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.

Twitter’s head of trust and safety says that she has resigned from Elon Musk’s social media platform. Ella Irwin was in charge of content moderation at the company, which has faced allegations of an increase in harmful content since the Tesla CEO bought the company last October. Ms Irwin only took over the job from Yoel Roth last November after he also resigned from the San Francisco-based company. She confirmed her resignation to Reuters on Thursday. Neither Mr Irwin nor Mr Musk has posted on Twitter about her departure. Mr Muk announced earlier this month that he was hiring Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s former advertising chief, to replace him as Twitter’s new CEO. Twitter investor Fidelity says the company is now worth just a third of the $44bn that the billionaire paid for it. Mr Musk has publically admitted he paid too much for the company, a deal he tried repeatedly to get out of before closing the deal. Mr Musk has made huge staff cuts since he bought the company, with the original headcount of around 7,5000 employees being slashed to below 2,000 by February. The company has struggled to keep advertisers with many company’s not wanting their brands or products to appear alongside unsuitable and unmoderated content. Read More Elon Musk is once again world’s richest person Elon Musk’s visit to China should send a shiver down the spines of Western governments AOC warns Elon Musk is ‘testing waters’ to interfere in 2024 election

Adin Ross's recent livestream on Kick caught him in another act of philanthropy as he gifted a chain, shoes, $20K in cash, and a brand-new car to Dre

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 1, 2023--

European Union member states couldn’t agree on a deadline for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies when they met

U.S. lawmakers are coming for the free and open internet in the name of "child

Dating in 2023 can be complicated. Not only do you have to keep up with new dating terms taking over social media, but there are also multiple methods and a string of 'expert opinions' spreading across timelines on how to date successfully. Now, TikTok users are encouraging people to have a roster of people on the go to heighten the chances of finding The One. Joyce (@joycehasatiktok) shared how she joined Hinge "because she really wanted to roster date" and wanted "many back-to-back dates" because she didn't want to obsess over any single man. "Good that you had this approach," one person commented. "Dating is the courtship phase. I feel anyone putting all hopes in one basket, turns out disappointed & bitter." Meanwhile, another wasn't so sure, writing: "I don't know. If I found out I was just like one of six guys a girl went on a date with I would not be feeling it, feels like I would just be left for someone better." @joycehasatiktok Replying to @ihavesynthed lining up many first dates is really easy if you want it to happen #dating #onlinedating #hinge #rosterdating #datinginmy20s Another TikToker @heyitsmekmac encouraged singletons to get a roster, "or simply dating around". "I think it's important to date multiple people because you find out exactly what you're looking for," she explained. "Dating is truly a skill and it's not something that comes easy to a lot of people – and like many skills, you need practice." She said it helps identify red flags, what important questions to ask, and what characteristics you are looking for in an other half. "So, go on multiple dates please," she said. Many fellow TikTokers agreed with the concept, with one joking: "This is the second video I seen about a roster in less than 15 mins….. I call they a sign." One person added: "Date yourself before you start “dating around”!! the best relationship you’ll ever need to have is w yourself." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

By Tim Hepher and Mathieu Rosemain PARIS (Reuters) -France's Thales said on Tuesday it would buy U.S. cybersecurity company Imperva

NEWARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 21, 2023--

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 19, 2023--

India is about to make a bold attempt to land on the moon with its

Another day, another problem on Elon Musk's Twitter. On July 1, Musk tweeted that he