WASHINGTON (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.
Cameron talks
of deepest spot
WASHINGTON (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.
Study: Surgery reverses diabetes
CHICAGO (AP) — New research gives clear proof that weight-loss surgery can reverse and possibly cure diabetes, and doctors say the operation should be offered sooner to more people with the disease — not just as a last resort.
The two studies, released on Monday, are the first to compare stomach-reducing operations to medicines alone for “diabesity” — Type 2 diabetes brought on by obesity. Millions of Americans have this and can’t make enough insulin or use what they do make to process sugar from food.
Both studies found that surgery helped far more patients achieve normal blood-sugar levels than medicines alone did.
The results were dramatic: Some people were able to stop taking insulin as soon as three days after their operations. Cholesterol and other heart risk factors also greatly improved. Doctors don’t like to say “cure” because they can’t promise a disease will never come back. But in one study, most surgery patients were able to stop all diabetes drugs and have their disease stay in remission for at least two years.
Details emerge about slain teen
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — The family and supporters of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin found themselves on the defensive Monday following revelations he had been suspended for marijuana before he was shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer. Police also confirmed a report that the watchman claimed Martin was the aggressor, punching him in the nose and smacking his head on a sidewalk.
Martin, 17, was suspended by Miami-Dade County schools because traces of marijuana were found in a plastic baggie in his book bag, family spokesman Ryan Julison said. Martin was serving the suspension when he was shot Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, who was patrolling the neighborhood that Martin was visiting with his father.
Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, and family attorneys blamed police for leaking the information about the marijuana and Zimmerman’s claim about the attack to the news media in an effort to demonize the teenager.
“They killed my son and now they’re trying to kill his reputation,” Fulton told reporters.
Church protected abusers, feds say
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Archdiocese of Philadelphia protected sexual predators in its ranks for more than 70 years, putting the church’s reputation over the safety of children, a prosecutor said Monday at the start of a landmark priest abuse case that’s shaken the Roman Catholic establishment.
The church kept secret files dating back to 1948 that show a long-standing conspiracy to doubt sex abuse victims, protect priests and avoid scandal, Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Coelho said in opening statements.
Coelho called the case “a battle between right and wrong within the archdiocese and the office of secretary for clergy.”
She outlined the decades-old sexual abuse complaints found buried in secret archives to build a case against Monsignor William Lynn, who supervised priests as secretary for clergy from 1992 through 2004. Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for his administrative role in the sex abuse crisis.
He is on trial with the Rev. James Brennan, who is charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996. Both men entered not guilty pleas before the jury Monday.
Co-defendant Edward Avery, a defrocked priest, entered a surprise guilty plea Thursday to a sexual assault charge and will serve 2½ to five years in prison.
‘Pink slime’
maker cuts back
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — The company that makes “pink slime” suspended operations Monday at three of four plants where the beef ingredient is made, saying officials would work to address recent public concern about the product.
Beef Products Inc. will suspend operations at plants in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kan.; and Waterloo, Iowa, according to Craig Letch, the company’s director of food safety and quality assurance. The company’s plant at its Dakota Dunes, S.D., headquarters will continue operations.
“We feel like when people can start to understand the truth and reality then our business will come back,” Letch said. “It’s 100 percent beef.”
Federal regulators say the ammonia-treated filler, known in the industry as “lean, finely textured beef,” meets food safety standards. But critics say the product could be unsafe and is unappetizing.