en DECEMBER 1978 $200: aes Si sc mea 4 - ee ets) AO eck FICTION BY HARLAN ELLISON, ORSON SCOTT CARD, GREGORY BENFORD, ROBERT SHECKLEY PLUS: FACTS ON THE ONE-MAN FLYING MACHINE » HOW THE DRAGON GOT ITS HISS + A CYCLE THAT FLIES - INVASION OF THE BODY SNATGHERS + QUEEN OF THE UFOs + AND AN EMOTIONAL, IF NOT UPLIFTING, LAST. WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE “AN WILL NEVER FLY” SOCIETY Be ane eas ecu ee ieee ene oT ehOni DECEMBER 1978 EDITOR & DESIGN DIRECTOR: 808 GUCCIONE EXECUTIVE EDITOR: FRANK KENDIG ABT DIRECTOR: FRANK DEVINO, EURGPEAN EDITOR, 08. SEANAAD DIXON DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING: BEVERLEY WARDALE EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT. IRWIN E.BILLMAN ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: KATHY KEETON ASSOCIA'E PUBLISHER (INT'L) FRANCO ROSSELLINI Ot =<: oe anaraaes FIRST WORD Opinion | 6 WEE Eccics eins ‘COMMUNICATIONS: Correspondence 10 EARTH Environment 16 SPACE ‘Asvonomy 20 Fe Biomedicine | 1 24 THE ARTS Media 2% STARS Comment 20 UFOUPONTE: Report 2 CONTINUUM Data Bank a 75 YEARS OF FLIGHT Pictorial ‘Anthony Wott ES COUNT THE CLOCK Fiction Harlan Etison cy FLYER FOR THE MASSES: Article Dennis Meredith a BIRDS EYE VIEWS Pictorial Homer Jensen @ BODY GAVE Fiction Robert Sheckioy 76 CAPT RALPH BARNABY Inlewiew PaulGarber 0 HISS OF DRAGON Fiction Gregory Seniord a Marclaidlaw 84 MANPOWEREDFLIGHT __Aricle —=«StotMoris SD. ATHOUSAND DEATHS: Fiction (son Scott Cara 98 WINDS OF KITTY HAW Media 102 PSIBURN z Humor __David Searles 108 ‘BODY SNATCHERS Pictorial (Gynthia Grenior 16 EXPLORATIONS Tavel ‘xis & Anne duPont 122 PRISMATIC SPRING Phenomena‘ MchaelFreeman 142 GAMES Diversions Scot Moris 144 (AsTWORD—=S=~=S=S=Cnion’~—=SSCsawrence Mary =O. Te cover at fortis month's (Ow isan maginative landscape ‘called "Hie Without Tile" painted by the German fantastic realist Friecrich Hechelmann In adation topainting, Hechelmann aso creates ‘books and tims for chloren. 4 om ‘ou, 178. vu bea Piaaamonny nina Unto by OU Pies nerntong Lis. 909 Ts one nono hy toes Te Be} es0 01 PracarimwUSA by Mewsnponny Cag ara serazesnmeU SA. cans, US tenes possess, ne nora (ce! heUK} by Outs Grcson Coney, 21 Herero Ov, et Cla {rie Deed oe Uy Su Beneon 19 ny Gans nnd gene coerce Ot ‘Sroredl en coat Png re serra caren Argh saeco sept Besar psesmaneres inborn a laces pasonsargr gos carci Ssanpns US. SEO Boer yur Cana ar czommoe Sia Ober yeu Sop cones S200 NUS. Cargan ang FO haves: arg. {Se pene. 185 An BvdFavangese hi 19795 Fos sanalom 20'e mango assees spaicton ‘Sinai ateecne ces povagoraeri pexstg stew Yor anal sation ming oees OWN eseves atta a ‘eens ea evecponderce aie on ers ito! sy LaDy on pasando such eorespnctee wi erated.BU vactlldsces tec Mest Gr ene elamonlmeuotcerComesnon De ee Ree ee ca a ee aCONTRIBUTORS OMnNIsUS voRnis his December 17th marks the 15th anniversary of the Wright brothers; epochal fight at Kitty Hawk. We thought it appropriate to cele- brate the occasion in words and pictures, since man's love affair with wings has produced so many stunning examples of scientific achievement. To put some per- spective on the subject, OMNI conducted an exclusve interview wit Captain Ralph Barnaby, ane of the genuine picneers in aviation. Barnaby first met the Wright brothers in 1910, when he was ust 17 years old, and helped to assemble one of their earl planes, the Baby Grand. "Iwas just one of those ‘hand me that, hold on to this, fetch me that’ people,” says Barnaby of the experience. He must have been. ‘much mare, for his work on the Baby Grand began a friendship with Orvile Wright that lasted nearly 40 years (p. 80). “The realization of one of mankind's oldest dreams, to fly lke the birds under ‘one’s own power, was ironically post- poned by the Wriaht brothers’ accom- plishmen’ seventy-five years aac OMNI contributing editor Scot Morris in ‘Man-Powered Flight” (p. 92). Last year that primal dream was finally realized when a tall, skinny amateur cyciist named Bryan Allen took tothe air under his own power in a bizarre plane calledthe Gos- ‘samer Condor, designed and built by California engineer Paul MacCready. And this summer in another MacCready ship —Gossamer Albatross—Allen plans to take fightagain—this time across the 8 oN e.usoN wereDm Berilous waters of the English Channel Fewro us have he strength orendur ance o power our own ying machines, yet we need not be earthbound. Accord ing t scence writer Dennis Neredith ("A Fiyer forthe Masses," 0.64). we may soon be able “to soar through the skies in fying machines costing abou as much aS a mobreyele, but far safer and even Simpler operate, OMINIs coverage o ight phenomena notonlytouches the sky above but sheds new ight onthe earth below. In iras-Eye Views" (9.68) Honer Jensen, vice president in charge of radar surveys at Aero Sevice nc, presents a new pi ‘ure of our home planetusing serial pho- ‘ography, airborne magnetometers, gamma-ay photomultpies, and side- looking etbomne radar. tis a cownward look tthe earth as we seldom see t This month's fiction leads of wth “Count the Clock That Tels the Tie (p.60),2 new story by he incomparabie Haxlan Bison, the enfant terrible of scl- fence lcton, Harlan wrote this story nthe lobby ofa Phoenix note, encased ina plastic tent, while ne was gues of honor atthe recent 36th Werld ScienceFiction Conventon “The author of 32 books and over 800 magazine aficles and stories—many St thom writen in simlarcreumstancos— Harlan has just completed the Screenpiay of Isaac Asimov's ,RoBot for Warner Brothers, budgeted ata coo! $30 milion. He sweats he i nota science fic enon. tion witer but rather a fantasist and offers Count ine Clock as evidence 4 Harlan is joined inthis issue by two ‘ther established masters 0! science fic- tion, Gregory Benford ("A Hiss of Dragon, p84) and Robert Sheckley ("Body Game", 76). Benford, whe in eal fe is plasma physicist atthe Unversity of Califomia at Irvine, spins a tale of tailor- ‘made dragons and other wondrous crea- tures. Sheckley warns us ofthat future time wien we all may be in the market for alight used body. Rounding out this month’ fiction is “A ‘Thousand Deaths" (p. 98), a chilling ac- count of world dictatorship in the not too distant future by Orson Scot! Card, who recent captured the John W, Campbell ‘award for bast new science fiction writer of the year Inline with OMNI's continuing media ‘coverage, this month we take you behind the scenes of Hollywood's latest lavish re- make, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (p. 118). and The Winds of Kitty Hawk (p. 102), anew ITT television special that Celebrates the Wright brothers first fight. ‘And on the lighter side thereis Psi Burn (p. 108), a most unusual lack into the paranormal by North Carolina writer David Searles. Finally, this month OMNI inteoduces anew regular feature, Last Word (9. 146). For tho “lact word" on flight, of course, we went tothe Man Will Never ly Society, a group that claims the ‘Wrightbrothers were a fraud. The society's motto: ‘Birds fly; men drink." OO j j j 4ip oe i i EE iy Ne Li a | LETTERS COMNMUNMICATIOUS Standard Bearer Omniishandsome and attractive. es- thetically and intellectually. The concept (of deliberately packaging summaries of the best current science with the best of sciencefiction is also allractive, If your standards can be maintained, Omni should surely succeed. Philip Handler, President National Acadomy of Sciences Washington, D.C. Stentorian Yeas ''m so tabbergasted that | have to write and tel you whal a fantasticmagazine yyou have here. I've been reading science fiction tor 12 years... and Scientific ‘American for almost as long, and Omni ‘combines the best of both worldis—plus stunning art work and photography. | Clutch he magazine to myself and burble with joy. It Omni were any more superla- tivo, it would fado into Plato'é world af Ideals. Derek Grimmell Minneapolis, MN Biers) \wantyou toknow that Onn ntigues W897) me, andi think ithas a place in our maga- Nuke Rebuke Vis oe ieee y yy ly ey LOS el See hs TT, De yy yy ine scheme ol things. fst judge any- thing lek up by ts quality and certainly you have printed something ot qvaly Tthink Americans have begun thinking about what we can do with the great able ties werave athand.... For example, | wilnot say there are no UFOS, nor wil say ther are | ust happen tobelieve that we are rtthe oly penet among the sev- eal big ones that exist inthis universe imatheé produces some ay to ink and produce: Imooking forward to receiving further copies e your magazine Bany Goldwater US Senate Westingion, DC {Lam impressed. tis really quite an effort. Being aan of Dr. Gerard K. ONeil’s work ‘on the High Frontier, | thoughtyou might be interested in knowing that ameasure | introduced to provide funding for a Na- tional Science Foundation study ofa solar energy collection facility in space has re- ceived Conaressional approval. The re- Sults ofthe study, of course, wll make in- teresting reading for Omni subscribers in {uture issues. Harrison A. Wiliams US. Senate Washington, D.C. Platonic deal | saw the first issue of Omni on the news- stand and bought it on speculation. At the moment. 've read through the first three articles and glanced over the resi, and Itis especially gratifying to s2e a main- stream science periodical declare itselt in ‘oppostion tothe continued abuse of fis- , sion power. As an environmentalist | have totakea lot of gut trom scientist friends who consider most “approprate technol- gy’ freaks to be antiprogress Luddites. In reali, many of the world’s most istin- guished scientists count themselves as Part ofthe growing number cf people Who, while not demancing an end to tech- ological innovation, insist on atleast a partial divorce of scientilic research from the brutal capitalists who have more or less manipulated research and develop- ment work toward questionable ends ‘over the past century. Loring Wirbel Tempe, AZ Harryhausen Goes to Mars Superlatives to your premiere issue. Your media report, however, lft certain mis- Conceptions regarding some firms. Jason and the Argonauts is Being rereleased as 2 result ofthe recent surge o interest in master stop-motion animator Ray Harry- hausen and Columbia's recent financial success with Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. Of interest to followers of his work is. yet anather planned excursion into Harry- hausenland, Sinbad Goes to Mars. ‘Star Wars If wil contain several key ‘sequences with stop-motion animation in her, now being prepares by Star Wars alumni Jon Berg and Phil Tippett COnhand at Universal is The Incredt- ble Shrinking Woman, a spoct on the’50sclassic Shrinking Man, for whichmake Up ast ick Baker is creating the ‘ultimate gorilla sult.” Paul Mandell New York, NY Pattern Watchers Anonymous | eally enjoyed Ron Goular's invisible Stipes (October Omni). Even though itis ‘considered fiction, the probability of itbe- ‘coming fact is not impossible. | recently ead a book, Four Arguments forthe Elimination of Television, by Jerry Mandler. The arguments were realistic ‘and, being a former tv watcher, | could identity with them. Television hasan enor- ‘mous influence on the way we look, talk, the things we buy; and tv doesn'tleave much for speculation or deep thaught. It is the only education some people re- ceive after high echool. Iaven't watched any tv intwo months, and | have no urge to, And I feel my mind is starting o air out again. Thank you for your thought-provoking slory on this mass media monster kathy Van Pottstown, PA (Oberg Sightings Let me congratulate you on Omn's fine first issue. Iwas especially impressed by the fine and well-balanced reporton UFOs by James Oberg, Itis probably the ‘best repartan UFOs to appear ina popu- Jar magazine. Ihope you keep up this ‘good work in reporting other paranormal stories, Sam Piazza Boston, MA | was overjoyed by the UFO Updete co!- umnin October Omri. You are the frst 0 take a scientific approach to a tough sub- ject. InUFOlogy there are no sate, easy answers, only he gnawing feeling that we ‘may never realy solve the question. Charles Labbe Woonsocket, Rl James Obeig’s update on the UFO situa- tion was engaging and, for the most part. accurate. However, | must take strong ex: ‘ception tothe comments made about sel-styled UFO debunker Philip J. Klass. ‘Oberg's contention that Klass's investiga tions are somehow more caretul or scien- tlic than these of other UFO investigators is totally without foundation By way of example: many people are ‘now familiar with tne UFO-helicopter close encounter that occurred near Mansfield, Ohio, in October 1973, and ‘which many UFO experts now consider to bbe one of the best “unknowns” onsecord, Inthat case, the four-man crew ofa US. Army Reserve helicopter experienced a ‘ear-colisicn with a ighted, domed, ci- {gar shapedobject which floodedithe ‘cockpit with briliant green light. Vile the object was close to the helicopter, the copter climbed 1800 feet at 1000ieet per 32 own ‘minute despite the fact that Captain Law- rence Cone, the pila, reportedly was holding he craft's controls in positon for a dive. Kass.on the basis of one his rigorous investigations,” glblycismis- sed the object seen by Coyne and is, Crew as afireball from the Orioid meteor shower. This “rigorous investigation” con- sisted of tee long-distance teephone calls to Captain Coyne and a biet con- versation with one of Coyne's crew mem- bers on at talk show! Klass ard Coyne hhavenver met face-to-face, and Kiase has not even spoken with the oher two crewmen who witnessed the encounter. In contrast, a “superical” and “unsci- enti" investigation conducted by Ms denne Zeidman forthe Center ior UFO ‘Studiesand the Mutual UFO Networkcon- sisted of ever 18 hours ol in-person nter- rogation of the helicopter erew and Countless hours of additonal research and analysis, Her work disclosed the fact that the unknown object was in continual view by the helicopter crew for over 300 seconds. Mr Klass's gargantuan investi ‘alive effort also failed to dsclase the Presenced! five ground-based witnesses to the UFO-helicopter incident whose tes: timonies corroborated those of he crew. lamin complete agreement with Mr. Oberg thal the supericial and biased in vestigations of many UFO enthusiasts have clouled rather than cleared the mystery o| thé UFO. But! can assure you that our understanding of the phenome. fons notadvanced, either, by he equally superticial and biased efforts of closed-minded debunkers such as Philip Klass. AlPorteriola Field Investigator, ‘Aerial Phenomenon Research Oroanization, and Mutual UFO Network ‘Mr, Oberg considers the Coyne helicoptercase one of the best on record ‘and will treat the case in his column in an upcomingissue, Everybody seems to agree theobject came from outer space, bbut was ita spaceship ora fireball meteorite?—Ed. | would lke to correct the impression James Oberg gives that Philip Kiass and his UFO Subcommittee have saiistacto- fily explained avay all or most "best case" sightings as natural phenomena Not all UFOs are seen as nathing more than mysterious lights in the sky at night, behind which one can imagine anything Many are daytime and/or close-up obser- vations by reliable witnesses, from sev- eral angles, of what are reportec to be ar- Iiticial “rai.” They are seen distinctly, often observed for many minutes, and sometimes on or near the ground. And they cannot be explained in terms of understood phenomena. A. Peet Brown Upper Montelaic, NJ Split-Brain Decisions ThomasHoover is quite correst in his arti- cle in your excellent first issue that intui- tion is avital factor in scientific creativity, 2s well as in creativity n other fields However, his identitication of creativity of slavish, noncreative mode of thought with the ett hemisphere—is aprime ex- ample othe naive hemispherzing that has recently become so common in pap- Ular writing. Infact, there is nct ane bit of ‘evidence that tho loft homispharo ie any less (or more) creative than isthe right, ‘even though the evidence that the two hemispheres have different modes of thoughtor cognitive styles is unequivocal Letthemisphere specialization for speech praduction probably arose from the rather mundane need to have one and only one center for he exceedingly complex commands to the vocal appa- Fatus. Interference would takepiace if both theleft and right hemispheres had the capability to control speech output. In terms of motor control neededito realize it, bird song is almost as complex as hu- ‘man speech... and in several species of songbirds so far studied, song has been lateralized tothe lelt half of the avian brain. Happily, however, no one has (yet) ‘suggested that the left naif of tre avian brainis some sort of bird brained IBMS6O. One final thought on Hoover's “holistic phenomenon” (a statement flally contra- dicted by numerous studies of hem ‘spheric diferences): Does Hoover se- rigusly believe that Da Vinci could have [produced his masterpiece or tat Beethoven could have written:he Ninth ‘Symphony had the left side oftheir brain been cutout? Terence Hines, Ph.D. Research psychologist Boston, MA Since Dr Hoover regards Star Wars as a {dramatization ofthe split-brain theory, would remind him that Darth Vader was "seduced by the dark side of The Force,” as were many of history's most notorious—and intutive—villans. Roger Sperry's “proof” of a dual consciousness. inhumans does not convince me. He seems only tohave proved thet when an organis cutin two, it behaves ike an or- gan that's been cut in two. James Morrow, Director The Institute for Mukimedia Learning Westlord, MA ‘The Praise of an Astronaut You can be proud of this magazine. | have read most of the articles already and am impressed with the quality of authorship and artwork. Its absolutely the best mag- azine Ihave ever read. The report on UFO's was most timely and accurate. ‘James 8. Irwin, Pres. High Flight Foundation Colorado Springs, COSTARSHIP AND CANOE EAPETH By Kenneth Brower he growth of our dreams is expo- ‘ential. Just 50 years after Kitty Hawk, a group of 40 scientists and engineers in La Jolla, California, was hard at work on a spaceship called Orion. Their lab was General Atomic, a streamlined, 21st-century fortress atop (one of the lion-colored hls outside of town. General Atomic was oneo! many aerospace labs that had eprung up in the southern California desertin the half cen- tury since the Wrights. The Orion men ‘were different, though, from their col. leagues on adjacent hilltops. They were a ‘century, pethaps a whole age, ahead, They intended to jump a logica step in the evolution of fight and skip chemical rocketry entirely. The only power source: ‘commensurate with the enormous dis- tances ofspace, they thought; was nu- clear. They wanted to begin werk imme- diately on that solution. Orion was to be Poweredby atomic bombs detonated at intervals beneath a weighty pusher-plate: external combustion. The biggest shock absorbers ever dreamed up by man ‘would transfer each bomb's momentum tothe craft, evening aut the lurchy ride. It ‘would have been some ride, Few fictional spacecialt, realized, would have lifted off so spectacularly. Orion’s explosive progress outward would have been as brillantas that of a small, erratic sun, @ ‘rue shooting star. Several of the Orion scientists had made a second jump. They would not be satisfied to be space travelers lke the rest of us, who do our voyaging between the covers of magazines lke this one. They intended to make the voyage them- Selves. They didn't want to entrust man’s st extraplanielary views fo the mentality that yearns to hit got balls onthe moon, The leader ofthis faction was Freeman Dyson (interviewed in the October '78 (Omni), who playfully and affectionately calls people of his persuasion "space ca- dels.” Dyson was Orion’s chief theoreti- George Dyson's kayaks a spaceciat of another kind, modsled after an Alout Eskimo design. 16 OM cian as wel as its expert on he physics of the bomb explosions. He gave the project Credibility it would otherwise have lacked, for his previous accomplishments, in ‘mathematics and quantum electro- dynamics, were classic, ind'sputably the ‘work ofa piercingly rational genius. I drove once with Dyson—in an internal-comustion automebile—down a dark readin a fir forest on earth. | acked the physicist about his childtood as a prodigy. Had he speculated much about his gff? Had he asked himself, as a boy, why he was so bright? Dysov's face was weary as he turned to answer me. “That's not how the question phrased it- self. The question was, "Whyis everyone else so stupid? ‘ Atfist thought the physicist was look ing ratner pointedly at me. Then | saw that his gaze was unfocused, and | guessed he was just gazing back to te biack eyes ‘and the isolation that seem to character- ize prodigious boyhoods, Reflecting onit since, ithas occurred to me often that Dyson's alternate phrasing of the question might be a key tohis ca- reer, tohis drive for the stars. And for somecne who, throughout his life, has al- ways had to stop to explain his thoughts, might not the stars hold promise of easier, ‘more intelligent communication? George Dyson, Freeman's son, was fivein 1958, when his family moved to La Jolla, but he remembers those days well He recalls warm California nights, when his father and Ted Taylor watched the stars through their cheap cardboard tele ‘scopeand discussed the moons of Jupi- ter ang other places they were soon to visit. George sensed that something big was up. He sensed the difference inhis father—'It was like he was in love,” says George. George himself was moreinterested in the Pacific. The annual gray-whale migra- tion passes offshore at La Jola’s kelp beds, and Goorge found that the lavatory window in his clftop day schoo! gave him a good view. He stole away to waich the whales as often as he could. Atthe age of six, George's great inter-est was in building model boats. His fathers gieat interests, atthe age of six, had beenmathematics and astionomy. Neither Dyson has changed his orienta- tion since Freeman's head has been tilted back, intent on the ocean of stars, George's as been tilted down, intent on the oceans of earth, It Freeman Dyson has had a guru, itis Hans Bethe, the Nobel Laureate in physics. Freeman was a young mathema- tician inhis native England when, atthe suggestion of the great English physicist Gil. Taylor ne went 10 Cornell io work un- der Bethe, the man who figuredout what does on inthe heart of he sun. Dr. Bethe aught Freeman physics. Hf George Dyson has had a gury, it ‘was, | suppose, Charlie Ferdeen. was on George had learned from a girl ona ‘salmon boat that Elfin Cove was the home (of Chari Ferdeen, an olatimer with a tot ‘of experience in small boats on these wa- ters. Chatlie, the gil said, would be in- tetestedin George's baidarks. The old prospector was 86. In camp the scientists debated whether George would come back or just keep sailing south. Most thought we had seen the last of him that summer. George canoed over to Elin Cove and ‘spent the day with Charlie Ferdeen, Fer- ‘deen couldn't move around well any- ‘more, but he was still able to work in his vegetable garden, He had bull himself a driftwood throne in which he sat or slept ‘most of each day. George sat at the foot and listexed to stories of the cid days. The Orion spacecratt would use the detonation of nuclear bombs fo propelittowardhe stars. hand for George's meeting with Ferdeen The meeting came at the end of two months George and | spent in Torch Bay, atiny iordoon the outer coast of Glacier Bay National Monument, in Alaska. George had signed on as cook for a group of scientists making a study of the fiord. He had paddled there in his cance, anine-meter three-man kayak modeled fexacily onthe Aleut baidarka but built of ‘modem materials —fiberglass and alu ‘num, (His frst fiberglass canoe had been ‘modeled on the two-man kayak of the Nunivak Eskimos.) After two months in Terch Bay: Soorge was cick of tho ecien- lists, sick othe ford, and sick of me. Frontiers are necessary for the human, psyche, Freeman Dyson has observed They are especially necessary fer the Dy- ‘son psyche. Torch Bay was an absolute wilderness, but for George it had become ‘ld, and itno longer served him as a fron- tier He was ready to move on, He asked for three days leave, and he prepared to sail south tothe nearest outpost of civili- zation, a place on Chichagot Island called ElfinCove 18 OMN Ferdeen often lost the thread (‘Now, what was I saying") but he knew that he lost and this made it ll right with George, Be- sides, George had grown up among the- retical geniuses who in mundane con- versationhabitually lost the thread, and he was accustomed to it Charliehad a low opinion of almost ev- erybody, nowadays. He seemed to share George'sview that we ive in usheroic times. Hewas deaf, and most f the time George asked questions by passing him Noles. This gave their conversation a slately pace that George liked. Ferdeen's deainess gave his teachings the pomp. that a more common ser of guiu achieves by a vow of silence, When George returned to Toich Bay, ‘we gathered around him, He was an em- issary from civilization. It seemed riracu- lous that he was back. We admired his ew paperback, which was worth its ‘weight in gold in camp, and listened to his stories of the library and of the stereo set he had seen. We coveted the chu: batts that Charlie Ferdeen hac given George from his garden, Ast George ate the rhuarbs raw, sparingly, himsel. Later when he had ‘made sure each one of us appreciated their ogin—tha these mubarbs came fromthe garden of Ferdeen-—hemade tnemimopte. ‘Two years later, | happened to be on hand again when George andbis father’s mento, the physics Laureate, Hans Be- the, gc together. George ceranly was not cowed by Dr. Bethe. Thecance builder grew up among scientlic giants. His 1Smeter sailing kayak baing Gis- played by the U.N., George explained to Bethe, had two outrigger platforms, on each ol which @ crewman would stand, working a long-sweep oar. The Chinese had been propelling boats inthis manner for thousands of years, George said. The advantage was that the oar neverlefi he water, hereby minimizing tubulence George hadn't got the dea fiom the Chi- nese. He had gotit from waiching ducks “Thai's interesting,” seid Dr. Bethe. “It sounds lke an idea by G.l. Tey.” The name rang a bel. “And Taylor" interjected, “was the man who sent Freeman to you?” "Nes. Yes, he was. ‘ve gota pretty {good student here,ne told me. think You might be able to make use of him.” Bethe laughed.Typical British under- statement.” Iwas George's reference o ducks that had reminded Bethe of G1. Taylor. Taylor, Bethe explained, was a great hydro- dynamics man who siuaied isn tolearn how they propel themselves. George and I exchanged pregnant glances. | knew what he was thinking, Great hydrodynamicist—water person, studentof fishes —sends myfather to “America, where he meets my mother, be- gins me. George, a regular reader of the Ching, does not believe in accidents Somehow ital figured. His canoe had ‘mystical purposes. It was destin. But wasit destiny? Which Dyson, father or sor, has inev- itabiliy ons side? thas been seid of Freemen that heis a thousand years ahoad af hia time. Could itbe, though, that Georgeis the one ahead, by a thou- sand years, or perhaps just $0? (Or could both be right? Freeman once wrote, paraphrasing the visionary physi Gist JD. Bernal, "Mankind mht spit into {wo species, one following the technolog- ical pat, the other holding on as bestit could tthe ancient folkways of naturel living." Pethaps this isthe way it wll be Evidence mounts that Freeman's brand of technology won't work on a faite planet. Pethaps interstellar space is big enough to conan t. Maybe Freeman's species, Homo mega-faber, will there continue its exponential building, casting its growing volumes of garbage, as Freeman once. suggested, tothe solar wind. Maybe George's species, Homo min-aber, wil Continue raising sails tothe more friendly winds of earth. OOi : i i j i STAR OF THE SPACE By Mark R. Chartrand Ill ‘not unlike some modern UFO reports: old clues, conflicting observers, any possible exolanations, lack of data from people who should have seen what others reported, plus a need io come up with an answer. The nature ofthe Star of the Magi comes up every yeer at this time and isthe subject of planetarium shows all overihe Western world. tis a case of trying to identify ahistorical event using available records, modern krowledge of the sky, ancient astrology, andis subject to the errors of interpreting extinct tongues. Three tront-tunning theories for the star that is supposed to have announced the * Christian Era aro that it was 1) a grouping of planes, 2) a nova, or exploding star, and 3) amiracle. To these may be added a fourth: that the story is puremyth, adduced by overzealous parlisans to ‘confirm ancient prophesy. (No major personage of ancient history was born ‘without some celestial spectacle being Claimecto announce the event) (Of one thing we may be reasonably ‘sure: Jesus was not born on December 25,40. 1. The person who established ‘our modern year-numbering system was | 'sascientific detective czse, realy. MAGI the monk Dionysius Exiguus, or Denys the Small, in the sixth century, He consult- {ed writings of Clement of Alexandria, circa 4.0. 220, which placed the birth in the 28h year of the reign of Augustus Caesar. Today we know this emperor ruled the Roman Empire forfour years un- der his given name of Octavian before being declared Caesar by fhe Senate. ‘Thus Denys was at least four years too late inplacing the birth. (The first oficial Use ofthe A.0. notation wasn't until 605, andit wasn't in regular use until the ninth century) The historical records that mention the star exist in the New Testament and in ‘some non-Biblical texts ofthe same era. Many accounts wore written long atter the event. These must be our sources of data, Herod the Great was alive at the time o'the birth, since he quizzed the Magi who had seen the star Jewish histo- ‘ian Flavius Josephus says that Herod died between the time of a Lunar eclipse and Passover. Astronomical calculations show fat these occurred close to one an- other in 4@.¢. There was a partial lunar eclipse the night of March 12-13. Herod thus ded between March 12 and April 11 of thatyear. Shortly before his death, ‘The Magiin search of Jesus: The “star” they followed may actualy have been twoplanets. 20. own a Herod decreed the deathof all male chil- drenless than two years cf age, leading Us to think that it was that ong since the Magi had consulted with him (and had discoeyed his orders to return and report tohim). So Jesus was probably born ‘about two years before Herod's death, around 68.0. ‘The Bible says that Jesus’ parents were In Bethlehem for a census, or taxation. Luke reports"... that all he world should be taxed. And this tax was first made When Cyrenius was governor of Syria.” Thaltranslation of Luke must bein error, since Cyrenius did not become governor Untila.0. § or 6. Some modern scholars think that it should read, "And this tax was made before the one when Cyreniue was ‘governor of Syria.” This makes more his- torical sense, since the taxation atthe time of Cyrenius led to a revolt, and Luke is making the point that thsis not the taxation he meant, Confirmation of the years of taxation ccarre only in the 20th century, on Roman ruins uncovered in Ankara, Turkey. They record that one tax was decreed in 8 8.¢. Since the news took a while to travel, and ittock still more time for Vary and Joseph to journey from Nazareth ‘o Bethlehem, ‘we can convincingly place them in Bethlehem in 7 or 63. Itis recorded that”... here were shepherds abiding in the lields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” This they surely would nat do in December, for winter is cold and damp. Talmudic tradi tion says that sheep were kept indoors between November and March. It was in the spring, at lambing time, that the shep- heres stayed overnight with their flocks. ‘This would place the birth in the spring, but other records show that it could just as well have been in the fall, Jesus was ‘said to be about six months younger than John the Baptist, and evidence exists that John was bor around the end of March. ‘Sowhy do we celebrate on December 257 The bast answer is that itwas camou- lage. A Roman pagan hoiday, the Sat- vrnalia, was held around that time in con- rection with the winter sostice. The sun stops its southward motion and starts torelum nothward once again—itis re- born, and a new year begins. Early Chris- tians may have adopted this date as a way of disguising the reason fer their own, celebrations. Christmas has been cele- brated only from about the fourth century, ‘and some groups stil celebrate iton another cate. What was this “star” that we believe ap- peared in about 6 8.¢.? We must recall that in clessical times almost anything in the sky was called a “star’ of some sort: there were fixed stars, planets were wan- dering stars, comets were hairy stars, meteors were faling stars, andnovas were nen stars. ‘The passage from Matthew's gospel about the star has been transieted as saying that the star was seen ‘in the East.” This could mean that the Magi were inthe East when they firstsaw it(as they certainly were) or thatthe star itself ‘was seenin the eastern sky, near the time of dawn, Scholars still disagree on which meaning’ correct, Clearly the star lasted for some ime, as the Magi followed it ‘Among the possible “stars” we can rule ‘out meteors as too ephemeral and too ‘common in the clear dosort skioe. (One astronomical wit has remarked thatil the star followed by the Magi was ameteor, it would have been the wildest camel ride of alltime!) ‘An enigma is that Herod andhis priests did not natice the star, since they asked the Magi about. Either they were not {good observers (which is hardito believe since the beginning of the month is fixed by actualobservation ofthe frst crescent ‘of the moon) or the star was some celes- tial eventof no interest or importance to Jewish scholars of the fime—but was tothe Zoroastrian Magi, who were 2 astrologers. é Could ne “star"nave been acomet? = Comets have long been considered evil = David H. Clark, John H. Parkinson, and F Richard Stephenson claim this is what happened and that the star was a nova, 6 perhaps two novas, chronicled by Chi- nese and Korean astronomers in 5 and 4 8.¢,, na part of the sky nearwhat we to- day cal the constellations of Capricornus and Aquila. A novais actually an old star exploding and brightening near the end ofits life. Appearing where no star had been known, it would appear new to the naked eye. Some become very bright. ‘Another type of explodina star, called a ‘supernova, sometimes becomes bright ‘enough to be seen in the daytime. The Protoevangelium of James, an in- fancy gospel notin the Bible, states that the star outshone all others. 'so, why omens, binging war pestilence, plague, and death n their wake. They were seen as the finger of an angry god pining to the earth,or sometimes as a flaming sword held over the heads of transgress- ing mortals, Aristotle considered them not tobe astronomical objects but suspended high in the atmosphere. in Ao. 1458, Pope Calxtus ll ordered public prayers against “the Comet and the Turk,” and as late as 1910, when Halley's Comet last appeared some people bought “comet pts" to ward aff the ev influences! So it hardy seems, that sucha sign could be taken as precict- ing the bith ofthe King of tne Jews. Also, there were no bright comets recorded around 6 2.c. Halley's Comet appeared in 42and118.c, which is too early and ‘again in AD. 66, which is much oo late. We would also expect that Herod would have seen a bright comet. hore 279, however, many instances of comets ornovas recorded by Oriental as- tronomers that were not seen (or at least ‘ot recorded) by Wester or Midle- Easter observers, British astronomers Was ita vova-a star that suddeny flares? Nova above brightened 1000 times in wo months didn't Herod see it? No other source re- ‘marks on the brightness of the star, and s0we ate left in doubt. it were bright, however, there should have been left be- hind a remnant detectable by modern in- struments. None has been found in that att of the sky, ‘The more time-honored explanation is that the star was a triple conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, to which {grouping Mars later approached, in the constellation Pisces. This seems to have ‘been frst suggested about 1977 by ‘someone at the Worcester Priory, But Jo- hanes Kepler usually gets the credit since he spent much time onthe problem inthe first decade of the 17th century ‘A conjunction is a close passage of ‘one celestial object near another. Such 22, Onn events among the five planets visible to the naked eye are not uncommon. Jupiter and Satum are in conjunction every 20 years, but astrologically, not every con- junction is ake. Itdepends on the part of {he sky in which the conjunction takes place. The Jewish scholar Abrabanel, ‘writing in 1497 states thal he "small Con- junctions” every 20 years merely an- ‘nounce the upcoming births of kings, and wars. There are "middle conjunctions” ev- ery 60 years, “great conjurctions" every 239 years, and “large conjunctions" every {953 years. These portend increasingly more important events and changes in history Finally, he says, every 2860 years, in the constellation of Pisces, here oc- curs a “mighty conjunction” that pre- ssages the birth of prophets, miracle ‘workers, and the Messiah. He further says hat tradition associates the constel- lation Pisces with the Jewish people. Asplanets move through the sky as seen {rom earth, they move mostly east- wardamong the stars. As the earth Catches up and passes them, however, they seem to move backward, or ‘westward, in the sky. Thisis called retro- grade motion. In 78.c. both Jupiter and Saltum went through this retrograde loop- de-lonp in the constellation Pisces and thus were in conjunction not once but three times: a triple conjunction. They passed closest o each other on May 27, October 5. and December tof that year Jupiter and Satur are the most distant visible pianets in Babylonien astrology , and thus the most important. The Magi ‘were steeped in Babylonian tradition. Both planets are also associated with the affairs of Israel. So when the two came to- gether in Pisces not once but thrice within a year, this was a major event, and one that could lead the Magi to remember the ancient prophesies of “a star out of Jacob.” (One wonders how many other astrologically important events initiated fruitless journeys by other Magi over the ‘centuries. Some scholars even claim that the visitation of the Magi is myth.) ‘The conjunctions of 7 8.c. were not es- pecially close, certainly no! so close as to blenoithe light of the two planets into one bright object. | doubted somewhat that this could have been a significant sign Until this past summer, when Mars and Satu passed each other closely. Many ppeopie wino do not normally pay much at- tention tothe sky noticed the conjunction —and even described the planets as looking lke @ pair of searchights, even though they were not very bright. So what was the “star”? The most we ccan sayis that the best scientific explana- tion that it was a conjuncion of Jupiter and Satur. Some think itwas a nova, ‘And some will continue to believe the star ‘was e miracle—an anewer that is not an explanation —and thus outside scientific consideration Like UFO sightings, the evidence is in- sufficient for us to know forcertain. 0PLANT SENSATIO \\ S LIFE By Dr. Bernard Dixon that people have communed with gerariums, passionflowers, and Dra- caéna massangeana, Even that fascinat- ing book The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird has failed tooersuade me that vegetables are sensitive to threats, affectionate words, (or recordings of Beethoven's Ninth Sym: phony. Without appropriate recoptors for ‘eceiving and processing sound, itis hard to believe that plants arecapable of such feats. But there are two avenues of respect able research that should trouble anyone adopting this orthodox stance. Mulling through the learned journals recently, | ‘came across examples {roi each— ‘reports showing that plants do indeed have sensory abilties well beyond our present scope of understanding. More land more evidence is emerging that con flicts with the commonly held view that forest trees, garden shrubs, and humble ‘mosses are unsophisticated ie forms {dependent only on a passive supply of sunshine, water, carbon dioxide, and sim- ple nutrients from the soil. There's more, possibly much more, to plant behavior than we suppose. First, consider the strange results pre- sented in the international Journal of Biometeorology (Vol. 22, p. 103)by Dr. E. Graviou, who works at the University of Lyonin France. Using highly sensitive equipment, Dr. Graviou was able to moni tor the only measurable activity of seeds kept n ttal darkness at a constant tem- perature—the minute amount of oxygen Uptake necessary for their survival The results were astonishing. For e ample, with one species of tomato, Dr. Graviou found not only that oxygen con- ‘sumption levels in the morning andin the afternoon “oscillated” (one beng high when the other was low) but, even more surprising, that uptake of oxygen was significantly greater on mornings occur- fing at 15-day intervale coinciding with the new andyll moon. Sunflower seeds behavedin a similar way. ‘Although the explanation underlying this strange phenomenon is sill not fully 24 own, | remain keenly skeptical about claims understood, there seems litle doubt that the lunar cycle influences the lite pro- cesses of plants. Perhaps gravity is the crucial link, though atmospheric pressure is also known to vary with the moon's phases. Whatever the mysterious forcesmay be, we now have to accept that heat, light, and nutrients are by no ‘means the only factors regulating plant behavior. The second paper that caught my eye was tiled "Color Perceptionin Plants"— surely a bizarre concept to feature in the sober pages of Trends in Biochemical Sciences (Vol. 3, p. N204), Here is a cau- tious British academic, Professor Harry ‘Smith of Nottingham University, discus- sing net just how plants respond to light, rps hol Reser Lunar cycle atects lite processes of plants, ‘such as the oxygen uptake of sunilower soeds. waves ut how they experience color. To appreciate this novel notion, we must re- call how leaves react atallolight. Two substances are involved. One is sensitive at the blue end of the ight spectrum, and though it oceurs in both primitive and higher plants, we know ltleabout how it ‘works. The other,phytochrome, seems 10 be the sensor molecule that gives leaves. the capacity to discriminatecolors. What happens is this. Phylochrome exists in two different forms that can be ‘converted from one to the other depend ing upon the wavelength of ight that sttikes the leaves. The first absorbs red light most efficiently; he second maxi- mally absorbs longer wavelengths at the infrared end of the spectrum. Since the relative proportions of the two forms of phytochrome are determined by the wavelengths (i. the colo's) of the light falling on the plant, leaves containing these substances can “monitor” the color Of light surrounding them. Just as pig- ‘meni in our retina tellus thatthe sky is blueand a matador’s cloaks scarlet, so phytochromes give plants similar Information. Professor Smith and his colleague Or. M.G. Holmes have found that this unex- pected vegetable talent serves practical purposes too. In nature, the commonest reason why plants are sometimes de- prived of lightis that they become shielied by other species. The deprived, planisulfers particularly from a shortage ‘of red light because chlorophyll the sub- stance that green plants use to transduce the radiant energy of the sun into chemi cal energy for manufacturing food, ab- orbs light predominantly rom the red re- gion of the spectrum. But infrared light slill reaches the shaded plant, causing an alteration in the relative amounts of the two types of phytochrome so that the plani can absorb more light of infrared ‘wavelengths. This in turn provokes the shielded plant to proliferate and thus overgrow its competitors. ‘The ability of plants to perceive the {ualiy ofthe lightis of greater impor- tance to certain species than to others. In some ecological niches, such as wood: land, flowers do not respond particularly ‘vigorously to variations in he phylo- chrome mixture. In herbaceous habitats, though, weeds use their color sensitivity lo great advantage, astounding gar- deners with their potential for smothering caretully cherished species. ‘As with Dr. Graviou's discovery, much more research is needed lo illuminate the ‘more exotic sensory abiltias of plants, which untilrecently were barely known to ‘exist, Whether or not plants are really ca- able of understanding what we say and thinkabout themis stil open to debate. But ane thing is for certain. they are by no ‘means the "vegetables" we once thought themtobe.00: i a a THE ARTS Ss ince its publication inthe 1950s, the late J.A.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy of Middle Earth, The Lord of the Rings, has been the ob- Ject of an ever-growing cult following. A perennial avorite of high schocl and col- fege students, Rings has been merchan- ised in poster art and annual calendars, sweatshirts, buttons ("Frodo lives"), and incther related wearable forms. In adi tion to hard-cover and paperback edi tions ofthe original texts, numerous critical and cult-oriented ancillary vol- umes abound, These include histories, guides, and exhaustive interpretations of the trilogy. The '77-78 television season saw the first adaptation of Tolkien for the nome screen. Produced by Rankin-Bass for NBC, The Hobbit was the authors first novel of Middle Earth, setting the stage for the action to follow in his subsequent, ‘more sophisticated Lord of the Rings. An amusing, though generally ineflective rendering ofthe story, he animated ty ‘special suffered from a severe case of ‘culeness and was received accordingly by the crits. Speculation grew as to whether a theatrical feature fim version af the Tolken trilogy would turnout tobe as abortive as The Hobbit. The 20-year history of Lord of the ‘Rings’ translation to film is cloudy. compli- cated by rumors that have placed its pro- Guctionin a half dozen countries and linked itto several major directors. inter- estin the trilogy blossomed inthe late 1960s, largely because of its inherent rmysticel qualities. At that time, rumors abounded thatthe film would be pro- duced by innovative Czech, Hungarian, (or Yugoslav animators. In 1970, The New York Times ran a story announcing a pro- duction (unrealized) to be directed by John Boorman (Deliverance, Zardoz). ‘Other names linked to the property in the ppast decade include Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, Dt. Strange- Jove, Barry Lyndon), Walt Disney, and Ro- man Polanski (Rosemary's Baby, China- town). Iiwas with some degree of cyni- cism, then, that news of Raich Bakshi production of Lord of the Rings was received, Bakshi fied real actors in black and white and then animeted over the five action. 26 own A popular animator, Ralph Bakshi's early feature-length cartoons drew heav- ily onhis adolescent experiences in the Jewish-Black-Italian ghetto of Browns- ville, Brooklyn. From his theatrical fim de- bbut with Fritz the Cat (1972) and following through with Heavy Traffic (1974) and ‘Coonskin (1978), his pictures proved to be animated equivalents of the English Kitenen Sink’ or “Angry Young Man" dra- mas of the 1950s. Innovative, uncen- sored, sometimes vulgar but always truthiul, Bakshi's works were critically acclaimed as revolutionary examinations of the underbelly of urban society. With Wizards in 1976, Bakshi made the transition from reality to mainstream fan- lasy. Derivative but very commercial, ne, 20th Century-Fox sword and sorcery tale gavehim the opportunity to develop his Skils in rotoscoping, a process he used extensively in Wizards and exclusively in Lordof the Rings. “I's been around since the early days of animation,” Bakshi ex- plained as we talked in his Los Angeles office. “Rotoscoping is simply using lve action footage as a guide, to look at and animate over. No one’s ever shot an entire ‘movie in ive action in order to reproduce itas an animated film, Theattemptin Lordo! the Rings was to cieate amoving ilustation, not @ cartoon. A realistic type ofillstrated movie for the first time. Butwhatis rotoscoping? "Well, we take the black-and-white footage and remove all the stuff we don't want from it. Every- thing from unnecessary props to mis- placed costume details and forgotten ‘wristwatches. When we're through we have, in effect, a detailed ine drawing ‘Taking that, we simply draw in whatever ‘we want, rom facial expressions to add tional costume or prop details, add color, and the end product isa fuly animated {eatui fl with a very realistic feel 0 it” During a break in our conversation, Bakshi led me into his editing room and ran ten minutes of footage from Lord of the Rings, including Boromir’s death. It ‘was astounding. Though most of the film vwas fully animated, an occasional shot from Bakshi’s original 35 mm black-and: white version would creep in, waiting toBOOKS THE ARTS fom Daedalus to Jonathan ‘Seagull, humanity has been haunted by fight. tis rot merely thal life, having migrated trom sea toland, seeks through us to migrate into Space itset there is a drive to transcend ali previous lovels of awareness by going {urther (Magellan) or faster (JL. Seagull) ‘or simply by seeing more (Ed Michell) Noris onyihe inventor or technologist in us subjectio these urges. Before it was mechanically possible, poets ard myth- makers dangled the vision of fightin front ‘tus through millennia, and it was the ‘reat modernist painter Matisse who Urged younger artists to lyin order to find the opicalkey tothe world ‘Georg Gerster, a German photogra pher, followed Matisse's advice and has ome back with staggeringly beautiful re- sults in is Fights of Discovery Pad- dington Press, New York). The creation of this book itself represents something of an epic: Gerster spent ten years and togged some 1000 hours inthe ai over 59 countries to take 98 stunning aerial photograpis that show us an earth that only professional pilots and the most in- delatigable world travelers nave had the chance to know. The world made visible by Gersteris nol the world seeninorai- nary lie, rom ground zero, not the sphere fioeting in space photographed by astronauts, bul something much stranger, more eerie, and more beaut Patterns as abstract asthe painings of Mondrian, Kandinsky, or Pollock flow be- fore us. Onsecond glance they might be the habitats of very inteligent social in- sects: il defies belt that they are simply the farms, vilages, and cities ofmen. From Chinese burial groundsto Atican hamleis tovast stretches of plowed farm. land as inticate as Abstract Expression- ismlo the sprawl of Los Angeles "a swarm of parking lots in search ofa city” Gerster calls it in a caption) onesees pat- ter whereno people plannedit That thereis some species-mind at work here or some ONA-lke program in he sense of s0ciobiology, is only one othe philo- sophical shocks from these incredible, al- most extaterestil. views of ou planel. 28 omni on = From fight asa drearm to Hight asa reality The Now Challenge ofthe Stars by Patrick Moore and David Hardy (Rand- McNally. New York) is an equally sumptu: ‘ous art book and a sober scientific philosophical examination of our future at the final rontier. However, Moore's texts ‘quite overwhelmed by Hardy's paintings; Moore assumes, as a sane man should, that the exploration of our soler system can now be taken for granted and that our real challenge lies in star tight. His ap- proximaiion, however, of problems ahead, and rewards io be reaped seems only logical and merely plausible. & really en- twenched conservalive can tave issue with all lit; but no one can argue with Hardy's magnificent illustrations, which {go beyond the logical and plausible to the deep emotions of wonder and awe that ultimately control our curiosity and, hence, aur imagination and our behavior. The ukimate fight—outside space-time ‘as we know it, through a blackhole, into Heisenberg's world of potentia and bbeyond—is the theme of Michael Davidson's Daughter of ls (Popular Li brary, New York). Bled as a “science fiction epic" by the publisher, this might ‘aswell be called philosophy-iction or ‘even theology-iction, but an epic of some sort it certainly remains. As anovel the bookis inept: cardboard characters, unrealistic dialogue, the plotis frequently mechanical and ad hoc, and the at- tempts at lyricism are downright em- barrassing. Nevertheless, | enjoyed Daugtier of ls tremendously Though the parallels withthe liad, Par- adise Lost, and Moby Dick worked into Davidson's book are all tons disadvan- tage, ie has more original ideas than any SF novelist of the ‘70s, anditis as a novel-ofideas that The Daughter offs really comes alive. There are, in fact, so many exciting concepts in this book that | ‘could ill he remainder of the page by simply listing them—but jus! let me say that ycu will ind a wealth of provocative ideas here on such topics as paradoxes inquantum theory, immorialty, evolution from humanhood to Godhood, the con- trasting values of Taoism, Christianity, and Nietzscheanism, and the genetics of biotheology, And the heroine, I must ad- mit is quite convincing, pemaps be- cause Davidson is so preoccupied with ultimate questions that its easier for him tocreate a goddess than a human Al the opposite pole of science fiction is Theodore Sturgeon, who alter 35 years is stillhe most human and most humane yarn spinner in the genre and the most unobtrusively elegant stylist. Sturgeon in (Orbit (Jove Publications, New York) con- tains five long short stories that show the Maestro at his best—tlights of imagina- tion ino realms of scientific possibility ‘and human psychology that only Stur- ‘geon can evoke. Itis the psychology, as always, that makes a Sturgeon story Unique; even his extraterrestrials are created with empathy and insight that make his people the most realin science fiction. And Sturgeon’s perspective on humanity is tuly that of a mind In Orbit —Robert Anton Wilson Be sure to see OMN''s special TV coverage of "The Winds oi Kitty Hawk ‘on page 102 of this issue. lanai alaeFrom deep space... : The seed is planted...terror grows. A Robert H. Solo Production of A Philip Kaufman Film -. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ Donald Sutherland - Brooke Adams: Leonard Nimoy Jeff Goldblum Veronica Cartwright « Screenplay by W. D. Richter, Based on the novel "The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finriey * Produced by Robert H. Solo DiCieacsvstenco]" Directed by Philip Kaufinan §jEUmted Artists [£3 evan einncaienteronenvoniies minanatinnea Hl Atansamenca ComoaiyLUNAR BASES STAIeS By Patrick Moore hen we discuss the future of man in space, there must in- evitably be speculation. How- ever, atleast some vital facts have been firmly eslablished. Skylab proved that as- tronauts can survive for elativaly long pe- riods under conditions of zero gravity, 30 there shauld be no danger in ving on the ‘moon, where the gravitational pullis one sixth that of earth, There s nothing harm- ful on the moon itself; no dangerous orga- nisms ard no ground tremors strong ‘enough to shake down buildings. Simi- larly there are no immense dust cits. ‘The lunar surface is firm enough to sup- pport the weight of not only a spacecratt but also a proper lunar base. ‘We must remember that conditions on the moon are totally alien, so that various structural materials will behave very di ferently, We must also contend with the ‘tremendous temperature range, trom ‘above 93°C (200°F) at noon on the equa- tor downto ~ 121°C (—250°F) during a right anywhere on the moon The danger from meteorites faling onto the moon and causing damage to any man-made structures appears tobe very slight. Quite recently | reread an excellent book, published in 1983, in which it was Claimed that any lunar base would have tobe bult underground—or ese be soon battered to pieces by the steady cosmic bombardment, But harmful meteorite falls are probably very rare indeed, and itis significant that as yet no large fallen meteorites have been found ‘onthe moon, Establishing a lunar basealso depends upon whether any useful materials are to ‘be found on the moon. Atmosphere, wa- ter, and food must be transported from earth initially. Later on it should be possi- ble to cultivate plants inside the base by techniques such as hydroponic farming, where plants are suspended in nets, above circulating liquids that provide the nutrients needed. The lack of atmosphere, together with the reduced gravity, means inat the re- search teams willbe able tocarry out ex: periments quite impossible on earth, Moreover, the lunar surtaceis exposed to all the various radiations coming from ‘space. While scientifically valuable for experimental reasons, this may be a ‘mixed blessing due to the long-term et fects of radiation on humans. As aradio and teevision relay station tie moon will also have a part to play: constant surveys Of earin’s weather systems will be possi- ble; and as a site for an astronomical ob- servatory lunar bases willbe in a class of their own hypothetical unar base, wih slar power station and material processor in background. 20, OWN From earth, optical astronomers are consianily plagued by theturbuience and dirtiness of the atmosphere, a prob- lam that increases according to the size of the telescope used. The Palomar '500-centimeter (200-inch) reflector works well, and we may expect more from the now Russian §99-cenlimeter.Butit it were possible to build, say, a 1016- centimeter (400-inch), the atmosphere would prevent it rom being used to ca- pacity and might easily preventit from ‘being useful at all. On the moon there is no atmosphere, and the lesser gravity ‘would make for easier corstruction of ‘both optical surfaces and mechanical parts, Ourview of the universe would be ‘more than doubled in range. , More important stills the fact that from earth we can study only avery limited part ofthe total electromagnetic range. We have the optical window, and there is also radio window, but most of the radi atiors from beyond earth are blocked fut, which is why we havahad touse rocket vehicles for x-ray astronomy and ‘other studies. This hazard, too, will not ‘apply to the moon. The prospects for ra dio astronomy are equally good, because the construction of very sizable equip~ ment wil be made easier by the fact that it willweigh less, Looking furtner ahead, tne radio astronomer's ideal would be an abserva- tory on the far side of the moon, where shielding from earth's interference is Complete, When this will be established ‘must depend upon what happens during the next few decades, but with luck t shoud be in action before 2026. Contact with garth, and with other nar bases, will 'be maintained by using the communica- tion satelites that will by then be orbiting the moon, ‘These are some of the advantages of a luna: base. Alas, there are many disad- vantages as well, and we may not yet ap- preciate them all OO Adapted with permission of Taplinger Publishing Co., Inc., from the book The ‘Nexi Fifty Years in Space by Patrick Moore. ©1976 by Patrick Moore.QUEEN OF THE UFOS : i ; 3 i i | : é UFO UPDATE By James Oberg celebrated UFO report, widely publicized in the lact fow years, is vimmy Carter's sighting in Georgia, before he was gover- nor. Today hundreds of UFO writers and lecturers refer glowingly to the "Jimmy Carter UFO, "though not a single one of them appears to have actually investigat- {ed the report In light of statistics showing that 9010 98 percent of al such instances, ccan readily be identified as scientific phe- ‘nomene (atleast a quarter ofthese cases, turn outto be bright planets), one sus- pects that UFO butts are afrad that ust ‘such a solution would explain away the Carter sighting and thus deprive them of a good publicity gimmick In mid-1977, UFO investigator Robert Sheatfer, generally regardedas a skep- tical buihighly competent analyst, published results of his own research on the Jimmy Carter sighting, Sheaffer was able to determine the date of the event through records of Carter's speaking en- ‘Gagements, and found that while in Qoto- Der 1969 Carter first mentioned the sight- ing (this, ina report filed fouryears later), iactvally must have taken place on Jan- uuaty 6, 1969, alter a speech he gave. at a Lions Club in Leary, Georgia. Carter had described a light "as bright fas the moon’ thal seemed to approach and recede repeatedly. When Sheaffer ‘compared the elevation and bearing of the UFO Carter described toa sky chart, he discovered that the brightest object in the sky that night was—theplanet Venus. The future president hadreported that ten other witnesses had been present, but when Sheatfer checked with many Lions Club members, they generally re- membered the speech but not any UFO. Only cne member, the president of the io- cal club, who must have been standing with Carter after the speech, remem- beredthe actual incident. He recounted ow they had watched a lignt in ne sky, \Wwhichhe had thought was a weather bal- loon, bute was unable to corroborate Carter's account of the object's movement, Inthe months following Sheatfer’s an- nouncement, UFO experts generally avoided comment. In fact, he UFO com- unity continued to act asf there hag been 10 inquiry or plausible explanation atall. References to the “Jimmy Carter UFO" continue unabated. ‘Atist’srendeting of Fr, Gil's UFO sighting off New. Guinea n which aliens "waved" witnesses. 32. om The Carter sighting would seem to be ‘butone more instance ofthe omni- presence of Venus in the recent history of “identified” UFOs. Venus was named in honor of the god- des of beauty, forts briliance in the evening and morning skies. For years as- troromers regarded it as "earth's twin,” perhaps a hospitable world much lke our wn planet. But space probes (such a the ones scheduled to reach the planet in early December) have destroyed this no- tion, The real Venus, with temperatures ‘near 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, air full of cchcking carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid fumes, and pressures greater than those beneath an ocean, is a hall planet. ‘Venus has been Nell fo UFO investigg- tors, to0. “No single object has been mis interpreted as a‘tlying seucer' more often than the planet Venus,” wrote pro-UFO theorist Dr. Jacques Vallee. Venus plays ‘80 prominent a rolein the generation of UFO reports it has been humorously nick- rnamied ‘the queen of UFOs.” ican be dificult for a naive observer to appreciate the ease of misperception of Verus. Literally miliions cf UFO sightings have been touched off by the planet Verus, according to statistics from the Center for UFO Studies (CuFos) in Evans- ton llingis. These include reports from astionauts, pilots. policemen. ordinary Citizens, and, as we have seen, a future president But UFO investigators through years of experience know that Venus, shining bril- liartly. lashing colors, appearing to dart ‘back and forth or to spin wildly, can in- deed give rise to bizarre reports from in. teligant, sober, and otherwise trustworthy individuals. Often, the complex process ‘ofhuman perception and memory cre~ ates an extremely strange report so that many witnesses themselves alterwards refuse to accept the ‘Verus' explanation. Vallee collected a series of UFO de- scriptions made during an incidentin 1957 that turned aut to be of the planet Verus: "Round object, sie of a dime, emitting beams of light’; “large oval ob- ject, biliant orange, seen for one hour’ “cigar-shaped object, size of a pea at CCONTAUED ON PAGE 129,mat Fo a i Y AG.We\ls., IL Se CA weyidi 3 (-' ee Rea LM A 8 _ and allthe athex WhrleJif: g(t Vet es r/o) eC Ea tle eh oe ES eer Keine eer an "9 & eel heater eerCOMTIMULUM PRDE AND PREJUDICE IN ORBIT fide goeth before a fall In this case, the fall we are all worried about is the imminent uncontrolled descent of Skylab-NASA's 84:ton otbiting spacestation—wich may de-orbit before the, year is out and scatter its wreckage over a 5000-kilomsterlong) “footprint” across the surface ofthe earth. When it vas put into orbit in 1973, Skylab was hailed as the ‘world's firs: space station, Three separate crews of astronauts lived and worked aboard the boxcar-sized spacecraffor up to 83 days ata time. Skylab was a huge success. But now its orbit has decayed to such a perilously iow point that the huge craft wll soon reenter the atmosphere and crash into the earth. Most satellites burn to ashes long belore they reach the earth's surface. But Skylab won't Like the Russian satelite Cosmos 954, which dropped radio- active debiis in northern Canade, Skylab will break into chunks asit screams through the almosphere. Most of thos» chunks will harmlessly bum up, far above the ground. But many pieces (of Skylab will suvive reentry andreach the surface mere orless intact, Sorre of thelead-lined safesin which film was stored and some of the massive pumps and other pieces of heavy equip- ‘ment will not burn up in reentry. ‘Not only will Skylab’s footprint be 5000 kilometers iona (about ‘3000 miles), but t's expected tobe several hundred klometers ‘wide as well. This means that if Skylab makes its final descent ‘over southern California, forinstance, wreckage might hit any- where from Los Angeles to Savanna, from Mexico to St. Louis, Ifthe rain of debris started in sunny Spain, almost all of Eurooe Could be in danger of man-made meteors smashing out of the sky. Atleast, unlike the Cosmos 954 de-orbiting debris, there's nothing radioactive aboard Skylab. NASA did not foresee this fotential disaster. The space agency's people thought that Skylab would remain ina stable ‘orbit for years to come. But, unexpectedly, solar storms heated the earth’s atmosphere and caused itto expand by just enough to grip Skylab and cause enough drag to start it spiraing back down to the ground, Bul the hardworking, dedicated engineers of NASA were able to maneuver Skylab by remote control from the ground, 60 that now itis flying in a nose-firs attitude, which presents amini- ‘mum of elmospheric drag. Even so, the craft has cropped 25 kilometers since the last astronauts lettin 1974. NASA believes that Skylab will remain safely in orbit until 1983, By then, the new Space Shultle should be flying and can be used to atiach a fresh rocket booster system shat wil it Skylabs orbit by some 120kilometers But Bitin's Royal Aierat Establishment (RAE) challenges NASA piisiic figures. According to RAE estimates, Skylab Could reenter the almosphere nolater than September or Octo- ber 1979, RAE had correctly forecast the reentry of Cosmos 954 ‘and many otner satellites, Public, NASA hopes fo have the Shutle tlying orbital mis- sions by the end of 1979, But privately officials admit to grave concern about delays in the Shuttle's space-worthiness. The Shuttle is plagued wath its own problems and probably wll not ‘iy uti 1280 at the earliest. tthe FAE is correct and Skylab is {dus to rain pieces on the earth by autumn of 1979, the Shuttle willnotbe ready to rescue the situation. What todo? ‘There s only one possible enswer. We must swallow our na- tionel pride and ask the Soviets for help, The USSR has been moving steadily ahead in otbital opera- tions, while we have done nothing in manned spaceflight since thejoint Apolo-Soyuz tight of 1975. The Russianshave orbited several ten-ton Salyut space stations and regulatly send up teams of cosmonauts to these stations for missions that last months ata time. The 89-day record of American astronauts GP. Cari E.G. Gibson, and WP Pogue, setin 1974, was shat- tered by Yori Homanenko and Georgi Grechko aboerd Salyut 6 in March 1978. Incather words, the Russians have the hardware and the trained personnel to rendezvous with Skylab, ft a booster rocket toi, and move it into @ safe orbit. They-—and perhaps only thes—can save us from a potential tragedy of colossal proportions. ite trly mean what we publicly espouse about outer space being a realm for peaceful cooperation among natons, rather than an erena or aggressive competition, wemustskthe Rus- sians forhelp. COrstat digging shelters. BEN BOVA 35CONMTIMUUM THE CANCER SCARE ‘CAUTION: Diet soda, har ‘dye, and now even pan- {ried hamburger may be hazardous to yourhealth. It seems ike every other day newspapers report thal scl entists have uncovered yet anothercommon substance causing cancer, But "there isno cancer epidemic,” wites Of. Richard Pollak in the August issue of Fusion magazine. According to Pollak, one of the greatest tne Sabet fallacies of the modem age is that cancer is on the rise because of industiaization andtheuse of somany arilicialsubstances in products. *Canceris nota disease olindustrial society" says Pollak ‘Infact, the unit numn- berof cancers that occur throughout the population forany alven age-group has not chafiged sines 1200, with thesinale exception of lung cancer, whose in- creases cortelated directly with theincrease in ciga- ratte smoking.” Whathias propagated the 36 OM! panic? Pollak attritutes the ‘scare to plain bad science, notably failure to teke into accountthresholdievels of substances necessary to cause cancer For example, ahuman being would have {fo drink 800 12-ounce diet sodas per day forlfeto ingest the amount of sac- ccharine that produced can- eer in the celebrated Cana- dian tests with rats This, too, has besn a fla ‘grant problem with the ‘Ames test, the most com monly used method for classifying substances as. carcinogens. Itwas the ‘Ames test, for example, that ‘microbiologist Barry Com- ‘moner used to indict fied hamburgeras appossibie ‘carcinogen. in thistest, a deliberately weakened strain of bacteria istreated wilh high doses of suspect chemical to see if any muta~ tions occurin the genetic material, DNA. ButPoliak Points out that there is "Vi ‘ually no experimental e dence” that the effect of high doses of chemical an be extrapolated to low doses of that chemical ‘The effects ofthis line of ‘cancer research are far fromacedemic. The US. Department of Labor's Oc- ‘cupational Safety and Health Agency, for example, is currertly considering pro posals that would enable it fodeline “possible human ‘carcinogens” onthe basis ofthe Ames test and others likeit The group of 14 chemicals presently under the agency's control could bbe extended to2500 ifthe proposal is accepted — Giving the agency the right toclose down almost any factory inthe country. SMART DINOSAURS Iidinosaurs were pea brainediumbering giants, ‘ap.we have boon taught all ‘our lives, how then did they dominate the earth formore. than 150 million years? ‘According to Stephen J. Gould of Harvard University, dinosaurs were not small brainedafterall. Theyhad theright-sized brains, he told New Scientist, for rep- ties oftheir body size. Gould cited various stuc- ies pertaining to bran size and inteligence. Recently, James A. Hopson of the University of Chicago found that various groups of dino- aus could be classified ‘undera rating systen called an encephalisation quo- tient, or EO. By comparing the brain size ofa dnosaur witha standard reptlian brain expected for that body Weight, Hopson was able to Tank each group of dinosaur bydilferent values, Dino- saushaving largerbrains than expected ina standard reptile ofthe same weight were rated at an EQof 1.0 or more. Dinosaurs having lesserbrains than expected were valued below 1.0. Hopson determined from his findings that the EQsys- tem corresponded with vari- ‘ous dinosaurs’ agiliy and speed. Brontosaurus (and clher similar sauropods), for instance, had the lowest EQ, 0.200 0.35, Much lke the elephant, Brontosau- ruses probably used their