Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Cameron: Earth's deepest spot desolate, foreboding

Filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron emerges from the Deepsea Challenger submersible after his successful solo dive to the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, Monday, March 26, 2011. The dive was part of a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, the National Geographic Society and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research. (AP Photo/Mark Theissen, National Geographic)

Filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron emerges from the Deepsea Challenger submersible after his successful solo dive to the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, Monday, March 26, 2011. The dive was part of a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, the National Geographic Society and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research. (AP Photo/Mark Theissen, National Geographic)

In an image provided by National Geographic filmmaker James Cameron gives two thumbs-up as he emerges from the Deepsea Challenger submersible Monday March 26, 2012 after his successful solo dive in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean. The dive was part of Deepsea Challenge, a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, the National Geographic Society and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research. (AP Photo/Mark Theissen, National Geographic)

In a photo provided by National Geographic filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron holds the National Geographic Society flag after he successfully completed the first ever solo dive to the Mariana Trench Monday March 26, 2012. The dive was part of Deepsea Challenge, a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, the National Geographic Society and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research. (AP Photo/Mark Theissen, National Geographic)

Filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron is congratulated by ocean explorer and U.S. Navy Capt. Don Walsh, right, after completing the first ever solo dive to the ?Challenger Deep,? the lowest part of the Mariana Trench. Walsh took the same journey to the bottom of the Mariana Trench 52 years ago in the bathyscaphe Trieste with Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard. Cameron?s dive in his specially designed submersible was part of Deepsea Challenge, a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, the National Geographic Society and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research. (AP Photo/Mark Theissen, National Geographic)

(AP) ? In James Cameron's fantasy films, like "Avatar" and "The Abyss," the unexplored is splashed in color and fraught with alien danger. But on his dive to the deepest place on Earth, reality proved far different: white, barren and bland.

Yet otherworldly ? and amazing.

"I felt like I literally, in the space of one day, had gone to another planet and come back," Cameron said Monday after returning from the cold, dark place in the western Pacific Ocean, seven miles below the surface. "It was a very surreal day."

Cameron is the first person to explore the deepest valley in the ocean since two men made a 20-minute foray there more than half a century ago. He spent about three hours gliding through the icy darkness, illuminated only by special lights on the one-man sub he helped design. That was only about half as long as planned because his battery ran low.

This deepest section of the 1,500-mile-long Mariana Trench is so untouched that at first it appeared dull. But there's something oddly dark and compelling about the first snippets of video that Cameron shot. It's not what you see, but where it puts you. There is a sense of aloneness that Cameron conveys in the wordless video showing his sub gliding across what he calls "the very soft, almost gelatinous flat plain."

"My feeling was one of complete isolation from all of humanity," Cameron said.

It may not have looked all that dramatic and, in a way, Cameron was "doing exploration with training wheels," said Andy Bowen, who heads the deep submergence lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

But it was an amazing start.

The images "do lack the visual impact of highly colorized 3D spectacular representations of the ocean," Bowen said. But there are still "dramatic discoveries to be made."

The minute-long snippet, released by trip sponsor National Geographic, is just a coming attraction. Cameron will keep diving in the area, some 200 miles southwest of the island of Guam, where the depth of the trench is called Challenger Deep. And he's already filming it in 3D for later viewing.

To Cameron, the main thing was to appreciate just being there. He didn't do that when he first dove to the wreck of the Titanic, and Apollo astronauts have said they never had time to savor where they were.

"There had to be a moment where I just stopped, and took it in, and said, 'This is where I am; I'm at the bottom of the ocean, the deepest place on Earth. What does that mean?'" Cameron told reporters during a conference call.

"I just sat there looking out the window, looking at this barren, desolate lunar plain, appreciating," Cameron said.

He also realized how alone he was, with that much water above him.

"It's really the sense of isolation, more than anything, realizing how tiny you are down in this big, vast, black, unknown and unexplored place," the "Titanic" director said.

Cameron said he had hoped to see some sort of strange deep sea creature that would excite the storyteller in him, but he didn't.

He didn't see tracks of small primitive sea animals on the ocean floor, as he did when he dove more than five miles down several weeks ago. All he saw was voracious shrimp-like critters no bigger than an inch. In future missions, Cameron plans to bring "bait" ? like chicken ? to set out.

Cameron said the mission was all about exploration, science and discovery. He is the only person to dive there solo, using a lime-green sub called Deepsea Challenger. He is the first person to reach that depth ? 35,576 feet ? since it was initially explored in 1960.

There had been a race to reach the bottom among rich and famous adventurers. Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, has been building his own one-man sub to explore the ocean depths. Cameron's dive was "a fantastic achievement," Branson told The Associated Press.

Branson said he hoped to be the first to explore a different deep-sea location, diving later this year to the deepest part of the Atlantic, the Puerto Rican trench, which is only five miles from his home. Just shy of six miles deep, the area has not been explored yet.

Branson also hopes to join Cameron in a tandem dive of solo subs. "Together, we'll make a formidable team," he said.

While Cameron's dive was far longer than that of U.S. Navy Capt. Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard 52 years ago, he didn't reach the trench walls because he was running low on battery power. He said he would return, as would the sub's Australian co-designer, Ron Allum.

"I see this as the beginning," Cameron said. "It's not a one-time deal and then moving on. This is the beginning of opening up this new frontier."

"To me, the story is in the people in their quest and curiosity and their attempt to understand."

The trip to the deepest point took two hours and 36 minutes and started Sunday afternoon, U.S. East Coast time.

His return aboard his 12-ton sub was a "faster-than-expected 70-minute ascent," according to National Geographic, which sponsored the expedition. Cameron is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence.

The only thing that went wrong was a hydraulic failure that kept Cameron from collecting rocks and critters and bringing them back to land.

Science like this takes time, but Cameron is committed to doing it, said Woods Hole's Bowen, who ran a program that sent an unmanned sub to the same place in 2009.

"The reality of exploring such an environment is that at times it can be very boring; exploring these environments isn't always about some dramatic highly visual discovery," Bowen said. "The scientific process is exhausting and sometimes it takes a significant amount of sweat, if you will, to uncover secrets."

Cameron did sweat ? and shiver.

When the 6-foot-2 Cameron climbed into the cramped sub, his head hit one end and his feet the other. It was warm outside because it was near the equator; it was toasty inside, temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit, because of the heat given off by the sub's electronics. It felt "like a sauna," he said.

But as he plunged into the deep, it grew cold inside the sub as the waters outside dropped to around 36 degrees, he said.

The pressure on the sub was immense ? comparable to three SUVs resting on a toe. The super-strong sub shrank three inches under that pressure, Cameron said.

"It's a very weird environment," he said. "I can't say it's very comfortable. And you can't stretch out."

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Online:

Deepsea Challenge: http://deepseachallenge.com

Branson's Virgin Oceanic: http://www.virginoceanic.com

____

Follow Seth Borenstein at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-03-26-Exploring-the-Deep/id-2fd22da9600c441883b92a3015f50a5e

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Annan says Syria accepts peace plan

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has accepted a U.N.-sponsored peace plan, international envoy Kofi Annan said on Tuesday, as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad raided rebel forces who have taken refuge across the border in Lebanon.

Assad made a rare foray into the heartland of Syria's year-old uprising, visiting a rebel stronghold in the city of Homs that his forces had overrun after weeks of shelling and gunfire, apparently to make the point that he can now tour the streets of the once bitterly fought-over district.

Syrian state television showed video of Assad, wearing an open-necked shirt with a blue suit, walking casually in the devastated streets of the Baba Amr district and talking to groups of supporters and troops in combat gear.

Baba Amr was an emblem of opposition and rebel army defiance until it was reclaimed by government forces early this month after 26 days of heavy bombardment which opposition activists said was totally indiscriminate.

"Life will return to normal in Baba Amr, better than it was before," Assad said.

Activists says hundreds of civilians and opponents of Assad were killed in Baba Amr in February by shelling and snipers.

"He thinks he won and scored a great victory," said opposition activist Saif Hurria, speaking by telephone from Homs. "He wants to show the world he defeated and put down a revolution. But ... it seems he can't even release the video until he has left Homs. That is not control"

Opposition supporter Abu Jaafar said Assad's appearance in Homs was "giving the green light to kill like this again".

DIPLOMACY

Annan represents the United Nations and the Arab League. Through a spokesman he said Assad had accepted the basic terms of a peace plan which calls for national dialogue but does not hinge on him leaving office.

Western and Arab leaders are due to meet in Istanbul on April 1 to discuss a political transition, and the Arab League and Turkey were pressing various wings of the Syrian opposition to try to unite.

In a session on Monday, the People's Assembly of Syria called on Assad to postpone parliamentary elections set for May 7 to allow time for what it called the consolidation of comprehensive reforms and the outcome of a national dialogue.

Assad has used the army to crush protests against his 12-year rule but his Alawite Muslim minority and its allies still have substantial popular support in the country.

Annan had said on Monday that Assad's government could not resist the "winds of transformation", but it was too early to introduce any timeline for a peaceful solution.

He said Assad's acceptance of the peace plan was "an important initial step" but conceded he faced a "long and difficult task" in ending the fighting and said he could not set any timetable.

U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford said in Washington that if would be unwise, from his experience, to take Assad at his word. "You want to see steps on the ground," he said.

Annan's plan calls for withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, humanitarian assistance being allowed in unimpeded, release of prisoners, freedom of movement and access for journalists to go in and out, Annan said.

The United Nations estimates more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria's upheaval over the past year, UN Middle East envoy Rovert Serry told the Security Council. Syrian authorities blame foreign-backed terrorists for the violence and say 3,000 soldiers and police have been killed.

VIOLENCE UNABATED

Opposition activists reported several civilian casualties in shooting late Monday and overnight in the cities of Idlib and Homs, in fighting between government forces and rebels.

Video posted on the internet by activists showed thick black smoke and blazing buildings in a district of Homs. There were wounded and bleeding men and women lying in a street.

Syrian troops advanced into north Lebanon, destroying farm buildings in pursuit of Syrian rebels, residents said. Lebanese security sources denied that the Syrian troops had stepped onto Lebanese territory.

The border is poorly marked. Incursions have been reported in the past months without triggering Lebanese protests.

Security appears to be fraying in many parts of Syria despite repeated army offensives to regain rebellious territory. Activists say the government is struggling to hold such areas for long, with rebels swiftly re-emerging, as they have in other parts of Homs.

In Turkey, Syrian rebel group leaders gathered to weigh how to unite their fractured movement and boost foreign backing for a year-old revolt.

The main opposition block voiced support for Annan's plan -- so long as it led to Assad's removal.

"A peaceful transition means that the regime needs to be changed. And that starts with the removal of the head of the state," said spokeswoman Basma Kodmani.

Western and Arab governments which would be glad to see Assad ousted are wary of what might replace the 40-year-old family dynasty and its ruthless but predictable police state.

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For a graphic of sects http://link.reuters.com/ked76s

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Russia and China have shielded Assad from Security Council condemnation by vetoing two Western-backed resolutions over the bloodshed, but approved a Security Council statement this week endorsing Annan's mission.

Shifting from its initial unqualified backing of Damascus, Russia has given Annan's proposal its full backing and said it could be Assad's "last chance" to avoid a protracted and bloody civil war.

China's Wen told Annan that "the efforts to seek a solution to the Syrian crisis are at a critical juncture. We do believe that your mediation efforts will lead to progress in seeking a solution to the Syrian issue".

The opposition has so far rejected Assad's calls for dialogue saying it is too late. The crackdown has angered Arab countries including former allies Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which favor arming the rebels.

But Arab leaders due to meet in Baghdad on Thursday will support a Syrian-led transfer of power, Iraq's foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Monday.

"There has to be a political solution, fundamental constitutional and political changes for transfer of power in Syria but through a Syrian-led process," Zebari said. "We are not in a position to dictate to the Syrians what of kind of president, what kind of leader they should have."

(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes in Beirut, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Istanbul, Maryiam Karouny in Baghdad, Yesim Dikmen in Istanbul, Lou Charbonneau at the UN.; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-replies-annan-homs-shelled-again-001338054.html

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