James Cameron Exploring Mariana Trench

[Bye Ya]

So, why this guy? They say he'll be "collecting samples for biologists and geologists". Shouldn't they be doing it themselves? And why does he own this apparently rare submarine with such capabilities and top scientists themselves do not?

James Cameron - Deepest Spot on Earth


Seems very strange.

 

[Public'sTwin]

Because James Cameron is a billionaire and has been doing this for nearly 20 years.

 

[Bye Ya]

Billions of dollars and 20 years outqualifies the top scientists in the world?

 

[TankAss95]

Billions of dollars and 20 years outqualifies the top scientists in the world?

Moneys=Power today, sadly.

If you have got billions of these moneys you can do what ever you like - even if that was going to the bottom of the ocean in a submarine with arms.

Gotta get some more of these moneys man.

 

[Dennisch]

No, a **** load of HD cameras outqualify them.

 

[NicoLoeb]

James Cameron has been at the forefront of subsea exploration for many years. He actually devised and paid for a lot of the groundbreaking technologies that are in use today. Its called having more than one string to your bow.

 

[Bye Ya]

James Cameron has been at the forefront of subsea exploration for many years. He actually devised and paid for a lot of the groundbreaking technologies that are in use today. Its called having more than one string to your bow.

I wasn't aware of that. It still just seems to me like this would be best carried out through his donations and 'real' scientists doing the actual hands on work. But maybe the guy is an ace, like I said I didn't realize he was such a figure in deep ocean exploring.

 

[NicoLoeb]

When it comes to filming in inaccesable places he's the best. That's why NASA have made him their cheif consultant on sending HD cameras to Mars. He's a very clever and scientifically benevolent guy.

 

[Azuremen]

If you had read the entirety of the article you linked, you would've noticed he has made over 70 deep sea dives

People can be more than one-trick ponies, and the fact he wanted to direct a movie about Titantic would indicate he may have some interest in whole event. Which would lead one to being interested in deep sea diving. Hell, even I was quite curious about it after going through the National Geographics about the wreck when I was child.

"Real" scientists means what? Is Bill Gates a scientist, or Paul Allen? Steve Jobs? Isaac Asimov? Quite curious what you mean by that...

 

[Bye Ya]

If you had read the entirety of the article you linked, you would've noticed he has made over 70 deep sea dives

People can be more than one-trick ponies...

Don't really appreciate the rolled eyes. I read the article, and I'm still of the opinion that this matter would be best left in the hands of real experts, not billionaires with serious hobbies.

I find it strange, that is all.

 

[Dennisch]

He has the money, the interest, the experience, and the cameras. The "real" experts went down there, how many times again? 1.

If they wanted to go, they could have gone there.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Don't really appreciate the rolled eyes. I read the article, and I'm still of the opinion that this matter would be best left in the hands of real experts, not billionaires with serious hobbies.

I find it strange, that is all.

What harm is he doing by pursuing it? If the choice is "leave it to underfunded scientists to never find out what is down there" or "leave it to an amateur scientist who has a long history of innovation in the field", I know which one I am supporting.

 

[Bye Ya]

It's because the article states that this is uncharted territory, completely new historical discoveries... we turn that over to a guy just because he has a billion dollar bankroll and 60+ sub dives?

 

[NicoLoeb]

I can see the aversion to the normal "rich and famous with a hobby" thing but Cameron's involvement is as an expert in subsea filming. His goal is to make the information available to a much wider audience. He's also a powerful lobbying voice for ocean ecology. Another famous film producer had a hobby as I recall, it was called the Hughes Aircraft Corporation.

 

[Barra333]

It's because the article states that this is uncharted territory, completely new historical discoveries... we turn that over to a guy just because he has a billion dollar bankroll and 60+ sub dives?

Yep.
The 'real scientists' - the geologists and biologists mentioned in the article and first post - can't afford it. Research money is ridiculously competitive, and the cost involved in this trip would probably fund half a dozen shallow water expeditions.
Cameron has piles of money, and through his deep-sea diving hobby, has become an expert and knows how to use the robotics and camera as well as anyone. If you sent one of the biologists or geologists down there, they probably wouldnt have a clue what they were doing to use the equipment. I assume that Cameron has spoken to the scientists and asked them how and what they would like collected, if he can do it. At the end of the day, if I got a quality sample from down that deep for analysis, I wouldn't care whether it was collected by James Cameron, me (PhD student in Environmental Microbiology), or Bugs Bunny.

 

[Bye Ya]

Ok, well if he's more of an expert than I'm aware of then I guess that's the issue for me then. But it seems like someone with a specified education and years dedicated to the subject matter might be more apt with this sort of stuff.

 

[Azuremen]

Ok, well if he's more of an expert than I'm aware of then I guess that's the issue for me then. But it seems like someone with a specified education and years dedicated to the subject matter might be more apt with this sort of stuff.

He has spent years on the subject. Many, many years. You don't seem to be getting that. People in that field respect him for what he has done. And it isn't like they aren't getting a ton of data out of it, since there is quote a bit of recording equipment on that sub.

I rolled my eyes because you seemed so taken a back by an "amateur" scientist paying for this project and being active in it. It is his money, his choice, and ultimately it seems to be supported by the community he is working in.

You also failed to acknowledge the other part I added, asking about what you call a "real" scientist.

 

[Barra333]

But it seems like someone with a specified education and years dedicated to the subject matter might be more apt with this sort of stuff.

Just the analysis. Collection can be done by anyone with the means and ability to follow the request of the scientist for good sampling technique.

 

[Bye Ya]

Well fair enough, but I think the responses here have been a bit hostile. I never slammed the guy, I just stated that it seemed strange to go about it that way. I never claimed to know more than I do about the situation, so there's no reason to respond to me in that way.

You also failed to acknowledge the other part I added, asking about what you call a "real" scientist.

Actually, I did in the post just before that. And the use of (' ') on the word 'real' implied a level of subjectivity that I was already aware of.

someone with a specified education and years dedicated to the subject matter

 

[Barra333]

Sorry if I came across hostile, that wasnt my intention.

 

[Bye Ya]

Sorry if I came across hostile, that wasnt my intention.

Not you, mate. I was just taken back by a few of the responses. I never meant the thread in a way that I would expect to warrant a few of the reactions.

 

[Bye Ya]

I rolled my eyes because you seemed so taken a back by an "amateur" scientist paying for this project and being active in it. It is his money, his choice, and ultimately it seems to be supported by the community he is working in.

So more specifically, again it's that this is uncharted territory. It's great that he has the capabilities to own a capable submarine, but again I don't understand why he doesn't instead fund scientists who have devoted their lives to the field, rather than poking around himself. Sure, it's his money, and he has nice cameras... but let the experts handle it from there, is how it seems to me.

I already said that it seems I'm underestimating his abilities, but to reverse things, I wouldn't expect an underwater geologist to be directing the first epic documentary film on some brand new and hugely important discovery just because they have money and time to explore film seriously in their free time.

It just comes across to me that way, that's all I'm saying (in a non-hostile way). The matter at hand seems too important to hand over to a rich guy with a serious hobby, even if he is really good at what he does and has good intentions.

 

[shmogt]

James Cameron has been at the forefront of subsea exploration for many years. He actually devised and paid for a lot of the groundbreaking technologies that are in use today. Its called having more than one string to your bow.

This is true he is probably the most experienced deep sea explorer out there. He has a movie about deep sea and lots of people ask for his advice. He also is using his deep sea knowledge to get into space travel and worked with Richard Branson to make the first spaceship to take normal people into space.

 

[Azuremen]

So more specifically, again it's that this is uncharted territory. It's great that he has the capabilities to own a capable submarine, but again I don't understand why he doesn't instead fund scientists who have devoted their lives to the field, rather than poking around himself. Sure, it's his money, and he has nice cameras... but let the experts handle it from there, is how it seems to me.

I already said that it seems I'm underestimating his abilities, but to reverse things, I wouldn't expect an underwater geologist to be directing the first epic documentary film on some brand new and hugely important discovery just because they have money and time to explore film seriously in their free time. And I'm sure some scientists wouldn't want to expose themselves to any of the risks involved if something were to go wrong.

It just comes across to me that way, that's all I'm saying (in a non-hostile way). The matter at hand seems too important to hand over to a rich guy with a serious hobby, even if he is really good at what he does and has good intentions.

So instead you are saying they, the scientists, should state "give us the money so we can do this since we don't think you're good enough to do this?" They, the scientists, are likely grateful this is happening at all. And they will no doubt get to make dives of their own with the submarine, he just wanted to do it first. And whoever mentioned cameras was, I believe, making a joke about his movie directing.

Honestly, I think you are vastly under estimating how multi-faceted people can be. James Cameron is clearly intelligent or he wouldn't have the money, and obviously experienced since he has done many, many deep-sea dives. He likely qualifies as an expert when it comes to deep sea diving based on his experience, and probably knows a great deal, likely on par with many "real" scientists.

Which you never cleared up besides saying it was subjective. You don't need to hold a degree to qualify as a scientist.

Why are you so hung up on the idea of someone being passionate and capable at multiple things?

 

[Bye Ya]

So instead you are saying they, the scientists, should state "give us the money so we can do this since we don't think you're good enough to do this?" They, the scientists, are likely grateful this is happening at all. And they will no doubt get to make dives of their own with the submarine, he just wanted to do it first. And whoever mentioned cameras was, I believe, making a joke about his movie directing.

Fair enough, but I'm not saying anyone should do anything. I'm just saying it seems strange that they are doing it this way.

James Cameron is clearly intelligent or he wouldn't have the money

Um, ok. Interesting qualifier of intelligence... money. Also interesting that money making and science are not necessarily related.

Why are you so hung up on the idea of someone being passionate and capable at multiple things?

I'm not, you're just responding to my comments to portray it that way. I simply said it seems strange that scientists would pass on groundbreaking discovery to an amateur simply because he has the money to buy the sub to do it.

 

[Northstar]

Um, ok. Interesting qualifier of intelligence... money. Also interesting that money making and science are not necessarily related.

Look at what that money came from though, the guy has made the two highest grossing films of all time and the rest of his work hasn't exactly flopped either.

I simply said it seems strange that scientists would pass on groundbreaking discovery to an amateur simply because he has the money to buy the sub to do it.

Try finding a scientist that has deep sea diving in that particular submarine and is willing enough to go deeper than anyone has since the 60's, or you could go with the person who is funding the project and fits that criteria.

 

[Azuremen]

Fair enough, but I'm not saying anyone should do anything. I'm just saying it seems strange that they are doing it this way.

You mean it seems weird they let the guy that lead the team, helped design the sub, and paid for it do the dive?


What madness.

Um, ok. Interesting qualifier of intelligence... money. Also interesting that money making and science are not necessarily related.

No, but the ability to go from being a truck driver to making considerable amounts of money while developing new techniques in a field (film) generally qualifies someone as smart. Generally people that can go from having very little to considerable wealth in a short time frame are quite intelligent, as we can see looking at Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and so on.

Studying a bit of physics probably didn't hurt either. Then you can consider how he helped develop new methods to explore the Titanic wreck.

I'm not, you're just responding to my comments to portray it that way. I simply said it seems strange that scientists would pass on groundbreaking discovery to an amateur simply because he has the money to buy the sub to do it.

Your comments are amounting to "why would they let an amateur do this?" The why is clearly he isn't an amateur, as others have pointed out and the community is working with feels as well. You seem to be heavily hung up on the notion that he is a big name in Hollywood, known for his movies, and not the fact he has an impressive amount of experience working in deep-sea exploration.

Also, who are we to say what he should and shouldn't do with money here? I mean, if you funded a huge project to get into space via a single stage system, wouldn't you want to be part of the first crew to go into space on it?

 

[niky]

Two words:

Jacques Costeau.

But wait... he was a scientist? Not formally. He was a naval gunnery officer who helped invent the modern scuba.

And why? To make movies. To make lots of movies. He set out on one of the most famed research voyages of all time, on the Calypso, partly for research, partly for film. He predicted porpoise echolocation. He pioneered in technologies that allowed divers to go deeper, longer.

This man did it all as a "hobby" and as a "filmmaker".

James Cameron is not Jacques Costeau. He's infinitely richer. But they have similar hobbies. "The Abyss" was one of the best undersea movies, ever, because it was told with a great eye for detail, by someone who knows what he's talking about.

James Cameron has pioneered and invented a lot of technology used in undersea exploration. As said, he's helped design the sub being used. He may not have a formal degree, but as an expedition head and deep sea pilot, he's got few peers.

I don't know what your problem with having someone with that experience heading an expedition is. It's not like he's got no science personnel on his team at all.

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Next up, shocking news: Movie Star Bruce Lee writes a book about Martial Arts...

 

[CodeRedR51]

I don't care how he's doing it or why he's doing it, all I know is I can't wait to see what they find. Bring on the HD video.

Edit: Hopefully he doesn't die. That would suck.

 

[Northstar]

I can't wait to see what they find.

He will be awakening Cthulu as well as the Kraken.