XTTOBER 1980 $;

SECOND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE COLLECTOR'S EDITION

HUMAN EVOLUTION:

FUTURE onnruiOCTOBER 1980

EDITOR & DESIGN DIRECTOR: BOB GUCCIONE PRESIDENT: KATHY KEETON EXECUTIVE EDITOR: BEN BOVA ART DIRECTOR: FRANK DEVINO MANAGING ED:"CR J. ANDERSON DQRMAN FICTION EDITOR: ROBERT SHECKLEY EUROPEAN EDITOR- [R iitRNARD >XON DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING: BEVERLEY WARDALE EXECUTIVE ViCE-PRES DENT IPVvlX I- 3ILLMAN ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER (INT'L). FRANCO ROSSELLINI

CONTENTS PAGE

FIRST WORD Opinion Kathy Keelon f> EARTH Environment Kenneth Brewer 16

MIND Behavior R. Webster and L. Miner 18

SPACE Astronomy Jerry Grey 20 24 VIDEO/FILM The Arte

LIFE Biomedicine Bernard Dixon 28

UFO UPDATE Report James Qberg 30

CONTINUUM Data Bank 35

COUNTDOWN TO HABITAT ONE Art,cle John Pleiffer 44 52 TO PAY FOR THE FUTURE Article James S. Albus

THE MARCHING MORONS Refer. C. M. Kornblulh 56

PREDESTINATIONS Article David Rorvik 6B' 74 PRAIRIE SUN fiction Edward Bryant 82 ECOSHELTER ArliCie H. Bruce McColm

TORRENTS OF BABEL Article Edwin Newman 88

HAUTAVAARAS CASE Rctkxi Philip K Dick 92 100 SWEPT AWAY Pictorial Kathleen McAulitte

THE GOD IN SCIENCE FICTION Arficte Ray Bradbury 106

CYRIL PONNAMPERUMA Interview Eileen Zalisk 114 11B NOBLE SAVAGE Pictorial L. Sprague de Camp .

FUTURE VIEWS Opmions Various Authors 124

EASY POINTS Fiction Kathleen V. Westfall 128

STARS Astronomy Patrick Moore 174

EXPLORATIONS Travel Kenneth Jon Rose 176

PEOPLE Names and Faces Dick Teresi 1B0

BIRTH OF AN ISLAND Phenomena Nicholas DeVore 190

GAMES Diversions Scot Morris 192

LAST WORD Opinion Isaac Aslmov 194

The visual etfect oi Fred-Jurgan Rogner's cover painting is due to a special daylight fluorescent "B treatment that provides the brightest ink in printing. Limited G;C"D'iO-5 U.S AFO-J'S!)': rail- V3S-. avail- quantities of this cover are • i 'f:M ' able as a poster. Send $5 to Omni

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rhpicying, smono FIRST oiher ifungs, '.ho LAJDRD By Kathy Keeton

» Space science is the £'t'nrs.-.nation.pri\i ' - single most 2ns such.as the magnificent instrument

of scientific • inquiry the human race has ever produced'.?' '

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One hundred twenty- - Evolution. David Rorvik. the controversial author for 28 years, appea.-ng rcgu.arly on Today. one years afterCharles Darwin oilnHisImage The Cloning of a Man MeetthePress, and NBC Update. Read published his landmark Origin of (Lippincott, 1978). talks about mankind's "Torrents of Babel," beginning on page 88. Species, that single word continues either firmest grip on evolution— the ability to James S. Albus, a robot-building scientist to evoke controversy or to inspire revela- engineer one's own future through working at the National Bureau of Stand- tion. Hundreds of books devoted to the genetics. In "Predestinations" (page 66) ards, examines the future implications subject attest to the importance we place Rorvik explores trie .5";o„s ;e"e" : of a robot-based economy in "To Pay for on the future'course of our own species. frontiers, from gene splicing to test-tube the Future" (page 52). fey Bradbury. Still, not enough has been said. The fertilization. "We should be hopeful but perhaps the best-known science- fiction startling breakthroughs of today alter cautious," Rorvik warns. "We basically writer in the world, examines the future of tomorrow's realities in ways no one has yet have to decide whether the perils out- religious concepts in "The God in Science imagined. Therefore, it seemed appro- weigh the progress." With a tinge of the Fiction" (page 108). The irrepressible priate in -his. our second -anniversary, muckraker. Rorvik asserts. ""Scientists Isaac certainly Asimov , the world's best- issue to peer ahead and try to get a underrate the public's ability to grasp known writer of science fact, offers a Last bearing on destiny. A team of the world's these issues." Rorvik began as Time Word about one slight genetic alteration most knowledgeable and most gifted magazi first ne's free-roving science that could solve all Ihe human problems futurists agreed to serve as our guides. reporter, but he left in 1970 to pursue we find so perplexing (page 194). In "Countdown to Habital One" (page politically oriented issues. Since then Many of these problems become meta- 44) the celebrated science writer John Rorvik's information crusade has taken phors in C. M. Kombluth's "The Marching Pfeiffer compares the future of human him on lecture tours all over the world. Morons" (page 58), a science-fiction evolution to the takeoff of a rocket. We "even to the intellectual backwaters." treasure that is as timely now as when have just reacned the 'ignition" stage. Acclaimed television newsman and it was first published in 1951. and soon we will propel ourselves rapidly commentator Edwin Newman reveals how Boris Vallejo. an illustrator who enjoys toward the stars. "I think a lot about the the English language is evolving even as international acclaim, collaborated with future," Pfeiffer muses. The Yale graduate we speak ii. Unforlunately, according to fantasy, science-fiction, and historical speaks wifh heartening enthusiasm. "You Newman. Ihe American way of speaking Writer L Sprague de Camp to create an might as well be an optimist: its no fun tho English has fallen into the hands of disc alluring pictorial entitled "Noble Savage" oi'iei way." Originally trained in physics jockeys and teachers, bureaucrats (page 1 18). Vallejo in his superbly crafted and mathematics. Pfeiffer switched to "the and electronic computers. Though most oils has almost singlehandedly forged our -oro comolex" social sciences. "I've journalists been are exceptionally aware of composite image of the magnificent bar- shifting to where the problems are." he words, Newman has surfaced as a kind barian (for instance, Conan and Tarzan of quipped. Pfeiffer has handled those prob- of protector of English usage. His two the Apes). lems well, The Emergence of Man (Harper books on language. S; hctw Speaking: Will Finally, of course, there are more pic- & Row. 1969) will soon appear in its fourth America Be Ihe Death oftnoiish? (Bobbs- torials, columns, special features, and edition (under'ihe title Emergence), its and Merrill. 1974) and A Civil Tongue (Bobbs- gripping fiction to help us celebrate sequel. The tmagence of Society, Merrill, 1976), are national bestsellers. Omni's second birthday. They're all yours continues to engross readers. Newman has been an NBC correspondent to examine, to ponder, to enjoy! DO e OMNI LETTERS CDnnnnuruicMTorLis

Robot Precedent Face the Facts Ben Bovaand Harlan Ellison now join I was shocked by Omni's decision to use Isaac Asimov as patron saints of robotics, Craig Covault's essay "Universe Red" as following their legal battle with ABC and the lead story in the August issue. This is Paramount. In defending trie copyright not 1960. You can no longer use the Red on their short sfory "Brillo." which they Menace as jusfification for another space claimed had been infringed by the race in the 1980s. ABC/Paramount TV series Future Cap , Since the late 1960s we have learned they set a precedent. Albert Judge that cooperation— not competition — is Stevens ruled that robots have the same the most desirable method of space re- status as humans when used as char- search Because of the Soviet invasion of acters in stories and are protected Afghanistan U.S.-Soviet cooperation has by the copyright laws. This may be the cooled. I have the impression that Covault first time robots have ever been legally is exploiting current international tension equated with human beings hi any to enlarge NASA's budget during a connection. Surety this case will be cited presidential election year. centuries hence when robots seek legal Frankly, it is irresponsible to fan anti- recognition of their "personhood' It is Soviet hysteria when rational cooperation ;-= i.-i- zz- -.t .=z =:-=: "e -;: is needed for mutual survival. subsequently dec-de to found their own Bradley G.Englert nation, they will choose a steel-wool Austin, Tex. scouring pad as their n.a&onal embiern. Bova and Ellison can be proud We're sorry you didn't like Mr. Covault's = --, - Z -;. report, but we're much sorrier that the "'-. ''-"" Soviet Union has less use for "rational cooperation" than for killer satellites and Some Consolation military might And we're sorriest of all that

I wish to clear up the c*d question. Which many Americans, such as you, refuse to is hotter, heaven c hetP Verse 26 of face even the most obvious facts. — Ed. Chapter 30 of Isaiah defcies the energy radiated heavenward by the su^ and In His Image moon in terms of the amount received by Sandy Shakocius s letter [July 1980] that the earth: "Moreover me Sght from the suggests cioning Jesus Christ from a cell moon shall be sevenfoid as the *ght from taken from the Turin Shroud is misleading. seven days." While science might permit this (and I Thus, heaven receives from fre moo- as would indeed be interested in knowing much energy as the earth does from the what He looked like). I doubt the newly sun. If we add to that 49 times ('seven resurrected Jesus would be performing times seven") the earth's solar radiation any miracles. Duplication of a human falling on heaven, we have a total of 50 body is a far cry from duplication of a times the energy we receive from the sun. mind. If Ms. Shakocius's proposals were Using a known absolute temperature of realistic, we could make 100 copies of the earth and the Slefan-Boltzmann Albert Einstein and solve all ihe mysteries fourth-power law, we arrive at the de- of the universe! If Ms. Shakocius could termined temperature of heaven — a make a carbon copy of Jesus, she would less than paradisiacal 977°F have the body in the flesh, not the spirit. And the temperature of hell? Revelation JohnF. Wagner 21:8 says, "The fearful shall have part in Waterford, Pa. the lake which burns of fire and brim- stone." Since brimstone (sulfur) has a Decay of the Dollar boiling point of 833 ° F, hell must be several Larry Niven [Last Word, July 1980] degrees If it cooler. were not, it would be a overlooked ihe problem of welfare, The vapor, not a lake. Therefore, heaven is Carter Adminisfration should pay welfare hotter ° than hell by at least 144 E recipienls in radioactive money, so M. E. Eckard providing a physical stimulus for job London. England hunting This practice would also solve the

CONTWUEDON PACE 187 .

DIALOGUE FDRurin

In which the readers, editors, and cor- normative environment. Furthermore, most and universities n more "han 50 countries respondents discuss topics arising out techniques that seek to assess hemi- have secured theirfilmsfrom MN. of Omni and theories and speculation of spherical activity may provide only crude Movie Newsreels would like to offer a general interest are brought forth. The of measures local excitation rather than slide free to every Omni reader if he or she views published are not necessarily those gross hemispherical activity. Finally, ihere will just send a self-addressed, stamped of the editors. Letters for publication is little, if any, research to substantiate the envelope, or 25. cents, to pay for postage should be mailed to Omni Forum, Omni interpretations of brain-wave readings that and handling, to: Magazine, 909 Third Avenue, New York, have been made in commercial tests. Dr Movie Newsreels NY 10022. Sidney Weinstein collaborated in a PO. Box 2589 recently published experiment (quoted in Hollywood, CA 90028 An End to Piracy our research) that failed to find the Everyone should have this memento of In response to Stephen Demorest's article hemispherical differences that his work is our great scientific achievement. on video piracy [The Arts, August 1980]. predicated upon. All of MN s movies and slides have been I should tike to express the opinion of a We conclude lhat brain-wave scanning made from negatives thai were supplied io common video consumer I own aboul 23 is born out of the biofeedback fad of the it by NASA. Movie Newsreels is the only movies on tape, the lilies of which have early 1970s and may itself pass quickly. company that has kept a complete supply only --:":>: ::- :". jus! recently left the theaters. Of :; :: . _-t t": ? . cy of slides and movies of all flights. course, nol all of this is legal material, but advertisers, it must be more rigorously Gerry Bonica what choice does the consumer have? I lesied and substantia ted Blake Advertising think the major movie companies should Bill Katz Hollywood, Calif. release their tilles, if not simultaneously Toronto. Ont. with Iheater releases, then a month or two Canada Mutilation Madness afterward at least. This would virtually end I wholeheartedly disagree with the find- the problem of piracy for that market. The Apollo Slides ings of ex-FBI agenl Kenneth Rommel public would, in turn, be paying better Our client Movie Newsreels. which has ["Mutilation Madness." July 1980]. I lived prices and gecng a guaranteed product. advertised in Omni and many other in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for five As for theater owners' complaints, think scientific magazines, is terminating the years and was constancy exposed to aboul this simple fact: Who is going to buy distribution of the Apollo slides cattle mutilation and reporls. When I joined amovie he has nol already seen? movies afler 20 years. Aerial Phenomena Research Organization David Crout Movie Newsreels this reluctantly does in 1978, 1 decided to do a little investigat-

Dover, Del. because it is the only source of movies ing into the phenomenon slides and of the moon landing program I interviewed three men: a New Mexico Brain Waves in Advertising JPL, MIT, the Smithsonian, and colleges State Police officer, a retired scientist, A recent article by Bibi Wein ["Psycho- and an employee of Sandia Chemical graphics," July 1980] described some of Laboratories They conslituled a the applications to which brain-wave three-man investigative team appointed analysis has been put. While the hesitation by local authorities to look into Ihe of most advertisers to use the technique mutilations before the government in- was mentioned, the article did not explain vestigation gol starled. My questions why this was so. We at J. Walter Thompson ranged from dates, numbers:, and Canada conducted research on brain- locations of mutilations to whether there wave analysis before' concluding that we were abnormalities in the mutilated could not make use of the technique animals before or after their death and at its present stage of development. whether local flora and fauna were A major claim ol proponents of brain- affected in any way by the occurrences. wave analysis is that there are differences After the interviews, I found that I had In the functioning of Ihe brain's hemi- received basically the same answers from spheres that can be measured and all three (the inlerviews were held sepa- interpreted in terms of advertising rately). My findings are as follows: perception andsubsequent behavior. Our 1) There have been mutilations for many review of the spi t- brain literature failed to years, possibly since the early 1900s. find evidence that the hemispheres act 2) The mulilaiions are not confined to independently in normal subjects in a Movie Newsreels is giving away slides ol Apollo the states of the Southwest: they have 12 OMNI CCNTWJEQ ON PBGE 1 53 RED ALERT EARTH By Kenneth Brower

Between half a million and 2 mil- between 6 million and 9 million. Today a muted green of the rain forest and lion of Earth's plant and animal mere 200.000 Indians survive. There has squinting down the barrels of blowguns, species will become extinct been an attrition rate of 2 million per cen- have evolved their own way of seeing. by the year 2000. Among them will be tury. While part of that die-off has been Yanomamo shamans, like the wise men of some human tribes. So predicts the the result of diseases introduced acci- many Brazilian Iribes, use psychedelic recently released 2000," "Global a report dentally much of it has been, and drugs. Their visions are far stranger than commissioned by President Carter. First continues io be, due to genocide. In 1900 any in Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan scheduled for publication in 1978, the there were 230 known tribes of Brazilian books, for Castaneda's are simply the study might have bean de ayed because Indians. At last count, in 1957, there were imaginings of another Westerner its news is so bad. 143. There are fewer now, in 1980, and by like ourselves. A few years ago the Bronx tried 2000" Zoo the year "Global anlicipates there It is odd, or perhaps not odd at all, that lo give a extinction. shape to "This red are certain to be fewer still. as our civilization destroys real societies, symbol," reads the sign beneath a stylized In this century, in Amazonia alone, more real worlds, in Brazil and elsewhere, one of picture of an antelope skull at the en- than 90 entire peoples have departed its literary crazes has been the creation of trance, "calls attention to endangered from the planet. More than 90 cosmologies coherent imaginary worlds, complete with species. Look for it around the Bronx Zoo. have gone, more than 90 world views, their own societies and languages. Our And think about what it means— the final more than -90 ways of saying "hello" and Huxleys and Tolkiens and Le Guins can't of extinction." emptiness "thanks" and "please pass the armadillo." produce fictional worlds at the rate at

We have yet to build, on It is all anywhere true that men are brothers; it is which actual ones are disappearing. > Earth, zoo big all a enough to house the also true, as anyone who has lived outside There are signs that our indifference is creatures slated for now oblivion. Imagine his own culture knows, that we are all alien. changing. In the spring of last year a it. Today's zoological gardens can seem The Yanomamo Indians, an endangered group of people in Sao Paulo formed the depressingly like prisons, but they would tribe living on the Brazilian-Venezuelan Committee for the Creation of the be nothing compared to the nearly border, do not look out of the dark, vaguely Yanomamo Indian Park. They are pressing endless avenues, moats, and bars, the Oriental eyes in their painted faces and their government to form a 6.4-million- howls, grunts, and trumpetings. and the see the same planet we see. Yanomamo hectare park for that largest of the sur- ceaseless caged pacing of those beasts eyes, after millennia of peering into the viving Brazilian tribes. In Canada the tabbed with red symbols. Your feet would World Council of Indigenous Peoples is in become-sore from walking the length of it; the process of organizing itself. In New your heart would be even more pained. York City Survival International, a Of course, people some argue that London-based outfit concerned with trib- extinction is not lamentable. so Species al peoples all over the world, has been come and species go, and have done so operating out of a small Fifth Avenue office since the beginning of life, they point out. for a year. And in Boston the Anthropology Look at the big die-off at the end of the Resource Center serves as an information Pleistocene Era. These things happen. clearinghouse. Strong animals — and man is uncon- To the social Darwinians among us, the testably the strongest— fill the niches of predestined demise of the forest tribes weak animals; it's the natural order may seem regrettable, just one of those of things'. things. These are the dullards who have to It might give these Darwinians good "send to know for whom the bell tolls." pause to realize that the red symbol now They need to summon up the imagination stands beneath the figurative cages of a to walk through that zoo of red symbols; number of human tribes. All over this past all the cages; past the golden feline planet subraces of Homo sapiens are eyes with their vertical pupils; past the regularly becoming extinct. Sometimes kindly anthropoid eyes of the orangutan, fighting, sometimes no longer caring, they the "jungle man," so named by the Dyaks lose their grip on the edge and slip into of Borneo; past the brown eyes of the nonexistence. Dyaks themselves, endangered, along Nowhere are more of us dying off than in with the ape. by the relentless logging of Brazil, In 150&,-when Pedro Alvares Cabral Borneo's rain forest; past the Amazonian first set foot there, the native population of eyes to the cage on the end, where the that land, according to estimates, was Di-acpearing Yanomamo signal global loss. eyes peeking out are their own.OQ ^USORY SOFTWARE rmiruD

By Robin Webster and Leslie Miner

advances in robotics and to make the decision-making process Since solution. So if you ask a computer to do bionics have led to a deeper more explicit in a machine, which you can, this, I think you are buying an increased understanding of how our bodies after all, monitor, is the way to approach probability of error." work, psychologists and computer sci- the problem." According to Gregory, in the future we entists have long hoped that attempts to Here, though, researchers meet the may have a virtual think tank of artificially create an intelligent machine would help second barrier: the fascinating probability intelligent machines supplying us with learn us more about the human mind. that thinking machines, like humans, will conceptual information that would Unfortunately, such attempts are be subject to illusion. The more original otherwise have been beyond our reach. blocked by a double barrier. The first is and creative intelligent machines become, "We will use machines to seek out un- sheer ignorance; we know so little about the less reliable theirfinal decisions will known realms, artificial or otherwise." our work how minds that we can't possibly be. In fact, the more they seem to reflect To deal with the probability of error, he duplicate the process. our thought processes, the more they sees the development of a new science of "Right now," says Dr. Richard Gregory, of mirror the caprice of our judgments. error. The whole nature of learning and Bristol University's brain and perception "I would define illusion as a discrepancy knowledge would change in such a future. unit, "the whole thing is opaque. Suppose between a description and reality," Greg- Some machines will deal with mundane you are doing a job and you arrive at a ory explains. "In the case of perception, matters, while others will exist in the fragile

decision. I don't know how on earth you it is a discrepancy between what you world of insight and illusion. In this way, did it. don't We even know how air-traffic see and what you believe to be the Gregory believes, like the speciation of controllers, for example, ' make decisions. case conceptually. animals, there will be a speciation of find in fact that You there are big differ- The hunch, therefore, is that if a thinking machines. individual ences among controllers." machine is going to show originality and Machines used in wartime to aid It is the hope of researchers like Dr. with come up novel solutions, then it is decisionmaking, for example, must have that Gregory by developing primitive almost certain to be unreliable. This is a totally different reaction to information thinking machines they may create an because it's got to have the facility for than a novel-writing machine. In the analog to the human process that helps getting outside its normal loops of oper- creative machine, illusions would be to explain it. "It seems to me," Gregory ation. I don't think it can ever have an acceptable, even welcome, but not in says, "that the whole technique of trying adequate set of rules to look for a novel the military unit. "Machines used to aid decision making in wartime," Gregory says, "face a totally different level of illusion. Such systems have to detect aircraft and troops in the battle zone at the limits of their capabilities since they must be out of enemy attack range. The need for reliability in these machines is high, yet their decision-making processes are typically based on very inadequate information." In this circumstance any degree of illusion could be disastrous. So military and creative thinking machines may ultimately become as distinct as generals and poets. The illusion barrier will slow the evolution of intelligent machines for some time,

Gregory feels. "Consider the law if you like. You surely can't have rules for con- victing or trying criminals as complex as the situations that people find themselves in. because the rules can't be as diverse as reality. Rules can reflect only a part of reality. As with the law, you are absolutely bound to get mismatches with machines." display caprice and iiiogic. If we do manage to give machines CONTINUED ON RAGE 186 By Jerry Grey

Space is where the energy is: to "prove" that SPS can never be competi- some time ago by the House. The round-the-clock sunshine. Given tive with, say, ground-based photo- bill, which would allocate $25 million a our energy problems, you'd think voltaic arrays. As a practical engineer year to SPS studies, will come under the logical thing to do would be to go up whose business it is to accomplish things debate in the Senate as this column goes and collect what we need. Yet just how that sometimes seem improbable, to to press. Chances of its passage, however, serious Congress and the Department of laymen. 1 hate the word never) appear to be slim, Energy are about doing so, as this is being A number of alternatives to the current Remember, this whole scheme is far written, remains unclear. concept have been proposed in an from being another "pie in the sky," as

The Energy Department and NASA have attempt to alleviate these concerns, but some opponents have gleefully dubbed it.

been studying satellite power systems they may all be nothing but water over the All its component technologies have been (SPS) tor about three years now, working dam. Planners at DOE just cut the $5.5 demonstrated, either experimentally or with a prototype developed for them jointly million SPS evaluation from their1981 operatively. We could unquestionably

by Boeing Aerospace and Rockwell budget. (The new head of DOE's research launch a workable SPS if we started the International. The system would sit in section has spent the last 30 years program right away. geosynchronous orbit, 35,800 kilometers studying fusion-power systems, the chief But, as history has shown, we could just up, and convert sunlight to power with alternative to the SPS Can this be coin- as easily build the wrong system. There's

solar cells, then beam it back to Earth as cidence?) And the House of Representa- no surer way to kill promising new tech-

microwaves. SPS has been described as tives has refused to reinsert the item nology than to attempt a demonstration , a major power source for the first decades into its budget proposal. The matter is too early. Even such a simple and useful of the coming century. now in the hands of the Senate Appropri- device as the domestic solar water heater

The present prototype has elicited sev- ations Committee. The chairman of its Sub- has been generally rejected by the eral obvious questions about the costs of committee on Energy and Water is Senator American public because its very real building and operating such a system, the Bennett Johnston, a Louisiana Democrat, capabilities were promoted prematurely environmental and medical impacts of whose staff is. for no obvious reason, The SPS, far more complex and techni- microwave-powertransmission, and inalterably opposed to SPS development. cally advanced, may be in danger of various social and political concerns. In One last hope rests with the Solar Power staggering into the same trap. We could

fact, critics have used these uncertainties Satellite Research and Evaluation Bill, capture solar energy in space and return it to Earth. The evaluations contained in

Energy's original budget are essential if we are to choose the best of several alternatives. Hundreds of suggestions have been evaluated in more or less detail,

but I can outline only a few of the concepts that have a likelier chance for survival. The alternative that might change the current prototype evaluation least would be to replace the photovoltaic arrays by solar/thermal- power conversion systems. These would use huge, diaphanous parabolic mirrors to concentrate sunlight

on central absorbers, where it would heat a working fluid, just as conventional fossil- fuel or nuclear-power plants do. The idea is much like the prototype ten-megawatt solar-power tower now under con- struction near Barstow, California.

Because it is in the perpetual sunshine

of space, however, it requires almost no energy-storage facilities. The elec- tricity output of conventional rotating generators would be converted to micro- waves, as in the current design, and be

r Solar-power sa.'efc'es M:>:= .s:;. o,v than fusion, they could rr ir power needs by AD. 2020. transmitted to Earth. 20 OMNI CONTINUED ON PAGE 17B THE AET5 By John Whitney

John Whitney. the inventor of the computers for the day when video discs from all around. We hear music as pat- process by which the famous Star would appear on the marketplace and terns of ups and downs, to's and fro's. Gate sequence in 2001: A Space make this art available for everyone, as in a distinctly three-dimensional archi-

Odyssey was produced, is the eminent musical recordings are now. Nowadays I tectonic space— a space that exists pioneer in computer graphics as an art operate the Andromeda Systems 11/B vividly within our minds. form, In this exclusive essay he explains computer in my studio, composing works The eye, though, is more outwardly

why computer-generated kinetic art, that fuse sight into sound as if they were oriented. We perceive objects and events coupled with the video disc, will bring counterpoints of a single composition. outside, at a poinl that our eyes focus on.

about the next stage in the evolution of And today the video disc is for me what Yet the eye is no less perceptive than the

artistic expression. Whitney calls it a rev- paperbacks and publishing in general are ear. The mind'^ eye shares with the ear olution. Whitney is novt writing and for writers— the source of a wide popular the experience of architectonic spatial illustrating a book, Digiial Harmony — On distribution by way of video discs' constructions and would perceive them the Complementarity of Music and Visual economics and mass production. Three of with the same pleasure were they to exist.

Art, for Byte/McGraw-Hill. my compositions are listed in the first But the fact is that until recently these DiscoVision catalog. Video music on video fluid, interior, visual edifices hardly

Video music is the slick term gaining discs will bring about this inevitable existed. The idea of "color organs" that usage among those involved in the video- change in art— the beginning of the future one could play like church organs with

disc revolution. It inadequately describes integration of an aural and visual art. all the stained glass dancing occupied ,

this miracle ot technology that combines What is the theory behind video music? minds since Leonardo wrote about it

sight- and sound racks of microscopic It is common to think of music as two- in his notebooks. And twentieth-century

size and nanosecond efficiency. I hope dimensional: Time is represented by the abstract art, too, has been a training we find a better name for this fusion of art horizontal lines oi the staff, and pitch by ground for a visual response to the and music. vertically arrayed symbols— the notes. musical experience. In the mind's eye,

I was an early partisan in this revolu- That is the convention on paper. Yet the architecture-in-moiion has always been at

tion. I dreamed in video music. I plotted perception of music is not two- the root of our enjoyment of music. Still,

secret fusions and transfusions of the arts. dimensional. The ears reside at the there is no universally accepted visual

Long ago I began to train underground on center of a spherical domain. We hear equivalent to music. It should exist, and it soon will. In a few years, I'm sure, we won't call itvideo music. Nor is architecture a good metaphor for this kind of kinetic visual experience. There is in fact no terminology for the dynamics of visual patterning that stresses the precision and spatial fluidity

exhibited in music. Precision is crucial if visual patterns are to dance with the architecture of musical patterns. The image patterns must be as faultless as music patterns. No "wrong notes" allowed. Visual music is technically not that different from sonic music. When a string quartet performs, Newton's laws of mass and the laws of thermodynamics are not

suspended. It is simply that it is easier work to modulate air than to move clay or marble around. Although some kinetic artists have tried, none have been able to make a plastic or visual medium imitate music. No one has been able to sculpt time and motion. Of course we dance. But on Earth, with its inertia and gravity, the human body weighs much more; so

John Whitney's Peart — generaiee vrjej graph:-:: Sytis'T: tar Rhesrl a* toc'sy'l-proQ-'amvirg it can't dance like the sound of a flute. 24 OMNI FILM THE ART By Jeff Rovin

Christopher Reeve is the kind ot that life is too short to go out and do Though Reeve now has the box-office actor whom Hollywood— and projects that make an intelligent adult clout that allows him to make a small, science-fiction films — have long cringe, or do work that you don't believe romantic film when epics are the norm, he needed. Forthright and articulate, he is a in. The motivation in anyone's life should has always been something of a maverick. man devoted to screen literacy. "It's an be to get better at what you do— in my A stage actor since he was fourteen, attitude that dates back to my childhood," case, to become a better actor. And the Reeve segued from the theater to the he recalls. "Whenever I had the time, I'd way for me to achieve all of these goals is television soap opera Love of Life, "not to like to get out a book Jules Verne's Twenty play psychologically complex roles." pay a few bills, but because I felt i should Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Never True to his word, Reeve is now starring in learn something about the medium." He a comic book, and rarely TV I found that Somewhere in Time, a delicate little made his screen debut early in 1978 with reading let me linger on ideas that were fantasy he selected from the dozens of the submarine film Gray Lady Down. worthwhile, think about what's between major parts offered to him after his triumph Admittedly earning "corn flakes instead the lines. Maybe I'm a card-carrying snob, as the Man of Steel. "Somewhere in Time of Mercedeses" at this time, Reeve but I don't enjoy a medium that plays down allowed me to crawl into a man's head, to nonetheless could not bring himself to to an audience." nurture what is still emotionally alive in consider the lucrative Superman film until At twenly-eight, Reeve can afford to stay him. It's about a successful man who is he was persuaded that this "macho piece away from films that make him wriggle or, half-dead inside— until he sees a portrait of mythology" would be done without too as he puts it, that "ain't none too bright," of a woman who lived nearly seventy years much pomposity and with a sense of Universally lauded as the man who added before. At this point the film becomes a humor. He attached no less stringent brain and sensitivity to the brawn ot study of how desire affect it can someone. standards to Superman , recently Superman, Reeve is one of Ihe industry's He goes to see this woman, travels back in completed, and will stand by them when most sought after young performers. Yet time through a mixture of inducement and Superman ill goes before the cameras in neither ihe wealth he has earned nor his suggestion, and creates a period environ- 1982, In the meantime Reeve is preparing ego-inflating choice of costars and ment around himself so convincing that several other motion pictures. Foremost "1 directors has left him self-impressed. after three days of trying he just leaves. among fhem is Trapdoor, the story of an

I feel now as felt when I was making In essence, Somewhere in Time is about MIT computer student who uncovers a seventy-five bucks a week Off Broadway: a man looking for one from the heart." huge slush fund that banks are using to influence the fate of Third World nations. "If anything is a theme with me," says the soft-spoken actor, "it's how people are allowing themselves to be reduced to a

subhuman level by the modern world. It's important to go to the moon and farm the oceans; I'm all for that. But the American obsession with comfort and convenience is going to cause our downfall. We're married lo material things that make us sedentary and vulnerable. In a general way Superman called for us to take a more vigorous interest in our lives and destiny, doing so in the form of a valentine to an old America that's gotten kind of soft bellied and complacent. More specifically,

Trapdoor reflects how frightened I am by what corporate computers know about private citizens the world over. "r like to play people of action." Reeve continues, "people committed to something, whether emotionally or physi- cally; people making slrong choices or forcing viewers to face truths about themselves. One of the most interesting

.'.; , Qih. 'Vi;. rvnOICX 'QIC::. things that has happened to me regarding CONTINUED ON PAGE153 PACE AGING

By Bernard Dixon

pace exploration seems to have Bui "softening of the bone" is merely marked in these vital one, bones that 5 little in common with geriatrics, one of the degenerative changes support the human frame. Small wonder the study of diseases that afflict that accompany aging. that this problem will be closely studied the elderly. While the human race devotes "Picturesque but inappropriate" is the during the forthcoming shuttle flights. its attention to one set of challenges, phrase the British Medical Journal (1980, Some of the most disturbing evidence however, other, seemingly unrelated areas J, 1288) used recently to describe man's obtained so far came from the 84-day reap unexpected benefits. An unpopular body in space. Floating around weight- Skyiab 4 mission. The heel bones of two of and neglected specialty, geriatrics could less inside a spacecraft, a human being the three crewmen decreased in density, profit immensely from yet another spinoff simply doesn't need appendages. The and tactics designed to prevent the dis- of man's newest frontier science. physiological changes that have been appearance of calcium were ineffec- When Spacelab goes into action aboard observed under these conditions indicate tive. Neither vigorous exercise nor a the space shuttle next year, the crew will a steady reduction in limb size. The legs special diet had any effect on the rate at be monitored intensively for signs of bone of space dwellers, for example, might which the heel bones deteriorated. More- deterioration. Since the earliest Gemini well evolve into purposeless masses over, measurements of the hormones that flights, we have known that astronauts' of protuberant fibers. control bone-producing cells indi- bones become thin and brittle after The Gemini and Apollo pioneers did not, cated no changes, affording no clues prolonged weightlessness. These of course, suffer such a fate. But x-ray toward possible prevenfive measures. changes are similar what occurs in to old studies made on these astronauts, and on But this problem will be solved. When it persons suffering from osteoporosis. those in Soviet Soyuz missions, show a is, the new knowledge should prove This syndrome is caused by gradual definite loss of bone structure. The effect invaluable to clinicians on Earth treating loss of both the organic framework of bone is apparent even during short oeriods victims of osteoporosis. Already observa- and the calcium and phosphorus that away from Earth's gravity According to the tions on the reversibility of bone changes bond it together. Osteoporosis makes the British Medical Journal report, this loss in astronauts who have returned to Earth elderly much more prone to fractures, amounts to about four grams of calcium have encouraged doctors to make gradual particularly in their hipbones. Immobili- per month. This represents 0.3 percent to increases in the amount of weight they put zation of a limb during healing of a frac- 0.4 percent of the body's total calcium. upon such patients. Longitudinal stress ture is yet another cause of osteoporosis. Even more alarming, the loss is most is apparently important for bones to retain their vitality To complicate matters, bone also

responds to forces imposed by its muscular attachments. This was why NASA physiologists devised exercise programs for the Skyiab 4 team. But in zero gravity the nerves that control these muscles appear to change, too. This means that the muscular forces applied to an astronaut's bones, even during a vig- orous workout, are less than they would be on Earth. The subtle relationship among exercise, nervous activity, and the loss of minerals from bone is highly relevant to the management of osteoporosis in old people.

Even if the space program were non- existent, a solution to osteoporosis would undoubtedly be found — probably later rather than sooner. There is nothing like a new and unprecedented challenge to spur the human intellect on to greater teats. Such is the nature of progress that we must send man into space in order to conquer one of the most common causes ot immobility in old people. DO MINNESOTA ATTACK UFD UPDATE By James Oberg

Serious investigators oi UFOs This UFO "close encounter" occurred smugglers might be unloading contra- continue to be.tanialized. on August 27. 1979. early in the morning, band flown across the nearby Canadian "Believers" have long insisted near the town of Warren, Minnesota. A border, turned down a road leading closer that careful, thorough scientific investi- police cruiser driven by thirty-five-year-old to the mysterious light. Suddenly the gation should establish the reality of UFOs Deputy Val Johnson was damaged during object leaped from where it was to a point beyond a reasonable doubt. Most believers an "attack" made by a "bright ball of light." directly in front of him. "The light raced bought the UFO mythos in the mistaken The encounter reportedly left Johnson toward me with fantastic speed," he

belief that such research had already senseless for 40 minutes. When he recounted. "I heard the sound of glass been done. Informed skeptics — as. regained consciousness, he radioed for shattering, and suddenly my car was opposed to the far more numerous help. He realized that his eyes were flooded with a fierce, blinding white light. ''disbelievers." who simply that injured, deny UFOs his car was damaged, and his Then I blacked out."

! merit scientific accepfance— claim with dashboard clock and his whstwatch were Broken glass was later found on the equal' confidence that thorough investiga- running 14 minutes slow. highway, but Johnson's car had continued tions would actually explain UFO reports Johnson had been routinely patrolling along the road for ten more seconds

as prosaic events. They further maintain the deserted roads of Marshall County. It before he slammed on the brakes and thata few cases remain unsolved only was a clear night. Shortly after 1:30 a.m. he skidded to a halt athwart the middle of the because thorough research on them has noticed a bright light some distance off the road. The engine stalled, and there never been attempted. road toward a stand of trees. The light did Johnson sat. slumped against the wheel, At last, a UFO case has been thoroughly not illuminate the ground or the trees, and for more than half an hour. investigated. The result is confounding to so it could have been much closer and A tape recorder at the dispatcher's skeptics and disbelievers alike. Some- could have been moving. As Johnson office preserved Johnson's call for help. thing extremely strange seems to have drove along the highway, he tried to The shakiness of his voice is definiiely happened, link in but no single the bizarre triangulate the light; he estimated that it noticeable. "[This is]407, [calling] 400," chain of events is particularly strange was about three kilometers away and Johnson radioed. He received a quick in itself. It could all have been just a bold about 120 centimeters off the ground reply: "Go ahead, 407." Johnson spelled or hoax — one of the most important (assuming that it was standing still). out his situation in succinct radio code: UFO cases of all time. Deputy Johnson, suspecting that "Ten eighty-eight, two twenty, five." This means, "Off-cer reed?: assistance, five miles down Highway 220." The alarmed dispatcher reassured him: "Ten-four, we'll get someone out there right away." Johnson later described his experience: "Something just hit my car. Something

attacked my car. I don't know what happened." Something had happened, and the police car showed its effects. One headlight was smashed. A small, round dent had appeared on the hood. The windshield was shattered. The red plastic filter on a roof lamp had been broken. Two spring-mounted antennas had been bent nearly half over, midway up their length. Curiously, the damage seemed to be confined to the driver's side of the car. Johnson's eyes were very sore. Later news stories referred to Johnson's injury as "welder's burns," but these reports were inaccurate. True welder's burns are accompanied by facial sunburn and don't usually cause discomfort until six or seven hours after exposure. They are caused by simple a caught rh'i. :JFQ r,t A box a .soc'.-e ,'.';c no--n e George S ultraviolet radiation, which could have pene- 30 OMNI .

irated the car's windshield only alter it had Studies— where he is hardly a favorite California. UFOs played no part in the been shattered. An eye specialist who character — Klass says that only human cult's original dogma, but they were examined Johnson ten hours after the action could account for all the circum- quickly absorbed when they achieved incident noted that "there was no sign of stances of the case, including the notoriety in the late 1940s. Members of the any disease or damage to the eyes. . . 14-minute discrepancy on the two cult claimed to communicate by telepathy There was mild conjunctival irritation" (for timepieces. But whose? with Orthon, a great scholar living on which a medicinal solution was pre- Skeptics stress that nothing in the case Venus, who supposedly was a rein- scribed). The irritation could have been rules out fhe possibility that Johnson either carnation of Jesus. The planet Earth, caused by the bright light, or it could have concocted the story, perhaps to account the group claimed, was in mortal to earlier been due some exposure to a for damage from some unau'horized use danger— they didn't specify what it chemical that light made every seem of the official vehicle, or was the innocent was— and could be saved only if a few painfully bright. vicfim of someone else's prank. The selfless people submitted to Orthon'swill. The story was so intriguing that Allan investigators' failure fo eliminate this Money helped, too, Hendry, ace investigator for the Center lor explanation marks the continued failure of Thomas Kolb was not very impressed, Studies, in Illinois, flew to UFO Evanston, UFO experts to establish the authenticity but Susan swallowed it all. She worked two Warren the following day The thirty-two- of their subject of special interest. jobs to help support the group and year-old Hendry, author of the authoritative The uncharacteristically thorough eventually moved into the headquarters to

UFO Handbook , began a full-scale, first- research on this case has been valuable save money, snatching meals from the rate scientific investigation of the midnight in narrowing the prosaic causes that could refrigerator when she could. In her spare

"UFO attack." account for at least one UFO sighting. It time she did typing, ran the mimeograph After ruling out atmospheric phenomena will be difficult to duplicate. This kind of machine, and answered the telephone. and aircraft, Hendry had an automotive research is expensive. Klass's thesis that "It got to the point where we weren't engineer flown in from Detroit to study the no extraordinary cause need be invoked interested in UFOs anymore," she recalls. police car The engineer determined that to account for this or any other UFO report "We were completely obsessed with the the damage was caused by external philosophy ot Orthon and with spreading "mechanical force" and that there was "no that philosophy." evidence of unusual heat." The antennas A month after Mrs. Kolb moved into the were the most puzzling part; They still UFO Education Center, a rescue party, led were covered by dirt and dead insects by her father and husband, broke down 4-4 month after Mrs. Kolb and showed no sign of having been hit by the front door and carried her off. She road debris. Whal kind of air blast could moved into the UFO escaped from them and signed have bent of them in the middle — two Education Center, her father complaints of false imprisonment against while leaving a third untouched — the men. The charges were eventually so quickly that they did not simply fold and husband broke dismissed, and the would-be rescuers over on the springs at their base? down the door and carried turned to professional help: Ted Patrick. "That there is a single witness in this Patrick is one of the country's most her off. She had case is a noteworthy drawback," Hendry famous de prog rammers. He specializes has admitted, but he insists that Johnson them arrested on charges of in rescuing cultisfs and reversing their is not "the type of person who would hoax false imprisonment.^ brainwashing, as he considers it. Since his an incidenf like this. He is earnestly endeavors involve carrying people off and baffled by the event." The young UFO holding them until they recant, Patrick has sleuth adds that similar incidents were occasionally run afoul of kidnapping and reported from all across the Midwest false-imprisonment laws. within a few weeks of Johnson's encounter. Late in October 1977 Patrick went to His conclusion is essentially incon- has not yet been disproved. But the Wisconsin and took on the job of rescuing clusive. We just don't know what caused Minnesota case stands as a fine example Mrs. Kolb from the UFO Education Center. the "attack," but we have elimi- of how any such refutation must be Over a four-day period, for which nated all the most reasonable possible documented. Thomas's parents paid several thousand causes. So it was a "genuine UFO," dollars, Patrick succeeded in breaking the whatever that proves. But it was not nearly "I would have killed someone if the cult's spell. so impressive as UFO magazines and UFOs had told me to do it." Those words In the following months Susan Kolb newsletters subsequently portrayed it. weren't found in some confession traveled with Patrick on the lecture circuit, Nevertheless, at least one other magazine. They are from the real-life speaking to church groups and TV explanation for this is still plausible: drama ot a UFO cult, a well-meaning audiences. She does not particularly want deception. As skeptics soon pointed out, young "believer," a pile ot lawsuits agains! to see any more UFOs. scientific the evidence clearly showed that would-be rescuers, and the white knight of That first UFO, which started it all back all the car's damage could have resulted cultist "deprogramming," Ted Patrick. in 1973, turned out to be a neighbor's from human action. As one cynic noted, if It all began with an ordinary UFO lighted tractor, plowing late at nighf. such damage had occurred outside a pool sighting one night in January 1973. Reputable UFO groups regard the hall or on a ghetto street, there never Thomas and Susan Kolb, a young couple affair of the UFO Education Center with would have been the slightest doubt that from Kiel, Wisconsin, saw an orange embarrassment now that they realize it somebody had vandalized the car. The flashing light "as large as a house" move was not jusf another club ot harmless odd thing about this event was only that it slowly across a field near their home. crackpots. (There are many, and they allegedly occurred on a deserted highway. The Kolbs contacted a local UFO should not reflect on responsible UFO Philip J. Klass, aviation writer and author enthusiast, who went to their home to hear associations.) of two skeptical books on UFOs, told about the case and to tell them about Such bizarre activities seem to flourish Omni ihat he has charted all of the other encounters. They soon joined a in the absence of reliable information, and reported damage and compared it with all study group, the UFO Education Center, in they demonstrate the public's intense possible forces — including those found in Appleton, Wisconsin. interest in all aspects of the UFO phenom- science fiction — ihaf might have been They had unwittingly stumbled on a enon. As in any field where mystery involved. Basing his conclusions on the renegade sect of the old George Adamski reigns, charlatans who promise certainties careful research of the Center for UFO cult, originally founded 40 years ago in can prey on naive enthusiasts. OO 32 OMNI cofUTiruuunn

THE CREATIONISTS' "EQUAL TIME"

^K e may laugh at the quaintness of the 1925 Mon- this, even though they will haggle fiercely over minute.details'. Bkey Trial in Tennessee, when teacher John T Recently the concept of "scientific creationism" was raised, J Scopes was threatened with fine and impris- with scientistsor engineers— usually not biologists — saying that VV VV onment for teaching Darwinian evolution to his evolution stands at best on shaky intellectual ground. high-school students. Yel it wasn't until 1970 that the last anti- To prove that Creationism is correct, the Creationists try to find evolution laws in our country were wiped off the books. And even flaws in evolution. This is an intellectual shell game, in which you then the battle did not end. It goes on today, more subtle, and in don't prove your point but instead try to demolish the opposing some ways more bitter, than ever before. point of view and then pretend that this proves you're correct. It's Creationists, who believe that the world and the human race like proving that horses have wings by demonstrating thai were created out of nothing by some divine fiat, no longer insist bumblebees can't swim on banning every mention of evolution from the classroom. In- So far not one shred of evidence has ever been found to stead, they pressure school boards to give Creationism "equal support the Creationist point of view. Not a fingerbone, not a leaf, time" with evolution in science classes. As a result, in many not a shard of evidence exists. We may have been created by i biology texts the origin of the human species is illustrated by some deity or other unfathomable force, but [here is no evidence

Michelangelo's Adam from the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. whatsoever that it happened in this way And if it did happen this

It's a fine painting, and Genesis is an inspired bit of writing. But way, the creating force went to incredible trouble to litter this it isn't biology. To insist that Genesis be inserted into biology texts planet with the evidence of evolution: from dinosaur fossils to and to pretend that religious mythology can explain biological hominid teeth, from the elegant speciation Darwin found during phenomena are about equivalent to believing that straw can be his voyage on H.M.S. Beagle to the stages of development that a woven into gold. human fetus undergoes during its nine-month gestation. The Creationists claim that scientists themselves still refer to There is a dark element of catechism thinking among the evolution as a "theory"; therefore, thesci'cientists themselves don't Creationists. They don't need evidence, because they know accept Darwin's ideas as proved, cience, the word theory is they're right. Their mode of Ihought, straight out of medieval used to indicate (as a glance at a dlctk:fionary will show) "a sys- times, leads not to understanding but to acceptance of Authority. tematic statement of principles; a formulation of apparent rela- Make no mistake about it. Those who are convinced of the truth tionships or underlying principles," will never stop merely with demands for "equal time." They inevi- A hypothesis is an unproved idea. A theory, in science, is a tably move toward taking political control, just as they inevitably structure of logic that brings together many diverse observations gravilale toward the most conservative positions on issues. and welds them into an understandable whole. Really powerful Already the Creationists are using political clout to tamper with theories, such as those of Darwin and Einstein, also predict biology leaching. Give them the political power and they will phenomena that haven't been observed before. outlaw any ideas that they do not agree with; Evolution is merely The Creationists retort, "But scientists themselves don'l agree one of many ideas thai these zealots attack. on Darwin's theory." True. God forbid that they should. The preceding paragraph is hypothesis, an unproved idea.

Science is a process of discovery Darwin's ideas are some We can lest this hypothesis in good scientific fashion. Are the five generations old now. Much new information has been uncov- Creationists fair-minded people who want only to present con- ered. Biologists argue about the details of evolutionary process- flicting ideas in an equitable, reasonable manner? Ask the next es, just as physicists argue about subnuclear particles. This Creationist you meet whether he or she would be willing to have a does not mean that physicists don'l believe atoms exist. chapter explaining Darwinian evolution inserted into the Bible Evolution, as described by Darwin and others, is the cor- alongside Genesis. Then you'll learn what "equal time" really nerstone of the biological sciences. No serious scientists dispute means lo them. — BEN BOVA I coruTiruuuRn

FIREFLY BOUNTY NASA has invited high- school students throughout Stalking across pastures the United States to submit

in. summer, legions of young- proposals (or small, self- sters bearing butterfly nets contained biological and collect fireflies and thereby physical science experi- reap bounties paid by chem- ments that can be per- ical companies The goal: formed in earth orbit. Scien- two rare chemicals that tists and educators will re- cause the firefly's flash and view the proposals and that aid scientific research. select 20 of the most inter- The largest fireily collector, esting, most imaginative, Sigma Chemical Company, and best conceived The of St. Louis, amassed sev- winners will be awarded eral million insects this year, Getaway Specials — each

for which it paid 1 cent Special worth $10,000. apiece. Most ot the collec- These student experi- tors belong to 4-H clubs, the ments will be scheduled to Boy Scouts, church groups, itable or similar organizations. luttle. Some people have been chemicals— luciferin ich of the

known to net 1 ,000 insects luciferase— with ader in finding a in an hour. triphosphate (ATP), sponsor, and that sponsor

Sigma capitalizes on the stance present in all living will provide technical and fi- general fascination with fire- things. The more ATP, the nancial help in readying the flies, also known as glow- more intense the flash, and experiment for launch. worms or lightning bugs. the greater the biological Come the launch date, the Fireflies are cousins ot the activity. student will be invited to the beetles. Sigma's yellow By combining the firefly Kennedy Space Center to brochure notes that the in- chemicals with cancer watch the shuttle carrying

sect's flash is a mating sig- cells or polluted water, scien- his or her experiment lift off. nal: Every twilight the males tists can quickly measure Then the student must write rise from the ground and the intensity of the flash and a final report after the exper- flash. The female fireflies thus the rate of cell growth. iment has flown.

stay on the ground and flash Researchers have also NASA points out thai it back at a suitable male. Mat- placed firefly chemicals on doesn't consider this event insues. rockets to detect life in outer to be a contest The proper lectors become mem- space. The presence of name is the Student/Shuttle Df the Sigma Firefly even one quadrillionth of a Involvement Project. Its pur-

itists Club and receive gram of ATP would cause a pose is to attract and en- jctions on how to make small flash, which would be courage budding young how to store fireflies in detected by the rocket's aerospace scientists, using ifrigerator, and how to instruments. the space shuttle as bait. It's n in special cans to — Stuart Diamond GETAWAY GIVEAWAY to be an annua! affair, even- rompany. Sigma em- tually including both high- s that collectors are "Science cannot solve the Would you like to win a school and college students. jpensable: Efforts to ultimate mystery o! nature. free trip to outer space? If you'd like to involve your n suitable fireflies in And that is because, in the Would you settle for the next students or yourself in this captivity have failed. last analysis, we ourselves bestthing?Thisfall,NASAis project, write to: The Na- The scientific value is are part ot nature and giving away Getaway Spe- tional Science Teachers As-

considerable. The flash, it therefore part o! the mystery cials— five cubic feet of sociation, 1742 Connecticut

s, occurs in the firefly's we are trying to solve." cargo space aboard the Avenue, N.W, Washington, n the reaction of two — Max Planck space shuttle. DC20009.-NickEngler ESP AND THE CIA 1952 document. This pa- Energy Conservation," the per's author was evidently Transportation Department increase Psychic spies? Cabals of so confident of the CIA's in- has pledged to the commut- clairvoyants employed to tention to fund ESP research number of bicycle locate enemy missiles via that he discusses fine points ers from half a million today to 2.5 million in 1985. Offi- the astral plane? It seems of staffing and salary esti- tens of mil- ourown Central Intelligence mates. cials will provide Agency has pondered— and But after the early Fifties lions of dollars in grants for possibly undertaken— such CIA documents are mum bike pafhs, road mainte- a scheme. about ESP and PK (psycho- nance, safety programs, These strange CIA mus- kinesis). Perhaps the CIA theftproof parking, facilities, ings were recently exposed dropped the idea. But per- and publicity. Such a program, the de- by declassified documents haps it actually implement- obtained under the Freedom ed ah ESPcryptocracy, and partment estimates, could million kiloliters.of of Information Aci by the perhaps the documents de- save 3.8 oil per year— enough to heat American Citizens for Hon- tailing it are classified. million homes and cut an- esty in Government, a Wash- The latter possibility is a ington-based group spon- raised (along with a few nual imported oil costs by sored by the Church of eyebrows) by this January IS the CIA using crysial balls? $800 million. Scientology. And it won't even take A twenty-year CIA mind- much hardship, the govern- control operation that exper- ment says. The United imented with everything from States already has 100 mil- hypnosis and behavior mod- lion bikes— about the same cars. Per capita. ification to psychoactive number as the public drugs and el eel ro shock has American has bicycles been well documented. Less twice as many as noticed among the esoteric a the people of Great Britain, France, and Italy, and only included in the so-called less than the Project Bluebird (later re- somewhat named Project Artichoke, Scandinavians. However, in the United still later MKULTRA) was 1 percent another possible secret States only of weapon: extrasensory commuters use bicycles. perception. Yet about -4 million live close to work (9.7 kilome- Here is the agency's enough bike it daily, even after dream, spelled out in an ters) to one accounts for the physi- April 1952 memorandum, "If subtracts a number of individuals cally disabled and weather. could be found in the U.S. for inclement !l who have avery high ESP Yes, bicycles are a real commuters in York Ciry: About A million Americans live Bicycle New transportation," these talented in- form of says capacity, ctose enough to work (9.7 kilometers) to bike-it daily. dividuals could be assigned Dill Wilkinson, of the Trans- Department. That's to intelligence problems. 1952- statement: "If We'.are to BIKE FEVER portation Pierre Such a problem as whether undertake ro push this re- what Frenchman or not the [deleted] had a search as far and as fast as The IAS. government re- Michaux said when he In- the bicycle in 1861. submarine pen Could be at- we can ... it would be nec- cently acknowledged what vented tacked by ESP." essary to be exceedingly the rest of the world has The only mistakes that early Two "promising" studies, careful about thorough known all along: Bicycles bicycle makers committed first roads one of "personality corre- cloaking of the undertak- can be an important part of were paving the " for the bike's pneumatic tires . transportation lates of ESP," the other of ing. . a system. then building the- 'first "ESP in animals," are men- The CIA has declined In an official document, and cars sideline — S.DI tioned in a revealing January comment. — Judith Hooper "Bicycle Transportation for as a caruTinjuurui

20/20 SURGERY patient may experience an GOLDEN SEWAGE improvement in vision.

More than 1 billion people, How successful is the The ash from the Inciner- nearly a quarter of the procedure? It depends on ated sewage sludge of Palo earth's population, suffer whose reports you read. Alto, California, contains 32 from myopia— nearsighted- Stephen Obstbaum, an parts per million of gold, ness. For centuries the only ophthalmologist at Mount richer in gold content than proven way to correct thjs Sinai School of Medicine, ores that are being mined has been to wear spectacles in New York, who has in the United States now "If or contact lenses. worked with Fedorov, says, this [sludge] were an ore

In Moscow, however, Dr. "The operation has great body, if would be a bonan- Svlafoslav Fedorov may promise, but it lacks pre- za," one scientist said. have developed a surgical dictability." The gold is discharged cure for nearsightedness. Dr. The National Advisory Eye into sewers by photo- Fedorov, director of the So- Council has issued a warn- processing and electronics viet Laboratory of the Eye, ing, saying, "The cure may firms. It typifies an increas- has already won medical be worse than the disease." ingly critical problem: The acclaim as the inventor of The council is waiting for fur- United States is losing bil- the artificial cornea. ther proof that the surgery is lions of dollars in minerals discarded as industrial wastes. New minerals are then Recovering aluminum from Imported — weakening our waste: $689 million a year. country's balance of pay- ments, Moreover, the new and the Republic of South material is smelted or re- Africa. By 1985, the United fined, using expensive States will import more than

energy— much of which is half its iron and lead if the also imported, present wasteful trends The U.S. General Account- continue. ing Office, the congressional The GAO urged more watchdog agency recently widespread education on reported that more than 10 recovery technology, sub- million tons of valuable min- sidies for companies that erals are thrown away each can't afford the best proc-

Myopia is caused by an effective. year by U.S. industries, a esses, and removal of tax asymmetry of the eyeball. But the Russians claim significant fraction of which breaks that encourage some Fedorov's new procedure, that 97 percent of Fedorov's could be recovered. Among firms to use virgin ore. While called a radial keratotomy, patients (approximately the losses; 121,000 tons of the agency said U.S. indus-

corrects the impairment. 1 ,500 so far) have had their copper, worth $95 million; tries are doing a "fair" job The procedure fakes only myopia partly or completely 112,000 tons of chromium, recovering minerals, other five minutes. Fedorov makes corrected. Recently Fedorov $224 million; 215,000 tons of countries — for instance, Ja- a series of small cuts in the demonstrated his technique zinc, £160 million; 650,000 pan—are doing better.— S.D cornea, radiating out from in the United States, with tons of aluminum, $689 mil- the pupil. The depfh of these similar results. There has lion; 8.6 million tons of iron, "For the world is tike an cuts is determined by how been no loss of vision by any $660 million; 7,400 tons of olive press, and men are nearsighted the patient is. of his American or Russian nickel, $30 million; and constantly under pressure. If tons of lead, you are the dregs of the oil, As the cuts heal , the cen- patients. — N.E. 32,000 $15 tral portion of the cornea flat- million. you are carried away through tens. The curvature of the "Science is not a sacred The United States imports the sewer, but if you are eye changes, becoming cow. Science is a horse. more than half its aluminum true oil, you remain in the more symmetrical. Within a Don't worship it. Feed it." and nickel. It gets much of vessel." day after the operation, the —Aubrey Eben its chromium from the USSR — St. Augustine —

MEMORY do so efficiently only when "I don't think President which donate blood two or ON THE ROCKS they were in the same state Carter is capable of doing three times a year. Canine as when they'd learned the more than Jesus Christ He blood falls into five basic There are occasions when route. tries, though." groups, but any one can be being marginally under the The students who had — Admiral Hyrrian Rickover given to any dog in an influence of alcohol can be been given vodka remem- emergency if special care

bered the route better If they "The universe is not to be is taken.

were given more vodka than narrowed down to the limits It is only lack of money

if they were sober. Likewise, oiour understanding . . . but now that is stopping dogs the nonalcoholized group our understanding must be and other animals from ben- did better on recall when stretched and enlarged to efiting from heart transplants sober than when slightly take in the image of the and other complicated

drunk. universe as it is discovered." operations — which is ironic, This "state dependence" — Sir Francis Bacon considering that all the early

on a particular drug — be it research for surgery of these alcohol, caffeine, amphet- BLOOD-DONOR DOGS kinds in humans was per- amines, or whatever- formed on animals. Long

might have some disturb- Routine transplant surgery says, once funds beconie : ing consequences. When for pets is coming, pioneer- available, the technology is you settle down with a mar- ing British veterinary sur- thereto perform complex

tini or two in the evening to geon Raymond Long says operations on animals. Al- digest a report or a speech Long operates a revolu- ready quite a few dogs have to be delivered next day, you tionary bipod -transfusion heart monitors; since these run the risk of poor recall service "for dogs that has devicesare relatively inex- Unless you unwisely opt to saved the lives of scores of pensive, they might become bolster your memory with a animals since he began the commonplace in the next ten advantageous. This is the drink the following day. More procedure at his office in years. conclusion reached by psy- seriously, this state-depend- London, England, over Long predicts that the vet chologist Geoff Lowe, of Hull ence effect could jeopardize seven years ago. of the future will routinely University, in England, who the mental health of psychi- Long has 25 regular blood perform transplants, open- has been conducting atric patients. They are often donors, each of which must heart surgery, and perhaps studies of the effects of rela- administered drugs during weigh over 23 kilograms (the even brain surgery. tively modest amounts of liq- psychotherapy, but as soon size of a small Labrador), -JohnGlalt uor on learning. as the drugs are withdrawn, He showed 32 student they risk a relapse. volunteers a simplified street One way around this di- map and asked them to lemma that Dr, Lowe is cur- memorize a set of 19 instruc- rently exploring is what he tions to help people follow a calls "cross transfer"— that route from A to B. Before the is, the use of a compara- session he'd given half the tively innocuous substance learners two glasses of such as caffeine to replace vodka with orange juice; the the less desirable sub- others were given only stance. orange juice. Irv general, There's some evidence both the alcoholized and from animal experiments the nonalcoholized groups that learning may not neces-

learned the street directions sarily be impaired if a surro- equally quickly. gatedrug is used, but so far The next day, however, this crossover effect just isn't some differences surfaced. well enough understood for When asked to recall the human application. route, the volunteers could — Peter Evans coRJTiruuuRn

ISLE OF WASTE an area of 600,000 square WILDLIFE TALES

meters. Second it pumped

Just off the Swedish main- out the water. Then it built a Here are the National land, a chemical company is foundation with thousands Wildlife Federation's most man surrendered his money

of tons of fill. The new island amusing animal capers of to him. was lined with thick plastic the past year: Australian customs offi- • Soviet surgeons suc- cials arrested a man from cessfully inserted an artifi- Bali who attempted to smug- cial lens into the eye of a seal gle five pythons into that had a cataract. Later the Australia by carrying them seal performed several in his underwear and in tricks for its benefactors. pouches attached to his • A San Francisco dentist legs. made a new beak for an in- A turtle named Number jured heron out of the same Six won a race in Newport, pink acrylic he uses to make California, and then showed human dentures. its feelings by latching onto

West German scientists the upper lip of its trainer,

put electricity-emitting who sought to give it a con-

goldfish into one city's water gratulatory kiss. It took a supply to monitor its purity. dose of Valium to loosen the When the water is polluted, turtle's viselike hold. the six fish generate less •A Virginia physician electric current; this is caught a burglar who had detected by sensors that been stealing narcotics from in turn set off an alarm at his medicine cabinet. The the waterworks. thief was a raccoon, The A Los Angeles man doctor lured the animal away opened his door to a with peanut butter and sow's ear. It is building an Jo prevent seepage. Finally stranger who had a knife sardines. -S.D. island of waste as large as came the gypsum waste. 120 football fields, to be cov- 'A deposit like this is a so- ered eventually with soil and lution to waste disposal any- trees. It will have a marina where," said Supra's Gunnar and a recreational area for Wiberg. "The toxic runoff is local communities. almost at zero level." The isie of waste is the Supra's idea may be concoction of Supra, catching on. A New York Sweden's largest chemical State industrial consultant, company. Before the En- Migel Chattey, has proposed vironmental Age, the firm man-made islands in the annually discharged more Atlantic Ocean, 19 kilometers than 300,000 tons of gyp- south of Manhattan, for sum waste into the sea from waste products and for new factories in Landskrona, power plants. The propos- located on the southwest tip al—which interests busi- of Sweden, across from ness, energy, and environ- Copenhagen, Denmark. mental groups— intends Beginning in 1978, Supra to keep power-plant emis- had to find other disposal sions from populated areas methods. So it began re- and sewage from being claiming part of the sea. First dumped into the oceans, Raccoons are notorious lor burglarizing homes and playing with if built a seawall surrounding as it is today. — S.D. human possessions. And now they've begun to steal dope. "

BUILDINGS WITHOUT ratory show that residents ICEBERG FERTILIZER was fixed into the snow from FURNACES can live comfortably while the atmosphere thousands

paying only 10 percent of to- Two oeeanographers of years ago. It's locked in,

Outside, it's -40°FBut day'stypical heating. bills. believe melting Antarctic then released into the ocean inside a 20-story office build- Many big commercial icebergs may help fertilize when the iceberg melts." ing in Calgary, Canada, it's buildings air-condition the the ocean for the growth Ordinary' upwellirig brings

70° F Why is this so unusual? lankton, the first nutrients from deep iri the The building has no heating oceanic food ocean, but, at least along system. the U.S. West Coast, that up- The new Gulf Canada eshyba and Ed welling is seasonal, happen- Square complex, in downtown of Oregon State ing only during the spring

Calgary gets all its heat from University, are studying the and summer, Neshyba says people, lights, and equip- effects of iceberg melting on iceberg-caused upwelling is ment. Itusessuperinsulation the growth of phytoplankton essentially permanent. "It and solar-heat gain. Though and the tiny animals called has the potential of being a it may be the most dramalic knll that feed upon them. Ba- far more continuing and sig- example of new technology leen whales eat krill, and the nificant source of nutrients." to save energy, it is not alone. creatures are now being —Joel Davis Stung by ever-higher energy considered as a possible costs, many people are de- food source for humans "I like the dreams of the signing buildings that need So far the two scientists future better than the history little or no conventional heat. have noted a type of layering of the past All these structures use in the watercolumn as a re- — Thomas Jefferson passive solar energy: the sult of the iceberg melting, heating of rocks, water-filled "It might be," says Neshyba, "Not a day passes over this drums, or other materials by "that the slowly moving ice- earth but men and women of the sun. bergs leave a trail of nutri- no note do great deeds. The materials store the ent-enhanced surface fluid, speak great words, and " sun's warmth and radiate it "The ice itself," he ex- suffer noble sorrows. indoors as needed. Com- Gut: Canada Square: Healed plains, "has nitrogen that — Charles Reed plex machinery is absent, by lights and body warmth. but fans may be used to blow warm air from one part sunny side in winterand of the building to another. heal the shady side. The Some buildings are partly complex in Calgary moves underground. Others have the natural heat from the solar collectors and wood sunny to the shaded side, stoves. All have extraordi- eliminating both air con- nary insulation. The interiors, ditioners and furnace. Body however, don't look.differeht heat enters into the calcula- from conventional rooms. tions: 100 people emit as On Cape Cod, Massa- much warmth each hour as a chusetts, one homeowner small furnace does. spent $9.63 for heat during a — Stuart Diamond recent winter: That was the cost of the electricity he "Freedom is not an essential used to run some fans. A and basic condition for the New Mexico house is growth of science: the care warmed by ten -inch-thick, and diligence of government heat-storing adobe walls. authorities arethemost Rhode Island and Long Is- important conditions for land homes tested by this development." Floating Antarctic icebergs; Two scientists have noticed a type of Brookhaven National Labo- — VasiliN. Tatishchev layering in the. water Column that might, be a trait of nutrients. "

CDruTiruuurui

JUNK PHONE CALLS be identified by their area HORSE TEETH ing grass, her dietary staple, code. Emergency or priority and lost more than 45 Almost everyone who calls could have a special Thanks to some pretty kilograms. has a phone has been ring or could flash a red light fancy dentistry, you can now Drs. Lowell Neufeld and bothered at some time by if the phone were in use. The look at a gift a horse got in John Carmody galloped to "junk phone calls." Billions of subscriber could give out a the mouth. the rescue. The dentists took unsolicited telephone sales personal three-digit code to Two inventive dentists from a polyethylene impression of calls are made annually, and friends and relatives that Seattle recently installed and had a den- this number is likely to in- would flash a green light or crease, thanks to the greater sound a special tone when use of new automated dial- dialed. If telephone adver- ing and message-piaying tisers all had a common ex- machines that can make 100 change prefix, analogous to calls an hour. the 800 number used for Now help in barring un- placing free calls, subscrib- welcome electronic sales ers would know when a ring- pitches may be just around ing phone signaled a sales the corner. The Bell System's pitch and could decide new Common Channel In- whether to accept the call. teroffice Signaling [CCIS] The system could also be network will carry the caller's programmed to screen calls number so that you will know so that some are rung where the call is originating through, others are re- corded, and yet others are forwarded to another num- Dentists work on Blanche's mouth: First false teeth for a horse. ber. These services would be available for about $2 or specially designed bridge- tal-lab casting technician $3 a month. work, spanning four inch- fabricate a chrome-alloy The Bell System has no long teeth, in a lucky equine bridge. With a veterinarian

specific date planned for of- named Blanche. on hand , Blanche was se-

fering these call-screening It's quite likely this is the dated in her stall. services to subscribers, most extensive inside job As she lay on the ground,

although it is already using dentists have ever done on a the two dentists drilled away CCIS to automate credft- four-legged animal, accord- in unison. They had to pull card billing and to expand ing to the American Dental off the job within 30 minutes. toll-free services for com- Association. Dentists have, "We were worried the mercial accounts. however, previously capped anesthetic would wear off

-WalliELeff teeth on dogs and , at least before we finished, "Dr. once, on a lion. Neufeld said. "Like a mutation, an idea The cause of all this was a Since the dentists had may be recorded in the fluky accident. Blanche was never done veterinary den- wrong time, to lie latent like cantering along when a mule tistry, they must have con- from before you pick up the a recessive gene and spring spooked her so dearly that sidered the task a profes- phone (or choose not to pick once more to lite In an she keeled over, face-first, sional challenge, right? up the phone). auspicious era." and knocked out two lower- "We did it as a kind of An "intelligent telephone" —Loren Eiseley jaw incisors. lark," Neufeld admits. "It hooked into CCIS would in- The horse's teeth were wasn't critical to the animal's dicate different kinds of calls "Thanks to science, you can torn off at the gums, and re- survival. It was a matter of by different ringing tones or now fly almost anywhere in moving the roots underneath trying something we hadn't colored lights, or by an elec- half the time it will take might have proved difficult done before. It was out of the

tronic readout display of the you to wait for your luggage as well as dangerous. With ordinary, and so I figured, calling number after you get there." her choppers thus impaired, 'Let's give it a go!' Long-distance calls could -BillVaughan Blanche had trouble chew- — Robert Brody 42 OMNI Humanity is poised on the launchpad of a future so revolutionary it will make us a new kind of animal COUNTDOWN TO HABITAT ONE BYJOHNPFEIFFER

terms, rocket launching , the end in evolutionary and A.of countdown, ignition, proceeds at an ever- and a burst of flame. There is accelerating pace today no motion for the first few The human species, the fractions of a second. Then so-called doubly wise Homo the beginning of takeoff, sapiens sapiens, is an infant, almost imperceptible at first. a mere neonate. We are The rocket rises a little way, something new under the sun, perpendicular and pon- a brand-new kind of culture derous, as if it would never now in the driver's seat, with leave Earth, a painful only a learner's permit at that, wrenching away from the grip and only the vaguest notion of of gravity. From here on, it is all ultimate destination. crescendo: an arcing up and Given the world as it existed away, speed mounting like the 3 billion or 4 billion years ago, scream of a siren, the enor- when its highest life forms mous spurt into space. were unicellular, who could This is the image, the have predicted the coming of appropriate metaphor, for such unlikely creatures as human evolution. The instant whales, sharks, tigers, apes? of flash corresponds to the Today it Is just as difficult to time, perhaps 5 million to 10 imagine our descendants million years ago, when the in the long-term future.

first "hominids" appeared as Alan Mann, a University of something more than apes Pennsylvania anthropologist, — but not much more. The sluggish liftoff corresponds to the earliest phase of human adventure, when our ancestors broke away from the earth-binding inertial force of heredity. The rocket's escape from gravity, the great burst of power released, corresponds to the explosion of culture that picked up mo- mentum some 35,000 years ago, the blink of an eyelid

PAINTING BY JAMES WYETH "! wonders whether we will make it at all: full-blown triba: conflict, tf we could only cut exactly paralleled in the wild Norway rat don't believe in an optimistic rise toward the that wire, the psychological bomb would and ils domes! caied descendant, used in stars. Being human involves a certain level be defused." ~ laboratories all over the world . We have, to a Of aggressiveness..-;n 'nihility to react pos- certain extent, created a tamer and a more TAMING OURSELVES .itively with other societies, other cultures. sociable man than ever existed before.

My feeling is that we won't conquer such On the positive side is our genius for Genuine breakthroughs in modern psy-

tendencies, that things will get worse and adapting. Of all species, we are by far the chology condition us !o view ourselves as a the species will become extinct." most flexible. Consider the Megalopolis. hyperaggressive -species. But studies of

If the history of evolution is any lesson. Cities get bad press these days, but for all other animals in the wild, which have Mann has the odds in'his favor, since more the violence and turmoil, they represent lengthened into a decade or more, now than 100 species have become extinct for impressive artifacts viewed in evolutionary confirm Homo, sapiens as the most peace- every one still a- ve today The sad truth is perspective. Among animals, conflict es- able of all species; In nearly every other that our species is chronically and morally calates sharply with ncreasing population animal the incidence ol (igh:ing. killing, and aggressive. Getting along with one another density. Yet we have somehow managed to infanticide is greater than the human rate does notcome naturally Human beings are conduct the bulk of the world's business in many times over. "I look out on an au- technologically supreme, but socially urban settings. When you consider that ditorium pac

ing, a fear and distrust of strangers, and, loose for millions of years, it borders on the remarks, "and there they sit. shoulder to most dangerous of all, a deep-seated re- miraculous that their recent descendants shoulder, all poiteiy -va ting [heir :um tola;* luctance to take a cold-eyed unromantic manage to 've domesticated, law-abiding about how human oc-ings are :he most ruth- look at ourselves. lives inside cubicular apartment com- less, bloodthirsty soecies tha: ever walked

The truth may hurt, but sweeping it under plexes. the earth. Its just ridiculous. In no other the rug hurts more. 'Above all, we need The concept of domesticating ourselves species could there be anywhere near so

unsparing honesty," Harvard sociobiolo- is not mere rhetoric. Unreasoning, impul- much cooperation." gist Edwin 0. Wilson observes. "Why are sive violence is not tolerated in most PATCHWORK MAN we tribalistic? Why do we feel so ferocious societies. The ruthless mass murderer who about territory and blood lines? People may have been a conqueror centuries ago Invention and technology will shape our under stress tend to polarize issues, to ac- is Incarcerated or is put to.death today We future in undreamed-of ways. There will be centuate differences boiwocn insiders and have laned our soecies by segregating the strange hybrid creatures, combinations of outsiders, dehumanizing the outsiders and most aggressive, unpred ::\-jbis 'itliv de- synthetic and living tissue — part man- thinking of them as monsters. We jump at als and not allowing them to reproduce. made and part begotten, rather less

this. It stirs the blood, and demagogues Berkeley anthropologist Sherwood human than we are, because they will de-

know well how to take advantage of it. We Washburn notes that physical differences pend on an ncreasing number of sophisti- are ready at a moment's notice to explode, in the thickness ot the skull between an- cated prosthet c devices This is definitely to escalate even a mild disagreement into a cient and modern man, for example, are on the books." says John Bonner, head of the Princeton University biology depart- ment. "Judging by the ingenuity of work under way on the design of artificial limbs, 1"i8 future is ce'tainly going :c see a boom in prosthesis."

The trend is already well underway. In the United States alone an estimated 2 million to 3 million plastic, ceramic-glass, and metal parts are implanted into patients' bodies annually— everything from artificial tear ducts, middle-ear bones, and entire hip and knee joints to nerve sheaths, ar- teries, heart valves, and heart pacers. There is more to come, much more. The next 50 years should see two to three times more Americans pass the age of sixty-five (current figure: about 25 million), and the adding of another decade to today's seven- ty-plus average. Furthermore, many genet- icists are convinced that we make things tougher for ourselves with every medical advance. Every time doctors prolong the

life of a patient born with a defective heart or a tendency toward diabetes or high blood pressure or cancer, they are thwart- ing organic evolution, preserving for future generations undesirable recessive genes, which death weeded out of the population

in earlier times. So the recessives pile up, several hundred perhaps, most of them masked by dormant genes, Out taking a toll nevertheless. Sir Julian Huxley, the noted biologist, said a generation ago, "The general quality of the world's popula- tion is not very high, is beginning to de- teriorate, and should and could be im-

proved. It is deteriorating [hanks to genetic 46 OMNI defectives, who would otherwise have sensation, such as a distinctive type of facts go into institutional and personal died, being kepi alive." spinal tingling, starting at whisper level computers, which is just as well since The result is something of a paradox. and mounting in intensity if not heeded knowledge is expanding by some 200 mil- Here we are. the earth's most powerful and promptly lion words, or about five sets of the Ency- most rapidly evolving species, becoming Sleep, the eight-hours-nightly variety, is clopaedia Britannica, per hour. That flood of more vulnerable to a variety of physical and also ripe for adjustment. Suitable for prehis- information is already too much for the un- mental disorders, and the demand for pros- toric living — since there wasn't much to do aided brain- to handle effectively, The real

thesis soars accordingly. anyway— it seems rather a waste of time in breakthrough would be machines that

Right now we are still relatively humble a modern context. It we could fall more learn. A chess-playing computer that im- and defense-minded. The focus is on turn- rapidly into deep, delta-wave sleep and proves with experience, for example, could

ing out artificial organs and tissues as ef- stay there longer, it has been speculated be pitted against a duplicate of itself, and fective as those that we were born with. We that three to four slumbering hours would the two could be left to match wits until they hope to succeed but are ready to settle tor be sufficient. A device designed to ac- arrive at a perfect, unbeatable strategy. something less. Within a generation or so complish this would add at least another Marvin Minsky, founder of MIT's artificial-in- doctors will consult catalogs offering mi- decade to our waking lives. Incidentally, telligence laboratory, says that even one crosensory systems to replace failing eyes such a device may be combined with the machine could use the same program to and ears, artificial glands, drug-dispens- pain eliminator to form a compact, dou- play both sides in a game of chess, alter- ing capsules, and subminiature monitoring ble-duty unit. nately playing black and white pieces. computers to track and control blood pres- Imagine the impact of applying machine- THE EXTENDED BRAIN sure, antibody levels, breathing, and other versus-machine approaches to solving

life rhythms. When it comes to intelligence, the human human problems in such diverse fields as Fine, for starters. But the catalogs will brain Is probably more than adequate for mathematics, engineering design, busi- also list devices that improve oh nature the foreseeable future. It appeared in its ness, and government.

rather than merely imitate it. Take pain and present torm some 40 millennia ago, pro- Brainpower is being amplified with a sleep, as two examples. They have served duced the earliest known art. elaborate vengeance, ard without ouiiding gadgetry us well in many ways, but we can do better ceremonies, and regular mass-kill hunts, into the brain itself. This takes the pressure now. Pain frequently lasts well beyond its and has been getting us into and out of off premature eugenic schemes, such as usefulness, and no one needs a fire alarm uncountable predicaments ever since. Not the recently announced sperm bank offer- that keeps on clanging long after the tire- long ago humans of the twenty-first century ing hopeful females artificial insemination men have extinguished tno b aze. II is high were envisioned as fetuslike superintel- with the reproductive cells of Nobel Prize- time we block pain once it has done its duty, lects with huge, swollen brains and winning males. Aside from the sexist impli- with implanted electronic transmitters to shriveled trunk and limbs. But that was be- cations, the evidence for the heritability of flash signals to inhibitory nerve synapses. fore anyone realized how much brainwork genius is at best shaky, for geniuses fre- We may eventually eliminate pain once and could be shifted to exfa.ee re oreai devices. quently come from intellectually undistin- for all and substitute an entirely different There will be less to remember as more guished parents and subsequently pro- duce intellectually undistinguished off- spring. Moreover, we know virtually nothing about the contents of those Nobel sperm packages. You have to take the whole kit and caboodle, the bad genes along with the good, and that always means a high- risk gamble. For these and other reasons the sperm-bank notion may capture head-

lines, but it makes no sense scientifically What we need far more than elevated I.Q. scores, and what will be far trickier to achieve, is elevated cerebral sfability. As things stand now, everything conspires to aggravate rather than reduce our tendency to commit mayhem. Education and physi- ology are out ot phase, working at cross purposes, as the gap widens between so- cial and sexual maturity. The way from pre-ape to human being has been a proc- ess of slower and slower ripening. Human offspring are dependent longer but that is also their strength, giving them time to pre- pare for life in increasingly complex societies. Meanwhile, largely because of improved nutrition, puberty is appearing earlier and earlier, currently at the age ot 12.5 to 13 among girls and a year or so later among boys. How will we resolve the dis- crepancy? Delaying the onset of puberty, perhaps with the aid of gland implants, might reduce tensions appreciably and would certainly be in line with a trend that is pervasive in hominid evolution— prolong- ing the period of youth and learning. A lim- bic-system pacer might also be useful, a device comparable to a heart pacer that ' would help keep the brain's emotional cen- ters on an even keel functioning well. Further tinkering will come with the as- cend-ru-y ot genetic engineering, During the past few ye;-irs genet c engineering has advanced from a far-out oossioiliiy lo a hct business investment (see "The Gene

Trust." March 1980). It depends on infinitely- Celestron delicate techniques for manipulating DNA, the hereditary material, about two meters of it, coiled inside- the nucleus ot every human cell. This art is roughly the equivalent of cramming a thread the length of a football field into a volume sma lerdian the dot over this 1." One procedure involves snipping off selected human DNA sections and sonc ing them into the DNA. chains of bacteria, which then turn out various medica ly im- portant proteins, such as insulin, growtn hormone, and antiviral [perhaps an'c.-n- cerous) interferon, Biotechnology will probably yield commercial quantities of products m inree to five years. More time is needed to- eliminate diseases like sickle- cell anemia that result from the absence of a single gene; this micpt be accomp isheci by grafting copies of the gene into a defi- cient DNA chain The- elimination of mul- tigen.e conditions-, ranging Irom cancer to psychosis, will require a degree of scien- tific finesse not yet available, In any case, the power to shape our- selves, to direct a purely random process is now within our grasp VVashounslre.-sei the prospects. "Darwinian evolution is pur-

poseless and very slow. It is difficult to demonstrate any change over the last forty thousand years-. Genetic engineering is purposeful and fast, and that makes all the difference." A drive has been launched to improve, by applied molecular biology as well as prosthesis, the quality of human beings.

I IaPITaiS biG ANDSV1AI L For the photographer, astronomer, naturalist, observer — Celestron has es- Opposing forces are at work to deter- educator, or casual telescopes and mine the living conditions of future man. tablished a new standard in superb Cities are the nodes, the focal points, of telephoto lenses at affordable prices (from $295). what passes for civilization, and some or All feature large observatory mirror/lens type them will grow much bigger. At the same optics folded into a compact, lightweight, portable nme :;-ie s'-vjII- s-beautiful forces- are shill- telescope or telephoto lens. Close-up detail borders ing into high gear. RcneDubos, Rockefeller on the fabulous from celestial objects light years " , r Lnive'siiy's iO'Cb:oloc,is"-tulons!. lore- away, to ships, planes, flowers, wildlife or people. sees an intelligent species creating more Here is truly an instrument that allows you to observe congenial environments for itself, and the or photograph the world around you. Celestron key principle will be decentralization. "With also has a full line of binoculars of astronomical the introduction of new electronic technol- ogy," he says, "there is no longer any rea- quality. son why people should commute daily to work in big factories and big cities. Com- Send $2.00 tor 32-page full color municating with central management by catalog on how to select and use remote computer terminals can be done a Celestron telescope or telephoto lens. from- village am;: small-'own cilices, or even at home." Not only the few environmentally con- Celestron International scious individuals.and organizations spc-an 2835 Columbia St., Box 3578-OM U.S.A. for such a reordering of our priorities. The Torrance, Calif. 90503, 328-9560 whole thrust of evolution is solidly behind Telephone: (213)

this transformation. It calls for an intensity

of planning that will make all our previous planning seem haphazard by comparison, (Dealer Inquiries invited.) and the ability lo accomplish thisis a rela-

)N PAGE 162 TO PAY FOR THE FUTURE

g we play, tt Doing all our work, liberating us The robots will be superb in- from drudgery, creating new formation-handling machines goods at a rate and ot a quality that give computers the manual unknown in history. dexterity to perform such tasks Robots. Not the happy tin men as welding in an assei

.th snappy and selecting a stack Iter and red lights for eyes. From a base in the mi >tR2D2andC3PO.Thesereal ing industries, robot robots will be sophisticated work- spread throughout our society, ing machines, programmed to eventually taking on every kind scute specific tasks extraor- of job and creating new

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN MARMARAS 3

60ur social, economic, and political fabric is simply not strong enough today to withstand the stresses robot technology will bring

These ultimate, responsive working ma- manner, we will wrench our society apart chines will transform our economy and our within a single generation. lives the way the discovery of steam power So the only sensible course available to revolutionized the world 200 years ago. us is extensive and early planning for a Steam unleashed a vast supply of raw smooth transition from today's world of power that changed industrial and com- human workers to tomorrow's world of robot mercial enterprises. Robotics will create an workers. We can avoid the pitfalls of the

entirely new form of work. Steam took over second industrial revolution if we begin jobs that required lifting, shaping, moving, working now. We can democratically create and heating. Robots will supplant human programs now that will be far better than workers in tasks that require manipulation, those that might be imposed upon us for measurement, complex interaction, and the sake of survival. quality control. Consider the magnitude of the change Our modern age resulted from that first that approaches. Today most of us are inex- industrial revolution. The future belongs to tricably bound to our jobs and wages. We the second industrial revolution, the robotic spend most of our waking hours on the job revolution. or in transit to and from our working place. Yet we are not prepared, in the slightest Our livelihood depends upon the money

degree, lor the changes that loom ahead. It we receive in exchange for making a prod- would be nice to paint a rosy picture of uct or performing a service. happy workers and happy robots building In a robotic society we won't work. The a better world together But real life usually robots will do most jobs more efficiently doesn't work this way. than we could do them. Such robots can The first industrial revolution, though bet- usher in an age of superabundant, very

ter than what had gone before, propagated inexpensive goods. But there's hitch. If I a untold misery in the lives ol workers. The humans don't work, do they deserve to be world's lack of preparation for the changes paid? Where can they get the money to buy that occurred led to sweatshops, labor all the wonderful and inexpensive products riots, snarled political allegiances, and the robots will produce? enormous suffering. Karl Marx was moved We can't have a society of unemployed ^i^ to call for a revolt by the world's oppressed people who can't afford the products made workers as the only means to rectify the for them by the robots that took away their wrongs the industrial revolution had jobs. That's absurd. We must devise a

brought with it. scheme that will shift the manner in which The second industrial revolution will have we receive income without endangering an even greater impact on the world than its either our standard of living or our self- predecessor did. And our social, eco- respect.

nomic, and political fabric is simply not The first challenge of robotics is: How do strong enough now to withstand the stress- we pay for the robots? Vast sums will be

es robot technology will introduce. If we required for investment if we are to benefit don't change our present patterns, the in- from robots. At first, worker machines will evitable and widespread use of robots will be quite expensive; they will have to be come at the cost of high unemployment, constructed by people. Eventually one high inflation, social unrest, and violence generation of robots can be programmed both physical and psychological. to build the next, bringing the cost of robots We face the cruel paradox that our steadily downward. But where will we get greatest is >>^ hope for an idyllic future also the the money for the all-important first push greatest threat to our society's orderly ex- into the robotic age?

istence. If we ignore robotics, we will be One way or another, the money will have outdistanced in the world market by the to come from the people. In the past, when forward-looking countries that adopt it; their products will be both far cheaper and

better made than our own. If we move into the Robot Age in a haphazard, unplanned FICTION In the worldwide Some things had not within sight of them, he would changed. A potter's wheel open them prematurely, impatient breeding contest the was still a potter's wheel and to see how some new shape or

defective masses still glaze the fire, ™ clay was clay. Efim Hawkins had come through had won hands down. had built his shop near Goose and—ping! — the new shape or Lake, which had a narrow band glaze would be good for nothing There was only of good fat clay and a narrow but the shard pile. MARCHING one thing for the beach of white sand. He fired A business conference was in three bottle-nosed kilns with full swing in his shop, a modest intelligent elite to do willow charcoal from the wood cube of brick, tile-roofed, as the MORONS lot. The wood loi was also useful Chicago- Los Angeles "rocket" PAINTING BY for long walks while the kilns were thundered overhead — very

BY C. M. KORNBLUTH DE ES SCHWERTBERGER cooling; if he let himself stay noisy, very swept back, very fiery jets, shaped as sleekly swift-looking it stopped us on culling, it stopped us preferably a once-fashionable one full of as an airborne barracuda. on seg'egation and now it's stopped us on once-massive bronze caskets moldered

,*. lull- The buyer from Mars-iF.il Fields .-"is hypnosis." into oxides of tin and copper. ing over a black-glazed one-liter carale, "We. i. I'm scheduled back to the grind in Well, hell, maybe there was some around nodding approval with his massive, hand- nine days. Time for another firing right now. anyway ." some head. "This is real pretty," he lold I've got a new luster to try . . He headed lackadaisically for the

Hawkins and his own secretary, Gomez- "I'll miss you. I shall be 'vacationing' second-largest hillock and sliced into if Laplace. "This has got lots- of whal ya call running the drafting room of the New Cen- with his pick. There.was a stone to undercut real est'etic principles." -tury Engineering Corporation in Denver. and topple into a trench, and then the pot-

"How much?" the secretary asked the They're going to put up a two-hundred- ter was very glad he'd stuck at it. His nos- potter. story office building, and naturally some- trils were filled with the bitter smell, and the "Seven-fifty in dozen lots," said Hawkins. body's got to be on hand." dirt was tinged with the exciting blue of

"I ran up fifteen dozen last month." "Naturally," said Hawkins with a sour copper salts. The pick went clang! "They are real est'etic," repeated the smile. Hawkins, puffing, pried up a stainless buyer from Fields. "I will take them all." There was an ear-piercingly sweet blast steel plate that was quite Pac'iy stained and

"I don't think we can de that. Doctor," as the buyer leaned on the horn button. was also marked with incised letters. It said the secretary. "They'd cost us thirteen Also, ayard-talljetofwhat looked like flame seemed to have pulled loose trom rotting hundred fifty dollars. That would leave only spurted up from the car's radiator cap; the bronze: there were rivets on the back that five hundred thirty-two dollars in our quar- car's power plant was a gas turbine and brought up flakes of green patina. The pot- ter's budget. And we still have to run down had no radiator. ter wiped off the surface dirt with his to East Liverpool to pick up some cheap "I'm coming, Doctor," said the secretary sleeve, turned it to catch the sunlight dinner sets." dispiritedly. He' climbed down into the car, obliquely, and read:

"Dinner sets?" asked the buyer, his big and it whooshed off. with much flame and face full of wonder. noise, down Ihe almost deserted highway. HONEST JOHN BARLOW "Dinner sets. The department's been out Honest John, famedin university annals, of them tor two months now. Mr. Garvy- represents a challenge which medical sci-

Seabright got pretty nasty about it yester- ence has not yet answered; revival of a day. Remember?" human being accidentally thrown into a "Garvy-Seabright, that meat-headed state of suspended animation. iThe city loomed bluenose," the buyer said contemptuously. In 1988 Mr. Barlow, a leading Evanston "He don't know nothin' about est'etics. Why ahead- He clutched at the real estate dealer, visited his dentist for for don't he lemme run my own depart- cushions. Those two treatment of animpacted wisdom tooth. His ment?" His eye fell on a stray copy of dentist requested and received permission Whambozambo Comix, and he sat down copters. They were going to use Ihe experimental anesthetic with it. An occasional deep chuckle es- to — He didn't see Cycloparadimethanol-B-7 , developed at caped him as he turned the pages. the University. what happened because their Uninterrupted, the potter and the buyer's A'tpr administration a! 'he anesthetic, the secretary quickly closed a deal tor two collision courses dentist resorted to his drill. By freakish mis- ciozer of the liter carafes, "I wish we could took them behind a building^ c.nance. a short circuit in his machine deliv- take more," said the secretary, "but you ered 220 volts ol 60-cycte current into ihe heard what I told him. We've had to turn patient. (In a damage suit instituted by Mrs. away customers for ordinary dinnerware Barlow against the dentist, the University, because he shot the last quarter's budget and the makers of the drill, a jury found for on some Mexican piggy banks some the defendants.) It -was assumed that Mr. enthusiastic importer stuck nirr with. The The potter, depressed, wandered back Barlow had died ol poisoning, eiectrocu fifth Moor is packed solid with them." up the corduroy road and contemplated his Hon, or both.

"I'll bet they look mighty est'etic." cooling kilns. The rustling wind in the Morticians preparing him for embalming "They're painted with purple cacti." boughs was obs-cu^ng the creak and mut- discovered, however, that their subject The potter shuddered and caressed the ter of the shrinking refractory brick. Haw- was — though certainly not living— just as glaze of the sample carale. kins wondered about the number two certainly not dead. The University was The buyer looked up and rumbled, "Ain't kiln — a reduction fire on a load of luster- notified and a series o! exhaustive tests you dummies through yakkin' yet? What 'ware mugs. Would it do any harm if he just was begun, including attempts to dupli- good's a seckertary for if'n he don't take the took one close ? cate the trance state on volunteers. Alter a burden of de-tail off'n my back, harh?" Common sense took Hawkins by the bad run of seven cases which ended fatally, "We're all through. Doctor. Are you ready scrulf of the neck- and yanked' him over to the attempts were abandoned. to go?" the tool shed. He got out his pick and reso- Honest John was long an exhibit at the The buyer grunted peevishly, dropped lutely set off on a prospecting jaunt to a University museum and livened many a Whambozambo Comix on the floor, and led hummocky field that might yield some tootball game as mascot of the University's the way out ol the building and down the oxides. He was especially low on coppers. Blue Crushers. The bounds of taste were long corduroy road to the highway. His car The long walk left him sweating hard, overstepped, however, when a pledge to was waiting on the concrete. It was, like all with his lust for a peek into the kiln quiet in Sigma Delta Chi was ordered in 2003 to contemporary cars, loo low slung to get his breast. He swung his pick almost at "kidnap" Honest John from his loosely over the logs. He climbed down into the car random into one of the hummocks; it guarded glass museum case and intro- and started the motor with a tremendous clanged on a stone, which he excavated. A duce him into the Rachel Swanson Memo-' sparkle and roar. largely obliterated inscription said rial Girls' Gymnasium shower room. "Gomez-Laplace," called out the potter On May 22. 2003. the University Board of ERSITYOFCHIC under cover of the noise, "did anything Regents issued the following order: "By OGICAL LABO come of the radiation program they were unanimous vote, it is directed that the re- I ELOVED MEMORY OF working on the Jast time I was on duty at the mains of Honest John Barlow be removed KILLED IN ACT Pole''" from the University museum and conveyed "The same old fallacy," said the secre- The potter swore mildly He had hoped to the University's Lieutenant James Scott tary gloomily. "It stopped us on mutation, the field would turn out' to be a cemetery. III Memorial Biological Laboratories and 60 OMNI :

there be secure pared vault. It possible measi

The CrowiiJewel of England. qrapi's in [Its omen's press which, to say the ,'essr, reflect but smut* -credit upon tne University."

id, but Hawkins 's'.ooc what had h, ippened — an t

:i accidental blurrd- nesof theLevanirrs

I fmpt,

lEEFEATEt

fondon'Disth

pottery Ana anvth m Lo« on Topic Number ough Umtiat He flung his .out ot the trench, , ci'mbed out, and ff at a dogtrot for his shop. A little rumn ig turned up a hypo,

apla C contains i" CT S5i T in

Back at his dig. he chipped for another

: hal hour tq ex nose the |jnctu r e ol ;d and body. The hinges were hopeless; so he smashed them off. Hawkins extended the telescopic handle of the pick for the best leverage, lilted its point into a deep pit, set its built-in fulcrum, and heaved. Five more heaves and he could see, inside the vault, what looked like a dusty marble statue. Ten more and he

could see that it was the naked body of Honest John Barlow, Evanston real estate dealer, uncorrupted by time. The potter lound the apex of the trigemi- nal nerve with his needle's point and gave him 60 cc. In an hour Barlow's chest began to pump. 9 " In another hour he rasped, "Did it work

"Did it!" muttered Hawkins. Barlow opened his eyes, looked down, turned his hands before his eyes — Til sue!" he screamed. "My clothes! My fingernails!" A horrid suspicion came over his face and he clapped his hands to his hairless scalp. "My hair!" he wailed. "I'll sue you for every penny you've got! That re- lease won't mean a damned thing in hair and court— I didn't sign away my clothes and fingernails!" "They'll grow back," said Hawkins casu- ally "Also your epidermis. Those parts of you weren't alive, you know. So they weren't preserved like the rest of you. I'm afraid the clothes are gone, though." "What is this— the university hospital?"

demanded Barlow. '"I want a phone. No, you phone. Tell my wile I'm all right, and tell Sam Immerman — he's my lawyer— to get over here right away. Greenleaf 7-4022. Owl" He had tried to sit up, and a portion o( his pink skin rubbed against the inner sur- face of the casket, which was powdered by the ancient crystallized glass. "What the hell did you guys do, boil me alive? Oh, you're going to pay for this!"

"You're all right," said Hawkins, wishing now he had a reference book to clear up several obscure terms. "Your epidermis will start growing immediately. You're not in the hospital. Look here." He handed Barlow the stainless steel plate that had labeled the casket. After a suspicious glance, the man started to read. Finishing, he laid the plate carefully on the edge ol the vault and was silent. "Poor Verna." he said at last. "It doesn't say whether she was stucjs with the court costs. Do you happen to know—"

CANON P10- "No," said the potter "All I know is what was on the plate, and how to revive you. One of the best selling portable The dentist accidentally gave you a dose of what we call Levantman shock anesthesia. printer/displays in America.With We haven't used it for centuries; it was paper tape. powerful, but loo dangerous." standard plain ." "Centuries . . brooded the man. "Cen-

turies ... I'll bet Sam swindled her out of her eyeteeth. Poor Verna. How long ago was it?

What year is this?" Hawkins shrugged. "We call it 7-B-936. Where quality is the constant factor. That's no help to you." "Like that movie," Barlow muttered. "Who w would have thought it? Poor Verna!" Canon Almost angrily, the potter demanded, ELECTRONIC CALCULATORS "How many children did you have?" "None yet," snilfed Barlow. "My first wife didn't want them. But Verna wants one- wanted one— but we're going to wait " until — we were going to wait until — ".Of coufse," said the potter, feeling a savage desire to tell him off, blast him to hell and gone for his work. But he choked it down. There was the Problem to think of; there was always the Problem to think of and this poor blubberer might unexpect- edly supply a clue. Hawkins would have to pass him on. "Comet -along," Hawkins- said. "My time is short." Bartow looked up, outraged, "How can you be -so unfeeling? I'm a human being like-" The Los Angeles- Chicago "rocket" thundered overhead, and Barlow broke off in mid-complaint. "Beautiful!" he breathed, following it with his eyes. "Beautiful!" He elifffbed out of the vault, too inter- ested to be pained by its roughness against his infantile skin, "After all." he said

briskly, "this should have its sunny side. I never was much fo? readm.g, but this is.just like one of those stories. And I ought to nake some money cut of ft, shouldn't I?" He gave Hawkins- a shrewd glance. "You want money?" asked the potter "Here " He handed over a fistful of change and bills. "You'd better put my shoeson. It'll be about a 'quarter mile. Oh, and you're— uh, modest? — yes, that was the word. Here' HawKins gave him his parts, but Barlow was excitedly coun:-ng ihe money

"Eighty-five, eighty-six ana it's dollars

toot I thought it'd be credits or whatever they call them. 'E Plunbus Unum' and Liberty'— just different faces. Say. is there a catch to this? Are mess rsa genuine honest twenty-two-cent dollars like we had. or just wallpaper?"

'They're cuits an right, I assure you, "said the potter. "I wish you'd come along, I'm in a hurry," The man babbled as they stumped to- ward the shop. "Where are we going — the Council of Scientists, the World Coordina- tor, or something like that?" "Who? Oh, no. We call them President and Congress. No. that wouldn't do any good at all, I'm just taking you to see some people."

"I ought to make plenty out of this.

Plenty! I could write books, Get some smart young fellow to put it into words for CANON MLMPMNTfR I'll sei'er. me and bet I could turn out a best " What's the setup on things like that7 A handy, easily affordable plain paper "It's about like that. Smart young fellows. But there aren't any best sellers anymore. printer/display. In a compact People don't read much nowadays. We'll find something equally profitable for you to do." traveling size. Back in the shop-. Hawkins gave Barlow a suit of clothes, deposited him in the waiting room, and called Central in Chicago. "Take him away." he pleaded-"! have time for one more firing, and he blathers and blathers. I Where quality is the constant factor. haven't told him anything. Perhaps we should just turn him loose and let him find his own level, but there's a chance—" Canon "The Problem." agreed Central, "Yes, ELECTRONIC CALCULATORS there's a chance." The poller delighted Harlow by making with innumeiabo brn iari while sparkles. ken with arch signiicance. and the audi- him a cup of cof lee with a cube that not only "Do you like it?" yelleo the psychist. ence shrieked, howled, and whistled its " dissolved in cold water but healed the "It's terrific!" Barlow yelled back. "It's — appreciation. water to the bo. ling point. Killing time, Haw- He was shut up. as the car pulled out Irom It was dull listening when you didn't know kins chatied about the "rocket" Barlow had the bay into the road with a great voo-ooo- the punch lines and catch lines. Barlow admired and had lo haul himself up shdrl; ooom'f A gale roared past Barlow's head, pushed another butto'n. with his free hand he had almost told the real estaie man what though the windows seemed fo be closed;, ready at the volume control. its top speed really was — almost, indeed, the impression of speed was terrific. He "—latest from Washington. It's about

revealed that it was not a rocket. located the speedometer on the dash- Senator Hull-Mondcza Ho is sli I attack'ng

He regretted, too', that he had so casually board and saw it climb past 90, 100, 150, the Bureau of Fisheries. The North Califor- handed Barlow a couple hundred dollars. 200. nia Syndicalist says he got affydavits that The man seemed obsessed with fear that "Fast enough for me," yelled the psych- John Kingsley-Schu tz is a bluenose from Ihey were worthless since Hawkins refused ist. noting that Barlow's lace fell in re- way back. He didn't publistat the affy- to take a note or I.O.U. or even a definite sponse. "Radio?" davits, but he says that they say that promise of repayment. But Hawkins He passed over a surprisingly light ob- Kingsley-Schultz was saw at bluenose couldn't go into details and was very glad ject like a football helmet, with no .trailing meetings in Dragon S:ato College and later when a stranger arrived from Central. wires, and pointed to a row of buttons. Bar- at Florida University. Kingsley-Schultz says "Tinny-Peete. from Algeciras," the low put on the helmet, glad to have the roar he gotta confess he did major in fly casting stranger told him swiftly as the two of them of air stilled, and pushed a pushbutton. It lit at Oregon and got his Ph.D. in game lish at met at the door. "Psychist for Poprob. up satisfyingiy, and Barlow settled back Florida. Polassigned special overtake Barlow." even farther for a sample of the brave new "And here is a quote from Kingsley- "Thank heaven," said Hawkins; "Barlow." world's supermodern taste in ingenious en- Schultz: 'Hull-Mendoza don't know what he told the man Irom the past, "this is tertainment. he's talking about. He should drop dead.' Tinny-Peete. He's going to lake care of you "TAKE IT AND STICK IT!" a voice roared Unquote. and help you make lots of money." The Chicago— Los Angeles morning The psychist stayed for a cup of the cof- rocket crashed and exploded in the fee whose preparation had delighted Bar- Mojave— Mo-javvy, whatever-you-call- I low, then conducted the real estate man it— Desert, All ninety-four people aboard down the corduroy road to his car. leaving got killed. An eyewitness says that the pilot •That evening Mrs. the potter to speculate on whetherhe could was buzzing herds o( sheep and didn't pull at J east crack his kilns. Garvy tried to ask whether out in time.

Hawkins, abruptly dismissing Barlow "And here is a bulletin I just got from I her husband was sure " and the Problem, happily picked the chink- Denver. It seems — ing Irom around the door of the number two about those rockets, but Barlow took dff the headset uncom- kiln, prying it open a trifle. A blast of heat he was dozing during prehendingly. "He seemed so callous." he I and the heady, smoky scent of the reduc- yelled at the driver. "I was listening to a I Take It and Stick It. So tion fire delighted him. He peered and saw newscast—" that the bismuth resinate luster had fired to she watched the screen Tinny-Peete shook his head and pointed "perfection, a haunting film of-silvery-black and forgot about the puzzle* at his ears. The roar of air was deafening. metal with strange bluish lights in it as it Barlow frowned batfledly and stared out of ] turned before the eyes, and the Problem of the window. Population .seemed very lar away tb Haw- A glowing sign said: kins then. MOOGSI Barlow and Tinny-Peete arrived at the WOULD YOU BUY IT concrete highway, where the psychist's car in his ears, deafening him. FOR A QUARTER? was parked in a safety bay. He snatched off the ne:~et and gave the

Barlow surveyed it with awe. Swept-back psychist an injured look. Tinny-Peete He didn't know whs; Iv'oogs was or were; lines, deep-drawn compound curves, grinned and turned a dial associated with the illustration showed an incredibly pro- kilograms of chrome. He ran his hands over the pushbutton layout. The man Irom the portioned girl. 99.9 percent naked, writh- I the door — or was it the door? — in a futile past donned the helmet again and found ing passionately in animated full color. search for a handle, and asked respect- the voice had lowered to normal. The roadside jingle was still with him, but fully, "How fast does it go?" "The show of shows! The supershow! with a new feature. Radar or something The psychist gave him a keen look and The sup.er-duper show! The quiz of quiz- spotted the car and alerted the lines of the said slowly, "Two hundred and fifty. You can zes! Take It and Stick II!" jingle. Each in turn sped along a roadside tell-by the speedometer." There were shrieks of laughter in the track, even with the car, so it could be read "Wow! My old Chewy could hit a hun- background. before the next line was alerted. dred on a straightaway, but you're out of my "Here we gotthe contes-tants all ready to IF THERE'S A GIRL class, mister!" go. You know how we work it. I hand a YOU WANT TO GET. Tinny-Peete somehow got a huge-, low contes-tant a triangle-shaped cutout and DEFLOGCULIZE door open, and Barlow descended three like that down the line. Now we got these UNROMANTIC SWEAT. steps into immense cushions, floundering here boards, they got cutout places the A'R'M-P'I'T'T-O" over to the right. He was too fascinated lo same shape as the triangles and ihings, pay serious attention to his flayed dermis. only they're all different shapes, and the Another animated job, in two panels, the The dashboard was a lovely wilderness of first contes-tant thai sticks the cutouts into familiar "Before and After." The first said, dials, plugs, indicators, lights, scales, and the boards, he wins. "Just Any Cigar?" and was illustrated with a switches. '"Now I'm gonna Innaview the first two-person domestic tragedy of a wife The psychist climbed down into the contes-tant. Right here, honey. What's your holding her nose while her coarse and red- driver's seat and did something with his name?" faced, husband puffed a slimy-looking feet. The molor started like lighting a blow- "Name?Uh-" rope. The second panel glowed, "Or a torch as big as a silo. Wallowing around in "Hoddaya like that, folks? She don't re- vuelta abajo?" and was illustrated with — the cushions, Barlow saw through a rear- member her name! Hah? Would you buy Barlow blushed and looked al hisfeet un- view mirror a tremendous exhausl filled that for a quarter? "The question was spo- til he and Tinny-Peete had passed the sign. 61 OMNI "Coming into Chicago!" bawled Tinny- reply belligerently to the stranger, "Yeah!" place whose sign said it was The Bijou. Peete. The stranger let go of his shoulder and The piace seemed to be showing a triple

Other cars were showing up, all of them snarled. "Oh, yeah?" feature, Babies Are Terrible, Don'! Have dreamboats. "Yea"h!" said Barlow, yanking his jacket Children, and The Canali Kid.

Watching them, Barlow began lo wonder back into shape. It was irresistible; he paid a dollar and whether he knew what a kilometer was, 'Aaah!" snarled the stranger, with more went in. exactly. They seemed lo be traveling so contempt and disgust than ferocity, He He caught the tail end of The Canaii Kid

slowly, if you ignored the roaring air past added an obscenity current in Barlow's in a three-dimensional, full-color, full-scent your ears and didn't let the speedy lines of time, a standard but physiologically im- production. It appeared to be an in- the dreamboats fool you, He would have possible directive, and strutted off, hulking terplanetary saga winding up with a chase sworn they were really crawling along at his shoulders and balling his fists. scene and a reconciliation between es- twenty-five, with occasional spurts up to Barlow walked on, trembling. Evidently tranged hero and heroine. Babies Are Ter-

thirty. How much was a kilometer, anyway? he had handled it well enough. He stopped rible and Don't Have Children were fantas-

The city loomed ahead, and it was just at a red light while the long, low dream- tic arguments against parenthood — the

what it ought to be: towering skyscrapers, boats roared before him and pedestrians in grotesquely exaggerated dangers of pain- overhead ramps, landing platforms for the sidewalk flow with him threaded their fully graphic childbirth, vicious children, helicopters- way through the. stream of cars. Brakes old parents beaten and starved by their He clutched at the cushions. Those two screamed, fenders clanged and dented, sadistic offspring. The audience, Barlow copters. They were going to — they were hoarse cries flew back and forth between astoundedly noted, was placidly chomp- going to — they — drivers and walkers. He leaped backward ing sweets and showing no particular signs He didn't see what happened because frantically as one car swerved over an arc of revulsion. their apparent collision courses took them of sidewalk to miss another. The coming attractions drove him into behind a giant building. The signal changed to green; the cars the lobby. The fanfares were shattering, the Screamingly sweet blasts of sound sur- kept on coming for about thirty seconds blazing colors blinding, and the added rounded them as they stopped for a red scents stomach-heaving. light. "What the hell is going on here?" said When his eyes again became accus-

Barlow in a shrill, frightened voice, be- tomed to the moderate lighting of the lobby, cause the braking time was just about zero, he groped his way to a bench and opened

and he wasn't hurled against the dash- the newspaper he had bought. It turned out mThe Polar President board, "Who's kidding who?" to be The Racing Sheet, which afflicted him ot loss. "Whyr what's the matter?" demanded the offered to resign in his . with a crushing sense The familiar

driver. boxed index in the lower I eft- handsomer of favor, with certain The light changed to green, and he the fronl page showed almost unbearably started the pickup. Barlow stittened as he emergency powers that the that Churchill Downs and Empire City were

realized that the rush of air past his ears still in business. , Polar Congress would began just a brief, unreal split second be- Blinking back tears, he turned to the Past vote him, if necessary. fore the car was actually moving. He Performance at Churchill. They weren't grabbed for the door handle on his side. Barlow demanded the using abbreviations anymore, and the The city grew on them slowly: scattered pages because of tha: ware single-column title of World Dictator* buildings, denser buildings, taller build- instead of double-. But it was all the ings, and a red light ahead. The car rolled same — or was it? to a stop in zero braking time, the rush ot ai He squinted at the first race, a three-

cut oft an instant after it stopped, and Bar quarter-mile maiden claimer for thirteen low was out of the car and running fren hundred dollars. Incredibly, the track rec- ziedly down a sidewalk one instant after and Ihen dwindled to an occasional light ord was two minutes, ten and three-fifths that. runner. Barlow crossed warily and leaned seconds. Any beetle in his time could have They'll track me down, he thought, pant- against a vending machine, blowing big knocked off the' three-quarter in one-fif-

ing. It's a secret police thing. They'll get breaths. teen. It was the same fo' the other dis- you— mind-reading machines, television Look natural, he told himself. Buy some- tances, much worse for route events. eyes everywhere, afraid you'll tell theli thing from the machine. He fumbled out What the hell had happened to every- slaves about freedom and stuff. some change, got a newspaper for a dime, thing? Winded, he slowed to a walk and con^ a handkerchief for a quarter, and a candy He studied the form of a five-year-old gratulated himself that he had guts enough bar for another quarter. brown mare in the second and couldn't

not to turn around. That was what they al- The faint chocolate smell made him make head or tail of it. She'd won and lost ways watched tor. Walking, he was jusl ravenous suddenly. He clawed at the and placed and showed and lost and another business-suited back among hun- glassy wrapper printed Crigglies quile placed without rhyme or reason, She

dreds. He would be safe, he would be futilely for a few seconds, and then it di- looked like a front runner for a couple of safe — vided neatly by itself. The bar made three races, and then she looked like a no-good A hand gripped his shoulder and words good bites, and he bought two more bars pig, and then she looked like a mudder, Put

tumbled from a large, coarse, handsome and gobbled them down. the next time it rained she wasn't and then face thrust close to his: "Wassamatta bum- Thirsty, he drew a carbonated orange she was a stayer and then she was a pig pinninna .people likeya owna sidewalk drink in another one of the glassy wrappers again. In a good five-thousand-dollar al-

gotta miner slamyainnamushyabassar I "It from the machine. When he fumbled with it, lowances event, too!

was neither the mad potter nor the mad it divided neatly and spilled all over his Barlow looked al the other entries, and if- driver. knees. Barlow decided he had been there slowly dawned on him thai they were all like "Excuse me," said Barlow. "What did you long enough and walked on. the five-year-old brown mare. Not a single say?" The shop windows were — shop win- damned horse running had even the "Oh, yeah?" yelled the stranger danger- dows. People still wore and bought clothes, slightest trace of class.

ously as he watted for an answer. still smoked and bought tobacco, still ate Somebody sat down beside him and Barlow, with the feeling that he had and bought food. And they still went to the said, "That's the story"

somehow been suckered into the short end movies, he saw with pleased surprise as he Barlow whirled to his feet and saw it was of an intricate land-title deal, heard himself passed and Ihen returned to a glittering Tinny-Peete, his driver. CONTINUED ON PAGE 134 PREDESTINATIONS

We've developed the tools to shape our own biological destiny, but many question whether we've evolved the wisdom to play God BY DAVID RORVIK

ive hundred years hence, Aldous Hux- ley forecast in his novel Brave New World, a "biological revolution" will invest a scientific elite with awesome powers of "genetic predestination." That revolution is already upon us. Historians will look back on the tag end of the twentieth century as a turning point In the ascent of man, auguring the new era of "participatory evolution," The late Nobelist Dr. Edward L. Tatum has called the growing ability of Homo sapiens to engineer the genetic future of the species "the mqst astounding prospect so far suggested by science." Caltech biologist Robert L. Stnsheimer terms it "one of the most important concepts to arise in the history of man kind. "He adds, "For the first time a living creature understands its origins and can undertake to design its future." Not everyone is sanguine about what all this portends for mankind. To some, genetic engineering is a monstrous affront to God and nature, a forbidden act of cosmic masturbation: man with his hands down his genes, fiddling with himself. One does not have to turn to the fundamentalists to hear this attitude. Even a "liberal" panjandrum like Norman Mailer laments that the bioengineers have now "bored through the outer cores of pornography" to arrive at the very "rim of conception." They are, he shudders, "looking to operate on the Lord." Some of the bioengineers themselves have serious qualms about man's headlong rush into creation, fearing that we now have the ability to create but not the wisdom to know what, when, or whether to create. "Our ignorance is profound," declares Nobel Prize winner George Wald, urging a moratorium on much of the current gene tinkering. "Have we the right," asks Columbia University biochemist Erwin Chargaff, "to counteract, irreversibly, the evolutionary wisdom of millions of years in order to satisfy the ambition and the curiosity of a few scientists?"

The trouble is, it is no longer merely a few scientists. It is a multitude of scientists, and it is business— big business. Genetic engineering is being touted, with increasing

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTOPHER SPRINGMANN rni- persuasiveness, as "the next big growth already a substantial busmen. I here ie; no Gynecology that he had succeeded in industry," potentially bigger ihan the doubt it will work as well wilh human em- crosurgically transferring the nuclei of semiconductor industry which is sponsor- bryos. One Indian test-tube baby, before human spermatogonia! cells (sperm pre- ing its own revolution in another dimension. implantation, had been deep-frozen until cursors that still possess a full set of "The new IBMs are in the making righlnow," the prospective mother's reproductive chromosomes, like any other body cell, as t says an executive of one of the fledgling cyce reached greatest receptivity. opposed 'o the hah set contained in he bioengineering outfits. It was Dr. Hermann Muller, winner ol the mature germ cells) into human eggs with biological revolution is proceeding Nobel Prize in medicine, who suggested their nuclei removed. In three cases the The j along two parallel fronts. The first is genetic many years ago that embryos grown from clone showed healthy development to the | engineering — "recombinant DNA." "gene gametes contributed by only the "best" of stage where an embryo normally attaches splicing," and so on; the other is "gametic us be frozen and made available to inferior itself to the womb lining. "There was every I engineering," the In vitro manipulation of mortals, in an effort to "improve" the human indicaiion," Dr: Shettles reported, "that germ cells, including such phenomena as gene pool. Recently it was revealed that a each specimen was developing normally ] transferred in test-lube babies and cloning. Several sperm bank, modeled along the lines pro- and could readily have been \ human test-tube babies are already among posed by Dr. Muller, has been established, uterum." The foremost obstacles to cloning I concludes, are "social us — the result ol eggs that were fertilized in utilizing the sperm of Nobel laureates. humans, he now J laboratory dishes and then reimplanted in The only donor so far wili-ng to 'dentify him- rather than scientific." the women tram whom they were first ob- self is Dr. William Shcck;ey. the Nobelist who Plant cloning is already a nourishing en- tained. These forerunners ot the test-tube had previously "fathered" the transistor- terprise. Livestock clo-iiiiq s expected to generation will soon be joined by brothers Cloning, the duplication of an organism become a multimillion-dollar business ii and sisfers who will be Ihe products of Irom a single body cell, has now been the next few decades. Soviel scientists, more exotic gametic engineering. Embryo achieved, not only in reptiles but also in eager to increase milk and meat produc- transplants will allow women who do not mammals. Many physic ans have pro- tion, claim the ability to replicate large ani- produce viable eggs of their own to bear a claimed that mammalian cloning is still mals. Humans, too. are bound to avail child. They will also permit "normal" women years, and probably decades, away. They "nemselves of cloning technology, to have children of their own without the were undoubtedly somewhat embarrassed Some may want to use human cloning inconvenience or risks of pregnancy. when Dr. Karl lllmensoc-ancl his colleagues not on y *o foster Ic-'tility but to guarantee a Human-egg banks are already joining at Geneva University, in Switzerland, an- child of one sex or the other and. perhaps, human-sperm banks. Soon they will merge nounced this spring thai they had cloned to produce an ego-gratifying ' chip off the J to form human-embryo banks. Indeed, several mice, the cells of which are. in old block," utera ly the "spitting image" o there are gametic enterprises gestating in many respects, as difficull to deal with as the old man (or woman, as the case may [ Ihe cradles of corporations whose s:udes human cells. Dr. Landrum Shettles. a be). Individuals unhappy with what they have convinced them that it may be' bolh pioneering reproductive b ciogist (profiled see in the mirror may recruit the genetic feasible and profitable to offer life for sale in I'icu.' March '979 issue), reported last year material of others. Columbia University so- ciologist Amitai Etzioni argues that black frozen pellets. Animal-embryo banking is in the American Journal of Obstetrics and a [ market in body cells, bought or "ripped off" by wholesalers, will arise in our lifetime, J

making it possible for couples with cash in I hand to give birth to carbon copies of film idols, sports figures, popular leaders, and so on. Using cell-freezing techniques, nos- talgia buffs may be able to birth anew the heroes of yesteryear. Such abuses will pose no great threat to. society as a whole, but they will complicate the lives of those human copies, who will have to struggle harder than ever to de- velop unique identities. Much more con- troversial is the prospect of keeping "de- cerebrated doubles," their cloned cooies. as living but mindioss repositories of "spare parls" that could be transplanted, as needed, without risk of reaction. With a "parts replacement" program like this, in- dividuals might live decades longer. All sorts of macabre possibilities loom ahead. With the advent of ectogenesis — complete test-tube fertilization, gestation, and birth — we will have easy access to the

developing fetus, lo correct defects and, it we desire, to alter development. Such a technique might produce endless batches ol happily disposed, defect-free, blue- eyed, blond-haired, pink-skinned monoto- nies—if we wished. Researchers have al- ready sustained mammalian test-tube life beyond the stage at which major organs begin to form and function. There are people willing and eager to meddle in gametic predestination.'same by trying to dictate who may reproduce with whom, others through direct genetic 70 OMNI Next Year in Omni .your friends (and you) can look forward to such exciting and informative pieces as: The Energy Puzzle. Year-long GIVE emphasis on the exciting new technologies that can end en- ergy shortages starting with a special issue on fusion. Robotics. Machines that move, THE talk, work on assembly lines and at the bottom of the ocean, make their own decisions, and do jobs that humans cannot perform. Genetic Engineering. From clon- PRESENT ing to test-tube babies, from microbes that gobble up oil spills to new cures for killer dis- eases, the biological revolution

is transforming our lives. The New Space Program. POSSIBLE NASA's space shuttle will re- open the High Frontier, taking men and women into orbit for new advances that will lead to solar-power satellites, lunar min- ing, and factories in space. THE TheU.N.'sMoon Treaty. It could be disastrous for Western space operations. We'll show you why, and how you can help to prevent this disaster from happening. FUTURE Plus. ..award-winning science This holiday season give your Give them OMNI, special friends something really OMNI is the magazine of the fu- special, Give them the world, ture that started a revolution in the universe, and beyond. Give the way people view the incredi- them Carl Sagan and B,F. Skin- ble scientific and technological ner and Alvin Toffler dissecting breakthroughs of the 1980s. the mysteries of the universe It's the bold, graphic, plain-lan- and the human mind. guage science magazine that Give them Ray Bradbury and has become a forum for dis- Frank Herbert and Robert Hein- cussing scientific questions that lein creating imaginary worlds both stimulate and trouble us... A full-year gift of 0MN1-1 2 thick, fiction. ..and photography.,, that have a way of becoming and a platform for those of us dazzling issues-costs only $18. regular columns on space, Ehe real. Give them thinkers like who believe our country must That saves you $6 off the news- arts, life, the earth, and UFOs... Stephen Hawking... planners have more realistic policies to- stand price and includes a our Continuum data bank... like Buckminster Fuller. ..and ward science in general and handsome gift card to an- games and outspoken opinion doers like Harrison Schmitt. space in particular, nounce your thoughtfulness. ...and more. Dnnrui Subscription Dept., P.O. Box 908, Farmingdale, N.Y. 1 1737

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They plundered the past and returned to their own time with a trophy they would never forget

BY EDWARD BRYANT

^MVtillness. Except for Ihe boy. nothing moved on the prairie. The hawks did not hunt this morning. Not even the vultures circled in the empty sky. The birds evidently were waiting until Micah Taverner made his kill. The heat hung like a heavy curtain over the world. All motion seemed suspended. The thought entered Micah's that mind on these plains anything at' all could happen. His was a sudden and early maturity, and not one he relished. Thirteen-year-old Micah moved quietly— perhaps not so silently as an Indian, but still disturbing the saw-toothed grass with less noise than most others in the company. He balanced his father's long muzzle-loader carefully, thumb ready to take the hammer off half-cock. A small antelope would be welcome. A young white-tailed deer would be even better. A large jackrabbit would suffice. To Micah's right the river Platte wound slowly east by south, the direction from which the company had come. At this point the road followed a straighter path than the river. The boy's present course took him up a gentle rise so that he had now attained an elevation of a hundred yards above the river. Within a rod of the Platte, all was lush and green. The grass and the trees grew luxuriantly Beyond them the world turned to shades of brown and tan and yellow. The world seemed to contain little more than the river and the prairie. And the road. Had the boy wished to stand in the ruts made by countless pass- ing wheels, he would have found them waist-deep. Micah heard a sound in the dead air. He froze, waiting. He heard something again. Glass breaking! The mutter of words. The sounds came from beyond the low rise ahead. Two voices. Whoever they were who were speaking, they were close by the trail. The slowly boy cocked the hammer of the rifle. It seemed to him the click echoed out across the parched land like the gunshot itself. Again he heard

PAINTING BY ALBERT BIERSTADT "

were wearing a set Of long Johns colored to I wagon ruts not long after Fort Kearney, words too distant and indistinct to be un- the before reaching the ford appear to be real clothing. the tone did not sound many miles even derstood. But The towhead was showing the other a , South Platte. Before the sickness be- alarmed. of the a running New England hooked rug much like the thought. Pawnee had gan, his lather had tried keeping White men? he still deep mile or two. treasure Micah's mother packed Or Sioux. Or tally of what he saw for jusl a been the first word inhis mind. adamantly refusing to "There must bo ten thousand dollars' worth in the wagon after Blackfeet. He had heard the tales of crossing. it the Platte River he had said, 'All for the discard at and torture from the talkers of goods there," slaughter accost I desire." Micah wondered whether he should then with picking, had one the time or the J around the fire. He had listened wiser simply to toward California or them or whether it would be and the breath catching in his But few struggling eyes wide backtrack along the trail and forage in f course, nad thetime or the de- even though hi.s father had laughed Oregon o throat, heirloom another direction. Then the darker man sire. So the prized New England and suggested wryly that the .red tribes looked ilour.and turned slightly, glanced up. and more monsters than were the men lurniture, the.discarded barrels of were no straight at Micah. He said something to his of white beans, the Franklin stoves And, after all, men of other sacks oi the company. Both of them stared at the boy. presses, all lay rotting be- companion. companies had given deadlier gifts than and the printing Finally, one of them, the towhead, said, neath the prairie sun, bullets to the Indians. young man." He put And now Micah saw the two strange "Come on down here, Micah gripped his father's rifle tighter there among the down the hooked rug and stood the summit, while men rooting like hogs and stealthily approached empty hands. The other man once-prized belongings scattered beside quietly with Sounds again— this time a rattle as if iron outward. him, sofor a slowly spread his hands, palms being placed to- the road. Their backs were to articles and wood were were both looking athis watched without their knowledge. Micah realized they a bag. Outcroppings of porous while he gether in father's muzzle-loader. tall, each easily attaining a afforded the boy some cover as he Both men were stone warily approached the pair, then six tcet. Though one had He crest. height oi over reached the hill's looked beyond them. The muzzle of the rifle dark hair and the other's hair was as light White! Af least the strangers were not red -" dark-haired seemed much alike came up. "Don't said the they appeared odd to Micah's as the dried grass, they men, though else he was going to say The pair wore similar cloth- man, Whatever There were two of them, and they in appearance. eyes. brown was interrupted by the black-powder ex- discards ing: plaid shirts with suspenders, were poking through the. heaps of prairie boots. The plosion. Two yards of decapitated with all cloth trousers, and thick-soled beside the trail. The road was lined throes darker man's rattler jerked and flopped in death belongings thrown away by the towhead's shirt was red; the manner of by their feet as each man yelled and and was green. But Micah saw there was some- close exhausted, overburdened men from the snake clothing. For leaped aside. They looked their arduous thing not guite right about the women barely halfway along the snake again. slick, and it to Micah and back to the oxen, the horses one thing, the cloth was journey, The wagons, said the towhead. under the direct sun. For another, "Thank you, boy." mules, the people— all could carry gleamed and big one," said Micah. He felt he abruptly realized that as the men flexed 'Mighty only so much. with the shot and tried not to objects, each man's outfit was all very pleased Micah had seen the jettisoned tools and to pick up grin. He started to reload the rifle. 'Proba- piece of material. It was as if each household goods start to appear beside of-one bly the biggest one I've seen." "What's The men exchanged glances. , your name, son?" the darker man asked. Micah told them. "Well now. Master Micah Taverner," said the towhead, "please call me John, My friend here is Droos." Droos inclined his head. "We both of us truly do appreciate your eliminating the serpent," lamminc "It wasn't nothing." Micah aa.d. wadding down the barrel. "Just glad to help." There was silence. The men seemed try- inn 10 communicate with each other by sharp looks. Micah paid attention only to the muzzle-loader Finally, John said, "I suppose you're wondering what the two of us are doing out here." "None of rny business," said Micah. "Admirable," said Droos, turning away. "His mouth isn't as extraordinarily loose as yours, John. Now let's get back to work and Middle- see if we can find any more East bury bottles like the one you so carelessly dropped." But John seemed fascinated by the boy. you're out here?" he "May I ask what doing by here said. "I believe the last train passed nearly a week ago, and the next wagons aren't due for days." "My mother sent me to look for game," said Micah. "She believes that meat broth

will soothe Annie's innards."

address you as Mrs. Bellows. As you is Annie?" -Forgive me, Mrs. Witloughby, for continuing to "Who sick with the know psychiatry is an inexact science. "My little sister. She is smallpox and cannot be moved." Hjnd from the wooden was rummaging and We totally e'-acicatoc: VODKA&POSE'S nonfused now.

, long I rid," ilO a. "It's a

"hat way" Micsh pom-od back ;-;;or,g ver About throe miles. We should

2 stayed in Fort Laramie, but Annie did

seem so III then. The rest ol the com- y said they would wail one more day at

independence Rock. I tear by now they will nave gone on." "But your (amily Stayed alone." 'Annie cries out when the wagon moves, She is too weak. My mother thought that the rest might help," "Your mother" said John What about

I your father?"

Micah stared at the ground. "He look ;,: and died of the cholera shortly before the crossing of the Platte."

"God A mighty, ' said Drnos. "And so your mother and you have orouoht the wagon 'his la.' since?" John nquired. The boy nodded "Some of "he Miv

should ail be caught by the winter in the Sierra Nevada." , Vodka smooths out The two men stared at him, transfixed, in the limelight. "People truly used to live and die this ,vay." Droos sa d oemusediy 4 parts Vodka, 1 part Rose's!

, "Micah " John said slowly. "Can you keep secret?"

"If it is an honorable secret."

"What f i told you that we both- we're from the future?"

The boy shook his head. "I donotunder- stand."

iroos opened his mouth as if to protest. John held up a restraining hand. "Droos

: 1 1 are lrave ers. and we've come a great distance to be here But we didn't make the sort of journey you might imagine. Not from England, not/around the Horn, but, instead,

-Jirouoh Time What vear is it, Micah?" "The year of our Lord 1-850." "Our world exists more than two c.en- ,ries beyond that." Micah shook his head silently. Food meant something. Sickness meant some- tning. But Ihe future? His mind already reeled with too many burdens. "

1 children r esilient— l were John turned to Droos who was slowly p'.-.n'.-c- veiylhinqwa'jsMI Micah s^n-id a: believe pionee

: it," said John. 3lov-.' ny a silvc tea service in a fabric pack. the men. They stared back at him. "I say we do ." the "If I to, I'll put your neck on block I . have "Can you explain it more adequately?" "Well, suppose . said John. Droos stared down at the objects he "No," said Droos. without endangering mine," said Droos, his of held. "These are truly exquisite," he said. "Droos has an emergency medical kit; it voice quiet and deadly. "I am capable "Standish Barry, Baltimore, probably about might alleviate the symptoms." that, you know." 1820." "No." This time Droos's answer was more "I know that." John spread his arms "Droos." vehement. helplessly. "Please?" The dark-haired man looked up and John wheeled angrily on his companion. "No. There are njtes — and these rules . will follow implicitly We live in that kind of said, "This is against all the rules, you know. "Just once," he said. we world." knelt began picking up Why must you be aCompulsive fool?" "Absolutely not," said Droos. "If I have to Droos and off polish- pull rank, I'll do so." the spoons, blowing the dust and "I was the only one in the deparlment you leg, before placing the could trust." John bent down to look at "One child." said John. "One life." ing them against his of soft cloth. "Accept Micah levelly. "Do you know about the Ro- Droos dropped a dozen silver spoons utensils inside a bag mans?" and let them lie on the dusty trail side. "Let that."

' "Can Micah nodded. "Father read us stories." me remind vol. of a few ihings 'n-.-: said. In the ensuing silence Micah said. Annie?" "Have you ever thought about what it "I'm not being arbitrary about denying your you cure first is thai John did not meet his eye this time. The would be like if you could really go back humanitarian impulse. The thing Then he said. and visit the Romans?" Ihis :S not exactly a sanctioned mission, you towheaded man hesitated. Micah." "Yes," said Micah. know. The second thing is that we'll be "No. we can't. I'm sorry, asked, "Well, we can do that. Micah. We-live in strung up doubly by our balls if the de- Micah considered that Then he your future. We can come back and visit partment finds out we've been salvaging "But you could?" your time, or the time of the Romans, or any collectibles from the past for'resale in the Neither man said anything. other-time of our choosing. We come from a present. Third, there's the primary travel "But you won't?" the yea- -/./hen smallpox has long since been directive—" John flushed. Droos stowed packet banished from the earth and most other "Come on" said John. "Saving one little of silver and extracted a crystal loop-and- truly diseases have been elim nalocl equally." girl's life s highly unlikely to alter the future petal candlestick from a crafe. "I'm Micah knew he did not understand all in any significant—" sorry," said John. "I never should have spo- that was being said to him. But a few words Droos interrupted him, raising his voice ken at all." punched through the confusion. "You can even higher. "We don't know that. It's one Very slowly Micah said, "Father used to heal smallpox?" thing to scavenge these anno ues because tell me. 'I help my friends; God help my -Our ancestors did." said John. "Your nature would have destroyed them anyway. enemies.'" ear- grandchildren will." It's quite anotherdo meddle with lives. Be- "We're not your enemies." said John "Can you cure Annie?" sides, we don't know that his sistc is going nestly. "There are simply rules that say we

Time again seeded suspended on fhe to die of smallpox. She might i cannot be the friends we'd wish," Micah said nothing. He oniy turned and. picking up both the dead snake and the muzzle-loader that leaned against a free- standing gilt mirror in its hardwood frame, walked away from the two men.

Micah distractedly shot the rabbit on the way back to the wagon. The big jack darted from the brush and then made the mistake of pausing to assess the intruder on fhe plains. The ball passed cleanly

through its right eye. The meat was un- spoiled. When the boy arrived at the wagon, the sun was long past its zenith. The oxen looked up incuriously to greet him. then bent their heavy heads back to the tough grass, Mfcah paused by the rear of the wagon.

"Ma?" he said. "I have a snake and a rabbit. Ma." His mother drew the canvas flap aside and held a finger to her lips. "Hush," she said. "Your sister is dying." The gay colors of her gingham stood in stark contrast to the somber gray of the canvas top. They waited an hour then a second hour, beside the small bed. listening to Annie's labored breathing. They took turns squeez- ing new compresses for the girl's forehead. Every few minutes Micah took the bucket to the river for fresh cold water Annie's face continued to shine with sweat, even with the compresses. At the

same time she shook as if with a chill, and they kept her bundled in her mother's hand-loomed, thick woolen blankets.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14fl Future homes may grow themselves, change on command, feed us, or fit on our backs

BYR. BRUCE McCOLM

On a shallow shoal at the boilom of the Gulf Siream 320 kilometers southwest of the Cayman Islands a research ship will sink wire- mesh torms the size oi football (ieids. A small generator sends electrical charges down through these torms and sets in motion a process known as marine accretion. The electrified structures

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETE TURNER colled mineral:-: irom the sea and begin to as Autopia may sound Utopian, but em- the house," Doernach explains. But bio- grow like coral reefs. An organic platform bryonic sea cities already exist in the new houses and b.iovillages, he believes, are eventually forms a sell-growing habifat thai port of Rotterdam and the large oil rigs in inevitable developments for Germany, will shelter a community of scientists, en- the North Sea off England. Hilbertz envi- Great Britain, and the United States as they gineers, and artists. sions a day when whole underwater cities enter (he postindustrial age. In American Wolf Hilbertz. who directs the Symbiotic wilt be grown. Mother ships will drop forms cities, for example. Doemach would sup- Process Laboratory af the University ol to the sea's bottom, where they will accrete press the rage to. retrofit old buildings in Texas, in Austin, and founded the Marine material. Once they have reached the de- blighted areas — with a blitz of biofitting. Resources Company, is America's major sired shapes, the. ships would literally har- Doernach has already taken the first praclitioner of a new architectural school vest Ihe building structures from the ocean steps in putting his ideas to use. His "verti- called biotecture. Its goal is to design floor wifh the aid of flotation collars. These cal gardening" is transforming center-city human habitats as organ -c systems, wholly building materials would then be assem- rooftops of Zurich, Dusseldort, and Stutt- integrated with their immediate environ- bled offshore into buildings. ~ gart into greenhouses and mazes by cover- ment and built from renewable sources. BLACK FOREST BIOTECTURE ing the facades of the old homes with trel- "1 simpty became discontented with lises woven from various food-producing existing technology and traditional think- In Germany's Black Forest the Luddite of plants. Experiments have been conducted ing." says Hilbertz. "So I formulafed the the biotecture movement, Rudolf Doer- comparing these biofitted houses with idea of evolutionary environments. Using nach. grows buildings' ot a leafier sort. For others not involved in the project. Owners crystal growth, plant forms, and geological the past decade Doemach. director and of Doernach-modified homes saved 30 formation, architect nan p ay a vital part in founder of the Rioteciurc Institute in Stutt- percent on iheir energy bill, and those who the evolutionary process. Eventually hu- gart, has adapted a 300-yenr-old weaving lived in them had only half as many illness- mans will live in a symbiotic relationship technique to build living willow houses. es. Betfer health results from exposure to with their environment. Natural sensors "Archifecture, as well as technology, is an "psychological green." which benefits the and the ariricia intelligence within the en- evolutionary mistake." Doemach com- mind. The way in which plants absorb more vironment wilt not only adapt the physical viruses than ordinary building materials do realm to human needs but provoke new is good for the body as well. conditions. will coming A house sense a TRASH HOUSING fiai storm But its presence may also cause a hailstorm. By building with these proc- Pawley shares Doernach's jaundiced '•With windmill esses, you create an instant ecosystem." power view of industrial society. Consequently, his Today advanced technologies are mak- and wire-mesh forms thai architecture is trash. Literally Beer cans. ing such architectural visions increasingly rusting o:d cars, tires, and bottles. He es- look like a World War II possible. A crack in the wall of conven- pecially likes the 48-ounce Crowd Pleaser tional design has opened new vistas of sunken warship, Hilbertz made by Coca-Cola. Under stress tests, human habilation that leave today's cities has created instant the Coke bottle withstood 10.000 pounds of far behind. Martin Pawley. whose book Pri- pressure. "You could build the Brooklyn vate Future speculates on the complete reefs teeming with marine life. Bridge with those things," Pawley says. human withdrawal info the house, suggests If injured, Hilbertz's A frequent adviser to the United Nations that we. may outgrow city life altogether: on the world's, housing needs. Pawley esti- reefs will heal themselves.? "Everybody is pretending that community mates that 20 cities the size of Philadelphia life is having a rebirth. But the opposite is will have to be built each year from now to happening. Abandonment of the world's 2000 if the world's population is to have cities is proceeding on a large scale." shelter. He considers building with waste to

If we are leaving our cities behind, we be the appropriate response. The United may be heading toward living systems that merits caustically. "It is basically parasitic. States, Pawley discovered, produces 12 parallel Hilbertz's underwater Autopia. polluting, and nonproductive. The central cans for each bhek. And he found far more Already Hilbertz has grown several arti- issue istoburd bouses in the same way as went to make packages than to construct ficial reefs and underwater monuments off trees grow. It is far more intelligent to homes. By examining the various waste Si. Croix, in the Virgin Islands, and Corpus cohabil wilh a living plant system than to products of American industries, the British

Christi, Texas. In nature such man-made cut it into lumber and lose fifty percent of it. architect gleaned a number of cheap, but objects as junk cars, old tires, and concrete What do you get in this manner but a house excellent, materials to use in building. blocks- have formed barrier reefs. With tnat eats a lot of energy?" "Waste is the only thing that increases in windmill power and wire-mesh forms that Doernach's "biohouse" is a shelter com- proportion to our consumption," Pawley

: resemble the submerged hull of a World posed o various living fees Pont, graded, says. 'All other resources diminish. It you

War II naval vessel, Hilbertz has created and pruned into a habitable shape. On the look at a consumer society and its by- instant reefs teeming with plant and animal outside his homes look like huge, slightly products, you realize that the packaging, life. Marine biologists found that after a hyperbolic beehives. Leaves act as "living the steel, the aluminum, the rubber, the year Hilbertz's Virgin Island reels attracted shingles" against bad weather. A hexag- glass waste products are not poor building 3 to 16 times more fish than natural-junk onal inside shape stimulates interior grow- materials. They are great ones." reefs. Hilbertz now is using marine accre- ing. The overall design allows all sections Pawley has used trash in several ways. In tion in the Cayman Islands to grow an un- ot the house to receive constant sunlight 1975, while teaching at Rensselaer Poly- derwater park for scuba divers. from the "sun eye." an opening in the roof. technic Institute, in Troy, New York, he built Significantly, the grown material — largely A biohouse sports the obvious advan- the Dora Crouch house. He constructed calcium carbonate acts like bone and tages of any plant. It recycles water It uses the house's frame from discarded news- repairs itself. Hilbertz says, "This is the first human waste as humus to fertilize trie paper cores — heavy cardboard tubing construction material to have the regenera- house. It produces food. It cleans the air: If reinforced with metal. The outside walls tive properties of bone. It has the same stores solar energy. were made of large cans set in cement and mechanism that properly distributes min- Bioteclure's biggest problem is psycho- weatherproofed with sulfur coating. Rubber erals wherever they are needed. This logical. Few can easily accept the idea of a lett over from rubber washers served means that if the reef breaks or is hit by a house as both an employer and a primary as roof tiles, the insulation was polyester ship, the accreted material will heal itself." food producer. "It takes people at least Iwo rejected from local textile mills, and the The notion of a self-growing island such years to recondition themselves to work in stained-glass living-room wall was made 84 OMNI from bottles. This 56-square-mete'r house

Gost all of $550 (o make. Last year Pawley traveled along Florida's Panhandle, observing the flimsy shanty shacks dotting ihe backroads. He recalls,

"The poverty there was staggering, I sur- veyed the shacks and found thai forty per- cent had no water, but sixty 'percent had junk cars in the yards. That was the answer to their problems." By outfitting the car wrecks with 120 meters of" pipe, a small circulating pump, an expansion chamber, and a discarded oil drum, Pawley created Xl water collectors and solar heaters for [he shack dwellers. SomeofPawley's other garbage sugges- tions are that lire treads be woven with pal- mettos to create large domelike structures and that six-packs be compressed into building bricks. Pawley considers these off-the-cuff ideas oi great future impor- tance- "in the Third World, development isn't just a question of industry and agricul- ture, The people ot the Third World want a consumer society. They want their own Coca-Cola. And all this can be integrated into solving the worldwide housing prob- lem. After all. there's never any shortage of garbage." THE GREEN MACHINE

A few blocks from the Pacific, in Venice; California, lies a scrubby, garbage-strewn plot of land, Bows of crumbling bungalows stand adjacent to the lot. This is a most unlikely site for the future — and a low-cost future at that— to take form. But California architect Glen Small will build "an anti- THE JOCKEY; building," called the Green Machine, here, The. Green Machine will be a low-cost FASHION STATEMEN housing complex containing- either recy- IS CONTEMPORARY. cled mobile homes'or industrialized modu- lar housing units stuffed inside- a space- frame pyramid. The project will work as an JIM PALMER, i ecological machine. A structure will rise five and a half meters off the ground, with STAR PITCHER FOR high-rise, plant-filled boulevards. "The ef- THE BALTIMORE fect is as if you are living in a giant ORIOLES, WEARS greenhouse." says Small. Dew and rainwa- THE DENIM LOOK. ter will be collected, filtered, and recycled for watering the plants. Parabolic-disc solar collectors installed on the roof will supplement the heat provided, by methane-gas digesters working off all hu- man, garden, and kitchen waste, A mi- crocomputer will serve as "an intelligent synchronizer," adjusting the complex to climatic changes through a series of sen- sors and photocells that register such alt- erations.

If Small were to have his way, all of Los Angeles would eventually be rolled up. and put inside his Biomorphic Biosphere Megastructure. a 2.400-meter-high, tentlike structure that- would form- an artifi- cial mountain 'ange in the air over the Los Angeles basin, Instead of just, recycling wastes, the BBM would transform the city by recycling entire blighted neighbor- hoods back to open space. Conventional building techniques would be used to span downtown Los Angeles with the firs! sec- tions of the megastructure. Then Small holographic image and then transforms it ings of earth -integrated nouses molded kxeseesa ~:i\t..nc-o- b : ctecU.ral processes, into a solid structure by spraying it with a from hydromulch, a material made from taking over. Computer-run holographic pro- mist of plasfic that solidifies on contact with seaweed, cement, water, and plant seeds. jectors would generate parts of the new light. Lab tests conducted at the Symbiotic When watered by osmotic pumps drilled city, allowing for controlled growth. New Process Lab prove the principle of this into the desert ground, the buildings will materials, such as plastic made from soy- speculation. Light waves from a laser were become giant seed strips. A ground cover beans, would be used to construct the new shot through methyl rneihacrylate, a plastic will grow and stabilize erosion. As the cityscape. Wind and solar devices would powder. Small plastic filaments were oases spread across the desertscape, the generate power at high' altitudes. created and fhen dissolved by an altered climate will change. "In effect, what you are Not only would he irhabtants enjoy the light-wave pattern. doing is creating an environmental feed- sensation of being liber-ated from Earth's In 19-73, in an oxpcment called Ice City, back system on the desert. By making the surface, but their houses could be plugged Hilbertz and some of his students built the ground cover more absorptive and blacker into the structure at .any level. They could first Gomputer-generated building out of you will cause more rain. This process of even fly down to Earth's surface for vaca- ice in Fargo, North Dakota. The floor design growing buildings on the desert creates air tions. "The house." according to Small, "is a was drawn on an electronic tablet, which a thermal mountains. So the building itself derivative of history. The flying house is an compuier then translated into a three-di- affects the climate." attempt on my part to block out our con- mensional movement for an ice-spraying Among Dry's plans to employ the "grand cept of house. The house could be a machine to follow The building, an igloo poetry." as she calls building with natural Jungle Gym, where you bounce off the composed of ice layers, was sprayed and, processes, is the application of Hilbertz's walls, and it would respond to you. At night by a reverse process, dissolved. "It is a marine-accretion method to deserf homes, the floors would curl up into bedrooms. And disappearing environment," says Hilbertz. A pump called a salt finger is drilled into the at sunrise the walls would automatically BLOOMING DESERTS ~ desert, forcing salt water to the surface. open to the outdoors." The water generates hydroelectric power Unlike industrial cities, the BBM could In contrast to Hilbertz's ice house there is for the area and serves as a medium in also wither away and self-destruct, "If it architect Carolyn Dry's vision of deserts which buildings can be grown. fails, it can be recycled," says Small. "What that build themselves. Dry, a professor at Archigram, an English architectural would be left woula be a greal Eiffel Tower UCLA and consultant to the U.S. Navy, be- group formed in the 1960s, turns to tech- or a modern Disneyland." lieves that "botanic architecture" will allow nology instead of to nature for flexibility and Hilbertz has also had some interesting us to roll back and live in our expanding freedom in new living modes. Archigram's notions abou: habitats nat recycle them- deserts. She foresees a sand-bound civili- space-inspired work glorifies the wildest selves. Architectural evolution may lead to zation much like Frank Herbert's Dune, possibilities of new technological devel- cyberstructures that computers and holo- where "shelter means a hollow out of the opments. Blow-Out Village, for instance, graphic projectors generate at will. Like a wind and hidden from view." designed by the group's leader, Peter spider spinning its web. a mobile building Architectural oases. Dry thinks, will be Cook, can- be a mobile habitat for people machine projects a three-dimensional built in desert areas. These will be group- affected by some disaster; a portable envi- ronment for remote, inhospitable regions; or an attachment to a resort, The whole village can be moved anywhere by hover- craft and then be anchored. Its center is a huge hydraulic mast. From the top of the mast fall air-inflated ribs, which support the village's weatherproof plastic covering. When not in use, the village hydraulically contracts for storage- or moving, Recently Cook has devised an alterna- tive to the modern city— a highly dense, technological suburb. Cook says. "We have to invent a new kind of city, one that eventually will lead to a development where each person will have his or her own very intense network. You are already getting this in southern California and in Belgium. This network will be based on the time di- mension, on the socioeconomic dimen- sion, and on habit. My center of London, for example, is no! the guy down the block's center of London. We Still have only a very

primitive idea of how this operates. But I think the future city will be a very concen-

trated, polynucleated system. It will be in- credibly complicated, but also relaxed," Cook's technologized suburbia, called Arcadia, involves enormous architectural sleight-of-hand. The bucolic haystack hides a dwelling. The nostalgic old barn on the countryside is really a retrofitted com- mune. Nature and buildings merge, not in the biotecture way, but as occasional props, an ultimate stage set. Orchards support tent structures, and tree enclo- sures, like the English hedgerows, shelter

people. Concealed behind all this stage- '

and shorts- wiflbe^een, to contrast with the khaki shirt. Fabrics say .everything that has- to be — ~ TORRENTS OF BABEL ' the wide-brimmed hat-will be replaced t uriiforni," in -use since- 1922 and There would be three generations of American boys, is' being phased people-oriented, action-oriented. "-''its the Boy S loggl as succinct and straightforward as Be pre- they have contributed significantly, or in ex- pers. Yet it led an editorial with this pro- pared would be laughed out ot court. treme cases meaningfully, to educational nouncement: "No crisis is complete without "Ah," someone will say. groping through theory-and practice. a press flap and Iran is no exception." How, press flap, the murk, "lawyers' language." Not so. Still with me? Let's try some government if no crisis is complete without a did Lawyers will, of course, look at you with a language, from a report by the defunct De- there could be an exception, the Times straight face and ask whether something partment of Health, Education and Welfare not explain, It ran a headline saying that the happened as a result of intentionality or on Cost Effectiveness of Physicians' As- U.S. Olympic hockey players got their just accidentality. They will, without embar- sistants: "... the changes, whether incre- deserts, which, since just deserts usually rassment, send out a letter that says: mental or substitutive, would tend to occur goto villains, just doesn't seem just. Also, a "Gentlemen: gradually, making only small, sequential headline stating that baseball veteran Pete "Enclosed for service upon you please thrusts against the existing clinic environ- Rose "Won't Whither With Age," which find verified copy of defendant's answer ment and aganst the established propor- leaves unanswered whether he will where and counterclaim herein. tions of output components (for instance, out.

"Please communicate with this office at primary care versus supportive service). The Times— without which I could not you'r earliest convenience toward the Whether the seriatim thrusts would sum to have written my books about the sad state of supplies evi- amicable settlement hereof, if possible major alterations of the system— for exam- American English — daily without resort to further legal action herein. ple, in the basic clinic environment— would dence of the consequences of the neglect

to of English. It is, for example, hopelessly "Thanking you for your attention. I am," depend upon the system's commitment They sign their names thereunder. its established arrangements and its ability confused about the word podium. It said of Edward Kennedy that he seemed un- Still, it is not the lawyers. If their language to absorb change, Hence the ceteris to the podium or were all we had to worry about, we could paribus assumption may be less fragile decided "whether pound play things low key," though he will surely isolate it and deal with it. Unfortunately, the than it appears to be at first sight." attention if he the language used by many other groups of Less fragile than it appears? We must all, attract more pounds podium. many politicians do you see Americans is little, if any, better than that of ceteris paribus, fervently hope so. How the lawyers. Moreover, lawyers always have in that position? Of Jerry Brown, the Times said, "Behind the podium, he is quick, been the way they are. For others, it is a recent affliction, and extremely wide- cerebral and singular." He is also invisible spread. That is what is so troubling. to most of his audience.

It's unthinkable to assume that as In a headline over a story about au- not 4We have been language evolves, so, too. will its excesses tomobile insurance for single people, the "Unmarital Status Held Bar be pruned to fit the streamlined image of producing, year after Times said, No future man. Yet the opposite appears to be to Insurance." Soon after that, the Times year, classes true. In language, we Americans are be- had someone riding a horse along the coming intolerably pompous and boring. A of young people deficient bridal path in Old Westbury, Long Island. Ride along that path long enough and you life preserver today has evolved into "a in communication personal flotation device." A tape recorder lose your unmarital status. skills— what we used to Sears, adver- we listen to in a car is "a contemporary Here is that vast company communication device incorporated into call reading, tising its Sears Bugwacker Bug Killer and automotive experience." There are boasting that the bug killer "attracts night- the writing, and speaking^ Americans who no longer clarify anything. flying insects within about a 100-foot radius them on an inner grid." They prefer to disambiguate if, because and electrifies Who insects flying the that is two syllables longer. At Fort Devens, wants electrified about Massachusetts, the guardhouse— imag- place? That would only make them more ine this, the guardhouse — has become "a annoying. But, then, American business often unattractive offers to its poten- correctional custody facility. "The Navy's no I see the language of Americans moving makes better. An admiral, recommending that along parallel paths toward disaster. One, tial customers. In connection with one of its suggestive books and movies be kept off already suggested, is the path of pompos- products, Polyglycoat has given au- ships, says that to have them on board "is to ity. The other is the path of incompetence, tomobile owners this warning: "Unless professionally trained underline deprivation in an already depri- or ignorance. So it came about that we applied by a New vational situation," thereby disambiguating learned through a press release from the Car Dealer, you could damage your au- fuzzy notions about the reason why war is San Diego Holiday Bowl about a man who tomobile surface." However devoted Amer-

hell: It's a deprivational situation. had settled in that city three decades ear- icans may be to their cars, the number who The admiral would feel right at home lier and was therefore 'A thirty year native of want to be stuck to them permanently to among American educators, who tout San Diego." When Indira Gandhi won the protect the finish must be limited. books whose "concepts will help every last general election in India, NBC spelled These mistakes are insignificant in person to project himself within his own her name, which has been prominent for themselves, but they are symptoms, at a 'process consciousness' in adjusting his more than half a century, G-h-a-n-d-i. The fairly high level in American society, of what values to proper and relevant perspec- ABC station in New York abbreviated partly happens when language is brushed aside tives." They spot circumstances in which cloudy "PT CLOUDY" CBS, showing some as unimportant, as an icon for pedants and to this "theoretization seems to be required," film it had obtained from NBC, graciously cranks, According view, young worry about "the lacuna in systematized noted, "Courtesey NBC Sports." people may "experience traditional monitored options," and devise "balanced A television station did its duly at election academics," but what matters is that they organizational parameters" that, they time by admonishing us to "Choose the "relate" to one another, tha? they develop claim, "have been organized not only to candidate of your choice," a timely warning "leadership skills" and "healthy interper- limit and demark certain areas of concen- against choosing the candidate of some- sonal relations." tration and specialization, they have also one else's. The television critic of the New Accompanying this view— and highly been patterned to include synchronized York Times reported that a guest on an NBC convenient for "educators" who find so- open-ended conceptualizations and thus program had been prebhefed. You have to called standard English unnecessary and assure maximum" compatible capability." get up pretty early in the morning to be undesirable — is the notion that rules By turning a visit to the library into "instruc- prebriefed, somehow stand in the way of children's tional improvement through library re- The Times is thought to be (by, among creativity. Children should, therefore, not be source integration," educators believe that others, itself) a paragon among newspa- corrected: doing so will inhibit their natural 90 OMNI '

expression. The ccnsccuenceof this we have been producing, year after year classes ol young people of whom appall- ing numbers are deficient in what are now called cam muni cation skills and what were called, in coarser days, reading, writing, "I never knew and speaking, A physician who examines end dates for places at one of the country's hospitals told me thai the English oF these medical-school graduates was pathetic; it gold rum made him despak I am not astonished,

When I walk around my New York neigh- borhood, sometimes called the fashion-

able East Side, I tind a shop selling Dob- berman pups, anotherclosed while tasted like - .csrc : S:^: ; this,"

cfcarastsrs Then add the effusions of the t-ainers and developers now loose upor many of the work forces in this country Drawing on the behaviora. psychot-g.sts they speak of interaction management, profile assessment, targeted feedback, risk aversion, negative/positive reirto'cc ment concepts, funding progression, and cognitive integrator Mary can barely through a sentence withoul "expe r en: and "methodology," Pomposity, semili acy, and jargon It is a bleak outlook. there are encouraging signs— pi

r aocuage 'a^s CivO i„, (,'.-.r c .un con' a in some .states, the requirement Of so competence in English by a number Schools and universities, ridicule or scale unknown before of gassy acaoei and governmental maundering, a pn dont;al order calling, for plain English gcve.-nmert rcgu'a^ons — bu; ;;ll of lb s is a mere beginning. We have become ace try in which millions of people are able to express themselves m only a rudimentary That's the reaction that's Make sure the rum is Puerto . 1 made way, while many of those woo can do belle Rican. of Puerto Rico go to almost any length toavoid being gen- Puerto Rican Gold Rum one of the The people erally understood. Not, in these diffici fastest growing liquors in America have been making rum for almost times, a recipe for a successful nation. today. It s the smooth alternative to five centuries. Their specialized What is' to be done? One fhing we should bourbons, blends, Canadians- skills and dedication result in a rum not d : o is suggest that this is a complex even Scotch. of exceptional taste and purity. problem. It isn't. We don't need commis- Try our Gold Rum with soda, No wonder over 85% of the rum sions, panels, .and institutes to te.ll us I there is some recondite answer to be found ginger ale, or on the rocks. The sold in this country comes if only it can all be made to sound -suffi- first sip will amaze you. The second from Puerto Rico. ciently complicated. We do need to under- will convert you. stand that language is important, that the Puerto Ricnn Rums lives of people and nations are affected, for 1 Aged for smoothness and taste. good or III. by the effectiveness— and the zest— with which it \s used. DO Dspi. 0V1-5. ligOAve-uej' 1 ' i* .-' 'Viui

FICTION BY PHILIP K.DICK

RAUTAVAARA'S CASE

three technicians ol the floating globe moni- tored fluctuations in interstellar magnetic, fields, and Thethey did a good job until the moment they died. Basalt fragments, traveling at enormous velocity in relation to their globe, ruptured their barrier and abolished their air supply. The two males were slow to react and did nothing. The young lemale tech- nician trom Finland. Agneta Rautavaara, managed to get her emergency helmet on, but the hoses tangled; she aspirated and died: a melancholy death, strangling on her own vomit. Herewith ended the survey task of EX208. their floating globe. In another month the 'technicians would have been relieved and returned to Earth. We could not get there in time to save the three Earth- persons, but we did dispatch a robot to see whether any of them could be regenerated. Earthpersons do not like us. but in this case their survey globe was operating in our vicinity. There are rules governing such emergencies that are binding on all races in the galaxy. We had no desire to help Earthpersons, but we obey the rules. The rules called for an attempt on our part to restore lite to the three dead technicians, but we allowed a robol to take on the responsibility and perhaps there we erred, Also, the rules required us to notify the closest Earth ship

o( the calamity, and we chose not to. I will not defend this omission or analyze our reasoning at the time.

The aliens saved the woman's life only to find themselves defending their action before a board of inquiry

PHOTOGRAPH BY HUBERT KRETZSCHMAR " "

rescue efforts. You Approximations simply off, Agneta. You don't really need if." do not understand somatic life forms." "But the impact is coming," she said. irieir i e l.i <-il liKKiie nad c eo en e rated. Re- It is offensive to us to hear the :erm Ap- Both men glanced at her. garding Agreta Rautavaara. a slight brain proximations. It is an Earth slur regarding "We'll repeat the accident," she said, wave could be detected. So in Rauta- our origin in the Proxima Centauri system. "Shit," Travis said, "I'll take the EX out of vaara's case the robot would oogin a resto- What it implies is that we are not authentic, here." He pushed many keys on his con- ration attempt. Since it could not make a that we merely simulate life. sole. "It'll miss us." i.idgmert decision on its own, however; it This was our reward in the Rautavaara Agneta removed- her helmet. She contacted us. We told it to make the at- case. To be derided. And indeed there was stepped out of her boots, picked them tempt. The fault— the guilt, so to speak- an inquiry. up . . . and then saw the figure. therefore lies with us. Had we been on the The figure stood behind the three of scene, we would have known better. We Within the depths of her damaged brain them. It was Christ. accept the blame. Agneta Rautavaara lasted acid vomit and "Look." she said to Travis and Elms.

An hour later the robot signaled that it recoiled in fear and aversion. All around her The figure wore a traditional white robe had .restored significant brain function in EX208 lay in splinters. She could see Travis and sandals; his hair was long and pale Raufavaara by supplying tier brain with and Elms; they had been torn to bloody with what looked like moonlight. Bearded, oxygen-rich olocdfro"! he' dead body. The bits, and the blood had frozen. Ice covered his face was gentle and wise. Just like in oxygen, but not the nutriments, came from the interior of the globe. Air gone, lempera- the holoads the churches back homo put

the robot. We instructed it to begin synthe- turegone.. . . What's keeping me. alive? she out, Agneta thought. Robed, bearded, sis of nutriments by processing Rautavaa- wondered. She put her hands up and wise and gentle, and his arms slightly ra's body using it as raw material. This is touched her face— or rather tried to touch raised. Even the nimbus is there. How odd the point which Earth authorities later her face. I it hm oij: j. "e ;;:.)/ icep'ions were at the My helmet, she thought. got on / so accurate! made their most profound objection. Bui in time. "Oh. my God," Travis said. Both men we did not have any other source of nutri- The ice, which covered everything. stared, and she stared, too. "He's come for ments, Since we ourselves are a plasma. us." we could not offer our own bodies. "Well, it's fine with me," Elms said.

They objected that we could have used "Sure, it would be fine with you," Travis the bodies of Rautavaara's dead compan- said bitterly. "You have no wife and children. ions. But we leli lhat nased on the robot's And what about Agneta? She's only three, *We notified Earth reports, the other bodies were too con- hundred years old; she's a baby." taminated by radioaclivriy and hence were authorities. We informed Christ said, "I am the vine, you are the toxic to Rautavaara; nutriments derived them that two of the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me from .those sources would soon poison tier in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cutoff from technicians were dead and brain. If you do not accep; our logic t does me, you can do nothing." not matter lo us; this was the situation as we Jhat we had the female "I'm getting the EX out of this vector," construed it from our remote point. This is showing stable cephalic Travis said. "I why I say our real error lay in sending a "My little children," Christ said, shall activity is to robot rather than going ourselves. If you —which not be with you much longer," * wish to indict us. indict us lor ina;. say, we had her brain alive "Good," Travis said. The EX was now We asked the robot to patch into Rau- moving at peak velocity in the direction of tavaara's brain anO transmit her thoughts to the Sirius axis; their star chart showed us so that we could assess the physical massive flux. condition of her neural cells. "Damn you, Travis," Elms said savagely.

The impression that we received was "This is a great opportunity. I mean, how

sanguine. It was at this point that we began lo melt. The severed arms and legs many people have seen Christ? I mean, it ts notified the Earth authorities. We informed of her two companions rejoined their Christ, You are Christ, aren't you?" he asked them of the accident that had destroyed oociies. Basali fragments embedded in the figure. EX208; we informed them that two of the the hull of the globe, withdrew and flew Christ said. "I am the Way, the Truth, and technicians, the males, were irretrievably away. the Life. No one can come to the Father dead; we informed them that through swift Time, Agneta realized, is running bach- except through me. If you know me, you efforts- on our part we had the one female ward, How strange! know my Father, too. From this moment you showing stable cephalic activity — which is Air returned; she heard the dull tone of know him and have seen him," to say, we had her brain alive. the indicator horn. Travis and Elms, grog- "There," Elms said, his face showing " 7 gily, it "Her what the Earthperson radio got to their feet. They stared around happiness. "See? I want known that I am — operator said, in response to our call. them, bewildered. She felt like laughing, very glad of this occasion. Mr " He broke

"We are supplying her nutriments de- but it was too grim for that. Apparently the off. "I was going to say, 'Mr, Christ' That's rived from her body— force ofthemipoc: had caused a local time stupid; that is really stupid. Christ, Mr, 'Oh. Christ," the Earthperson radio perturbation. Christ, will you sit down? You can sit at my operator said. "You can'tfeed herbrainthat "Both of you sit down," she said. console or at Ms. Rautavaara's. Isn't that way. What good is just a brain?" Travis said thickly, "I --okay; you're right." right, Agneta? This here is Walter Travis;

"It can thinK." we said. He seated himself at his console and he's not a Christian, but I am; I've been a

'All right. We'll take over now," the Earth- pressed the button that strapped him se- Christian all my life. Well, most of my life. I'm person radio operator said. "Bui there will curely in place. Elms, however, just stood. not sure about Ms. Rautavaara. What do be an inquiry" "We were hit by rather large particles," you say, Agneta?"

"Was it not right to save her brain?" we Agneta said. "Stop babbling. Elms," Travis said. asked. 'After all, the psyche is located in "Yes," Elms said. Elms said, "He's going to judge us." the brain. The physical body is a device by "Large enough and with enough impact Christ said. "If anyone hears my words

which the brain relates to— to perturb" time," Agneta said. "So we've and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I

"Give me the location ot EX208," the gone back to before the event." who shall condemn him, since I have come Earthperson radio operator said. "We'll "Well, the magnetic fields are partly re- not to condemn the world but to save the send a ship there at once. You should have sponsible," Travis said. He rubbed his world; he who rejects me and refuses my notified us at once belore trying your own eyes; .bis hands shook. "Get your helmet words has his judge already." 91 OMNI "There." Elms said, nodding gravely. grading of elementary-school children. does not travel aero pe-i ".-: boundaries.

Frightened, Agneta said to the figure, This, to us, was a primitive conception of I suppose the Earthpersons could re-

I "Go easy on us. The three of us have been the Savior, and while I watched and lis- gard our intentions as malign. deny that; through a major Irauma." She wondered, tened—while we watched and listened as we deny that. Call it, instead, a game. It suddenly, whether Travis and Elms remem- a porencephalic entity — I wondered what would provide us aesthetic enjoyment to bered that Ihey had been killed, that their Agneta Rautavaara's reaction would have witness Rautavaara confronted by our bodies had been destroyed. been to a Savior, a Guide of the Soul, based Savior, rather than hers.

The figure smiled, as if to reassure her. on our expectations. Her brain, after all, "Travis," Agneta said, bending down was maintained by our equipment, by the To Travis, Elms, and Agneta, the figure, over him as he sat at his' console. "I want original mechanism that our rescue robot raising its arms, said, "I am the resurrec- you to listen lo me. Neither you nor Elms had brought to the scene of the accident. It tion. It anyone believes in me, even though survived the accident, survived the basalt would have been too risky to disconnect it; he dies, he will live, and whoeverlives and particles. That's why he's here. I'm the only too much brain damage had occurred al- believes in me will never die. Do you believe one who wasn't— " She hesitated. ready. The total apparatus, involving her this?" "Killed." Elms said. "We're dead, and he brain, had been transferred to the site of "I sure do," Elms said heartily has come for us." To the figure he said. "I'm the judicial inquiry, a neutral ark located Travis said, "It's bilge." ready, Lord. Take me." between the Proxima Centauri system and To herseli, Agneta Rautavaara thought,

"Take both of them." Travis said. "I'm the Sol system. I'm not sure. I just don't know. sending out a radio H.E.L.R call. And I'm Later, in discreet discussion with my "We have to decide il we're going to go telling them what's taking place here. I'm companions. I suggested that we attempt with him," Elms said. "Travis, you're done going to report it before he takes me or tries lo infuse our own conception of the Afterlife for: you're out. Sit there and rot— that's your to take me." Guide oi the Soul into Rautavaara's artifi- fate." To Agneta he said, "I hope you findfor

"You're dead." Elms told him. cially sustained brain. My point: It would be Christ. Agneta. I want you to have eternal

"I can still file a radio report," Travis said, interesting to see how she reacted. life like I'm going to have. Isn't that right, but his face showed his resignation. Lord?" he asked the figure. To the figure, Agneta said, "Give Travis a The figure nodded.

I little time. He doesn't (ully understand. But I Agneta said, "Travis, think — well, I feel " guess you know that; you know everything." you should go along with this. I — She did The figure nodded. not want to press the point that Travis was £/ found myself dead. But he had to understand the situa- We and the Earth Board of Inquiry lis- fascinated by the Earth tion; otherwise, as Elms said, he was tened to and watched this activity in doomed. "Go with us," she said. idea of the Savior. Raulavaara's brain, and we realized jointly "You're going, then?" Travis said, bitterly. what had happened. But we did not agree It was an antique and quaint "Yes." she said. on our evaluation of it. Whereas the six Elms, gazing at the figure, said in a low conception. I wondered Earthpersons saw it as pernicious, we saw voice, "Quite possibly I'm mistaken, but it how Rautavaara would react it as grand— both for Agneta Rautavaara seems to be changing." and for us. By means of her damaged to a Guide of the Soul She looked, but saw no change. Yet Elms brain, restored by an ill-advised robot, we seemed frightened. based on our expectations.^ were in touch with the next world and the The ligure. in its white robe, walked powers that ruled it. slowly toward the seated Travis. The figure The Earthpersons' view distressed us. halted close by Travis, stood for a time, and "She's hallucinating," the spokesperson then, bending, bit Travis's face. ot the Earthpeople said. "Since she has no Agneta screamed. Elms stared, and sensory data coming in. Since her body is At" once my companions pointed out to Travis, locked into his seat, thrashed. The dead. Look what you've done to her." me the contradiction in my logic. I had ar- figure calmly ate him. We made the point that Agneta Rau- gued at the inquiry that Rautavaara's brain tavaara was happy. was a window on the next world and, "Now you see." the spokesperson for the "What we must do," the human spokes- hence, justified — which exculpated us. Board of Inquiry said, "this brain must be person said, "is shut down her brain." Now I argued that what she experienced shut down, The deterioration is severe; the

"And cut us oft from the next world?" we was a projection of her own mental pre- experience is terrible for her; it must end." nothing objected. "This is a splendid opportunity to suppositions, more. I said, "No. We from the Proxima system

view the afterlife. Agneta Rautavaara's "Both propositions are true," I said. "It is find this turn of events highly interesting." brain is our lens. The scientific merit out- a genuine window on the next world, and it "But the Savior is eating Travis!" another weighs the humanitarian." is a presentation of Rautavaara's own cul- of the Earthpersons exclaimed.

This was the position we took at the in- tural, racial propensities." "In your religion," I said, "is it not the case quiry. It was a position of sincerity, not of What we had. in essence, was a model that you eat the flesh of your God and drink expedience. into which we could introduce carefully his blood? All that has happened here is a The Earthpersons decided to keep selected variables. We could introduce into mirror image of that Eucharist." Rautavaara's brain at full function with both Rautavaara's brain our own conception of "I order her brain shut down!" the video and audio transduction, which of the Guide oi the Soul and thereby see how spokesperson for the board said; his face course was recorded; meanwhile, the mat- our rendition differed practically from the was pale; sweat stood out on his forehead.

ter of censuring us was put in suspension. puerile one of the Earthpersons. "We should see more first," I said. I found " it I personally found myself fascinated by This was a novel opportunity to test out highly exciting, this enactment of our own the Earth idea of the Savior. It was. tor us, an our own theology. In our opinion the Earth- sacrament, our highest sacrament, in antique and quaint conception — not be- persons' theology had been tested suffi- which our Savior consumes us. cause it was anthropomorphic but be- ciently and had been found wanting. cause it involved a schoolroom adjudica- We decided to perform the act, since we "Agneta." Elms whispered, "did you see tion of the departed, soul. Some kind of tote maintained the gear supporting Rautavaa- that? Christ ate Travis. There's nothing left board was involved, listing good and bad ra's brain. To us, this was a much more but his gloves and boots." acts: a transcendent report card such as interesting issue than the outcome of the Oh, God, Agneta Rautavaara thought. one finds employed in the teaching and inquiry. Blame is a mere cultural matter; it What is happening? I don't understand. 96 OMNI "' '''""' " 1 '• " " '- • HIS

.'..-•.."*,-. SWEPT AWAY

MBigii is of recreation— ones that will permit ever

ground, on the sea, in the air. and eventually in the weightlessness of space. New lightweight mate-

i lined engii

. ds of capturing the wind's ener. „K.Jl up the full range of experience that nature playgrounds afford. Shorler surf' only 1 75 cm in length (above) . inert and agility of si

BY KATHLEEN McAULIFFE mA'

photographs ptesonled here were collected for Omni by Baron Arnaud de Rosn.iy. a leading sportsman and innovator ol now forms of recrea- tion. They represent a sampling ol the sports that will he featured in his upcoming film, Gravity, which he describes as "a spectacle, employing nature as a backdrop and ballet dancers who will organically evolve because of their mastery of Ihe surrounding elements." A chiel pro- moter of the return to nature via loner sports, de Rosnay sees learn sports — dominated by rules, competitive strategies, and the referee's '-, whistle— as an extension of many pressures ol twentieth-century life. With overcrowding and mounting competition lor jobs and living

and. as a solitary player, explore nature's boundless pleasures 'DO

m ./(;,,.< ®&t&F& ylide tnctionlossly over a frozen lake, reaching speeds ol up to WO kph 10/ .

THE GOD IN SCIENCE FICTION

Will He be found as we explore the cosmos, or should our search be closer to home? BY RAY BRADBURY

Somewhere back in time, the Sun God Apollo moves in Space, cargoed on missions thai, for became the Sun God Chris!, bom in the week of Now anyway, take the name of Apollo. So old winter solstice to prove that the world had mylh and new circumnavigate the stars, rebuild not died but would rise again in the New Year old dreams, promise again belter destinies on that was truly that week and not January 1 faraway worlds we cannot now imagine Somewhere further along in Time. Christ Christ in the next billion years! How will He; PAINTINGS BY ALDO SESSA shape Himself? How will we shape our- do my priests decide whether or not these bolizing that Force, putting off old masks to selves as we fly from seedbed Earth toward fiery Martians, these soaring illuminations, put on new.

Siars that promise nothing? are human? In a story called "The Messiah, " some

And while Christ is changing, how will his "Good grief!" cried-the priest. "Fascinat- years later, I pursued yet another line in a Father do? While we ate recombining the ing! Fascinating! Come in! Sit down!" series of encounters with Him on other

I genetic glues and the essences o( our sat. We talked up a blue-fire storm. I worlds. world to grow a Superman ten ways tall, in went and wrote. The answer was, of But first an aside, if you will permit. what ways will we recombine the Universal course, that if a creature knows the differ- How was it that the science-fiction Bap- stuffs to serve forth a movable feast of God. ence between good and evil, light and tist Bradbury, who had fallen away into the available on Mars. Pluto, and. next stop, dark, can choose love instead of murder, deeps of pubertarian atheism at sixteen. Alpha Centaun? can withhold violence, can extend peace. reconciled himself to miracles again in his

Will the changes be as brutal as when we can judge, can value, that creature is hu- twenties and began worrying about Christ shook Olympus, knocked all the deities info man, regardless of its outer appearance, on improbable planets? one mold, and worshiped a Single Person, be it flesh or lire. You might well say I was Born Again plus Son, plus Ghost? Humanity, after all, is a concept that only through John Huston's handing me the Are we ourselves in some miraculous indirectly has to do with shape, size, color, task of killing a Whale and rendering out a fashion the Holy Ghost that will haunt the texture, or number of fingers, limbs, heads, screenplay for Mooy Dick, in 1953. cosmic dusts and call them alive? Will we presence or absence of gills, tails, or, for Melville, in turn, tossed me back not only conjure dead matter on Martian thresholds that matter, sex. into theembrace of Shakespeare and his and Christ-like summon it up into intelli- We sense a near-humanity with dolphins. Richard III but also into the ancient Time gence and immortal life as we pass? whales, and other creatures here on Earth. Machine, the Bible, to sit at the Last Sup- The questions swarm in mobs and mul- On far worlds, confronted by six-foot spi- pers with Matthew, Mark. Luke, and John, titudes. The answers similarly swarm, leav- ders, we would, at a safe distance, ques- while treading the wilderness with Ishmael ing us almost, if not quite, with old tion their motives to judge their humanity. of old. Khayyam, who "came out by that same My rekindlement increased when MGM door where in I went." Studios called me in late one autumn day in Doctors and saints, meanwhile, will give 1960 and confessed that while they had great argument. Science-fiction writers will spent 7 million pieces of silver on an all- lean more and more into theology, forced new highly tinted version of King of Kings. 4l/Ve by NASA's blasphemous intrusion on the are the miracle they had "no ending for the film."

Lord's-territorial imperatives to question of force and matter making I was stunned. Had they tried the Apos-

where we have come from and just where in tles? I wondered. itself over into Heaven or Hell we are going. Yes, yes, they had, but still ... no ending.

In my own work as just one more laborer imagination and will. The Would I sign in and solve the problem? in a now more respectable field, here are -Life-Force, experimenting I would and did.

I some of the ways in which have tried to I found my ending for the film in John, forms: scale man up to a size fitting the galaxies, with you for one, where the Last Supper after the Last Sup- ( even as Nature blindly tries, or seems to try. per occurs. Christ resurrected appears on me for another. . . . We to scale him down. the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He stands are the incredible echo3 Early on, I wrote a story called "The by a spread of white-hot coals on which fish

Man." It concerns a star-roving ship that are baking. He tells Simon-Called-Peter happens on a world the day after Christ has and the other disciples to take of the fish left It to go far-traveling. and feed their brethren and then to take of

My rocket. Captain, wild at the thought His message and move through all the na- that he has missed a collision with the No matter how dreadful their maskings, tions of the world, preaching forgiveness of

Savior, rushes off to pursue His Spirit their shapes, their seeming appearance, if sin. In the half-ight bcrcre o'awn. Christ lifts around the Cosmos; doomed to failure, we Christ's Spirit, or Buddha's, or Muham- His hand above the fire. We see the mark of perceive. His crew, quieter, truly believing, mad's, instructed them, we would sit and the nail. Blood drips 'from His palm upon turn and walk into this strange City on this break bread with Ihem, confident that they the coals. Thus he proves His identity. strange world, convinced He has not left. were no more or no less paradoxical than MGM did not film my -ending, which is a And Christ is, indeed, waiting for them. ourselves, knowing that dark and light exist great shame, for John has never been used A parable of faith, but difficult to sell to in us all. with the will to murder put aside as the basis for ending any film ever made any magazine anywhere in our American more often than exercised. about Christ. culture back in 1949. We have since forgot- As it turned out in my story, "The Fire It remained for me to use some part of ten how earnestly the Church peered over Balloons," the Christian priests don't have John in yet another Martian story ten years our shoulders and made censorial noises to save the Martian Illuminations. Our con- later. Late at night on Mars, two priests in those long years before the Great cept of sin is based on bodily appurte- speak of their reasons for joining the Change of the Sixties. nances, more often than not. Lacking Church, The younger priest confesses that

In early 1950 I telephoned a local Catho- hands, we cannot steal. Lacking feet, we "I joined, hoping one day to actually meet lic priest and expressed my dire need to cannot kick our way to destruction. Lacking Christ should He truly return." confess a Martian story outline to him, that sexual organs, we cannot fornicate our way The priests'retire to sleep. At three in the is, if he wouldn't mind my madness or the out of the Garden. These special blue-fire deep morning, the young priest stirs, wak-

fact that I was some sort of fallen-away Martians, it seems, have no flesh at all, are ens, listens to the Martian wind grieve

Baptist. He wouldn't mind, and I went by. At spirits without our earthly encumbrances about the small colonial church. He hears a the door of the rectory, the young priest and temptations. Free of sin, they live in a steady dripping sound from below, in the blinked at me and said. "Well?" State of Grace, not unlike that spoken of by baptistry. Moving silently, he peers into the

I, "Well," said "I'm writing a tale of some George Bernard Shaw before I was born. dark baptismal room and cries out. priests who land on Mars and are startled The priests turn away, move back to the Just beyond the font, self-illuminated, by blue fires, bright, intellectual spirits that small Martian colonial town to save their stands the figure of a white-robed man, soar in the skies above them. These are the own people. bearded, with fiery eyes. 7 Martians, illuminations without bodies, So the Life-Force moves in the Universe, The dripping sound It is caused by the blue lights that speak in tongues. Now how changing, and Christ moves also, sym- upraised hand of the Man, from whose no OMNI "

palm slow Crops of biood -a i in;o ihe bap- The pnest shuts his eyes. tismal waters. The Martian, gowned in Ihe ghostly flesh The priest, stunned, talis to his knees, of Christ, set tree, whirls, runs- The door calling out to this apparition, no, this reality; slams. The church is empty. The Martian "At last, oh, at last, after more than two wind blows by in the night. .nousand yea's. You've come'" Aicne by the baptismal font, the young

r "Not" the Apparition c ;es. "Stand hack. priest weeps. It will be a long year until next avert your gaze! I am not the Thing you Easter imagine. I am not the Walker on the Sea of And all this because MGM never got

r Galilee! Your thought will kill me Turn 0-.JI- d :. ing my ending to Km of -icreiuro. God lives. away!" Kings. What go 1 of life upon an un- And in that moment the priest realizes relocated and ft haig-'owingedgeof that his childhood dream ot someday meet- self In hungers for ing Christ has moved out into the Martian nighi and trapped a Martian The Martians is vibrantly asleep. nave telepathic am lies They can assume the Shapes ot d'eams. appear in any guise that the imagination summons forth So tn:s Martian, seized into the church by the

-v ; priest's d i- r- aopings ol Moby Dick cu: ie- reaches tor rhe stars you are His Hand. siring mi BesfwsSww sea of Creator, Manifest, you go in search. He goes to find, you go to find Himself. The pr est feeds his eyes on the Dream Everything you meet along the way. ;-'_ before hi n. But realizing that he will kill the with November m his soul gets himself to ' SB will oe holy. On far worlds you Martian he keeps him too long in this Space along with Quell, his green-skinned win meet your own flesh terrifying and form, the nest ao'eesx avert his gaze, iot telepathic lowing friend from :ne island Strange. Cut still you' own. Treat it well, Be- the Dream go, if the Ghost promises to planets in Andromeda. neath the Snane feu -mare '.he Godhead. come ba ;K once a yea' On the night before Deep Fall into Space, "Woe to you if you do not find all Life most 'Yes," he Martian agrees. "When do you Ishmael and Quell attend worship in an as- holy, and coming to lay yourself down car> .ant me to return?" tronomical chape; where a robot priest not say; Once each yea:" says Ihe priest, "at rises to speak not the sermon of Father "0 Father God. Ycu waken n~e. Easter Mappie and his Whale, but a reseeding of "1 waken Thee; '1 Know your holidays." says the Martian. the theme: "Immortal We then walk upon the waters ! shall come back. Easter mening Look "Is God dead? That's a »s-v old question of Deep Space. l or me." by now But once 1 replied. No= only sleep- "In the New Morn.

FEATURING THE Hit SINGLE "LATE IN THE EVENING." WiH THE MUSIC ON THIS ALBUM WAS CREATED FOR THE PAUL SIMON MOVIE "ONE-TRICK PONY" . . " .

itself: I "Which names Forever." "Say it, Mr. Shaw." So, as I have moved in Space. have "Forever." the congregation whispers. "Say what?" taken as conversation-long-after-midnight

'Amen." "You know what I want to hear. Say it companions the sublime idiot Nikos And they turn to go and fly toward Alpha Shaw looks at the distant stars, then Kazantzakis and the divine demon St. Centauri with a mad space Captain in touches my elbow touches himself. George-St. Bernard Shaw. search of a Groat Wh'te Co net that put oul "What are we? What, in the long night ol We all go on the same Search, looking to his eyes when he was a young man. the Universe, is this creature that happens solve the old Mystery. We will not, of course,

. . it And yet again in Time? Why . . ever solve it. We will climb all over and

My love for George Bernard Shaw being "We are the miraple.of force and matter devour it. We will, finally, inhabit the Mys- continuous and extreme. I connived to making itself over into imagination and will. tery, even as Nemo inhabited his Nautilus

write him into a story titled "GBS Mark V." I The Life-Force experimenting with forms: to course the Deeps. lodged his psyche in an audio-animatronic you for one, me for another! The Universe It a sun can live 5 billion years and not for robot aboard a starship bound the Crab shouts: We are the incredible echo The know it, we have decided to do as well, Nebula. Each night, while other crew void is filled with ten billion on a billion survive — meanwhile sensing the facts, members salivate over their life-size wind- bombardments oi ignorant light, mindless adding the sums. Along the way, we will up loy Marilyns. I sneak below machinery avalanches of energy, meteor, cosmic write another dozen Bibles where needed stairs to call my electro-playwright awake. snutfs. God exhales: Comets appear. God and meet Father. Son. and Holy Ghost in Thus summoned. Shaw sits bolt upright, sneezes — up we jump! Among so much many guises, on various star paths to this stares at the Milky Way. and shouts- (light and ignorance, we are the blind force immortality we demand for ourselves,

"By God. I do accept it!" that gropes like Lazarus from a billion- since His flesh is ours and worth our protec- "Accept what. Mr. Shaw?" light-years tomb. We summon ourselves, tion.

"The Universe." he cries. "It thinks, there- We cry. Lazarus Lite-Force, truly come I go with that search, the hoped-for sur- fore I ami" thou forth! So the Universe, a motion of vival, that attempt to find new words, better In fust such fashion, Shaw spoke from deaths, fumbles to reach across Time to tongues, to probe old mysteries and try to pulpits long belore our time. With a wit half- teel its own Mesh and know it to be ours. We speak new truths. Some of my summing up full of cynicism and an awe half-empty oi touch both ways and find each other mi- of all this shows in a new poem that I have atheism, he came to desire the Life-Force raculous because we are One." written to express my needs. In it. God to knock him into believing, to drag him Kazantzakis. like Shaw, says much the measures Himself and His Earth children kicking inlo the cathedral of Space, there to same. In his finest and greatest work. The like this:

if free his amiable soul from his sexual, Saviors of God . Kazantzakm trumpets God vegetarian, body. cries out to be saved! We. it seems, must We fly much like each other.

Later in that same "GBS Mark V" story, I continuously and forever mouth-to-mouth We walk a common clay. take Shaw up to gaze at the Cosmos and breathe Him into existence. The Savior's I dreamed Man into being. - speak on philosophies. Finally. I nudge him Saviors is how our billing will run. as vast He dreams Me now to stay and whisper. and wide and long as the Milky Way itself. Twin mirror selves ot seeing. We live Forever's Day.

The stars move even as God moves in His great sleep, continuing:

It Man should die. I'd blindly Rebirth that Beast again;

I cannot live without him. Man dead? then God is slain.

My Universe needs seeing. That's Man's eternal task: What is the use of being

If God is but a mask?

A single beat here. It this were a film, the

music would now lift softly to back the finale.

Behold! the Mystery stirring . . Here come the human moles! To rise behind God's masking And peek out from the holes.

We go to do just that. In our lives. In our science fictions. In our dearest dreams. In our technologies. In our futures that will, resultantly. stretch forever from here on out to the Nebula in Orion, which must stand as a metaphor for our existence through all Future Time.

The rest is not silence.

I will write of this, speak of this, act on this for the rest of my days.

I give you the greatest gift that Mankind . because of the elixir's distinctive color and bouquet, in turn can give to itself: it goes well when served chilled with poultry." Live Forever iOO Retracing the steps of chemical evolution, this philosopher-scientist has put modern research to work answering man's oldest question inJTERV/IEWJ

w

did life begin? Dr. Cyril Pon nam per urn a has sought chief of the chemical evolution branch. Since 1971 he has been

Howthe answer almost all his professional life. A lively and professor of chemistry and director of the Laboratory of Chemical intense man, Dr. Ponnamperuma has spent much of his Evolution at the University of Maryland. career as a chemist trying to duplicate the conditionsunder which In his laboratory he creates the organic compounds that might life arose and searching geology and astrophysics for data to have been formed in Earth's atmosphere before life began. Fossil show that his experiments truly retrace chemical evolution. molecules show him traces of life in sedimentary rock. In meteor- 'All life has a common chemical beginning," says Ponnam- ites he finds evidence of organic matter that formed when the solar peruma. "If we examine the smallest microbe or the most intelligent system was young. And data from the Viking and Voyager space human being, the molecules are the same, We can trace'a con- missions are fitted in to confirm his theories. The chemist talks 2 tinuum from the formation of the elements at the beginning of the about his work with all the pleasure of a poet reciting favorite lines. 3 universe to the appearance of replicating systems. We can draw a Clearly he sees his place in a long line ol scientists and philoso- | line from eighteen billion years ago to the time when the first man phers who sought answers only to the biggest questions. 7. walked on Earth." Today Ponnamperuma suspects that, although organic matter is § Ponnamperuma was born in Sri Lanka, received a bachelor's common in the universe, life is not. He does believe that there is life | degree in chemistry from Birkbeck College, in London, in 1959 and in other star systems, however -perhaps even intelligent life. f his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1962. The Science writer Eileen Zalisk recently interviewed Dr. Ponnam- I following year he joined NASA's Exobiology Division and became peruma for Omni. Their conversation began far from Earth. Omni: You have c'"Min said that your work iments, "When dc you eel :c the point when

on the chemical evolution of life makes you something is living?" I would answer,

very optimistic about the possibility of there "When we see replication." If we had repli- being life in some form elsewhere in the cation of a molecule alone in some of our

universe. Why do you Ihihk so? vessels. I believe we would have the begin-

Ponnamperuma: I can give you a number nings of life there.

of reasons. First of all, I think we can go to Omni: The questions you ask abouf how the information supplied us by astrono- life began have been_asked by philoso- mers, One has only to look at the night sky phers and theologians and some chemists

and see all those stars. Each is like our &un. . before you. Can you put the work you are

If our sun is the mainstay ot life upon this doing into historical context? world, then one has to conclude that Ihere Ponnamperuma: Yes. Recently, while must be numerous possibilities of life be- speaking betore the Washington Philo-

I yond the earth, on other planets around sophical Society, I said, "In talking to you, other suns. will be putting the ancient doctrine of spon-

Another reason why I think life exists taneous generation in a more refined elsewhere is that, working in the laboratory, cosmo-chemical manner." and under conditions that are nonbiologi- For centuries the idea of spontaneous cal or prebiological, we can make almost generation was regarded as an explana-

every molecule that is necessary to a living tion of the origin of life. Aristotle put this organism. At the same time we find these idea forward in his Metaphysics, where he :, molecules in meteorites. So we know that gave us the example of f"ef lies arising om

r > some of these processes that happened the morning dew. Ve c; I cescrioes a swarm here on Earth and that we can simulate in of bees rising from the carcass of a cow. the laboratory have occurred elsewhere in The Belgian physician and chemist Jan iOne has only the universe. Baptista van Helmont gave us a very inter- A third argument, which is a very strong esting recipe titled "How to Make Mice." It to look at the night one, is that during the last twelve years, instructed: "Dirty undergarments en-

since 1968, radio astronomers have found crusted in wheat: twenty-one days is the sky and see all spme of the molecules important to chemi- critical period. The mice that jump out are those stars to cal evolution — such as ammonia, water, neither weanlings nor sucklings, but fully hydrogen .cyanide, and carbon monox- formed." that conclude there ide— in the interstellar medium. It was the work of Louis Pasteu r that dealt must be numerous Theretore, we have three scientific ar- the deathblow to the whole idea. In 1864 he c i gument .i:"'-;';.-|i v r^ui"on ;. meteor- told the French Academy. "Never will the possibilities ite analysis, and interstellar molecules- idea of spontaneous generation recover

all suggesting th=t the -her- stry of life is from this mortal blow." of life on other commonplace in the universe. Put these But today we are coming back to the idea planets around together with the probability that planets c'^'.-r-'-.-.rr,", t.^onc'ar.ion. Wc a'o not ts <

: plentiful in Ihe universe, and the ing about frags from the primordial ooze or other stars* inces for life somewhere seem to be mice from old hnen Rather, we are looking very great. at an orderly sequence from atoms to small Omni: How do you define life? molecules to large molecules to replicating Ponnamperuma: We think of something systems— to a continuum in the universe that has four Ices and wags iis-ail as being from its beginnings eighteen billion to

alive. We look at a rack and say it's not twenty billion years ago to the time when living. There's a difference between these the first man walked on Earth. two. Yet when we get down to the no man's Omni: Some of the first scientific specula- land of virus particles, replicaiing mole- tions on the origin of life were made by cules, we are hard put to define what is Charles Darwin. You frequently quote the

living and what is nonliving. letter he wrote his Ineno l looker in 1871 in 'Vecan come up wth a working definition which he says. "If we could conceive, in of lite, which is what we did for the Viking some warm little pond, with all sods of am- mission to Mars. We said we could think in monium and phosphoric salts — light, heat, terms of a large molecule made up of car- electricity, and so forth — present, that a bon compounds that can replicate and protein compound was chemically formed metabolize. So that's the thought: macro- ready to undergo still more complex molecule, metabolism, replication. changes " How does your work connect

But I think what we are coming to as a with what Darwin theorized? result of our observations of the universe is Ponnamperuma: W&H, Darwin's warm little

t we can think of life as a property that is pond has in it the germ of the entire con- re and more manifest. We come to a cept of chemical evolution. What we try to

' point where something is liv ng. you ana do in the laboratory is to re-create Darwin's We can talk to each other, But in everything warm little pond. re is a certain measure of life. When Darwin wrote to Hooker, he was mi: Has your own definition of life trying to extend his own ideas, There's no 9 changed over the years doubt that if we accept Darwinian, or

Ponnamperuma: Well. I suppose I see biological, evolution, we must postulate a

more into it now. The definition I ,ust gave form of evolution before it, and that would

i was only a practical definition to use in be chemica.' evclut on. Chemical evolution

going to another planet, such as Mars. If is the process that started with the begin-

i were to ask me in our laboratory exper- ning ot the universe and that led to the CONTINUED ON PAGE 150 Primitive heroes from the past are coming into your future NOBLE SAVAGE BY L SPRAGUE DECAMP B_,„„ guttering torch in the other, his keen barbarian senses alert. Darthan slunk through the tunnels beneath the lost cifyofCaas on his way to the fabled treasure. Heroic (antasy is alive and flourishing. The more com- plex, cerebral, and restrained the civilization, the more men's minds return to a dream of earlier times, when issues of good and evil were clear-cut and a man could venture out with his sword, conquer his enemies, and win a kingdom and a beautiful woman. The idea is compel- ling, even though such an age probably never existed. Tarzan. Conan, Tanar of Pellucidar. John Carter of Mars, and all the other brawny heroes of heroic fiction derive

.V.

PAINTINGS BY BORIS VALLEJO 3

from Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose idea that primitive men were superior to those of today is rooted in ancient myths of Eden, in dimly remembered Golden Ages, and a great deal of wishful thinking. The most successful barbarian of recent times is Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian. Howard, an admirer of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Rudyard Kipling, and Jack London, creaied several other primitive heroes. Conan lives, loves, and battles in an imaginary prehisloric age, the Hyborian Age, existing some 12,000 years ago between the sinking of Atlantis and the rise of recorded history. A gigantic barbarian adven- turer and a matchless fighter, Conan wades through rivers of gore and vanquishes foes both natural and supernatural to become at last the monarch of a great Hyborian kingdom. He is the primitive hero to end all

Preceding pagei . teft'tan William Tenn's Of Men and Monsters; right: from The Best of Leigh Bracket!. Clockwise from above: Poul Anderson's The Bro-

ken Sword, a fairy tale about exchanged children who /all in love: from The Best of Leigh Brackex arrjifrer aimsrision. from Roger Zelazny's Amber series.

» Fictional barbarians are always big, stalwart men with thighs of iron primiiive heroes. When, afler his enemies capture and crucify him, a vulture Mies down lo peck his eyes out, Conan bites off the vulture's head. You can't have a tougher hero than that. There is a boundless attraction to the barbarian hero. Dreamers are bound to look back longingly to the days when the world was un- crowded and unregulated and "natural" man flourished. No matter that the real barbarian only rarely resembles the barbarian hero of fiction. As real barbarism recedes into the misty past, more and more people, exasperated by the elaboration of life that their burgeoning numbers bring, will idealize a supposedly simpler, Ireer barbarian past, even though that past is nine-tenths fiction The strong, half-naked man of heroic fiction is assured of popularity for many years to come.OO

Clockwise I'om left: Conan of Aquilonia, a portrait of Howard's warrior hero; a land ol evil has an eagle Queen, from Philip Jose Farmer's Maker of Universes; hand-to-hand combat with an enraged centaur in Farmer's A Private Cosmos,

« Tarzan was raised by African apes of a species unknown to science. ' In the years ahead we may live differently but our human values should remain the same FUTURE VIEWS ENDURING INDIVIDUALS

For our second anniversary, Omni asked Human nature does not change now, and it several highly visible individuals to peer at most likely will not change in the future, So the world ahead and comment on the we should be pretty stable in dealing with problems and potentials they see there. moral issues. Ideally, having a baby We elicited surprising opinions from an should be the only experience unique to eclectic assortment of forward-looking women. Almost everything else men and famous folk. Some seemed particularly women experience similarly and therefore concerned about how the future will affect can contribute to equally. But I fear that in us as individuals, while others focused on the future we'll still have the problem of the broader sweep of events and tech- who brings up the babies, It hasn't worked nology. Here, and on the following pages, out for the most part that men share we offer a selection of their comments. equally in the responsibility of parenting

or housework. I don't want to see an

future, it's less I lend to be glib about the future, because androgynous because

if there's polarity. the I all But I don't fear it; welcome it. I think the interesting no

advances we're seeing are terrific. And I current arrangement puts a greater think the negative aspects of life can be burden on women. — Helen Gurley Brown

licke'd. As a dramatist. I believe in conflict

in plays. But it's ever-present in life, as My hope is that in the future we may die.

it ultimately, in health, sounds like well, and I don't think is necessarily a good That

negative part of our existence. It makes a paradox. But millions of people live to be people regard themselves and their lives eighty or ninety years old and then go to is more realistically As it does in almost bed one night and never wake up. That to die. is need to every field , technology may change the a good way There no entertainment industry, but only physically. perish of the miseries that result from

When it comes to telling a story, people are cardiovascular disturbances, from interested in human emotions and human malignancies, from senile psychosis and circumstances. It's been that way for depression, or from any of the other things thousands ot years and will continue to be that make the advanced years of our lives

so, in theater, movies, and television. I'm a source of great misery I hope we'll see looking forward to what changes there are. biomedical research bring about this kind

You're in a bad way if you don't grow; peo- of progress, as well as the new knowledge ple who thrive on change seem to get that will enable us to control other illnesses, younger as they get older — Neil Simon for which we do not now have either a prevention or a cure. I'm fearful only that

We all have fears of holocausts and all of this will not come to pass as quickly three-year-old self-destruction and nuclear war, I have as an impatient seventy-

one major fear: that too few of us possess would like to see it come to pass. I've been the one thing that can stop all of this, a impatient all my life, and I'm not getting

sense of moral outrage. It was moral any less impatient the older I grow. I see outrage that propelled most of our ances- things that need to be done, that can be tors to this country, and we have lost that done, but that are not being done. But I've quality. Today we "play the game, go down- lived with this for a long time. We won stream, don't make waves. "Too many CONTINUED ON PAGE 147 responsible people are conspicuously mute, Technology can be a great aid to

man, but it can also be dangerous. Seeing

that it's well handled is as much the

responsibility of the individual as it is the job of scientists and politicians. We can't

simply ignore it. — Cliff Robertson

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAN MORRILL Our culture must overcome fundamental challenges to rise beyond the present world of crisis FUTURE VIEWS DIVERGING SOCIETIES

I'm fundamentally optimistic, and in capacity to refuel and refurbish communi-

American history the optimists have been cations and other satellites, and I see the realists. We're not going to be living a great opportunities for mineral prospect- deprived, sacrificing, energy-short ing as well as resource monitoring from for international existence. Poverty is very much less of a space. I see a potential in develop an Earth problem in this country than it ever has cooperation space to minimize gross been in the past. I think this trend will consciousness to continue. The difficulty we face is not parochialisms that are now combining with depression but inflation. We know how to modern warfare to threaten the well-being deal with depression. Indeed, everything of people in this world. — Edmund G. that's happened economically and Brown, Jr., governor of California sociologically in the last forty years has government, the pointed away from any recurrence of what I fear the pluralization of we all remember from the black-and-white lack of responsibility. People today are movies of the Thirties. But, in guarding frightened and concerned about where against this, we have built in an inflationary our society is going. They wonder whether bias in this society, and this is a problem. we have leadership in Washington, We is Nobody's really in I don't. Where technology is concerned , don't There no boss. think we'll all be staying in our houses and charge. You can't take a guy who's been a communicating only by television. People peanut farmer or a movie star or a Jesuit who suggest these things don't under- seminarian and throw him into government to stand how human beings interact. I don't as president and expect him know what think we'll be working two-day weeks and he's doing Our federal science agencies taking time off to fish. For one thing, we'll are suffering from the same lack of be burning the fish to keep the house leadership. We're not putting enough warm. But human beings are not con- effort into basic research, even though ; _ structed to really want that. We're more today's basic research is tomorrow's $*% likely to see a return to something resem- applied discovery. The U.S. space bling the work ethic than we are to see the program, thirty years from now. will be only

full-scale greening of America. — William S. twenty years behind where it should be. Rukeyser, Managing Editor. Fortune That's not so with the Russians. They have a laser weapon that works and a groatfT* Over the next thirty years there's a sub- charged-particle-beam weapon that M , «,. stantial risk of military or ecological works; they disabled a U.S. satellite two ft y disaster that requires great wisdom and CONTINUED ON PAGE 1J6 prudence on the part of competing

nations, It will take vigilance to keep the various nation-states from fighting one

another in disastrous ways, and it will also require that modern societies be very careful about their propensity to pollute and abuse natural systems. The potential for increasing our quality of life and for enhancing natural systems, as well as thoughtful technological innovations, is

quite good. I would like to see a substan-

tial increase in America's commitment to

space development and exploration. I feel there's a real necessity for a permanent orbiting space station. There are real eco- nomic benefits in the development of a bet had been to see Thewhether Henry Cutter could get a pod ball in his mouth. Twenty years ago

the boys at lota Kappa . : Surrounding him had said that

if he could get a pool ball in his mouth, he'd be in. Simple as that. He'd be one of the surrounders next time instead of the one surrounded. Henry who at eighteen was shy and eager and anxious about everything — including pool batls— agreed. So they gave him the eight baii and, just before he tried, a paddling for loyalty. Henry wiped the yellow chalk dust on his pants. Holding the bat! to the light, he measured the biack orb with his eyes and fingers. He took everything about the bet into account except the curvature of his teeth. When he was ready, Henry opened wide and, with one sweeping, overly dramatic gesture, popped the pool ball in. He looked around the group of boys — who by this time were laughing, hooting, half-rotting on the floor— and grinned as besl:he could. He made happy, satiated noises. The crowd of lotas mimicked him. They slapped him on the

The rules of the game might vary, but the objective always stayed the same EasyPoinTS BY KATHLEEN V WESTFALL PAINTING BY GEORGE TOOKER 3 ,

back, and everything was going just fine of his eye, he watched as Brian squirmed. was there, too." she sain', jerking her thumb until Henry tried to pop it out. Finally, he said, "Well, everything seems to toward the President, toward the picture Then he remembered the curvature o! be in order here." At this, Henry turned his with the camera lens in the lens of his right

his teeth. head ever so slig.ntiy. toward the picture ot eye. 'And with Albert in Control, I tell you . . The lotas called a cab, which took the President on the wall and winked. by this afternoon, half the players in the Henry -minus four dollars and twenty- "Mr. MacAffee," Henry said, "if you will building will be inventing fountains for the three cents and most of the lotas— to the take. this form over to Building G. that's in public." hospital. In fairness, though, Brian MacAf- the third quadrangle. What you do, you just "I wonder how high the Irritation Factor fee, the pledge master, did go along for the go out this building the same way you en- will go." ride. tered, turn to the left, and keep going ior "Five. Maybe a sixer. Possibly a ten for

The nurse at the emergency room five or so blocks. G is on your right. There's the psychos. It's hard to tell so early." Dano cussed them both out. a fountain in front of it— are you getting all made a notation in her book. "As yet, no She gave Henry a shot in the jaw and was this down?— there's a fountain in front; so points for you today." She Sfudied the not at all delicate about the insertion of the you really can't get lost. Now, when you get notebook, then glanced at Henry. She needle. Within minutes the muscles of Hen- there- Building G — go up to room 807 looked puzzled and a little concerned. ry's face began lo relax. Sag. Droop gro- and ask for Mr. Acue. Get another form from "You're, really behind this week. Are you tesquely like clocks in a Dali painting.' him entitled B, as in Barbara, dash eight feeling all right?" The young intern who extracted the ball three two dash A. as in Annie— in triplicate Henry shrugged. told Henry, in no uncertain terms, he looked — and bring it back to me. When you've "Well, you look pale to me. And, Henry,

retarded. done all that, we' I taxe it from there, okay?" you're getting awfully thin, Perhaps you

"At least," Henry mumbled when Brian "Fine. Mr. Cutter. And I want you to know, I should see a doctor" and he— minus the hospital costs — left, "I really appreciate this." Henry shuddered. "No, no. I'm fine." got it in. When will I get my pledge card?" Henry tsked, shaking his head. "Nothing Dano said, "Okay." She moved toward

Brian laughed. "Henry," he said, "we to it. Really, I'm happy to be of help." the door and, just before she left, turned lotas are. . .how shall I say it? Henry, we are and said, "You really should have saved the the intellectuals on campus. And you fountain. Bui good luck to you anyway." know? What that doctor said just now was The phone on Henry's desk rang. right. That Shot has made you look re- A woman named Ramona Kitchens tarded. I'm afraid you won't be getting your wanted a V as in Valerie, oh dash three

"No." right after Brian left. "I hope you don't think sighed. It was time for the afternoon heat, "What?" that's going to count, Cutter." and he knew he was far, far behind. He got

Henry chuckled. "Oh, nothing. I was just "Well," Henry speculated, "I don't see up and left for his office.

thinking about that night twenty years ago. why not. He isn't a friend, per se. I haven't On the way there, he passed Waiting You remember. The night of the pool ball." seen that bastard for twenty years." Section R on the third floor. The large, win- "Oh, yeah," Brian MacAffee. said. He Dano held a gray notebook to her small dowless room had temporarily been roped tried to laugh but did not succeed. and, Henry thought, efficient breasts. off. Henry peeked past the sign that said,

Henry rubbed the bald spot on his head. Sparse, hard little knockers. CAUTION. FRESH WAX. He smiled. Dano appra'sed him carefully. "There's a Inside, on the benches that lined the

"That really was something that night, Mr. grudge factor, Henry. I was watching in room, Henry counted over forty of the pub-

Cutter It certainly is good to see you Control, and, believe me, I detected a dis- lic: seated, their legs up on the benches or again." tinct hostility. Technically, I should dock bent uncomfortably under themselves. The

"I'm sure," Henry said. "Now to the busi- you." floor mirrored these legless scores in its

ness at hand." Henry looked at the form "Yeah. Maybe. I guess I should have sent fresh waxy sheen. Brian had just deposited on his desk. He him over to John or Albert. Lei them try for "Not dry yet?" Henry called to one of pulled his pen from its black-onyx holder. points. But, Dano." he said, tossing his them, an old man perched near the fire exit.

The holder was shaped something like an arms up, "it was just too damn much fun!" The man looked terribly confused. egg or, Henry -thought now with a certain Dano, the dry and ordinarily humorless Slowly he shook his. head and blinked. malicious humor, possibly like a pool ball. woman, smiled at this. "I must admit that "They told us not to move until it was."

He tapped his pen several times across touch about the fountain was brilliant. But "Yes. That's right. Stay there till it's dry."

Brian's neat application. Out of the corner you should have saved it for points. Albert Several of the public shot Henry brief, 130 OMNI CONTINUED ON PAGE 164 Soviet researchers a'e aggressively inves- screening, for all its potentially positive PREDESTINATIONS tigating genetic vulnerabilities. Terrorists, contributions, may eventually serve as a too, can be expected to take note. means of declaring cerla n "genetic types" CONTINUED FROM PAGE 72 The line between outright abuse and dangerous, useless, inetticien:. or obso- that (here is also a potential tor disaster. well-meaning misuse blurs abrupfly in lete. We have already subverted the rich Noting that genetic instructions for the pro- thos.e instances where Ihe armed lorces, diversity of nature in our successful efforts duction of cancer and other dread dis- insurance companies, manufacturers, and to create, through simila r generic interven- eases are being spliced into bacferia with others are investigating genetic factors in tion, vast monocultures ot "miracle crops" an affinity for the human body, these critics an effort lo separate "bad" risks from that have proved vulnerable to outbreaks of raise the specter of a new killer bug being "good" ones. The DuPont Company, for unexpected or unfamiliar diseases. We accidentally unleashed on a vulnerable example, now routinely screens black job may likewise be in peril of producing equal- population. Thus, the debate about genelic applicants in search of the sickle-cell Irail. ly vulnerable human monocultures. engineering focuses primarily on what The screening, some charge, is used to Instead of addressing the causes of vio- regulations and safeguards must govern divert blacks from certain ebs: DuPont re- lence, we are now attempting to eradicate

this work, these fears may have some sponds that it is all part of an innovative our ability to be violent. Instead of improv- ' merit, but they have been exaggerated. effort to keep "susceptible" individuals ing our diet and cleaning up our environ- Accidents are not the real danger Willful away from potentially toxic materials in the menl as a way to fight cancer and other

abuse is, and in the "diseases of prog- long run the" most in- ress," we are hunting sidiousdangerof all is for a recombinant

well-meaning misuse. "magic bullet" that will Though some of the cure, rather than pre- bioengineers sincere- vent, these diseases ly insist that gene and that will allow us splicing is "inherently to go on polluting our- benign," just as an- selves and our world. other group ol re- There are recombi- searchers earlier pro- nant bugs in the moted the dream of works that will let us "the peaceful atom," digest planl proteins, A smooth whiskey at 90 proof there is little doubt turning us into grass thai gene splicing is is an old Tennessee story. eaters and thereby being used to pro- solving the world's duce new bioweap- A smooth whiskey at 101 proof food-shortage prob- ons that could some- lem (at least for a is day make the old a growing Kentucky legend. while], encouraging germ warfare seem us to keep on over-

tame by comparison. populating. And if trie Assurances that we crowding causes are protected from stress, the stress can such perils by exist- undoubtedly be dealt

ing treaties will help with through a little only the naive to sleep genen'c surgery soundly These new tech-

Despite assertions nologies, l fear will not by Presideni Nixon in make man more no- 1969 that we were re- ble, more compas- tiring our bioweapons sionate, more aware unilaterally the CIA is of his own diverse suspected in 1971 to mystery, but rather

have introduced a WILD TURKEY"/ 10 1 PROOF-.B YEARS OLD. more malleable, more STRAiGHf-HOURBON virus into Cuba that KENTUCKY tolerant of social and BEYOND DUPLICATION forced the slaughter environmental decay of half a million swine, The "super race" temporarily dislocat- whose advent so

ing the Cuban economy. In 1972'the U.S. workplace. MIT molecular biologist many have feared /ill not be the forced Army undertook an ambitious study of var- Jonaihan King, an outspoken criticof ge- irrational product of a m; dictator's ious "inherited blood characteristics" and netic engineering, states tlafly that "Du- dreams but the cost-analyzed, market-test- their geographic distribution. A seemingly Pont's position is scientific racism. People ed, pragmatic product of profit-orient- related Pentagon study focused on the are not going to get sick because they are ed scientist-businessmen. Blue eyes and blood proteins of "different Asian peoples." hypersusceptible; they are going to get blond hair won't be a fraction as important Papers published in Military Review and sick because they are being poisoned." A as the ability to endure stenches, stress, elsewhere have revealed a military interest study funded by the U.S. government has verminous food, crowding, industrial pol- in ethnic weapons, calling attention to eth- sought genetic traits that dispose one to- lution, boredom, and depersonalization. nic/racial genetic peculiarities that might ward antisocial or violent behavior. The os- The New Man will be remarkably stable, be taken advantage of in "recombinant" tensible goal is to weed out these traits in a nonviolent, defect-free, well adjusted, "re- warfare. The enzymatic "eccentricities" of program of genetic "prior restraint." sponsible." and, like the New Bread that is blacks, Asians, and Semitic peoples have These and other developments portend already with us, bland, short on real nour- attracted special interest, both in this coun- an invasion of privacy that may ultimately ishment, processed, refined, whitened, ar- try and in the'Soviet Union. Two molecular provide "scientific" bases for discrimina- tificially preserved and fortified, and baked biologists from the USSR who now work at fion, alienation, and exclusion more power- to absolute uniformity, And no one will the Weizmann Institute, in Israel, assert that ful than any yet experienced. Genetic doubt him when he asserts he's happy. DO 132 OMNI The automobiles have a top speed of one BUY BACK MARCHING MORONS hundred kilometers per hour — a kilometer paleolinguistics, three fifths is, if I recall my SOME OF THE of a mile — and the speedometers are ail the drivers will think "I was in doubts snout te 'ing you." said rigged accordingly so they're going two hundred and fifty. The FUTURE! the psychist, "but I see you have some growing suspicions o( the truth. Please cities are ridiculous, expensive, unsanitary, wasteful conglomerations of people who'd don't get excited. It's all right, I toll you." "So you've got me," said Barlow. be better off and more productive if they "Go! you?" were spread over the countryside. "We need the rockets and trick speed- "Don't pretend. I can put two and two together. You're the secret police. You and ometers and cities because, while you and the rest of the aristocrats live in luxury on your kind were being prudent and fore- the sweat of these oppressed slaves. sighted and not having children, the mig- You're afraid of me because you have to rant workers, slum dwellers, and tenant keep them ignorant." farmers were shiftlessly and shortsighted- There was a bellow of bright laughter ly having children— breeding, breeding, from the psychist that got them blank looks My God, how they bred!" from other patrons in the lobby. The laugh- "Wait a minute," objected Barlow. "There ter didn't sound at all sinister, were lots of people in our crowd who had "Let's get out of here." said Tinny-Peete. two or three children," of illness, wars, still chuckling. "You couldn't possibly have "The attrition accidents, took care of that. Your intelligence it more wrong." He engaged Barlow's arm and such and led hirnto the street. "The actual truth is was bred out. It is gone. Children that that the millions of workers live in luxury on should have been born never were. The they'll-get-along majority the sweat of the handful of aristocrats, I just-average, shall probably die before my time of over- took over the population, The average I.G. work unless — '" He gave Barlow a specula- now is forty-five." tive look. "You may be able to help us." "But that's far in the future—" hawk-faced "I know that gag." sneered Barlow. "I "So are you." grunted the made money in my time, and to make man sourly. 9 " money, you have to get people on your side. "But who are you people people, gen- Go ahead and shoot me if you want, but "Just people— real Some you're not going to make a fool out of me." erations ago the geneticists realized at last "You nasty little ingrate!" snapped the that nobody was going to pay any attention psychist. with a kaleidoscopic change of to what they said. So they abandoned Specifically, formed mood. "This damned mess is all your fault words for deeds. they and the fault of people like you! Now come and recruited for a closed corporation in- along and no more of your nonsense." tended to maintain. and improve the breed. He yanked Barlow into an office-building We are their descendants, about three mil- lobby and an elevator that, disconcertingly, lion of us. There are five billion of the others. their slaves. went whoosh loudly as it rose. The real So we are estate man's knees were wobbly as the "During the past couple of years I've de- psychist pushed him from the elevator, signed a skyscraper, kept Billings Memo- down a corridor, and into an office. rial Hospital here In Chicago running, A hawk-faced man rose from a plain headed off war with Mexico, and directed chair as the door closed behind them. After traffic at LaGuardia Field in New York." let an angry look at Barlow, he asked the "I don't understand! Why don't you to hell in their own way?" psychist. "Was I called from the Pole to them go inspect -this— this — ?" The man grimaced. "We tried it once for "Unget updandered. I've deeprobed et- three months. We holed up at the South find quasichance ex-him Poprobat- Pole and waited. They didn't notice it. Some tackline," said the psychist soothingly drafting-room people were missing, some "Doubt," grunted the hawk-faced man. nurses didn't show up. minor government "Try," suggested Tinny-Peete. people on the nonpolicy level couldn't be

It didn't to matter. "Very well. Mr. Barlow, I understand you located, seem and your lamented had no children." "In a week'there was hunger, in two "What of it?" weeks famine and plague, in three weeks off experi- "This of it. You were a blind, selfish, war and anarchy. We called the stupid ass to tolerate economic and social ment; it took us most of the next generation conditions which penalized childbearing to .get things squared away again." "But didn't you let them kill each SEPTEMBER 79 OCTOBER 79 by the prudent and foresighted. You made why

us what we are today, and I want you to other off?" that are far from satisfied. Damn- "Five billion corpses mean about five Back Issues shown aaove $3.50 each. know we million tons of rotting flesh," Prices Include postage and handling. fool rockets! Damn-f.ool automobiles! hundred Send check or money orderlO: Damn-fool cities -with overhead ramps!" Barlow had another idea. "Why don't you sterilize them?" I Barlow, "you're OMNI BACK ISSUES "As far as can see," said features of your "Two and one-half billion operations is a P.O. BOX 903 running down the best breed con- FARMINiSDALE, NX 1V37 time. Are you crazy?" lot of operations. Because they aren't rockets. They're tur- tinuously, the job would never be done." Offer void after April, 1981. "The roqkets bo|ets — good turbojets— but the fancy "I see. Like the marching Chinese!" shell around them makes for a bad drag. "Who the devil are they?" " " "

"It was a— uh — paradox of my time. The hawk-faced, man signaled back. 'Thai sounds like ah African name." Somebody figured out that if all the "Steady, boyl" "It is. My mother's father was a Walusi." Chinese in the world were to line up lour "It's not too much to ask." ihe psychist Barlow didn't take the hand. "I thought

looked pretty cia'k I wan! to hurt abreast, I think it was, and start marching agreed. you don't

past a given point, they'd never stop be- Barlow, sensing a seller's market, said, your feelings, but I don'I think I'd be at my cause of the babies that would be born and "Power!" best working with' you. "There must be grow up before they passed rie poin: "Power?" Ihe hawk-faced man repeated somsoody else ;ust as we'l qualified." "That's right. Only instead of 'a given puzzledly. "Your own hydro station or nu- The psychist made a facial sign to point.' make it 'the largest conceivable clear pile?" Ryan-Ngana that mean! "Steady yourself,

- 1 " . n-.ne ot opemting rooms that we could "I mean a world dictatorship with me as boy!" build and staff.' There could never be dictator!" 'Vary wo! ' Ryan Ngana told Bar ow enough." "Well, now — " said the psychist "We'll see what -arranoomoni can ho "Say!" said Barlow. "Those movies about But the hawk-faced man interrupted. "II made:" babies — was that your propaganda?" would take, a special emergency act of "it's not that I'm prejudiced, you unoer- friends — "It was, Itooesn'i seem to mean a th ng to Congress, but the situation warrants it. I stand. Some of my best " them. We have abandoned the- idea of at- think that ban be guaranteed "Mr. Barlow, don't give it another thought. tempting propaganda contrary to a biolog- "Could you give us some indication of Anybody who could, pick on the lemming ical drive." your plan?" thepsychistasked. analogy is going to be useful to us-."

"So if you work with a biological "Ever hear of lemmings?" Ano so. he would, thought Ryan-Ngana, ?" drive — ' * "No." alone in the office after Tinny-Peete had

to- "I know of none which is consistent with "They are— wefe, I guess, since you taken Barlow up the helicopter stage. So ^ '?.- inhibition of fertility." haven't heard of therri — little animals in he wo li :: op rob had exhausted every Barlow's face went poker-blank, the re- Norway, and every few years they'd swarm tional attempt -and the new Poprobat- suit of years of careful d'.scipiine. You to the coast and swim out to sea until they tacklines would have to be irrational or sub- - Tins .!.; with 015 don't, huh? You're ;ne groat orains, and'.yo.u drowned. I l-gureon putting some lemming •aticna ere a re 'ic-mt^s past can't think of any?" urge -ntc the population." lemming legends and his improved build- "Why. ho," said the psycnisi nrocer.tly. "How?" ing lots would be a fountain of precious,

"i "Can you?" save that til I get Ihe '.qht signatures vicious self-interest.

"That depends. I sold fen thousand on the deal." Rvan-Ngana sighed and stretched. He acres of Siberian tundra— through a The hawk-faced man said. To like to had to go- and run the San Francisco sub- dummy firm, of course — after Ihe partition wprk with you on it. Barlow My name's of Russia, The buyers thought mc-y wore Ryan-Ngara He put cm his nand getting improved building lo:s on :ne out- Barlow oo*el - cseK at me -and. then skirts of Kiev. I'd. Say that was a lot tougher

!nan this; joti." "Ngana "How so?" asked the hawk-faced man, Those were normal, suspicious cus- ;-ns's anc these are morons, born suck- ers. You just figure out a con they'll fall for: AUTHENTIC SPERRY TOP-SIDER they won't know enough to do any smart checking," CAN YOU IMAGINE CLIMBING The psychist and Ihe hawk-faced man

' : r-:i a so'"iaot-?.in;-ig. they kept themselves TDTHETOPOFTHECORPORATE from looking with sudden hope at each other LADDER FAKING IT? "You seem to have something in mind," said the psychist. Barlow's poker face went blanker still

"Maybe I have. I haven't heard any offer yet." " ; -.S'S? the -atofsc: cr of knowing thai you've prevented Earth's rosou'cos from Deing so plundered," Ihe hawk-faced man oointed out, "that the race will soon be- come extinct."

"I don't know that," Barlow said bluntly.

1

"All I have is your word.'

"If you really have a method, I don't think any price would be too great," thepsychist offered. "Money," said Barlow.

"All you want." "More than you want," Ihe hawk-faced man corrected. "Prestige," added Bariow. "Plenty Of pub- licity. My picture and my name in the pa- pers and over TV every day, statues '.c me parks and cities and streets and. othef- things named after me-. A whole chapter in the history books," The psychist made a facial sign to. the hawk-faced man that meant. "Oh, brother!" like smiling when you read over the break- fast orange juice that the city council had decided to build a school on the ground you had acquired by a deal with the city

more exciting man you can council. And it was simple. He would just Imagine! Only ASTRONOMY sell tundra bui ding lots to eagerly suicidal magazine could bring you lemmings, and that ./as absolutely all there this unique calendar of lull- color images from deep was to solving the.Eroblem that had these double-domes spinning. 12x12" picture has a brlet They'd have to work out most of the de- tails, naturally, but what the hell, that was what subordinates for. He'd quality is that good! Spend were need your next year In space — specialists in advertising, engineering, order Space 1981 today. communications — did they know anything There is nothing like It on about hypnotism? That might be helpful. If not. there'd have fo be a lot of bribery done, $5.95 but he'd make sure — damned sure— there were unlimited funds.

Just selling bin ding otsto emmhgs . .

He wished, as he fell asleep, thai poor

Verna could have been in on this. It was his biggest, most stupendous deal. Verna— that sna-p shyster Immerman must have

swindled her , . . copies ot Space It began the next day with people com- ing to visit him. He knew the approach. They merely wanted to be helpful to their illustrious visitor from the past, and would

he help fill them in about his era. which unfortunately was somewhat obscure his- torically, and what did he think could be done about the Problem' He told them he was too- old to be roped anymore, and they wouldn't get any information out of him until he got a letter ol intent from the Polar Presi- dent and a session ol the Polar Congress empowered to make him dictator. ' structure oweb nc deot to intuition. He got the letter and the session. He Upstairs //a ting tor a helicopter. Barlow presented his program, was asked

was explaining to Tinny-Peete that he had wnetne' h s conscience didn't revolt at its nothing against Negroes, and Tinny-Peete callousness explained succinctly that a wished he had some of Ryan-Ngana's im- deal was a deal and anybody who wasn't perturbability and humor (or the ordeal. smart enough to protect himself didn't de- The helicopter took them to International serve protection — "'Caveat emptor," he Airport, where, Tinny-Peete explained, Bar- threw in for scholarship, and had to trans-

late it to "Let the buyer beware." He didn't, The man from the past wasn't sure he'd he stated, give a damn about either the ike a drea'v ^aste c ce ana cold. morons or tnei< inte i-'gent staves: he'd told Chi: tnem his price, and thai was all he was ' , War jsan:. and another idea was to spare [ne ol'iei interested in. able to work more efficiently there. All rVcrr it the passengers hs aggressive ta.Kativo . Would they meet or wouldn't they? facts at your fingertips, a good secre- company, The Polar President offered to resign in tary—" Barlow during the first day at the Pole his favor with certain temporary emergency "I'll need a pretty big staff." said Barlow, was reminded of his firs! day in the Army. powers that the Polar Congress would vote who had learned from thousands of deals It was the same now-where-the-hell-are- him if he thought them necessary. Barlow never to take the first otter. we-going-to-put-you? business until he demanded the title of World Dictator com- "I meant a private, confidential one," said took a firm line with them. Then, instead of plete control of world finances, salary to be Tinny-Peete readily, "but you can have as acting like supply sergeants, they acted decided by himself, and the publicity many as yqu want. You'll naturally have like hotel clerks. campaign ano historical witeup to begin at top-primary-top priority if you really have a It was a wonderful, wonderfully calcu- once.. workable plan." lated buildup, and one that he failed to 'As for the. emergency powers." he add-

"Let's not forget this dictatorship angle." suspect. After all, in his time a. visitor from ed, "they are to be neither temporary nor said Barlow the past would have been lionized. limited." He didn't know that the psychist would At day's end he reclined in a snug un- Somebody wanted the floor to discuss just as readily have promised him deifica- derground billet with the sixty-mile gales the matter, with the declared hope that tion to get him happily on the "rocket" tor roaring yards overhead and tried to put two perhaps Barlow would modify his de- the Pole. Tinny-Peete had no wish to be torn mands. limb from limb; he knew very well that it It was -like old times, he thought — like a "You've got the proposition," Barlow would end ttjat way if the population coup in rgal estate where you had the com- said. "I'm not knocking off even ten per- learned from this" anachronism that there petition by the throat, like a fifty percent cent." was a small elite that considered itself rent boost when you knew damned well "But what if the Congress refuses, sir?" head, shoulders, trunk, and groin above there was no place- for [he tenants to move. Itie President asked. 136 OMNI THE TAPE THAT LAUNCHED ATHOUSAND HITS.

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Mrs. Garvy tried to ask "Then you can stay here at the Pole and starting out of a doze. last. That evening again whether her husband was sure about I "ja hear that?" try to work il out yourselves. I'll get what but he was dozing right want from the morons. A shrewd operator "Wha'?" those rockets, like trip Venus.' through Take It and Slick II. So she like me doesn't have lo compromise; I "He said, 'Easy a to the screen and forgot the puzzle. haven't got a single competitor in this whole "So?" watched still rocking with laughter at the Venus. I She was cockeyed moronic era." "Well, I thought ya couldn't get to it for a quarter?" Congress waived debate and voted by thought they just had that one rocket thing gag line, "Would you buy when the commercraLcame on for the de- show of hands. Barlow won unanimously. that crashed on the moon." powder she always faithfully loaded "You don't know how close you came to 'Aah, women don't keep up with the tergent her dishwasher with on the first of every losing me," he said in his first official ad- news," said Garvy righteously, subsiding month. dress to the joint Houses. "I'm notthe boy to again. uncertainly. The announcer displayed mountains of I "Oh," said his wife I ask. or haggle; either I get what go the next day, on Henry's Other Mis- suds from a tiny piece of the stuff and coyly elsewhere. The first thing I want is to see And "Of course, Cleano don't lay designs for a new palace for me — nothing tress, there was a new character who had added, up like the soap root unostentatious, either- and your best just breezed in: Buzz Rentshaw, master around for you to pick on Venus, but it's prelty cheap and it's al- painters and sculptors to start working on rocket pilot of the Venus run. On Henry's most pretty near just as good. So for us my portraits and statues. Meanwhile I'll get Orner Mistress, "the broadcast drama folksy plain folks who ain't lucky enough to live up my staff together" about you and your neighbors, real cleaning He dismissed the Polar President and people, ordinary people, real people!" there on Venus, Cleano is the the Polar Congress, telling them that he'd Mrs. Garvy listened with amazement over a stuff!" the chorus went into their "Cleano- let them know exactly when the next meet- cooling cup of coffee as Buzz made hay of Then Mrs. Garvy didn't ing would be. her hazy convictions. is-the-stuff" jingle, but

it. She was a stubborn woman, but it A week later the. program started, with hear occurred to her that she was very sick in- North America ihe first target. Mona: Darling, it's so good to see you agf deed. She didn't want to worry her hus- band. The next day she quietly made^an Mrs. Garvy was resting after dinner be- Buzz; You don't ki how I missed you with her family freud. fore the ordeal of turning on the dishwasher. on that dreary Venus appointment down, key In the waiting room she picked up a fresh The TV, of course, was on and it said, Sound: Venetian blind run of Readers Pablum and put it "Oooh!"— long, shuddery, and ecstatic, the turned in lock. new copy dull, 7 down with a faint palpitation. The lead arti- cue for the Parfum Assault Criminate spot Mona: Was it very dearest table of contents on commercial. "Girls," said the announcer Buzz: Let's not talk about my humdrum cle, according to the the cover, titled "The Most Memorable hoarsely, "do you want your man? It's easy job. darling. Let's talk about us. was

Venusian I Ever Met," to get him — easy as a trip to Venus." Sound: Creaking bed. said the "Huh?" said Mrs. Garvy. "The freud will see you now," "Wassamatter?" snorted her husband. Well, the program was back to normal at nurse, and Mrs. Garvy tottered into his of- fice. His traditional glasses and whiskers were reassuring. She choked out the ritual.

"Freud, forgive me, for I have neuroses." He chanted the antiphonal, "Tut, my dear girl, what seems to be the trouble?"

"I got like a hole in the head," she qua-

vered. "I seem to forget all kinds of things.

Things like everybody knows and I don't," "Well, that happens to everybody occa-

sionally, my dear. I suggest a vacation on Venus." The freud stared at the empty chair. His nurse came in and demanded. "Hey, you see how she scrammed? What was the matter with her?" He took off his glasses and whiskers

meditatively "You can search me. I told her she should maybe try a vacation on Venus." A bafflement came into his face, and he dug through his desk drawers until he found a copy of the tour-color, profusely

illustrated journal of his profession. It had come that morning and he had lip-read it, though looking mostly at the pictures. He leafed to the "article "Advantages of the Planet Venus in Rest Cures." it's right there." he said. The nurse looked. "It sure is." she

agreed, "Why shouldn't it be?" "The trouble with these here neurotics," decided the freud, "is that they all the time got to fight reality. Show in the next twitch." He put on his glasses and whiskers again and forgot Mrs. Garvy and her strange behavior.

"Freud, forgive me, for I have neuroses."

138 OMNI if'n "Tut. my dear girl, what seems to be the ture I didn't bring to the attention of the

trouble?" au-gust body I see here a perilous situation

Like many cures of mental disorders. which is fraught with peril. American rock- Mrs. Garvy's was achieved largely by self- ets now traverse the trackless void of space treatment. She disciplined herself sternly between this planet and our nearest plane-

out of the crazy notion that there had been tarial neighbor in space. I want to inquire only one rocket ship and thai one a failure. what steps are being taken to colonize She could join without wincing, eventually, Venus with a vanguard of patriotic citizens in any conversation on the desirability of like those Minuiemen of yore. Venus as a place to retire, on its fabulous "Mr. President and gentlemen! There are

floral profusion. Finally, she went to Venus. in this world nations, envious nations— I do All her friends were trying to book pas- not name Mexico— who by fair means or sage with the Evening Star Travel and Real foul may seek to wrest from Columbia's Estate Corporation, but naturally the de- grasp the torch of freedom of space; na- mand was crushing. She considered her- tions whose low living standards and innate self lucky to get a seat at last for the two- depravity give them an unfair advantage week summer-cruise. The spaceship took over the citizens of our fair republic.

off from a place called Los Alamos, New "This is my program; I suggest that a city

Mexico. It looked just like all the space- of more than one hundred thousand popu- ships on television and in the picture mag- lation be selected by lot. The citizens of the azines but was more comfortable than you fortunate city are to be awarded choice would expect. lands on Venus free and clear, to have and Mrs. Garvy was delighted with the fifty or to hoid and convey to their descendants. so fellow passenger;; assembled before And the national government shall provide takeoff. They were from all over the country, free transportation to Venus for these citi- and she had a d sfinci impression that they zens. And this program shall continue, city were on the brainy side. The captain, a tall, by city, until there has been deposited on hawk-faced, impressive fellow named' Venus a sufficient vanguard of citizens to Ryan Something -or-other, welcomed". Ihem protect our manifest rights in that planet. aboard and trusted that their trip would be "Mr. President and gentlemen, there is no a memorable one. He regretted tha! there time to waste— Venus must be American!" would be nothing :c see because, "due to Black-Kupperman, at the Pole, opened the meteorite season." the ports would be his eyes and said feebly. "The style was a

dogged down. It was disappointing, yet little uneven. Do you think anybody'll reassuring, that the line was taking no notice?" Stevie is a peffectio chances. "You did line, boy, just fine," Barlow reas- and through. He records a song There was the expected momentary dis- sured him, track by track. Plays it back c- comfort at takeoff and then two monoto- Hull-Mendoza's bill became law. less times to check quality and nous days of cironirg t.vive through space Drafting machines at the South Pole performance. to be whiled away in the lounge at cards or were busy around the clock, and the We felt we had a lot in common craps. The landing was a routine bump, Pittsburgh steel mills spewed millions of with Stevie. Each TDK cassette and the voyagers were issued tablets to plates into the Los Alamos spaceport of the has 250 components, assembled swallow to immunize them against any Evening Star Travel and Real Estate Corpo- with microscopic precision. minor ailments. ration, It was going to be Los Angeles, for There are 1,117 check points for When the tablets took effect, the lock logistic reasons, and the three most ac- the shell alone. TDK is tested was opened, and Venus was theirs. complished psychokirel cists went to under extremes of heat, humidity It looked much like a tropical island on Washington and mingled in the crowd at and shock. It performs brilliantly. Earth, except for a blanket of cloud over- the drawing to make certain that the Los

Which is why each TDK package head. But it had a heady, otherworldly qual- Angeles capsule slithered into the iingers has a full lifetime warranty." ity that was intoxicating and glamorous. of the blindfolded senator. As we discovered, Stevie has The ten days of the vacation were suf- Los Angeles loved the idea, and aforest been using TDK cassettes for fused with a hazy magic. The soap root, as of spaceships began to blossom in the years. Long before we thought to advertised, was free and sudsy. The fruits, desert. They weren't very good space- ask him. For a perfectionist, that mostly tropical varieties transplanted from ships, but they didn't have to be. says a lot. Earth, were delightful. The simple shelters A team at the Pole worked at Barlow's provided by the travel company were more direction on a mail setup. There would have than adequate for the balmy days and to be letters to and from Venus to keep the nights. slightest taint of suspicion from arising.

II was with sincere regret that the voyag- Luckily Barlow remembered that the prob- ers tiled again into the ship and swallowed lem had been solved once before— by Hit- more tablets doled out to counteract and ler. Relatives of persons incinerated in the sterilize any Venus illnesses they rnighi un- furnaces of Lublin or Majdanek continued wittingly communicate to Earth. to get cheery postal cards. Vacationing was one thing. Power poli- The Los Angeles flight went off on tics was another. schedule, under tremendous press, news-, At the Pole, a small man was in a sound- reel, and television coverage. The world proof room, his face deathly pale and his cheered the gallant Angelenos who were body limp in a straight chair setting off on their patriotic voyage to the In the American Senate Chamber, land of milk and honey. The forest of space- Senator Hull-Mendoza (Synd.. N. Calif.) ships thundered up, and up. and out of was saying, "Mr. President and gentlemen, sight without untoward incident. Billions

I would be remiss in my duty as a legisla- envied the Angelenos, cramped and on MEET ERIC BINFORD, THE ULTIMATE MOVIE BUFF. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE LIKE HIM...RUN!

FADE TO BLACK

IRWIN YABLANS .,„ SYLVIO TABET ..,,„

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DENNIS CHRISTOPHER . FADE TO BLACK ,.„,,, TIM THOMERSON, NORMANN BURTON, MORGAN PAULL, GWYNNE GILFORD, EVE BRENT ASHE, JAMES LUISI .„,»,,,.,. LINDA KERRIDGE „m,.,„,.m...™ ALEX PHILLIPS, JR. w mm*, CRAIG SAFAN «,,.»« JOSEPH WOLF oaaai IRWIN YABLANS ..= SYLVIO TABET ,..„...,. GEORGE G. BRAUNSTEIN ... RON HAMADY -..„.. —» .. VERNON ZIMMERMAN

J !&•<& CINEMA RELEASE COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU. short rations though they were. The day after the American President Wreckers from San Francisco, whose departed. Barlow flew into a rage. Across WAITING capsule .came up second, moved immedi- his specially built desk were supposed to ately into the City of the Angels tor the flow all Poprob high-level documents, and FOR THE NEXT scrap steel their own flight would require. this thing— this outrageous thing— called Senator Hull-Mendoza's constituents could Poprobterm apparently had got into the do no less. executive stage before he had even had a

The President of Mexico, hypnotically glimpse of it! alarmed at this extension of yanqui im- He buzzed for Rogge-Smith, his statisti- perialismo beyond the stratosphere, cian. Rogge-Smith seemed to be at the

x launched his own Venus-colony program. bottom of it. Poprobterm seemed to be

Across the water it was England versus about first and second and third deriva- Ireland, France versus Germany, China tives, whatever they were; Barlow had a versus Russia, India versus Indonesia. An- deep distrust of anything more complex cient hatreds grew into the flames that were than what he called an "average."

rocket ships assailing the air by hundreds While Rogge-Smith was still at the door, In the meantime, daily. Barlow snapped, "What's the meaning of this? Why haven't I been consulted? How

sample: Dear Ed. how are you? Sam and I are fine far have you people got, and why have you

and hope you are fine. Is it nice up there been working on something I haven't au- like they say with food and close grone thorized?" yester- "Didn't to bother you, Chief." said on trees? I drove by Springfield want

day and it sure looked funny all the build- Rogge-Smith. "It was really a technical

ings down but of coarse it is worth it we matter, kind of a final cleanup. Want to have to keep the greasers in their place. come and see the work?" Do you have any trouble with them on Mollified. Barlow followed his statistician Venus? Drop me a line some time. Your down the corridor. loving sister, Alma, "You still shouldn't have gone ahead without my okay," he grumbled. "Where the hell people have been without Dear Alma, I am fine and hope you are would you

fine. It is a fine place here fine climate me?"' and easy living, The doctor told me today "That's right. Chief, We couldn't have

it ourselves; just don't that I seem to be ten years younger, He swung our minds

thinks there is something in the air here work that way. And all that stuff you knew

- keeps people young. We do not have from Hitler— it wouldn't have occurred to much trouble with the greasers here they us, Like poor Black-Kupperman."

keep to theirselves it is just a question of They were in a fair-sized machine shop at us outnumbering them and staking out the end of a slight upward incline. It was the best places tor the Americans. In cold. Rogge-Smith pushed a button that

that I motor, flood of arctic light South Bay I know a nice little island started a and a have been saving for you and Sam with poured in as the roof parted slowly. It lots of blanket trees and ham bushes. showed a small spaceship with the door Hoping to see you and Sam soon, your open. loving brother, Ed. Barlow gaped as Rogge-Smith took him by the elbow and his other ooys appeared: Sam and Alma were on their way shortly. Swenson-Swenson, the engineer; Poprob got a dividend in every nation Tsutsugimushi-Duncan. his propeliants after the emigration had passed the half- man; Kalb-French, advertising. way mark. The lonesome stay-at-homes "In you go. Chief," said Tsutsugimushi- and other things were unable to bear the melancholy of a Duncan. "This is Poprobterm." low population density; their conditioning "But I'm the World Dictator!" had been to swarms of their kin. After that "You bet. Chief. You'll be in history, all

point it was possible to foist off the crudest right— but this is necessary. I'm afraid." stripped-down accommodations on The door was closed, Acceleration would-be emigrants; they didn't care. slammed Barlow cruelly to the metal floor. Black-Kupperman did a final job on Pres- Something broke, and warm, wet stuff, ident Hull-Mendoza. the last job that genius salty tasting, ran from his mouth to his chin. of hypnotics would ever do on any moron, Arctic sunlight through a port suddenly be- important or otherwise. came a fierce lancet stabbing at his eyes; Hull-Mendoza, panic-stricken by his he was out of the atmosphere, presidency over an emptying nation, Lying twisted and broken under the ac- joined his constituents. The Independ- celeration, Barlow realized that some ence, aboard which traveled the national things had not changed, that Jack Ketch government of America, was the most was never asked to dinner however many elaborate of all the spaceships— bigger, shillings you paid him to do your dirty work, more comfortable, with a lounge that was that murder will out. that crime pays only handsome, though cramped, and cloak- temporarily

rooms for senators and representatives. It The last thing he learned was that death went, however, to the same place as the is the end of pain. DO others, and Black-Kupperman killed him- self, leaving a note that stated he "couldn't live with my conscience."

142 OMNI "

ous protective and self-sufficient habitat for ECOSHELTER .an individual whether he was journeying up the Amazon, exploring the .tundra of Si- beria, or louring the ruins of Brooklyn. Es- crait is a vas; lechnolocical supportnet- Such individualized environments, in .,',(.;< One sLUiie^lion of Cook's is io re- fandiary's opinion, are perfect for a future place natural rocks and trees with Rok and dominated by hypermobility and increased Log plugs where community residents can decentralization m a _ aspects of life. He our hook their dweilings up to the outside claims that the most forward view of world. Camouflaged with a spore finish, to future living pattern is the electronic com- promote rapid moss growth, these plugs munity, or telecommunily. Here, through a global microelectronic network, will contain cabs lines eeivering electric- everyone will link in people all ity, telephone, international computer and out with acrossthe hookups, banking facilities, ana other earth. When working, shopping, voting, basic and crcal .e activities can he conciuc'e;:! through home computer units, the city as MAY THE FORM BE WITH YOU we now know it will cease to exist. Another Archigrarn member. New York- No standing bui-dings left? Possibly. But based architect Michael Webb, avoids the there might be nonphysical buildings. community altogether in his plans. He Buildings turned on and of with the flick of ar- adopted the slogan. "The overcoat is a a switch and made invisible. A mirage house/is a car with the mofor clipped on," chitecture that never has a physical form. and he developed a series of proposals for Holographic icebergs might float down mobile environments ranging from drive-in Boston's Charles River. A bridge mighi be housing io the Cushicle. or Suitaloon. a projected m the sky. These are the thoughts of Is- house worn like a space suit. of Friedench St Fionan. the Rhode The proposed .drive-in housing has sta- land School of Design tionary components. The kitchen and bath- St. Fionan expects holography to free the room are fixed service units, but the living architect from the cumbersome, perma- room and other parts of the house are nent world of building materials so that he made up ol mobile containers that torm can creaie dreamscapes. "The architect's rooms by means of folding panels. When dream is to create a space that goes be- To create an not being used, the containers are or i von yond its physical boundaries. beyond off and stored. If someone is giving- a party illusion and a perception that go down the street, the neighbors can drive reality. Ultimately, the use of holography to their living rooms over to the host's house to extend our physical rea ity is a recognition create a larger space, of the fact we live in a world with more than The Cushicle ("That's a ghastly Ameri- one set. of realities. canization of cushion vehicle) is modeled Through holography, once-restricted after the space suit as the minimal house. building forms — such as office buildings Webb explains, "The Cushicle is a vehicle and schools — can be transformed to per- to which a person could strap himself. The form any function The outside environment suit a person wears becomes both a eon a stand-infor the suit of clothes e he ndes inside, and the house he lives in. Wiih Detroit styl- ing, there would be different vehicles for different types of people." The Cushicle itself has a spinal sysiem rian. "But containing all appliances and services, sh a: along with an inflatable envelope. The in- maintain. St. Florian's Museum of Architec- flatable skin consists of two layers— an ture may someday be built. He has already opaque, thermal insulating material and a given us hints ol what It would be like. translucent external covering. This skin In 1970 he proposed hciog-apnicai y :c can be blown up to make a chaise longue, resurrect old New York landmarks that had a room, or an entire house, depending on been lost or torn down. Out on the Arizona the circumstances. Desert, for example, tourists could go to

, Each Cushicle unit has a plug, which view the old Penr sy : vanaS:ation during its serves the same function as the front door. daily projection, Someday, he hopes, they For a romantic interlude, youxan plug into might go see all of Manhattan. your lover's unit and enter his or her suit With architects beginning to use more while leaving yours clipped to the outside. advanced technologies, it is not inconceiv- Or, as Webb envisions, several Cushicles able that in the future we'll marvel at St. can plug together to build a arge sln.iclu'o Florian's holoyrapnic icebergs from our fly- or a "moment city." as he calls it. ing house built from a self-growing The space-suit approach to future envi- bonelike material. Perhaps architect Roy ronments is also adopted by UCLA's F M. Mason has envisioned the future more ex- Esfandiary. His Life Support Suit was origi- citingly: "The ultimate design tool will be a nally designed to check people medically biofeedback machine plugged to your through sensors monitored by regional head. You think a building, and a computer health centers. However, the suit, accord- generates it. So lan'asy becomes reality lit- ing to Esfandiary, would provide a continu- erally in an instant." DO even three hundrac yeas ago. N'.ne tenths of goods and services available to people HELP WANTED in the foreseeable future will be of materials and purposes unlike the preseni ones. problems the problems of war People urgently needed to support strong American space Global — and peace, the abolition of economic and program. social contrasts between the developed and developing countries, adequate en- ergy, mineral, and food resources, the pre- Organization needs 20,000 members to show Congress that a vention of ihe catastrophic pollution of the

serious pro-space constituency exists. environment, and others— must, and it is my deep belief can, be resolved in the fore- seeable future. The coming century will not Now is your opportunity to really do something to reactivate be a social idyll; it will be full of struggle America's space effort. Please send your name, address, and against the traditions and prejudices of the past. — Edvard Arab-Ogly, leading Soviet tax-deductible contribution of S10 to: philosopher

Campaign for Space In the largest perspective, it is not implau- sible that life as a whole, having developed Political Action Committee for so long and so hopefully on Earth, should neveriheless disappear from it at 300 M Street, S.W., #500 last, leaving this planet as lifeless as other planets. In the immensity of ihe universe as

Washington, D.C. 20024 a whole, it may be that the extinction of life on one planet among millions of others that support life would be no more important Your contribution will be used to support the election of pro- than the death of one fish in an ocean that millions. What distinguishes us space candidates, to print and disseminate important informa- contained human beings from all the less advanced tion issues — to is on space and keep you updated on what go- forms of life on Earth is that, having at last ing on and how you can make a difference. become conscious of the challenge of sur- vival, we have consciously undertaken to This requires us to d paid for by CAMPAIGN FOR SPACE PAC shape our own future. look ahead, even beyond the span of a single generation. — Louis J. Halle, former White House policy adviser upon us changes that are very good. SOCIE1 Technology is basically a leihargic and A constant challenge for the remainder of slow-to-develop industry because the in- this century will be making our great urban vestment costs for new products are so centers attractive and stimulating by re- years ago, alihough the Pentagon lied enormous. For example, we're not using vitalizing their economic bases and ac-

about it. NASA is just as fouled up on the transportation very efficiently, not by a long commodating the diversity of persons liv- space, shuttle, so fa' behind that if the first shot, Turbine engines are not getting any- ing in them. The federal and state govern- flight is a year from now, as NASA is mum- where near the amount of power they're ments are a key part of this process, and bling, the second flight will not corne until capable of for the energy they consume. they must be sensitive and responsive to fourteen years later, The government has correctly let the sheer urban needs. The cities, in turn, must strive But I'm optimistic about the future. weight of economic factors control this de- to become more self-reliant, drawing upon People are'beginning to feel intellectually velopment, and now we have more severe their substantial resources of energy, inno- abused and deserted by the government. pressures to try to improve efficiency pri- vation, creativity, and spirit to accomplish

In part from this, and tn pari from funds- vately. In a more hurnaniiarian vein, I hope truly major and equitable changes in urban Byrne, of mental need I think we'll see a gr&ataf use we will have more than financial remedies society — Jane mayor Chicago of solar power at lower costs, specifically m available to poor people. I'd like to see the I'm not educational and vocational assistance. I How can one see into future? a energy crisis. Hydrogen will be extracted lust don't believe Thai anybody on welfare is prophet, but I'm always optimistic. Who

from the ocean, and we'H have hydrogen- happy; it's a terribly undignified experi- knows? I worry about the future, about the powered cars and airplanes. Thirty years ence. Having seen what we can do in train- obvious things, about our relations with the

from now the United States will have a hy- ing even retarded people to look out for Soviet Union foremost. But I have great discoveries that might drogen-tueled SST, a big airplane capable themselves, I think, the current situation is a hope for important of carrying four hundred passengers. Ten gross waste that cou d be '.urned around to come out of pure research that looks now

years from now we'll have seven-hundred- make society, happier and these people as if it will have no commercial value at all.

passenger 747 derivatives to help the air- more productive. — F Lee Bailey And I consider spaceflight to be a most into line companies get through the fuel exciting prospect. I expeci to go space possible. I'm number crunch. Within the next few years we'll see I fear that in the future people will be re- myself, as soon as list, more wind power for islands like Hawaii, sponsible to computers. I hope that in the two on the space shuttle passenger where the wind blows a great deal. Perhaps future computers will be responsible to behind Dr. Fletcher, the former head of is plant power as well, extracting oil from people. — Peter Ustinov NASA. I think spaceflight something I'd all vegelafion. — Jules Bergman, science re- enjoy. I think it's something we'd porter for ABC-TV News The world at the end of the next century will enjoy. — Lowell Thomas

differ from what it was at the beginning in a

so-called I'm about the future, That's why I left I hope that some of the recent more decisive way than our world has uneasy

technological crises are going to force changed from what it was two hundred and it and am here now. — Marty FeldmanOO 146 OMNI .

Introducing INDIVIDUALS . . . And Made It Pearlcorder X-01 So Little. ;

; World War II on Iwenly percmt cff ciency. ...The Only m So I'm confident we'll get these answers. If there is such a thing as the epitome of * compactness . . . we've accomplished it in Microcassette our new X-01 pergonal recording instru- Recorder With ment And. we've done it without sacrificing an iota of quality on any of the Microtouch. exclusive Pearlcorder features that have made us the industry's leader. As a matter of fact we've added some. Like Microtouch, We've Never an electronic control system that can prac- tically be actuated by a feather. Done So Much . . And, we put all this in a beautiful case so small-it practically gets lost in a shirt pocket.

We'd like you to inquire about X-01. But, only if superb quality, exclusive features and distinguishing design are import am in your life style.

naopv ho'i'H-;. — D' .Joyce Brothers:

Naturally, as a comedian, I think humor will

be important in the future. It eases ten- sions, opens the door a craek (or better understanding among people. But humOr car'! bring peace You can'; stop a owlet

with a joke. Still, I feel thai if world leaders maintain their sense of humor, instead of being surly toward one another; we'd get a better; happier world.— Don Rickies

futurology, I don't I don't believe in and be-

lieve in "the future" as.- an abstract 'concept

if -only I think that human beings could achieve the nirvana ot living in ihe present moment, then the future would take care of itself. Alas, we are very far from that nirvana, and most of us spend most ot

our time in cthe' anticipation o" roo/et — Erica Jong

word, the navel, I worry about Ihe printed

the short story, the poem. I tear they will be read in the future, by as many people as are presently butterfly collectors. Even today

it's tragic that a crack novelist is read by

or- ly twenty'-! vs thousand o-so.oleout of two hundred million. Most people don't read a

book a year, and our cultu'e suffers homb : y

for it. The process that's involved in read-

ing, that changing of a. word into an idea as

you read it eft a pace reqi. re?; i-'uoli mco mental agility than sitting in front of a

screen or looking at a pcture. Tjrn : ng ihe phrase that you are reading into an image in your head demands a tremendous

amount of brain exercise, I suppose I'd love to be around a hundred years from now, though. We won't be quoting Sheiley and Keats, but at least there will be a lot of time left for other things, such as tennis and making love. — George Plimpton Pearlcorder 1"

I hope that no one in the future will be ask- (MICROCASSETTe)

ing me what I think the future will be like. My readily Pearlcorder Hicro cassettes are tear is that more and more people'will be available In durations of 30, 60, and 90 asking me this quesi.on. and I will have to

Bill I ill i answer it— Art BuchwaldDO Micah looked from one to the other

PRAIRIE SUN steadily. He had to. start the words several OUR FAMOUS times because of the dry rasp in his throat. EXERCISE "You still would do nothing for my sister?" PROGRAM Mother "We can do nothing," said Droos. "We HAS A NEW sudden come from a quite different world. Micah. us moth- There are things, we must not do. There are LOCATION. rules." YOUR HOME. Micah turned his gaze to John. John fi- nally stared at the ground and nodded. "Very well." the boy said, sounding tired '"^ i - :: .! ' ' i o exercise possession, the finely carved sandalwood Every once in a while they ooked at Micah. technique. recommended hv Glamour. chest, and repacked it. The boy remained stationary on the box. Mademoiselle. Gentlemen's Quarterly, "A swm bott el' sad Droos. 'A second!" etc.. is now available on cassettes. Send The two men who claimed to be from the "Th:s looks like a Pennsylvania Dutch $15.95 for Basic Warm-ups #1 and #2 lux re were a ha f-mile farther down the trail door hanging." said John (sold singularly at $9.95 each) to from where they had met with Micah. They "A full set ol eighteenth-century sextant Nickolaus Laicise Tapes. Dept. W-l, still rummaging through heaps of gear." 516 Fifth Avenue. New York. New York were the 10036. abandoned goods apparently working 'Another Roo; 'Wickglaus "What exfaordir:-ry workmanship," said Exetcise Droos. alsobencinc over the chesf 'Abso- lutely gorgeous." His fingertips ran eagerly over the inlaid panels. Then he raised the.

fat ltd and said. "'Oh. yes. yes indeed." Drawmg the contents from the chest, he

Looks itke it "said John

mpos: ;?..ry. « i bent And loomed by my mother's hand, ig undiscovered. thought Micah. but he spoke no word For two or three seconds he actually aloud. stood in full view. But both men were appar- Droos again msoected his wrist and ently abso'bed in examining a bulky con- said'. "Damn! it's almost over. You attach a

traption of legs and drawers. Micah setthe tracer to the chest. I'll finish up the rest." sandalwood chest down in the dust, Their departure was not dramatic. strategically in sight only a few yards be- "Ten seconds." said Droos, adjusting yondthe men. Then he melted back into something at his belt. the country's natural cover John at least spoke to Micah. "Good- In a few minutes Micah reappeared, bye." he said, offering a slow, sad wave of walking down the slope toward John and his hand, "I'm sorry. Micah," Droos and making no effort at conceal- Both men simply were gone. As though ment. The fwc men were coking over a ney hat; neve' existed. Micah watched as. OMNI William and Mary highboy, touching the all up and down the trail, objects vanished. smooth finish, sliding the drawers in and Crates and bags melted into the air. The TIME CAPSULES. out, checking the joints. "Note the lac- massive William and Mary highboy disap- quered Chinese detail." said Droos. peared, Finally his mother's sandalwood

kept safe for the futii' . Store your "Though not actually executed oy Orient.?, chest vanished, too. and along with it, the jesofOmniinanewy Custom Bound rary Case made of b!ilack simulated artisans, the figures are Chinese in both fine hand-loomed blankets of good Shet- anditwillkeep12 feeling and technique." Buried in his task. land wool, the blankets that had kept his n Indefinitely. The he did not lookup loseewhyJohnhad.not sister from the frontier cold these past i a gold Omni logo des a gold transfer responded until Micah stood before them. nights. The bey's face was coated with dust; his Micah stood then and hoped his mother Send your c 3r money order eyes felt like burnt holes in a mask. He was waiting for him at the wagon. The chest 3forJ14.0u;6for$24.00; tasted prairie grit and would have spat out and blankets were gone. They had left him postpaid. USA orders only) to: OMNI LiMidr . Case. P.O. Bo* 5120, Philadelpl the dirt, but he no lenget had fhe saliva. there to stand sweating n the prairie sun, in Pa.lBWfc" John sounded unsure and awkward. a plain of near-absolute stillness, hushed "Hello. Micah. Welcome back. We were just but no longer expectant — a plain on which, preparing to— leave. Our time is almost up, it seemed to him. anything could happen.

and we must go home." And it had. DO 14B OMNi innocent of this man's blood.' Say it before blood of their God. iney eat his flesh; that it's too late." way they become ;s CASE mrnortal. To them, there "I am innocent or this man s olood. Elms is no scandal in this, They find it perfectly

whispered hoarsely. natural. Yet to us it is dreadful. That the

She moveci away trorr> the figure, over to The figure fall. Bleeding, it lay dying. It worshiper should eat and drink its God?

Elms. Instinctively. was no longer a bearded man. It was some- Awful to us: awful indeed. A disgrac.eand a

"He is my blood." the figure said as it thing else, but Agneis Raut.avSara could shame— an abomination The higher licked its lips. "I drink of Ihis blood, the not tell what it was.. It said. "Eli, Eli, lama should always prey on the lower; the God ? " I blood of eternal life. When have drunk it. I saoachrhan should consume the worshiper will live forever. He is my body, I have no As she and Elms gazed down at it. the We watched as the Rajtavaaia case wa;. body of my own; I am only a plasma, By figure died. closed— closed by the shutting down of

"I eating his body, I Obtain everlasting life, killed it," Elms said. "I killed Christ.'" He her brain so that all EEG activity ceased

: I l This is the new truth that proclaim, that I held the lase- riNe pointed at himself, grop- :ir-d he r-ionitcs "idicatod -iOrurg We felt ing for the trigger.

He:: gong r e "That wasn't Christ." Agnetasaid. "It was Ves. Agnera Ha, something else The opposite of Christ." She could see no* She took the- gun from Elms

Approximation. tti. Elms was weeping.

The Eat 'sons on the Board of Irt- ;d the majority vote, and

i abolish all activity in rtificially sustained brain. ted us. but there was no was- demonstrated in the Rautavaara.case But were we not serving the purposes of

the beginning of an abso- detached scientific study? I myself was scientific, experiment: the amazed at Rau'.avaa-a's -saciion when the

i race grafted onto that of Sav z' ate Mr Travis. I would have w z'rea

But we were deprived of this-. And the experiment, from our standpoint, failed. And we live now, too. under the oan of She said to Elms :ry moral blame. DQ tary rocks atlsua, in Greenland, which are among the oldest known rocks on Earth. The' rock has been extensively metamor- phized, turning most of the carbon-contain- ing material to crystalline graphite. However, by comparing carbon-isotope ratios, we found within this graphite some s that were not crystalline and that had regained Ihei- original composition as or- ganic molecules. Biolog'ca processes, particularly photosynthesis, tend to in- crease the concentration of the carbon-12 isotope as compared to carbon-13. We think the hydrocarbons found in the Isua rocks were formed by living organisms. Of irse, actual eel ula' fossils would be the most convincing evioence c" He, but so far we have found none of these in the Green- land rocks. Omni: You also study the chemistry of meteorites, ma; Yes. Meteorite studies oortant part of our work, are small pieces of rock from belt that get trapped In the :ational field and fall to the

' are believed to have been the planets, from the solar four billion six hundred million nong the meteorites are some .ified as carbonaceous chon- ;ontain organic matter. These ve us an unusual opportunity anic compounds of extrater-

Under the glass there is the Murchison

meteorite, which fell in Australia on Sep- tember 24. 1974. That is the meteorite in which, for the first time, we were, able to establish very clearly the presence of ex- CONTINUED HOW PAGE 116 tratsrestnal amino acids. looked other appearance of life on E Since that lime we have at along these lines were meteorites — the Mighei. which fell in the long time. Soviet Union in 1966. and the Murray, which In Then, in 1924. the F fell in Kenfucky in 1952, each case we Alexander Ivanovich C .ble to establish the indigenous na- there was. no fundame of the amino acids, tween living organisms cidenlally. we have a tremendous and that bonanza l res row. The last expe-

. during cess o" ti dition to A December and British sc January, b ack three thousand new suggest g the formal iragmsnis antes Twenty-eight are ndntes. meteor- broth by t are interested in. We take a mixture of Ccubcnaci These

gases, expose ii !o ultraviolel. and :hen ites are a great resource, -since they appear gave us the idea of the primordial soup. analyze the material that's produced. to be uncontaminated by terrestrial organic Omni: Let's talk about what you do in this Omni: Then do you look to see whether the material. They give us evidence of prebio.tic laboratory. How do you study chemical molecules you have made in the laboratory amino-acid formation that may have been evolution and the origin of life? are- also found in sedimentary rocks? occurring even before the planets were Ponnamperuma: We have two ap- Ponnamperuma: Yes. Our laboratory ex- born. So. short ot going to the asteroid belt proaches. In one, we try to re-create what periments would appear far more credible and bringing back a meteorite, we have available, happened on Earth so many billions of if we could find some primordial soup. some of the cleanest evidence years ago— to make the molecules neces- some of the molecules from the early pre- Omni: You have also looked for life or pre- life surface on Mars. sary for life. But we also want to see biotic era, hidden away in Earth's crust. on both the lunar and whether what we think happened really did We estimate the age of the earth to be Whaf were the results? " /.= "-, billion six million years. The Ponnamperuma: Well, we examined frac- Happen. So , ! ,. . jc.tua: ancient four hundred Earth- sediments and me'ecntes. oldest known microfossils [fossilized cellsj tions of every lunar sample that was With respect to the first approach, one are dated at three and a. halt billion years. brought back from Apollo 11 through for thing we are doing is studying the origin of These are the stromatolite structures thai Apollo 17. We made an extensive search organic matter in- the universe. For exam- have been found in Western Australia. traces ot organic material that migh! be ple, we ask, "How did amino acids arise?" However, going even further back, we have indicative of chemical evolution. We found of hundred What we do is to !ry to find out what hap- found "molecular fossils" in three-billion- organic matter on the order two pened in the primordial nebula before the eight-hundred-million-year-old sedimen- parts per million, but no evidence of amino '50 OMNI MILLIONS ON EARTH ARE EXPECTED TO WATCH BUT YOU NEVER KNOW WHO ELSE MIGHT BE WATCHING.

Carl Sagan, the distinguished astronomer Since television signals travel through space, winning author, invites you to Sagan has been asked to speculate on what and Pulitzer Prize- _ his series. join him for "Cosmos;' a 13-part series starting beings of other worlds might think of September 28th on public television. "I would hope^'he said,"tiiat they would see to understand "Cosmos" is described as the most ambitious this as an attempt by humans project ever undertaken for PBS. It takes you on something of their origins and their destinies!' Somewhere a journey through space and time to explore the So watch for "Cosmos" on PBS. great cosmic questions. out there,"they"may be watching, too. One moment, you find yourself in a spaceship billions of light-years from Earth among the galaxies. The next, walking the marble floors of a lie '-ticitield uorr.panv produced by Carl Sagan Productions and KCETJ-os Angeles library in ancient Egypt. And the next, exploring the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. acids, no evidence oi any molecules ot or- have conditions around them that are suit-

ganic significance. This showed us that it able for life. Optimistic calculations, such there was any organic matter on the sur- as those of Al Cameron, at Harvard, say face of the moon that dated from the very fifty percent of all stars may have around

early stages of the solar nebula, it has been them conditions suitable for life. More con- destroyed, servative estimates say five percent, or When we went to Mars, it was a different Whefher five percent or fifty percent— story. Out task on Mars was to play the even one percent- of 10", it is still a very laboratory of the devil's advocate. What big number. happened on the surface ot Mars was that Put this together with what I've said about the mass spectrometer told js there was our laboratory studies of chemical evolu- less than ten parts per billion ot organic tion in the universe, and the chances for life

matter. It was surprising— less than on the seem very great. moon, So In the absence oi organic matter Omni: What about the possibilities of intel- the chances of any life seem to be very ligent life that can communicate with us? small. Hardly likely, in fact. Ponnamperuma: Once again, if we push Omni: What are the implications of the- fact our arguments to their logical conclusion, that you are able to create these biological there must be intelligent life elsewhere. molecules in the laboratory and to lind In the one example where we know it has

them in the meteorites, yet when you actu- happened, here on Earth, one draws the ally look at other worlds, you're not able to conclusion that biological evolution is an find any indication of them? inevitable result of chemical evolution, And Ponnamperuma: That's a very good ques- intelligence may be an inevitable con- tion. All that we know about the surfaces is comitant of biological evolution. that this organic material has disappeared. Omni: There seems to be another point of We don't expect to find any on Venus. The view emerging. In terms of intelligent life, temperatures there are too high. Mars is too perhaps we are alone in the universe.

I oxidized. However, when you move farther Ponnamperuma: I beg to differ. think into the cold and look at Jupiter -and Saturn, we've barely begun to scratch the surface. especially Jupiter, the whole planet surface Give us time. Right now only a few searches

is just laden with organic material. It's a are being made. boiling caldron of organic molecules. So Omni: What searches are going on?

the synthesis of organic molecules under Ponnamperuma: At the moment I believe the right conditions is certainly no problem. there are about ten searches going on-

I look this But once having formed, if the conditions listening for radio signals. upon change, they disappear. So there are cer- as probably the most monumental task the tain narrow limits within which these mole- human race could undertake. The idea is sending More fascinating cules, once tormed. will survive— at least that you wouldn't communicate by to the point where life would originate. a message, raising a question, asking than fiction! Omni: You are also working on analyzing them something, but rather by gathering the data from Voyager, What can you say information. The benefifs to mankind could about that? be incredible. Think of all the libraries wait-

Ponnamperuma: It's our task to help inter- ing to be read. pret some of the data that come back from Omni: Are we perhaps being too narrow in the Voyager mission. We simulate the at- our definition of life? Is it possible that in mosphere of Jupiter and compare. our re- other places there is life based on some- sults with ground-based observations and thing other than the DNA. RNA. amino-acid the spectral observations of Voyager. apparatus implicit in our discussion today? valid fKRi^BMW* Jupiter is an exciting planet for such Ponnamperuma: It's certainly a is unlikely studies. The colors of the planet result, I question, It possible, but most think, from organic matter that we can syn- And the reasons are simple. exist thesize. If you take methane and ammonia The periodic table of elements that and pass a positive electric charge through here on Earth is the same elsewhere. The them, you get all sorts of colored material. elements are the same. The chemistry of We are also proceeding with simulations the compounds is the same. The move- of the Saturnian atmosphere and that of the ment around the nucleus will be the same major moon of Saturn. Titan. There's much whether it is here or on Alpha Centauri. And

excitement about Titan, because it has an carbon is the center of everything. The

atmosphere. In the laboratory we are trying nearest thing to it is silicon, But I think the to 'figure out whether organic matter exists similarity is merely superficial. ,. _jcount by the best between carbon on Titan. If it does, what is the nature of the Take the difference selling author of The Bermuda molecules? These simulations are being dioxide and silicon dioxide. One is a gas: Triangle. Hardcover/176 pages conducted now so that we may compare the other is. quartz. Inspiteoffourandahalf the the results with those of the Voyager 1 billion years of evolution and abun- this November. dance of silicon available, you don't see At your book store or send Saturn encounter in Omni: If life didn't originate elsewhere in silicon in any functional molecules, only "- - - k for cost of book plus 75° our own solar system, what is the likelihood structural molecules. and handling for each unlikely I it highly that it did originate somewhere else? would conclude that is book to Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., earlier, that the chemistry anywhere in the universe Ponnamperuma: Well, as I told you 23 in will be any different. It will be a nucleic I do think it is likely. There are 10 stars 10159. life. knows? even luare Station, N.Y. the universe. If that is the case, there are acid/protein Who Maybe 10 23 possibilities for life. But not all stars five feet tall and standing on two legs.OO monster, eating up product. A film is- no the grace. Gliding helped me significantly FIL/ longer just a film; it's a video cassette and a with that." cable entry and a. prime-time movie r coN-iN^.tj-fic^PAG:;: and -?cen-;;y the actor ex.oe :enced one of a series and -a' spinoff series and tie-in the greatest thrills of his -ying career, being Somewhere- in T is I Time the feedback. get novels. V make; those it who feed so rich invited to Edwards Air Force Base to fly in a from women. Many of them, well-educated that : you've got to be a saint to withstand it." i-3 - ir'e 3i..rjersoni;: liainer et ol tne and with a professional good career going, To keep his theatrical skills in astronauts, "I own good thought I was just going

say to me, 'You know, we have everything 1 repair. Reeve is lure .- spend ng some a v. a along for the ride. No way," he beams. "I the women's movement has told us we from the to flew screen appear on the stage. "To the thing! I was doing all kinds of ought to have— but we'd .trade it for in Mr. do creditable work in the theater is one of maneuvers, and then we went supersonic. Wonderful to come and take us away' "/ That :wo topics- goas," he explains. Asked The. plane shot from eleven hundred to floors me. They're responding to my to identify the other, he grins and with twelve thousand meters in a minute and characters persistence, and I'm r eally boyish enthusiasm declares, "To give a five seconds, We were pulling three g's, pleased with that kind of reaction." mind-blowing performance in a film, and : -,vas one cemented in :hs seat but it was a Creating movies that provide such that will have people dropping dead out of real thrill." insight is not easy. In trying to do so, sheer amazement," b-er Reeve's ieiou re aclkMies'-anaqeio newcomer Reeve swiftly learned the If anyone can do it, Reeve can. So say embroil him in difficulty, however. "Earlier realities of moviemaking. "Somewhere in such mdusiry g'ants as Katharine this Hepburn year I was soaring cross-country in Time originally ran two hours and twenty and Francis Coppola, among many others. England when the. weather changed and I minutes, and at that length it was a very "If not," Reeve 'notes with characteristic lost lift. my I checked my map and found.a comprehensive study of this man his and humility, "there's always the Air Force" place with a three-thousand-meter runway. problems. But it didn't even get past the — is which lessof a joke than it might I landed. seem. So As soon as I did, police cars executives. They cut thirty-five minutes out For recreation and to escape the. sobering, poured out. The officers walked over to me of it so that audiences wouldn't get restless. pressures of his vocation, the- actor flies. and asked, Are you aware that you've Most theatrical films are a neat two In a plane. He owns a small commuter landed on a secret research center?' I said, hours— the same length as TV films, which airline, and he pilots passengers himself 'No, it's not marked on the map.' They is not a coincidence. People just die on the whenever his schedule permits. He is also replied, 'If we marked it on the map, then it vine before TV's blinking light. Their world devoted to soaring and has gone sailplan- wouldn't be secret, would it'?' " Fortunately, becomes measured by half-hour incre- ing as high as 10,000 meters for seven the officers recognized Reeve and, after ments, and their attention span isn't al- hours. checking his license, allowed him to lowed to reach beyond the-running time of a "I feel that a sailplane. is an extension of dismantle his plane and have- it trucked television movie." me that, incidentally, was important in away. Which he did, pronto. Nor, are says Reeve, viewers the only playing Superman," he comments. "While "Life," says Reeve mock-philosophically, ones corrupted by television, First, there upholding my responsibility to do super "is never a piece of cake." He concludes are the producers, "That box is a big things, what I was more interested in was with a wink, "Not even for Superman." DO

, LeJoueur Dungeons & Dragons.,, Ibujours en tStedujeu.

Dungeons &. Dragons* Adventure Games --: ^ne'CjianneWrzafCJS.efc TSR'Hobbiesjnc.

" aildble at foette; gi e^^y where. Americans Harmony is the rules of the game for the 1 Some 'DEO arts of time, go through life Ask me what the laws of harmony are and I'll send you to the textbooks. Ask me what without discovering Since before the iirst musical tone came the laws of visual harmony are and I'll con- ' from the human voice, this was true. But it' fess I'm writing a first-of-its-kind textbook, i Bombay. isn't true anymore. In the last third of the And there's no assurance it will be defini- twentieth century we have a medium that is tive. Like aural -harmony, digital graphic swifter than musical is complex, and it's brand-new more malleable and harmony ; in ancient discovered airwaves. That medium is light itself. While Pythagoras Greece |

it was always available, it was not until re- the relationships of the simple ratios of mu- cently that precise means were found lo sical harmony, and he knew they formed an

modulate light faster than sound. Now we ideal visual geometry. But it is only in the can do it— on a cathode-beam computer last 10 or 20 years that this ideal geometry display, for example. Now musical instru- has taken on a great new meaning- ments that modulate air can be matched thanks to computer graphics that can with instruments that modulate — with make harmonic geography move visually, equal exactitude — the light medium of and visually moving. sight. audiovisual tracks of the We can create Integral aural/visual And the j video disc are perfectly suited for this bal- composition in a domain of harmonic, digi- anced partnership of sound and sight. tal continuity. A universally acceptable vi- sual partner with music— is I sit at a computer display, looking and art— an equal current listening, testing and trying, until I can arriving hand in hand with com- judge how light pattern and music pattern puter music improvements. With these twin I should consort in motion and sound. My developments there follows a change in computer is programmed in both music prospects for music. Within this decade we

and graphics as if it were imitating a deluxe will see that the search for "new musical I

digital composing machine. The finished resources" has produced unexpected re- i product can be played on any television set suits. A major task assumed by a variety of in the world. composers since the beginning of this cen- For less than $20,000 you can own the tury, pursuing that quest for a new vitality musical half ot this instrument, a digital outside the classical harmony, ends in a that has an advan- full-scale revaluation of architectonic tern- composing instrument :

tage over; say, Fred Astaire's piano: When porality of which, I submit, the full history of j

you finish your composition, you'll find it all music is only the first chapter. stored in digital memory, safe and ready to Using new kinds of instruments and new transfer to any ol the new publishing media compositional procedures borrowed from, you choose, No one has yet offered to mar- computer programming and editing prac- ket a visual complement to this digital tices, this new composer will share with the music synthesizer, although dozens are try- painter and sculptor hands-on execution of first his own work. J BOMBAY] ing to be the to do so. The experience of pure free colors is The word processor is a good example ol

locked in our TV sets. The development of this hands-on approach. I write this at my aniline dyes changed our lives from grays own word processor, a spinoff of the

to the riots of color in paint, in our audio-graphic computer I own. Writing is a

clothes— everywhere. And video phos- very slow task. All day long I may sit at this

I work, when I am satisfied with what DRV6IN phors promise much more. But this prom- but ise has yet to be realized. read on the alpha-numeric display. I type The promise is not video Valium— that print and that day-long tedium spews out up-tight stuff, stirred and mixed like soup letters on paper at 60 characters per sec- with Debussy or Pachelbel and played now ond. It could just as well be music and and then on public-television programs. image piayin.g forth in final form from the We like music that is anything but computer memory as words composed bit formless— from Bach to Linda Ronstadt. by bit. Today the analog video synthesizers you Digital instrumentation provides the ca- can buy, or the blinkle box that makes her- pacity to modify over and over and reshape ringbone patterns on your home computer, a composition without signal degeneration. or kaleidoscopes, or bubble machines- When the instruments are available, com- will all sell formlessness. Cheaper you should posers will find a visual medium that

sit at home and watch the patterns of the share with the musical digital synthesizers burning log in your fireplace. the editing, viewing, and reediting capaci-

Formlessness is what one gets when one ties. The artist will feel an intimate, sensu- flails at the keyboard, as a child can do, ous contact with his work, a contact that is sometimes with great gusto. Harmony is sharpened in a way unprecedented in 500 what a girl struggles with when she is learn- years of refining musical instruments. The ing to play a guitar. It's a big event when she composer will work with harmonics equally plays the proper chords to accompany a applicable to sound and image. And the song. "Harmony is the rule of the game that creative product of these composers will sustains our interest in music. Without go directly to their video-disc publishers. Bombay rules, the seductive effect of the guitar's Long live the revolution! And will some- one please suggest a good name for this The gentle gin. sonority or the lively colors of the mistuned color TV soon turn into a tedious bore. new video music. DO . .

67Y)e paranormal, strange beasts, unusual physical phenomena,

speculative archaeology . . 3

ANTIMATTER

In the beginning cal defen ust in for there was matter . . wasn't the stars and antimatter. This Miami Beach attor- column is dedicated ney Jack Nageley. to that proposition. Nageley contended

It is the belief of that his client, Mark many physicists that Denton, charged with during the birth of our robbery, aggravated universe as much an- assault, and rape, be- timatter was created longs in a mental in- as matter. Yet, though stitution rather than in antimatter can be prison because his produced in atom astrological chart smashers, outside shows he was pre- the laboratory it is destined to become nigh unfindable. a disturbed person. For each particle, The judge, however, there should be an disagreed. Before the antiparticle with an opposite electrical charge. For each trial, he directed the prosecutor to consider charging proton, an antiproton; lor each electron, a positron; and so Nageley with indirect contempt of court for making a mock- forth, In Omni we have the Continuum column, which ery of justice, and Nageley withdrew as Denton's counsel. keeps you abreast of happenings in the mainstream of But Nageley claims he has used astrology since 1968 to science. And now we have Antimatter, an exploration of the pick the jury and guide his summation in several cases. frontiers and fringes of science, a search for the nigh "Once you know an individual's sign," says Nageley, "it unfindable. We will be covering studies of the paranormal, saves you fifty queslions and gives you insights for your strange beasts, unusual physical phenomena, speculative closing argument." He believes his technique led to ac- archaeology, and, at times, amusing glimpses at people quittals in the Florida murder trials of George Datz in 1969 who seem to be living in a different universe from the res' of and William Walton in 1974 and saved his most notorious the Surf" the electric us. For example . . client, Jack "Murph Murphy, from • UFO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE. A recent court chair. Although Murphy was convicted of murder and rob- decision indicates that people who encounter extraterres- bery in 1969, he got only "life, life, twenty, and five." trial harassment on the job may be able to quit and still • ANTIPROTONS FOUND. And in a more serious vein, collect unemployment benefits — at least in Pennsylvania. antimatter— the physical kind — has in fact been found by Philadelphia Judge James Crumlish awarded unemploy- a team of New Mexico State University scientists. The re- ment insurance payments to a woman who claimed that searchers loffed a balloon carrying ultrasensitive instru- "nocturnal capers by unidentified beings" made her quit ments to an altitude of 34 kilometers. There, for the first time, her job as administrator at St. Paul's Monastery Manor, a the instruments detected a stream of antiprotons coming Pittsburgh .nursing home. In his opinion. Judge Crumlish from interstellar space. These antiprotons were found to said the woman, Mary Wilson, suffered "mental harass- be as stable as protons, which raises some interesting ment and precarious working conditions following a series questions: Why have we found so few antiprotons and why

. . of alarming extraterrestrial events . featuring self-igniting is the universe so wildly asymmetrical in favor of matter over wastebaskets, interruption of the elevator's electrical antimatter? Are large amounts of antimatter hidden some- power, unprogrammed radio concerts, [and] erratic clock where? Similar experiments are planned aboard the space revolutions She had no alternative but to resign." shuttle, to be launched next year. In the meantime here are • ASTROLOGY DEFENSE. A chance to use an astrologi- three more pages of journalistic antimatter. — D.T 155 FACE FROM SPACE DiPietro and Molenaar se- of the face (smaller photo- doused with phenol, a house- cured thousands of meters graph), which DiPietro and hold bactericide. Five per- bacteria were still Two computer scientists of the original data tapes of Molenaar estimate to be a cent of the have produced photographs the Plains of Elysium trans- monolith 2,000 meters high alive and mobile after 12 studies f a gigantic rock on the sur- mitted from the Viking and 2,150 meters wide. The minutes. Previous a control experiment face of Mars. The rock looks spacecraft in 1976. Using larger photo shows the gen- and using the same bacteria and like a human face. equipment borrowed from eral area on the Elysian mi- Vincent DiPietro and Greg MASA, the two scientists Plains on which the facelike poison indicated that the ought to have Molenaar hope that the analyzed the tapes, im- rock is located. (The mono- croorganisms within two computer-enhanced, proved the contrast, and lith is on the right side of the been immobilized never seen copyrighted pictures (on this eliminated interference. photo, not quite halfway up minutes. "We've them survive beyond two page) will help stimulate in- The result was the picture from the bottom.) minutes," said Raucher. terest in future manned ex- The obvious explanation experiment plorations of Mars. of the Martian face is that it is In another an DiPietro and Molenaar simply an unusual, but natu- Worrall "produced Di- increase in the work for Computer Science ral, rock formation. But anomalous Technicolor Associates, of Pietro and Molenaar claim growth rate and motility of organisms," according to Seabrook, Maryland, acom- that there is no surrounding the Raucher. Describing the ex- pany that does confract work sediment that could have re- periment, she said, "We for NASA. A few years ago sulted from natural erosion. micro- DiPielro saw a fuzzy photo- Therefore, these rock forma- decided to use organisms because their graph published in a book tions, DiPietro and Molenaar about ancienl astronauts conclude, "appear to have growth rate and motility are This al- that showed a humanlike been carved rather than well characterized. control against face, said to be taken from formed by nature," lowed us to experi- Ihe images relayed to Earth The project is outlined in a factors such as menter suggestibility and by the Viking orbiter. 12-page booklet entitled Unusual Martian Surface sleight-of-hand." Features, available for $7 Raucher expressed her from Mars Research, P.O. pique at the more sensation- Box 284, Glen Dale, MD al accounts of her results. 20769. — Harry Lebelson "We have to do our own rep-

lication," she said. "I would

PSYCHIC HEALER say if I saw this in ten to Two California researchers twenty experiments— and

have achieved intriguing, if we did two— then I would inconclusive, results in whaf think we had something. My may be the first laboratory personal view, as a human

test of a psychic healer's being , is that there might be powers. something going on, and it's Elizabeth Raucher, a certainly worth pursuing. As essentially physicist, and Beverly a scientist, I feel

Rubic, a biochemist, both of the same way, but I certainly that John F. Kennedy University, wouldn't make a claim in Martinez, California, you could prove anything asked well-known psychic with only two experiments." healer Olga Worrall to keep — Allan Maurer bacteria alive under normally lethal conditions. "There are more things In the experiment Worrall in heaven end earth, placed her hand beneath a Horatio, than are dreamt test tube containing Trythi- of in your philosophy." murium bacteria, which were — Hamlet "

AfUTI*nnATTER

NIXON'S BATHROOM yellow; pride," Bryant notes. "By contemplating these

If you can get good karma colors, one transforms anger from a kitchen and a bath- and pride into equanimity." room, Richard Nixon ought Work on the project began to have plenty when he's with apurification ritual, in his New York off ice. which included burning in- A company called Karma cense, chanting mantras, Construction submitted the and performing symbolic low bid of $9,300and was finger gestures. Ancient hired by the General Ser- texts and Chinese and Tibet- vices Administration to build an relics were sealed in a private kitchen and bath- plastic bags behind the room for Nixon's new office, sheetrock walls, which also

The firm's motto is "We conceal written mantras. build mantra-filled walls." "We felt the impact of The company's founder, building something for a thirty- nine-year-old Barry former president," Bryant Bryant, employs about 20 says. "The colors, tiles, and workers, craftsmen, artists, textures look as if they be- and spiritual seekers who long in a chateau. We really PINK JAILS Lieutenant Dawson of- "believe in meditation in felt we were building a fered a partial explanation: action." monument."— A.M. Jails and prisons are vio- "They've always had cells Using the Tibetan Bud- lent places, but a new tech- painted gray or green or dhist mandala— which "Unexplainable events occur nique in penology may al- some other monster color. assigns a color to each as- constantly. One men will see leviate scenes such as the Pink is a surprise. I! just gets pect of human personali- spirits. Another will hear one above. The idea is sim- the hostility out of them." ty— as a guide, Bryant voices. A third will wake up ple: Just paint all the cells Dawson said Sweetwater's chose blue for the bathroom and find himself running in pink. police have repeated some and yellow for the kitchen. the Preakness." The Sweetwater, Florida, of the experiments he saw "Blue represents anger, and — Woody Alien Police Department has al- on the newscast, such as ready painted its jail pink having a person lift weights and claims the color has a in the pink cell. "They can't

calming effect on hostile lift as much as normal,"

prisoners. "It really works," Dawson said. said Lieutenant Bud Daw- Now several larger Florida the a institutions are also planning son , who got idea from news report about an exper- to try keeping inmates "In iment in California in which the pink," All the publicity mental patients and hostile surprises Dawson. "We prisoners were calmed by needed to paint the cell pink rooms. anyway and just decided to Sergeant Ray Toledo has give this a try. "—A.M. seen more than 20 prisoners locked up in the cell since its "If this hypothetical psychic color change. "Several pris- were truly talented, death

oners came into the jail in a probably wouldn't even stop rage, and after a couple of him. minutes in the cell they —Jeffrey Mishlove, the calmed down. One hostile country's first Ph.D. in prisoner came into the cell parapsychology, speaking of and cried for two hours," he the use of psychics for claimed. espionage purposes

157 ANTIMATTER

SUMERIAN the Sumerians called Earth CHICKEN TEETH the animal that it doesn't ASTRONAUTS the seventh planet, though survive." Now, thanks to his

today we consider it to be In an experiment being experiment, biologists may Did the ancient Sumerians the third planet (from the cited as evidence that evolu- have an evolutionary dental possess an uncanny under- sun). The figure 7, Sitchin tion may sometimes pro- mutant to study. standing of our solar system says, could have been ar- ceed by rapid species- Next, Kollar is considering at a time when the rest of rived at only by someone changing leaps, a University civilization still believed in an counting from the outside of of Connecticut biologist has Earth-centered universe? our soiar system as he was managed to grow chicken

That's the theory of biblical coming into it. As further teeth— in mice. scholar Zecharia Sitchin, proof, Sitchin claims that the Edward Kollar said that who puts forth his argument Sumerians considered Bnrish ernbryologistDame in his book The Twelfth Venus the eighth planet and Honour Fell discovered that Planet. Mars the sixth. The obvious teeth begin to form in five- Note the six-pointed star, conclusion, he says, is that day-old chick embryos but with balls clustered around the Sumerians were edu- disappear by the sixth day. it, in the photo at right. It is cated by ancient astronauts So Kollar joined em- an enlargement of a detail who landed on Earth approx- bryonic chick cells with from the top left portion of imately 450,000 years ago. molar connective tissue from the 4, 500- year-old Sumerian Sitchin claims he found the nude mice, a strain of mice tablet, below. The star and phrase "People of the Rock- that have no thymus gland balls, says Sitchin, are in fact and therefore do not reject a map of our solar system. ioreicn tissue. The mouse He claims the tablet is re- cells activated the dormant markable not only because it chick-teeth gene. Several shows the sun (the six-pointed weeks later reptilianlike teeth star) at the center of the appeared (photo at right) in solar system, but also be- the mice, complete with cause it depicts all nine enamel layers. an attempt to join mouse planets plus our moonp/us a "The experiment is being cells with live chick embryos tenth planet. And all this cen- interpreted by a new group to see whether the chicks of evolutionary biologists as will be able to grow their own evidence that new species teeth. - A. M, formation may be a macro- rather than a microgenetic "In all the cosmos, there is event," Kollar says. "They naught but straight flying, claim major changes occur bumping, caroming, and because of sudden, severe, again straight flying. probably developmental Phenomena are but lumps, phenomena that can pro- jumps, and bumps. A mass duce new forms." unit's career is but lumping, Kollar has studied tooth bumping, rejumping, development for 15 years, rebumping, and finally but he has always felt ham- unlumping." pered by the lack of "a good —George Francis Gillette,

istronomers et Ships" i dental mutant." Very often, known for his "backscrewing realized that the earth re- ings. he explains, insights into theory of gravity" volves around the sun, that Astronomers and Sume- normal processes can be there are three planets be- rian scholars who have ex- derived from mutant aberra- "Apart from the known and yond Saturn, and that there amined Sitchin's work doubt tions. Unfortunately, mutant the unknown, what else is may be a tenth planet. both his knowledge of as- teeth rarely develop. "When there?" How did the Sumerians fig- tronomy and his grasp of they do occur," says Kollar, —Harold Pinter, in ure this out? Sitchin claims Sumerian cuneiform. "they are so devastating to The Homecoming 158 OMNI would be tied to tnc piolii.jbihiv o'" a s noio time the relationship between wages and company. In a society In which only half or price's could go badly off balance. Eventu- FUTURE one quarter of the work force remains em- ally the efficiency of robot workers will bring ployed', the others displaced by robots, a the prices of all goods well below current important challenges required huge in- bankruptcy in one company would be dis- levels (raising the quality, too). During the vestments, [he government went' to the astrous. The dividends would disappear, interim, however, fluctuations in the econ- people and asked them to'invest in public and no jobs wou.d be available to offset the omy might be dramatic. bonds. During World War II, for Instance, loss. The government might have to per- This rr-ghl necessitate establishment of War Bonds represented a willing invest- form Chrysler-like bailouts on a herculean a monetary control system above and be- ment by the people in -winning the war. scale lo maintain robot companies. yond the Federal Reserve System, One Robotics is the challenge oHhe future. A third course, probably the most attract- possibility would be an "enforced savings"

The government could move us to .accept it ive one, would be to use the NMF as a program. Whenever prices begin lo gallop by forming a quasi-public agency to sell conduit for paymerfs to disp aced workers. away. Ihe government could impose a spe- Victory Bonds tor Ihe Future. The money- A stipend from the dividends the NMF re- cial deduction on all paychecks to draw gathering agency ihat issues trie Ponds ceives o.n the slocks it buys could be money out of the economy and thus lower might be called the National Mutual Fund guaranteed to. each unemployed human demand. This money would be designated

(NMF). Here is how it might work. worker. Every time the NMF finances a enforced savings, placed in special sav-

First, a massive campaign o.f advertis- company into the Robot Age, it will get ings accounts where it would stay- ing, promotion, and speeches would .be stock, which pays dividends. As robots gaining interest — until the economy cooled. undertaken lo explain to the American pub- spread through the economy, ihe NMF will Obviously, such a plan would represent a lic why robotics is so vital for their future. hold stock in more and more companies, serious sacrifice for workers. It would also

Without it, they would be told, the next gen- receiving greater and greater dividends. be an unusual infringement upon the rights eration of Americans will live in a second- As more workers are put out of jobs by of American citizens. But if we want to rate society whose goods won't sell on robots, the NMF will have steadily more adopt the technology we need for the fu- world markets. Jobs will be scarcer than iu'e a lew such exc«p:ional c-l'oits will ever. The dollar will be so depreciated that surely.be required. The- alternatives would it won't buy a stick of chewing gum. Failure be Ballooning inflation and an uncontrolla- to accept the 'obo'io challenge will put the ble economy that could ruin all plans and throw the United States into financial chaos. United States in an ever-deeper fiscal hole. ZOne danger we may have Americans will be encouraged' to invest Even if our entry into the future goes as much as they can — until it hurts — In to cope with is smoothly, robots will not bring Utopia. No Victory Bonds for the Future. To stimulate machine can, because the final barrier to inflation. As money pours public acceptance further, the bonds human happiness es in human nature. could pay interest pegged to the cost of into robotics, Robots will bring in an age of universal living. Investor;, would always receive, say, the economy could become prosperity. They will help us stretch our 5 percent interest more than the year's av- natural resources and create synthetic re- badly overheated; erage rate of inflation. sources when the natural ones are

With the money it receives fro.m public wages and prices might exhausted. They will improve the quality investors, along with money appropriated and availability of all goods. They will help go a bit haywire. 9 by Congress or gathered from other gov- us husband our food supply to provide an ernment Sources, the NMF would build a adequate diet for all humankind. They will significant supply of cash. The NMF can encourage us to reach out and explore the use this cash to finance companies that universe, the earth, and ourselves. want to adopt robot technologies. The firms But the robots won't solve our paramount can issue spec-al sfoc*. of'ers, which the money to assist them. I! will work somewhat problem: overpopulation. Our unchecked NMF can buy. They can then use the. money the. way Social Security or unemployment growth has outstripped the productivity of from Ihe stock sales to install robots. compensation does now, but the .money every technology ever devised and sucked

Now let's look at the other side of robot distributed will not be tax revenues: it will be dry every pocket of useful resources ever economics: As the new technology ex- ciiv id en as. .ike itiose of any mutual fund. discovered. Our exorbitant numbers have pands, workers will be pushed out. of jobs. Not all workers who lose jobs to robots strained world industries to the limit. We must plan to ease their discomfort and will bfi- put out of work. The adoption of Robotics will give us one last chance to make up for their financial losses. robotics, in its early stages, will eliminate overcome this fundamental bane of civili-

One way would be to allow the workers to many fobs, but it will open up many others. zation. It won't solve the problem, but it will own the robots that replace them, As own- As assembly-lme |Oos disappear, construc- give uslime to solve' It ourselves. ers, they could lease the robots back to tion of new robot factories will require Perhaps this is the best use to which we their former employers for use at their old skilled hands. As technical services go can put. the. seamless stretch of work-free jobs. This .plan is highly speculative, of robotic, more programmers will be needed. time we'll have. Can we control ourselves? course; it would require extraordinary The shift from a worker economy to a Can we create a social order that keeps cooperation among workers, unions, the robot economy will be gradual, spanning at within the limits of its resources, space, and owners of businesses, and government. least a generation. If the basic institutions food supply? Can we make an orderly tran- Another method might be to establish and plans are ready at the inception, there sition to. the frontier of the stars before our huge employee stock-opt. on plans. If em- will be lime during the process to adjust to expanding population impoverishes even ployees are given large blocks of stock, in the changing situation. The shift to robotics the robotic economy oh Earth? their own company, they'll benefit directly could be managed almost on an industry- Freed from arduous toil, awash in mate- from the Increased productivity the robots by-i'ndustry schedule, controlled and rea- rial goods, we will have to become a new will furnish. The dividends on their shares sonable, if there are such agencies as the type of human. Will we use the freedom of could offset their lost wages. This plan NMF ready to oversee the change. this future age to secure mankind's stake in would ease the burden only for the labor One other problem our robotic control the universe, or will we. fritter away this op- force now employed; it would do little fpr plans will have to cope with is inflation. As portunity in boredom and dissipation? those who enter the labor force after the companies and the government pour Robots pose this ultimate question to us, transition hits its stride. money into robotics, the economy could but only we can answer. Which will it be: an Also, the fortunes of displaced workers become dangerously overheated. For a orchestrated future, or the last dance?DO 160 OMNI —

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import food and other products, and that or TV game, unless future man evolves a COUNTDOWN necessitates extensive distribution sys- brand-new ethic of working together to re- things dis- place the current cutthroat version of keep- :::: ;"IH!!Ff.:- = :Vi f-gl 5- tems. All this brings a lot of we like, such as large authoritarian govern- ing up with the Joneses and Ivanovs tively recent development. Times past are ments. In space, however, everything works (which, oi course, means getting way predominantly a record of here-and-now in the opposite direction. A hundred little ahead of them). liominids. getting along with a bare mini- space colonies are cheaper and more effi- Will we make it? The answer depends on of basic Us; If control the mum of -foresight. As a matter of fact, cient than a single giant colony. The sheer a number we .ubos suggests that looking ahead on (he economics of space pushes us toward world's population growth, if we develop grand scale, "really anticipating the possi- thinking small." sources of renewable energy, if we have no achieve- ble consequences of our actions." began a O'Neill's "islands" will consist of self-suf- more world wars. Without such it— Mann has mere generation or so ago. ficient units. They will not be isolated, how- ments, we may not make as vision sees us The ultimate in decentralization will not ever. Each colony will be an experimental predicted. An alternate evolving into like the ants and come on this or any other planet but on Community, tree to choose its own form of something that to have man-made satellite worlds, already on en- government but linked to other colonies by other social insects seem gineering drawing boards. Gerard K. graphic-display terminals and an overall reached a kind of evolutionary plateau, a withoutiechnolog- O'Neill, the Princeton University physicist, computer network. Individuals will be free stable stop-action world envisions human settlements even beyond to.travel around on fast celestial omnibuses ical or social progress and without suffer- our solar system; "Now thai we realize the to any other colony, including Earth itself. ing, either. This is the future of man seen by Orwell, John possibility of es'iiliko habitation in space, This is an American prospectus. Soviet en- Aldous Huxley, George and Bonner; a anthill on an interplane- all star systems 'become potential sites for gineers are thinking a one Generally similar human account colonies, whether or not those systems lines, one difference beng that travel from tary scale. However, in this view, no have planets." one "human collective ir apace" to another is made for our moral evolution. plausible Specifications for the first space col- may take place through interconnecting A third possibility is just as and onies, which O'Neill calls "Island One" tubes, hermetically sealed corridors. a lot more exciting — change, widening ex- increasing complexity into models, are being spelled out in detail. ploration, and THE PERENNIAL "IF" the indefinite future, a prospect without Each unit is designed as a sphere a mile in circumference, complete with shielding All of which brings us back to present- precedent. But then the human variety of against errant meteorites, about 200 sun- day realities. Communities of people in culture is also without precedent. Wilson, drenched acres of farmland, and room for space may start small, but they won't stay Washburn, and O'Neill opt for this sorl of prejudices lie in the suburban -style homes, parks, lunar-sand small, and in all probability people will be- future, and my own beaches, and 10,000 human beings. "On have just as aggressively among the same direction. It implies supersocieties, Earth we have an economy of scale," planets as they do here on Earth. Space networks of symbiotic "space bubble" col- onies spreading benignly throughout the O'Neill postulates. "Nations impinge on the War I could readily become something boundaries of other nations and export and ralher more lethal than any science-fiction Milky Way and beyond. OQ 162 OMNI .

Newly Revised & Updated LANDSAT Facts Charles Sheffield's article "Earth Scans" The Classic "Masterpiece FDRUrUl presents some beautiful of Science"* by [June 1980] CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 "The Greatest Writer on Science lANDSAT .scenes, but the description of Alive Today'"*' and construction =, some- occurred ;all around the world, their acquisition one "3) The mutilated animals are consist- what misleading. Reading the article, RED GIANTS and ently found to be heifers., one to three years envisions.a camera aboard the spacecraft, are acquired by a old, though there is an occasional bull, but in reality the data WHITE DWARFS horse, or antelope. All the animals ap- multispectral scanner, which measures ihe Dr. Robert Jastrow adjacent peared to be normal and healthy before brightness ol some 255,000 The 400,000-copy bestseller on the his- tory ot the universe and the evolution of they died. areas of the earth each second, Since life, revised, expanded and updated in rectum and reproductive organs brightness data are obtained in four bands-, 4) The this new edition -With: vere surgically removed from alt of the this amounts to more than 1 million such • Coverage of Ihe astounding discoveries laser knife" (to quoie a values each second. Each standard animals "as if by a made over the last decade about black (which T85 x source). Other parts, such as -an occa- LANDSAT frame measures holes; the riddle of life on Mars; UFOS; nearly seconds to acquire sional tail, tongue, qr ear, were also re- 178 km) takes 30 the moons of Jupiter; and the scientific million data points evidence of creation. moved, from the- animals "as if they were and represents some 29 trying to throw us off" (to quote yet another (in all four bands). These data are used by • 24 pages of color photos, including many never before published. source). There was no blood left in the the U.S. Geological Survey to prepare products, using a complex dead animals; it was gone; it did not pool. photographic- n Quality Paperback from Certain chemicals were missing from ihe data receiving and processing system. prints from these vital organs (copper and potassium, I be- Photographic made Sur- lieve). An organic powder composed of data are available from the Geological phosphorus and magnesium thai giowed vey's Earth Resources Observation Sys- when exposed to ultraviolet light was tems (EROS) Data Center, in Sioux Falls, found on the hides of the dead animals and South Dakota. was also found on some live-animals in the Three LANDSAT satellites have been herds that the mutilated animals Game launched to date, The only operating satel- from. lite in this series is LANDSAT-3. which is 5) Scavengers, Such as coyotes and now plagued by on-board problems with its buzzards, and flies would not go near the scanner. The launch of the next satellite of mutilated carcasses. No tracks, not even this series (LANDSAT-D) is- not scheduled -hose of the victims, were found within sev- until 1981 or 1982. eral feet of the bodies. R. L. Hinkle Clifton, N.J- 6) Little, if any. radioactivity was de- tected in the area around the carcasses. 7) The animals were alive when the muti- Unblinded by the Light Gribbin for his fine article "Ju- FREE lations occurred, and, as far as can be told, I thank John no anesthetic was used. piter's Noneffect" [June 1980], He has ICELANDIC WOOL 8) Mutilations have occurred within 50 successfully communicated what I have CATALOG & SWATCH feet of a house full of people, without dis- been trying to explain to people who use turbing anyone. the planetary alignment as "proof" of the Landau offers the world's to educate largest selection of men's. 9) In approximately 75 percent of the re- destruction of the world. Trying women's and children's ported cases, nocturnal lights were sight- them has been like talking to a blind man Icelandic woolen pro- Gribbin's-article ed in the general area within about a 48-hour with sign language, but Mr. ducts. Exquisite jackets, after occurrence, has helped. period before and an ponchos, coats, hand Terry Fischer 10) There has never been an eyewitness knit sweaters, mittens, to a mutilation. Grand Forks. N.D.OQ scarves, hats and more. 11) Some herds have been chosen to Experience the natural, supply more than one guinea pig, though undyed colors, durability, water repellency and in- not at thesame time. (Watched herds were PHOTO CREDITS credible warmth without never hit again.) .•,,:'::;;-,! ,.;nique to Icelandic wool. Every catalog 12) The last question on my list was; "In •-, :::.:-. u- first- : , : ..', &8A* i« .!: carries a wool swatch so you can examine your opinion, do we have the technological •' V-. page 24. Jorr »= page 18, C--- WC;..- pageSO. hand what makes this superb wool an invest- .'..!><= :::.:. --: ,3iig..- duplicate the mutilations exactly .7-i-f-:.-v ps(j« 23. psgs2S. 30, ability to ment in luxury for years to come. Use the ". >:: J-t-Kw,-'.;: page36top.JoM~He-.c-., unanimous answer i; as they occurred?" The -I -..,.: ii,-: Soo.stjy/I SsarEtujre plgl coupon or call TOLL FREE 800-257-9445;

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, J information from highly reliable sources to CL.-:i:j'..m (..',: page 38 right. '.3-ir-rtk/?.si,. i-.'- i :.---..-.-: Us-- VI JNg:;s- page 39 right, FREE CATALOG prove the opposite of Mr. Rommel's find- page 39 Lett, ,.• J-.nr vin^ei-! page 10 right, rv™- 1 a ::- r*-< -:rerf And Free Icelandic Wool Swatch. I If case, at least ! ings. I have not proved my n3js -.r;s page 41 right. pegeai left, ^--si^ig^'-LJ :, _ I 1S !C'T have supplied a reasonable doubt. f!:!'.y. LANDAU— DepL OM-10 pages 7A- 75, Kt -•.:, ':'' |W0WI investigation is an insult to 671, HflMassauSt- Mr. Rommel's 100-111 DK06. 10J P.O. Box

: ;:«?.- -'".-- Princeton. MJ 08540 my intelligence. I wholeheartedly concur o;-.g.-io--..: « F.-- ,::,.: - pages 106-107, . nr a,>;is- ISO with the Albuquerque. Journal's opinion of

for Mr, ::.:-.-' Rommel and Richard M. Nixon. As : -.:: ' •: > '. " -'< =.; n,< ii-.J '5*0 '.:.-,;:-,;,-i. oage 15/ left, r:-.-,-, Car 9 e Randi, the only thing I find 'Amazing" about f,i-.-.- Fesaa-chera page 157 right, & proper back- him is that he failed to get the |e 158 l«tt, ZecnarL. ;hin;p>ga156rlgflt, EtJiva ground information on something that he was supposed to be writing about. Ms, C. J. Harper Hurricane, WVa. Henry felt co el suddenly And why can't I

change the rules? After all, I invented the Game." Do You Read Albert Mathews sat down beside Henry's desk in the hard wooden chair. Because one of its legs had been sawed half an inch Small Ads Like This? shorter than the others, the chair rocked back and forth as Albert talked. "Henry, you're not playing solitaire. There are over a do As part of an advertising test we return your earrings you may hundred players in this building alone. Ten and times that number in the entire complex. will send a pair of genuine dia- so to the address below And every new round it grows!" earrings to every receive a full refund. There is a mond stud "Henry," Albert said, "it's spreading, too. pair of diamond ear- reader of Omni Magazine who limit of (1) They're playing it in El Paso. Savannah's interested. The guys in Newark are saying reads and responds to this printed rings per address, but if your re- they've had it all along. In tact, they're notice before Midnight, quest is made before December 5, pissed because they think you stole it from pair by December 16, for the sum of $5 you may request a second them." plus $1 shipping, handling and enclosing an additional $5 plus Henry frowned. critical. in- "Look, Henry, I don't mean to be insurance. There is no further $1 shipping, handling and God knows, before the Game, there was surance. request will be obligation. (Each diamond of the No nothing! Efficiency was poor. There was no

past the dates noted It 'errioiy depressing. Now, of pair is a genuine .25 pt 10-facet accepted morale, was course, because of the Game, all that's round diamond and will be above; your uncashed check will changed. Henry, you've transformed us our Certificate be returned if postmarked later accompanied by into a team! We finally have something in enclose of Authenticity to that effect.) than those dates. Please - with your "But you can' just change the rules on a This advertising test is being this original notice whim! And I'll tell you something else, too." placed simultaneously in other request (photocopies will not be At this, Albert looked around conspiralori- it Send to: abernathv & publications. If you see in more accepted). ally "Henry, this is on the O.T Aw, maybe I than one publication, please let us closther, ltd., Diamond Earring shouldn't fell you this." Albert pulled the 662-2, disabled chair close to Henry. 'About Ihe know, as this information is Advertising Test, Dept. Game," he whispered. "I've heard it's being helpful to us. Should you wish to Box 1310, Westbury, N.V. 11S90. - considered by the President himself!" (A823SO) said, feeling an "Whal can I say?" Henry intense pleasure. "The guy's dumb. But he's not that dumb." you told me. I think I'm lost." "Oh?" "That's right, Henry. And that makes it all Easy Points the "I'm over in fhe third quadrangle now As the more imperative that we convene CONTINUED FHOM Pi a matter of fact," he said with an obviously board." -?" almosf grateful glances as he scurried off strained laugh, "I've been here for almost "You think so fountain "Absolutely. Look, we need to check over for the elevator two hours. I can't find a anywhere." all the rules anyway. Add, delete, make Back in his office, he asked Margo— his "Oh?" blonde and full-breasted secretary— for "And I've really looked, too. All around, changes where necessary. But I'm afraid fountain." can't it all on your own any- I decide the name of the head maintenance man on Mr. Cutler. just can't find that you said, nowhimself more." Section P. "Mr. MacAffee." Henry Albert a point. "Emilio Marquez. Is something wrong?" sounding a little confused. "Why are you Henry sighed. had said. "The Game "No, no. Just try to get him for me some- looking for a fountain?" "Face it, Henry," Albert of course. has just grown too big." time today, Margo. Oh, before I forget- "Well ... to find Building G. how long was Ramona Kitchens on the You told me there was a fountain in front of phone?" Building G." At three, Margo popped her head in the Emilio again. He'sgof "The one who wanted V, as in Valerie, oh Henry Cutter smiled. "No, no. Mr. MacAf- door, "I'll try Marquez

I I sometime." dash three sixer seven?" fee. You have confused what told you. to get off his coffee break Henry waited through "Yes, that's the one." told you there was a fountain in Building G. "Yes. Try it again." clicks and buzzes and two Margo checked her log. "Twenty-two There is an oak tree in front of it." (he inevitable "Emilio? Hey. boy! This is minutes and thirty-eight seconds. That is, "An oak tree?" misiransfers. said. Cutter. are you doing^" of course, before we cut her off com- "An oak tree. It's in a planter." Henry Henry How it's "Fine, sir." pletely." "A rectangular planter. It's cement. And Section P today. Stroke of Henry Cutter smiled. "Inform Mrs. Dano," red. Bright cherry-red." "i looked in on genius. What was that you put on the floor?" he said. "And I want full credit, too. No more Emilio "A new wax, sir. W, as in of that point-and-a-half deduction just be- Later Henry watched as the tall, angular laughed.

I in- really in irritation around his office. Wait-forever, dash eight niner zero. cause it wasn't face to face. That's man paced jerky, disjointed vented it myself. Takes twelve hours to dry, not fair, you know, dear. Tell Dano I've de- He watched the man's ought to go down there now, sir. cided to change the rules." movements, then said, 'Albert, why?" Oh, you of the of public got off the bench. I told "Very good, Mr. Cutter. I'm sure morale "Why? Why do I want a meeting One the real snotty bitch. I'll tell why. I not to. But she was a sir, I think Board, Henry? you her will soar! And, if I may say so, Game her." up, spic' So I let you're one of Jhe most creative middle heard you changed the rules. Again." She said, 'Shut her managers we've ever had." "Yes. Albert. That's right. I did." "You let what?" bench." Henry Cutter smiled. "Well, you can't do that! You can't just "I let her get off the Henry rubbed his forehead. He had dis- At two, Brian MacAffee telephoned. "Mr. arbitrarily change the rules. And right be- Maintenance could confused what fore-final scoring, loo! It's unheard of." covered that talking to Cuiter, I think I must have

164 OMNI "Oscar, I don't want you to let her up here again. Do you understand?" Sophisticated "Well, Mr. Carter ... uh ... I can't be too sure about that. Y'know, I'm not on duty all

the time, and even when I am, she's such a ." personal crafty devil, she could slip past and . . "Maybe we can work something out, Os- car." computers for Oscar settled for twenty dollars on the nose and five extra a week. Henry tried to

condition himself to think of it as an insur- serious people. ance premium. Although he knew he would not pay gladly, Henry also knew he would

Ohio Scientific microcomputers are listened to the not just game machines that have Henry ate his dinner and twelfth chorus of spread wings. We've been making radio. Halfway through the "Amazing Grace," he heard a terrible noise. microcomputers since the industry "Henry? Henry Cutter! This is your began in 1975. No matter what your mother speaking!" application, we have a computer that Henry dropped his spoon. Terrified, he merits your serious consideration. searched the small apartment. "Come to the window, Henry!" Henry went. He parted the curtains timidly. talk to you!" "Henry, I want to "God, Mamma!" Henry said as he flung the window open and bent out. "What are you doing there? And put down that bull- horn!" The small woman who dyed her hair red

and was a good tipper said, "No! Not till I 1333 SOUTH CHILLICDTHE ROAD talk to you, Henry!"" Her voice had a AURORA. OH 44202 - [21 6] 831 -5600 strange, mechanical tone. It wafted up and bounced off the walls of the U-shaped building. Dozens of windows overlooking the courtyard opened. Heads concrete t Curious. Public. "I was up sometimes be very difficult. "So?" started fixing dinner and, when he could no popped out. Henry!" "Sir! She'sstuck to the floor! Hasn't been longer stand it, went to answer the phone. there today, yelled back. "Will you put able to move for over an hour." "Hello, Mamma." "I know!" he talk you'" that damn bullhorn!" I want to to down Henry smiled. "Emilio. I want you to go "Henry,

I found up there, I that tone do you know what over to Personnel. Fill out a B, as in Bar- 'Absolutely not. Mamma, know 'And bara, dash eight three two dash A. as in of yours." Henry's hands began to sweat. Henry Cutter?" find lady?" the man in 4-F Annie. Mr. Acue has them." "I'm coming over, Henry." "Whadja tell doorman "Yes, sir!" "Oh, no, you're not, I'll the to yelled. "Put down that "You know where he is?" keep you out." "Damnation," Henry said. better bullhorn!" "Yes, sir!" Mamma laughed. "I tip him than and I Cutter reached into her bag I up Mrs. "Emilio," Henry said, "I'm kicking you up- you do. I can get in anytime want. was Henry could stairs." there just today, Henry, and that's what I reprieved a small brown box. Cutter! want to talk to you about." barely see it. "I found these, Henry These!" Before he left for the night. Henry had The veins in Henry's neck began to 7 " the woman in Margo set up a meeting of the Game Board throb. "What are they asked 5-A for nine in the morning. He also trimmed his "Henry, I'm coming over." it drugs!" said her neigh- nails. In mid-clip, the phone rang. Henry hung up the phone. It rang again; "Oh, must be woman." it, He went over to the bor, Mrs. Green. "That poor, poor "Mr, Cutter, I can't find that oak tree." so he unplugged

thousand times! I "Oh?" Henry dropped the paring into his door and pressed the buzzer to the lobby. "Henry, I've told you a wait Ihe grandchildren! Do you hear? Grand- ashtray. "What oak tree? And who is this''" After what seemed an interminable want Grandchildren! Grandchildren! I "Brian! Brian MacAffee! You said to look doorman finally answered. children! today?" up there to clean, and what do I find? for an oak tree. In the planter? In front of "Oscar, was my mother up here go pointed the box at Henry. Building G?" "Maybe," came the answer. "It depends. These!" She they're rubbers!" cried the teen- "Building G? Mr. MacAffee, there is no Who are you?" "Hey,

I five in 1-C. oak tree in front of Building G. It's a pine." "Henry Cutter! In 8-B! gave you aged boy asked ihe woman in 2-B. Henry tapped his nail clipper lightly on the dollars just last Christmas, remember?" Rubbers?" called to the man Five bucks I "They're, rubbers!" she mouthpiece. "I'm sorry, Mr MacAffee. I Oscar laughed. "Oh, yeah- ramcmoe', huh!" above her, who called to the man above have an incoming call. Can I put you on hold?" "Well 7 Was my mother up here?" him. "Little old lady? Dyes her hair red? Good By the time the news reached Henry on all people in the complex knew There was a ringing in Henry's ears when tipper?" eight, the were laughing. Hooting. Half-falling he finally msSe it home. A constant nag- "Yeah, Why'd you let her in?" And from their windows. ging noise. He tried to ignore it. He felt his "She's a good tipper. What did she do, or "I'm gonna kill you. Mamma!" Henry heart race arrhythmical ly. Painfully. He went Mr. Carter? Rip you. off something?" from the sill. "I'm to the bathroom. He put ihe teakettle on. He Henry pinched the bridge of his nose. .screamed, pulling away

166 OMNI "

"No. That would be the bonus," Henry

said. "Look, it's not complicated, Albert.

HEWLETT Say, tor instance, I wanted to use my mother m PACKARD for points. She comes over on business and I say, 'Mom. You want to go to the bathroom?' Naturally, my mother — any- 1 is to one's mother for that matter— going answer, 'No.'

"That is, of course, until I start talking ;°™ about something important. Or, say 1 invite HP 85 COMPUTER-^S her to lunch. She'll wait until we're in the car and then say, 'Henry, I've got to go to the CARD READER — $184.95 bathroom now' PRINTER — $329.95 The Game Board laughed.

"So, anyway, I'd then say, 'Sure, Mom.' I

direct her to one ot the Johns, but I make

sure it's the farthest one away from wher-

ever we happen to be. Immediately, I score one point. Irritation Factor, right?" USED HP's FOR SALE JACK DANIEL'S Dano concurred. FIELD TESTER CAP "Now the bathroom I take her to is a Texos Instruments one, right? That means that out of 1 public Tl 99/4 - 3395.00 This is a comfortable sportsman's : lied COMPUTER--™ fourteen or sixteen toilets, only one oi them

cap. Black mesh (air cooled) and adjust- is working, (score another point, It's simple, able to any size head, with an Official really. So now she has to wait in line, right? "Jack Daniel's Field Tester" patch or But maybe that line is rowdy! My mother's the front. Guaranteed to shade your eyes fairly old, and rowdy lines intimidate her. So and start a lot of conversations. that's another point at least. Number three My S5.25 price includes postage already! So she waits. And when she finally and handling. gets to the head of the line, what hap- Send check, money order, or use Ameri- pens?" can Express, Visa or Master Charge, "She gets in," Albert said. "Goes. Re- including all numbers and signature. duces her l-factor to zero, and you're out of 2400 EUCLID AVE.; CLEVELAND, OHIO 44115 the ball park, Henry." TEL. ORDER HRS: 9-6. U-IH: 9-4:30, F: 10-4, SAT. 1-216-361-6464; TELEX- 985 550 "Not so," Henry corrected. "Oh, she gets in all right. But when she's through, she

reaches for the paperand . . . guess what?" "There isn't any!" someone said. really gonna kill you this time!" gible for scoring, then mothers should be, only sheet!" "Don't touch that poor woman's head!" too." "Or maybe there's one else said, "there's screeched Mrs. Green from five. "She's The members of the Game Board were "Or maybe," someone

it out!" your Mamma! She loves you, schmuck!" silent. a whole roll, but none ot will come said. "And by the Mrs. Green looked down for a second. 'And "They're not exempt from red tape, you "Exactly," Henry now business irritation Factor has crossed to the Point how long were you in labor, Mrs. Cutter?" know. I bet everyone here handles of Frustration, percentage level one, of "Three days!" she cried up. "Three days I for his or her mother. On occasion." — so, that's an automatic suffered for him, and look what he does! Albert looked disgusted. "But, Henry course. But even bonus factor— say. a Henry Cutter! Grandchildren are the com- your own mother?" ten! Then tack on the multiplier of and voila! Thirty points. pensation' for old age! I've told you a "Albert, make no mistake. No one has to three— the thousand times! You do this just to aggra- play them. But, ladies, gentlemen, fellow And. ladies, gentlemen, that's just vate me!" bureaucrats, let's not forget the meaning of Johns!" "Mamma, stay right where you are! I'm the Game, the purpose, the primary motive "It's brilliant!" "Magnificent!" . Everyone au- coming down!" . . 'the Game is for money. justifiable." "Don't walk away from your Mamma," tomatically tithes ten percent of his or her' "Justifiable." Henry said, "it's board voted to include a new cate- Mrs. Green- yelled. "Children! They'll cut salary towards it, And if they don't show or The

. gory: mothers. . that your heart out!" place at the end of a round, well . broke for the morning, "Who cuts your heart out?" asked the money's gone. Before they up one Albert said that Grounds Maintenance had lady in 11-F "Look, the rules wouldn't change. No him saying they wanted into the "Henry Cutter, that's who! Look! He's kill- has to play anyone they don't want to. And contacted said you had to give them ing his poor mother!" I'm not saying mothers would be an every- Game. Albert creative. 'As a gesture "Killing his mother! Where?" day score. That is ridiculous. But think! Just their due.: They were said, "they redesigned At this, Henry— who was not married and think of the possibilities!" of good faith," he the parking lots. Just the ones for Visitors, had never been married — fell to his knees. The Game Board was silent. They con- sidered the possibilities. Finally. Eleanor but still ... you ought to see it. In Lot C, little signs saying, "Mothers." Henry said, "should be for Dano, the head referee, said, "Out of curi- they've placed all these

I they have a points, too." osity, Henry, how much would you say to visitors parking. bet saying, visitors The dozen or so men and women seated they'd be worth?" hundred of those. All TO follows the signs, around the conference table laughed. Ob- Henry shrugged. "They'd rank like ev- parking. So the public course, right? They drive and drive and drive. And viously ihey thought it was a joke. Finally, erybody else. With a bonus, of completely out Albert— the ever sensible— said, "Henry, considering the emotional bond. Person- before they know it, they're that's ridiculous: And, anyway, how often ally. I'd go for a multiplication of the Irritation of the lot." does your mother come to the office?" Factor. The same thing for the Percentage 'And back on fhe street?" 'You Henry smiled. "I'm serious. Under the Point of Frustration." "Yes! Third Street." Albert said. know, the one that leads directly and with- new rules, if close personal friends are eli- "Plus a bonus?" Albert asked. 168 OMNI :_" any cutoffs !Q :he Ifroughway Thai's beautiful," Henry said. "Wait! Listen to what else they've done. In i Speak Spanish

Lc: Q— you can see it from your office, Kmrv in Lot Q. they've painted reserved like a diplomat! on almost all the spaces In fact, out of two What sort of people need to lean The FSI'! Programmatic Kfcdred slots, they left only one that says Spanish foreign language as quickly and effec- LjuursH comes in two volumes. You Bitor. There was a hell of fight down a tively as possible? Foreign Service per- may order one or both courses: )ftere this morning- Had to be fifteen or sonnel, that's who. Members of Volume I, Basic. the public slugging it out for that America's diplomatic corps are assign- twenty of (11 cassettes, 16 hours), instructor's ed to U.S. embassies abroad, where manual and 464-page text, $115 they must be able to converse fluently "Who won?" Dano asked. in every situation. D Volume II. Advanced. cassettes, 11V: "Oh," Alberl said', "I don't know. So Now you can learn to speak Spanish (8 hours), instruc- just as these diplomatic personnel do- tor's manual and 614 page text, $98 guy Anyway, I think we should let Grounds with the Foreign Service (New York residents add sales tax.) Maintenance in." Insti- tute's Programmatic Spanish Course. Your cassettes are shipped to you in Board agreed, fhe Game The U.S. Department of State has handsome library binders. spent tens of thousands of dollars de- TO ORDER, JUST CLIP THIS AD and ;: -e ,_.ry wen! back lo his o 'ice nappy and veloping this course. It's by far the mail with your name and address, and a relaxed. most effective way to learn Spanish at check or money order. Or. charge to your own convenience and at your own your credit card (American Express, Game Board or no Game Board, he pace. VISA, Master Charge, Diners Club) by lealized, the Game was sti ! his He had The Programmatic Spanish Course enclosing card number, expiration afeved over the birth of the Game. What- consists of a series of tape cassettes date, and your signature. and an accompanying textbook. You ever he wanted, as in the past, was simply The Foreign Service Institute's simply follow the spoken and written Spanish course is unconditionally :^:l ,-; Ru es Accounting sys- changes instructions, listening repeating. and guaranteed. Try it for three weeks. If tems Mothers. the By end of the course, you'll find you're not convinced it's the fastest, When he. got back to his desk, Margo' yourself learning and speaking entirely easiest, most painless way to learn in Spanish! buzzed him and said he had a call. Spanish, return it and we'll refund This course turns your cassette every penny you paid! Order todayl "Mr. Cutter.'" the voice said, "I'm in'Buiid- player into a "teaching machine." With Many other FSI language fctgG, Yes, I finally found it, I'm in room 807, its unique "programmatic" learning also available. Write us.

c„: . now this is very strange. No one up method, you set your own pace- Audio- tere has ever heard of Mr. Acue." testing yourself, correcting errors, rein- Forum forcing Oept.790 "That's puzzling," Henry said. "Very accurate responses. 145 East 49lh St. puzzling indeed. By the way, who are you? 1 And why are you lacking tor Mr Acue?" ;auDia>raRunv tsgi&v-™ ^> 3ran MacAtfee screamed his name at something else. %--—--»• -e~ry. He screamed

: : — sometnng unintelligible "hen quickly, he apologized. "Look," he-said, "I leahze'you'reabusyman.andl hate to take ^""Solar Calculator four time. You'll never know how much I

hate to take your time. But when I saw you

ss'.erday. you said I needed to get a B, n Barbara, dash eight three two dash A, as pAnnie.YousaidaMr Acue in Building G ."

-sa them and . . Building G?" Henry interrupted, "Mr, MacAffee, I'm afraid.yo.u've gotten things a CHe confused. Again. Mr. Acue isn't in 5. ding G. He"s in Building B-as in Bar- bara." Henry let this information sink in for a second; then he added. "Do you know \ 29 -ere that is?" § Henry heard the sound of muffled sob- bing on the line. He told Brian how to ge! to A Calculator Breakthrough Building B. hung up. and dialed Dano. batteries! If'salwaysreany to us.-d.ih,i f, "Play back the tape of my las! conversa- fcon." he said. "I just got to. the Point of

Frustration, dear. Score . . . automatic ten."

The rest of Henry's morning was fairly -.ccal. 30-Day Money Back Guarantee Rarnona Kitchens called back. Henry Call Toll Free apologized profusely. He blamed the entire ~-sunderstanding yesterday on Margo. 800-228-2606 -""—' ;: r' - - - '-lis time- he ".ook down half her address (In ME. call 800-64-2-8777) ' seforeheputheron hold-and left for lunch, 24 Hours a Day-7 Days a Week He ate with Emilio Marquez. Emilio ex- CieciM Card Orders ON camed a plan he'd devised during the

(fit. "Mr. Cutter," he said, "it's the. ele- :ors."

| Edmund Scientific Co., Dept.--3278 'Kktu 'Call me Henry, son." 1 Edmund Scientific Edscorp Bidg., Barringion, M.J. 0800? : 'You see. Henry, what we do is this. We fix " 3

the public ones so they never go up." deliberately. "I told you to get a B, as in Brian. You should be grateful to us, not— as "What?" Barbara, dash eight three two dash A, as in you are now— snotty. After all, we're only

. . "Well, they do go up. Eventually. But Annie . subscript one." doing this for your own good." never directly from the lobby That's the Brian exploded from the chair. "Damn it," Brian's jaw dropped. His twitch wors- beauty of It, Henry. No matter how many he said. "I've already been in one fight to- ened. Brian, it's simple. It's some- times the public punches up. the elevators day, and I don't mind another!" He grabbed "You see, always go down." the nearest thing to him — the black-onyx thing we've discovered. Basically, this is internal Henry smiled. "And then they go to the pen holder — and waved it at Henry. "Why just a system to increase efficiency lobby, right?" are you doing this to me? What is it? That and— at the same time — save the taxpayer Emilio shrugged. "Well, maybe. Maybe damn twenty-year-old pool ball?" money. You don't understand, do you? It's not." Henry smiled. so easy! Simple even. We've just accepted things "Emilio," Henry said, "I predict that you "Damn it. Henry! I want an answer!" the fact that go so much more will go far in this world." "No, Brian. It isn't because of the pool smoothly and cost less when we don't have

ball. Not at all. At least, not really, Hell, to deal with the public. In fact, I think it

.When he got back to his office, Henry Brian. It isn't even you, per se." would be better for everyone if we never learned that Ramona Kitchens had stayed "Then what is it?" had lo deal with the public at all. What you on theline this time for just a little over 'forty Henry leaned back in his chair and care- ran up against. Brian, was just a little sys-

. . .minutes. fully appraised the situafion. The anger, tem for . . . what shall I say? . public dis- "Before-we cut her off again." Margo righteous outrage, and frustrated confu- oouragement. That's all." said. sion in the paunchy man's face seemed to "Public discouragement! That's insane,

"Good girl. Now call Dano." point to an imminent breakdown. And Henry. You're the government! You have to "Sir, we're cooking now You've made Henry knew he was behind this week. This deal with the public!" twenty points just this morning." thought, along with the realization that he "No," Henry said, "not really. At least not Henry smiled. "When you get the and Brian were alone in the office, began to here. You see, we're not a very important chance, Margo, get my mother on the line." agency The only public we deal with here That afternoon Henry did his paperwork. are the ones who want to deal with us. Of He spilled coffee on a laboriously typed course, it's not like that with all other agen- S, as in Sharon, dash two niner zero sub- cies. Agencies like Ihe IRS, the FBI, those script four. He dropped an ash and acci- guys. You see, the only public they deal dentally burned off the name of the file on a tRamona Kitchens called with are the ones who don't want to deal they have their little P, as in Patty, slash one. Through no fault of back. Henry apologized and with them. And own his own. he misplaced the last sheet of an games to handle that. blamed the entire Oh comma Annie. "Margo," he said, "send "But I may be confusing the Issue. That these back. But first stamp them incom- misunderstanding on Margo. happens a lot around here, Brian. No, what plete." I said was true. The government, at least And this time he After the paperwork, Henry did yoga. He most of it, doesn't have to deal with the took down half her address public. Not to survive, anyway." pushed and pulled and benl and strained, , then lay down for a nap. before he put her on "You're mad," Brian screamed. "1 don't Margo interrupted him. "Sir, you have a care what kind of crap you spout about hold and left for lunch visitor" As she said this, she made an odd money and efficiency. You can't treat the series of eyebrow gestures as if she were public like this!" trying to communicate something to Henry. "The public! The public!" Henry "Margo," he said, concerned, "why don't mimicked in righteous indignation. "Who public is, Brian?" Henry's you take next month off? I think you're do you think the catching a tic." worry itself up and down Henry's spine. He voice assumed a forceful, serious tone. Margo winked at the President, then es- felt suddenly cold. Chilled. His chest "The public! Hell, Brian, we are the public. corted the visitor in. ached. Suddenly he thought about the pool You. Me. Everybody. Where do you think we "Mr. Cutter," the visitor said, "I've got the ball twenty years ago. He thought about the bureaucrats came from?" Henry pointed to B, as in Barbara, dash eight three two dash fact thai there were no witnesses now, and the window. "From out there, that's where.

A, as in Annie." then suddenly he said it. "The public. It's Look, you come in here prancing around Henry looked at the disheveled and just the public, Brian. That's really all there for a job, and if you get it, you'll have come hell slightly bloodied man and said, "Brian, is to it." from the public, too. So just where the you're kidding." "Just what the hell does that mean? 'The do you get off?" in. "No. Here it is." public.' At that moment Margo came She i Henry asked Brian to sit down. "That's a "Calm down, Brian." Henry relaxed in his walked over to Henry and whispered in his

bad cut over your eye," he said, then took chair. "It means exactly what I said— the ear. "Sir, I've just heard from Grounds Main-

it. that slot in Visitors Park- the form and conscientiously pored over public. I probably shouldn't tell you this," he tenance. You know He took his pen from the black-onyx holder said, carefully observing a twitch in Brian's ing. Lot Q? The only one there was? They

and tapped it several times. Finally, he said, cheek, "you being one of them and all. But, just told me they painted it reserved." She

I and Henry "Well, this all looks just fine. Brian." too, I have the feeling that may change. whispered something else, Brian smiled. He lightly touched the cut mean, anyone who can drown in red tape smiled. over his eye. the way you do belongs in the government. He walked over to the window. "Brian." he "Yes," Henry said. "This all looks just You could yet be hired." said, looking down on Q, "will you come fine — except for one little, tiny thing." Brian did not seem appeased. 'Are you here for a minute?" isn't Brian visibly tensed in the chair. It began telling me you treat everyone like this?" Brian came and Henry said, "That to rock back and forth. Henry made a gesture as if to say maybe. your car they're towing away, is it?"

"Mr. MacAffee." Henry said, "I'm afraid "Maybe more in your case, Brian. After all. I Brian, who in fact was the owner of the away, on this isn't the form I asked you to get." haven't forgotten that pool ball." car they were towing jumped "What! What do.you mean? You told me "By God, I'm calling for an investigation, Henry. He pushed him to the floor and to get a B, as in Barbara, dash eight three Henry! I'm going to write the Congress. I'm began to strangle the life out of him. two dash A, as in Annie, and there it is!" going to write the President." Henry's moulh gaped open. He felt his "No, Mr. MacAffee," Henry said slowly, Henry smiled. "That would be stupid, chest constrict painfully as he gasped for A Revolutionary equipment board over Henry's head. She Sleeping looked at Henry. "To what?" : Experience A consultant maybe. My hobby ... my avocation, really, is inventing games." The nurse seemed very impressed. She smiled and said, "Well, we should be feel- ing belter pretty soon." Another nurse, this one older and not nearly so attractive, came in just then and stood in the far corner of the room. The pretty nurse walked over, and together they discussed something.

Henry lay in the bed especially designed for coronary patients and began to con-

sider the possibilities. It wasn't such a wild idea, he thought: game consultant. After

all, just look at what he'd accomplished. He'd boosted morale. Efficiency. Esprit de corps. Sure, he thought, there must be plenty of employers— other than jus! the federal government — who could benefit (Hem 2339) $49.95

,__ DpubleSiie (Hem 2354) 169.95 from my expertise. Plenty that would, in r Qusen Size (Hem 2360) $79.95 addition, pay me plenty. Make the risks worthwhile. ftCAitPump ;llem0004) $29.95 Henry began to consider these potential employers. The first thing he thought of was, of course, the electric company Then he thought of the rest of the utilities: the phone company, water, and gas. All he needed, he realized, were the ones that ! - 800-648-5600" toS= had a monopoly. The ones that offered a service no one else had. Vital service com- panies. The ones with the only game in town. Suddenly he called to the nurse, Contemporary "Can you bring me a pan, please?" 'marketing. Inc." vJnEs? s CM 1 1980253 J The pretty nurse said, "Certainly." She skittered out the door. air. He flailed his arms againsl Brian. He For a while Albert chatted with Henry The other nurse came over and moni- made tiny gurgling sounds. Suddenly he about the office. He told Henry that every- tored Henry's vital signs. saw the shadow of something black flash thing and everyone was just fine. He told Soon the pretty nurse returned. She held. across his face. Realizing what it was, he Henry not to worry about anything but get- the gleaming chrome bowl in her hand and tried io squeak, "No," ting well. "We've got a temporary replace- quickly slipped it under him. Brian, his forearm pressing Henry's ment for you. So don't worry about any- Henry screamed. His body arched a foot throat, took the black-onyx pen holder, Ihjng, Henry." off the bed. "Damnation!" he yelled, a hor- shaped something like a pool ball, and "Oh?" Henry asked, weak but curious. rified expression spreading across his shoved itjnto Henry's mouth. "Who is it?" face. Henry's heart failed. "Well ..." Albert said somewhat eva- "Mr. Cutter." the nurse said sweetly, "my,

sively. "Whal does it matter?" but we are touchy today, aren't we?"

There was a very quie! knock on the door. "C'mon, Albert. I want to know. Who'd As Henry relieved himself, he watched A nurse — pretty, brunette, and very you get to replace me?" the two nurses. They went back over lo the young — went to answer it. Albert Mathews Albert looked over at the nurse. He bent corner, where he could just barely eaves- entered, looking nervously around Ihe down then toward Henry and whispered, drop. room. He Squeezed a white envelope be- "Brian, It's Brian MacAffee." "What's the matter with thai one?" Ihe tween his fingers. "Brian?" plain one asked. "Only for a minute now," the nurse said, Albert shrugged. "What could we do? "Oh," answered the pretty nurse, "pa- "and please try not to excite him." He's almost qualified. And you know, you tients are jusf lousy sports." Albert walked over to the bed. He looked said you weren't going to press charges, "What?" at the small man with tubes up his nose and Henry." "Crybabies, too." said, "Henry, you won!" "But what about the investigation? Al- "Look." said the plain one, "I've worked in "What?" Henry croaked, barely awake. bert, he said he was going to call for one!" a lol of hospitals before, but I've never seen "The Game this week, Henry. You came "Oh, don't be ridiculous, Henry. Why do a heart patient jump off fhe bed! What's in first!" Albert opened the envelope. you think we offered him the job? Brian going on here?" "Look. There's almost ten thousand dollars MacAffee's not going to call for any investi- 'Are you new here?" in here." gation. Not now, anyway" The plain one nodded her head in as- Henry was stunned. After Albert left, the nurse said, very sent.

"Henry, no one's ever been attacked be- sweetly, "My, what was that all about?" "Well, that explains it. You see." she said conspiratorially, "here at St. fore. I mean, not to the point of dying! I'm Henry made something up. slowly, almost proud of you, man." The nurse smiled and asked Henry what Mark's we have something of a contest. It's Henry smiled. He touched the envelope he did for a living. based on points Hard points. Easy points Albert placed upon his chest. "Oh," Henry said, "I used to be a bureau- Things like that." At this, the pretty nurse "Remember," the nurse said, "no excite- crat. But I'm thin

By Patrick Moore

backward to it. If this is true, we can work many books and articles have at modern scholars that I am directing least some- estimate the period during which the Howyou read dealing with the origin Let me explain. We know at of the earth; expansion has been going on. This brings of the universe? My own score thing about the age we at between us once more lo 15 thousand million years. must be nearing the thousand mark by can date it, with fair precision, 4.5 thousand million and 5 thousand Three major theories of cosmogony now All sorts of theories have been put presumably older, have been discussed in modern times, forward, some plausible, others less so. million years. The sun is According to the big bang scenario, ail the that anyone has and there is no reason to doubt that some And yet I do not believe are even older. matter in fhe universe was created in one a serious attempt to discuss the of fhe stars in our galaxy made temperature was look ai objects thousands of moment, and initially the origin of the universe. We are all dodging When we away, we are looking unbelievably high. We may even be the main issue. millions of light-years observing the remnant of this original fundamentalists, back in time thousands of millions of I except the biblical be sure which is the "fireball." Microwave radiation at a who are convinced that every word in years. It is difficult to all title wavelength of 3.2 cm is coming from remotest object known , but the prob- Genesis is true. And let us never forget indicates that the universe ably goes to one of the quasars, some directions. This Archbishop James Ussher of Armagh, 3" has a background lemperature of 3°K — mid-seventeenth century of which are receding at very close who in the have cooled If recessional above absolute zero. Things proved to his satisfaction that the universe lo the velocity of light. big bang. velocity on increasing with distance, down considerably since the came into existence at ten o'clock in the goes correct, the universe had a there be a limit to fhe size of the It this idea is morning on October 25, 4004 B.C. (I have must The usual estimate is definite beginning; it is now evolving and never found out whether he made due observable universe. thousand million will eventually die. We are not certain allowance for such refinements as somewhere between 10 of expansion million light-years. If we whether the present phase Summer Time and leap year.) The and 20 thousand million light-years as a will continue indefinitely; this depends archbishop arrived at this date mainly by take 15 thousand universe must be at least upon the overall density of matter in the adding the ages of the patriarchs. This happy mean, the universe. If, on average, if exceeds one was no doubt an interesting exercise, but 15 thousand million years old. in volume approximately Virtually all astronomers accept that the hydrogen atom a it can hardly be considered science. of Earth, the expansion will universe is expanding, wilh every group of twice that Yet when I make the accusation of receding from every other group. eventually cease and the galaxies will rush dodging the main issue, It is primarily galaxies together again, perhaps producing another big bang. This is the cyclic theory.

If not, then the expansion will continue indefinitely— the original big bang idea. The second of these alternatives now seems to be in favor, but we can't be sure; there may be more mass than we can account for from today's observations.

If the average densiiy does exceed the critical value, we have a cyclic universe;

it the Concertina I have nicknamed Universe. Big bangs will occur at intervals of perhaps 80 thousand million years or so, and there is no knowing how many of them have already occurred. With every big bang, the universe is reborn. The third major theory, which was all the rage for a while in the 1950s and 1960s, is called the steady-state theory. It assumed that the universe has always existed, that it will exist forever, and that new material is being spontaneously created out of

nothingness, li was the brainchild of Thomas Gold and Hermann Bondi and was at least philosophically satisfying in

1947, when it was advanced. Unfor- The universe appeared in She big bang, some J5 thousand m CONTINUEDONPAGE1B7 174 OMNI . ,

ACKERMUSEUM EXPLDRMTOnJS By Kenneth Jon Rose

Angeles is noted for the offbeat. onslaught of science-fiction films. "I've space no bigger than an average-sized Los to after another, first is the total of the genre. So it's not so surprising to find a moved one home trom classroom sum Or

museum there that houses, of all an apartment where I had seven rooms, so it seems. Most of the material is still things, a science-fiction collection. This into a home with thirteen, finally into this locked in boxes, waiting to be unpacked. fascinating storehouse remains almost one," Ackerman reports. "This one" has 18 Somehow you get the idea that if the bar unknown; it's not even listed in the travel rooms and three garages. He also rents in Star Wars had been a library it would

brochures. That's too bad, because it two more garages in downtown L.A. have resembled Ackerman's basement, must contain the most complete accu- Ackerman is a science-fiction devotee Between the books and magazines that mulation of science-fiction works and gone wild. In fact, when the Hugo awards cram the shelves, beside the walls and artifacts this side of the Twilight Zone. (akin to the Oscars in motion-picture doors plastered with movie stills and lobby

"I still can't seem to convince the world circles) were created, Forry got the very cards, props trom a dozen horror films that they've got a museum here," com- first one (back in 1953} as the nation's stare out at you. Ghoulish faces wait for plains Forrest J. Ackerman, alias 4SJ, alias "number one fan personality." Perhaps his the lull of the moon or for you to turn your Fojak, alias Dr. Acula. who calls the greatest claim to fame, though, is his back. This is one household you wouldn't Spanish villa at 2495 Glendower Avenue, invention of the term sci-fi. In the days want to baby-sit for. in Hollywood, theAckermuseum. For the wben science-fiction enthusiasts were Even tor the occasional science-fiction greater part of five decades now Forry called scientifiction fans, Ackerman reader there are enough magazines to Ackerman has been quietly building a coined the word after hearing hi-fi on the satisly the most discriminating taste.

it , Tales repository for his collection of science- car radio. He has yet to live down. "No Astounding Weird , and Super — it publications that fiction material in the hope of leaving to one screams about poli-sci , do they?" he Science even a few posterity when he enters the next world asks. Even so, he isn't about to remove his didn't survive their tirst year— sit on

It all began, innocently enough, when he license plates from his red Caddy. The shelves waiting to be piucked. Some was nine, with a copy ot the October 1926 plates, of course, say, sci Fl. editions, like the rare Zeppelin Stories issue of Amazing Stories. It has grown Down in the basement of the Ackerman are worth more than S100 apiece. ever since, compelling Ackerman to home, where most mansion owners in One bookcase alone holds at least 185 migrate to larger quarters when not even Hollywood would store their wines, is the separate editions of Dracu/a. There are the refrigerators were safe from the oozing Collection. It's staggering. Jammed into a just as many Frankenstein books. Nearby is an entire section devoted to "sunken worlds." Stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote both the Tarzan series and the tales of John Carter's adventures on

Barsoom (Mars) and Amtor (Venus), fill another section. Then there are the novels about women, short-story anthologies, even one row of pornographic science- fiction books.

If this were not enough, there still are the science-fiction games, 90,000 news- paper clippings, manuscripts, auto- graphs, records, press booklets, puzzles, and calendars to pore through. Viewing the movie props alone could take up the greater part of an afternoon.

On one wall, life masks of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloft, and Lon Chaney, Jr., hang like so many trophies. Original models from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, 20 Mil-

lion Miles to Earth , and Land of the Giants repose beside their literary counterparts. Forry keeps most of the props in a smaller room off to one side. Inside what looks like a walk-in closet, the head of one

Ackerman poses before a. shlike submarine, a favorite prop from [he Lost Continent. of the Morlocks from The Time Machine

176 OMNI Earth. Bui the high-power and the braincase of the metaluna mutant solar energy on for all these func- from This Island Earth stare out into space. laser technology needed the stingray-shaped Martian tions is still in its infancy. It will require con- Nearby, FROM PAGE 2C siderable work before lasers can become saucer that terrorized the countryside wilh include the serious candidates for the SPS. The poten- its death ray lies immobilized on its metal Benefits of this approach pedestal. Unlike the magnificently detailed possibility of much higher efficiency tial, however, is enormous, and it ungues- percent compared with the tionably warrants that effort. Ironically, this models from Star Wars and Alien , the death (perhaps 40 is pursued not so much for its machine from War of the Worlds is nothing prototype's 15 percent), our familiarity with work being proba- more than a sculpted block covered with large-scale turbomachinery and heat ex- importance to SPS as for its less in proposed fusion-power plants. shiny paint: a glazed doughnut. changers (except for the big parabolic mir- ble uses concept Ackerman's collection even includes the rors), and the system's relative insensitivity A second, wholly different SPS mirrors reflect sun- pteranodon, the great winged reptile, that to degradation by cosmic rays and the relies on big orbiting to directly Earth-based solar-electric tried to carry Fay Wray away in the 1933 solar wind. Disadvantages include lower light to would provide round- movie classic King Kong. Rod Serling's reliability, higher cost of construction, and, power plants. This the-clock illumination and eliminate the brother, who was living in Washington, DC, of course, the same concerns over micro- current need for energy storage, which today pre- at the time, sent it to him. It arrived at Forry's wave transmission raised by the vents solar plants from supplying baseload home in a shoe box. design. The mirrors can't be in geo- Many of Forry's artifacts come to him this Another "design perturbation" on the electric power. small, sim- stationary orbit, however. The resuliing way— from friends like the great model prototype would use billions of maker Ray Harryhausen and from fellow ple, cheap solid-state converters to gener- "spot" on the ground would be, at best, bigger, size of Connecticut! Hence, fans. The green head and claws of the am- ate the microwaves instead of the about the phibious Creature from the Black Lagoon more elaborate, and much less reliable hundreds of low-orbit mirrors would be basking on the carpeted floor of Acker- klystrons or magnetrons originally chosen. needed, each phasing in and out as it This con- man's museum were actually tossed out at This decentralized power generation both passes over the power plants. the most benign of all the SPS the end of the last Black Lagoon film shot at increases reliability and greatly simplifies cept may be alternatives from environmental, social, Universal. A janitor found the $30,000 suit the satellite's design. It permits the use of construction, with the solar-cell and political viewpoints, but it would re- and gave it to his son, who, after using it as "sandwich" side the microwave quire considerable development to dem- a Halloween costume, sold it to a kid up the array on one and transmitter on the other. Because the onstrate its economic and operational I said, street for $5, "When I heard that, practicality to determine its most effi- 'Hey, kid, you want to make a deal?' But he transmitter must always face Earth, how- and wasn't interested." Later, when the boy was ever, big .sun-facing mirrors are needed to cient scale. onto the solar arrays. These Finally, there are many alternative ap- tired of playing with it, he gave it to the reflect sunlight proaches the construction of so large a collector for nothing. mirrors could be built as concenlrators. to project as an SPS. whatever its ulti- Among the more memorable gifts are the thereby increasing the satellite's power space Transportation is the key, and mementos of Lugosi, famous for his por- output per unit of solar-cell area. They mate design. splitters, there are choices. Proposals for trayal of Count Dracula. "I knew Lugosi might even act as solar-spectrum many high-efficiency solar to low earth orbit have included personally for three years, on a social like a prism, so that launching convert several the current space shuttle, shuttle-derived level," Ackerman said. "I drove him around. cells could be used lo wavelengths of light into useful power. cargo carriers, new, fully reusable heavy-lift I was even at his funeral." On the collector's wrinkle on this basic launchers (both ballistic and winged), and finger is the broachlike ring Lugosi wore in Another prospective sophisticated single-stage-to-orbit craft his films. And draped on a clothes hanger sandwich islhe use of thephotoklystron, a combines the solar that promise extremely low cost per kilo- is the black cape of the notorious vampire. recent invention that microwave transmitter into a sin- gram delivered. Designs for in-space orbit- Actually, it is one of the three capes that cells and transfer vehicles (space fugs) have in- Lugosi used during his career. After his gle device. al high-performance liquid-fueled death, one of the capes was given to Ack- A wholly different system emerges when cluded solar-powered propellant erman. Lugosi's widow kept the second. we apply laser technology to the SPS. Be- rockets fed by plants in orbit, electric rockets of various He was buried in the third. cause laser light has a much shorter power kinds, and even solar sails. In the main room of the basement stands wavelength than microwaves, the the imaginative SPS con- Forry's greatest pride; a life-sized re- transmission beam is much tighter and Perhaps most and the one that almost creation of the female robot from Fritz more coherent. This reduces the Earth re- struction scheme— would turn out to be most Lang's 1926 film Metropolis, at attention in- ceiver's diameter from perhaps ten unquestionably

if eventually decide to build side a glass-walled display case. Acker- kilometers in the microwave system to a few practical we systems in quantity— is the man commissioned two artisans to build tens of meters. Further, the laser's tight satellite power materials gathered from space. him a duplicate because the original is be- beam and convenient "pointability" allow use of raw

It times less propulsion energy to lieved to have been destroyed in Berlin at us to put the massive power-generating takes 20 "sun-synchronous" throw materials off the moon than to launch the end of World War II. Ultima the Robotrix equipment in a low energy cost of retriev- bears a striking resemblance to the chatty orbit around the earth; the power can be them from Earth. The ing small asteroids, the ultimate source for C3PO in Star Wars- She should. Artists beamed up to a relatively small, low-mass really into pro- working on the recent movie used Ultima laser mirror in the high geostationary orbit, building materials if we go duction, is even lower. a model for their famous 'droid. which then reflects it to the receiver on critical element that will decide the The expense of trying to keep up wilh the Earth. This approach saves the high trans- One form of the ultimate SPS is Collection has forced Ackerman to solicit portation cost of getting all that heavy most efficient geostationary orbit. Though obvious: a vigorous research effort, first on donations. It may be a good investment if hardware up to generators could use relatively the ground and then in space, when the you survive World War lit. Having acted the laser electric-discharge or la- shuttle becomes available. But the second a dozen or so movies, Forrest J. was finally conventional gas is possibly just as important, to cast to play himself in his most recent film, sers, the system could profit enormously element "solar-pumped ensure that we don't waste all that effort Aftermath. "I play the curator of the last from the development of a keep all our museum on Earth after a nuclear holocaust laser." in which sunlight stimulates the las- doing the wrong job. We must SPS design has destroyed' almost everything else." ing medium directly. opfions open and not freeze an revolutionize the until we're sure we've identified the system A visit to the Ackermuseum is free. Call The use of lasers would of economic, social, Friday for the open house on Saturday. The entire SPS concept, from solar-power con- with the best chance of environmental, and political success. number is 213-MOONFAN. DO version in orbit to the capture and use DO . .

By DickTeresi

young brain may be Heinrich Heine? Ich weiss nicht was speculate that the hen Nikita Khrushchev thought, fy Dass ich so traurig more flexible than previously I visited the United States soil es bedeuten, j.j | possible to and it therefore may be in 1959 with his stoic bin ^J ^J children a wide range of Khi sffv khteen saav los se teach simultaneous translator in tow, Andrew Levine: word skills before sot khi ows khiroit nib. languages and Levine, then twelve, took notice. Im- nitoibed, Levine's special talent has befuddled adolesc pressed with the interpreter's virtuoso doesn't memorize the performance, Levine decided to the experts. He but it's a far cry nor does he It may not be language, simultaneous interpreter sentences given him, become a want a cracker." Irene M. visualize the words in his head. He also frorh "Polly himself, then and there. needs no practice and that Pepperberg, a Purdue University only problem was, he didn't claims he The trained an African gray backwards is more a "minor ethologist, has know any foreign language. So he talking Language devel- parrot named Alex to voice a recog- speaking Backwards English compulsion" with him. began each of some 30 objects. opment specialist Louis A. Leavitt, of nizable name for fluently. Twenty years later the Pepperberg University of Wisconsin, is one of For example, when University of Wisconsin philosophy the have studied Levine. holds up a green clothespin, Alex will performs for friends at the experts who professor "Green peg wood." When spoke "What Andy does," says Leavitt, "is to say, parties and— just recently— wooden square, words down phonemicaily, just Pepperberg holds up a before the 1980 Acoustical Society of break with, "Four corner wood." the linguists would," A phoneme is Alex responds America in Atlanta, where he was the way And when the bird doesn't want to to a basic sound unit of a word, smaller focus of a linguistic study designed a spoken words undergo any more training, it emits building blocks of even than a syllable. The uncover the includes nine example, differ in their firm no. Alex's vocabulary language. red and bed, for three colors, and three shapes, gineetayshogun beginning phonemes. nouns, •Jadas dna nigeb ra Pepperberg over a important is the fact Levine taught to him by one of the many edifying Most rofseep" was She believes that the skill age twelve. three-year period, statements Levine made to the picked up this at generally parrot, now only four years old, may translates to Scientists find that adults attending scientists. (That that a themselves to someday be able to demonstrate negotiating for have difficulty in training "Sadat and Begin are chimpanzee, can acquire the backwards in this way. Linguists bird, like a peace.") Levine uses no visual aids speak rudiments of languagelike behavior. and speaks backwards at a normal Pepperberg's training techniques are speed. He leaves the words in their modeled on ones developed in earlier original order but reverses the sound of primate and parrot work, with each word. Omni asked Levine about modifications to avoid pitfalls that have his idiom. become evident in those studies. Levine: If you'd like to hear how it Already, Pepperberg claims, Alex shows

I job sounds, I'll show you could get a some limited ability to categorize, at the United Nations. generalize, and combine separate Omni: li only there were diplomats who words into short phrases, all spoke backwards. Could you recite the components of language. Pledge of Allegiance? Aware of the recent controversy over it forward. Levine: If I can remember animals that communicate, however, she ootuth gaulf Oh, yeah, //e/p snuhjeela bird's is cautious when describing the vulhu dahtiinoo staals Sou akerima accomplishments. "What Alex has dunoo ootuth kulbupeer roi achieved so far cannot be con-

chewtistnats. . sidered language," she says, "but it is It was fluently intoned and sounded two-way communication." very much like Russian. "Sometimes I think that's all that Russian is." Levine Reading science fiction is no excuse for says. "I can also speak backwards with strangling your neighbors, a Texas jury a Japanese accent." He delivered the 1 has decided, bringing in a guilty verdict Backwards-English Pledge of Alle- against Robert (Terry) Terhune. Japanese accent - a feat giance with a stabbing and stran- H On trial for the quite-impossible to transcribe. ^'' gulation of a teen-aged Anderson. Omni: How about German? Perhaps Texas, high-school girl, Terhune claimed the opening lines of a poem by 180 QMNI !fiat reading = s=,-.-n?s o- science-fiction surgeon, began to c.il blood and organs through latex gloves molded into the novels led him to commit the Grime. might possibly float out of the incision; sides. "My long-range goal is to set up a "srhune *esl:f ; td that, before going to One person think who does about clinic in a space. station," Long says. sleep, read he books in the Gor series these.ihings is Dr. Irene Long, a resident Does she expect this to happen in the by John Morman {pseudonym for John surgeon with the NASA- sponsored near future? Probably not. But "since Lange), in which women are dominated Civilian Aerospace Medicine Program. age has nothing to do with performance in aerospace," the twenty- nine-year-old

surgeon says, citing findings that fhe elderly may enjoy an advantage in zero g. "I have all the time in the world."

And now . . . energy-conservation back- lash, in the form of a new group called Cruisin' for Peace, which puts forth the proposition that wasting gas is a patriotic act. The group's leader and founder, Rob

Sauder of Richmond, Virginia, says, "If we use up all the gasoline in the world, we won't have anything left to fight

.about." Though it may be an expensive and rather obtuse plan for peace, Sauder says, "The idea is good for big business, and what's good for big busi- ness is good for America. And what's good for America is good for you and me right?" DQ

?ne Pepperberg and Alex: Not language, but a far cry from 'Poily wan a cracker

c-iained, beaten, and raped by men. who is deveiop'ng surgical techniques The twenty-two-year-old former Texas for zero gravity environments. University arch-iccture student said, "On "The most likely medical emergency Gor there are many female slaves, it is that would occur in space," according to very strong on bondage. " He testified Dr. Long, "is a surgical one." Given that i'e .v. I'rT'i-itatized about "tying women space is a germ-lree environment and up. not so much for the sexuality, but- tor astronauts are selected tor their good -^dominance." health, the chances of disease among Terhune's lawyers/backed by spacefarers are few. What cannot be -i-.imoTyfroma psyc^alnsi eliminated , however, is the possibility of contended Terhune was temporarily accidents; lacerations, concussions, isane at the time the crime was broken bones. committed. And because of the physiological "sThme was convicted, anyway, and changes-that take place in outer space, sentenced to years 30 in prison. The "an astronaut will respond differently to ease is being .- [ appealed surgery," says Long. 'A space surgeon will have to care for patients differently Evei think about what surgery would be Surgical medicine has to be totally in outer space? There would be no rewritten." | gravity to perform housekeeping _ono envis-ons rhe astronaut encased -"ires, such as anchoring the pation; in a ciea;- plastic nubble during/space and medical instruments. And when the surgery, while the surgeon reaches in ALENDAR oonruiLOG By Geoffrey Golson

• The Age was launched 23 years mnilog: a digest of events in the cranes migrate south this October, flying Space United States. ago, on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet fall of 1980 that will help shape over the central part of the placed Sputnik 1 into orbit. the decades to come; a date- They'll pass over western North Dakota, Union Montana, and book of upcoming activities whose wide- across extreme eastern UPCOMING EVENTS angle view tells you where you are in the down through central Nebraska and Aransas Through October 5. "Invisible Light" present and where you'll be in the future; a Oklahoma, then vacation at the Christi, Texas. demonstrates the artistic use of infrared guide to science and the imagination, ap- Refuge, north of Corpus photography, in which images are pro- pearing seasonally, with some things you Watch for them flying with long necks heat instead of light, at the should know; straight out and skinny legs dangling duced by SUNY-Albany Art Gallery in Albany, New • The world's most powerful, most versatile behind their tails. They have bright white Contact the Smithsonian Institution radio telescope, with 27 dishlike antennas, plumage and black-tipped wings. There York. Traveling Exhibition Service at each weighing 214 tons, will be dedicated are only 120 or so in existence. 202-357-3168. on the Plains of San Augustin, in New • Falling stars will streak across the skies of the eastern United States after midnight Mexico, on October 10. October 8-10. The fifth annual Confer-

October 21 , when the Orionid meteor • A British team plans to launch the world's on ence on Satellite Communications for Pub- this month in an shower reaches its maximum intensity. largest manned balloon lic Service, at the Washington, D.C., Hilton, • Starting in November, you can see gray attempt at the first nonstop journey by includes a session for people unfamiliar in whales spouting and breaching in the balloon around the world. Huddled a with satellites. Topics range from portable four will Pacific Ocean, off Point Reyes, north of pressurized gondola, the crew of Earth stations to satellite economics. Con- average speed San Francisco. ride jet-stream winds at an tact the Public Service Satellite Consor- of to • Count the number of foggy days in of 160 kph at heights up 13,000 tium at 202-331-1154. meters on a 20-day flight. October. According to New England 10-12. NONCON's science- • Voyager?, which passed Jupiter last folklore, for every October fog there will October fiction and fantasy convention ai the year, will arrive at Saturn in November, be one winter snowstorm. • will ghouls and Edmonton Inn, Edmonton, Alberta, making its closest approach to the planet A dim moon beckon our Canada. Nebula Award winner Vonda on November 12. goblins this Halloween night, as quarter. Mclntyre is the guest of honor. Contact • Seventy to 80 endangered whooping natural satellite enters its last NONCON, RO. Box1740, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J2P1.

October 13-16. The Aerospace Congress and Exposition, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, has more than 50 technical sessions on propulsion systems, aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft, The exhibit of aircraft systems is open to the public. Contact the Society of Manufac- turing Engineers at 412-776-4841.

October 14-17. The second Australian Technology Resources Fair, in Melbourne, highlights inventions that range from concepts and ideas to fully commer- cialized items seeking a wider market. The

first fair featured 50 exhibitors from 14 countries. Contact TRX Fair Coordinator, Australian Innovation Corporation, Ltd., 150 Queen Street, Melbourne, Australia. October 17-19. The annual meeting of the Space and Unexplained Celestial Events Research Society (SAUCERS), in Charles Town, West Virginia. The society bills itself with no set dogmas, r during October. as "a volatile group, Wiiii;.'! 'or ;vrvojr;.', ;.g- the central United States

182 OMNI Spacearium shows Sheckley, will be guests of honor. Contact dedicated to the belief that people who um's Albert Einstein explaining the Joann Lawler, 2750 Narcissa Road, report UFOs ate not liars." Contact SAU- "New Eyes on the Universe," technology has Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. CERS at 304-269-2729. ways in which advanced perspective on quasars, black altered our Continuing until November 24. "The End of October 24-26. WINDYCON's science-fic- stars. "The Briefing holes, and exploding the World." The Hayden Planetarium, in ihe Hyatt-Regency tion convention, at is a special project at the museum Room" New York City, explores ihe possibilities of editor. Hotel, in Chicago. Omni's fiction anyone can participate in demon- where how the world will end. Comets, asteroids, of honor. Robert Sheckley, will be the guest benefits of air and space strations of the deep freezes, and"human failure are con- W1NDYCON, P.O. Box 2572, Ex- Contact I as-North rop Legacy flight. The "Doug sidered. Contact the Hayden Planetarium Chicago, IL 60690. features the contributions of two en- hibit" at 212-873-1300. gineers who created aircraft designs that October 25. The 1980 Space Policy and course of military and commer- November 26. The British Society of Dow- Cypress College, Cypress, altered the Career Day, at lecture Francis Hitching cial aviation in ihe United States. Contact sers presents a by California, focuses on U.S. space policy in Phenomenon," National Air and Space Museum at 202- on "Dowsing— The Elusive the 1980s and on careers in space-related 381-4222. in London. Contact the British Society of sponsors want to publicize industry. The Dowsers, The Secretary, Court Lodge need for national involvement in effec- Continuing in the fall. "Shocking Demon- the Farm, Hastingleigh, KentTN25 5HN, Eng- tive Earth-based problem solving in space. strations" is. a live presentation of high-volt- land. Contact the Committee on the Law of Outer age electricity featuring the world's largest Conference on Space at Western Slate University College. air-insulated Van de Graaff generator. The December 8-1T, National Cypress, California, or call 714-738-1000. program explores lightning, coronas, and Renewable Energy Technologies, in Hono- information on other electrical phenomena. Contact lulu, will feature the latest October 28-30. The Robot V Conference Energy programs Thomson Theatre of Electrical Science, at principal Department of and Exposition, at Ihe Hyatt-Regency energy the Boston Museum of Science, at 617- and projects in renewable Dearborn, Michigan, has 25 tech- Hotel, in 723-2500. technologies. Conlact Donni S. Hopkins, the present and fu- nical presentations on Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University industrial robotics. The exposition November 2. "Electroworks" is the first ture of Until of Hawaii at Manoa, 2540 Dole Street. myriad of robot demonstrations comprehensive review of works by features a serious, Holmes Hall 246. Honolulu, HI 96822, open to the general public. Contact the artists and designers on office copying concerning Society of Manufacturing Engineers at machines. The more than 250 examples Deadline December 15. Papers fantastic in 313-271-1500. demonstrate artistic possibilities the manu- the theory, use, or value of ihe are facturers never anticipated. Contact the art, film, literature, music, and drama October 31 -November 2. The sixth World International Con- Cooper-Hewitt Museum, in New York City, sought by the second Fantasy Convention, at the Marriott-Hunt in the Arts, sched- at 212-860-6868. ference on the Fantastic Maryland, has Valley Inn, Cockeysville, uled for March 1981. Selected papers will artist guest 11 -12. The second Manufactur- scheduled Boris Vallejo as the November be published. Contact T. R. Sullivan, 1675 in this Productivity Solutions Conference, at of honor. Vallejo's work Is shown ing N.E. Fourth Avenue, #712, Boca Raton, FL Rosemont, month's Omni, starting on page 118. Con- the Hyatt-Regency O'Hare, in 33432. tact Sixth World Fantasy Con, Chuck Miller, Illinois, focuses on the innovative use of 16-17. Man Will Never Fly 239 North Fourth Street, Columbia, PA improved technologies to produce signifi- December The Society has its annual bash, 17512. cant gains in productivity. Contact the So- Memorial 16th and con- ciety of Manufacturing Engineers at 313- which begins at 4 p.m. on the "Double Eagle II, Continuing in the fall. 271-1500. tinues until 10:30 a.m. on [he 17th. at the Flight Over the Atlantic." The National Air Carolinean Hotel, Nags Head, North 14-16. PHILCON '80's sci- and Space Museum, in Washington, DO, November Carolina. Society members believe that Atlan- ence-fiction convention, at the Sheraton- exhibits the first balloon to cross the man has never flown and will never fly. They Downtown, Philadelphia. Omn i's executive tic. The story of the 1978 crossing will be believe it's all been an elaborate hoax, and Ben Bova, and fiction editor, Robert told in a special presentation. The muse- editor. they attempt to prove their point at the exact hour that the "Wright brothers didn't

fly first." See Omni's Last Word in the De- cember 1978 issue for more details. Con- tact ihe Man Will Never Fly Memorial Soci- ety International, P.O. Drawer 1903, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948. Christmastime. Several planetariums throughout the United States take a look back 1.980 years at the skies above Bethlehem in an attempt to explain the bib- lical star that led the Wise Men to the stable. Novas, comets, and bright meteors are suggested as possibilities. Contact the Hayden Planetarium, in New York City, at 212-873-1300; the Morehead Planetarium,

in Chapel Hill. North Carolina, at 919-933- 1236; the Morrison Planetarium, in San Francisco, at 415-752-8268; the Charles Hayden Planetarium, in Boston, at 617- 723-2500.

// you want to list an upcoming event in Omnilog. write, four months in advance, to: Omnilog, Editor, Omni, 909 Third Avenue,

by counting ioggy days in October. New York, NY 10022.OO I ruEXT oruirui ruiiruD ligence. will they become more human

/ill they develop a "machine psychol- I " different from our own?

! 1 ers hey ai . become as like co-"ou as

" :-- al functions i '. -.cfM'- : -"".i this is a very gooa way to neans. I think ook at artificial intelligence. It doesn t have

he function should be similar," Ultimately the process ot machine deci- sion making may. to some exient. remain jnfathornable. Gregory thinks, though, that we might cope with machine illusions by programming them to recognize the symptoms. He l.-e;-.^. ceaso". ha- cc ng

BODY ELECTRIC

distorted inpu ASTEROIDS— Pop goes the planet? Just when astronomers thought they'd laid to which illusi remains ot a lost world by rest the nineteenlh-century notion that asteroids are the life. be a different respectable scientists are bringing it back to (some call it Krypton), a tew very unchanged matter reports and v, Other space geologists think the asteroids may be the only chines report, remaining from the condensation of the sun billions of years ago. And how is it that James Oberg gives a drama some asteroids seem to have moons? In next month's Omni writer slight change system. . voyages beyond Mars for a look at one of the strangest areas of our solar Gregory us

telescope. If i The power to regenerate lost limbs, restore a I THE BODY ELECTRIC— SING functions, sig if experi- perhaps even cure cancer: We'll have it within 20 years severed spine, procedures will. Researchers have found ments now under way pay off, and it looks as if they causing new growth, )ugh it that they can manipulate our cells wilh electromagnetic fields, processes. The first triggering single genes, or altering a wide variety of bodily heal themselves. practical product: a device that heals bone breaks that refuse to Ornni. Find out about this revolutionary medical advance in the November

weapon that vapor- CONTEMPLATING MEGAWAR— If American soldiers had a it? Could the. ized opponents, would they be psychologically capable of using and Russians grow strong enough militarily to knock out our missiles, bombers, Such are the ponderings pi military think tanks, nuclear submarines with one blow? mewhere between of the future. secretive aggregations of Ph.Q's whose thoughts shape the balance 1 is repetitious but 1 these high-power, low-profile In the November Omni Dr Paul Nahin takes you inside what they're thinking about now. centers to reveal facts about how they work and ULnpo ,vhCt !J ny

However, he says, if so'-ecne stands QUARK— Einstein's dream of a unified field theory fairly blazes in THE ULTIMATE it pet dog's tail, you believe that hurts! scramble to track down the your neon lights, Now physicists think they're close. They the dog not because it is intelligent but I moment when matter disappears into nothing but a flash of gamma rays. They lie in is conscious. of the three quarks because' it wait for a proton kill — for an unlikely tete-a-tete between two "The question is philosophical,'' hej the hollow space of the proton. The quarks might possibly fuse racing around huge, 7 Is con- been no:es. "Why are we consc:ious and vanish into gamma rays, the force between them having into leptoquarks high levels of in- the ultimate sciousness necessary for transformed into the single "master force." Quarks will then flash as telligence. and. if so. is consciousness! universe and afford clues to the big bang. Robert March building blocks of the 7 to causal If it is causal, how can we expect I stdry "Protons Are Not Forever." will tell it all in next month's supreme detective or elec- I find it in a computer program an

tronic system? It appears to be something I SCIENCE FICTION— Norman Spinrad's "Prime Time" envisions afuture in which you categorically different from any formal! Total Television Heaven and tune out the outside world. A frus- can retire to get intol Walter Teviss "Out process, and this is where we is haunted by an oddly threatening young man in trated artist problem to which I 1 and extremely metaphysics. It is a deep of Luck." John Keefauver presents "Body Bail/ a most unusual Omni. we have no answers. "OO dangerous game for compulsive gamblers. Good reading in the November

186 OMNI .

coruiruiuruiCMTiarus deal in the media, then scientists arc- going to have to come out of the closet and get out there and talk. We need the facts. The STARS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 174 relocation of radioactive waste, the spiral- witch burners are on the move.

ing of iaxes. and stagflation. Daniel Stroop tunately, it did not stand op to the as-

John Lorusso Clear Lake, Calif. trophystcal evidence against it. and it has- Depew, N.Y. been reluctantly cast upon ihe scientific

Viking Fund scrap heap. But since it still has a few sup-

The Return of Radiation If the ruling elite in Washington can't find porters, let us retain it for the moment. How long is "long term"? Gordon Cooper the wisdom or guts to iund NASA properly. Very well, then. What do these theories [Interview. March 1980] implies that since it's up to the common person to pick up the tell us about the origin ol the universe?

effects It's lo put | no long-term from radiation ac- banner. time my money where my Nothing. We are not talking about the origin cumulated during his spaceflights' [in 1963 heart is — on the frontier. Thank you for pro- of the universe at all; we are talking about and 1965], there won't be any. viding the vehicle. Let's go! its evolution, which is.a very different thing. Unfortunately, the hazards oi .accumu- J. Emeririe The plain fact is mat none of the theo- lated radiation are scoffed at because ef- Arlington, Tex ries—and none of the others that have fects are not immediately noticeable. been produced from lime to time— make 1 Rather, radiation accumulation affects the Useful Contribution any attempt to explain just how the; act of

8iird- and fourth-generation offspring of I have been an avid reader of Omni since its creation came about. those exposed. For this reason, radiology first issue and have' been quite pleased Consider an nisliiyeni visitor who comes departments recommend the use of lead with its content and quality. However, after from, say Alpha Centauri D and spends aprons and shields for any woman of child- reading Norman Spinrad's Last Word [June half an hounn Piccadilly Circus. He will see

1 left bearing age. "Long term" is certainly not 15 19801, am feeling somewhat as I did at babies, boys, youths, young men, older

d'f to 20 years, as Mr. Cooper assumes, I be- the close The Empire Strikes Back: my men. and graybeards. In his half-hour he concerned as'intelli- imagination temporarily freed, emo- [ come. when someone my will not see a baby change into a boy. or a

Igent as he implies that fears regarding tions stirred, my pupils dilated from the boy into a man. If he is intelligent- he will radiation are groundless. They are any- colorful visuals, and certain posterior por- recognize that babies, boys, and men rep- thing but that. tions of my body feeling like a fish on a resent differenf stages in the evolution of Kathleen M. Mason baited hook. human beingsi and he will be able to work Sequim, Wash- Spinrad's story of the plight of the giant out more or less what happens. Bui unless flying vampire toad surely deserves a someone has told him the facts of life, he Chemical Coaching place among Ihe classic fictions presented will have not the sligntes! idea of the origin

This letter is a comment on Susan Mazur's in Omni. In my opinion it does not. however, of a human being. This is precisely the article "Winners" in the July 1980 issue of merit publication in the "Opinion" section of situation in which we find ourselves with lOmri/. The article starts out innocently Omni, Spinrad's mockery ot concern for respect to the universe. I enough as Ms. Mazur discusses the- com- endangered species is in poor taste and is We have to begin somewhere. We know

puter training of athletes. However, after I apessimisticviewof lifeonthis | planet mat the matter making up the earth, the

finished reading it. I was left with a strong Instead of allowing the lowly vampire sun. the stars, you, me, and the kitchen sink 'eeling of apprehension. toad to feed on welfare recipients (as he has been produced, but how? This we do

| I am an .avid sports fan, and I believe in suggests), why not fence off the Valhalla not know. Consequently, ihe big bang is no Sie importance ot physical fitness When swamp and throw Spinrad in so that he may better than the steady-state theory. Our ig- physical performance becomes important contribute something useful to this hungry norance is total enough for us to make use of drugs and planet? We must also consider Ihe concept of

gene manipulation, though, it seems to- me- Robert Lindsay time itself. In the big bang theory, "time" edangerous. began at the same instant as the universe Surely human progress consists of the itseif— roughly 15 thousand million years

raon of advancing technology with the ago. Can we justifiably look back still lu r - ihancement of the spiritual side of man. Correction merlc, say 50 thousand million years?The 'eremphasis of the physical can only During the makeup of my article on Soviet steady-state and cyclic theories may avoid rve to bind us to the earth with the weight space program research and development this difficulty, but we run into another that is a ball and chain. If we. practiced selec- (August 1980), your staff injected a state- equally insoluble; We have to consider a i breeding, .as the- article suggests, ment that the U.S. space shuttle would period of time that- has no beginning. Our juldn't we be tempted to use anyone, have a 2.800-kilogram (6.173 pounds) pay- brains are unequal to anything of the sort.

ten criminals, for our purposes if this load capacity. The correct figure lor the If we start by assuming the existence, of juld produce a superior athlete? maximum space shuttle payload capacity matter we can work out a complete evolu- I think that the real winners. are not those is 29,484 kilograms (65,000 pounds) iionary sequence, ending up with the seek great physical prowess but those Craig Covault scene we know loday. But this is just what irish fheir spirit while turning their Washington. D.C. bur Alpha Cenfaurian could do during his arts to the stars. brief so|Ourn in Piccadilly Circus. Until we Brian Leader Mr. Covault is correct, of course We con- can decide how the matter appeared in the Rye, N.Y verted pounds to- kilograms, rounded im- first place, we are none the wiser. properly to 28,000 — and dropped a digit. Now do you see the point of my argu- jset Scientists We'd print the missing zero, but it's been ment? Evolution, yes; we have found out a idayl switched on the Phil Donahue Show given to She editors who did the arithmetic great deal. Origin, no; we are as much at a 1 heard, two attorneys discussing ge- and attested to the story's accuracy. — Ed. loss as our ancestors who believed Earth to ific engineering and the' recent U.S. Su- be flat, motionless, located in an un- and , preme Court ruling on patents for bioen- Attention; European Readers changing universe. The various learned

' leered products. The basic arguments Because of an overwhelming response to papers purporting to discuss the origin ot sted on cries of progress versus tales .of the science-fiction short-story contest the universe do nothing of the kind. lorror. Both, no doubt, have merit. However, sponsored by the European editioh ot One day we may make some real prog- wo attorneys? Omni, we regret that we cannot announce ress in this most fundamental problem Pi,i If science technology want a fair the winners and until November — Ed. DO I don't think it will be soon. DO . EMfUlES The Human Aura GAMES (PAGE 192)

THE FIVE HOUSES. The best way to solve this puzzle is to chart the categories (house, man, drink, etc.) going down and the specifics (red, Swede, coffee, etc.)

across. It's purely arbitrary how you ar- range them, but you should endup'withthe answer below. Although neither diet soda nor spider monkeys are mentioned in the 15 clues, proper analysis .of all of them reveals that the Russian drinks diet soda and the American owns the spider monkey.

Here, is the correct order of nalionalities, Experiencing houses, drinks, games, and pets: Develop your the Power The Russian lives in the yellow house, drinks diet soda, plays racquetball, and PSYCHIC POWER OF of the Mind has a camel. ATTRACTION

As modern researchers explore The Swede lives' in the blue house, drinks What strange forces pull you toward the workings of the human brain, plays quoits, and keeps a'rat. coffee, another? Why do you at times experi- one intriguing question continues ence uneasiness in the presence of some apparent cause? to arise. We seldom use morethan The Englishman lives in the red house. person . . . without any organism radiates ps ychic 10% of the brain's tremendous drinks milk, plays backgammon, and owns The human ener gy. This is an aura—a field of super- what about the other a toad capacity— sensitivity surrounding the body. Our 90%? thoughts and f;r.>'ii.::s ;:<-.rifinuaUy vary The Italian lives in the white house, drinks the v'ibratorv nature of this psychic aura. Are there ways to tap this unused vodka, plays solitaire, and has a guppy in a This aura can and does impinge upon reservoir, to activate the latent of others. The auras of a pet. the inner self tank as your illigence of the human mind? others also can and do react upon Science and fiction alike testify to The American lives in the green house, sips You are subject to such psychic radia- through the efforts of many who, lernonade. plays charades, and keeps a tions of persons daily. It can account for experimentation or imagination, spider monkey. your moods—even your intuitive impres- a natural phenomenon- e sought to realize the mind's sions. This is it is part of the subliminal, mysterious t inner potential. AUTO- COMPLETE THE SERIES. inner powers of self which everyone has, BIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI is the but few understand. Learn to master represent the (1). 1 , 4. 1 , 5. The numbers fascinating account of one who this phenomenon. The full application chimes of a clock that strikes once on the powers can provide a succeeded. of your natural half-hour. greater personal achievement and hap- Paramahansa Yogananda's lucid, piness in life. (a) 14. Each number in the series, when and often entertaining, ex- (2). spelled out. is longer than the previous planations of the subtle yet FREE BOOK number by one letter. have definite science of Yoga The Rosicrucians, a worldwide cultural established AUTOBIOGRAPHY (3). 32. 33. Each of the numbers contains fraternity, have for centuries taught men understand utilize OF A YOGI as a classic in its field; it the letter/. and women to and fully all the faculties of self. The Rosi- ; required reading in courses at (4). (d) 8. Each number, when pronounced, crucians are noj a religious sect. No iver 100 universities. is a common English word (fore, won, too, creeds or dogmas are offered but factual information on man and his cosmic re- "There has been nothing before, ate). lationship. Write t.odav for the free book- or in any other written in English , tells how (5). 8. Each number is the product of let, the Mastery g£ Life that language, like this you may use and share this workable European the two digits in the preceding number. resentation of Yoga." knowledge. (7 x 7 = 49, 4 .» 9 = 36, 3 x 6 = 18,

1 x8 = 8.) University Press Columbia Ptec e this coupon READER ORIGINAL. Heaven. The se- variable at your local bookstore or quence of ordinal numbers is Implied: first SCRIBE: Z.T.A. from the publisher. aid, second nature. Third World. Fourth Es- The ROSICRUCIANS Self-Realization Fellowship tate, Fifth Column, sixth sense, seventh (AMORC) 3880 San Rafael Ave., Dept. OOM-N San Jose. California 95191, U.S.A. # Los Angeles, California 90065 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A Please send RUBIK'S CUBE. Not all these puzzle cubes f^ita Z.T.A. YOGI. Enclosed is $2.50 plus $1.55 lor (AMORC1 are exactly alike. The spindle on the disas- I The ROSICRUCIANS postage & handling. San Jose. California 95191, U.S.A. d6%la sembled cube shows three colors— red, (Calif. Gentlemen: yellow, and green— in a clockwise orienta- | . 1 NAME _ tion. The small subcube at the lower left in i | LIFE. STREET the photograph has those three colors in a I Nam. . _ counterclockwise orientation. There is no CITY ] way that this subcube {taken from another

Rubik's Cube) will fit on the spindle shown,

with all colors arranged -correctly DO PHEruonriEruM f

aptured in this photograph by

the Society Is The archipela

and Tahiti holds a key position in th velopment ot mc V tm " ' . 5 .

Two killer puzzles, inside Rubik's Cube, and unnatural selections

By Scot Morris

breadth of Dog's Mead, in yards, Many readers send their favorite 12. The man who owns the rat lives next the racquetball. 7. Number of roods in Dog's Mead times puzzles to this column, classic brain- to the man who plays 9 Down. benders that have been passed along, 13. The man who plays solitaire drinks 8. The year when the Little Pigley farm like folk songs, by those mental vodka. was first occupied by ihe Dunk family masochists who are addicted to them. 14. The American plays charades. lives next to the blue 10. Farmer Dunk's age. Their origin is lost in countless generations 1 5. The Russian 1 1 Year of birth of Mary, Farmer Dunk's of Xerox copies. Often the puzzles will house. younger daughter. have been edited and rewritten into two into account 14. Perimeter of Dog's Mead, in yards. or three recognized versions. Here are Every fact must be taken questions. Finding a 15. Cube of Farmer Dunk's walking two ol the best. to answer the two solution in less than 30 minutes is excel- speed, in miles per hour. 16. 15 Across minus 9 Down. THE FIVE HOUSES, This is one of the lent; in one hour, very good. Answers neatest of the The-Shortstop-Eats- appear on page 188. Spaghetti puzzles. Paul Fisher, of San Down of this 1 Value of Dog's Mead, in shillings per Diego; Joan Edgar, of Altoona, Penn- DOG'S MEAD. Two distinct versions Vickers. acre. sylvania; Van Cleve Morris, of Wilmette. puzzle came in from James Lee North Carolina; Roger J. 2. The square of the age ot Mrs. Grooby, Illinois; and Pawel Flato, of Lund, Sweden, of Rockwell. Farmer Dunk's mother-in-law. have each, independently, sent versions Jones, of Hartsdale, New York; and Chester Kyle, of Long Beach, California. 3. Mary's age. of Ihe Five Houses. 1 changed some author is clearly 4. Value of Dog's Mead, in pounds. of the specifics — favorite cigarette brand The puzzle's original is lost under 6. The age of Farmer Dunk's firstborn, was changed to favorite game, for English, but his or her identity Edward, who next year will be twice example— but the structure remains hundreds of rewritings. This cross-number is brilliantly the age of his sister Mary. intact. You are asked to study the 15 puzzle is a dilly. The problem of yards in the it equal 7. Squared* the number facts (below) and then answer: logical, and solving requires reasoning, calculation, and breadth of Dog's Mead. . measures of minutes, it takes Dunk to walk drinks diet soda? trial and error. The numbers mesh so 8. Time, in Question 1 : Which man to 1 1/3 times around Dog's Mead. Question 2: Which man owns a spider completely that it is necessary find Down. monkey? virtually every one before identifying the 9. See 10 times 9 Down. final entry, 2 Down. (Hint: Start with 1 10. 10 Across 12. One more than the sum of the digits in There are five houses. In each house lives Across.) yourself if you 10 Down. a man of a certain nationality who has his You can be proud of hours. Less 13. Number of years the Little Pigley farm favorite drink, his favorite game, and his crack this one in less than four time. We've has been in the Dunk family. own unusual pet. than three hours is excellent yet to hear of anyone solving it in less than Your time limit is 31 days. The 1 There are five houses in a row, each two hours. having a different color. answer will appear in the Games column 2. The Englishman lives in the red next month. from the given house. Just fill in the numbers helpful facts: The old 3. The green house is to the right of the clues and these white house. English pound equals 20 shillings. There four roods in an acre. An acre is 4,840 4. The Italian owns a guppy. are yards. farm has been in the Dunk 5. Lemonade is drunk in the green square A house. family for some years, and a rectangular farm is known as Dog's 6. The Swede drinks coffee. portion of the current year is 1939. 7. The man who plays backgammon Mead. The owns a toad. Ready? Go. 8. The man who plays racquetball lives in the yellow house. DOG'S MEAD 9. The man in the middle house drinks Across yards. milk.' 1, Area of Dog's Mead, in square Farmer Dunk's older 10. The Russian lives in the first house. 5. Age of Martha, Take three hours o! 11. The man who owns the camel lives daughter. Crass Number Puzzle; the length and reasoning, trial, error, and calculation. next to the man who plays quoits. 6. Difference between COMPLETE THE SERES cubes always stay in the corners and edge reaches its ultimate potential and virtually cubes always stay on the edges. The cen- any two organisms can be combined, the Hore are five number sequences; each ter half-cubes are attached to the spindle world may be populated with some very has a definite pattern. by spring-loaded screws. The six springs unusual critters: (1). What are [he next four numbers in this pull the 20 interlocking pieces snug series: 12,1,1,1,2,1,3,.., in the assembled cube. The laughing jag, a cross between a hys- To take Rubik's Cube apart, rotate the terical hyena and a jaguar. (2). Which number is next in this series: top tace one-eighth turn — halfway to the 10,4,3,11,15.... (a) 14, (b)1,(c)17, next position. An edge piece of the top The vamoose, a flying, bloodsucking noc- (d)12. face can now be twisted upward, as turnal elk that stalks prey in the north

shown (below, right), and then it will come woods of Transylvania,

(3). What are the next two numbers in this out. If the cube is stiff, a screwdriver may series: 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19,25,26, be used. Once one piece is out, the others The bobby fisher, a cross between a 28,29,30,31.... can be removed more easily. bobwhite and a fish hawk (whose favorite As we explained last month, if you opening gambit, by the way, is "prawn to (4). Which number completes this series: reassemble the subcubes randomly, the kingfishfour"). 4,1,2. ...(a) 6, (b) 10, (c) 7, (d) 8.

READER ORIGINAL: $25

Elizabeth D. Fetterly, of Jonesboro,

Arkansas, wants to know what is the next word in the following series: aid, nature,

, world estate , column . sense (a) wafer, (b) music, (c) welcome, {6} heaven.

INSIDE RUBIK'S CUBE

Herewith, the inner mechanism of the mathematical toy invented by Hungarian Inner Cube- subcubes around a jachlike spindle (center), bow to get inside (right). sculptor and architect Erno Rubik, de- scribed in last month's Games column. chances are 1 1 in 12 that you will orient The cockquito, the world's ultimate A masterpiece of three-dimensional en- the colors in such a way that it will be pest, a cross between a cockroach gineering, it comes apart into 20 small impossible to get the cube back to start. and a mosquito. subcubes. There are eight corner cubes, A more subtle practical joker has tam- each colored on three sides. Squeezed pered with the pieces in the disassem- The crockabalone, a cross between a between them are 12 edge cubes, each bled cube pictured above. When these crocodile and an abalone clam, whose colored on two sides. The subcubes pieces (and others not shown) are put hides are sold as giant ashtrays. interlock so that any given corner cube back together, the cube can never be re- in can be held place by any two of the turned to the original arrangement. What's The Ikeandtina tuna, a filet of soul. Sorry, three edge cubes touching it. wrong? Answers: page 188. Charlie! This group works for scale. The mechanism holding everything together looks like a child's jack. Each of THE COMPETITION: Send two unlikely COMPETITION #16: its six arms terminates in a half-cube UNNATURAL SELECTIONS species that will be created by logo- showing one of six colors, and each genetic research. Postcards only, please, colored on one face only. These half- You've heard of the liger— a cross and postmarked by November 15, 1980. cubes are in of the center the outside between a lion and a tiger. Advances in The first-prize winner will receive $100; faces when the cube is assembled, and genetic research will soon create a world runners-up (2-10) will each receive S25. they stay in always the center as the In which even stranger species will be Send to: Omni Competition #16, 909 cube's faces are turned, just as corner created every day. When gene splicing Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022.OO LA5T IAJORD By Isaac Asimov .•'

£High birth rates reflect the frequency with which members of the Human race engage in sex. *