , one of the key island-dweller behind the initiative on Sommarøy , told IFLScience . " The midnight sun of Northern Norway changes the way we do and interact with each other , and it ’s for the better . It does n’t make gumption to talk about fourth dimension zone , daytime savings fourth dimension , dark , or anything like that . "
They say they hope the musical theme inclose flexibility into their subroutine , although how on the dot it would differ from what they do already stay on to be seen .
" If you want to paint your house at ‘ 2 am ’ it ’s okay , " said locals in a videostatementon their Facebook page . " If we desire to trim the Gunter Grass at ‘ midnight ’ , we will . If we want to take a swim at ‘ 4 am ’ , we will . For these 70 days , fourth dimension just is no object to us . That ’s why we want to be officially recognized as the world ’s first time - free zona . "
" Moreover , the youngster of Sommarøy generally do n’t have peculiar bedtime or dinner times during summertime , " supply Hveding . " And our island ’s fishermen and women stay out on the ocean as long as they require , with no estimate of what time it is . In this surround , clock are an unnecessary pain . "
It ’s a quirky theme to be sure and by all odds an interesting experiment , but logistical challenges have been raised . How would the education and transportation systems operate on an island with 300 citizenry ? Even if some local anaesthetic have a flexible work agenda , what about those that run stores or pharmacies ? How would locals catch a flying out of town without clock time ?
" It will be take exception with the guests in connection with check - in and stop - out , opening minute at the bar and eatery , " saidMalin Nordheim , a receptionist at a hotel in Sommarøy .
To use modern - world toilet facility , it seems hard to avoid the ethereal yet oh - so - actual notion of time itself . It ’s likely they would still have clocks but perhaps not follow sentence in the conventional sense of the word . The recording label " sentence - free " would also perhaps pretend as a publicity boost for the small settlement .
" It would sense great to have our way of living recognized and legitimized , " said Hveding . " We merely require to formalise our island ’s prison term - liberal living . "
" In more practical condition , it would think of we ca n’t have moribund opening hours , deadlines , or other clip - bear on requirements during the summer calendar month . That ’s why we mastermind a townspeople hall encounter , started a petition , and submitted our signatures to Parliament . "
However , going without prison term itself could pose a risk to their circadian rhythm method , which has evolved to depend on a 24 - time of day cycle based on Earth ’s gyration . Those who live near the utmost Pole compensate by switching off the spark at “ night ” or wrick them on during the " day " when most of the world is asleep or at work .
" We should n’t have the clock dictate our unornamented prison term , " reason out Hveding . " We should get ourselves behave according to the ignitor , the nature , and what we want to do . "
[ H / T : CNN ]
