Francesco Sauro:
the speleologist able to change the world
Thanks to Francesco Sauro, another piece of the world has become part of our maps.
Since the beginning, man has always felt the strong need to go further, to know and explore every corner of his planet. Curiosity has characterized our being practically since we were born, and without it today we will not have the Internet, planes or doctors able to stop a heart without killing the patient.
The scientific contribution that exploration manages to give with each new discovery is simply fundamental and, even today, there are unexplored places and places around us.
The young Italian speleologist has in fact entered the history of science, and not only, for his recent explorations in Venezuela in what is considered the largest system of caves in quartzites in the world, namely the Imawari Yeuta.
The 31-year-old from Padua has mapped over 22 kilometers of caves, studied the bacterial colonies and minerals hidden in the depths of those lands, which have remained practically unexplored until now.
His studies will allow to discover something more about the structure of those immense caves, the mineral composition and the origins of life itself. This is because the subsoil is in fact considered one of the few still uncontaminated places on the planet, making the caves the best reservoir of information relating to our past. The work carried out in Venezuela has impressed a large part of the specialists in the sector and convinced the Times to consider Sauro one of the ten young people (Millennials) capable of changing the world.
Francesco thus found himself from the cold and dark cavities of the subsoil, to the warm lights of the spotlights, drawing the attention of the entire scientific community and beyond, giving us another great satisfaction in being Italian.
The climb, or rather the descent just to stay on the subject, to the success of the Paduan scientist begins at an early age, thanks to a passion for science and exploration transmitted to him from an early age.
His father, a geographer by profession, in fact taught at the University and explored, together with a 3-year-old Francesco, the Lessini Mountains in the Veneto region, stimulating his son the desire to face the darkness, to know and understand the world around him.
Already at the age of thirteen, little Francesco thus participated in some expeditions in the Veneto with the Paduan Speleological Group, later becoming a partner. From an early age he explored various mountain systems and caves throughout Northern Italy and, subsequently, in the rest of the world, joining in very important missions such as the one in the Cristallo caves in Mexico, where he had to face 50 degrees and a humidity level equal to hundred percent.
In addition to exploration, its activities also extend to teaching.
Sauro is currently engaged with the European Space Agency where he holds courses aimed at young astronauts who will find themselves exploring the dark cavities of celestial bodies. Furthermore, until recently, the Paduan geologist taught under contract at the University of Bologna, but due to lack of funds it was not possible for him to renew the project forcing him to abandon, at least temporarily, the activity of professor.
According to Francesco, life as a scientist in Italy is much more complicated than elsewhere. The institutions have never shown themselves particularly interested in his research and had it not been for a couple of associations such as La Venta in Italy, the Theraphosa Exploring Team in Venezuela and the help of foreign governments, the young speleologist would probably have dedicated himself to other, leaving those immense Venezuelan caves still immersed in the dark.