a NOVEMBER 1978 $200 a) THE REAL BIONIC MAN EXCLUSIVE: INTERVIEW WITH ALVIN TOFELER PLUS: ALL NEW FICTION: UNSEEN WORLDS: COMPUTER LIB BATTLESTAR GALACTICA + JOHIN- LILLY ON DOLPHINSru! November 1978 EDITOR & DESIGN DIRECTOR: BOB GUCCIONE EXECUTIVE EDITOR: FRANK KENDIG EGnoPesN EDITOS_ DR BERNARD OXON BIECUINE VICE ESIDENE MINE GILMAN ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: KATHY KEETON ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER (INTL): FRANCO ROSSELLINI Qua) a he ee FIRSTWORD=”SSCPulshersPage Ounieus Gontibutors 8 ‘COMMUNICATIONS Correspondence 10 EARTH Environment 2 ees ero heme oe . Fe Biomedicine 2 STARS Comment Ey HEARTS Media 26 UFOUPONTE Report at CoNTINDW Data Bank % THE REAL BIONIC MAN Article Dek teres) a THE WEARIEST RIVER Fiction Uoyd Bigole, Je 30 NATURALPACKAGES Pictorial. CD ‘COMPUTERLIB Arica Ted Nelson % SHORFLVED PHENOMENA Aficio Tinathy Bay & WHALE SONG Fiction Leigh Kennedy 70 ‘TESTTUBE BABIES Article Tabitha M Powiedge 76 UNSEEN WORLOS Pictorial 2 LANGUAGE, EMOTION AND DISEASE Aticle Wallace Ellerook 2 AVINTOFFLER—=~=~=~*«sntorview =a Gucciono SSC THECHESSMEN ‘Fiction __—_—_—‘Wilam@G,Shepherd ——====«100, DOLPHINS, ‘Article enly 104 EXPERIMENT Fiction 170 UFETIDES Aricle Lyall Watson 112 EXPLORATIONS Travel Swart Diamond 115 PHOTOSYNTHESIS Phenomena Roman Vishi 122 GAMES Diversions Scot Mortis 1a The cover afer this man’s OMS an inaginaive portat nite Li. Pantedin 1974 by he ‘Swiss Yantasie reais HA, Giger, itappears in Giger’ fist book Necronomicon, published fst ‘mont by Big O Pubishing, Lt. 4 om ‘Ou 1978. US ve Namba 2 Pblsng my ne Unga Snes by OWN Picnone naira Us. 609 Td ‘ne New oe NY "0b Tl 212) S09S5O rmedn a USA by Henan Pantng Gp ang Saeed U.S Gena tomo pores ane war oncept rw UX) by Cues Creuseon Gowpany 2} Hensean Ov, West ately orte Oresad aba UX by St Darton Ui 18 Hny Gadene, enaor aN, Enp. wr cor copy ‘ins ht buentrc rte a 07 ages Eatosohoer sore nea coe an ‘eieosbtyassuedtoranectos cao maeral forage mst aeconnary tren teautes lgerseres aera epee en tig ra ean ae peas wtenpunnton eps hy ny ‘bs US, a= 424 OO ere yer Carada eer $9 era your Sige copes s200™US, Cogan, naAFO. Ass ‘ages te lbOvNMagazne sen en. Farmgaae 173s Fosmarirsealn3S701Femapiseaaes Pep ‘uot omenttncoodens pote nor sonang slew ur ant asdoonamsing sce.| Inlast month's OMNI, sciencewiiter Alton. Russians were there first with Sputnik Blakeslee reportedion astronomers’ of. and thal ubilethe Soviets araragulanly forts to delectinteligentsignals trom sending men into space, we main |outerspece. The implications of such about as airworthy asa prize Kentucky || Pontac, and the dialogues thai mustin- swine wth paperwings ‘evtably follow, are enormous, almost too The argurtients behind this deprecie- "| staggering to conceive. Imagine the tion ol the space program are simple— | questions we could ask avisiting extra- the program iisell is too expensive, we tertestial Do youhaveacurelorcan- det foo ile forthe money spent, and, ‘07? thor life alter death? Aro the Besides it could bo batter doplayed physical avsinyourpartoftheuniverse on such things as medical research the sameas in ours?s there a way to The arguments are, ofcourse, Overcome the burden of gravity prolong specious. ‘youth, exceed the'spead of fight ..? Fitst.itis dificultto make acase for Think of te things we could learn, among spending too much money on the space them, as Carl Sagan putit,how ‘possibly _progiam since the Depariment of Health, ‘to avoid the dangers ofthe period ot Education and Welfare spencs the equi | techiiological adolescence weareinow alent ofthe (olal NASA budget every [Passing frrough.” eight days “Yeldespite the obvious benefitstobe ‘Second, we get a great deal fr the 5 : reaped fom such contact, thereexista money ne do spend. The development of. ; Yotifefous few who appear tocppose any communications satelites alone, an ad- : fanidall ers tomakeit Mostnotable, of vance thathias done moreforhuman un ‘couse, is Wisconsin senator Villar derstanding than all the socel welfare FL FOO Prout amo tis winter gaveons ofhis projects fundedto date, would seem a ot a IF _infamousGolden Fleece awardstothe orth the cost, Moreover, who can puta » —~-\_/\ Ni National eronauitcs anaSpace Admin- dolarvalue onthe emendous uniting ae 2 istration, which, “riding the wave of popu- of the human spirit that occurred on Jut Who can puta |Jarentustesm tor StarWrsand Gbse 20, 1903 when Nel Armsorg waked on dollar velue on the Enounes ote Tang eprops Meith ' We Tob omecticstommerarenns ev aceon ik ial none) tremenoous uplifting ‘ext Seven years {otry tofind inteligent cut fromthe space program will actually ofthehumanspint fe noutersoace. ntiysewitsaidrox. beusedto beter ine avait liehere Spares ado rire, “ihis project should bepesiponed on earth, Lumped under the general cate- July 20, 1969, whe i fora million light-years.” gory of “defense,” more than 60 percent luly 20, 1969, when Folowing this alack on NASA. asub- the federal budget forresearch and Neil Armstrong | corm itetteaeConmiesan cenoprat carol el cose a \ppropriations (chaired by Representa- the creation of newer and more sophisti-. _ walked on the surface « |tive Edwerd P. Boland) recommended ‘cated means of destruction: Similarly, we. of the moon? thatthe fiscal year 1979 budget for how sperid the equivalent of NASA's en- i Nise cee cet cat ieeel on | geicalwanecpels Comer ol gence (SET pioles) beeuifan|S2 mi methods ofgereray nuceareneroy.an fonto $600,000. (Thetinaldeesionls. | erterr hate sky atest tow belo the House) AN SRENASAOII. Veli budgets coniruetobe cul, and |iSareait rise orsretage ante) 2 (conate reortia canines walenorae | endesia work on noantaraad His colenlssceawardsin yalsecms Te heey ecm ay ‘space opportunity to be fleeced by Prox-__ be entertaining—if not vote felching—to. Fic inde los Goa eeroloieria avalaine Godan leacetoae rs onc) ‘Spacecrll desianied (ofly ovel nepoles unfortunately led “The Anthropomety ot loftne sun) wersculesverstandedlaled Alle Sewardesteo" Ponta gave IBoullne = orice (he hace shtte | cust anaveidia 1e76. Thun pos oul Toner rit ees tage oll tometer wren youlennnen nat | ptercuciyforcuace aeonsuater sul llghlalondell: haveloon ied since: [hehe qoutes pcaedbscteuciae due. Enterprise from being cannibalized for “ment described in that same FAA study. | Gdpancoaneaunisvoc! | theseaionce olen niosas | pusly opposed the Apolo-Soyue tendez- Proxmire's Golden Fleece avards poses [vous on the around that the Russians one of the most profound and enigmatic ‘were somehow inferior to usin aero ‘questions of our time... Is there intelli- | Space He seeme>lind tothe fect thatthe gentifeon the planet earth?00CONTRIBUTORS OnnNIsBUS ‘wnat Wier Kol, head ofthe University of Utah's artical organs Givision tld our reporter Dick Teresi ater reading a pre-publication copy of "The Real Bionic Man” [page 44]. Kolf was Upset because he believes that some of the information inthe story—never before ppublishec—is too revealing and could be Used aganst him by his compettors in the fight for government grant money The batle for funds in the boric word is particulat fierce. There are four major research centers building afi hearts ‘and a whale slew of universities clinics, ‘and hospitals hard at work developing artificial imbs, eyes, ears, skin, blood vessels, and cther organs. Butal the top ofthe bionic heap isthe wild bunch at Salt Lake Cty headquarters ofthe University of Utah. The scoot has ‘snared $8.4 millon in gran for 1978, thanks to Kolf and a staff of profoundly creative bioengineers. To creaive, say some ofthe university erties, who feet thal many Utah projects ae tobar out and that Kotf's hopes for them, too optimistic Yelwhen Teresi, an award-wirning public asics reporter visited Salt Lake, he found the Uiah group to be a sober team of researchers —with realistic goals, the technology. and biliance to accomplish them, Tei stores wll convince you that the creation of bionic peopl isnot as. crazy ast seems. Severayears ago, a charming young ‘woman walked into Dr Wallace 8 oun | can never speak with you again.” That's romence Eilerbroek’s ofice. She was prudish, sexually nexperienced, and the glands in her neck were chronically swollen, Then shemelaman. . . and her swollen glands disappeared. Then she found out the man was married, And the swollen lands returned. Itis the theory of Elleroroek, who is both a surgeon and a Psychiatrist, that this woman isnot ‘unusual, Aof us, he says, get sick or stay healthy because of how we feel ‘emotionally, how we think, and how we talk. His strong case forthe connection of, “Language, Emotion and Disease” begins ‘on page 92. (Dr Ellerbroekis a staff ‘psychiatrist at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California, but the ideas he ‘expresses in Omni are not necessarily those ofthe California State Department of Health.) “There are human vampires,” writes Lyall Watson, an animal behavorst wito also holds degrees in biology and anthropology. But his statement doesn't ‘mean what you probably thinkit does, Watson isa legitimate scientist trying to ‘make sense out of the supernatural. He talks about ESP ouija boards, ‘eincarnation, psitralling, and how we are all vampires in “Litetides" [page 112). Test tube babies have dominated headlines for the past several months, but Tabitha Powledge thinks they'l prove to be a short-ived phenomenon—and deservedly so. “Too much fuss about making babies,” she says, “and not enough effort to take care of the kids we've uu ot” Fowiedge, of the Hastings Center's Insitute for Society, Ethics and ine Lite, Sciences, tells her side ofthe story beginning on page 76 ‘Andspeaking of shortsived phenomena, we sent writer Timothy Bay Up to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to checkout the Center for Shot-Lived Phenomena [page 64]. The Center has correspondents allover the world reporting on hurricanes, earthquakes, bird kil, fog wars, “togue waves," and anything else unusual, catastrophic, or... short-lived. Ourkey book excerpt this month is “Communicating with Dolphins” [page 4104iby the dolphin-man himself, John Lilly. What's Alvin Toffler been up to lately? Onin eitor and publisher Bob Guccione found ne author of Future Shock alive and ‘well ard still predicting the future. Among ‘other tings, Tofler says we'lbe taking a ‘giant step into the ocean soon—not only ‘Growing our crops there but building our ‘own custom-made islands {page 96}. ‘And don't miss our exclusive interview with Gregory Peck. He talks about cloning and his rle inthe movie The Boys from Brazil with James Delson, Orn’ fim and ‘verti, Delson is a screenwriter and ‘owner of one ofthe largest private film research archives in the U.S. Witing on ‘books s Aobert Anton Wilson, author of Cosmic Tigger and co-author of the IMuminatas tlogy, curently being staged for the theater. Read both Deison and Wisonin “The Arts" [page 26). 00208 GUCCIONE tora putisrer KATHY KEETON ascacitepublhar OMNI INTERNATIONAL LD, ‘THE CORPORATION Bb Guccione(shaliman and president) ‘Kathy Keeton (senor vee present) iran Bian (xecutne ic pros) Arinoay 4 Gueaine socretanpuacurey) EDITORIAL aitorin Cie: 26 Guecione; Exeostve Ear. Frank Kerdlo; Managing Gator: Anderson| ‘Dorman: Serie” Edin. Tus) E Be Atlee Eat award sent, Pion Eder Bon ove; amor Edo ilee:Eutgpsan Eater Oc Baara Dun, ‘sores Et Kanon Sten Asitant Eos, Fichard Levit, Kathieon MeAullfa, Eotora [esiturte: Sussnne Soseral, Grtine Pals Oop, Ealitore: Carolyn Giacalone. Gina E. 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Paul Krshesoy 5 Rea Pasta tea, Budapest Hungary zagre Gedo Komi Suebmiak 96, Zagreb, ugesavia, NOVENGER, 10 ow LETTERS COMMUNICATIOMUS Strategic Gases |iwas one of those passing through Kan- ‘sas in August near McDonnell Air Force Base, wien | saw that mile-long orange. cloud of gas blowing across the sky. barely escaped being poisoned by the toxic suf, which I later found out was ni- trogen tetroxide leaking from a Titan mis- sile silo. lke to see an article in Omni on how straegic arms affect our daly Ives land the dangers these missiles present to the people they are supposed.to protect. Marcus itlefeather Boulder, CO Urban Desires {As an urban designer, | would ke to know What concepts and ideas are being devel- ‘oped forthe future of cities; what explora tions are being made towards designing cities that are more workable, iunctional— lke Disrey World with its superetficientin- frastructue; what the technical pos- sibilties are of expanding hurran personal ‘pace, both habitats and work places. Homer Bruce ‘New York, NY. Running Into the Future Why notrun a story on jogging as it applies o physical maintenance pro- ‘rams inthe year 20007 John Bartiet Boston, MA, Look fora story on “Future Sparts” in an upcoming issue. —Ed. More to Come. ‘in promotional material about your new Ornni ratice that you are printing stories by Theodore Sturgeon, James. Hall and Ron Goulart all in one issue! Al three are. terre witers. And Ron Goulat, creator of Star Hanks, is just as powerlulbehind a piece of pose fiction. | hope tat this kind (of an SFlineup is a promise of things to come. Bill Grant Los Angeles, CA ‘Tigrons and Jagards | have heard itis possible to bring about hybrids between the large, closely related. ee 4 mamialian species, especially sub- ‘species maintained in capiiviy. Zoologists have successfully crossed tigers with ions (thus cbtaining a "tigron’ or “iglon") and jaguars with leopards, Please run some ‘photographs of these animals, Gail Schwartz St.Louis, MO Omnis planning @ feature on future ani- ‘mals coming up soon. —E.d. Ripped Of \'m pleased that there's a now science magazine on the market, but! do hope youl avoid a common mistake, I'm talking _about giving credit to the wreng people. IImaresearch chemist working in the lab » (of a large university. On no fewer than six ‘occasions over the past five years, my co leagues and | have been igncced in news ‘leases about projects we gave our hearts and souls to (not to mention our evenings and weekends). Credit is always siven tour department head, who frankly ever visits the ab unless he wants to bum a cigarette. Most of us who "co science’ do it because we love it, not because we want publicity. But it hurts sometimes when cur work is ripped off tohelp make someone else's career Name withheld by request We're well aware ofthis problem —and itis. ‘our poicy to go directly tothe researchers involved when reporting on new ‘developments. Ed. Ballpark Cult ‘When archaeologists of the future dig up ‘one of today’s sports pages and read, "Siar sacrifices with fy in infield," will they thnk that our ballparks were religious centers? Frank Gambardelo New Brunswick, NJ ‘Omnivorous I sav the advertisements for Omni, and "im looking forward 10 buying i every ‘month Irom nov to the year 2000. Salvador Gonzales Taos, NM Why do you plan to stop then? —Ed.WHALE POTS EARTH By Kenneth and David Brower shaking hands. "fy spires," said his manner and dress, which ware devil- may-care ‘We met ate ast June, in Lordon, where the 30th annual meeting of theinterna- tional Whaling Commission (I¥/C) was about toconvene, Hubbard was one of those types that whale conferences draw. Slight, biond, and bearded, ne had a patch over one eye and a flask of brandy inhis hand, He wore what could have passed fora fight jacket. The emblem on the shouder said “Flo. Flos the largest of the whales that Hubbaré flies. She is, he explained tome fondly, ahumpback 83-metersiong and five-stories high, and she carries a gon- dola uncer her belly. Deflated and crated, she is much more compact than that but iil too large to send from Caliornia to London, Hubbard brought along several ‘smaller models instead, Madeot Ripstop fabric, they are pumped full of com- ressedair the airis heated, end the whales rse. Fumes from the heater and | fly whales,” said Charles Hubbard, excess pressure are vented, and Hub- bard, in directing the venting, gains a small measure of control. The flights are tethered, and all hs effort goes to keep ing thewhale’s head to the wind. The last thing awhale-pilot wants, hesaid, is to have hs ship swinging broadside to the breeze and "kiting." Hubbard has no training as a pilot or balloonist. Allhe nav- igates's whales, and he nasleamed by {rial and error, He had been invited to London to tly missions at various save- the-whale demonstrations tobe held aroune town, Hubbard sat and unfolded a map of London. With his thumbnail he traced the ‘coursehe planned to fly the next day down the Thames, his thumb dipping three times toindicate passege under bridges. Then he folded the map again He sighed and set about filing out fight plans. To fly whales legally inLondon, ane ‘must complete a stack of forms and ap- plications. Dirigible whales may soar, but ‘not high enough to slip the tethers of bureaucracy. ‘A beach provides the backdrop fer this whale graveyard, sewn with bone rom end to end. 12 om Hubbard worked fast—clearly he was _goodat this paper aspect cf his work— but attr five minutes the romantic in him rebelled. He looked up at me. In the com- ing week, he confided, he would do all the flying legally permitted him, then ‘mayba a bit more. ‘What else? wondered. Buzz Parlia- ment? Buzz the... Queen? Hubbard smiled and wouldn't say. ‘About real whales Charles Hubbard was poorly informed. In thefin of a whale, he told me, there are five bis of gistle where fingers once were—strong evi- dence that whales once were land ani- mals. The truth is even better than that, Chatles, There are finger bones in the fins of whales. And noone, unlessit's > some fundamentalist jury inTennessee, ddoubls that the ancestors of whales once lived on land, In seep, Charles Hubbard was a tooth ringer. | know, because we were roommates fora right: Hubbard kept me awake for hours. What, | wondered, ishe dreaming? Then, suddenly, | saw it, as clearly a ifit had been my awn. An enormous whale, 2 humpoack the size of the Hindenburg, swung slowly, slowly broadside to the wind, and |, Charles Hubbard the pilot, frantic atthe controls but unable to turn hr, felt her begin to kit. Hubbard's copilot in London was Steve SSipman, a former dolphinkeeper. Sipman, like Hubbard, is American, On irst arriving in England, Steve Si man was aggressively Iow-browed, as if to discourage the British from roping him into tea and crumpets or tinkering with his accent, When I first saw him, he was sprawied on a sofa in southeast London, conspicuously scratching himself and discussing his criminal past Sipman’s crime was grand theft. On May 29, 1977, on the islandof Oahu, he and another dolphinkeeper, Kenneth LeVasseur, drained the tanks of their two charges, Puka and Kea, Allantic bottle- ‘nosed dolphins, the subjects of language experiments atthe Universiy of Hawai ‘Onihe night of the liberation,” the ‘moonwas full. The Milky Way bridged the...subtropical sky. "We ate peanut butter ‘and honey, and drank black, black cot- fee,” Sipman remembers. "Puka was preity hep. She just lay back and said, "| know''m going someplace, andit's got to bbe better than the tank’ We got fo this se~ cluded beach on the far side of te is- land, and we carried them downto the water. | swam out on a surfboardto say good-bye. | didn’t get so much es a thanks, even.” Ho and LeVasseur returned tothe van, land for the rest of the night they ust rove around the island, figuring it would ‘be their last chance for a while. then they turned themselves in. LeVasseur has ‘been convicted of grand thelt ands ap- pealing. Sioman has yet to be tried. In London, a year after the “liberation,” a delegateto the IWC approached Steve ‘Sipman in he lobby and asked about the ‘minds of dolphins, “There'sno doubt in my mind that do!- phins have a high sense of ethics,” Sip- ‘man said. ‘Ihad the opportunity to live with two dolphins for two and a half years. ‘They havea sense of ethics anc they're inteligent. I know it Its hard to explain, though, to someone who hasn't nad di rect experience. I's like trying to explain toa blind person what rainbows look like.” If Steve Sipman has known cetaceans fortwo and a half years, then Jonn Oktol- lk, another observer at the conference, has known cetaceans for half a century. COktolik saw them in an entirely difterent light. ‘John Oktolik san Eskimo, a veteran whaling captain from Point Hope. He is @ slocky, gentlemanly, bespectaced man ‘who is missing most of his lower incisors. ‘Sometimes back home, Oltolik takes ovice Eskimos from iniand villages out fon hunts, and he listens as their first bowhead whale breeches nearby. “They say, Aaahhhhhh,’” he reports. ‘That's their expression, you know, atthe big- ress.” Yetthen, with Oxtolik directing, they pursue this object of their wonder and do their best to kil it. "I'm fitty-2ight," Oktollk told me, as we sat tagether in the lobby outside the con- ference hall. I've been exposed to whal- ing since! was a seven year old. At first! had to stay in the tent. Iwas cold—the first part of April. Iwas getting snow to make water, or cutting up some blubber for fuel Later, when I was twelve or four- teen, | startod gotting alto bitot train. ing. When you first go out in the boat very excling. I's sort of scary—going at- ter that monster ina small boatfive to six meters inlength. Sometimes, when we take people from the outlying vilages, and they see the whale, beforethey know itthey'e paddling backwards, ‘The problein of he bowhead whale was one 3f the most difficult facing the IWC this year. LLast year, at the annual meeting in To- kyo, the Commission for the first time had 16 own! limited the Inupiat Eskimos of Alaska in the number of bowheads they could kill, setting the quota for 1978 at 18 whales struck or 12 taken, whichever came first. ‘The Eskimos were appalled. They are ac- customed to stiking and kiling far higher numbers (In the spring hunt ct 197, which hed concluded several weeks be- fore that momentous Tokyo meeting, they hhad struck 82 bowheads andhad taken 26.) Sothis year they came toLondon in force, Some were official members of the US, delegation, others were observers, but all were dedicated to revising the quota upward. Few environmental issues have had the Givisive power of the debate on bowhead whales. The controversy has divided Es- kimos and environmentalists, two groups ‘whose sympathies normally would be Whales alsmembered to be sold commercially ‘mutual. Ithas divided the environmental movement itself. The Greenpeace Foun- dation s for an immediate end to bowhead whaling. Friends othe Earth, Inc, is for alimited subsistence hunt Friends of the Earth, Ltd, the British ‘branch ofthe organization, is against ‘such ahunt. The controversy has made for strange alliances, as well In London the Eskimos found themselves on the same side as the Russians, their old ene- ‘mies from the days of Baranov. The Rus- sians are whalers too: newer at it, but conducting their operationson a much larger scale, And the controversy has made for happy reunions. The Japanese and the Koreans, two whaling peoples ‘who share with Eskimos racial origins in the norh of Asia, were reuniled in London with cousins they last had seen in Paleolithic times. ‘The Eskimos in London hed two distinct approaches to international diplomacy. John Cxtollk's group, the older Eskimos, ‘were unlailingly polite. The second group the younger Eskimos, were Simos: invariably ude, “The questions you ask stowhowigno- tantyou ae,” Bly Neakok old me inthe hotel cote shop. “itis impossible to ex- piaintioyou.” Neskok sa young whalrg captain trom Barrow. Irtondon he wore a white parka bone necklace, and dare lass, His har was long and parted ownthe middle. His opinion of me was fowerthan usual for yesterday the WC technical committee, mast of whom bwned Nordic faces like mine, Nad rec- ‘ommended a bowhead qucta of 24 wihales,a number uneatsfectory tothe skies, who promply waked cut ofthe Conference declaring themselves fee o IWC jurition Neakok had alow opinion oo, of the USS. ecentsts whe conducted tis springs bowhead census. The scientists had counted 1738 whalos andhad est matea the population at beween 1783 fd 2365, but hey had spttes oly 18 calves, tom which they exrepolated 2 toil of 29 an alarmingly ow recrtment figure SMtpore was a May 1st cut ofthe count just when the eaves start coming through.” Neakok old me, naving de- Gide to try to explain afterall “The mothers and calves usualy come by tment'smostifiut hunt them. t's hard ten because the co's dangerous. The ce is oten, disintegrating om the heat ts shaved by the euront.Sxty- Centimeter hick young ie can get shaved to two centimeters in an hour We Canlve on the ice when t's only ten cent- mete, and you ean see trough tothe wraves undeineath. Fora hundred thou- Sandyears we've been compiling infor tatich. We don't have to use igutes. The Tanguage has names for althese fee con- Giiors. We evolved in thatmanner. We cantexpress i I's racially uncommuni- cable "The people doing the count were rom Nationa Marine Fisheries. They had brand-new snow machines and gear. But they dint know how to lve onthe ce. ‘Thay idnt understand the danger We had tell them when tog inian. “ater they fished the and count, they stared.ahal-assed aerelcount Ai planes are noisy Everyone krows—every Eskimo, even a chld_—that a mother and cal ractto noise, Of course they didn't ourtmany calves. "We nave our own esearch program We'rs going to educate the scents The Eskimos and he whales are here Deceuse ol the success o| Eskimo management. Lier, as we got up toleave, lasked Neato how he iked Loncon. For aro- menihe didn't answer Clearly he found it 2 octsh question its ike any white man’s town," he said, finaly "More barbarian he place we come from." OOE ZERO SPACE By Mark R. Chartrand III tthe tone, the age ol the uni- verse willbe 14.5 billion years, Beeeeecep! ‘That igure was obtained by astrophysi= cists Demosthenes Kazanas, David N. ‘Schramm, and Kem Hainebach in a re- Cent study that, they think, represents the ‘best estimate so far of the elansed time since our universe was formed in an ex plosion commonly called the ‘Big Bang,” Previous estimates, reached by using a variety of methods, have ranged from 8 billion years to 20 billion years. Now Ka- zanas and Schramm, of the Enrico Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago, and Hainebech, of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, have put together all avail- able evidence in a consistent way. They believe that the true age of the universe is withina billion years oftheir estimate— ‘amere blink ofthe eye viewed from the Perspective of cosmic time. The universe we now inhabitis mostly empty, with an average density of about ‘one hydrogen atom for every cubic meter of space. Most ofthat material is ‘gathered into galaxies, of which our Milky Way is just one. A major unsolved ques- tion ishow much matters diffused throughout space between the galaxies. ‘As we look outward beyend the Milky Way, we see distant galaxies flying away from us. This motion of recession causes the famous “red shit,” so called because the spectral lines of receding astronomi- cal bodies shift toward red wavelengths. The curious thing is that the more distant galaxies are rushing away laster than the hearer ones. Theres a corstant ratio be- tween speed of recession and distance, callec the Hubble Constan! after Edwin “Hubbie, who first discovered the effect, A galaxy recados at a speed of about 17 kilometers per second for each million light-years itis distant. The most distant things we have seen are 10to 1S billion light-years away and are retreating at 91 percent of the speed of light, (By the way, when we see al galaxies receding from us, it does not mean that Exploding galaxy (above) s nought to give birth to new sola systems, much ike our own. 18 om we are in some kind of preferred center of the universe. Astronomers in any other galaxy would see the same thing—as if they were at the center But there is ‘no center. The illusion is caused by the geometry of the universe.) Vie also know that the chemical com- position of the universe is fairly simple, ‘There are 92 natural elements, but about 75 percent of everythingis hydrogen, the simplest element, and about 25 percent, ishelium, the next simplest. Only about oneatom of every thousand to ten thou: Sands a heavier element. (Because of theé scarcity, astronomers often call these heavier elements “metals,” even it they are not metalic. Itisa convenient shorthand.) 5 Froally, we live surrounded, immersed, inasea of gravitation and radiation, In adcition to starlight and other forms of a= diation from cosmic bodies, all of space is suffused with a whisper of radiation left over from the tremendously energetic {genesis of the universe. Detected firstin 4965, this fossil radiation shows that ere indeed was once a Big Bang. ‘Some 14.5 billion years ago there was the cosmic egg. Some heve called itthe primeval fireball. What came before and howlarge it was are not known—and are ‘perhaps unknowable. It exploded, if so tama a word may be used for the begin- fing of all we know. Temperatures and densities of this beginning are inconceiv- able but not incalculable, We can calcu: late what the conditions were at atime about a hundredth of a second after T=0. For a while the universe was mostly en- ergy butasit expanded it cooled, and mater formed from the eneray (remem- ber E=me?) Atfer about half an hour the primordial chemical elements, mostly hydrogen andhelium, formed. In acdition, a small ameunt of deuterium, hycrogen with an extra neutron (sometimes called "heavy hydrogen’), was formed. The tempera- turethen was some 300 million degrees Kelvin. Slowly the universe coded off, and not much happened for about 700,000 years. Then, when the temperature decreasedtoa few tens of thousands of degrees, ‘complete atoms began to form (Above these temperatures only atomic nuclei can exist) The arrount of deuterium and helium formed inthe universe's first few minutes ‘would depend on the exact temperature and pressure of the fireball. By measur- ing the amounts that exist now and ex- trapolating backwards, cosmoiogists get anidea ol what the birth pangs of the universe were lke. The eatliest stars to form were those we now s2e in the vast spheroids called globular clusters, which are found in the Outskirts of galaxies. Informing, they Used up all the primordial gas in those re- gions, and so star formation stepped long ‘ago in globular clusters. These stars pre- sumably retain in their outer layers the original composition ofthe universe. Deep in the interior of stars, however, ‘nuclear fusion “cooks” hydrogen to form helium and other heavier elements, up 10 the atomic weight of ron. This occurs only in the core of stars whose tempera- tures reach millions of degrees, A few extremely massive stars, at a later ‘stage of their evolutionary life spans, ‘explode and flare brielly into super novas, each as bright as the entire galaxy of which itis apart, Elements heavier than iron are then formed and ‘spewed outward into space. Inthe flat disk of our galaxy, as well asin othe: galaxies, there is stila fair ‘amount of primordial gas left. Ithas been enriched by the supemovas, and so later slarsare also enriched. Our own ‘sun is @ second or third-generation star and so cannot be used to study primor- dial abundances, ‘We must Iook back to the globular clus- ters foranswers. Their evolution depends Con their original amounts of helium and heavier elements. These abundances are some of the data that Kazanas, Schramm, {and Hainebach used to find out how long the universe has been around, ‘AN OPEN UNIVERSE ‘Another important factor in the discov- ery of is age was the present density of the universe. Thisis difficult o determine, jt some idea can be gained trom feighing galaxies in clusters. Ifa gal- axy ig not to fly away from its cluster there must be a certain amount of matter in the {galaxies to bind them gravitationally. We The Sagiterius star cloud (top) is @densely populated region of stars found toward the center of the Miky Vay. The Dumbbell Nebua (belo), located on t ther outskirts of the Milky Way, is thought to be an expanding cloud of gas originating from astar i later stages ofits evolution. The gaseous shell is formed by thestar expeling its outermost layers into space. 20 own ‘can measure their speed with respect to ‘one another and thus infer the amount of ‘material in them, The same sort of thing is done for the universe as a whole. A major question is wheter the universe is flying apart for- ‘ever or whether it will eventually stop and contract. One riumber determines which is the case: the average density of the universe. The eritical densiy, the dividing line between an open, ever-expanding Universe, and a closed universe that will eventually contract is about 3 hydrogen atoms per cubic meter. Current estimates cof matter within galaxies show that the present density is between 6 percent and 30 percent of the critical density, so the universe is open. It willcontinue to expand. Kazanas et al used these estimates to help pin down even further the age of the universe. They essentially drew a graph of age versus the primordial amount of helium. Then they plotted on the graph the best estimates of the amount of heavy elements in the universe and the average density found from studies of galaxies. Putting allthis data together led them to conclude thal the bast estimate of tho age of the universe is between 13.5 and 15 billion years. They claim that ifin the future the measured age of the universe turns out lobe outside this range, we will have to seriously examine our standard models of the Big Bang. The only major potential source of erroris the possbblity that there, is alot of unseen material not in galaxies. ‘but between them. ‘Some of the first evidence showing intergalactic material came from the LUHURJ satelite, which found that some superclusters—clusters of clusters—of galaxies showed intense x-ray emission. Asticnomers at the Center for Astrophys icsin Cambridge, Massachusetts, think that the x-rays come from an intensely hot gas lying between the galaxies. They estimate that the amount of gas may be five toten times the amourt of material in the galaxies themselves. That may, ifcon- firmed, raise the density above the critical pointand necessitate a reevaluation of ‘our age estimates. As is true in every branch of cosmology, more observations are needed, Sofar, though, the estimate of 14.6 bil- lion years, plus or minus abillon years or 50, isconsistent with our best observa- tionsand theories. One chack on the re- sultis that it provides an estimate of the Hubble Constant of 18 kilometers per ‘second per millon light-years. For the field of cosmology, thatis in amazingly ‘close agreement with previous observa- tions ‘But more amazing yet isthatin the last third of the age of the universe, certain ‘chemicals have combined in hospitable places to produce creatures, perhaps not Unique, that can look up into the sky and ‘contemplate their origin. OOUNREASONABLE LEAPS LUFE By Dr. Bernard Dixon abiding fascination ot science f~ Isis propulsive creativity. Why does the occasional lone genius ‘succeed where allavishly funded, mission-oriented project has failed? Even ‘adder, why should Alexander Fleming, half a century ago, have made his might- ity significant discovery of penicilin— yet leave its consummation to Howard Florey and Ernst Chain more than ten years later? art ofthe explanation, part ol he dra- matic contrast between what Thomas Kuhn terms “normal science” and the soi- entific revolution, must lie in freedom of the mind. Despite their command of con- ventionalknowledge, some greal scien- tists, like some great artists, remain intellectually unfettered, able to take Giant leaps of unreason, (One of the most intriguing insights into ‘losed and open minds appeared in a ‘Survey presented to the British Associa tion by Ronald Stansfield of the City Uni- versiy, London. ls conclusion was grim: ‘many trainee scientists already suffer from “trained incapacity,” such that theo retical, learned altitudes dominate and ‘even eclinse natural talents for original ‘observation. onal Stansfield did something very simple. He asked 75 university science ‘sludents to Took at a tap slowly dripping water Into a bowl and write a description ‘of what you see as you watch the water coming aut of the tap and joining the water in the bow! below." That was all. When the results came in, Siansfield found that about half of the undergradu- ates had written imaginative rather than factual sentences. One of them reflected Upon the Chinese water torture, images ‘of which had passed through his head as he watched the tap dripping. Really dis turbing, however, were several of the re- ports by students who genuinely set out towrite objective accounts. Many con- tained material that could not possibly nave been gained by spe servation For example, “The droplet assumes a spherical shape, surface tension provid- ing an elastic bag to contain the water as itfalls." lig, infact, impossible to see 22 simply by watching water diipping that the droplets are spherical. The concept of surface tension and the bizarre idea of an elastic bag must have come from ‘scholastic instruction, nat from earnest obsenation. ‘Worse was to come. When Stansfield asked 18 students whether, since doing “O' level exams at school, they had wit- ten about what they had observed in the laboratory (in contrast to writing down what some authority had told them they ‘ought to see), not one claimed to have done so, Learning the correct answers ‘rom teachers and textbooks still, appar- ‘enlly, counts for more than direct obser- vation. Could this simple, unpalatable fact—iis discouragement of native wit ‘and senses—explain the closed minds of s0 many scientists when confronted with the unexpected? BLOODPRINTS Fewof us bequeath pieces of tissue that will be exploited by futwe genera tions, A substantial number, however, do provide samples of another bodily mate- tial that is retained for decades in labora tories, 31000, particularly that which we give tohelp diagnose an illness, and that ‘can thus be identified by name, is a vast ‘store of potential information. Epide- miologists have already applied *serolog- ical archaeology’—the search for tel- tale antibodies in blood—totrace the na- ture and spread of past plagues such as the 1918 influenza pandemic. Decades hence, technicians may be able to use the same method to find outwhether you oF l suffered measles, tuberculocie, or ve: norealdisease, ‘Looking for chethical clues in his own blood preserved by freezing), Dr. Robert Shopeestablished that parto! the "Shope papilloma virus” had been incorporated into his DNA 30 years earlie—one of the first, albeit unintentional, exoeriments in genetic engineering. What, then, coula future scrutineers learn from the heredi- tary material in stored blood samples? Nothing from red cells—they are unique in hat they tose their nuclei when they ‘mature. But the white scavenger calls are ucteated, and as the business of "se quencing” DNA becomes increasingly sophisticated, there seems litle doubt thattomorrow’s genetic monitors will ind ‘out a good deal about the iving bodies from which they came. Antigens on the same cells will betray much about our an- cestry and identity. Crimes may be solved ‘many years after he event DECRYING ORTHODOXY Speculating thus brings an apt moment towelcome Speculation in Science and Technology, published by the Western Ausialian Institute of Technology. This is a splendid effort, withinthe format of » learned journal, to seduce orthodox Scientists into taking heterodox risks of thought—and to hell withthe conse- quences. “Archaeological chromatog- raphy" is one bizarre discipline that makes its appearance in ihe fist issue. Chromatography is a welkestablished method of separating different materials ‘rom amixture. The simplest demonstra- tion of itis when one end of a piece of bloting paper carrying a dried spot of blue nk is dipped into water. As the water rises, it separates out twoor three ditfer- tent dyes from the ink, which migrate at different rates and thus appear as distinct bands of color. Professor John McCarthy of Stanford University applies the same notion to ar- chaeology. A castle crumbles to pieces, andthe site is rained on. The water dis- ‘solves materials from the building and deposits them in the ground beneath. ‘Subsequent rains move them farther down, Thus the earth underneath a ruin may contain well-ordered information about substances and even objects the building contained. In principle, we could relriove this information by analyzing ma- tetil from different depths below the site. John McCarthy's idea isnot, ! believe, as barmy agit will sound to some. Con- servationists lamenting the glory that was Greece might do well to engage hetero- dox chemists, not just excavationists,10, slucy the ground beneath their feet. OOMOONGOws STAPS By Patrick Moore lightenment, itwould be wrong to sug- ges! that al the mysteries of the moon have been solved. Curious things, seen ‘now and then—faint glows, flashing lights, patches of “mist’—stil provoke ar- ‘gument and continue to enlist scientific inuity end speculation. Men have been to the moon, brought ‘back samples of racks, monitored the re- cording devices left behind; absolutely no race of life has been found. We are confident he moon has always been biologioally sterile. We had expected 4 total lack of atmosphere on the moon, but were disappointed to detect no "watery" ‘materialin the rocks. Lunar surface erup- tions of volcanic proportion, possible sourcesof the moon's craters, would hhave to be consigned to ancient history: the moon looks much the same today as it did when the first telescopic cbservations were made of it in 1609. Evenso, and however quiet, many astronomers readily concede that the moon is not to inert as was ones thought. In fact, can we be sure ttlat nothing ever happens there? “Historically, bright ights have been described on several occasions. Sir Wil- liamn Herschel, in 1787, saw several points he believed to be active volea- | ‘our present phase of post-Apalo en- noes. Modern observers have described faint glows, sometimes ted, which ate now generally known as TLP—Transient Lunar Phenomena—{a term! coined mysett. ‘Many who study the moon with power- {ultelescopes have reported these elu- sive glows of local obscuratins. Ihave done so myself on several occasions, though the procedure requires many hun- dreds of hours of fruitless searching be- fore even a glimmer can be spotted. Fol owing the War, most TLP reports came from amateurs but this was understand- able enough. Professional astronomers. ‘were not then particularly interested in the moon; it was reaarded as somewhat ull and parochial. Far moreimportant were the stars and distant star-systems (n0 doubt true enough). When the Space ‘Age drew near, however, opinions changed, and the moon, in is accessibility, once more became Newsworthy. ‘At the Crimean Observatory in the U.SS.R,, Nikolai Kozyrev was using the ‘50-inch telescope to observe the moon. He was interested in the TLP reports, and | had been in correspondence with him about them. Once he was looking at the large formation Alphonsus, which is an ‘Some puzzlement remains as to what causes occasional patches of ght on lunar surace. 24 om enclosure over 110 kilometers in diame- ter, with a central mountain and a system (of cracks or ills’ on its floor. Suddenly, Kozyrev saw a red patch rot far from the central peak. It did not last for long, but he was able to obtain definite proof that something had happened. Itwas not the first ime strange phenomena have been seenin Alphonsus. Even more interesting is Anstarchus, a 36-kilometer crater—the brightest object on the moan—which can ‘evenbe seen when illuminated only by light ellected from the earth. Reddish glows have been seen here too, and the Teports are too numerous to dismiss easily “These odd lights are not confined to Al- phonsus and Aristarchus. They appear > elsewhere on the lunar surface, and most astronomers (though not all) are now con- vinced that the color spots are genuine. Theyare not always red. Some merely take the form of blurred patches, tempo- rarilyhiding the surface features beneath (Observers found that the ights ware most ‘common when the moon was closest 10 the earth (perigee), so thatits crust was under maximum strain from earth’s oraviy. In 1969, the first manned landings left recoiding equipment behind on the lunar surface. Itwas found that mild moon Guakes do occur most frequently at the time of perigee, which may indicate a link between moonquakes and the transient, pheromena. Stil, what then causes the lights? We can certainly rule out conventional volcanic eruptions. Violent cataclysms on the moon ended at least athousand- imilion years ago, when life on earth was siill ata primitive stage. But there have been suggestions that such glows are due to the escape of trapped gases from beneath the lunar crust, an entirely credi- ble theory Meantime, observers—both profes- sional and amateur—are continuing to koopa close watch, searcning for the strarge, will-o'-the-wisp lights that ap- pearso timidly from the density of lunar rocks. The moon has yielded up some ofits secrets, but by no means all. 0Be aN YA lie aes eee ABE x THE ARTS VINK Battlestar Galactica is the most expen- sive series ever created for television. Its price tag averages nearly a milion dollars ‘per hour for the episodes seen this fall ‘The usual fees for a big budget series are compounded by an inspired move trom reatoriwriter/executive producer Glen Larson. In signing John Dykstra, multiple ‘Academy Award-winning special elfects supervisor for Star Wars, Larson hired a formidabie talent. Dykstra created the dazzling array of effects that highlight this otherwise pedestrian program. making Galactica the hottest new series of the season “Certainly nothing like this has ever been attempted before in telesision,” Larson told me. "We tried to get the best people inthe business to create our im- ‘ages, the most creative mindsin the fiel, including Dykstra and a bunch of other people who've been involved n every- thing trom 2001 and Silent Running to ‘Star Wars.” This bunch” includes Dykstra’s production team at Industrial Light and Magic (the special effects unit assembled for Star Wars), which was kept more or less intact for Gaiactica, “Initially, | didn't want to do epiodic tv,” Dykstra commented, “but the challenge of the shows I'l be working on was to do something really good for television. Althoughhe is leaving Galactica after seven epsodes, Dykstra has created a “ibrary’ of special effects footage that can be endlessly rearranged. ‘Ima ite ‘burnt outon this now,” he told me, “but rather than simply walk away trom it, | sot up the three thousand individual elements that we shot of individual ships moving in individual directions so they cane put together in different combinations—as long as the scripts are ‘out time to do anything, Producer Larson's planningto take the effects work aven further. “We're not look- ing to doa good pilot and just cannibalize itforever. he said. ‘We've taken over a building in which we plan to build the 2 OVNI ‘Star Wars special effects wiz ohn Dykstra, ‘Says Dykstra: The challenge ofthis show was todo something really exciting or v." most advanced special effects studioin the word. There well creatonew effects tokeepthat aspect ofthe show as fresh astherest.” Both Larcon and Dykstra aro aware of the dangers in trying to create anything new in prime time television. Regardless the show's visual imagery the series ‘must survive on the quality fits charac- ters and stories. Judging trom the pilot and a vst to the set where one ofthe early hour-long episodes was in produc- tion, Gelactica recalls @ nurtber of shows and feature fms andthus willbe very much inthe mainstream of television drama ‘An oid hand at adapting popular film subjecs for television, Larsen produced such series as Alias Smith and Jones (Its ‘original episodes reminding one of Butch Cassiay and ihe Sundance kia), Switch (The Sing), McCioud (Coogan's Bul), ‘and It iakes a Thief (om the fim of the same name). There are similarities be- tween Batestar Galactica end Star Wars beyond the visuals, among them the use ‘of costume-drama, dialogue, props, and the central characters, who clearly paral- lel Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and even R2-D2. Star Wars, of course, was equally guilly of “adapting” images and ideas ‘roma score of films, including Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, Japanese samurai films, The Time Machine, The Creeture from the Black Lagoon, and The Dam Busters. ‘As-can be expected, Larson is hoping toatiract the fanatical “Trekkies,” who reli- giously follow the oft-repeated Star Trek episodes. Larson is hoping to attract them but not counting on them for, de- spite a mass mail campaign to save Star Trek irom cancellation by NBC, the Trekkies didn't constitute alarge enough audience to keep it on the air "Galactica is an all-ime challenger,” Larson figures, “because the kids are naturally going to compare us with every- thing from Star Trek to Star Wars. Then there are the dyed-in-the-woo! science fiction fans. We aren't going to do enough in that area to please them, either. We didnt want to limit ourselves, because that would result in instant oblivion. Al though the television version of Logan's Aun came on television inthe wake of Star Wars, and at the same time as Close Enccuntora, the exeitement of the filme didnt do it any good. Our concept is wide open. We can goin any number of direc- tions with it, adapting itas we see fit. But regardless, alotis riding on Battlestar Galactica, With our budget and talent, if we go under we'll set the TV schfifield backa long way.” The elements that makeup Galactica are not merely drawn frommainstream science fiction. One observes bits and pieces of everything from Davy Crockett and Prince Valiant to The Bridges at Toko-Ri, War of the Worlds, even Mod ‘Squad. The dialogue is fairly reeking of supercilious self-importance, but Dirk Benedict, playing tne HanSolo-isn Ut Starbuck, has the talent to harpoon the mostleaden scenes. “Youcertainly have a way of cutting through the felcagarb,” he quips to the “sociolater' with aheartof gold ater he rescues her from some fellow passengers in the pilot episode One almost expects her to ask him, as he draws her to a dark spot for some pre: action romance, “Will you stil respect me inthe nex solar system? Having experienced a great deal of creative freedom an Star Wars, Dykstra must have felt more than a bit confined at limes on Galactica. Even with he posi- tion of line producer, an added induce- ‘ment to his regular tasks as director of special eflects, he sill came up against the Bottom-line decisions of ine executive producer. i's Glen Larson's show, his Story," Dyksira conceded. "I dia whatever I could whenever | could to support him ‘when we agreed—and argued with him when we disagreed, He wrote. He supervised the editing, He was there for the dubbing. | was there as much as! ould be lo Say, ‘Oh, this is really terrible That's good,” and any time | came across anything that smacked af Star Wars | tried to get rid of it. But some of the things are ust part of the genre, and there's noway to get rid of them. Once they werein the film | just said, Well screw it’ That's not really a rip-off from ‘Star Wars, i's really just part of ihe same genre, and it's important fo the show for it tobe there, The areas of Galactica where Dykstra’s hand is most evident are those where he vas left relatively free to pursue his own personal iastes and visions, The remark- able flying sequences fulfil the promice of Star Wers's “dogtights.” Where the starlighters seemed contined to very srict maneuvers in the film, they appear more realstic here, able to dip, glide, and turnin exceptionally fluid fight Although it was produced for U.S. tele- vision, Battlestar Galactica was edited down 10 (wa hours and released as a fea- ture film in Europe and Canade, While 3 i visiting Universal Studios (production and distribution company for the series), was able to see the film by invitation of thé Matte! Toy Company, which is mer- cchandising aline of toys andmodel kits based on the series. Having spoken to Dykstra and Larson before s2eing the film, | was aware of its shortcomings. ‘Made for television, i's unfair to judge the visuals on a big screen, but te quality of Dykstra's workis evident throughout, Those faults he mentioned in our conver- sation were barely noticeable ‘Im very Gissatistied with tne quality for theatrical release,” Dykstia said. “I's bothersome, The scope of ashow with this quantity of special effects material is ‘nol made for a forty-toot screen format. There'sa myriad of things that are sophis- tications for television. They make it work ontv but are wrong for a feature release "James Delson John Dykstra’s special elects for Galactica bring space to ite (below); a villain (tep) 28 ows FILM Given Hollywood's exhaustive efforts to mirror our times, a new blockbuster about cloning comes as a surprise to no one. Cloning caught the humanimagination months ago and for good reason: it sug gests personal immortality So defines the driving force behind The Boys from Brazil from 20th Century-Fox, starring Gregory Peck Laurence Olivier, and James Ma- son. Inhis 51st flm, Peck plays Dr. Mengole, the Nazi war criminal who masterminds the coning of 94 lite Hitle in an attempt toeslablish a Fourth Reich. As we began ur interview, he explained the cloning process, including the way it was used in The Boys from Brazil "In aymen's termes, wihich are the only ones | can use to de- scribe the process, a human cellis taken from the donor.” He is careful with his words, thinking out the sentences one at atime to make things as clear as possi- ble. “The cell can be from a blood sam. ple, etissue sample, or rom bone mar- tow. The cellis inserted intoa fernale e900 thathas been ‘hollowed oul,’ which mears the genetic characierstics of the mother have been removed. The egg is then implanted in the femate womb. It produces an embryo that eventually be- ‘comes a child, entirely the product of the dono, tis not artificial insemination; the childis a true clone, the genetic duplicate of the donor. “W's cellular xeroxing,” I espond, draw- ing asmile from Peck. “That's it, yeah,” he says. "Doctor Derek Bromball the techni- cal adviser on the film, has actually done some incredible work in the field, We Usedhis lab equipment in the sequence where Im in my Secret laboratory in Para quay performing some tertile operation fon ore of the women who serve as ‘incu- ‘ators’ for the Hitler clones. In reality, cloning has been carried through to completion only on lower or- ders, such as axolot's andtrogs; but Bromhall gained worldwide recognition for his work in Oxford, England, where he cloned a rabbit through toan embryonic state, Unable to finish his work because ofa lack of funds, Bromhall nevertheless ‘proved the viability of the experiment. Peckis certain that’s the most ad- vanced cloning work that's ever taken place. ‘Since | had to simulate this operation ‘on screen,” Peck reassured me, “Bromhall was there to see that every- thing was as it should be.” But how did this cloning scheme arise? Instantly changing his posture, straightening up to sitonthe edge of the couch, Peck trans- forme himeelf into Mengole, “The Angel of Death,” affecting a convincing German accent with a clipped, formal, lifeless. voice. ‘Ona certain day in 1943," Peck!Mengele says, each word as bittleas tit were chippedoff a marble block, “he al- lowed meto take half aliterof his blood and some skintissue. We preserved and protected the samples for twenty years, Until the technique was perfected. Until was sure | could make the clones prop- erly” lam growing visibly uneasy. Seeing this, Peck drops the accent and con- tinues. “Tweniy years ater, Mengele has (94 women broughtto his laboratory in Par- aguay. He plants the Mitler-impregnated eggs intham oe brought totem. tne women acting asincubators until the children are born. Creating lifis one thing, buthow dothe infant Hitlers get aproper startin fe? “Once they're born,” Peck explains, “they're distributed to Nazi agents around the world by means of a secret organiza tion of adoption agencies. Theinfants are shipped out of Brazil, hence thefilm’stitl, The agents have sought out childless, but ‘decent” married couples who would like toadoptbut can’t because the fatharis too Old. This works for the Nazis, because the families cannot tell anyone of the adop: tions for fear of having their children taken away. “The families have been chosen because they ftinto.a specific profile designed by Mengeleto duplicate. as closely as possible, Hitler'shome situa- tion, The fathers are 62-year-old civil servants, and the mothers, 34-year-old housewives. in adsition, the households, allhand: picked by Mengele, provide the ‘same economic, religious, and social environmentasHitlerhad. The couples re- ceive these black-haired, blue-eyed healthy babies from what they taketobea black-marketring. They'tehappy. They have achild. They don'thavea clue that Inisisaitle cone of Hitler. “The diabolic nature of the scheme isre- vealed right at he beginning of thetilm, whenthe boys are fourteen, The fathers must die, just as Hitler’ father died when ‘he was fourteen. The clones must un- dergothe same psychological trauma as theirgenetic father. Under Mengale's plan. itis necessary to organize and exe- Cute 94 assassinations in Austria, Holland, England, Germany, America, and sofort, ‘The deaths must appear accidental, They must leavethe children fatherless and, ‘one would assume, aburdento their mothers.’ ‘This yearwe've already seen rumors anda bookabout supposed human clone experiments, butallhave been unsup- ported by factual evidence. Regardless of the truth, however, he amount of publicity generated by newspaper stares, inter Views, and other material availatie tothe publichas created a kind of “clone fever” inthe U.S. The release ot a iim wih clor ing atits coreis amazingly well timed. “Oh, i’sallto thegood,” Peck admits. "Johnny. Carsonhasa cloning joke almost every ‘nightnow. Everybody's talking adoutit, so sure, we'rehoping itIhelp us ou.” Peck's forthright image, the man of con- science foreverstruggling touphold the best traditions of honor and decency, ‘might finally be broken with his portrayal of Mengele. Sill atlarge and living inrelative luxury in Paraguay, the unrepentant Nazi ‘was fesporsible for he deaths 0! 300,000 people at Auschwitz concentration camp during World Warll. Now under the proteo- tion of tho Paraguayan government, Mengeleis currently advising them on their internal affairs, most notably the ex- terminationof theirindigenous Indian tribes. The characteris not unlike what we imagine Hiller might be like today ithe were stil aive. Mengele's name was not changed. As Peck says: "We would be delighted ithe would start a lawsuit against us, Nothing could please us more.” —James Delson Peck as a mad scientist who attemprs to clone biter inthe new fim, The Boys trom Brazil BOCKS (One year after the introduction of the antiaging pill, traditional religions warn against death control a campaign similar tothe eatlier crusade against birth con- trol: the economy is destabilizing as em- ployees desert their jobs; government has moved in to monopolize dstiibution of the pill and the divorce rate is increas- Ing. Ten years later, organized religion is disgraced and disbanded, virtually feveryane is taking the pill, divorce rales soar, the economy is staggering because of an increase in absenteeism, and all dangerous sports are phasing out as, people everywhere reorient themselves to the quest for physical immortality This isnot the plot of a new SF novel; it is part o'a scenario developed by 31 graduate students in the department Of future studies at the University of Houston given the assignment ol pre- dicting how a longevity pill would change our sociaty. ‘Although Omni does not reqularly review articles, itis worth making an ex- ‘ceplion for “The Impending Society of Immortals,” by Jib Fowles, in he June 1978 issue of The Futurist, where this study is described and the group's pre- dictionsare given for 20 years and 50 years after the introduction ofthe life- xtension pill Ithas become as stale as King Tuts socks fo repeat Alvin Totier’s ‘warning that since there are more scien tists alive today than in ll previous his- tory, we should expect more sociotechno- logical change in the next generation than we saw in aif previous centuries; but Fowles’s summary of the University of Houston sludy gives one a gut leve! fee! ing of how one possible breakthrough can produce in just a few decades more social upheaval than Galileo, the Indus- {tial Revolution, the Wright Brothers, and the atom bomb did in three centuries. That such a longevity pill (or some alternative antiaging device) is imminent is the thesis of Albert Rosenteld's Profongevity (Knopt, New York). Rosen- feld, science editor of the Saturday Re- view, has done his homework: the bibl: ‘ography lists over 500 scienttic papers, land he seems to have personally inter. viewed nearly every important researcher of life extension in the United States. While the degree of optimism varies ‘among Ihe authorities cited, there is a solid consensus thal we already under- stand agreat deal about what causes aging and are close fo understanding how to reverse the process. Some of the investigators have already achieved an impressive amount of lfe extonsion and rejuvenation in laboratory animals, and they all expect to achieve much more— perhaps not by next Tuesday but certainly inthe foreseeable future. No More Dying, by Joel Kurtzman and 2