List of All Articles with Tag 'eppersons'

Public interest in the deep ocean went into a frenzy this week as the search for the doomed Titan submarine played out – and Oscar-winning film director has made no secret of the fact that he is obsessed with the subject. Since it emerged on 22 June that the Titan was destroyed in what US authorities called a “catastrophic implosion”, Cameron has been telling media outlets that he knew what the five-man crew’s fate was since Monday, four days earlier. After calling up his “contacts in the deep submersible community” Cameron said he had already ascertained that the vessel had been destroyed in an implosion. “I felt in my bones what had happened.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter But why does Cameron know so much about the ocean depths? Titanic, Avatar and The Abyss First of all, Cameron has made a lot of films about the bottom of the sea. His 1997 film, Titanic, won 11 Oscars and was the first movie to earn more than $1bn worldwide, and Cameron went deep on his research – literally. The filmmaker has visited the real-life wreck of the Titanic 33 times, making his first trip in 1995 to shoot footage for the film. One of those dives even involved getting trapped with the wreck for 16 hours, with currents of water holding the director’s submarine at the bottom of the ocean. He has even written a book about his experiences, Exploring The Deep, which includes details of his dive journey, photos and maps from his own explorations of the wreck. He told ABC News: “I actually calculated [that] I've spent more time on the ship than the captain did back in the day.” Long before Titanic, Cameron directed The Abyss in 1989. The premise of the film is that an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean – sound familiar? That prompts a search and recovery team to race against Soviet vessels to recover the boat. Meanwhile, the last movie in Cameron’s famous Avatar franchise, The Way of Water, is set on the aquatic ecosystems of a world 25 trillion miles from Earth. "Some people think of me as a Hollywood guy … (but) I make 'Avatar' to make money to do explorations," Cameron told The Telegraph. Going even deeper In 2012, Cameron went a step further, plunging nearly 11km down to the deepest place in the ocean, the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. The filmmaker made the solo descent in a submarine called the Deepsea Challenger, and it took more than two hours to reach the bottom. The submarine he used was years in the making, designed by Cameron himself with a team of engineers. The trip was only the second manned expedition to the Mariana Trench. The first was in 1960, when US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard descended to the ocean floor. “It was absolutely the most remote, isolated place on the planet,” Cameron said in a later interview. “I really feel like in one day I've been to another planet and come back.” He was even underwater when 9/11 happened His obsession with the ocean goes back to age 17, he told the New York Times, when he learned to scuba dive, when he said he felt like he had discovered the "keys to another world”. And between making Titanic in 1997 and Avatar in 2009 Cameron didn’t make a feature film. But he did make documentaries about sea exploration. One of those, 2003’s Ghosts of the Abyss, showed Cameron's travels to the Titanic, while the other, 2005’s Aliens of the Deep, saw Cameron team up with NASA scientists to explore the sea creatures of mid-ocean ridges. Cameron’s fascination even meant he was inside a submersible vessel exploring the Titanic on 11 September 2001, when terrorists flew two passenger jets into the World Trade Centre. It was only after the now-68-year-old director and his crew finished their expedition and returned to the main ship that Cameron learned what had happened. “What is this thing that’s going on?” Cameron asked the late actor Bill Paxton, who played treasure hunter Brock Lovett in the film. “The worst terrorist attack in history, Jim,” Paxton said. Cameron realised he “was presumably the last man in the Western Hemisphere to learn about what had happened,” he told Spiegel in 2012. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Pakistan’s interior minister says an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board an overcrowded fishing boat carrying migrants that sank off Greece last week, and that many remain missing and may have died in one of the deadliest incidents in the central Mediterranean Sea

The stars of the divisive HBO show have shared their collaboration.

Kazakh Alexander Bublik advanced to the last four of the Wimbledon warm-up Halle Open, when Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner withdrew hurt in the...

VALLETTA Malta's government on Friday backed down on a bill which would have allowed the abortion of pregnancies

During the filming of the 2008 movie 'Revolutionary Road', Kate Winslet would often let Leonardo DiCaprio choke her to get the perfect shot

A global climate summit wrapped up Friday with a "consensus" that the international financial system was woefully inadequate in an era of global warming, after taking small...

There are early signs of investors fleeing from tech stocks after 1999-like rally formed a “baby bubble,” according

Several tweets criticized the 'Titanic' director for what they perceived as an inappropriate display of his 'expertise' at such a tragic time

The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will play in London next season

George Russell has warned about the realities of F1 banning tyre blankets for the 2024 season, insisting “there will be crashes”. Tyre blankets allow teams to heat their tyres to 70C for two hours before a grand prix session, with the result of more grip for the drivers coming out of the pits or at the start of the race. But to improve sustainability, tyre supplier Pirelli have been developing tyres that do not need pre-warming. Drivers have been testing dry-tyre versions, while the Monaco Grand Prix last month ran with blanket-free wet tyres. Yet Russell, who took part in a tyre test in Barcelona a few weeks ago, believes there are concerns about the prospective rule change for next year. “If I’m being totally honest, I don’t think we as a sport are at a position yet to bring these tyres into a racing scenario,” Russell said. "I would be very concerned for all the mechanics in the pit lane during a pitstop, I’d be very concerned for the out lap from a race in cold conditions. There will be crashes, I have no doubt about it. "And I think there’s a lot of work, expense, development going into these tyres. I feel like that could be put elsewhere." However, Pirelli insist its blanket-free slick tyres are raceable and the focus should instead switch on drivers changing their driving style to navigate their way around the circuit. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who also participated in the test, said his testing of the tyres went well but echoed Russell’s worries. “In lower temperatures, I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t tested these tyres in lower temperatures and that’s where the big question mark is. "So, very difficult to answer whether I will be happy to go. I would like to maybe test those tyres in different conditions and then see whether they are raceable in all conditions.” A decision on next year will be made after a final test, following the British Grand Prix in July, with Red Bull, Haas and Williams taking part. A vote amongst all 10 teams will then take place. Read More Audi name first driver to join F1 team ahead of 2026 season entry Are Red Bull now the most successful F1 team ever – and how long can this dominance last? Sergio Perez ‘under threat’ at Red Bull with young star tipped to replace him

Drone footage shows the moment a Russian troop position is completely wiped out by a bomb in a huge explosion seen miles away from the impact. The clip was published by Ukraine’s defence ministry, which did not give any further details of the drone attack, although said it was carried out by the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. Earlier, president Vladimir Putin was accused of committing war crimes “on steroids” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. US Republican senator Lindsey Graham also warned that the threat of the Kremlin using nuclear weapons was “real”. Speaking at a joint press conference with Democrat senator Richard Blumenthal, he said: “Senator Blumenthal and I want to put everybody in this congress on notice that the threat of a use of a nuclear device by Russia is real and the best way to deter it is to give them clarity as to what happens if they do that - they will be in a war with NATO.” Read More European Union countries agree on a new package of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine Jailed Putin critic Navalny launches anti-Kremlin campaign – as new trial could keep him in prison for decades Britain backs fast-track Nato membership for Ukraine