Using a group of explorers, scientists are testing the endurance of humans and equipment in temperatures around minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 Fahrenheit) at a laboratory in southern Poland.

The "Taming the Freeze" experiment began Tuesday and is expected to go on for 100 hours. Survivalists and mountain climbers are locked in a lab filled with snow and wind generators at the Mechanical Department of Krakow Technical University as long as they can stand it.

Artur Gawlik, the experiment's technical chief, said Wednesday the warmly clad participants have an igloo and food and perform tasks like putting up a small tent, riding a bike or placing a flag atop the igloo. Their data is being collected by health and technology experts.

Lithuanian-born explorer Valerian Romanovski has already spent 24 hours inside.

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