Artist’s rendering, accuracy not guaranteed.
I may have taken some liberties with that headline, but it’s only slightly stranger than the real story: James Cameron wants to be the third person to ever reach the deepest spot in the ocean. And he can make it happen, ’cause he’s James f-cking Cameron. He got nominated for an Oscar by filming blue cats having magic tail sex. You don’t think he can pull this off? Believe it.
The only two people to reach the bottom of the Mariana trench in the Pacific Ocean were Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard, who made the 35,800 foot descent on January 23rd, 1960. That depth is nearly seven miles down in a fissure between the Pacific plate and the Philippine plate. Unless you think plate tectonics are of the devil, in which case it’s a fissure caused by this one time God stomped on the ocean to cause the Great Flood or something.
Despite great leaps in underwater exploration, so far no one has attempted to repeat the descent. But that is about to change. Film director James Cameron – the man behind Avatar, Aliens, and aptly, The Abyss – has gathered a team of engineers and given them the job of building a submersible capable of returning to the Mariana trench. Cameron, who has filmed on the wreck of the Titanic, has said he plans to use his new submersible to gather footage for a sequel to Avatar. The vessel is being assembled in Australia and tests on the hull are already completed. Insiders say a trial dive could be on the cards later this year. [TheGuardian via NextBigFuture]
He’s going to be very disappointed when he starts looking for NTIs and only finds a bunch of ugly snailfish.