our destination: attu. and 1,500 miles from anchorage, attu is so far west that if you drew a straight line down from the island, you'd hit new zealand. we had taken off, not knowing if our plane could land on attu. >> mark obmascik: attu's home tt earth, the o >> wertheim: mark obmasciklier , spent seven years going through archives and soldiers' letters while researching his book, "the storm on our shores." he accompanied our team for the trip. only minutes from the island, a dense fog threatened to force our plane back to the nearest air strip 400 miles away. then, the fog suddenly parted like curtains, and there it was: attu. >> wertheim: when you finally got there, what was that like? >> obmascik: it was so gorgeous. it was so green and wild and raw. >> wertheim: no one lives on attu today. the coast guard abandoned its station and the island nine years ago. >> obmascik: i just was struck by how such a beautiful place could spawn such sadness. >> wertheim: the sadness began in june of 1942.ke >> werthe

so scientists at st are looking at mris while people look attu ps of drugs that stimulate their interest it's really interesting. they found that there is very specific part of the brain that lights up. and so in discovering this, they're hoping that will lead to more directed treatments down the line. >> but for w, like you said behavioral therapy, is that what they're having to rely on and other incentives that seem to work with addicts? >> so there is a contingency management and there's a program in san francisco that does this. people come in three time as week, t pea in a cup ae a test. and every time they testth negative, get paid. er it goes up to course of 12 weeks. and it works. we use it for weight loss. it'serer the same kf things used to teach cldren how to behave. but you can imagine taxpayers not liking the idea of our state programs paying drug users to not use drugs so most insurers don't cover it. >> what do you think is the biggest challenge inddtrying to ess it had this? >> the opioid epidemic is -- anm sort of public perspective when somebody ods on opioids, they're