The scientific value of total solar eclipses is indisputable: it was this phenomenon that allowed Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to be validated in 1919. Already in the 19th century, one of these events led to the discovery of helium in the Sun before on our planet. Solar eclipses allow, in the regions where they take place, for the environment to become a large laboratory, as Rafael Bachiller suggested just yesterday in a report in this newspaper. But they also encourage citizenship to participate in these experiments.
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And that is the main objective of the Solaris Project, which “is not so much scientific, although it is, but a study in which all citizens who want to can participate,” emphasizes María Jesús Cruz, head of the Pulmonology Research Group at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR).
Solaris – for the most cinephiles, it is neither Soderbergh’s film nor the much earlier Tarkovsky’s – is actually Monitoring Observations of Cardiac and Respiratory Activity during a Solar Eclipse, and it is nothing more than a study to see the physiological impact of this Wednesday’s solar eclipse. “It is pioneering because it is the first time that a research of this nature is promoted both from the scientific perspective and from citizen participation and collaborative science,” explains Cruz, who in that sense encourages everyone to participate. “Our idea is to reach as many people as possible so that it is as representative as possible.”
The researcher says that the initiative came from the Department of Research and Universities of the Generalitat, which wanted to do a study during the eclipse in which citizens would participate and for that they contacted the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia and the VHIR to see how they could carry it out. The idea is simple: just have a smartwatch and download some QR codes through the website Catalunya mira al cel [Catalonia looks at the sky] on the mobile phone. The connection of the mobiles to the website is completely anonymous, assures Cruz. “We have been very careful so that the data can never be linked to people, they are completely anonymous.” Although these watches are very heterogeneous, in principle data on heart rate and respiratory rate will be collected. “There are watches that collect other things, so maybe there will be other parameters that we can also use, depending on the data we have we will surely analyze more things,” she indicates.
Cruz insists on “the power of data“, where they are putting a lot of emphasis. “The more people participate the better because we will have a lot of data.” The specialist believes that this initiative could not have been done years ago because these technologies did not exist, “but thanks to the fact that they now exist it is possible to do this type of studies and that all citizens can also participate. That is, we want science to be seen as something close and as something that anyone with a minimum interest can actively participate in a study.”
Heartbeats and breathing
The study measures heart rate and respiratory rate because experts believe that they will surely increase during the eclipse. “Surely the fact that we get excited, that we see something we have never seen before, will make those rates increase and that is what we want to measure,” points out Cruz. “It is a study that will assess emotions, the experience of living a total solar eclipse. I personally have never seen one and I am very excited for this moment to arrive,” she admits.
The specialist recalls that there are studies done on animals (even on plants) during eclipses and they react in different ways: some go to sleep, others get nervous… “We want to do the same with people, it is something that has never been done. Obviously we do not have the element of surprise that animals or plants have, but it is a very special situation: suddenly it gets dark, the temperature drops and it is experienced collectively, as a unique event. I don’t think anyone is alone, those who are watching the eclipse will be with friends, with family… and it will generate emotions that we think we will be able to observe through smartwatches,” Cruz details.
Smartwatches are used because “devices that the person wears” are needed, says Cruz, who confesses that she is not an expert on that topic and believes there are more sophisticated wearables like bracelets or rings, “but most of the people connecting are doing so through smartwatches,” she points out. Yesterday early in the afternoon there were already about 2,200 people connected. You who are reading us, you still have time to participate. You can still register today because the study collects data from the two days before, the moment of the eclipse, and also two days after the phenomenon to compare them.
From where are you watching the study?
It does not matter if where you live the eclipse is only seen partially. “It is something we considered because it will not be the same emotionally and precisely because the data are absolutely anonymous there is something we cannot collect and that would have been very useful: geolocation,” indicates the specialist. But they have included a voluntary question: “When downloading the application, besides consent, it is asked from where the eclipse will be watched. We hope to have that data, that most people answer it because it would be good to have some reference. But it is true that if someone does not want to answer that question, that does not prevent them from participating in the study. Anyone who wishes and voluntarily is willing to participate will be welcome,” adds Cruz.
They will collect the data at the end of this week, they will go to an IEEC server, where they will be refined and then sent to the VHIR, where they hope to have them by the end of the month, says the head of the Pulmonology Research Group at VHIR. “During the month of September we will work actively on the analysis and we hope that by early October at the latest we can have something because we are interested in not letting much time pass and that the people who have participated can have feedback on the results. It will also depend on the number of participants and the data there are,” she indicates.
Will it continue with the eclipses of 2027 and 2028? “It has been launched because this year Catalonia is a partial eclipse zone, next year it is not. We will make our experience available to anyone who wants to take it in case someone wants to reproduce it and obviously if they need our participation we are happy, but we cannot get involved in what other communities want to do. Also we have to see if interesting results come out because maybe nothing comes out,” Cruz concludes.
