A scientist experimented on herself to treat her cancer. It worked.

Science and Health

Breadcrumb Trail LinksHealthLifeWorldAuthor of the article:Washington PostDaniel Wu, The Washington PostPublished Nov 14, 2024  •  4 minute readA woman gets a mammography scan at a hospital with a medical technician. Photo by peakSTOCK / iStock /Getty ImagesArticle contentWhen Beata Halassy learned in summer 2020 that her breast cancer had come back, she made a bold decision. As a virologist at the University of Zagreb in Croatia, she knew that researchers around the world were testing virus-based cancer treatments that could avoid the destructive side effects of conventional treatments like chemotherapy.Advertisement 2Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive sports coverage by Bruce Garrioch, Ken Warren and Tim Baines, in-depth crime and news from Gary Dimmock and city life coverage from arts writers Lynn Saxberg and Peter Hum. Plus, daily newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to Ottawa Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Ottawa Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive sports coverage by Bruce Garrioch, Ken Warren and Tim Baines, in-depth crime and news from Gary Dimmock and city life coverage from arts writers Lynn Saxberg and Peter Hum. Plus, daily newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to Ottawa Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Ottawa Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentRecommended VideosHalassy, who studies viruses for a living, decided to test some of them on herself.With her oncologists’ approval, she made herself a test subject and worked with colleagues to inject herself with two types of viruses that she cultivated in a lab, the science journal Nature reported. Over several weeks, her homegrown remedy caused her tumour to shrink, enabling surgeons to remove it.In a study documenting her experiment, published August in the peer-reviewed journal “Vaccines,” Halassy and her co-authors said that the “unconventional” treatment has left her in remission for almost four years.Bioethicists told The Washington Post they were split on Halassy’s decision to enter the storied, controversial tradition of self-experimentation in medicine and publish her results. While Halassy was uniquely qualified to weigh the decision and carry out her tests on herself, she still may have lacked the perspective of an objective researcher as her own test subject, they said. And her study of just one patient isn’t likely to provide enough information to draw conclusions about the treatments she tested.Advertisement 3Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article content“From my perspective, self experimentation is not fundamentally unethical,” said Alta Charo, a professor emerita of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “It may be unwise. It may indeed be tainted by an unrealistic set of expectations. … But I don’t see it as fundamentally unethical.”Halassy and two of her co-authors did not respond to requests for comment, but Nature identified her as the researcher who was her own test subject. Halassy’s study describes the person treated as “a 50-year-old self-experimenting female virologist,” and she is the only person on the author list who meets that description.Studies exploring the use of viruses to treat cancer date back over a decade. The Food and Drug Administration first approved a form of oncolytic virus therapy, the use of viruses modified to specifically attack cancer cells, to treat skin cancer in 2015. Research since then has sought to widen the range of cancers that OVT can be applied to. But clinical trials for novel treatments like OVT are sometimes limited, Halassy and her co-authors wrote in their study, by being carried out first on patients whose health may have already been affected by conventional treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy.Advertisement 4Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentRECOMMENDED VIDEOWe apologize, but this video has failed to load.Play VideoHalassy was in a different situation. She was several years removed from her breast-cancer diagnosis in 2016 and her subsequent chemotherapy. And she was a rare subject who had the means and the know-how to produce and administer her own experimental viral treatment.Halassy and her colleagues used two types of viruses — a strain of measles used in vaccines, and vesicular stomatitis virus, which affects livestock — that she prepared in her own lab, according to the study. The viruses were injected directly into the tumour at various intervals over about six weeks.Around 11 days into the regimen, Halassy’s tumour began to shrink and continued to diminish gradually until it was small enough to be surgically excised after the six weeks of injections ended. It was a sterling result, the study states — the treatment came with few serious side effects, save for a day when Halassy developed a fever, and enabled surgeons to remove the tumour without further growth or spread in her body.Advertisement 5Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentHalassy’s breast cancer had returned twice after her 2016 diagnosis. After the viral treatment, she has been cancer-free for 45 months, the study says.With the experiment, Halassy joins a long line of researchers who have tested medical theories on themselves. Their attempts have led to significant medical breakthroughs — and in some cases, harm or death. Jesse Lazear, an American physician studying yellow fever in the 19th century, died of the disease after allowing himself to be bitten by a mosquito to prove how it was transmitted. Peruvian medical student Daniel Carrion died in 1885 after infecting himself with Carrion’s disease, which was later named after him.Recommended from Editorial ‘Full House’ star Dave Coulier reveals diagnosis of ‘very aggressive’ cancer Prince William describes family’s ‘brutal’ year as wife and father faced cancer treatment Advertisement 6Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentHalassy’s self-experimentation didn’t appear to be nearly as risky as those fatal examples, said Hank Greely, the director of Stanford University’s Center for Law and the Biosciences. But he said critics might still question if a researcher in Halassy’s position could give informed consent to be a test subject and evaluate the potential benefits and harms of an experiment without bias.“In general, it is viewed as a bad idea for physicians to take care of their [family members] or themselves, because they lack the objectivity necessary to do a good job,” Greely said. “The same thing holds for self-experimentation.”Halassy and her co-authors wrote that the study did not undergo a review by an ethics committee because it involved self-experimentation, and that the subject was “fully aware of her illness as well as of available therapies” and “wanted to try an innovative approach in a scientifically sound way.”Advertisement 7Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentOpponents of the practice also argue that publicizing cases like Halassy’s risks encouraging less qualified patients to self-experiment in more dangerous ways, said Greely and Charo, the bioethics professor. They added that Halassy’s study of her response to OVT was likely too limited in scope to contribute reliably to research on the treatment.“Not every experiment is research,” Charo said.Halassy and her co-authors acknowledged in the study that it was “isolated” but said it should encourage clinical trials to assess the efficacy of OVT in early stages of cancer. They also said the circumstances of Halassy’s study would be very difficult to repeat.“The study was feasible only due to the unique situation in which the patient was also an expert virologist,” the study states.Article contentShare this article in your social networkComments Join the Conversation Featured Local Savings

A scientist experimented on herself to treat her cancer. It worked.

Science and Health

Breadcrumb Trail LinksHealthLifeWorldAuthor of the article:Washington PostDaniel Wu, The Washington PostPublished Nov 14, 2024  •  4 minute readA woman gets a mammography scan at a hospital with a medical technician. Photo by peakSTOCK / iStock /Getty ImagesArticle contentWhen Beata Halassy learned in summer 2020 that her breast cancer had come back, she made a bold decision. As a virologist at the University of Zagreb in Croatia, she knew that researchers around the world were testing virus-based cancer treatments that could avoid the destructive side effects of conventional treatments like chemotherapy.Advertisement 2Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive sports coverage by Bruce Garrioch, Ken Warren and Tim Baines, in-depth crime and news from Gary Dimmock and city life coverage from arts writers Lynn Saxberg and Peter Hum. Plus, daily newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to Ottawa Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Ottawa Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive sports coverage by Bruce Garrioch, Ken Warren and Tim Baines, in-depth crime and news from Gary Dimmock and city life coverage from arts writers Lynn Saxberg and Peter Hum. Plus, daily newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to Ottawa Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Ottawa Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentRecommended VideosHalassy, who studies viruses for a living, decided to test some of them on herself.With her oncologists’ approval, she made herself a test subject and worked with colleagues to inject herself with two types of viruses that she cultivated in a lab, the science journal Nature reported. Over several weeks, her homegrown remedy caused her tumour to shrink, enabling surgeons to remove it.In a study documenting her experiment, published August in the peer-reviewed journal “Vaccines,” Halassy and her co-authors said that the “unconventional” treatment has left her in remission for almost four years.Bioethicists told The Washington Post they were split on Halassy’s decision to enter the storied, controversial tradition of self-experimentation in medicine and publish her results. While Halassy was uniquely qualified to weigh the decision and carry out her tests on herself, she still may have lacked the perspective of an objective researcher as her own test subject, they said. And her study of just one patient isn’t likely to provide enough information to draw conclusions about the treatments she tested.Advertisement 3Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article content“From my perspective, self experimentation is not fundamentally unethical,” said Alta Charo, a professor emerita of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “It may be unwise. It may indeed be tainted by an unrealistic set of expectations. … But I don’t see it as fundamentally unethical.”Halassy and two of her co-authors did not respond to requests for comment, but Nature identified her as the researcher who was her own test subject. Halassy’s study describes the person treated as “a 50-year-old self-experimenting female virologist,” and she is the only person on the author list who meets that description.Studies exploring the use of viruses to treat cancer date back over a decade. The Food and Drug Administration first approved a form of oncolytic virus therapy, the use of viruses modified to specifically attack cancer cells, to treat skin cancer in 2015. Research since then has sought to widen the range of cancers that OVT can be applied to. But clinical trials for novel treatments like OVT are sometimes limited, Halassy and her co-authors wrote in their study, by being carried out first on patients whose health may have already been affected by conventional treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy.Advertisement 4Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentRECOMMENDED VIDEOWe apologize, but this video has failed to load.Play VideoHalassy was in a different situation. She was several years removed from her breast-cancer diagnosis in 2016 and her subsequent chemotherapy. And she was a rare subject who had the means and the know-how to produce and administer her own experimental viral treatment.Halassy and her colleagues used two types of viruses — a strain of measles used in vaccines, and vesicular stomatitis virus, which affects livestock — that she prepared in her own lab, according to the study. The viruses were injected directly into the tumour at various intervals over about six weeks.Around 11 days into the regimen, Halassy’s tumour began to shrink and continued to diminish gradually until it was small enough to be surgically excised after the six weeks of injections ended. It was a sterling result, the study states — the treatment came with few serious side effects, save for a day when Halassy developed a fever, and enabled surgeons to remove the tumour without further growth or spread in her body.Advertisement 5Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentHalassy’s breast cancer had returned twice after her 2016 diagnosis. After the viral treatment, she has been cancer-free for 45 months, the study says.With the experiment, Halassy joins a long line of researchers who have tested medical theories on themselves. Their attempts have led to significant medical breakthroughs — and in some cases, harm or death. Jesse Lazear, an American physician studying yellow fever in the 19th century, died of the disease after allowing himself to be bitten by a mosquito to prove how it was transmitted. Peruvian medical student Daniel Carrion died in 1885 after infecting himself with Carrion’s disease, which was later named after him.Recommended from Editorial ‘Full House’ star Dave Coulier reveals diagnosis of ‘very aggressive’ cancer Prince William describes family’s ‘brutal’ year as wife and father faced cancer treatment Advertisement 6Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentHalassy’s self-experimentation didn’t appear to be nearly as risky as those fatal examples, said Hank Greely, the director of Stanford University’s Center for Law and the Biosciences. But he said critics might still question if a researcher in Halassy’s position could give informed consent to be a test subject and evaluate the potential benefits and harms of an experiment without bias.“In general, it is viewed as a bad idea for physicians to take care of their [family members] or themselves, because they lack the objectivity necessary to do a good job,” Greely said. “The same thing holds for self-experimentation.”Halassy and her co-authors wrote that the study did not undergo a review by an ethics committee because it involved self-experimentation, and that the subject was “fully aware of her illness as well as of available therapies” and “wanted to try an innovative approach in a scientifically sound way.”Advertisement 7Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentOpponents of the practice also argue that publicizing cases like Halassy’s risks encouraging less qualified patients to self-experiment in more dangerous ways, said Greely and Charo, the bioethics professor. They added that Halassy’s study of her response to OVT was likely too limited in scope to contribute reliably to research on the treatment.“Not every experiment is research,” Charo said.Halassy and her co-authors acknowledged in the study that it was “isolated” but said it should encourage clinical trials to assess the efficacy of OVT in early stages of cancer. They also said the circumstances of Halassy’s study would be very difficult to repeat.“The study was feasible only due to the unique situation in which the patient was also an expert virologist,” the study states.Article contentShare this article in your social networkComments Join the Conversation Featured Local Savings

Big Tech Coming to Wallula Gap

Technology

Illustration by Lena Bock
On Oct. 21, the Union Bulletin broke the news that the Port of Walla Walla Commissioners were considering selling 500 acres of land in the Wallula Gap Business Park to Advance Phase LLC for $32 million. The corporation plans to construct 16 data centers, investing $4.8 billion into the project. Though the news came as a shock to members of the public, Commissioners have been in negotiation with Advance Phase for a year, operating under the code name “Project Tree.”
The Wallula Gap Business Park is located between the Wallula Junction and the Ainsworth Junction, where the Walla Walla and Snake Rivers respectively flow into the Columbia River. This point of confluence is highly significant to Walla Walla, Cayuse and Nez Perce Tribes and holds a rich cultural history. Parts of Wallula have been protected from development, but the Business Park has been used for agricultural and industrial purposes for the last several decades.
If completed, the project would increase Walla Walla County’s tax base from about $10 billion to nearly $15 billion. It would also create an influx of construction jobs and several hundred long-term jobs once the facilities are built, according to the Commissioners. However, the proposal also raises major concerns about the resources needed to operate the data centers’ massive physical infrastructure.
The Port Commissioners are currently under a nondisclosure agreement with the corporation behind Advance Phase, though they have confirmed it is an American company listed in the top 30 of the Fortune 500 list, likely either Amazon, Apple, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft or Meta Platforms (Facebook) – all companies heavily invested in AI.
The connection between AI and data centers may seem nebulous to those of us outside the world of Silicon Valley. ChatGPT writing an email or Google answering a question with an AI overview can seem like a process that’s going on “in the computer” or “in the cloud.” However, AI is supported by a massive physical infrastructure in the form of data centers: warehouses full of servers and IT equipment that receive, store and send data. Though data centers have always been the physical backbone of the internet, advances in AI require a major expansion to the current data center capacity. AI consumes far more computational resources than most digital tools because it relies on large datasets for training and employs complex algorithms.
Concerns about the data centers’ electricity and water usage were a top priority for many of the community members present at the Port Commission meeting on Oct. 24. 
The Port has made it clear that it will not be responsible for supplying electrical infrastructure, power and water rights, natural gas or telecommunications infrastructure to the company.
“They have to bring those to this project to make it happen,” Paul Gerola, Economic Development Director for the Port Commission, said.
Given Advance Phase is investing $32 million in the real estate transaction alone, the corporation likely feels confident in its ability to secure those needs.
Goldman Sachs estimated that data center power demand will increase 160 percent by 2030. Washington’s existing hydropower network, which generates the majority of the state’s electricity, is already at capacity and likely cannot support 16 new data centers.
Recent nuclear project proposals from Google, Amazon and Meta indicate corporations are realizing they will need to start generating their own electricity to keep pace with their rapidly-expanding data center infrastructure. Amazon recently reached a deal with Energy Northwest to build small modular reactors that rely on nuclear technology. The “initial feasibility phase” is sited for Richland, Washington, fewer than 20 miles from the infamous Hanford Nuclear Site. Though Commissioner Amy Schwab acknowledged some hesitation around nuclear energy, she expressed her belief that corporations like the one behind Advance Phase will provide the path to a clean energy future.
“There have been pieces in the paper I’ve seen in the last week about investments from these hyperscalers – the big data guys – investing in the technology for small modular nuclear reactors…I’m looking at these types of companies as really holding the promise for how we get to a clean future,” Schwab said.
Though Commissioners repeatedly expressed their faith that this technology has the potential to change the world for the better, some community members present at the meeting expressed their hesitation. Whitman Visiting Assistant Professor Stan Thayne shared his thoughts on the matter.
“I’m concerned to hear large industrial projects depicted as sustainable…It makes me a little uncomfortable to think we’ll engineer our way out of our problems with these big projects,” Thayne said.
Water consumption was also a primary concern brought up by residents at the meeting. Data centers require massive amounts of cold water to keep hardware from overheating. NPR found that the average mid-size data center uses about 300,000 gallons of water per day. By this estimate, the 16 data centers could use 4.8 million gallons per day. There is minimal public data available as to where that water goes once it is used for cooling; some of it will likely be evaporated off, meaning it will never directly return to the aquifer, and some may become waste water that could potentially be treated and returned to the system. Though Advance Phase will not receive any water rights from the Port, the corporation will likely aim to acquire water rights to the Columbia River from another source, given the site’s location.
A local resident at the meeting referenced expressed her concern that Google’s data center in the Dalles, Oregon has been the subject of significant backlash due to its water consumption. An investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive found that Google’s water consumption has increased by threefold since 2017. In 2021, Google was responsible for 29 percent of the city’s water consumption.
Whitman Professor Emeritus Bob Carson was in attendance at the meeting and also expressed his concern regarding the data centers’ impact on the Columbia River Basin.
“It’s very important that we don’t lower the water table. It’s very important that they don’t take water and use it to cool these computers and send it back hotter than it is right now, because the Columbia River already exceeds 70 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the threshold for salmon,” Carson said.
Port Commissioner Ron Dunning pushed back against these water consumption concerns, citing his long career in irrigation.
“I’ve been to a lot of meetings about water usage…It’s not a great amount of water in the irrigation world,” Dunning said.
Though Dunning is correct that farms use far more water than data centers, this comparison begs the question of necessity, especially as the region faces historic drought. Carson posed this question at the meeting.
“Is there really a need for these things? Most people would say ‘Yes, we’ve got AI coming up and we think, as a world, that we’re going to need more and more storage of data.’ But what if every community in the United States said ‘No, we really don’t want these things, we gotta figure something else out,’” Carson said.
Associate Professor of Art History, Matt Reynolds, also expressed concern over the rapid development of AI and the lack of regulation surrounding its expansion.
“Where is the conversation happening over the ethics of AI? I’m sure there are many things that will improve our lives through AI, [but] I’m also really scared about the technology. Where are the guardrails to the development of this technology?” Reynolds said.
The rapid infiltration of AI into our everyday lives has drawn a line in the sand between those who believe this technology will further expedite the climate crisis and those who believe it will lead us out of it. Responses from the Commissioners imply they believe the latter. 
“It’s more than just creating the capacity for us to upload our latest cute pet pictures. It really is about the capacity that enables two Nobel Prize winning efforts that are reliant on our increased computing capacity,” Schwab said.
Commissioner Kip Kelly expressed his belief that the advancements made by AI will justify its consumption.
“I believe that there is a strong probability that some of the world’s most advanced climate models are being run on this company’s servers. Though resource intensive, these data centers may very well help solve our most pressing needs around the climate and other 21st century issues,” Kelly said.
Despite my own cynicism regarding AI, I have to share the Commissioners’ hope that something good will come of it. However, it’s worth noting that one of the Nobel Prize winners Schwab referenced, Geoffrey Hinton, has expressed his deep fears about AI, saying it could “mean the end of people.”
Many of the community members who attended the Port Commissioners’ meeting were there to share their concerns, but some were highly supportive of the project, focusing on the tax revenue and jobs it would create.
“For our community to thrive we need good jobs; we need good schools. …I encourage the Port Commissioners to approve this sale,” one resident said.
The Commissioners further emphasized the positive impact this project would have on the county.
“To me this is a generational opportunity that the Port has to make an impact. On 0.006 percent of the County’s land, we can increase the [tax] value by 50 percent. If that’s not the highest and best use of that 500 acres, I gotta know what is,” Kelly said. “Social services of all kinds will get that needed injection.”
“If we were to say no here, it doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t happen, it would just mean that our County would not be able to take advantage of the desperately needed revenue streams that a project like this brings,” Schwab said.
Ultimately, the Port Commission’s primary mission is to create and retain jobs and expand the region’s tax base. They believe this project will handedly fulfill both of those goals. Their vote on Oct. 24 to move forward with the Letter of Intent is one small step in a process that will take years before construction can even begin.
“Our role as Port Commissioners is very small in the grand scheme of the entire puzzle that has to be put together to bring this to fruition,” Kelly said. “So we’re not going to pretend to be hydrologists, cultural resource experts, geotechnical experts and the like. Those experts will get a chance to weigh in at the CEPA phase …the CTUIR will be brought into the project…[and] the Department of Ecology has to be satisfied at the end of the day with both the water usage and the waste water dispersal.”
Those against the project can be assured that Advance Phase has countless more hoops to jump through before breaking ground on construction.
Those in favor of the project will be happy to know that Commissioners negotiated a deal that provides zero concessions or incentives to Advance Phase, though the company will likely receive a major tax break at the state level. If the project does not move forward, the Port will have the right, but not the obligation, to buy the property back for half the original purchase price.
Before voting on the motion to execute the Letter of Intent and the purchase and sale agreement between the Port Commission and Advance Phase LLC, Schwab thanked community members for sharing their thoughts.
“The outpouring of concern, input and involvement was reassuring that folks are paying attention. You are asking really great questions and highlighting the sorts of concerns that this body takes seriously…and explores deeply in making these decisions,” Schwab said.
The motion passed unanimously.

Denzel Washington and King Charles totally botch handshake at Gladiator II premiere

Technology

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreDenzel Washington appeared nervous and awestruck as he shook King Charles III’s hand at the Gladiator II premiere on Wednesday (November 14).The monarch stepped out solo on the eve of his 76th birthday to attend the sequel’s screening at Leicester Square’s Odeon theater, chatting on the red carpet with director Ridley Scott, 86, and the cast.The film’s stars lined up to greet the king before heading into the theater. When the King reached Washington after first chatting with Scott and lead actor Paul Mescal, 28, the Training Day star looked flustered, confessing that he wasn’t sure of the proper royal handshake protocol.“I didn’t know if I was supposed to grab you or not,” Washington joked, adding, “But it’s my pleasure.”King Charles couldn’t resist asking Washington about his role in Gladiator II, where he plays the villainous Macrinus.“I’m just an awful… I’m a lovely man, you’ll see,” Washington quipped with a sarcastic grin. “I’m a lovely chap.”Impressed by Washington’s body of work, Charles remarked, “You’ve been in so many films, it’s fantastic.”To which Washington replied, “Thank you, thank you.”Denzel Washington nervously shakes King Charles III’s hand at the ‘Gladiator II’ premiere

Public trust in science tanked during Covid. It’s still low.

Science and Health

Public trust in scientists appears to be on the rise, but it remains far below where it was before the pandemic.
According to a new report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center, 76 percent of Americans say they have either a fair amount or a great deal of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests. That’s slightly up from 73 percent in October 2023.
It represents the first reversal of a yearslong decline. But public confidence in scientists remains far below what it was at the outset of the pandemic. In April 2020, 87 percent of respondents expressed at least a fair amount of confidence.

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The new survey — which polled 9,593 U.S. adults in late October — also found that 89 percent of respondents viewed scientists as intelligent, 65 percent view them as honest and 65 percent see them as focused on real-world problems.GET FULL ACCESS

Changemakers of the tourism industry set to talk sustainability in Victoria

Travel

It’s undeniable that tourism and sustainability are important topics for many Greater Victorians.

And for those who care about tourism’s impact on the community – including policy makers, educators, and business owners – the annual IMPACT Sustainability Travel and Tourism Conference in Victoria is an important event. 

“This is the one conference that I learn the most from,” said Nathan Bird from Eagle Wing Tours, a whale watching tour agency in Victoria, in IMPACT’s 2023 highlight reel on its website.

The event takes place Jan. 27 to 29, 2025 at the Victoria Conference Centre, with a special Day of IMPACT on Jan. 26. Registration is open online at impactnational.ca. Ticket prices range from $1,102.50 to $1,391.25.

The conference will feature thought leaders from around the globe. Providing an annual reality check on the state of climate change will be Robert Sandford, senior government affairs liaison, Global Climate Emergency Response, United Nations University Institute for Water Environment and Health. Other examples of notable speakers include a senior project manager at Synergy Enterprises, a global leader in regenerative business, and the executive director of Tourism Tofino.

Leaders and experts will present on topics ranging from navigating political challenges while maintaining sustainability goals, to the role of economic valuation in advancing conservation efforts.

The event is anchored by four pillars: Community and Sense of Place, Economy, Culture and Heritage, and Ecology & Environment.

Co-founded by Synergy Enterprises, Starrboard Enterprises and Destination Greater Victoria, IMPACT also partners with Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada and Travel and Tourism Research Association.

“IMPACT is more than just a conference. It is a platform for learning, sharing, and collaborating with the leaders and change-makers of the travel and tourism industry,” said Paul Nursey, Destination Greater Victoria CEO. “We invite everyone who is interested in advancing sustainability and regenerative tourism to join us for an inspiring and informative week.”

While the conference itinerary is still being fully fleshed out, “You will get your hands dirty. There will be an ocean adventure. Great food and libations are on the menu. The day is built to inspire,” said Starr McMichael of Starrboard Enterprises on the event’s website, impactnational.ca.

Martin Scorsese on faith in filmmaking, ‘The Saints’ and what his next movie might be

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

NEW YORK (AP) — When Martin Scorsese was a child growing up in New York’s Little Italy, he would gaze up at the figures he saw around St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. “Who are these people? What is a saint?” Scorsese recalls. “The minute I walk out the door of the cathedral and I don’t see any saints. I saw people trying to behave well within a world that was very primal and oppressed by organized crime. As a child, you wonder about the saints: Are they human?”For decades, Scorsese has pondered a project dedicated to the saints. Now, he’s finally realized it in “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints,” an eight-part docudrama series debuting Sunday on Fox Nation, the streaming service from Fox News Media.The one-hour episodes, written by Kent Jones and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, each chronicle a saint: Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene, Moses the Black, Sebastian and Maximillian Kolbe. Joan of Arc kicks off the series on Sunday, with three weekly installments to follow; the last four will stream closer to Easter next year.

In naturalistic reenactments followed by brief Scorsese-led discussions with experts, “The Saints” emphasizes that, yes, the saints were very human. They were flawed, imperfect people, which, to Scorsese, only heightens their great sacrifices and gestures of compassion. The Polish priest Kolbe, for example, helped spread antisemitism before, during WWII, sheltering Jews and, ultimately, volunteering to die in the place of a man who had been condemned at Auschwitz.Here are some key quotes from a recent interview with Scorsese, who turns 82 on Sunday. An expanded version can be found at www.apnews.com/martin-scorsese

On the saints“It took time to think about that and to learn that, no, the point is that they are human. For me, if they were able to do that, it’s a good example for us. If you take it and put it in a tough world — if you’re in a world of business or Hollywood or politics or whatever — if you’re grounded in something which is a real, acting out of compassion and love, this is something that has to be admired and emulated.”

On Fox Nation “They went with the scripts. They went with the shoot. They went with the cuts. Now what I think is: Do we take these thoughts or expressions and only express them to people who agree with us? It’s not going to do us any good. I’m talking about keeping an open mind.”On his faith and cinema“The filmmaking comes from God. It comes from a gift. And that gift is also involved with an energy or a need to tell stories. As a storyteller, somehow there’s a grace that’s been given to me that’s made me obsessive about that. The grace has been through me having that ability but also to fight over the years to create these films. Because each one is a fight. Sometimes you trip, you fall, you hit the canvas, can’t get up. You crawl over bleeding and knocked around. They throw some water on you and somehow you make it through. Then you go to another.”On his next film“(The Life of Jesus) is an option but I’m still working on it. There’s a very strong possibility of me doing a film version of Marilynne Robinson’s “Home,” but that’s a scheduling issue. There’s also a possibility of me going back and dealing with the stories from my mother and father from the past and how they grew up. Stories about immigrants which tied into my trip to Sicily. Right now, there’s been a long period after ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’ Even though I don’t like getting up early, I’d like to shoot a movie right now. Time is going. I’ll be 82. Gotta go.”

On recent movies“There was one film I liked a great deal I saw two weeks ago called “I Saw the TV Glow.” It really was emotionally and psychologically powerful and very moving. It builds on you, in a way. I didn’t know who made it. It’s this Jane Schoenbrun.”On the election“Well, of course I have strong feelings. I think you can tell from my work, what I’ve said over the years. I think it’s a great sadness, but at the same time, it’s an opportunity. A real opportunity to make changes ultimately, maybe, in the future, never to despair, and to understand the needs of other people, too. Deep introspection is needed at this point. Action? I’m not a politician. I’d be the worst you could imagine. I wouldn’t know what actions to take except to continue with dialogue and, somehow, compassion with each other. This is what it’s about.”

10 Alluring Horror Movie Monsters That Blur the Lines Between Fear and Lust

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

The marketing behind The Northman director Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu has made it clear that the inhuman visage of its central monster won’t be revealed until audiences arrive in theaters on Christmas Day. That’s all the more intriguing considering that descriptors like “erotic” and “sexualized” have been attached to Bill Skarsgård’s performance as Count Orlok, both in critical first reactions and from the cast. 
Skarsgård even teased his character in an earlier chat with Esquire, saying: “He’s gross. But it is very sexualized. It’s playing with a sexual fetish about the power of the monster and what that appeal has to you. Hopefully you’ll get a little bit attracted by it and disgusted by your attraction at the same time.”
Of course, cinema’s history is filled with sexualized vampires that inspire lust, using it themselves to prey upon their victims. It’s an entirely different story when the vampire in question leans into the monstrous and eschews more conventional human qualities. 
While it remains to be seen just how erotic Skarsgård’s Count Orlok will be and how many horny fans his depiction will create, Nosferatu is hardly the first movie monster that understands how pain and pleasure can overlap in seductive ways.
In anticipation of Count Orlok’s unmasking in theaters this December, we’re looking back at some of the most strangely alluring horror movie monsters that blur the lines between fear and lust. There’s just one rule: no vampires. They’d dominate this list.

Creature from the Black Lagoon 

Dracula may be the reigning king of seductive horror movie monsters, with no shortage of sexualized iterations that embrace the vampire’s romantic side. But Dracula isn’t the only classic movie monster with romantic designs. The strange, inhuman Creature from the Black Lagoon, lean and muscular, makes for one of the more swoon-worthy movie monsters thanks largely to his instant obsession with Kay (Julia Adams) from the moment she swims into his world. While his attraction went unrequited, Guillermo del Toro gave this monstrous Romeo another shot at desire and love with The Shape of Water.

The Mummy 

Much like the utterly romantic line, “I have crossed oceans of time to find you,” uttered in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stephen Sommers’ action-adventure Mummy films featured a villainous antagonist motivated by love. For Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), that means destroying everything in his path in his bid to regain his former power and resurrect his former flame. It’s a dark romance made all the more sympathetic by his lover’s penchant for betrayal, so much so that being dead for centuries hasn’t hurt Imhotep’s swagger. This is one cinematic monster uninterested in hiding behind layers of linen.

The Curse of the Werewolf

The uncontrollable, primal nature of werewolves makes them primed to appear on this list. From the lust-baiting werewolves in Trick ‘r Treat to the heartbreak in The Wolf Man or An American Werewolves in London, lycanthropy makes for one of the more amorous monster afflictions in horror. Leave it to Hammer Films and a brawny Oliver Reed, in his first starring role, to really tap into the werewolf’s most ravishing side.

The Lure

The Creature from the Black Lagoon isn’t the only amphibious movie monster attracted to humans; carnivorous mermaid sisters Golden and Silver explore their carnal side on land when they’re adopted into a cabaret band. Agnieszka Smoczynska’s stunning musical gives an ’80s Polish cabaret makeover to Hans Christian Andersen’s gory fairy tale vision of The Little Mermaid. It’s a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of inhuman creatures eagerly exploring what it means to be human while giving into their baser instincts, including devouring flesh in more ways than one.

Cat People

In director Paul Schrader’s very loose remake of the Val Lewton classic, sexual repression becomes much more explicit. It follows Irena (Nastassja Kinski), who has arrived in New Orleans to reconnect with her brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell) after years of separation in the foster system. Paul reveals that the siblings come from a line of cat people, doomed to transform into beasts if they dare give in to their sexual desires. Irena doesn’t believe him until she finds herself falling for a zookeeper. It results in a monstrous sexual awakening.

Return of the Living Dead 3 

There’s typically nothing appealing about slow decomposing flesh, yet this sequel’s Julie (Melinda Clarke) serves up the hottest zombie to ever grace the silver screen. It’s not just Clarke’s ferocious performance that ensures Julie’s space on this list, though it’s largely responsible. It’s in the way that Julie intentionally swaps out pain for pleasure, mutilating herself and others to stave off her mounting need to feed on human flesh. That this stunning zombie is embroiled in a doomed romance only further bridges the gap between horror and lust.

Splice

Genetic engineers Clive and Elsa attempt to play god in Vincenzo Natali’s transgressive sci-fi horror film, splicing animal and human DNA together to create Dren. Splice explores various meaty topics surrounding the ethics and science behind Dren’s creation, including her murky relationship with her makers. As the hybrid experiment evolves far faster and further than Clive and Elsa could anticipate, sexual curiosity sends this creature feature careening toward an exceptionally disturbing climax rife with sex and violence. All in the name of science.

Species

Scientists create a human/alien hybrid from the instructions and DNA sent from a space transmission, unwittingly unleashing a seductive inhuman with one instinctual goal: procreation. It’s a premise that provides fertile ground, pun intended, for horniness as Sil (Natasha Henstridge) escapes her facility in search of a mate. Henstridge’s performance, combined with H. R. Giger’s sensual, otherworldly creature design, ensured a movie monster irrevocably intertwined with tantalizing temptation.

Hellraiser

One of the more obvious examples of movie monsters that know how to wield pain and pleasure like a scalpel, the Cenobites left an indelible mark on horror despite such a fleeting on-screen appearance in the original 1987 film. Their ordered elegance and strict code are almost disarming, almost, though certainly beguiling. That the Hell Priest, Pinhead, and the Cenobites also act as the arbiters of forbidden knowledge only furthers their allure; nothing is more attractive than what you’re not allowed to have, after all.

Candyman

“Be my victim.” A line that’s strangely alluring, seductive, and more than a little threatening. A Bloody Mary-like boogeyman summoned by mirror winds up one of the most romantic due to a career-defining performance from the late Tony Todd as the eponymous Candyman. The chemistry between Candyman and Helen (Virginia Madsen) is electric; there is a razor-thin line between love and hate, life and death in this scenario. It’s bewitching.

Denzel Washington filmed gay kissing scene for ‘Gladiator II’ — but ‘chicken’ filmmakers cut it

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

“Gladiator II” nearly had it all: epic battle scenes, heavy doses of nostalgia, emotional monologues and even an unexpected gay kiss — until filmmakers cut the latter.

Denzel Washington revealed in an interview with Gayety that his kissing scene with another male actor was not included in the final edit of the movie, which hits theaters on Nov. 22.

“I actually kissed the man in the film, but they took it, they cut it. I think they got chicken,” Washington, who plays a presumed bisexual Roman businessman, told the outlet.

“I kissed a guy full on the lips, and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet,” he surmised.

Denzel Washington revealed his gay kissing scene was “cut” from “Gladiator II.” Gayety/YouTube

Washington plays a powerful businessman believed to be bisexual in the sequel. AP

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However, the Oscar winner, 69, noted that it was not necessarily a romantic moment for the power-hungry arms dealer.

“I killed him about five minutes later,” he said with a laugh. “It’s ‘Gladiator.’ It’s the kiss of death.”

It turns out, that wasn’t the only kiss cut from the final product.

Paul Mescal, who plays protagonist Lucius, told Entertainment Weekly he took a bit of creative liberty while filming a fight scene alongside Pedro Pascal, who plays Roman general Acacius.

“I actually kissed the man in the film, but they took it, they cut it. I think they got chicken,” Washington told Gayety. AP

The 69-year-old joked that he “killed” the man after the brief moment of intimacy. FilmMagic

“There was a moment when we were rehearsing my fight scene with Pedro, and I had an idea toward the end of the scene to kiss Pedro on the forehead,” Mescal, 28, recalled earlier this month.

Knowing director Ridley Scott might not be on board with the idea, the “Normal People” star decided to try it without asking him beforehand.

“I did it in one of the takes, and then we’re getting the radio messages back to Ridley [in video village], and I was like, ‘Ridley: Kiss on the forehead, did you like it? Yay or nay?’” Mescal recalled.

“There was radio silence for a second. His radio crackles back, and [Ridley] goes, ‘I’m afraid I did.’”

“It’s ‘Gladiator.’ It’s the kiss of death,” he said. Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

Paul Mescal’s forehead kiss was also cut from the film, the “Normal People” star recently revealed. ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

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Although Ridley did not mind the subtle intimacy, the take ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor.

“Gladiator II” is a sequel to the original 2000 blockbuster, which starred Russell Crowe and was nominated for a whopping 12 Academy Awards.

Washington has already garnered Oscar buzz for best supporting actor; however, he revealed on Australia’s “Today” show that he did not feel any “pressure” taking on such a big project.

It’s unclear whether director Ridley Scott was the one to make the final call about both kisses. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

“Gladiator II” comes out on Nov. 22. Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

“For me, it’s about the filmmaker, especially at this point in my career,” he said.

“I’m only interested in working with the best. I don’t know how many more films I’m gonna make — probably not that many. I want to do things I haven’t done.”

Washington said he already has his next six projects in mind, and “after that [he] is going to retire.”

Iowa 2nd graders get Caitlin Clark books

Arts & Culture, Books

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – She’s one of the biggest names in sports, and the story of Caitlin Clark has become larger than life.But on Wednesday, second-graders across the state are learning it in the form of a book.More than 40,000 books were given out to students across the state.One Cedar Rapids principal says Clark’s message transcends sports.“I think it really inspires our kids to work hard and dream big,” Cleveland Elementary Principal Condra Allred said. ”And I think not only Caitlin, but like having Hannah Stuelke from the Cedar Rapids school district, I think that has been huge. Just like all the native Iowa girls, showing up and showing out, inspiring young women to do things. But also not just young women, but also the young men you see with her jerseys on and things going on.”All proceeds from the book sales go directly to supporting the Iowa Youth Athletic Foundation.Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.