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The Picture Show
2:40 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

Illuminating The Underworld In A Deep, Dark French Cave

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Cavers cross Lake Cadoux in a small dingy inside the Gouffre Berger cave. A 4-meter-deep (approximately 13 feet) pool of water blocks the way forward through the Starless River.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
James Alker swims through the Pseudo Siphon at a depth of 1,118 meters (about 1,223 yards). With a water temperature of below 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 F), the long swim through the narrow canal chills the body through to the bone.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Looking down Puits Garby at caver Adam Spillane.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Tim Nixon tries to warm up using the heat from a candle. The temperature in the cave constantly hovers around 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 F).
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Cavers crawl through a 10-meter-long (about 33 feet) section of the cave.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Matthieu Thomas and Sophie Anne pose for a photograph in the Hall of the Thirteen a few days after Matthieu proposed to her at the bottom of the Gouffre Berger cave.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Sarah Payne tackles the rope traverse at the head of a section called Puit Aldo.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Chris Blakeley passes the deviation in Puit Aldo.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Looking up The Great Rubble Heap in the Gouffre Berger.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Looking into the main entrance of the Gouffre Berger.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
In recent years there have been six deaths in the cave, five due to water. During a storm or heavy rain, the cave can become a dangerous trap when water levels rise rapidly.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
A starlit sky descends upon the campsite in the small village of Autrans, France, where the expedition prepares to descend the Gouffre Berger.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Tim Nixon tries to warm up using the heat from a candle in the Gouffre Berger cave in France.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Cavers cross Lake Cadoux in a small dingy inside the Gouffre Berger cave. A 4-meter-deep (approximately 13 feet) pool of water blocks the way forward through the Starless River.
Credit Courtesy of Robbie Shone
Photographer Robbie Shone (front, red helmet) is seen with his team at the Gouffre Berger in 2010. Also pictured from left: Tim Nixon, Bob Toogood, Mark Richardson, Mark Wright and Gina Moseley.
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By editor

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 11:11 am

Photographer Robbie Shone used a lot of flashbulbs while photographing the famous French cave Gouffre Berger. A lot of flashbulbs — more than 600 in four trips.

To get an idea of the challenge of photographing inside a pitch black space, imagine firing your flash at a subject in a dark room. The result might look something like this. The foreground is harshly lit, while the background stays dark.

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The Two-Way
2:19 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

On Iran: Obama, Netanyahu In 'Full Agreement' About Goal, White House Says

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Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 11:50 am

Here's what the White House says the conversation was like when President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone today:

"President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke today as part of their regular consultations, and to follow up on Secretary Clinton's meeting with the prime minister.

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Interviews
2:13 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

Steve Martin: From Standup To Movie Star And Writer

Credit Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images
Steve Martin at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February.
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By editor

This interview is an combination of broadcasts from Oct. 22, 2008 and Oct. 6, 2003. His early standup routines, TV specials and other TV appearances have been released in a new DVD box set.

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The Salt
1:59 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

Grieving Pet Owners Want Imported Dog Treats Pulled From Shelves

Credit Rita Desollar
Rita Desollar believes chicken jerky treats imported from China killed her German shepherd, Heidi.
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Originally published on Fri September 28, 2012 4:52 pm

The Food and Drug Administration isn't sure, but Rita Desollar of Pekin, Ill., feels she knows what killed Heidi, her 7-year-old German shepherd. She feels it was the chicken jerky strips she bought at her local Walgreen's.

Desollar says on the Wednesday before Memorial Day, she gave two pieces of Waggin' Train jerky to Heidi as a treat. A few days later, Heidi was throwing up and "in a lot of distress," she says. By the time the holiday rolled around on Monday, Desollar says, Heidi was convulsing in her bed. She died that day, before Desollar could even take her to the vet.

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Law
1:50 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

'Innocence Of Muslims' Filmmaker Arrested

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Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man responsible for an anti-Islamic video that sparked unrest in the Middle East, has been arrested. He was taken into custody for violating probation related to a previous check fraud conviction. Robert Siegel talks with Carrie Kahn about his court hearing.

Education
1:31 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

New Wave Of School Integration In Birmingham, Ala.

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Credit Dan Carsen / WBHM
First-grade teacher Euginia Miller reads to her class at Avondale Elementary School in Birmingham, Ala. In this crucible of the civil rights movement, the city's schools are being reintegrated, as a handful of middle-class parents ignore the school district's poor reputation and enroll their kids in the city's public schools.
Credit Dan Carsen / WBHM
Avondale Elementary School in Birmingham, Ala. In this crucible of the civil rights movement, the city's schools are being reintegrated, as a handful of middle-class parents ignore the school district's poor reputation and enroll their kids in the city's public schools.
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By editor

Originally published on Sat September 29, 2012 7:05 pm

When Laura Kate Whitney enrolled her 4-year-old, Grey, at Avondale Elementary, a public school in Birmingham, Ala., she and her husband were bucking a trend. Whitney and her husband are white, middle-class professionals. Public schools in Birmingham are 95 percent black, and 90 percent of the students are on free or reduced lunch.

Whitney's is one of about two-dozen similar families who are not buying into the conventional tradeoff that if you live within city limits and have means, you send your kids to private schools.

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Television
1:22 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

Fall TV's Returning Series: A Cause To Rejoice

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Credit Ronen Akerman / Showtime
A phone call from her former boss, Saul (Mandy Patinkin), delivers Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) back into the action of Homeland's second season.
Credit Randy Tepper / Showtime
Dexter's seventh season picks up where season six left off: with Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) discovering her brother Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) murderous secret.
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Originally published on Fri September 28, 2012 2:05 pm

Right now, as we near the end of the 2012 fall TV premiere week, there's a tendency for a sense of weariness to set in. So many of the new TV series are so bad this year, and not one of them is outstanding. It tends to get a little depressing.

But then you think about the rich bounty of returning series, and how good television drama has gotten lately, and there's cause to rejoice all over again.

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Election 2012
1:11 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

Secrets Of Winning The Presidential Debates

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Credit Alex Brandon / AP
Then-Sen. Barack Obama gets makeup applied at a presidential candidate forum in Lake Forest, Calif., on Aug. 16, 2008.
Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Mitt Romney has makeup applied before a discussion on Capitol Hill on Sept. 14, 2005.
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Originally published on Fri September 28, 2012 2:29 pm

TO: President Obama and Mitt Romney

FROM: NPR News

RE: Prepping (and primping) for debates

With the first 2012 presidential debate slated for Wednesday night, we thought it might be helpful to pass along a few suggestions — some more substantive than others — to the participants.

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The Two-Way
12:44 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

Ahmadinejad More Popular Than Obama? Iranian News Agency Gets Fooled

Credit The Onion
Not unbelievable to some in Iran, it seems.
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Last week, Fox and Friends saw a photo on The Drudge Report and started saying that President Obama had time to sit down with a comical "pirate" but not to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The only problem: The photo was three years old.

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Shots - Health Blog
12:33 pm
Fri September 28, 2012

For Best Toilet Health: Squat Or Sit?

Credit Courtesy of Squatty Potty
A contractor designed the Squatty Potty to help his mother get closer to the squatting position on the john.
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Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 2:50 pm

We at Shots don't shy away from talking about poop, as Michaeleen Doucleff demonstrated last month with her post on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's investment in fake feces.

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