Results: The Land Of The Midnight Sun, And Soon The Land Of Time-Free Zone

During winters on Sommarøy, a small Norwegian island that sits north of the Arctic Circle, the sun does not rise. And for 69 days during summer, it doesn't set. Needless to say, residents of Sommarøy have a different conception of time than people who live in parts of the world where the hours of the day are split into darkness and light. Kjell Ove Hveding is only one person who wants to see time abolished on Sommarøy. Last week, he presented a Norwegian member of parliament with a petition, signed by the island's residents, asking for Sommarøy to become the world's first time-free zone. The proposal is "sparse on details," but a publicity boost for this tourist destination "could well be the primary aim of the campaign." But in practice, living on a time-free island might mean that stores would open when staff is available, school hours would be flexible and, there would be no clocks. Would you be interested in visiting this island?

To those of us accustomed to living by a fairly regimented schedule, this might seem like a strange attitude. But the people of Sommarøy already have a fairly lax approach to time-keeping—an attitude symbolized by the discarded watches that are strapped onto a bridge leading from the island to the mainland. When you are on vacation, do you take off your watch or are you still very regulated by time constraints, such as a set time to eat, or wake up?

People who live in regions with little-to-no sunlight in winter and a never-setting sun during summer often need to take various measures to help maintain a regular sleep cycle—like exposing themselves to diffused florescent light, or using black-out blinds, depending on the season. Research has shown that circadian rhythm, which is effectively a 24-hour internal clock, is vital to human health, regulating not only wakefulness and tiredness, but also hunger, stress, immunity and heart function. Were you aware of these issues in living in an area such as Norway or similar?