I...fti onnruiOCTOBER 1982
EDITOR & DESIGN DIRECTOR: BOB GUCCIONE PRESIDENT: KATHY KEETQN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: DICK TERESI V P -GRAPHICS DiRFC'CP "RANK DEVINO ART D:RZC"0R: F JZABETH WOODSON ruRCRFAN -Drop dr Bernard dixom A^/-,OC:,vr P'.,RUSHER MARIA'-AE -CWA-SON D RFr"QR 0= ADVERTISING: -OvVARD PL SSNER
CONTENTS PAGE RIRSTWORD Opinion Kathy Keeton 6 OMNIBUS Contributes 10 EARTH Environment Yvonne Baskin 18 SPACE Comment James Oberg 22 24 LIFE Biomedicine Bernard Dixon MIND Behavior Tim Whitaker 26 BOOKS The Arts Ray Bradbury 34 FILM The Arts Mitch Tuchman 36 PAINTING The Arts Michael Schrage 38 BREAKTHROUGHS Technology Michael Edelhart 42 EXPLORATIONS Travel Norv Brasch 44 CONTINUUM Da!a Bank 47 MYSTERIES OF THE MIND BRAIN TRANSPLANTS William A. Nolen BEYOND THE BRAN Sir John Eccles
MIND TRIPPING Article Judith Hoops' MIND MACHINES Article Philip J. Hilts 104
BRAIN FRONTIERS Pictorial Gurney Williams III, Dava Sobel Jeif Go ; cberc 112
KARL PRIBRAM Interview Judith Hooper 128
ROUNDATION'S EDGE Fiction Isaac Asimov 64
A MATTER OF PACT Riction Rudyard Kipling 84
VIDEO WIZARDS Article Phil Wiswell 88 THE EYE OR REALITY Pictorial Roberl Sheckley 96 FARMER ON THE DOLE Fiction Frederik Pohl 118 PSI-QTESTll Experiment Stephan A. Schwartz and Rand De Mattel 136
ANTIMATTER UFOs, etc. 151 STARS Astronomy Allan Hendry 190 SHAT T ERED HAIR Phenomena Redken Laboratories. Inc. 196 GAMES Diversions Scot Morris 200 LAST WORD Humor John Ficarra 202
Ariisi BicX'an Palulian portrays a hollow android, searching trie easiness of space. The cold, sterile silicon is softened by human eyes, which symbolize the evolution of mind and
::s eo:phenomenon, supermind. (Courtesy of NEC Electronics, USA, inc.)
4 OMNI , .'. we need a ':.' , . .' . . . reasoned, ! i: . !! 9rS3"y" ihe NASA's planners same month as ;he t.wenty--ifth anniversary reusable shuttle that can. carry relatively then of the launching of Sputnik ;. Ir was heavy loads into orbit and pome Oc'obc; 4, 1957. when ihe Soviet Union' : back for. more. We would a ; so need a opened the Space Age with the first' station in orbit to serve as a base, a
' i "terminal" on the tar end oi the shuttle i ateinte oi Earth.
( th hne. And we would ne.ec\ a "space tug" from to^ croits .because; if current schedules iiold. the thateould take payloads space shijille Columbia will undertake its :o h:ghe;- one;*, such as rhe geosyn- first operational '^gh; and place two chronous Clarke orbii, where commu-
communications satellites in orbit. . nications satellites operate.
'
The Space Age has come a long way ' Neither Nixon, Ford, nor Carter would- in its first quartor-cemury. from lis lund the entiie integrar.ee prog/am. So rackieD ihe tost, hardest, part: history-making fin ,i :l i m to NASA and the- reusable wo-khorse Co'ump.'a the -shuttle. And n its much shorter span of four Now we' should be working on the years Qmm has come a long way. too, with second step. SOC. The station would
more than 5 million leaders each month serve as a base in orbit for long-fern \ two books published, tol: highly popular scientific and industrial experiments, military .observations, Omni Science t lotion specials, ana an biomedical research, award-winning Television sones to boasl of. and communications, astronomical The chfef reason tor Qrnnfs success studies, and much more. ot is. ct cou-se, you "he rea.de:. Yen nave the planets, verified the faith that Bob.Guccione had and comets could be assembled ar the -.'- FIRST when he siamed tins magamne and nave: i - ii t omponents
1 '.' :'.' . . i . proved to a skeptical world that you : .:
' are confident about the future and be checked out at the SOC, and the IAJDRD interested' in scientific research, in the station could even serve as a base for exciting prospects of space- exploration, satellite. repair and maintenance- crews. .. By Kathy Keeton robotics genetic engineering. To According to Major General James extension-; biotechnology, ano the many Abraham-son. di-ecior ot the shuttle iA permanent U.S. nine- areas covered m each issue. program, spaee-oi'iented industries Omni s, yO:n vision oi the future is aiready represent a 820-biltion-per-year space station could: be LKe creative, optimistic, and unafraid oi new market in the United States. The SOC v^il put into orbit for challenges. allow Industrial and. commercial firms to " political leadership in prra more permanent l . operate only slightly more money Paradoxical v. ojj space in seems t.o be looking l::aci f ' golden spike mat completed ihe irsi This. is something to remember, with elections corning next . tor* up transcontinental -aNroad. . We must congressional aggressively to the future by demonstrat- .monih. Where do the -candidates -'in your ing the potential oi the shuttle and esrao- srafe and your cistrict stand on the they of lishing a more permanent presence . space program? Hdw aware are stronger efforts in scientific - the ior . need inspace" . Those are fine words. But where are research and education? ' the deeds to match them? NASA and several aerospace . The President has not cailed tor a new contractors have studied various space- program to b.iiid a permanent space station ideas. James Beggs NASAs station in Earth';; orbit. Without such a administrator, has told the-- press/that a station, talk of "a more permanent Space Operations Center could be buiii. for presence in space' is mere rhetoric. a'toial cost ot about S9 billion and couid In NASA parlance, the space station is be finished by 1,988 That cost is only re! slightly more than what Americans Center, or SOC. It is the next logical' step spent on pizza in 1981. ir oui space program, now that the Would you give up a year's worth of shuttle appears, to be weil on its way to pizza to see a permanent UtS- space 7 nil operational status. station' erected in orbit if you would, write When NASA originally proposed ihe .to the President and let him' know. Send ' shuttle program to the Nixon White House us acopy of your letter. Or would you in the early" 1970s the snulte was one rather see you' children celebrate the [hire ct i^\e agency's total plan. To operate twenty-fifth anniversary' of. Russia's first economically and e :'ficicni!y ;u space. space station 25 years from now?DO. DR/inJIBU! 5ince its inception, Omni has hurdled. But when and if this research Specialists now insists :na: consciousness covered numerous scientific pays off, Nolen expects, the benefits need not be associated with the brain at breakthroughs and has been a to mankind will be staggering. all. Something akin to awareness may celebrant of exploration. To mark our What is the connection between body emerge in silicon processors as they fourth anniversary, we look at the and soul, brain and mind, physical evolve in complexity. To assess this uncharted landscape of the brain, in substrates and mental states? The answer potential, science writer Philip J. Hilts this "Mysteries of the Mind" issue. How is still far off, but eminent neuroscientist visited World Computer Chess champion did self-awareness emerge from the gray Sir John Eccles believes some important Belle and learned thai its moves are matter of the cortex? Whence do ideas, clues have surfaced. Eccles, who won virtually indistinguishable from those made dreams, and emotions spring? What a Nobel Prize in 1963 for his pioneering by human chess masters. Still, "this is the relation between consciousness study of synapses (junctions between paragon of brute, logical, mathematical and the labyrinthine circuitry of the nerve cells), has been a staunch propo- force, " he maintains, is anything but cerebral hemispheres? There are many nent of the view that an immaterial force human in its mode of thought. To judge unknowns, but modern science has directs neuronal processes. In "Beyond for yourself, turn to "Mind Machines" made great strides since the nineteenth- the Brain" (page 56) the Australian-born (page 104). A science reporter for the century author Ambrose Bierce defined scientist discusses current efforts to track Washington Post, Hilts traces his interest in mind as "a mysterious form of matter down "the ghost in the machine." if his artificial intelligence to a meeting with a secreted- by the brain." To appreciate just hunch is correct, it is not a pervasive prominent figure in the field, John how far we've come, turn to "Brain spirit, as once was thought, but is actually McCarthy, who is profiled in Hilts's newly Frontiers" (page 112), a specie! guide to centered in a precise anatomical location. published book, Scientilic Temperaments. recent findings in neurophysiology, from Not all the experts concur with Eccles's Science-fiction fans weaned on Isaac advances in understanding the electrical opinion. According to another leading - Asimov's Foundation trilogy will not want to language of the brain to research that authority, Stanford neuropsychologist and miss Omni's exclusive excerpt (page may someday help paralyzed people to surgeon Dr. Karl Pribram, the brain 64) from the long-awaited sequel, walk again. encodes information in the form of a three- Foundation's Edge. And Frederik Pohl, On a related medical front, clinical dimensional energy field, roughly analo- whom the American Association for the investigators are combating Parkinson's gous to a hologram. Thus, consciousness Advancement of Science commends disease and other neurological disorders cannot be pinpointed but is a direct re- "for imaginative writing with a solid in primates by transplanting healthy sult of the tiring of billions of nerve cells foundation in science and technology," tissue to damaged areas of the cortex. in concert. In this month's Interview makes his Omni fiction debut with the This revolutionary treatment is the sub- (page 128) the Father of the Holographic satire "Farmer on the Dole" (page 118), ject of an in-depth report by Dr. William Theory of the Brain speaks to Judith Finally parapsychologists Stephan A. Nolen, author of the best-selling Hooper, author of an upcoming book that A. Schwartz and Rand De Mattel return autobiography The Making of a Surgeon. will examine various cognitive models. to these pages with another experiment to In "Brain Transplants." starting on page The rise of arthcial .nlel gence has test your ability to perceive distant 28, Nolen examines the many' technical obscured the mind/brain debate even events or locales telepalhically. To and ethical obstacles that remain to' be further. A growing body of computer participate, open to page 136.00 10 OMNI ETTER can/innuruicMToaiB Film Buff would iike to be confused with a worm, Here's to Ridley Scolt's attitude toward and no earthworm would welcome being filmmaking! His belief in design as mistaken for a lowly flatworm. "statement" expressed in Omni's Film Please make amends before biologists column [May 1982] made me feel better are bugged to death with complaints than ever about the movie industry. by irate insects and night crawlers for It's a good thing that there are still insulting their parentage and kin, not people who realize and enjoy the cinema's to mention the misinformation provided ADMINISTRA1 power to create sfra-ice 'imaginative to the uninformed reader. worlds. Scott's filmmaking is a more lhan Robert Huffman welcome alternative to actor-oriented Lagro, Ind. films, and he offers a promised land for polential designers and craftsmen. Sharks Are First-rate Joe Masset I commend your fine magazine on its Centereach, N.Y. fascinating interview with Eugenie Clark [June 1982], entitled "Sweet Sharks." Gross Gourmet I found the interview conducted by The article "Toasted Termites." by Susan John Stein very thorough and thought- S. Lang [Continuum, April 1982], contains provoking. Clark revealed how this a very gross error pertaining to the animal is often misunderstood and brought "ordinary hot dog." Contrary to the to my attention many facts of interest. article's assertion, hot dogs may not She has done a remarkable job in contain any organ meat or meat that has providing answers to the questions asked not been cut from the bone. and in sharing with us her knowledge. OFFICES ADVERTISING Lillian Olari . The appetites of hundreds of Omni readers can be restored. New York, N.Y. Raymond Markarian National City, Calif. Subversive Character I was astonished by the information Susan Lang replies: Omni readers may presented by Owen Davies in "The DfvlSO be able to re-whet their appetites lor War" [Continuum, May 1982], In par- some hot dogs by knowing that ticular, I had never been aware o! the "frankfurters" may indeed have only raw subversive character of my possessing a skeletal muscle meat. Those labeled copy of The Persecuted Drug: The Story "frankfurters with by-products," however, of-DMSO. I hereby invite the Food and may contain hearts, stomach parts, Drug Administration to take a good look iivers, tongues, tips, esophagus, brains, at my entire book collection. How silly iungs, nonlactating udders, kidney, back, of me not to have burned them myself. It intestine, jowls, butts, snouts, ears, only shows how desperately my fragile diaphragms, and spleens from cattle or intellect needs the protection of the FDA's hogs, or both, according to animal valiant cavaliers. scientist John Forrest at Purdue University. As a matter of fact, they may well find Hot dog lovers should not be too their true vocation along these lines. distressed, though. Frankfurters with So many new books are published each "variety" mt 3 higher year, while there are really very few new nutritional value than those with skeletal drugs. meat only. Emanuel Cooper Lafayette. Ind. Irritating Insects In Omni's Antimatter article "Loch Ness No Left Turn Worms" [June 1982] a serious blow I read with great interest the article by was deall to insects and oligochaetes in Eric Mishara entitled "Levophobia" [Mind, one shot. No self-respecting insecl June 1982], and I'd like to suggest a H PAGE 134 " DIALOGUE FDRLJTU^ things that He said, "Well, once I was lecturing in which the readers, editors, and he was one of the best has in York, and the discussion lasted correspondent:.-; discuss theories and happened to science in a long time, His New I just managed to catch a speculation arising out of Omni. Readers witty style, his wide knowledge, and so long that very late train back to Philadelphia, are encouraged to debate views and his charismatic personality have enabled practically a milk train. There were only pose questions to Omni, the scientiiic astronomers and astrophysicists to win I and a drunk community, and the science-fiction a hearing they had not enjoyed before. two in the empty car, obviously sleeping it off. establishment. The opinions published James Michener across the aisle, conductor came through, he are not necessarily those of the editors. St. Michaels, Md. When the woke the drunk, who didn't have a ticket, bill, poked it at the Comic Comment More on Sagan but he pulled out a the article "The conductor, and said, 'Gimme a ticket to Bill Lee's "Creationist Comix" [June 1982] As I was reading Carl it occurred wherever it is.' hit me squarely in the stomach. Marketing of Dr. Sagan," smiled. 'And that's my goal. The cartoons displayed an unexpected to me that the authors [Franklynn Peterson Eiseley give ticket to wher- personal viciousness that does not and Judi Kesselman-Turkel] were really I try to students a particularly at ever it is." belong in a publication for educated annoyed at the man. the Alfred Bester people. Mr. Lee's crude comments (ell far- sales of his book Cosmos and its Ottsville. Pa. short of attaining the label satire and "hefty $19.95 price tag." the article over, I attacked not only the creationist argument While I thought Laser Communications but the Jewish and Christian faiths. This happened to see a television commercial article "Sun Guns" [May 1982] was done with a heavy-handed lack for a "Laughing Head" (a plastic head In the that a recorded belly laugh and rolls authors Jeff Hecht and Dick Teresi ot taste that I have never seen in a plays imaginative scheme for using I suggest an magazine of Omni's reputation before. its eyes) for $19.95. Now ask you, lasers in communications. The idea, Sharon Lunsford Wouldn't it seem that there are a lot worse Aledo, Tex. ways to spend $19.95 than on Cosmos? mistakenly attributed to me, was to Diane Rhodes communicate still video images of Voyager Los Angeles. Calif. quality toward Barnard's star as a pos- Could it be that the evolutionists are of contacting some adopting some of the creationist tactics? sible means not extraterrestrial civilization. I quite that Carl Sagan is It seems to me that Bill Lee's "Creationist am aware The attribution may have arisen from a I your Comix" is no better than the cartoons perfect. However, was repulsed by several times involving depicting Darwin's head atop vitriolic attack on him and by your attempt talk I have given of laser links on automated a monkey's body, to discredit his valuable contribution to the use Roger Thrasher the advancement of science. spacecraft to transmit images of, not any Transfer, Pa. Whether Dr. Sagan's motives are entirely toward, the Barnard star system and "pure" is hardly the question. In society associated planets. Under realistic today the promotion of Carl Sagan is assumptions, one could communicate Although I can see the humor and promotion of a progressive Voyager- quality images to Earth at direction of "Creationist Comix." I must objectively the Voyager-data rates by using remark that more sensitivity should be trend in science, striking a blow at approximately exercised toward those people whose Philistinism and metaphysics. solid-state pulsed-laser arrays. This- pulse-position modulation, beliefs do not coincide with the views Wilson Pietzsch would involve erasure-fill-in block coding to of the scientific community. Houston, Tex. with pulses. Bill Melancon account for missed underestimate the St. Martinville. La. The Eiseley Touch One should not to explore I'd like to add a touch of color to your possible use of spacecraft Michener on Sagan splendid Loren Eiseley self-portrait nearby stellar systems. Such a challenge Omni's fascinating report on Carl Sagan [June 1982], goes far beyond that of merely about communicating. However, overcoming in the June issue ["The Marketing of When I was writing a feature challenge could provide a Dr. Carl Sagan"] quotes me accurately my alma mater (the University of any such scientific technological theme from my New York Times review of Dr. Pennsylvania) for Holiday magazine, I unifying and thai fascinating interview with Dr. Eiseley. for the next millennium. Sagan's book. I did point out many had a Edward Posner jealous scientists "dismiss him as a mere We discussed many of the student/ California Institute of problems, at one point I asked " faculty and popularizer. I was reporting what others particular goal Technology felt about Sagan. In my review I also him whether he had any Pasadena, Calif. DO indicated that I, among others, felt that when he was teaching. tt OMNI LIFE AT THE RIFT EARTH By Yvonne Baskin wells o! liquid sapphire rolled chain evolved. The earth's molten core they'd found part of a 45,000-mile network under Lulu's twin pontoons, produced hot springs that spewed of "spreading centers," spots where the 5 literally splits thrusting the huge caiamaran hydrogen sulfide, one of the most loxic earih at the seams as the apart. upward in the morning sun. In the center substances known. The sulfide, rich great plates forming its crust pull of the deck, the tiny submarine Alvin in chemical energy, formed a food supply Seawater flowing into these seams bacteria heats rapidly, gushing back up full of nestled in its cradle. I stood by its side, tor clouds of bacteria, and the trying to picture a bustling world beneath nurtured red-blooded clams, clusters of valuable minerals and gas. It was the earth's crust thai the bright, toamless blue. But it was a ten-foot-long tube worms, even scurrying movement of the surreal vision, too incongruous to hold. while crabs. interested geologists, not clams and For in the ocean, blue is the desert I'd arrived at this tropical site, 120 worms, but they did bring back a few color, a sign that few creatures can miles south of Baja California, in April bottled prizes to tantalize biologists. subsist. Below us. beyond the reach of 1982, with three dozen scientists, a When biologists finally gof to the the sun's rays, was a mile and a half handful of other science writers, and Galapagos in 1979, they found blue- of frigid sea. The sparse life inhabiting three ships: the Melville, a huge, floating water creatures thriving on hydrogen that changeless world moves in slow lab; the New Horizon, a somewhat sulfide, with just a paltry supply of surface motion, growing and respiring only a smaller research vessel; and the nourishment in sight. But the Galapagos fraction as fast as green-water creatures catamaran Lulu, used for launching the were just the beginning. Now we circled a closer to shore. Without sunlight to Alvin. Dispatched from the Scripps vent 21 degrees north of the equator, propel photosynthesis, the deep sea Institution of Oceanography, in San Diego, 2,000 miles from the Galapagos. Below can sustain no plant life; so animals our expedition had been dubbed "Oasis." us, unseen, two crustal plates moved survive only by eating the meager organic Our mission: to study the frenetic world away from each other at the rate that a debris drifting down from the surface. created by these hot springs, or volcanic fingernail grows, about 2.5 inches a link region Or so I'd always thought. But here and vents, deep under the sea. year. Our only to lhat uncharted there in the deep ocean, somewhere Geologists studying the seafloor near was the 25-foot Alvin. back in time, life apparently took a different the Galapagos Islands stumbled upon The sub rocked in the water as Scripps tack. Independent of the sun that fuels these unique deepwater communities in biologist Bob Hessler folded his lanky the rest of our world, an alternate life 1977. It didn't take them long to realize frame into the cramped passenger compartment for an hour-and-a-half descent. Crouching on boat cushions, bundled against the deep-sea chill, he and two colleagues videotaped the vent community through portholes. Thai night, in the Melville's library, we were able to view the sights they had seen: Alvin's floodlights had picked out a black lava field with 30-foot "chimneys" gushing sulfurous, 650° F water, kept from boiling only by pressure 260 times that on the surface. When a superheated plume hit icy seawater, a glitter of heavy metals rained down on the lava base. Vent water cooled so quickly that creatures just inches from the opening enjoyed pleasant temperatures of 40° F to 70" F We could see a mass of three-inch Pompeii worms, named for the shower of ash they endure, embracing chimney walls, Foot-long clams and thickets of feathery, red-tipped tube worms basked nearby; lobsterlike crabs and white eellike fish scavenged among the tubes. "If the venl could be sniffed," Hessler said, "the rotten-egg smell of poisonous CONTINUED ON PAGE 192 — BEYOND SPUTNIK'S BOOSTER By James Oberg failures. Another two dozen ^^n epochal cosmic even: went Soviet space propulsion, in fact it is from space, #^^» unheralded sometime earlier this probably testimony to the foresight and semyorkas were expended between # %year. In a manner ol speaking, advanced thinking of the missile's 1957 and 1959 during its brief weapons- it was the millennium. creator, Sergey Korolev. He persuaded test program. of semyorka is Technically it was merely the one the Kremlin leadership to finance an But now the reign the thousandlh launching of the primary Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) apparently drawing to a close. Several space booster. The mainstay of the program in 1955, but the missile built trends are converging toward its Russian space program ior a quarter of was clearly designed as a space booster. extinction. Many standard payloads are a century, the booster was known to It never made a very efficient weapons previously carried aboard semyorkas its original designers as the R-7 (Rocket carrier and was quickly replaced by now being launched aboard more modern in 7) or, affectionately, as "ol' mark newer ICBM designs, but it held its place SS-9 ICBMs, which have turn been seven"— in Russian, semyorka. Western as a space -transportation system without replaced tor military use in the ICBM silos observers call it the A-class vehicle. equal in the world. by the even more awesome SS-18 In any language it is the workhorse of A million pounds of flaming thrust missiles. One bigger booster, the Proton, spaceflight. pushes the semyorka off its concrete pad. has after more than a decade of parallel The launching was a fitting tribute to built on an apron overlooking a deep service apparently reached the stage pit. rocket are where it, too, can be trusted to carry the first space satellite, Sputnik 1 , which flame The 20 engines rode a semyorka into orbit on October divided into five clusters of four each, with cosmonauts. A special minishuttle is 4, 1957, 25 years ago this month. a long central core unit surrounded by evidently being built to transport in the past quarter-century, the four tapering strap-on stages. After two cosmonauts to and from a planned large semyorka family carried 6,000 tons of minutes, the strap-on units fall away space station later in the Eighties. That payload into orbit, many times the total and the core central stage carries on station itself is reportedly to be launched weight of the cargo any other type of into space. An upper stage then by a carrier rocket at least 12 times the booster has lifted. If all the rocket stages pushes the payload into orbit. size and power of the semyorka. With used in these missions were laid end That scenario has been conducted these developments on the horizon, the to end, they would stretch 70 miles successfully more than 900 times. Several next ten years may witness the launching nearly far enough to reach into space. dozen more launches have ialien back of the very last of Koroiev's progeny Halt a million tons of liquid propellants, The most spectacular successor is mainly kerosene and liquid oxygen, bound to be the "superbooster." Its advent were consumed by the booster. had long been expected by Western Trie semyorka has seen glory and observers, and rumors ot an impending tragedy. It carried the first artificial satellite, launching have been circulating for several the first moon shots, the first men (and years. A year ago the Pentagon officially a woman) into orbit. It is the only Soviet confirmed that such a booster, with "six to " space booster ever to have been "man- seven times the payload capacity of rated" safe to carry crewmen, and it has the space shuttle," was being built. That done so for more than 100 riders. It also comes out to about 200 tons in orbit, once killed 100 people: A balky model twice the payload weight lofted by the 5, carried . exploded on the launchpad in 1960 during now-detunct Saturn which an inspection that violated safety Americans off the pad in the lunar standards the Russians had foolishly set missions. aside to meet a politically inspired Though no official word was given on deadline. In 1975 another semyorka was possible schedules, most experts believe responsible for spaceflight history's that a first test flight (probably with a only manned-launch abort, when an upper dummy payload) could occur before the stage malfunctioned and dumped two middle ol next year. The booster could cosmonauts onto a night-shrouded, become operational by 1985, carrying snowy mountainside uncomfortably giant 12-man space stations into low-Earth close to the Chinese border, orbit as well as Sa/yuf-c!ass three-man Even nowrhore than half of all Soviet craft into lunar orbit and, eventually, space shots are atop semyoAa- class on to interplanetary trajectories. boosters. Although that might be The Russians would need a special interpreted as a lack of real progress in The semyorka has lolled 6,000 tons ol payload. new vehicle to take crew members up to 22 OMNI CONTINUED ON PAGE 189 € By Dr. Bernard Dixon signed to protect high-risk groups. There unanticipated benefit of the Morris, from the London School ot ne as Tropical Medicine. The is no simple answer. Just many last war was a steep decline Hygiene and factors, from a person's of their criticism was dietary advice contributory of dental disease in Europe. With target becoming "conventional genetic makeup to smoking habits, sugar in short supply, the that is rapidly cooking of countries: the notions influence his or her chances someday bacteria that erode tooth enamel were wisdom" in many succumbing to heart disease. So there is that no more than 30 percent of total starved of nourishment, and the result concerning fat and that no black-and-white certainty in human cavities. calories should come from was a sharp reduction compute, from of saturated fats (those diet. Marr and Morris That unplanned experiment in the contribution dairy products) previous evidence, that their moderate preventive medicine comes vividly to obtained from meat and reduction in reduced disproportionately to advice would lead to a four decades later as experts should be mind coronaries of some 10 to 15 percent. Marr and Morris point out, middle-age dispute just what dietary measures should 10 As juggle our food percent. But the rewards for eating undertaken to combat another ailment: no matter how we be draconian meals could be even it impossible to produce more heart disease. The argument does not constituents, is greater as another World War II rationing simply follow on the familiar theme of a palatable diet along these lines. moderates advocate experiment demonstrates. Coronary saturated versus polyunsaturated fats. Instead, these mortalities in Europe fell as a result of the diet. cutting fat intake back by half the amount It concerns the shape of our entire recommended. And fat shortage. And atheroma, which And what worries some cardiovascular hardliners have arteries, was virtually that the shortfall in saturated causes blockages in specialists is that the type of massive they argue nonexistent among prisoners of war. now being urged may fat must be compensated for by extra restructuring the subject such as the oils derived Since they first broached be unrealistically draconian. Do we really polyunsaturates and maize. But early this year, Marr and Morris have want every lunch and dinner to be from olives, soybeans, short of advice from other feel there is no need to go not been serious exercise in nutritional science? again they a explaining to achieve that "It's to dispel those visions experts how Earlier this year two experts sparked overboard: time percent calories from fat, one the population swilling corn oil." target of 30 off the controversy in the columns of of fat. They argument— apart from third of them from saturated the international journal The Lancet. They The crux of the whether have come from centers like the Cleveland Jean Marr, of the Royal Free gastronomic considerations— is were Dr. the Dunn stuck with a diet de- Clinic Foundation, in Ohio, and Hospital, London, and Professor Jeremy we should all be Clinical Nutrition Centre, in Cambridge, England. In sum, these suggestions are that every atom of visible fat be excised full- from meat before it is cooked, that fat milk products be replaced by low-fat products, and that margarines and oils replace butter and cooking tats. "Measures of these kinds surely should by now be standard health education and nutrition policy," Marr and Morris concede. "But carried to the extreme, such measures would also entail turning the whole population into patients." Marr, by the way, speaks from sobering experience. She and Professor Andrew Shaper have succeeded in converting human subjects to a stringent diet in which only 37 percent of the calories are derived from fat. But their guinea pigs were "highly cooperative" civil servants, and adhering to the regimen required "considerable effort on all sides." There's achieve still a long way to go before they the austerity of the wartime kitchen. Whether they should pursue that goal at all is the fundamental question. DO — BETTER BABIE nnifUD By Tim Whitaker with 50 dots on it, he will soon recognize it weren't for the sign out front the results. And physicians decry Doman's IfINSTITUTES FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT Of HUMAN qualifications to practice sophisticated what the number 50 means. The same is in technique, Doman says, can be applied potential— it would look like just rehabilitation at all; his degree another classy estate in the lush Chestnut physical therapy. But notoriety has to playing the violin or learning a foreign will Hill section of Philadelphia. But behind never hurt Doman's practice, and the language. A child be played a tape the walls protecting this handsome stone publicity may have helped. of a violin, given the instrument, and asked complex is a controversial organization In February 1978, buoyed by a 23-year to duplicate the sound. that claims a lofty calling: "To increase the run of well-heeled clients, Doman decided "We all have the capacity to learn from ability of all people to function in the to extend his brain-stimulation techniques the second day of life," says BBI director intellectual, social, and physical realms." to healthy babies. After all, if you can Gretchen Kerr. 'Llust because the Founded in 1955 as an alternative help people relearn speech, arithmetic, children can't talk yet doesn't mean it's rehabilitation center for brain-injured and physical skills, why not babies not in their capacity to learn. We just give children and stroke victims (the late learning them for the first time? them a language they can understand." thirty-three, first heard Joseph P. Kennedy was probably their Dubbing his program the Better Baby Leah Cianfrani, best-known patient), the institutes claimed Institute (BBI), Doman now runs week- about the Better Baby Institute over a to get results where others had failed. long seminars that seek to teach parents Philadelphia classical-music radio station in 1980. Her curiosity aroused, They did it, they declared, through how a baby's brain grows and then offer February "patterning," which they described as practical methods they can use to help she enrolled in the week-long parenting "visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation their infants learn "even before they walk." course, sight unseen. Today she is one with increased frequency, intensity, and The cost is $450 per parent, and seating of the institute's staunchest advocates. "I duration." The patients were drilled is limited to 90. The babies are not invited, Just wish I had been taught everything ceaselessly in exercises designed to Doman's techniques convert adult in my life the way the Better Baby Institute restore their lost abilities. language into symbols that babies can teaches it," Cianfrani declares. The medical establishment has never understand when they are repeated often Doman and his staff claim they can endorsed founder Glenn Doman's enough. For example, a very young baby turn curious parents into teachers who can aggressive techniques; at most, a few may not grasp the concept of numbers, instruct their very young children to read, doctors concede that they get limited but if he is repeatedly shown a flash card play the violin, solve simple arithmetic problems, speak several foreign languages, identify works of art, per- form gymnastic feats, and more— all without a magical wand. "My son can do far more than the average two-and-a-half-year-old," Cianfrani asserts. "He can ingest vast quantities of information quickly. He knows most of the Impressionist painters and their works by sight. It's amazing. What's most amazing is that he thinks I'm as smart as he is," she says, "which is frustrating, because I'm not." As soon as her child began talking, she reports, he began asking to work on some of the "bits"— the flash card techniques that are a staple of Doman's patterning repertoire. "When I first started working with him, I often thought he was bored with the flash cards. But as soon as he started talking, I realized I just wasn't going fast enough for boring with repetition. I him. I was him now go a lot faster than even the institute recommends." ;: be lai.igii; io H.v'ios; any cftiid die quewcn .s. S,\y..i!d ffiey be? Cianfrani anticipates problems when her CONTINUED ON PAGE 393 — BRAIN TRANSPLANTS THE BODY By William A. Nolen, M.D. n the day that each of us is successful only in lower animals, rats in National Institutes of Health, and Anders born, we have all the brain cells particular, but some researchers plan Bjorklund and Alf Stenevi at the University that we are ever going to have. to begin work on monkeys, our closest of Lund, in Sweden, are among the When we lose a brain cell, or neuron, it is relatives, very soon. And in Stockholm, leading neuroscientists working gone forever. No new brain cell will Sweden, the first experimental transplant on brain repair. in replace it. It is this fact that makes us live of cells into the human brain took place Gash, who received a Ph.D. both in fear that someday a stroke, injury, only a few months ago. We are entering anatomy and biology from Dartmouth in infection, or degenerative disease a very exciting period in the history 1975, leaches anatomy to freshman may destroy or damage a significant of brain repair. medical students for two months ot the part of our brain. Brain mending may heal an impressive year; tor most of the other months he Sadly, once brain cells have been list of conditions. These include Par- does research. Over breakfast, I injured or destroyed, there is no way to kinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease asked how he had happened to get repair the damage. The brain cannot (a form of senile dementia), diabetes interested in brain mending.- regenerate lost cells, as the bone marrow insipidus (about which, more later), "I had been interested in the idea of can; it can't repair itself, as an ulcerated epilepsy, paralyses following stroke, and brain research even before I came to 1976," stomach can; it can't be sacrificed with perhaps even blindness or deafness Rochester in he replied, "but what impunity, as the gall bladder or the attributable to brain damage. If we once actually got me started was a paper in appendix can: nor can we repair it, as learn to replace injured brain cells with which Anders Bjorklund said that it was we can the heart. Until very recently the healthy ones, the possible applications possible to transplant fetal brain tissue challenge of mending the brain has are virtually endless. into young adults, seemed insoluble. To take a closer look at brain mending, "I knew lhat Celia Sladek [a coworker with in brain research] some Now, however, a new approach has I recently flew to Rochester. New York, Gash had been developed. Instead of attempting to to spend a day with Don Gash, associate Brattleboro rats. So I borrowed four heal damaged brain cells, researchers professor of anatomy and brain research animals from her and transplanted brain have decided to replace them with new at the University of Rochester School tissue. Two of the transplants worked. I've ceils that can take over their functions. of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Gash, been at it ever since." (The photograph Previously this procedure had been Richard Wyatt and his associates at the on this page shows one of Gash's transplants.) The Brattleboro rat, Gash explained, lacks a special type of brain cell, the vasopressin neuron, named for a hormone it secretes. Vasopressin neurons are ordinarily found in two small areas at the base of the brain known as the supra- optic nuclei. Vasopressin is stored in the pituitary gland. An animal that lacks vasopressin develops a disease called diabetes insipidus: The animal— rat or human loses the ability to concentrate urine. A rat with diabetes insipidus drinks its weight in water each day; a human thus afflicted may drink and excrete as much as ten gallons a day. Hope of treating this and other disorders rests on a unique advantage that simplifies brain-transplant surgery. The brain is often called a "privileged organ." Evidence has existed for 50 years lhat the brain is immunologically tolerant; transplants there are rejected, if at all, at a much slower rate than at other body sites. This is true even of grafts from unrelated donors and from other the morning he did ten transplanis, using measure than is urine output." species —an important point when one 19-day-old fetuses — about two days I later read a report of a study of considers possible sources of donor before birth —as donors. In the afternoon vasopressin's effect on learning and brain. the donors were five-day-old rats. In memory. The report says that "memory It's difficult to emphasize adequately both experiments the recipients were disorders are a frequent complaint in the importance of the brain's privileged five-day-old Brattleboro rats. aging people." A gross understatement. status. In a kidney transplant, for It was delicate work. The brain of a 19- The investigators did a study of men example, it's necessary to match the day rat fetus is about three fourths the from fifty to sixty-five years of age. In tests donor and recipient genetically; usually a diameter of a thumbnail and perhaps half of attention, concentration, immediate living relative— brother or sister—makes an inch thick. The portion containing memory, learning, and recognition, the the best donor, but, with the exception the supraoptic nuclei is barely visible to patients who received vasopressin of identical twins, the genetic match the naked eye. Gash operates with eye- performed significantly better than those is never perfect. surgery instruments while peering through who received placebos. The investigators Because of this, the recipient must a microscope. His assistant, lab technician considered these results encouraging take medication to reduce his or her Leslie Dick, injected the tiny pieces of and proposed more extensive testing. immunity. The recipient must stay on these brain tissue into the five-day-old "One of the big drug companies is drugs indefinitely or run the risk that Brattleboro rats, which she first doing mass testing in Europe right now," it . his immune system will destroy the anesthetized with ether. Gash remarked. 'At the moment seems transplanted organ. Eventually, though Gash and Dick were trying to determine as if the effect is erratic; some patients perhaps not for 10 or 15 years, most what age donor is best. Gash suspects are helped, some aren't. There's a lot organs will be rejected. that younger donors are better, because of work yet to be done." In brain transplants, however, no effort the less mature tissue requires less When Gash had finished operating has been made to match the rats oxygen and is more likely to survive and the rats had recovered from the ether genetically— donors and recipients have while it links to the blood vessels in and were back with their mothers, I been of different strains —yet no drugs the recipient's brain. asked him what the practical human have been required to prevent rejection. If In most animals, the transplanted tissue applications of such work might this tolerance is found in human survives; healthy vasopressin cells are be. He cited three: patients—and the evidence so far found in 90 percent of the transplanted "There's diabetes insipidus, of course," suggests that it will be— the greatest rats. Yet only about one rat in four is he said. "It's a rare disease and can obstacle to organ transplants will be cured of diabetes insipidus. I asked Gash already be treated with vasopressin, which insignificant in brain mending. about this discrepancy. is easily manufactured. Still, if vasopressin What Gash does is to take from- normal "We think it's because of the attach- neuron transplants were feasible, that rat fetuses— the fetuses of Wistar-Lewis ments the vasopressin cells make," he an- would be another way to treat it. And if the rats, a standard lab animal used in swered. "To cure diabetes insipidus. apparent relationship of vasopressin to many experiments— small segments of they must hook up with a part of the host memory and learning stands up, that will brain containing supraoptic nuclei, rich in brain called the median eminence. If widen the app ication enormously. vasopressin cells. These tiny pieces of they don't, even if they survive, they "Then there's Alzheimer's disease. brain tissue are then injected into the evidently don't cure diabetes insipidus. Estimates are that at least six percent of brains of five-day-old Brattleboro rats. The "That doesn't mean the transplants the twenty-five million people over young Brattleboro rats are then followed aren't useful, however. There's some sixty-five have senile dementia of the for about 30 days to see how many evidence that vasopressin cells play a Alzheimer type. Personally, I think develop diabetes insipidus, and their critical role in memory and learning as well that's a low estimate. brains are examined io see how many as in urine concentration. We're now "There is evidence that the problem vasopressin cells they contain. trying to determine what effect our lies in a part of the brain called the On the day I visited his laboratory, transplants have on our rats' learning nucleus basilis. Ordinarily it is rich in Gash operated on two groups of rats. In processes, but it's a lot more difficult to cholinergic neurons, which produce the chemical acetylcholine. In patients with Alzheimer's disease, most of these cells are lost. If it's the loss of these nerves that causes the problem, we might ease Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia by transplanting cells from the nucleus basilis. 'A third condition," Gash continued, "is Parkinson's disease. Right now it seems likely that this will be the firs! human disorder to be treated by brain transplantation. Parkinson's disease is caused by a loss of cells that produce dopamine from the substantia nigra of the brain. Richard Wyatt and Anders Bjorklund have both created Parkinson's disease by damaging special areas in the brains of rats, and they corrected the disease by transplanting brain tissue from fetuses. "Cells from the adrenal gland [next to the kidneys] also produce dopamine, and it's possible that they can be used to correct Parkinson's disease," he added. Within a few weeks after I met with .! Scanning electron 'ryj.-ogrnph mvnniii ;:;;.' fe.-e feawsa o! ce.vs u.-c.v.wj a transplant recipier Gash, the first such transplant was in fact CONTINUED ON PAGE 184 meant them to say. My teachers So this discussion must finally wished me to write accurately, acknowledge that our stylistic always selecting the most effective options as writers are neither nu- words, and relating the words to merous nor glamorous, since our with style one another unambiguously, readers are bound to be such write rigidly, like How to parts of a machine. imperfect artists. Our audience )0 The teachers did not want to requires us to be sympathetic and ByKurtVonnegut turn me into an Englishman patient teachers, ever willing to mainly for what they choose to Simplicity of language is not after all. They hoped that I simplify and clarify -whereas we show you or make you think about? only reputable, but perhaps even would become understandable would rather soar high above the Did you ever admire an empty- sacred. The Bible opens with a -and therefore understood. crowd, singing like nightingales. headed writer for his or her mastery sentence well within the writing And there went my dream of That is the bad news. The of the language? No. skills of a lively fourteen-year-old: doing with words what Pablo good news is that we Americans So your own winning style must "In the beginning God created the Picasso did with paint or what are governed under a unique begin with ideas in your head. heaven and the earth." any number of jazz idols did Constitution, which allows us to with music. If I broke all the write whatever we please without 1 . Find a subject you care about 4. Have the guts to cut rules of punctuation, had fear of punishment. So the most Find a subject you care about It may be that you, too, are and employs a vocabulary as unor- words mean whatever I wanted meaningful aspect of our styles, and which you in yout heart feel capable of making necklaces for namental as a monkey wrench. them to mean, and strung them which is what we choose to write others should care about. It is this Cleopatra, so to speak. But your In some of the more remote together higgledy-piggledy, I would about, is utterly unlimited. genuine eating, and not your eloquence should be the setvant of hollows simply not be understood. So you, of Appalachia, children 8. For really detailed advice games with language, which will the ideas in your head. Your rule still grow up hearing songs and lo- too, had better avoid Picasso-style For a discussion of literary style be the most compelling and seduc- might be this: If a sentence, no cutions of Elizabethan times. Yes, or jazz-style writing, if you have in a narrower sense, in a more Jmerruilifffliiii Rr,V)- mhd KunMmnetftt. authx tive element in your style. matter how excellent, does not il- and many Ameticans grow up something worth saying and of such novels must an This be intensely personal snobbish land of little magazines, many (Ambrose Bierce. Edgar Allan Poe. review. It can't help being such, of which were sponsored by the best L. Frank Baum, Charles Dickens among for Anthony Boucher and "Mick" universities or the richest part-time editor- them) making a last brave stand on McComas were intensely personal publishers. Mars while their final books burn and ihe editors and friends of mine. Also. I'm In out of the cold came Philip K. Dick, memory of their greatness dies. Imagine breaking one of the cardinal rules of Richard Matheson, Reginald Bretnor, that being published in any science- book reviewing. One is not supposed to and Ron Goulart. Some others, like Asimov fiction magazine 32 years ago! review a book in which he himself has and Theodore Sturgeon, could please Let's face if. Boucher and McComas a story. Consider the rule broken. Campbell part of the time, but occasionally saved a lot of lives and a lot of careers McComas and Boucher, this late in time, they wanted to speak with a more private during their brief time as editors. Their reconsideration, deserve a and a and personal tongue. McComas and influence is still felt today, of course, rededication, by all Ihe readers and Boucher gave them a small but very in such magazines as Omni. The writers lovers of their Magazine of Fantasy spec al hearing. they encouraged, me among them, and Science Fiction. "The Hurkle Is a Happy Beast.." by survived and prevailed. John W. Campbell the father of was the Sturgeon, is a case in point. It might have At long last thai empty place on your supreme Golden Age of science-fiction found a home for itself back in the days library shelf, where a partial history of writing that began in the late Thirties of Campbell's Unknown Worlds science fiction and fantasy was missing, he when look over the editorship of magazine. But in ihe great noncaring. is now filled. The Eureka Years drops Astounding magazine. He. brought an nontantasy-oriented publishing world of into that place, to stay, to perpetuate incredible variety of new talent into the the Fifties it is hard to imagine any the memory of those two brilliani field, including A. E. Van Vogt, Robert editor giving a sympathetic reading to gentlemen who meant so much to the Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, this Lewis Carroll-oriented myth about a science-fiction field, and to pay them and a host of others. And each in his blue hurkle, let alone believe an editor the honors they so richly deserve. flair for own way had a science and would buy it. McComas and Boucher final, One totally personal note: I knew storytelling. greeted this offbeat story with glad cries. McComas well, but Boucher even beiter. But there were some writers, coming of In my case, own "The Exiles" is a Whenever I hit San Francisco, Tony and age at that time, who didn't quite fit the story of the ghosts of famous authors Phyllis, his lovely wife, who sang with ihe intellectual and scientific mold that San Francisco Opera Chorus, used to Campbell insisted on for his writers. We head for the nearest opera bar. We went were left behind on the shore, with our to drink the night away and weep and smaller concepts, our less scientific and applaud Puccini and Verdi as sung by more human way looking at of things. young tenors or sopranos on their way up often We were guilty of preferring fantasy in that sweei, crazy, and unappreciaied to science fiction. We all knew Campbell world. Those nights, the music, and the and admired him and the work he was conversations that went with them remain doing, but couldn't we get hired tor in my recollection of them as marvelous banth-catcher on Mars. and unforgettable. For my wife and me, Boucher and McComas, good editorial when Anthony Boucher died, most of San souls, hired us. Put up with some of us, Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley fell is more like it. If you read the letter into the Bay. When McComas died, exchange reprinted in The Eureka Years some time afterward, Ihe rest of their (Bantam. $3.50), a collection of notes world followed. Going norih from Los that passed back and forth between these Angeles to visit has never been the two editors and me, you will find a very same forme since. naive and untried young writer being If you read The Eureka Years, I'm sure firmly criticized but lovingly encouraged you will agree with Theodore Sturgeon by Tony and Mick. They did the same that God did a bad script-writing job for many others. when he wrote Anthony Boucher out of The Eureka Years, then, is collection a our lives and then let Mick McComas of stories that simply couldn't have follow. We need them today. accepted been and published anywhere Many thanks to Annette Peltz McComas else in America, not only in the science- for bringing them back to us in this fantasy world, but also in that great Bantam collection: Masterpie< handsome literary Time Machine. DO 34 OMNI — FILM THE ART5 By Mitch Tuchman American housewife ticiies "The bomb might explode when there Was there something these government The in her family's fallout are near. Paul Patty films were not telling us? the cots no grown-ups and (never shelter while her children practice know this, and . . . they always try to Other documentaries intended "duck and cover" beneath their desks remember what to do if the atom bomb for double bills with these nonchalant at school. "Take heart," the government explodes right then." spirit boosters) show government studies admonished in a series of Cold War- [A bright flash of light] of structural damage during nuclear era Civil Defense instructional films, "you "It's a bomb! Duck and cover!" attack: plywood houses engulfed in flame, vehicles can survive a nuclear war. . . . Just find "Here's Tony going to his Cub Scout clapboard houses disintegrating, ." a hole, and make like a mole." Compiling meeting. . . tossed about like tumbleweed. these ignominious "antiques" in the light [Flash] Bird and Johnson set out in 1976 to of later knowledge—and bigger bombs 'Act fast!" make a feature documentary, a postwar Lance Bird and Tom Johnson conclude stock-footage sequel to their Depression- that there really is No Place to Hide. Attaboy, Tony, Crouch on the sidewalk era compilation, America: Lost and Hollywood notwithstanding, Washington, with your hands over your head. Surely Found. The government's campaign to D.C., has long been this country's film that will prevent your being incinerated in foster the construction, first, of bomb capital. Periodically movies with titles such 3 4000" fireball. shelters and, later, of fallout shelters as One World or None and Public Shelter Here are the complacent folk of St. {having admitted that the former were Living are slated for retirement as George, Utah, Their radios tell them that futile) was to have been a recurring motif. obsolete. From Civil Defense offices, a wee bit of radiation from an atomic- Eventually they opted for a shorter, more government archives, and a flea market, bomb test in nearby Nevada is drifting sharply focused film. By judicious Bird and Johnson rescued overlooked their way. "Don't worry. Mom," the interweaving of their found materials, prints. They spliced portions together with narrator reassures. "The kids are safe at they contrast the government's relentless a smidgen of network news footage, school." Safe, but 20 years later John drive to advance nuclear destructiveness and with an RKO short. You Can Beat the Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes with its halfhearted, intermittent, and Bomb, they created their half-hour, Moorehead, and Pedro Armendariz, who duplicitous efforts to retard nuclear charred-black comedy. Here is a sample were filming The Conqueror near St. devastation. No Place to Hide is a from the soundtrack: George at that time, are all dead of cancer. profound indictment of those misplaced government values. Brothers Kevin and Pierce Rafferty and Jayne Loader set out in the same year as Bird and Johnson to compile a feature documentary about propaganda: what it is, how it works. The challenge was to use as many entries in a voluminous catalog of government surplus films as possible: worker-motivation films, efforts of the U.S. Information Agency to promote our image abroad, bomb shelter exhortations, and similar productions. Having cut a half-hour pilot, having found it remote from their personal political concerns, having (ailed, furthermore, to raise funding, they, too, narrowed their focus. The military archives were the richest; the lies stored there, the most blatant. Ninety minutes long, their film, The Atomic Cafe, shares weaponry and Civil Defense footage with Wo Place to Hide while it documents the pervasive spread of atomic imagery throughout our culture. The magnitude of their enterprise is astonishing: One shot out of 1 ,000 of those Vast indici'wus a! the gir.ein<: : ^ni's. rr-rsaiaceo va^ss screened in various archives was chosen. CONTINUED ON PAGE 186 HINT #16FR0MRCA VIDEODISCS HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SOCIAL LIFE: If you're leaving singles bars still single, if stereo conceits, sports, the arts—and new releases you're getting nothing but healthy at the local every month, so you can build quite a collection. health club— take heart. 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Get Patty to say "yes" toZ>K No. RCA VideoDiscs recii have over 250 fantastic programs you can VideoDiscs bring home right now. There are movies, Bring the Magic Home — THE ART5 By Michael Schrage Twenty-eight years old, Todd "The model is a mathematical equation," of 100 sketches a week, although "some Siler is having a great deal of says Siler, who holds a Master of Science weeks," he says, "I might only read fun remapping the boundaries degree in visual studies from MIT. "Various neurophysiology texts and gestate between the aesthetic and the cerebral parts of the construction explain the for a while." cortex. His work ranges from classical workings of both systems without being The art itself appears as fantastical pen-and-ink sketches to complex either ot the two. For example, the blueprints: The various parts of a technological constructions. Siler's copper rods represent ihe amount of Cerebreactor are carefully labeled and fellowship at the Center for Advanced electrical activity; ihe graduated cylinders described. Photographs, aluminum foil, Visual Studies at Massachusetts Institute represent the chemical activities. Just string, and plastic wrap are occasionally of Technology lets him research the as the physicist can go to the blackboard collaged across a canvas. The effect is a neurophysiological lhat explain dynamics power to something complex, I can casual, textured image of something his Cerebreactors. go to my paper." that looks as if it might exist. Cerebreactors Cerebreaciors are surrealistic models Siler's art is as much a part of his seem to be technology and tissue all at of the mind: depictions of the human research as it is a means of visual the same time, and the little explanatory nervous system as an organic linear expression. "Todd's not asking questions notes lend them a textbookish quality. accelerator, with the spinal cord as conduit that are necessarily relevant within the There's no question that they are rough and the brain as a reactor chamber, scientific tradition," says Professor Robert cuts in the process of being refined to a where subatomic particles tumble into Kuhn, whose academic background is more precise portrayal of brain and energy fields that shape the pattern and neurophysiology and psychology. "He's mind. substance of thought. Nuclear physics asking questions beyond that. The whole "Since I was fourteen," Siler says, "I've becomes neurophysiology. Cerebral issue is an extremely profound one: always been doing projects. I did one fission, he says, is analytical reasoning; the melding of art and science for a higher on what makes the heart contract, by cerebral fusion is intuition. purpose. To look for the deep structural looking at Ihe contractor vacuole of a The metaphor is crudely simplistic, ot of Ihe concepts mind." Paramecium. I loved biology. Biology course, Siler and has already modified Siler is dynamic, almost manic, in his was really the key, the link, for me. Art his Cerebreactors to incorporate more prolific generation of images and ideas and science were opposites then. of the chemical processes of the brain. around Cerebreactors. He draws upwards I would never mix them." So Siler proceeded on parallel paths with his interests in science and art, but he would never let them touch. "In 1979, however, I was reading some work in neurophysiology texts on the side while doing some work in nuclear physics." he recalls. 'Two of the books were lying side by side, and I noticed similarities in the fields in the brain and in fusion." This was the genesis of Cerebreactors. 'Art was ihe language that I felt overlapped both interests," he continues. "Science is illustrative; art, interpretive. I felt what I was producing any kind of physical rendering—was scientific. Art may well be a relaxed moment of science. Art speculates, but science investigates, and I was searching for a more complete artistic/ scientific paradigm." He introduced the idea of a conceptual "mirror" as a tool to express the link between art and science as well as that between brain and mind. "Things had never been explained in terms of mirror n and nuclear-power plants. reflection before," he says. "The mirror - LAR BREEDERS BREAKTHRDUEH5 By Michael Edelhart This autumn the Solarex The idea for the solar breeder came already beat utility rates tor residenfial Corporation, of Rockville, to Lindmayer in 1974, during the Arab oil electricity— 3 cents a solar kilowatt Maryland, plans to dedicate a boycott and at the height of the debate compared wifh 8 cents per utility kilowatt factory that can almost reproduce itself. over nuclear breeder reactors. "In a in Maryland. Solar cells require a large Solarex, the largest manufacturer of nuclear breeder," Lindmayer considered, front-end outlay to buy the hardware, solar photovoltaic cells —the tiny "you eventually run out of fuel. It's nof a however, which damps their appeal. crystalline chips that convert sunlight to true breeder. A true breeder is one that But Lindmayer is optimisfic. He is electricity— broke ground last October doesn't run out of fuel." A photovoltaic already making plans to sell 25,000- for a 26,000-square-foot factory that will plant that derived its energy from solar square-foot solar voltaic plants to ofher use energy produced by banks of solar cells, he reasoned, would be a true industries. 'Just as we have prefabricated cells to create new solar cells — a process breeder because it would generate its housing," he asks, "why can't we have in which the factory constantly replen- energy with the same equipment it built. a prefabricated industrial building with ishes itself. The factory's south wall, tilted 40 the power attached?" breeder Solarex degrees from the vertical, receives the Called the solar by NEW PRODUCTS " founder and president Dr. Joseph most direct sunlight. It is covered with Lindmayer, fifty-three, the factory is 3,120 large panels, each containing 72 The world's first one-man hot-air balloon designed to cut the high cost of creating photovoltaic cells. These 224,640 cells has a Kevlar and stainless steel harness photovoltaic cells by eliminating the cost $3 million. The other half of the that can support up io 210 pounds. Small plant's monthly electric bill. The solar plant factory's investment will be put into and light enough to slow in the trunk of won't be connected to the industrial construction and outfitting. a car, the Cloudhopper carries a ten- power grid at all. The only power besides When up and running, Solarex figures, gallon propane-fuel lank ihat will keep it fhe solar-electric system will be a small the plant will produce 1 ,000 solar cells aloft for about an hour. Prices range diesel generator for emergencies. an hour, more fhan 2 million each year. from $5,000 to $5,500, depending on the Lindmayer predicts that the $6-mil!ion Each generates a little less than a watt size of the hot-air envelope (14,000, initial cost of the plant will be recouped in of power. 17,000, and 21 ,000 cubic feet). (The Zenit ten years, while the plant will continue Solarex believes that photovoltaic cells Company, 4630 Arcady Avenue. Dallas, making solar cells for years beyond that. with an 11- to 15-year life span can TX 75209.) The Personal Electronic Printer EP-20 is a batiery-operated portable typewriter barely larger than a pad of typing paper. It measures just 12 inches across, 8.75 inches deep, and 1.75 inches high and weighs about five pounds; so it can easily be toted in a briefcase. The typewriter, which features calculator functions, incorporates a thermal printer. It can also type on a micro cassette sized carbon ribbon. The Personal Electronic Printer will be available this fall for about $200. (Brother International Corporation, 8 Corporate Place, Pis- cataway, NJ 08854.) A ten-inch-tall desktop robot from Mitsubishi Electric shuffles papers and answers the phone. Its jointed arm, wifh a clawlike hand capable of five different motions, is controlled by a personal computer. The RM-101 Microrobot sells for about $2,400. (Mitsubishi Electric Sales America, Inc., 3030 East Victoria Solarex photovoltaic celts gather energy Irom the Si St., Rancho Dominguez, CA 90221. )OQ 42 OMNI . . EXPLDRMTIOrUS By Norv Brasch- 'Hare Tower: United Two- Transportation Sslc-'.y Board (NTSB). in the cockpit. The problem is not so thirty-six, cleared for takeoff. Besides being cheaper and safer than much pilot error as a lack of coordination Copilot: Vee one . . . Vee R . . training flights, simulators give the crew an among the crew members. Vee two. . . opportunity to cope with mechanical The scenario has been repeated in Flight engineer: Looks like we lost problems no one would wish to encounter several crashes. A mechanical problem hydraulics— quantity and pressure. in the air. At the touch of a button, the develops in flight. The crew becomes Copilot: The gear is not up, sir. We just lost instructor can confront the crew with a engrossed in solving the problem and no hydraulics. Do you want to declare variety of difficulties, everything from one flies the airplane. What begins as a an emergency? an engine fire to severe turbulence. mishap results in disaster. Captain: Hell, may as well. . . . A visitor at the training center will see A broken indicator light sealed the fate United's fleet of 15 simulators, lined up like ol an Eastern Airlines Lockheed 1011. The motion, the noises, the tension. a colony of huge mechanical insects. On its approach into Miami International even the ensuing airsickness are real. But The sight of a model cockpit, coughing Airport, a landing-gear light failed to Flight 236 from Chicago to Cleveland and turning on mechanical appendages, illuminate. The entire crew, including the has never left the ground at Denver's seems absurd. Yet the sensation of flight captain, attempted to troubleshoot the United Airlines Flight Training Center, The is frightenhgly real to the crew inside. problem, even sending the engineer into cockpit is a ilight simulator, a perfect Electronic simulation has become so the electronics bay to attempt an in- replica of a DC-8 flight deck perched on sophisticated that a pilot can be certified flight repair. Meanwhile the plane mechanical arms that pitch and roll the for advanced flying techniques without descended from its authorized altitude of crew at the command of a computer. The ever carrying a single passenger. 2,000 feet, dropping perilously toward illusion is so effective that experienced Advances in simulator technology have the swampland below. "We did something pilots often emerge drenched in sweat been matched by a dramatic improvement to our altitude!" the copilot exclaimed and utterly exhausted. in airline safety. But a stubborn statistic when he realized the deviation. Seven "You can crash in a simulator and the continues to plague the industry In the last seconds later the plane crashed into only thing that's bruised is your ego," ten years nearly 60 percent of airline the Everglades, killing 101 people. says John Ferguson, a former TWA crashes have resulted, at least in part, An accident in 1978, which killed ten captain who now works lor the National from a poor use of human resources people, taught United Airlines a similar lesson. As Flight 173 approached the Portland, Oregon, airport, the right main landing gear appeared not to be locked into position. The captain decided to circle the airport, burning his excess fuel and thereby reducing the risk of fire on touchdown. In the holding pattern, passengers were instructed to prepare for an emergency landing. But while the crew assessed the gravity of the malfunction, no one watched the fuel gauge. Just six miles short oi the runway, the kerosene-starved engines flamed out. Flight 173 crashed in a Portland suburb, its landing gear locked in position all along. In each of these cases, the accident was avoidable and the plane could have landed despite the mechanical problem. The engineer on the Portland flight expressed some passing concern over the diminishing fuel supply, but his warning fell on deaf ears. By the time the captain fully appreciated the problem, a crash was inevitable. In its accident from inside the cockpit o: r; Umiea Airlines 'light simulator. report the NTSB deplored the lack of CONTINUED ON PAGE 168 _ CDfUTinJUUfUl Edited by Dick Teresi ALLERC LIFE I en years ago physicians could find no physical cause find out which provoked symptoms. For some patients, the list for Harriett Moiloy's pain, exhaustion, and depres- of apparent sensitivities calls merely for a change in diet, but l, So Ihey called her neurotic, a hypochondriac. for Molloy, if meant a change in job, home, and life-style. But Molloy doesn't accept these tags, and neither At first she tried moving, with her husband and two children, does a new group of practitioners who call themselves clinical to a home that had natural fiber carpets and fewer chemicals. ecologists, To them, Molloy is like the canary in the mineshaft: "But you can't tell the neighbors not to paint the garage or come an ultrasensitive victim ol an increasingly polluted environment. to the door wearing perfume," she says. Today, at fifty-four, she As the clinical ecologists tell it, our internal defense systems lives in a cottage in the hills east of San Diego, just north of the can't handle the world that we've created. It's not the big as- Mexican border, an unpolluted place where at least a dozen saults they worry about so much, not the chemicals that every- other "chemies," as they call themselves, have taken refuge. one knows will poison us, mutate our genes, or cause cancer. If Molloy is convinced that chemicals are the source of her It's those little insults they believe we get from swathing oar- problems, researchers in allergy and immunology are not. Ecol- selves in polyester or sipping disodium guanylate in our chow- ogists provoke from them the same response laetrile elicits from der; those barely noticeable fumes from no-wax floors, office copi- oncologists. "More a religious cuit than science" is the verdict ers, and perfumes; even common foods we eat too much of. of Dr. David A. Mathison, head of the immunology and allergy Dr, Theron G. Randolph, of Chicago, a founder of clinical division at San Diego's Scripps Clinic and Research Founda- ecology and Moiloy's physician, attributes a vast array of ills to tion. Dr. Mathison and other researchers see the ecologists' pa- "allergies" caused by these silent insults: nausea, diarrhea, tients as gullible people seeking external causes for their inabil- headaches, blurred vision, dizziness, fatigue, confusion, cramps, ity to cope with the world, The American Academy of Allergy wobbly knees, asthma, fevers, "brain fag," anxiety, schizophre- considers ineffective or unproven the methods used by some nia, arthritis, alcoholism. "Probably ninety percent of people ecologists — urine injections and dropping diluted chemicals have some kind of sensitivity— to a soap or cleaning agent that under the tongue. makes their eyes water or their skin itch, to some food that makes The ecologists' case is not aided by their inability to explain them sleepy," says ecologist Dr. Alfred Johnson, of the Environ- how seemingly harmless foods or faint whiffs of chemicals can mental Health Center, in Dallas. wreak all this havoc. Allergies, in the traditional sense, involve In hypersensitive people, the ecologists say, an overload can a detectable immune response, namely, production of IgE an- put them over the edge. Molloy dates the decline in her health tibodies. But might there be some other mechanism for allergic to an injection of red dye during X-ray studies almost a decade reactions? A growing number of researchers think it's time ago. Years of tests, drugs, and psychiatric treatment brought someone took a look. no relief. Then a psychiatrist sent her to Dr. Randolph. "For me it's an open issue," says Dr. Ted Kniker, head of He admitted her to his "ecology center," one of half a dozen immunology and allergy at the University of Texas Health Sci- such manmade oases in the United States where the afflicted ence Center, in San Antonio. "I have seen patients who fit into of several nations have come to "detoxify." Behind the double this pattern." Now he's looking for eczema patients whose glass doors is a special world of aluminum wallpaper, ceramic symptoms seem to be caused by foods or chemicals. The next tile, and filtered air where floors are scrubbed with baking soda. step: to look for the biochemical basis of their reactions. Plastics, synthetic fabrics, cigarettes, cosmetics, and cleaning Meanwhile allergy patient Molloy faces the world, when she fluids are banned. Books are isolated in glass boxes, and pa- needs to, with an oxygen tank strapped to her back and a tients reach in with gloves to turn the pages. "beanbag" of coconut charcoal held over her nose. "Every- After resting and fasting until her symptoms disappeared, body has a theory about what's 'wrong' with us," she says. "I Molloy was introduced to foods and chemicals one at a time to just try to live my life one day at a time."—YVONNE BASKtN cDruTiruuunji WATER MUSIC the head no matter where KRAZY GLUE CURE in the water they were." They float weightlessly, With this feedback in Krazy Glue, the stuff that eyes closed, listening to mind, Redolfi composed mends broken china and music only they can hear. reams of aquatic music. And at least a thousand house- Some say the sounds put today he plays his organlike hold items, is now being them in touch with their synthesizer near pools in used by doctors to seal off very souls. the United States, Canada, abnormal, leaky blood These floaters are enjoy- and France. The sounds vessels in the brain. The ing an underwater concert come from floating, blue vi- therapeutic Krazy Glue, of music composed by nyl speakers that have developed by radiologist Michel Redolfi, who first tentacles like jellyfish. Fes- Charles Kerber, of the noticed the haunting rhythms tooned with mirrors, the University of San Diego, is of the sea while swimming tentacles send light as exactly like the commercial through the Pacific. well as sound through product, except that its Spurred by that fateful the heated pools. molecules have an extra swim. San Diego composer Some listeners stay carbon atom. It's just as Redolfi decided to see underwater for minutes at a sticky, Kerber says, but less four instances: One patient whether he could devise a time, Redolfi says. Others irritating to human tissue. died and three had strokes. new, aquatic art form based report strange, prebirth The condition that Kerber Five other radiologists in on sending underwater or postdeath experiences. treats, known as arterio- this country also use the melodies to volunteers in "Each century has a special venous malformation, results procedure. — Eric Mishara submersion tanks. architecture for listening," when fragile blood vessels He played a variety of he adds, "whether a concert with extremely thin walls AUTO TALK music for his listeners and hall for an orchestra or a clog the brain. Several soon learned that most cathedral for an organ. The hundred thousand Ameri- John Phillips made head- enjoyed medium- to high- concert hall of the future cans with the malformation lines in 1976 when he pitched, rhythmless melo- may be the municipal suffer severe headaches, designed a $2,000 atomic dies similar to whale sounds. pool,"— Douglas Starr They live in fear of the day bomb for his thesis while in His test subjects said the their vessels will burst, his junior year at Princeton music seemed to penetrate 'To restore silence is the causing brain hemorrhage University. Now he has their bones, with sounds role of objects." and death. Until now the designed a talking dash- coming "from the center of —Samuel Beckett only recourse was to re- board computer for cars. move the vessels with risky The new automotive copilot, brain surgery. developed by Phillips and But Kerber has done his brother, Dean, an elec- away with the need for sur- trical engineer, monitors gery: He injects the glue such things as fuel level, into 150 centimeters of brake performance, and flexible silicone tubing that keys left in the ignition. Its runs through the body's polite female voice, synthe- arteries from the leg to the sized by a National Semi- brain, The glue flows freely conductor computer chip, through the tube, whose makes brief comments tip is adjacent to the dam- like "Please check your oil" aged blood vessels, and over the radio speaker. hardens upon contact. Once What's next? The Phil- stopped up with glue, the lipses and their company, vessels become harmless. Aristotle, Inc., are already Kerber has already treated planning a talking ticker (not more than 100 patients a quotable bomb, but the The sounds from Michel Redolfi's synthesizer are transmitted ir with Krazy Glue, and he has world's first vocal ticker-tape swimming pools through floating, tentaclelike, vinyl speakers. been successful in all but machine). — Phoebe Hoban 48 OMNI " —" — DAMASCUS STEEL WATER BEDS tion (FDA) approval lo make CURE BEDSORES medical claims for its prod- Alexander the Great is uct, "third-party reimburs- believed to have worn Decubitus ulcers ers [medical insurers] won't a sword made of Damascus bedsores— lead to compli- pay for preventative care," sieei more than three centu- cations that kill 60.000 Of the 2.500 products ries before Christ was Americans each year, more for bedsores, fewer than born. For Westerners, than are killed on the high- 300 are preventatives, Scott though, the manufacture of ways. Yet there is a simple says. Treatment of bed- these invincible carbon- way lo prevent bedsores: sores, though, annually eats steel blades, crafted by Sleep in a waierbed. up 3 percent of the national Persians, remained an elu- Capillary pressure against health-care budget. This sive black art: Now metal- the skin reduces local goes for such things as lurgists Oleg Sherby, of circulation when a body is sheepskins, lotions, and Stanford University, and resting. Normal, people hospital help to turn patients Jeffrey Wadsworth, from the loss, turn, and squirm when regularly. Lockheed Corporation, relatively low temperatures this occurs, relieving the Scott notes that several say they have inadvertently than 1650° F— much pressure. Long-term bedrest other health advantages unlocked the secret. as they themselves did. Fi- patients cannot do this, of waterbeds are now being Working together, the nally the two California and even when they're explored. "They're sanitary. two California scientists researchers realized that moved several times a day, Studies have shown they developed a method of the Persians even had a they often develop bed- reduce infections signifi- molding heated iron-carbon cooling lechnique: quench- sores. The even pressure cantly. They're being used compounds to form intri- ing the red-hot blade in and temperature control to help burn victims, pre- cate objects, such as auto- the belly of an unfortunate of waterbed flotation systems mature infants, and people motive gear sprockets. slave. "They may have can both prevent and cure with back problems." When cooled to room tem- believed in psychoenerget- these sores, according —Allan Maurer perature, the objects were ics," Sherby suggests, to the American Journal of transformed into a tough "and thought the strength of Physical Medicine. "You cannot endow even carbon-steel. the living slave transmitted "Unfortunately," says Tate the best machine with The scientists thought into the inanimate object of Scott, of Ultratherm, a initiative; thejolliest steam- they had hit upon a new idea steel." (Sherby and Wads- waterbed manufaciurer with roller will not plant flowers." until Sherby mentioned worth do not use this Food and Drug Administra- — Walter Lippmann the material at a meeting of method.) metallurgists. "Someone Although made in Persia, in the audience stood up," Damascus steel blades Sherby recalls, "and said. were actually named for the 'I think you may have redis- Syrian city, where European covered how to make Da- travelers first saw them. mascus steel.' — Eric Mishara Inspired by the comment, Sherby and Wadsworth "Never argue with a man " decided to investigate. Ex- who buys ink by the barrel. amining microscopically —Bill Greener enlarged photographs of Damascus blades in mu- "A learned blockhead is a seums, the researchers greater blockhead than observed a carbon-steel an ignorant one." strikingly similar in structure —Benjamin Franklin and content to their own, Then the metallurgists "The best thing Is to sleep. discovered that the Persians dead drunk, on the beach. had heated the blades at —Arthur Rimbaud — CDRJTIRJUURJ1 ODDS ON RESCUE open desert terrain, where TRACKING A a person could go in vir- MICROKILLER When someone is lost in tually any direction." the desolate Sonoran Des- Since the search area One of nature's most ert of southern Arizona, can cover some 4,000 fearsome mass killers is the Pima County sheriff's square miles, the numbers Ptychodiscus brevis, a department usually calls on that Bownds churns out microscopic creature more than 100 people. on his calculator help the that moves about by the The search effort involves sheriff's department assign whiplike motions of its two ground vehicles, horseback teams where there is the long flagella. riders, helicopters, and highest probability of a This killer alga, whose search dogs. But now one rescue. When the probability periodic appearances in the more member has been of detection gets low Gulf of Mexico have been added to the rescue team— enough, the search is Gouty mineral deposits caused given the name red tide, a University ot Arizona canceled. by uric acid. secretes a chemical that mathematician armed with The mathematical search destroys the nervous sys- a specially programmed formulas have been used YOUTHFUL URIC ACID tems of fish and shellfish. calculator. during half a dozen rescue Whenever the red tide As the search progresses, efforts over the last year, Uric acid, the nitrogen- blooms, tens of thousands John Bownds uses proba- but Bownds cannot yet based waste product that's of sea animals die and bility theory to figure out the estimate how much this sci- thrown away in our urine, wash ashore. likelihood of finding a miss- entific approach actually can cause gout. I! could also Now, after a decade of ing person in each particular improves the efficiency of a be a defense against can- searching, a team of scien- area. "It's the same as search. "But if our analysis cer and aging, according to tists from four American computing the odds on a saves just one more life." he Dr. Bruce Ames and col- universities has isolated and certain horse at the race- says, "that's enough, isn't leagues at the University of identified the deadly poison track," says Bownds. "These it?"— Marcia F. Bartusiak California at Berkeley. of Ptychodiscus— a single techniques are already Ames suspects that aging molecule called brevetoxin used by the Coast Guard, "Trees are your best occurs when free radicals B. According to Koji Naka- but my colleagues and I antiques." highly reactive chemicals nishi, a Columbia University have adapted them to an —Alexander Smith present in food, water, and chemist and head of the air— attack proteins and research effort, the molecule other vital cell constituents. is composed of 11 Hula- When DNA within the nu- Hoop-like rings strung to- cleus of a cell is attacked, he gether to form a sort of adds, cancer may develop. ladder. Brevetoxin, he says, But uric acid may stop "is unlike any organic this process, Ames explains, molecule yet observed." destroying free radicals The scientists have al- before they harm the cell. ready learned that breve- "Uric acid could be one toxin damages nerves of the things that enable us by causing unusually large to live so much longer than amounts of sodium to most mammals," Ames says. pass through nerve-cell Humans, who develop membranes. This informa- cancer late in life, often tion, they say. will help them retain significant quantities control the lethal organism. of uric acid in the blood. Nakanishi adds that Rats, which can develop Ptychodiscus brevis is just malignant tumors after only one of many microorganisms two years, excrete all their that cause red. tide around Desert search party: A specially programmed calculator tells the uric acid with the urine. the world. there searchers where is the rvghesi p;obab;!iiy oi rescue. — Owen Davies — Marcia F. Bartusiak 50 OMNI — CONTACT LENS that all plastics absorbed the SOLUTION proteins to one degree or another. A second series of Some 80 percent of the tests with commercially people who try contact available lenses showed the lenses eventually give them contacts "differed in their up. The major reason: protein absorption by as giant papillary conjunctivitis much as a factor of 300." (GPC), a condition marked And different contact lenses by itchy eyes and large absorbed different percent- pimples inside the eyelid. ages of different proteins. Now University of Washing- That most commercial ton chemists Buddy Ratner contacts affect tear proteins and Tom Horbett may have seems certain. Which found the cause of GPC protein is the GPC culprit is and a way to treat it. still unknown. But the re- The two theorized that searchers do have a solution proteins in tears were being to GPC: a new plastic that chemically altered by the absorbs less tear protein polymer plastics in contact than any on the market to- lenses; the body was then day. — Joel Davis attacking the proteins as if HELPFUL RADIATION background levels, but they were foreign sub- "Befween the great things way below levels known to stances. They first tested that we cannot do, the When it comes to radia- be harmful — puts an organ- their theory by developing danger is that we shall tion, the popular notion ism on the alert, triggering an artificial tears solution do nothing." is that every dose is an the body's defenses to and exposing it to several —Adolph Monod overdose. Not so, says bio- "help ward off many types different plastics— standard chemist and nutritionist of dangers, including infec- ones used for hard or soft "The struggle for knowledge Thomas Luckey, of the Uni- tion and higher doses of contacts, as well as a has a pleasure in it like versity of Missouri, He radiation." series made from mixtures that ot wrestling with a fine maintains that low doses of Luckey also believes of the two. woman." radiation are actually bene- there is a level of radiation The researchers found — Lord Halifax ficial to living things. lhat is essential for survival. To support his controver- To find it, he wants to raise sial theory, Luckey has mice in a chamber that compiled a book of data will shield them from back- from more than 1,200 scien- ground radiation produced tific papers on low-level by cosmic rays and the radiation, His findings? Low- earth itself, level radiation causes — Carol A. Johmann insects and rodents to grow faster, silkworms to produce "The first thing every child more silk, and seeds to learns is that he is not the sprout more quickly. It also entire universe." enhances wound healing, —Robert Silverberg antibody production, fertility, and longevity in plants "Progress isn't always for and animals alike. Luckey the best. Smoke signals says that the data indicate never got an Indian out of that just the right amount bed at 3 a.m. to answer of radiation — somewhere a wrong number." between 10 and 100 limes - Mack McGinnis coruTinjuurui BEST FOOT FORWARD a medicated bandage, and the woman walked out The middle-aged woman of the office hours later. arrived at the offices of So far the two doctors Drs. Edwin Probber and Ira have performed thousands Weisenthal with a trouble- of these operations, called some abnormality of the percutaneous surgery. foot— a small, bony spur in Because of their success in the heel that made walking removing both spurs painful. and bunions, the podiatrists In the past, podiatrists now teach the technique have sent such patients to to foot specialists across the hospital for major sur- the country. gery, including the slicing Visiting podiatrists are open of the heel with inci- often surprised thai Probber sions up to eight inches long and Weisenthal conduct to remove the spur. But the entire operation while Probber and Weisenthal dressed in business suits. were able to correct the "But," Probber explains, woman's problem within a "the opening through which matter of hours at much we work is so small that Be/ore and after: Subliminal dieter Wendy LaCour weighed 265 less expense, right in their there is almost no opportu- pounds in September 1979, but lost 115 pounds by January 1980 own Floral Park, New York, nity for pathogens to con- examining rooms. tact exposed tissue. Gown- SUBLIMINAL DIET stuff, Mom probably told you First the woman's foot ing and gloving only cause most ol it years ago; Eat was scrubbed and numbed unnecessary patient anxiety Remember those stories three meals a day, chew with a local anesthetic. and expense." about the drive-in movie food thoroughly, eat a high- Then Weisenthal made a — Marcia F Bartusiak theaters that boosted pop- protein breakfast. It is small puncture in the side of corn sales subliminally delivered against a back- her heel and pulverized "Look before you leap, but by flashing eat on the ground of soft rock or the spur with a sterilized drill look ahead, not behind." screen? Now there's a diet easy-listening music. like a dentist's — a proce- — Peter Ustinov program that uses the same Gn the opposite side, dure invented by Probber. principle to deliver the "key word" messages are The resulting paste was "In every man of genius a message eat less. subliminally delivered: "Eat squeezed out through the new strange force is brought Hal Becker, the engineer less," "Think thin." and so puncture. Finally the tiny into the world." who invented the subliminal on. Becker recommends puncture was covered with —Have lock Ellis anticrime device modestly listening io the cassette once ,';^?i'h.t ,yf^^f^--fis- called Dr. Becker's Black a day. Both Becker and l Box ("Don't steal, we'll LaCour, whose fat/thin be- catch you," it whispered), fore and after pictures has applied his background appear on the cassette in psychology, engineering, jacket, claim to have lost and subliminal communica- hundreds of pounds on the tion to a weight -reduction program.— Allan Maurer program. The audio-cassette version of the program con- sists of Dr. Becker and his —John F. Kennedy secretary. Wendy LaCour. lecturing on tood, self- "May you live all the days of image, and eating habits, your life." Podiatrist anesthetizes woman's foot before inserting a steri- While the advice is solid —Jonathan Swift lized drill to pulverize spur. Recovery lime is a matter of hours JAWS I ANGINA PATCH Athletes wearing jaw- For those who suffer from repositioning mouthpieces angina pectoris, climbing to increase their strength stairs, running, even a brisk might as well spit them out, walk, can keep oxygen new research suggests. from the heart and inflict On the other hand, these stabbing chest pain. But same "mandibular ortho- now angina sufferers can pedic repositioning appli- step up their physical ances" (MORAs) may help activities without suffering, some people get rid of thanks to an adhesive patch headaches. called Transderm-Nitro. MORAs were originally The patch, worn on the developed to help accident 1 chest, allows continuous victims in need of jaw absorption of nitroglycerin ; realignment, but they quickly through the skin. : caught on with health and Nitroglycerin has long fitness aficionados. ; been used to expand the In the first double-blind coronary arteries and relieve I test of the MORAs at Arizona angina pain, explains Dr. State University's Human Virgil Place, of ALZA Cor- I Performance Laboratory, poration, maker of the patch. "We found no increase A standard pill under in strength or endurance in the tongue "moves a big When the clock is con- the muscle groups tested," blast of nitroglycerin into the stantly reset, "the lovely Dr. Lee Burkett reports. bloodstream within a min- A good, strong, well- circadian rhythm flattens MORAs do have other, ute," he says, but the effect brewed cup of morning cof- out. This can cause dys- proven uses, however, and is short-lived— 15 to 20 fee may give you an instant chronism, which may cause Dr, Burkett's collab- minutes. Chronic "blasts" of lift, but afterward it will depression, mild insomnia, orator on the project Dr, nitro, on the other hand, make your body think it's in and drowsiness." Allan Bernstein, a dentist, result in rapid heartbeat and another time zone. The best time to drink thinks more research is splitting headaches. Coffee, tea, "and a whole coffee or other caffeinated needed. "Some head and Transderm-Nitro, however, laundry list of other drugs beverages is at "British neck ailments disappear delivers a steady dose and stimuli" can reset tea time, or midafternoon," when people wear them," 1 that eliminates "blast" ef- the body's circadian clock, Ehret asserts. Dr. Bernstein says, "and fects.—Yvonne B as kin say researchers at the During this physically patients often ask whether it Argonne National Labora- neutral time. Ehret notes, you has anything to do with tory, in Chicago. "The can "intentionally reinforce circadian that's natural circadian strength. One said, 'I never clock— the your hit a tennis ball so hard,' one that wakes you before rhythm." Drinking a cup of and another said he'd never the alarm clock in the coffee then may "rein in had such high bowling morning—has biochemi- i maverick cells going their scores. Also, in the study all cal underpinnings," says own way and put them the people who reported Dr. Charles Ehret. back in the circadian herd." having headaches improved. "Enzymes that control its Drinking coffee in the That might be a clue." twenty-four-hour cycle morning, however, causes a Bernstein is continuing come and go at particular "phase-delay." Later, per- his research on more se- times," he says. These haps the next day, your lected subjects to see open up pathways for a body will, if you're on the whether there is any validity natural adrenaline lift in the East Coast, think it's in to claims of increased morning and sleep-induc- San Francisco. strength.— Allan Maurer ing hormones at night. — Allan Maurer cDfUTiruuuRn FAT VACUUM long as fourteen inches," SWITCHED-ON he has solved the problem Martin explains. "With STRADIVARI US electronically. Working A Beverly Hills plastic the vacuum procedure, the with California music pro- surgeon is offering a novel surgical fee is normally If he were resurrected fessor F Richard Moore and treatment to overweight twenty-five hundred dollars, and subjected to a blindfold virtuoso violinist Janos patients: He literally vacuums the incisions are half an test, even Antonio Stradivari Negyesy, Mathews has built away oversize bottoms inch in length, and we usu- might have a difficult time a skeletal metal instrument and double chins with a ally handle what pain there distinguishing between that he claims synthesizes suction device. is with Tylenol." the sound of a new elec- the tones of a Stradivarius. Dr. Norman Martin, of the Martin, who has employed tronic violin built at the The electronic violin Beverly Hills Medical Cen- the new surgery on more University of California in has microphone pickups ter, first injects a saline than 200 patients during the San Diego and one of that amplify the sound solution into fat deposits. past 12 months, expects it his own instruments. of each string, and inte- The fat absorbs the solution to become popular in the When Stradivari died in grated circuits simulate the and temporarily loosens. United States. He says the 1737, he took his design resonance of an acoustic Then a tiny incision is made surgery is used only to secrets to the grave. For the violin. When it is produced, in the skin, and the blunt remove fat deposits resistant last several centuries instru- the violin could sell for metal suction tip of a vacu- to weight reduction through ment makers have experi- under $1,000— compared um is inserted through it drugs, diet, and exercise. mented unsuccessfully with to $300,000 for a Stradivar- to suck the fat away. —Eric Mishara different combinations of ius. — Phoebe Hoban "In conventional surgery wood, oil, and varnish in an it costs between five thou- "There is nothing new except attempt to duplicate the "I'm just a collection of sand and seven thousand what has been forgotten." unique Stradivarius sound. mirrors, reflecting what dollars to dissect and —Attributed to Now Max Mathews, a everyone else expects remove fat from the thighs, Marie Antoinette's sound engineer from Bell of me." and the incisions are as milliner Laboratories, believes — Rollo May Overweight people have a new ally in the battle against obesity: ; vacuum device now being used to sucft out fat. 'versary issue explores that mystery called mind- explanation ot how thouql / flay of our lives we face a s i we lake if for granted our rr is, by merely thinking a I R"/TTTVF^ atically, tliat because mei planning an action are no , i | i l | *' !i ii Wa Bi "N't, 'l", li , .i V I involved in any voluntary movement give cle tremors and a general slowing down only imagine the subtleties of the interre- us this false impression. The explanation and weakening of bodily movement. Here lated muscle contractions that occur in the for this is something they label an identity there js no identity relationship. Diseased highly skilled performances of musicians, J, relationship. There is an outward move- individuals nd great di" culty in carrying dancers, actors, athletes, and technicians ment we can see, and there is a mental out a planned action, no matter how much manipulating delicate instruments. For each event associated with it. It is not a case ot they desire it. If they were so afflicted, those of us, life is one long symphony of move- one causing the other, but rather they are philosophers who speak so glibly about ments that we have been learning since the same event looked at from different the simplicity ot the mind/body problem childhood and that are as unique to each perspectives, inside and outside. As a re- would soon realize that there is an im- of us as the writing of our signature. sult, whenever the nerve cells are firing, mensely complex neural machinery of the I have criticized many times the theories we perceive that we are causing it, but in brain interposed between the intention to of the promissory materialists. What I see fact it is merely an illusion. act and the action itself. as an alternate hypothesis is a common- These same theorists go on to claim that Let me illustrate what is involved in some sense belief originally formulated by Rene eventually neuroscientists will be able to planned action such as lifting a glass of Descartes in the seventeenth century and identify, in more and more detail, the neural wine elegantly to one's lips, or making a updated by Karl Popper and me. It is called events behind the whole range of con- skillful golf stroke-. Simple though these dualist interactionism. It holds that we live scious experiences— the excitement of motions seem, they are the outcome of in two distinct worlds, the world of the mind creativity, joy, even love. Eventually, they events in the body's nervous system that, and the material world, which includes the say, everything will be explained by nerve- at a conservative estimate, involve brain (the dualism), and that there is an cell activities, if not in our lifetime, in the hundreds ot millions of neurons. Think of intense interaction across this frontier be- lifetimes of generations to come. For that all the muscles that have to be made to tween the mind and the brain (hence the reason the philosopher Sir Karl Popper contract with fust the right strength and interactionism). derisively labels this reductionist program timing. A golf stroke, for example, brings Until recently this idea had to be assim- promissory materialism, since it essen- into play almost all the muscles of the limbs, ilated with evidence that the action of the tially "promises" to explain everything torso, neck, and head. Years of training are mind was diffused throughout the brain, a someday. necessary to learn these skills. Although "ghost in the machine," but in the last four But don't be alarmed. I believe we should an expert player may have little knowledge years this concept has been transformed not take these dogmatic statements too of how his individual muscles are perform- by three scier'Tic investigations that have seriously, because they are based on prej- ing, he knows by how he moves and how identified a special area of the cerebral udice and on knowledge that is most in- precisely he hits the ball whether his neural cortex (see opening photo) where mental adequate. The reality of the action of the : achinery is operating smoothly or not. events cause neural events. It was first dis- mind is cruelly brought home to anyone We know something of the intricacies of covered in 1943 by neurosurgeon Dr, Wil- afflicted with a disease such as Parkinson- muscle action from scientific studies of der Penfield, who named it the supple- ism, a nervous disease in which the per- champion shot-putters and of gymnasts mentary motor area (SMA). The SMA lies son afflicted suffers from involuntary mus- performing simple exercises, but we can on the upper midsurface of each cerebral hemisphere immediately underneath the skull. Ever since its discovery, the SMA has had a disappointing press concerning its role in carrying out bodily movement. The reason for this was that its influences were so imprecise when compared with the brain's true motor cortex, where the areas that control specific parts of the body can be laid out on a quite precise strip map of the brain. But now, in a Cinderella-like transformation, the SMA seems destined to be cast in the role of master control of all voluntary movement. The most remarkable studies illustrating this have been done by neurologist Dr. Nils Lassen and his colleagues at the Neuro- logical Institute in Copenhagen. They have built a wonderful machine that measures changes in the circulation of the blood through small regions of the cerebral cor- tex, and, by so doing, they can measure the intensity of nerve-cell activities within it. To do this, they first inject a small amount of a radioactive tracer, 133 xenon, in so- lution into a patient's internal carotid ar- tery, which carries blood to the brain. (It should be mentioned here that a tube had already been inserted to make an angio- gram, an X ray of the blood vessels, for therapeutic purposes and that the patients willingly gave a few minutes of their time for the innocuous injection procedure.) Radiation from the injected cerebral hem- isphere is recorded by 254 Geiger counters arranged in a helmet that the patient wears. "What rubbish, Pelham. I don't During the injection the patient performs a learned repetitive task for 60 seconds. At — the same time the radioactive pattern of most as large an increase in activity as found to precede the activity of the motor the underlying brain activity is computed when the movements are being per- cortex, which was greatly reduced be- for each of the 254 sites and then played formed. These results show that, even when cause of the severe damage to the neural out as a 15-color mosaic map of the brain. apers'on is only intending to carry out some pathway connecting the SMA and the mo- showing any changes in brain activity. voluntary act, his thoughts will activate tor cortex. The patient is asked to do a series of neural events in the SMA and nowhere else. These experiments have shown that the finger-thumb movements that requires to- This conclusion has been corroborated mind does act on the brain and does it at tal concentration. He has to touch his thumb in experiments done by Australian neuro- a precise site in the-cerebral cortex. This to each finger in turn following a distinct physiologist Dr. Robert Porter, who took is only the beginning of our understanding, pattern: two touches to the tirst finger, one recordings ot the neurons of a monkey's however. Stretching before us is an im- to the second, three to the third, two to the SMA as the animal voluntarily pulled a le- mense vista of scientific investigations that fourth. And then he reverses the pattern: ver to get a food reward. Porter found that have to be done before we can give an two to the fourth, three to the third, one probably more than a tenth of a second account, even in principle, of how we per- to the second, two to the tirst, and so on before the motor cortex neurons fired, the form any skilled movement. We need to back around again until the 60 seconds SMA cells were activated. understand how a thought instructs, prob- are up. Anyone who tries this will find that Two German neurologists, Drs. Hans ably in some coded manner, the neural it is impossible to talk or even think of any- Kornhuber and Luder Deecke, have con- machinery of the SMA so that the desired thing else the at same time because it re- firmed this firing order with electrical sig- voluntary movement results. Also, it is as- quires so much concentration to get it right. nals taken from the scalps of people per- sumed that in the SMA there is an inven- As expected, Lassen and his group have forming voluntary movements. The tirst tory of all learned motor programs, as they found a large increase in activity in the area electrical sign of nervous activity, called are called, and their addresses by which of the motor cortex that controls thumb and the readiness potential, appears in the scalp they can be called forth. finger movements, but there was also a region over the SMA, and it is the largest Although we still have only a dim under- large increase over the SMA. In itself this over the SMA throughout the time period standing of the mystery behind how a per- is an inconclusive result. The SMA, for ex- almost a second— before the movement son makes any skillful move, what we know ample, could have been activated after the begins. already makes the actions of the most so- motor cortex and not before. This possi- Most important, they have found that this phisticated robot look like a failure by many bility was eliminated by a beautiful change readiness potential is still large in the SMA orders of magnitude when compared to in strategy. of patients afflicted with the severe aki- those of a human. It is an exciting and won- The patient was asked to think of the nesia, or weakness of movements, of bi- derful realization. DO thumb-finger movements in the correct se- lateral Parkinsonism, despite the extreme Physiologist Sir John Eccles was awarded the quence without carrying them out. There feebleness ot the motor act and of the- 1963 Nobel Prize " Wea/C/.'v; and Physiology is no increased neural activity in the potential motor readiness over the motor cortex. for explaining how nerve impulses are trans- cortex, but amazingly the SMA shows al- Again the mental activation of the SMA was rrnded from ne>jr:>n io neuron. SPECIAL SPECIAL EFFECTS EFFECTS MPT. D£PT. /^A. FOUNDATIONS EDGE One man's decision will change his world for the next millennium—and he doesn't even know it BY ISAAC ASIMOV first Galactic Em- ail the inhabited millions of was organized in the full Thepire was falling. It had worlds of the Galaxy. daylight of publicity. The been decaying for Seldon's equations indi- existence of the other, the centuries, and only cated that, left to itself, the Second Foundation, a world one man fully realized that Empire would fall and that of psychohistoric and fact. He was Hari Seldon, the 30,000 years of human mis- "mentalic" scientists, was last great scientist of the ery would elapse before a shrouded in silence. First Empire, and it was he second Empire would arise in the Foundation trilogy who perfected psychohis- from the ruins. And yet if one the story of the first third of tory—the science of hu- could slightly adjust some the interregnum is told. The man behavior reduced to of the conditions that al- First Foundation began as mathematical equations. ready existed, that interreg- a small community lost in The individual human num could be decreased to the emptiness of the outer being is unpredictable, but a single millennium. periphery of the Galaxy. the reactions of human To ensure this, Seldon With its superior science it mobs, Seldon found, could established two colonies of took over the barbarized be treated statistically. The scientists, which he called planets thai surrounded it. larger the mob, the greater Foundations. With deliber- It faced the anarchic War- the accuracy that could be ate intention, he positioned lords who broke away from achieved. And the size of them "at opposite ends of the dying Empire and beat the human masses that the Galaxy." The First them. The First Foundation Seldon worked with was no Foundation, which cen- faced the remnant of the less than the population of tered on physical science. Empire itself under its last PAINTING BY ERIC PAETZ " " — strong Emperor and its last strong Gen- complicated to handle, and hyperspace in that case, Golan?" eral, and beat it. compounds all those complications with a "We can do what I did —waste a day. I Itseemedas if the Seldon Plan was going complexity of its own that we can't even checked the position of several of the sur- through smoothly and that nothing would pretend to understand. That's why we have rounding stars by the most primitive pos- prevent the Second Empire from being es- to go by steps, instead of making one big sible method: telescopic observation, tablished on time, and with a minimum ol Jump from here to Sayshell. The errors photography, and manual measurement. I devastation. would grow worse with distance." compared each actual position with the But psychohistory is a statistical sci- Pelorat said, "But you asserted that this position expected if there had been no er- ence. There is a chance that something will Computer didn't make an error." ror. The work took me all day and wore me go wrong. Something did—something Hari "It said it didn't make an error. I directed down to nothing." Seldon could not have foreseen. One man, it to check our actual— position with our pre- "Yes, but what happened?" called the Mule, appeared from nowhere. calculated position 'what is' against 'what "I found two whopping errors and He had mental powers in a Galaxy that was asked for.' It said that the two were checked them over and found they were lacked them. He could mold men's emo- identical within its limits of measurement. in my own calculations. I corrected the cal- tions, and shape their minds. Armies could I thought, What if it's lying?" culations, then ran them through the Com- not, would not, fight him. The First Foun- Until that moment. Pelorat had held his puter from scratch to see whether it would dation fell, and Seldon's Plan seemed to printer in his hand. He now put it down and come up with the same answers inde- lie in ruins. iooked shaken. 'Are you joking? A Com- pendently. The Computer had made no er- There was left the mysterious Second puter can't lie. Unless you mean you thought rors. It may be an arrogant son-of-the-Mule, Foundation, which had been caught un- it might be out of order." but it's got something to be arrogant about." prepared by the sudden appearance of the "No, that's not what ! thought. I thought Pelorat exhaled a long breath, "Well, Mule, its great defense was that its location it was lying. This Computer is so ad- that's good." was unknown. The Mule searched for it to vanced, I can't think of it as anything but "Yes, indeed. So I'm going to let it take make his conquest of the Galaxy com- human — superhuman, maybe. Human the remaining twenty-eight steps." plete. The First Foundation's survivors 'All at once? But—" it looked toward for help. "Not all at once. Don't worry I haven't The Mule was temporarily stopped by become a daredevil yet. It will do them one the action of a single woman, Bayta Darell, after the other, but after each step it will and then permanently by the Second check the surroundings. If it is where it is state the Seldon Plan. Foundation vessels. One can take the next step. Anytime it finds the But now the First Foundation knew of the was precisely error too great—and believe me I didn't set Second's existence. The First did not want the limits generously at all— it will have to like the a future in which it was overseen by the Far Star and stop and recalculate the remaining steps." mentalists. was undoubtedly "'When are you going to do this?" It is now 498 years after the First Foun- "When? Right now. All I have to do is Compor's ship. The other dation came into existence. It seems to be touch that little contact. The Computer has at the peak of its strength. was larger and its instructions, and it's just waiting for me to say. Start. Would you like to—" far more powerful.^ "Well," said Golan Trevize. "I've wasted "Neverl It's all yours! It's your Computer. a day." You do it." "Oh?" Janov Pelorat looked up from his "Very well. And it's my responsibility. I'm careful indexing. "In what way?" still trying to duck it, you see. Keep your Trevize spread his arms. "I didn't trust eye on the screen." the Computer. I didn't dare to; so I checked enough to have pride, and perhaps (o lie. With a remarkably steady hand, Trevize our present position with the position we I gave it directions— to work out a course made contact. had aimed at in the Jump. The difference through hyperspace i.o a position near the There was a momentary pause, and then was not measurable. There was no de- Sayshell Union. It did, and it charted a the star field changed—and again—and tectable error." course in twenty-nine steps, which is ar- again. The stars spread steadily thicker and "That's good, isn't it?" rogance of the worst sort." brighter over the view screen. "It's more than good. It's unbelievable. "Why arrogance?" Pelorat was counting under his breath. I've never heard of such a thing. I've gone "The error in the first Jump makes the At "Fifteen" there was a halt as if some through Jumps, and I've directed them, in second Jump that much less certain. The piece of apparatus had jammed. all kinds of ways and with all kinds of de- added error then makes the third Jump un- Pelorat whispered, clearly afraid that any vices. In school I had to work one out with trustworthy, and so on. How do you cal- noise might jar the mechanism fatally a hand computer, and then I sent off a hy- culate twenty-nine steps all at once? The "What's wrong? What's happened?" perrelay to check results. Naturally I couldn't twenty-ninth could end up anywhere in the Trevize shrugged. "I imagine it's recal- send a real ship, since, aside from the ex- Galaxy, anywhere at all. So I directed it to culating. Some object in space is adding pense, I could easily have placed it in the make the first step only. Then we could a perceptible bump to the general shape middle of a star at the other end. check that before proceeding." of the overall gravitational field. Some ob- "I never did anything that bad, of course," "The cautious approach," said Pelorat ject not taken into account. Some— un- Trevize went on, "but there would always warmly "I approve." charted dwarf star or rogue planet be a sizable error. There's always some "Yes, but having made the first step, might "Dangerous?" error, even with experts. There's got to be, the Computer not feel wounded at my hav- "Since we're still alive, it almost certainly since there are so many variables. Put it ing mistrusted it? Would it then be forced isn't dangerous. A planet could be a this way: The geometry of space is too to salve its pride by telling me there was hundred million kilometers away and still no error at all, when I asked it? Would it introduce enough of a gravitational modi- find it impossible to admit a mistake; to fication to require recalculation. A dwarf From the book Fcmdalion's Kige, by Isaac Asi- own up to imperfection? If that were so, we star could be ten billion kilometers away, ic. To be — published in the United S'afes by Doubleday might as well not have a Computer." and and Company, Inc., and in the United Kingdom Pelorat's long and gentle face sad- The screen shifted again, and Trevize by Gmnatf* Punishing, Lid. dened at this revel a: on 'What can we do fell silent. It shifted again —and again 66 OMNI — Finally, when Pelorat said, "Twenty-eight," there was no further motion. Trevize consulted the Computer. "We're here," he said. "That's only twenty-eight Jumps. You said twenty-nine." "The recalculation at Jump Fifteen prob- ably saved us one Jump. I can check with the Computer if you wish, but there's really no need. We're in the vicinity of Sayshell Union. The Computer says so, and I don't doubt it. If I were to orient the screen prop- erly, we'd see a nice, bright sun, but there's no point in placing a needless strain on its screening capacity. The Sayshell Union is three and two-tenths million kilometers away from our present position, which is about as close as we want to be at a Jump con- clusion. We can get there in three days two. if we hurry." Trevize drew a deep breath and tried to let the tension drain trom his body, "There it is." Trevize muttered. "Gaia?" Pelorat asked, looking ovei Trevize's shoulder at the screen. "Gaia's sun," said Trevize. "We can't see Gaia yet. We're still a hundred micropar- secs away. Notice that it's only a star. We're not close enough for it to show as a disk. And don't stare at it directly, Janov. It's still bright enough to damage the retina. I'll throw in a filter once I'm through with my observations. Then you can stare." "But shouldn't we get closer?" "No!" Trevize looked up in surprise. "Not right away. After what we've heard about Gaia, why should we rush? It's one thing to have guts; it's another to be crazy. Let's wait and study it first." 'The orbit is nearly circular," Trevize said, "which means that habitability becomes a An Unforgettable much safer bet. Yet no one's coming out to get us. We'll have to try taking a closer look." Experience Pelorat asked, "Why does it take so long to arrange a Jump? You're just taking little ones." To see a Wild Turkey rising "Listen to the man. Little Jumps are forest floor is an awe- harder to control than big ones. Is it easier from the to pick up a rock, or a fine grain of sand? some sight no man is likely to Besides, Gaia's sun is nearby, and space is sharply curved. That complicates the forget. The bird's wing-beats calculations even for the Computer. Even a mythologist should see that." resound like thunder claps, Pelorat grunted. its feathers fan out in Trevize then said, "You can see the planet and with the unaided eye now. Right there. See grand display. it? The period of rotation is about twenty- two Galactic hours, and the axial inclina- The Wild Turkey is the tion is twelve degrees. It is practically a textbook example of a habitable planet, and largest native bird capable Wis life-bearing." of flight and an apt symbol "How can you tell?" "There are substantial quantities of free for America's greatest native oxygen in the atmosphere. You can't have that without well-established vegetation." whiskey-Wild Turkey. "What about intelligent life?" "That depends on the analysis of radio- wave radiation. Of course there could be intelligent life that has abandoned tech- " very way ... But what do we do once we leave?" Trevize asked in astonishment, "The nology, I suppose, but that seems a Old Branno''" unlikely situation." "Simple. We get back to Terminus with ruler? You mean Lady Bliss said, "There have been cases of that," said the news. Or as near to Terminus as the "Surely that is not her title," "But Pelorat. old woman will allow. Then we might return her lip twitching a little in amusement. with ship or an she is a woman, yes." She paused as if "I'll take your word for it. That's your de- to Gaia again, an armed listening intently to the rest of the general partment. However, it's not likely that a armed fleet." of which she was part. "Her name planet of pastoral survivors frightened off They waited. It had grown to be a rou- organism the Mule." tine. They had spent far more time waiting is Harlabranno." to Gaia than they had "Has Gaia maneuvered her here, too?" "Does it have a satellite?" Pelorat asked. in the approaches to Say- Trevize asked. "Why?" "Yes, it does," Trevize said casually spent in all the flight from Terminus did not answer this question. She Pelorat said, in a voice that was sud- shell. Bliss im- denly choking, "How big?" Trevize set the Computer to automatic said, "With her is Lionokodell. He is an portant official of your world. With them are "Can't tell for sure. Perhaps a hundred alarm and was even confident enough to ship's weap- kilometers across." doze in his padded chair. four others who control the ons. their names?" "Dear me," said Pelorat wistfully. "I wish He awoke with a start when the alarm Do you want other ship there worthier set of expletives on chimed. Pelorat entered Trevize's room, just "No. I take it that on the I had some while is man, Munn Li Compor, and that he instant call, my dear chap, but there was as startled. He had been interrupted one — represents the Second Foundation. You've just that one little chance shaving. Pelorat brought both Foundations together, ob- "You mean, if it had a giant satellite, it "Have we received a message?" might be Earth itself? Look, we'll wait, and asked, viously. Why?" "We're "Not exactly, Trev I mean, Trevize." risk one more small Jump. If we find no "No," said Trevize, energetically. — "Oh, go ahead and say Trev. ! don't give signs of intelligent life, it should be safe to moving." land. Except, of course, that there will then "Moving? Where?" a puff of comet gas." exactly, Trev. Compor has left that be no reason to land, will there?" "Toward the space station." "Not ship and has been replaced by two peo- Storgendibal, important of- After the next Jump, Trevize said, in an ple. One is an ficial of the Second Foundation. He is called astonished voice, "That does it, Janov! It's a Speaker." Gaia, all right. At least, it possesses a tech- "An important official 7 He's got mentalic nological civilization." 6 A voice rang power, I imagine." "Can you tell that from the radio waves?" deal." "Better than that. There's a space sta- out in the confines of the "Oh, yes. A great "Will you be able to handle that?" tion circling the planet." control ship's on the ship An object was being displayed on the "Certainly. The second person viewing screen. To Pelprat's unaccus- room, and Branno could with him is Gaia." of your people?" it remarkable, but ' "One tomed eye, didn't seem - tell It did not Suranoviremblastiran. Trevize said, 'Artificial, metallic, and a ra- "Yes. Her name is consist of sound waves. longer, but she has been dio source." It should be much me/us/rest long." "What do we do now?" She heard it away from so "Is she capable of holding a high official "Nothing, for a while. At this stage of directly.^ in her mind Second Foundation?" technology, they cannot fail to detect us. of the "It is not she. It is Gaia who holds him. If, after a while, they do nothing, 1 will beam She/l/we/all is/am/are capable of crushing a radio message at them. If they still do him." nothing, I will approach cautiously." "Is that what she's going to do? She's "What if they do do something?" going to crush him and Branno? What is "It will depend on the 'something.' If I this? Is Gaia going to destroy the Foun- don't like it, then I'll have to take advantage respond me, but dation and set up a Galactic Empire of its of the fact that it is very unlikely that they the Computer doesn't to even greater have anything that can match the facility we're moving. Janov, we've been seized. own? The Mule back again. An with which this ship can make a Jump." We've come a little too close to Gaia." Mule—" agitated. "You mean we'll leave?" "No, no, Trev. Do not become stalemate. "Like a hyperspatial missile." The Computer on board the Far Star lo- You must not. All three are in a "But we'll leave no wiser than we were cated the two ships, and Trevize displayed They are waiting." when we came:" them together on the split screen. "For what?" "For your decision." "Not at all. At the very least we'll know They were both Foundation vessels. One Far Star un- "What decision? Why me?" that Gaia exists, that it has a working tech- was precisely like the and was Trev," said Bliss. "It will soon be nology, and that it's done something to doubtedly Compor's ship. The other was "Please, have/has said as scare us." larger and far more powerful. explained. I/we/she much now." "But, Golan, please let's not be too eas- He turned toward the Gaian, Bliss, and as l/we/she can for ily scared." said to her, "Well, do you know what's going " 7 Is there anything can now tell me7 Mayor Branno said wearily, "It is clear I "Now, Janov, I know that you want noth- on you Liono, perhaps a ing more in the Galaxy than to learn about "Yes. Do not be alarmed. They will not have made a mistake, Earth at any cost, but please remember harm' you." fatal one." is everyone convinced I'm sitting "Is this something that ought to be ad- that I don't share your monomania. We are "Why muttered through motion- in an unarmed ship, and those people down here ail atremble with panic?" Trevize de- mitted?" Kodell there have been isolated for centuries. manded petulantly. less lips. It Suppose they have never heard of the Pelorat said hastily. "Let her talk, Golan. "They know what I think. will do no Foundation and don't know enough to be Don't snap at her." further harm to say so." in of Kodell said, "How could you have known. respectful of it. Or suppose this is the Sec- Trevize raised his arms a gesture "1 If waited until assurance was ond Foundation-arid once we're in their impatient surrender. promise I will not Mayor? we snap. Speak, lady." doubly and triply and quadruply and end- grip — if they're annoyed with us—we may never be the same again." Bliss replied, "On the large ship is the lessly certain, we would have waited for- It I wish had not gone ourselves. Pelorat looked grim. "If you put it that ruler of your Foundation. With her—" ever. we 38 OMNI — would have been well to experiment with "that's the Far Star, I'm sure. And I imagine in her lap. Trevize had no doubt that she someone else." Trevize and Pelorat are on board." was aware of the sound. Branno sighed. "I wanted to give them Then she said bitterly, "Unless they, too, He ignored the direction to communi- no warning, Liono. Still, there you put the have been replaced by Second Founda- cate through thoughts and enunciated his finger on the nub of my mistake. I might tioners." words with deliberate clarity. "If I don'l find have waited until the shield was reason- A voice rang out in the confines of the out what this is about, I will do nothing I ably impenetrable. I knew there was per- ship's control room, and Branno could tell am asked to do." ceptible leakage, but 1 could not bear to it did not consist of sound waves. She heard "You are about to find out," the voice wait longer. To wipe out the leakage would it in her mind directly, and a glance at Ko- answered. have meant waiting past my term of office. dell was sufficient to tell her that he had Novi Sura said, "You will all hear me in it, all free in I wanted it done in my time, and / wanted heard too. your mind. You are to respond I it all to be on the spot. So, like a fool, I forced It said, "Can you hear me, Mayor Branno? thought. will arrange so that of you myself to believe the shield was adequate. If you can, don't bother saying so. It will be can hear one another. We are all close I would listen to no caution." enough if you think so." enough so that at the normal light-speed "We may still win out if we are patient." Branno calmly said, "What are you?" of the spatial mentalic field, there will be "Can you give the order to fire on the "I am Gaia." no inconvenient delays. To begin with, we other ship?" are all here by arrangement." "No, I cannot, Mayor. The thought is not The three ships were turning very slowly "In what manner?" Branno asked. something I can endure." around the planet Gaia, as a distant three- "Not by mental tampering," said Novi. "Nor I. Even if you or I managed to give part satellite of the planet. All three were "Gaia has interfered with no one's mind. It the order, I am certain that the men on board accompanying Gaia on its endless journey is not our way. We merely took advantage would not follow it. They would not be able about its sun. of your ambition. Mayor Branno wanted to to," Mayor Branno said. Trevize sat watching the screen, tired of establish a Second Empire at once. Speaker "Not under present circumstances, guessing what his role might be, what he Gendibal wanted to be First Speaker. It was Mayor, but circumstances might change. had been dragged across a thousand par- enough to encourage these desires and to As a matter of fact, a new actor appears sees to do. ride the wind, selectively and with sound on the scene." The sound in his mind did not startle him. judgment." With that, he pointed to the screen. The It was as if he had been waiting for it, "I know how I was brought here," Gen- ship's Computer had automatically split the It said, "Can you hear me, Golan Tre- dibal said stiffly. He knew why he had been screen as a new ship came within its ken. vize? If you can, don't bother saying so. It so anxious to move out into space, so anx- The second ship appeared on the right- will be enough if you think it." ious to pursue Trevize, so sure he could hand side. Trevize looked around. Pelorat, clearly handle it all. "Can you magnify the image, Liono?" startled, was looking in various directions, "You were a particular case, Speaker "No trouble." as if trying to find a source for the voice. Gendibal. Your ambition was powerful, but "Well," said Branno, studying the screen, Bliss sat quietly, her hands spread loosely you possess a softness that offered a shortcut. You are a person who is kind to someone whom you think beneath you. I took advantage of this trait in your char- acter and turned it against you. I/we am/ are deeply ashamed. The excuse is that the future of the Galaxy is in hazard." Novi paused, and her voice—though she was not speaking with her vocal cords grew more somber; her face, more drawn. "Gaia could wait no longer For over a century the people of Terminus had been developing a mentalic shield. Left to them- selves another generation, Terminus would have been impervious even to Gaia, and its inhabitants would have been free to use their physical weapons at will. The Galaxy would not have stood before them, and a Second Galactic Empire, after the fashion of Terminus, would have been established, despite the Seldon Plan, despite the peo- ple of Trantor, and despite Gaia. Mayor Branno had to be somehow maneuvered into making her move while the shield was still imperfect. "Then there is Trantor. The Seldon Plan was working perfectly, for Gaia itself la- bored to keep it on track. Now, however, Stor Gendibal was rising quickly. He would certainly become First Speaker, and under him Trantor would take on an activist role. It would surely concentrate on physical power and would recognize the danger of Terminus and take action against it. If he could act against Terminus before its shield was perfected, then the Seldon Plan would be' worked out to its conclusion in a Sec- ond Galactic Empire, after the fashion of CONTINUED ON PAGE 166 Altered states are not mere curiosities. They keep us sane MIND TRIPPING BY JUDITH HOOPER In one of ihe darker corners of the Dark Conti- nent the IKung people of the Ka- lahari keep in touch with the gods. Two or three nights a week the men dance around a fire, graceful as leopards, to the sonorous drone of the women's chants. Soon the mood turns solemn, and the night air swells with unseen presences. Sweat rolls down the dancers' bod- ies like sweet rain, as the n/um, the healing power, starts to boil. The moment of transcendence is pain- PHOTOGRAPHS BY MALCOLM KIRK of arctic winter, the "tem- ful. When the inner fire shoots from (heir is tracking down ASCs with EEGs and gal- the monotony an bellies up their spines, the dancers shiver vanic skin responses, and finally to Prince- ple sleep" of the ancient Egyptians, even Paradoxically, sensory and tremble, fall to the ground, or go rigid ton University meditation authority Patricia total-body casts. as stone. Some of them dance into the fire Carringtbn, who has developed a theory overload—whirling dervish dances, rock and out again, perfect as gods, their feet about why a lack of ASCs is dangerous. concerts, or revival meetings— can take you unburned. They can see into the essence As a consequence of my journey, two there, too. of things now, even into the insides of other truths have emerged: First, altered states Tart's landmark catalog set out scientific people, where malignant ghosts feed on are as common, and ail-American, as Mom methods for charting these out-of-the- diseased livers or prevent the conception and apple pie; and second, altered states ordinary states, and his m.o. became the smokers of sons. Laying their healing hands on the are necessary. Because consciousness questionnaire. He asked pot of sick, they bid the n/um to drive out the forces can't be ground up and analyzed in a Petri whether they could identify the moment (they ot darkness. dish, scientists need the ASC as a natural transition from "straight" to "stoned" The ikia dance winds down as the sun's passageway into the mind's chambers. Just couldn't) and codified their experiences in first pale rays reillumine the earth, and the as neurologists study stroke patients to find a definitive marijuana study. Querying LSD people doze or talk softly on the damp out how a healthy brain operates, neuro- users, he learned what every acid freak that the sent them into ground, Then it is left to Western anthro- science uses altered states as a clue to already knew: drug pologists to write learned monographs on the nature of "normal" consciousness. More a funhouse of unslable, rapidly metamor- states of consciousness that ver- the curious mix of supernatural beliefs, important, you and I need altered states, phosing rhythmic singing and dancing, group hys- perhaps every day of our lives, as win- nacular poets called tripping. But what he couldn't teria, and the endurance of severe pain dows to our own inner reality—and as a proved very early on was that you that produces this collective altered state safeguard against going crazy. equate a certain drug dosage with a cer- of consciousness. For this particular mind trip, it's appro- tain psychological state, for so much de- user's Do their chronic nutritional deficits cause priate that we travel west, for a visit with pended on setting, mood, and the Tart said, . . wonder, trance-inducing brain abnormalities in the the modern father of altered states . own psychic structure. No IKung? Are sweating and extreme over- that so many drearily clinical laboratories exertion paths to the spirit world? reported only reddened eyes, anxiety, and Whatever their special recipe for tran- mental confusion with marijuana, bad trips scendence, the IKung Bushmen of Africa and demons with LSD. Surely, he mused, me. At something beyond bloodshot eyes must are not so different from you and Qf you become one least 90 percent of human societies prac- be inspiring thousands of college students tice some kind of institutionalized altered- with the universe, Western to risk jail and social censure for a mind- Uni- altering toke. state ritual, according to Ohio State science teiis you we're versity anthropologist Erica Bourguignon, 'Altered states remind us that much it's iilusion, as if tells who has surveyed the hallucinatory hoe- an you had more than we think we are," he me as tilters through a cur- downs of some 4,000 cultures. There are programmed your Apple the late afternoon sun the solitary-vision quests of Sioux warriors, tain with a pattern of serene seated Bud- computer to say, "I have just the hallucinogen-powered flights of South dhas. He is a lanky, gentle man, with can- American shamans, the dream oracles of attained oneness did blue eyes and a paced, calm, almost "The orthodox view is that the Senoi people of Malaysia, in addition with the Ultimate Chip.5 sacerdotal voice. biological computer, totally to the tribal dances of peoples like the IKung the mind is a and the Samo tribesmen of New Guinea self-contained and limited by physical laws. experience of leaving your (shown on opening pages). If you have an with the universe, or Closer to home, we might talk about body, becoming one cocktail parties, revival meetings, football- meeting a spiritual being, Western science game hysteria, rock concert and disco- The most recent Whole Earth Catalog still tells you it's an illusion— just as it you had theque ecstasies, not to mention wide- lists Charles S, Tart's Altered States of programmed your Apple computer to say, oneness with the Ul- spread dabbling in chemical nirvanas, Consciousness as the creme de la crerne 'I have just attained "Why?" Bourguignon wonders, "The fact of the field. Tart's big, sky-blue volume timate Chip.' is that there is that they are nearly universal must mean quickly became a classic after it was pub- "The implicit assumption that that such states are very important to hu- lished in 1970. turning up among the India a normal state of consciousness and man beings." print bedspreads and Grateful Dead rec- all others are degenerate forms of it," Tart The existence of the altered state of con- ords of that era's consciousness connois- says. "But what one person experiences . fall into the region sciousness (or ASC) is no longer in doubt. seurs. Psychologist Tart still teaches at the as an altered state may What scientists are now asking themselves University of California at Davis, but he lives, of another's ordinary consciousness, We are "Why?" and "How?" What used to be nol inappropriately, a two-hour drive away, don't all start from the same baseline con- the domain of philosophers, poets, and in the eucalyptus-scented hills of north sciousness, either, and we differ widely in state." In mystics is now being seriously explored by Berkeley, our ability to transit from state to his of consciousness, Tart a new breed of respected, if unconven- After 12 years the first words of AS of C everyday state tional, scientists, To quantify the current still reverberate in my memory: "Beneath points out. the inventor Nikola Tesla could consciousness lies design a machine in his head, specifying status of altered -state research, I traveled man's thin veneer of a ten-thousandth of to the West Coast to see psychologist relatively uncharted realm of mental activ- the parts down to one ," Charles Tart, who is trying to map the ASC's ity, , . This was the resonant beginning an inch. geography, and behavioral psychologist of a chapter by psychiatrist Arnold Ludwig Can science ever map inner space? One called Ronald Siegel, who is trying to analyze and on the definition and classification of ASCs. obstacle is a troubling phenomenon knowledge, which is basically control it in the laboratory: my inquiry con- We all slip into altered states at least once state-bound tinued through Chicago and biophysicist a night, Ludwig wrote, for ASCs include the psychological law that some informa- Jack Cowan, who is trying to relate hallu- routine phenomena like sleep, dreams, and tion is not easily transferred from state to cinations to specific brain hardware. Back daydreams, as well as the more exotic state, If you lose your car keys while you're of hypnosis, drugs, al- drunk, you might have to drink a few pina east, I spoke to -Massachusetts psycholo- phantasmagoria gist Theodore X. Barber about his studies cohol, prolonged sleeplessness, fasting, coladas the next day to remember where of 'Uoan of Arc" personalities, to New Jer- and meditation. Sensory isolation is one you put them; if you learn the salient pro- sey parapsychologist Chuck Honorton, who route to idylls within: solitary confinement, visions of the Treaty of Ghent while smok- T4 OMNI " ing marijuana, you'll forget Ihem in your end, Tart recommends that a new cadre of Ron Siegel was born the same year European history midterm unless you show state-specific scientists be trained to enter (1943) that the Swiss chemist Albert Hof- up for the test similarly stoned. various ASCs and report the landscape in mann, the father of LSD, accidentally took Tart believes this phenomenon may ex- detail, fs time peculiarly dilated? Space the world's first acid trip in his lab at San- plain why religion enthralls some while foreshortened? Are the colors vivid, pul- doz. By some law of psychopharmaco- turning others off. "Most religious teach- sating? What happens to memory, sense logical karma, Siegel, too, first took LSD ings," he notes, "are actually state-spe- of identity, thought processes? by mistake. He was weighing a batch of cific sciences. They make excellent sense Fortunately, 400 miles to the south, there pure Sandoz LSD-25 during biochernistry- in certain altered states, but in other states is a researcher who, despite his obvious of-memory experiments at Dalhousie Uni- they turn into empty creeds that people philosophical differences from Tart, is trying versity, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when some white powder stuck to his fingers are forced to believe in." to answer those very questions. ~ of the is Consumer's Guide to and found its way into his bloodstream. The What we need a ANATOMY OF HALLUCINATION Other Mental Realms. "I can envision an result was incandescent. expanded psychology ot the future in which In Los Angeles the freeway meridians "We had been using pigeons as the early we gjve a person a batch of tests and tell were ablaze with wild poppies, the Cali- explorers of hallucination," Siegel tells me. him, 'Kundalini yoga would be good for fornia state flower, which it is illegal to pick. "They were trained to report back the colors by pecking on a light your type of personality, but never do za- I found the City of Angels awash in gurus; and forms they saw z.en; your type goes psychotic half the time.' a local friend told me she had heard about that corresponded to their experience. But But our culture isn't ready for it." five different messiahs in the space of a when I took LSD, I thought, 'There is no In a way, Western civilization has for- single week. way pigeons are going to be able to tell us " gotten a tradition that the IKung tribesmen There is nothing very messianic about about this.' are careful to keep alive. "There is tremen- the lush, emerald lawns and gleaming Human subjects, endowed with the gift dous human suffering because we've ban- Porsches of Westwood, home of UCLA, and of speech, soon succeeded pigeons as ished altered states," Tart laments. "We live it psychologist Ronald Siegel is some sort travelers into the hallucinatory world, and so immersed in our ongoing psychological of shaman, he isn't telling. In any case, the thus began the first thorough, scientific processes that we're in a kind of waking UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, from charting of the land of mirages, which Sie- trance. And it's 'normal'; everyone's in it." which his "brave explorers of the inner gel would continue at UCLA with hundreds What Tart proposes is a specialized study world" take off, is off limits to me. Siegel of volunteers. Though some of them have ot the subjective world he calls "state-spe- shields his volunteers from the publicity that donated their hours and brains for many cific sciences." Because a purely behav- contaminated Timothy Leary's Harvard years, no one has ever had a bad trip in ioral study of LSD, for instance, would con- studies at the dawn of the Acid Age, and his lab, according to Siegel. "In the early of psychedelic re- clude that the drug was no more than a so I was to meet him at a tastefully sparse years stupefying sedative, scientists must peer Westwood apartment/office that, shorn of search the drug experience was consid- deep within a person's experience instead some psychedelic art, might pass for a ered too complicated to describe," Siegel of just recording outward effects. To that trendy orthodontist's office. says. 'About the most articulate statement you could get from a user was 'Wowl' So Siegel went to work on a standard- ized hallucination code. Using colored slides, he trained his subjects so they could rapidly identify and describe a variety of geometric forms, colors, and patterns of movement. Soon, out of their darkened, soundproof chambers, the trainees were cataloging their visions with the precision of lepidop- ss^ terists classifying specimens. "Tunnels, remembered scenes, and familiar faces. It is in this second phase that the visionary may converse with gods or see three- headed serpents, Siegel explains, and what had been simile turns into reality. For ex- ample, a "psychonaut" who in the first stage would be reporting, "I feel as if I'm flying /*->* through a tunnel," will begin saying, "I am flying through a tunnel." I find myself staring at an undulating dreamscape that portrays a wraithlike fig- "Confound it, Gruenblatt. Without proper scientific and other ure wandering through a tunnel. A center- clinical disciplines, you're still talking theory." piece of Siegel's collection of drug-influ- enced art, it was painted under the spell of LSD, by a Peruvian shaman's son, and see revolving magazines or something." internal images superimposed on the out- was once coveted by none oiher than Car- The lesson is that the human brain, whether side world." los Castaneda, the UCLA anthropologist- that of a UCLA sophomore or a Huichol I ask about mystical experiences, cosmic storyteller whom Siegel dubs the "Werner sage, is' built the same way and can gen- illuminations, metaphysical truths: Do they Erhard of psychedelic anthropology." erate only a finite repertoire of visions. boil down to brain mechanics, too? Ap- Siegel was not the first scientist to clas- Chemicals aren't the only route to our parently so, though Siegel admits he tries sify visual hallucinations, and he readily inner gardens. Siegel and his colleagues to keep his visionaries away from the astral gives credit to one of his mentors, Heinrich have mapped all manner of ASCs, from plane. "When they staft to float away from Kluver, of the University of Chicago, Klu- hyperventilation and hypoglycemia to ter- us, we try to bring them back and keep ver's anatomy of mescaline visions in the tiary syphilis, crystal gazing, and migraine them on track," he says, "It's safe to say, 1920s and 1930s turned up four basic attacks. Loss of oxygen to the brain, ex- though, that the similar characteristics of geometric "form constants": the lattice or treme fear, and sleep deprivation. Sensory the so-called mystical states —tranquillity, grating, the cobweb, the tunnel or funnel, isolation, sensory bombardment, mara- indescribable bliss, and suchlike — don't and the spiral. It did not surprise Siegel thon running, dreaming and daydreaming. reflect a common objective reality but an when. Phase One of bis voyagers' halluci- "However you stimulate the brain, it will internal landscape that is common to all nations also contained the same core con- hallucinate," says Siegel, "and it will hal- Homo sapiens." tent of four shapes, no matter what drug lucinate in basically the same way." He feels the same way about near-death they had ingested. But how, and why, does the brain churn experiences (NDEs), those ethereal, oth- The reason, Siegel concluded, is that out chimeras? erworldly visions reported by patients who hallucinations are shaped by the brain's "Think of a man sitting in his study and are revived from clinical death. The NDE actual structure. Neural hardware, not looking out the window at trees swaying, perhaps best crystallizes the difference ethereal soulstuff, is behind our cosmic vi- passing cars, and so on," Siegel pro- between Siegel's hard-nosed approach to sions and our dismal bummers. poses. 'As night falls, he can'l see out the ASCs and Tart's more expansive attitude. As if to invoke a study aid, he points to window anymore, but he has a fire burning Tart applauds the efforts of University of a trio of colorful yarn paintings that preside brightly in the fireplace behind him. Now Connecticut psychologist Kenneth Ring to over that half of the room like dignitaries, when he looks out the window, he sees his map painstakingly the common NDE phe- from an alien land. Siegel has visited the own reflection and those of the furniture in nomenon of traveling through a tunnel. Ring artists, Huichol Indians ot Mexico's remote the room. When it's 'dark' outside, when is asking near-death veterans to describe and mountainous Sierra Madre, and can your senses don't give you access to the the "tunnel" in detail: What are the sides specify the blood levels of peyote that pro- real world— as in cardiac arrest, sensory made of? What was the means of loco- duced each painting. "Structurally they are deprivation, or sleep —you see the furni- motion? Did they touch the sides? These very similar to what our subjects would see ture of your own mind, its stored images. are questions that acknowledge the valid- on mescaline— latticeiike tunnels with bright The other way to hallucinate is to overstim- ity of the experience, though scientists like lights at the center. The revolving deer ulate the brain: You can stoke up the 'fire' Ring and Tart themselves are not claiming heads, of course, are cultural. You might on a bright day with a lot of LSD and see the NDE proves there is life after death. Siegel keeps a safe distance from such matters, preferring to pursue quantifiable data, such as geometric shapes and wavelengths in millimicrons. The psycho- pharmacologist shies away from discuss- ing the possibility of genuine transcend- ence—when he does not actually pooh- pooh it —and dismisses the NDE as a mere hallucination caused by oxygen loss in the brain, electrical hyperarousal, and/or dim- ming sensory systems. The NDE, Siegel says, can be simulated quite easily with a dose of ketamine, a superpotent cousin of angel dust. "Isn't it interesting," Siegel adds, warm- ing to one of his favorite topics—the na- ivete of life-after-death believers "that in the afterlife the loved ones are always fully clothed, preserved just the way we re- member them from the family album? We've also had descriptions of golf courses, even condominiums, on the Other Shore." Siegel at all times maintains the image of the hip, living-in-the-world psychologist. Some might say he has paid the price of harsh reality. To fund his research and re- main independent of the usual govern- ment grants, he hires himself out to pros- ecutors and defense attorneys as a forensic drug expert and, as such, has testified to the state ot mind of such celebrity defend- ants as Manson tamily member Leslie Van Houten. At one point in the interview he pro- duces a pile of Polaroid snapshots, pass- ing them to me in sequence as he tells me a Chicago murder tale. The accused in this K OMNI case was lull of LSD and alcohol, and Sie- animals have com-nuniccled Iheir halluci- experience I'd had as a subject in my own gel had been called in as an expert wit- nations, which aren't so different from ours. hallucination experiments." A delicate, ness for the prosecution. The police pho- That brings us a little closer to other spe- otherwordly landscape of Nid, painted by tos led, as I knew they would, to a gruesome cies. And, you know, animals have reli- the patient, hangs over Siegel's pet Cen- denouement; the decapitation of a twelve- gious experiences, too." A faint smile tral American cactus plants, year-old boy and the repeated rape of his crosses Siegel's chiseled lips. "Oh, yes, I ask Siegel about future pharmacolo- mother. In the last photograph a little boy we once trained a pigeon named Noah to gical Utopias, custom-designed drugs to in flannel pajamas lies apparently asleep genuflect in front of a cross." tinker with our mental life. "If we don't cre- in his bed, except that his head and neck Why do such scientists as Siegel, ate them, our underground alchemists will," are joined together by a jagged red crack, steeped in no-nonsense behaviorism, de- he surmises. "One of my dreams is to find like a badly glued doll. "So you see, LSD vote their professional lives to scrutinizing a safe recreational drug, something like Al- experiences are not necessarily tran- altered states? Well, for one thing, scien- dous Huxley's moksha.a truth-and-beauty scendent," Siegel says. tific control over the inner world can give pill." Coca, the Andean leaf that contains Though he does not believe in an im- us entree to hitherto untapped information about 1.5 percent cocaine, comes closest, mortal 'soul beyond the complex wiring ot from dreams, daydreams, and reverie according to Siegel, The runner-up is psil- the brain, he speaks casually of future states. Dream interpretation could be- ocybin. or "magic mushroom," the drug contacts with extraterrestrials. As a matter come a more exact science. Psychiatrists Siegel's adventurers preferred over all oth- of fact, Siegel hopes his cartography of could learn to communicate with schizo- ers. But psilocybin and coca still aren't inner space will help man feel more at home phrenics in mid-hallucination, as Siegel moksha. The ideal mind-bender must be in outer space. "I remember when, on one himself has done. He once persuaded a absolutely nontoxic, pharmacologically Apollo mission, one of the astronauts got schizophrenic patient to lead him into her pure, and capable of having the visions it very excited and compared the experi- private hallucinatory land of Nid, a place produces turned on and off at will. ence of orbiting the moon to what he imag- peopled with lavish winged wolves, drag- Do not leap to the conclusion that Siegel ined having a baby would be like," he tells ons, and other whimsical creatures. "She is an apostle of illicit substances. He has me. "We need a more refined vocabulary spent a lot of fantasy time in Nid, where appeared on television shows and in mass- to describe those experiences— of she had a job painting murals on the castle circulation magazines lecturing on such weightlessness, of being on another planet, walls," he recounts. "Her therapists were topics as the dangers of freebasing co- and so on. When we contact extraterres- pulling on one hand and saying, 'Come caine. "But we have to recognize that peo- trial worlds, populated or not, we're going back, this isn't real,' while a dragon was ple are selecting chemicals to regulate to lot be overwhelmed by a of alien sen- pulling on the other. She was suicidal. I themselves right now, and they're not happy sory input, and understanding an alien en- went with her on a mind trip to Nid, where with a two-week vacation a year to alter vironment of our own can prepare us." she introduced me to all the characters and their consciousness," he points out. Homo Another future use of his standardized they started talking to me. I taught her sapiens obviously hungers for altered introspection codes is interspecies com- techniques for controlling and describing states, Siegel proclaims in his book Natu- munication. "Pigeons, monkeys, and other her images. I could do that because of the ral Intoxication, probably out of the same urge that impels all mammals to wander around and sniff out new scenes. I wonder at the array of hallucinators who have passed under Siegel's scrutiny. Mi- graine sufferers, people who were "ab- ducted" by UFOs, .sleep-starved vision- aries. Andean Indians nibbling bitter coca leaves, spelunkers trapped in caves, and drug-tasters. Prisoners of war, ship- wrecked sailors, and hostages—whose al- tered states, Siegel says, are provoked by a mixture of isolation and the threat of death. John Belushi's face stares out at eternity from a glossy People magazine cover on Siegel's coffee table. Perhaps it is true, as one poet remarked, that humankind can- not bear very much reality. But where, after all. is Reality, or a drug-haunted vision of deer heads, encoded in the human brain 7 THE STRIPED BRAIN On Siegel's suggestion I take my nuts- and-bolts questions to Jack Cowan, a Uni- versity of Chicago biophysicist who has just completed a study of the neurocircuitry of visual hallucination. With a complex math- ematical model, Cowan has deduced that when the brain s stimulated beyond a crit- ical threshold, it automatically produces visionary shapes. And, lo and behold, these shapes look very much like Kluver's four "geometric constants," the same images lhat Siegel's trainees conjured up in their vision chambers. "Then I worked out what the patterns are actually like inside the brain," Cowan tells me. "There's a distortion in the pathway from the eye to the brain. The images in- just don't know how to read that yet," he from LSD trips to mysticism. 'Just re- side the brain are simple— basically, says. "But we can account for some inter- cently," he says, "we've found a group of stripes." The stripes are really standing esting phenomena. A hallucinating person people who live in a very different place wavefronts of firing neurons, separated by tends not to see a single image of a face all the time, and this has important impli- layers of inactivated neurons. but a whole row of faces. There's also cations for understanding conscious- "What causes the stripe patterns in the megalopsy and micropsy, when objects ness." These altered-state dwellers, whom brain's circuitry that we project outside us suddenly grow very huge or very tiny, like Barber has baptized "tantasy-prone per- as cobwebs, lattices, and other visions?" Alice in Wonderland. We know the mech- sonalities" (FPPs) compose about 4 per- of the population, and they're more I ask. anisms for that aren't in the primary visual cent "It turns out that noradrenaline and ser- cortex at the rear of the brain, but farther likely to be female. Natural visionaries of otonin are the brain chemicals that control forward, in the inferior temporal cortex. So sorts, they can voluntarily weave halluci- the brain's excitation," he explains. already the excitation is moving forward. nations that are "as real as real" in all five "Whenever you increase noradrenaline or We can probably get our hands on some senses. shut down serotonin, that stimulates the of these phenomena." ~ Yet these FPPs are not raving psychot- the brain's resting ics. At Cushing Hospital, in Framingham, cortex-. You destabilize JOAN OF ARC'S VOICES state —where there's essentially no pat- Massachusetts, Barber and colleague tern —and you get certain patterns." A vista of pulsing spirals overlaid with Sheryl Wilson compared the heavy fanta- LSD and other hallucinogens disturb the cobwebs is a far cry from St. Teresa's ec- sizers with a control group and found them brain's noradrenaline/serotonin balance, stasies or the numinous truths ot a Hindu no better or worse adjusted. They are sim- and so, most likely, do other vision-induc- holy man's samadhi trance, Ron Siegel's ply the Mozarts of introspection, blessed ing states, says Cowan, from near-death assurances notwithstanding. Though he with a remarkable talent. Seventy-five per- crises to dreams. had told me confidently, "It we tested Soc- cent can reach sexual climax in pure fan- ali fantasize ihem- Lattices and tunnels are all very well, I rates or Joan of Arc, I think we'd be able tasy, for example; can reflect, but how does the brain generate to classify their experiences comfortably selves on the Nile while simultaneously chatter. chil- Phase Two of the hallucinatory process? with our code," I am not so sure. I decide carrying on cocktail-party As The stripe patterns of neural excitation, to query other scientists about these rare- dren they grew up accompanied by fairies, Cowan informs me, apparently move for- fied states that Siegel would record as mere elves, guardian angels, and imaginary ward from the occipital (visual) cortex at exotic variations on the hallucination theme. playmates and saw their dolls and toy an- the back of the head, and as they travel 'There's a democratic assumption that imals as living beings with distinctive per- toward the forebrajn, hallucination be- we're all at the same level of conscious- sonalities. comes more symbolic, and more abstract. ness, and that's wrong," contends psy- Fantasy-prone types, Barber says, are "Here, when a stripe of cells becomes chologist Theodore X. Barber (the X. is for also extremely hypnotizable, vivid dream- activated, each of those cells codes not Xenophon). He is one of the world's ers, naturals at guided-imagery medita- just a simple geometric property but preeminent hypnosis authorities and no tion, and so easily overwhelmed by LSD something very, very complicated, and we stranger to other ouf-of-the-ordinary states, and marijuana that they eschew drugs. "You see, it's all the same state," Barber as- serts, speaking at 78 rpm at least, spilling facts into my tape recorder as it his brain were overpopulated with data. "They're hypnotized, and they go into deep hyp- nosis; they go to sleep, and they dream lucid dreams; they take drugs, and their hallucinations become much too vivid. It's the same fantasy state behind it all the time." Fantasy-prone people's lives are un- commonly cluttered with clairvoyant dreams, precognitions, psychic healings, out-of-body experiences, regressions into past lives, and other paranormal adven- tures. Barber suggests. Out of their ranks, he speculates, have come such famous visionaries as Joseph Smith, Madame Bla- vatsky the Theosophist, St. Bernadette, and Joan of. Arc, the twelve-year-old whose di- vine communications were so compelling they persuaded the French king to let her command his armies. "Does this mean these things are just fantasy?" Barber asks himself. "Maybe. Or maybe they are actually perceiving an- other reality." "If you peered into the gray matter of a fantasy-prone person," I ask him, "would you find anything special there?" "Yes, I'm sure you would," he replies. "Our experiences affect our whole neuro- logical structure. These people have spent so much time fantasizing that it probably has specialized their brains," How? Ah, there's the rub. A few re- searchers, such as biofeedback pioneer Elmer Green, of the Menninger Founda- CONTINUED ON PAGE 15S the that can, are common prop- neither full steam nor fair wind justifies the And if ye doubt the tale I tell, and one ship is sag- Steer through the South Pacific swell; erty coming of a common stock. We told length of a day's run, that the downhill; but how these ups and downs Go where the branching coral hives them all, as a matter of form, with all their ging has not yet been settled au- Unending strife of endless lives. local and specific variants, which are sur- come about Where, leagued about the 'wildered prising. Then came, in the intervals of thoritatively. sea," said Frithiof, boat, steady card play, more personal histories "No, it is a following re- "and with a following sea you shall not get The rainbow jellies fill and float; of adventure and things seen and steerageway." And, lilting where the laver lingers, ported; panics among white folk, when the good as smooth as a duck pond, The starfish trips on all her fingers; blind terror ran from man to man on the The sea was swell. As I looked Where 'neath his myriad spines Brooklyn Bridge, and the people crushed except for a regular oily ashock, each other to death they knew not why; over the side to see where it might be fol- in a perfectly The sea-egg ripples down the rock; fires, and faces that opened and shut their lowing us from, the sun rose An orange wonder dimly guessed, mouths horribly at red-hot window frames; clear sky and struck the water with its light it as though the From darkness where the cuttles rest, wrecks in frost and snow, reported from so sharply that seemed burnished gong. Moored o'er the darker deeps that the sleet-sheathed rescue tug at the risk sea should clang like a hide of frostbite; long rides after diamond The wake of the screw and the little white hanging over the The blind white Sea-snake and his thieves; skirmishes on the veldt and in mu- streak cut by the log line the water as bride; nicipal committees with the Boers; glimpses stern were the only marks on Who, drowsing, nose the long-lost of lazy, tangled Cape politics and the mule- far as eye could reach. chair aft ships rule in the Transvaal; card tales, horse tales, Keller rolled out of his and went from the ripening stock Let down through darkness to their woman tales by the score and the half to get a pineapple inside the after awning-. lips. hundred; till the first mate, who had seen that were hung tired of —The Palms more than us all put together, but lacked "Frithiof, the log line has got the eloquent words to clothe his tales with, swimming. It'scoming home," he drawled. voice jumping Once a priest, always a priest; once a "What?" said Frithiof, his Mason, always a Mason; but once a jour- several octaves. home," Keller repeated, lean- nalist, always and forever a journalist. "Coming I ran to his side and saw There were three of us, all newspaper- ing over the stern. log line, till then had been drawn men, the only passengers on a little tramp the which iTfre sun rose slacken, loop, steamer that ran where her owners told her tense over the stern railing, off the port quarter. Frithiof to go. She had once been in the Bilbao iron in a perfectly clear sky and come up called up the speaking tube to the bridge, ore business, had been lent to the Spanish and struck "Yes, nine knots." government for service at Manila, and was and the bridge answered, water with its light Frithiof again, and the answer ending her days in the Cape Town coolie the Then spoke "What do you want of the skipper?" trade, with occasional trips to Madagascar so sharply that was, and even as far as England. We found her and Frithiof bellowed, "Call him up." it seemed as though the Keller, and myself going to Southampton in ballast, and By this time Zuyland, caught something of Frithiof s excite- shipped in her because the fares were sea should clang had most nominal. There was Keller, of an American ment, for any emotion on shipboard is like a burnished gong*> captain ran out of his cabin, paper, on his way back to the States from contagious. The looked at the log line, palace executions in Madagascar; there spoke to Frithiof, was a burly half-Dutchman, called Zuy- jumped on the bridge, and in a minute we as Frithiof land, who owned and edited a paper up felt the steamer swing round country near Johannesburg; and there was turned her. Town?" said Keller. myself, who had solemnly put away all sat open-mouthed far into the dawn. "Going back to Cape Frithiof did not answer, but tore away at journalism, vowing to forget that I had ever When the tales were done, we picked beckoned us three to known the difference between an imprint up cards till a curious hand or a chance the wheel. Then he and a stereo advertisement. remark made one or other of us say, "That help, and we held the wheel down till the answered it, and we found our- Three minutes after Keller spoke to me, reminds— me of a man who— or a business Rathmines " con- selves looking into the white of our own as the Ratbmines cleared Cape Town, I had which and the anecdotes would her way wake, with the still-oily sea tearing past our forgotten the aloofness I desired to feign tinue while the Rathmines kicked were not going more than and was in heated discussion on the im- northward through the warm water. bows, though we morality of expanding telegrams beyond a In the morning of one specially warm half-steam ahead. his certain fixed point. Then Zuyland came out night we three were sitting immediately in The-captain stretched out arm from minute later I of his stateroom, and we were all at home front of the wheelhouse where an old the bridge and shouted. A great deal to have instantly, because we were men of the same Swedish boatswain whom we called Fri- would have given a profession needing no introduction. We thiof the Dane was at the wheel pretending shouted, too, for one half of the sea seemed annexed the boat formally, broke open the that he could not hear our stories. Once or to shoulder itself above the other half and passengers' bathroom door— on the Ma- twice Frithiof spun the spokes curiously, came on in the shape of a hill. There was nor curl-over to it; nila lines the Dons do not wash—cleaned and Keller lifted his head from a long chair neither crest, comb, out the orange peel and cigar ends at the to ask, "What is it? Can't you get any pull nothing but black water with little waves bottom of the bath, hired a Lascar to shave on her''" chasing each other about the flanks. I saw level Rath- us throughout the voyage, and then asked "There is a feel in the water," said Fri- it stream past and on a with the steamer I mines's plates before the each other's names. thiof, "that I cannot understand, think that bow Three ordinary men would have quar- we run downhills or somethings. She steers made up her mind to rise, and I argued reled through sheer boredom before they bad this morning." that this would be the last of all earthly voy- reached Southampton. We, by virtue of our Nobody seems to know the laws that ages for me. Then we rose for ever and in craft, were anything but ordinary men. A govern the pulse of the big waters. Some- ever and ever, till 1 heard Keller saying large percentage of the tales of the world, times even a landsman can tell that the my ear, "The bowels of the deep, good the thirty-nine that cannot be told to ladies solid ocean is a-tilt and that the ship is Lord!" and the Rathmines stood poised, working herself up a long unseen slope; her screw racing and drumming on the Reproduced by uernhssicri of the National Trust. and sometimes the captain says, when slope of a hollow that stretched downward CONTINUED ON PAGE 144 86 OMNI er with a f med Epyx Auiom. sun-drenched p( , thinking develoi such (noughts as What )iav with? Apple II and the / will pay to play. years of — attrac- it puter will merge into one. Using the freelancer and as an employee of com- its early entry of the VCS, has allowed to video tion and familiarity of video games as a panies like Ideal Toys— most of his adult get and hold 70 percent of the home there are -about 7 million of sales tool, the industry will mass-market life. In all those years, he admits, he has market, today television computers. There are about 10 mil- never found a tool for creating games as its VCSs attached to American home Intellivision, which lion game systems in use in homes now exciting and as versatile as the computer. sets. After Atari comes sophisticated, more and only about 1 million home computers, "It's the Swiss Army knife of the mind," he puts out a more and but by 1990 this ratio-is expected to be says. expensive, system, in use in 1 million homes. Phillips's reversed. For that to happen, manufactur- Right now DeKoven is unique in the bur- Until recently North American 2 will have to produce a computer that geoning video-game industry. One would Odyssey and Astrocade's Astrocade were ers but offers three features: high resolution, or the expect him to have an engineering or com- the only other home systems available, "paint pretty pictures" on the puter science degree, but he has neither. this year they face competition from as many ability to screen: high-speed, graphics, the ability to His academic background consists of an as seven new home game machines. Some, move many objects around the screen undergraduate degree in English literature like Coleco's Colecovision and the new quickly: and a low price tag. The best guess and a graduate degree in theater. He 5200 machine from Atari, will compete for is this machine is at least three or four years doesn't write computer programs and a share of the market- with more technolog- makes no pretense about being an expert ically advanced hardware. Others, from into the future. Tryom Emerson Radio, Currently the software firms are design- on -the technology. The skill he brings to companies like and offering comparable ma- ing for both game systems and com- his work is strictly the creativity of a game will compete by firm that has had phenomenal designer, chines that are priced lower. puters. One the success at this in its brief three-year his- Because of the technical nature of the But the majority of those rushing into Last year, for example, medium, video-game manufacturers have business are not building game-playing tory is Activision. on its software sales totaled $65 million, which usually relied on computer programmers hardware. They prefer to concentrate the cartridges that play on another placed it second only to Atari. For most to do their designing. And i! shows: If you program reason: Last year part Activision's games have had a repu- run your finger through the list of game company's system. The for being graphically beautiful and categories today—shoot-em-ups. race tation easy to learn. Some, like designer David games, maze games, and so on—you will Crane's Freeway— in which the player tries find at most one or two original ideas in his video chicken back and forth each group. to move crowded freeway without having is changing. As across a Some of this situation 6/n Pitfall it get run over— are also humorous, even more younger players find it increasingly his cute. In Pitfall, Crane's new game, the player easier to beat, or "max out on," current the player has to run must run his little man through a series of games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man, little man through jungle scenes in which he searches for and as more adults beyond the average jungles in search of treasure, treasure, has to jump over cobras, scor- twelve- to eighteen-year-old age group and swings on a become fascinated by video games, the jump him pions, and rolling logs, vine over tar pits, lakes that appear and manufacturers are beginning to see a de- over cobras, and swing him suddenly disappear, and crocodile-in- mand tor games that are more intellec- fested swamps. Even Johnny Weissmuller tually sophisticated and more challenging. over tar pits and would find it challenging. And so they are turning to more creative crocodile-infested swamps? Activision was the first company to jump types, game designers or computer pro- bandwagon. It was also the grammers who have the originality of a good on the VCS promote its game designers as su- game designer. first to according them almost the same What new games are being pro- perstars, status as performing artists, Activision grammed now'' To answer that question, I packages always include a photo- took a walk through the game-design labs home video-game players bought 30 mil- game graph of the designer, together with liner of three of the most creative software com- lion game cartridges, paying between $20 notes from him offering tips on playing the panies in Silicon Valley to get a sneak pre- and $40 for each of them. The big bucks As a result, the designers now re- view of what's under development. But be- are clearly in software. game. ceive an average of 7,000 fan letters and fore talking about that, a little background Today a score of companies are making hundreds of phone calls each week. Some would be helpful. games for the VCS. Many of them are com- designers, such as Most video-game players begin at the munication giants like CBS, Lucasfilm, 20th of the more prolific often find themselves stopped on pay-for-play arcade games. In time they Century-Fox, Paramount, Thorn/EMI, and Crane, twelve- and thirteen-year-old reach the point where they desire elec- Disney Productions, all of which have re- the street by fans and asked for auto- tronic entertainment on their own terms cently formed video-game divisions. What video-game having the game available day or night, no doubt inspired them was the fact that graphs. But Activision designers do not slavishly with no long lines and no obligation to pay in 1981 Atari, itself owned by another giant, in more produce games with their fans in mind. "Our 25 cents each time. That is why home video- Warner Communications, brought Wars. really design for themselves," says game sales soared to $1.2 billion in 1981 money than the blockbuster film Star guys Lopez, vice-president of editorial de- and are expected to double this year. Any video-game system is really noth- Tom company. 'And they like Today home video games (as opposed ing more than a limited microcomputer, and velopment for the impor- is still in fts to play games. I think that's most to arcade games) can be divided into two the microcomputer industry designer, the I for a categories: ROM (Read-Only Memory) formative stage, marked by some growing tant. When look game favorite I ask is, 'What is your cartridges used with popular game sys- pains. For one thing there is no standard- first question score. video game?' I then ask for their best tems like Atari's VCS (Video Computer ization. Companies must now produce can't be any hesitation in their System) and Mattel's Intellivision, and cas- games to be played on specific machines. And there answers. have to be video-game fa- sette tapes or floppy discs for home com- A game designed for the VCS will not work They Atari's natics. They have to love it, live it, breathe puters like the Atari 400 and 800, the Ap- on Intellivision, nor will it work on for Similarly the Apple II, the it. Our guys design all day long, and ple II, or Radio Shack's TRS-80. home computers. computers can- relaxation they go home and play games." In the industry, Atari is the leader. It is Atari 800, and the TRS-80 is Ac- This, as I found out, no idle boast. the only company that makes games for not use one another's software. idea of treating me to arcades, home computers, and home game Eventually, analysts predict, the video- tivision's designers' couple of slices of Systems. This wide experience, along with game market for the VCS and microcom- lunch was to go for a a pizza, a cola, and several dozen video lead you to believe that a game designer even the best programmer, it is games at a Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time does more playing around than is neces- practice to work on only one section of a Theater, one of a chain of pizza parlor- sary. "The fact of the matter," says Dennis game at a time. Typically, a designer will game rooms founded by Nolan Bushnell, Koble, vice-president of software devel- spend a week to more than a month just the man who created Atari. The designers opment and an Imagic designer himself, creating the basic game format, trying dif- often go there to check out the work of the "is that every step of the process is so ferent colors and shapes to get the picture competition, to get new game ideas, and fraught with detail that I cannot write a sec- right. Particularly time-consuming was the just to have fun. tion of code and expect that program to right look tor Atlantis, Koble's newest game, At this stage of the business Activision do what I envision." now under development for the VCS and still feels video-game design is more of- The code Koble refers to is known as Intellivision. science than an art. Crane thinks a non- machine language, long s'/ngsofonesand The idea for Atlantis had been on Ko- technical person could not program suc- zeros that form instructions for the micro- ble's mind for months, but only as a very cessfully for the VCS because he or she processor. The VCS and Intellivision don't general concept. First he sketched out the would probably have to shelve 999 of 1,000 understand English, or even BASIC, a idea on paper, keeping game elements at game ideas partway through the design commonly used, English-like computer their simplest because, in his words, "a process. Because of their limitations, the language. They understand only machine truism that has run through the industry for VCS and, to a lesser extent, Intellivision language. To illustrate just how primitive years is that we [the game manufacturers] demand a high level of technical knowl- the VCS is, one BASIC instruction to have have consistently overestimated the intel- edge in a designer, Crane says. The VCS the machine print a single word on screen ligence of the player and consistently represents only about $20 worth of six-year- translates to more than 50 steps in ma- underestimated his dexterity." old electronics, and designers must know chine language. To help the programmer, Atlantis is a game with a theme, a feature how to stay within the peripheries of this designers use an "assembly language" that that players seem to enjoy. In Atlantis hos- technology. For all practical purposes, de- converts a program to machine code. tile aircraft besiege the underwater city, signer and programmer are interchange- Essentially there are three steps that Ko- which the player must defend with three able terms at Activision. ble, or any video game- Cosigner, must go laser guns. Like many games of this genre, The same holds for the creative group through when developing ar idea. The first the player faces increasingly more formi- of Imagic, Inc., a smaller but no less eager is to write a program in assembly code and dable waves oi attack that do not seem to software company that was formed a little store it. The second is to convert the pro- underestimate his dexterity. over a year ago by two executives from gram to machine language. And finally to Still, there will be many players who will Atari, two from Mattel, and half a dozen try it out in the VCS or Intellivision and see want more. And Imagic will give it to them Atari game designers. Already they have whether it does exactly what it is supposed soon with the release of a sequel to Atlan- developed seven VCS games and five more to do. "Since it never does," Koble says, tis, Cosmic Ark. When a player's last for- for Intellivision. "you go back and debug." tification in Atlantis has been destroyed, a The development cycle for a new game Because this process of debugging, or small ship can be seen escaping from the at Imagic is four to six months, which might finding and correcting errors, can confuse city just before the game turns off. This intimates that while Atlantis had been an- nihilated, part of the player's force always survives and is able to get away. This ship reappears in Cosmic Ark, in which the piayer's goal is to repopulate Atlantis by flying to many different planets in the gal- axy, fending off asteroid storms, and bringing two creatures (one male and pre- sumably one female) back from each planet to the starship via tractor beams. Like the most successful games, Atlan- tis and Cosmic Ark can be learned almost instantly, with one play of the game. "One fact that has been established by the coin- op industry over the years is that nobody reads instructions," Koble says. "I don't care who the player is, or what background or experience he has. / don't read instruc- tions. -If you can't figure out how to play, just inherently picking it up as you go, it isn't worth your money." DeKoven agrees. In his view, the reason for this is that the video-game industry has unwittingly created a new and powerful language based on what DeKoven calls the "videoglyph," a combination of chang- ing colors, shapes, and sounds linked to a physical response. For example, suc- cessfully moving a paddle to intercept and reverse the path of a ball on screen is a simple videoglyph. "It is a symbolic lan- guage that instantly conveys concepts, like the Egyptian hieroglyphs," he says. "Un- like hieroglyphs, however, the videoglyph "Sure she looks good now. But under her wig and makeup, is no! static. It is a language whose char- she's stiii a cockroach." acters can change as you read them." Part of the fun for players is that they are able to understand this language intuitively. A that could have been put together only in Like a pinball game, the more rebounds, good video gamer can walk up to a new a computer. In real life, the game just could the more points a player can get. Some machine, plunk in a quarter, and stay alive, not be played without a frictionless bil- players try an intuitive approach to keep for a while anyway, without having read the liards table. the ball ricocheting, but more often than instructions. Ricochet is a two-player board game with not it is a well-calculated shot that rewards What DeKoven sees as pari of his chal- five variations. (For the sake of simplicity, the player with plenty of rebounds, plenty of points, nice graphics display. lenge of game design is to add to this vo- I will describe only one.) Two humans can and a cabulary of videoglyphs. One thing that he play against each other, or a human can "This," DeKoven says," "is the end of my ultimate thinks will expand it enormously is the home play against one of four computer oppo- search for the bounce." computer, which typically has a larger nents, each with a different strategic style. He says he can usually come up with a memory and is capable of more elaborate A player occupies either end of the board game concept in a week, as he did with graphics than game-only machines. Games and controls two video ball launchers and Ricochet. Design and production of the total eight or nine designed for it can therefore be more com- six pieces that look like bars that are ini- game, however, can plex, more involving. Much of the com- tially arranged in a bowling-pin type of for- months. With Ricochet, he began rough- puter game software available today falls mation in front of a goal. With each turn a ing out the idea at his home studio, exper- into either of two categories: adventure player has one of two options: shoot a ball imenting with boards of various sizes and games or arcade-style games, in part be- from a launcher, or shift one, or all, of his shapes and using matchsticks to repre- cause programmer/designers have been pieces to block an opponent's shot or fa- sent the elongated pieces. After a week of content merely to use new effects with game cilitate one of his own. this, Jim Connelley, the president of Epyx, concepts that have already been proven. The object of Ricochet is simply to get looked at the game design and was so fas- "The microcomputer is a wonderful tool," the most points by the end of the game. cinated, he sat down and programmed the In DeKoven says. "Why use it to simulate only The game ends when one player has run video game— board and pieces— one existing game concepts?" out of balls or when both his launchers have day so that DeKoven could go to work on Why, indeed, you may ask yourself once been destroyed, the specifics. Originally, when the ball hit you've seen Ricochet, DeKoven's first When a player fires a ball, it always rico- a goal, it was supposed to bounce out of computer board game. Not only is Ri- chets off the sides of the screen like a high- play, but a bug in Connelley's program let cochet a game of pure strategy (as op- speed billiard ball. Each time the ball car- the ball continue to bound into play and posed to hand/eye coordination), but a oms off one of the individual bars, it scores allowed the shot to last longer. DeKoven player's move is depicted on screen with one point, and every time it ricochets off liked that so much, he incorporated this arcade-quality graphics that make the the opponent's goal, it scores ten points. extended bounce into the game and named game as entertaining to watch as it is ex- The more ricochets — that is, the more tricky Connelley codesigner. citing to play. And, unlike video games that angle shots a person can make with each What makes Ricochet stand out from so are merely computerized versions of real- ball— the more points he can score. The many other games is that DeKoven cre- world games like football, Ping-Pong, or a essential strategy of Ricochet is deciding ated many variations for it, not just the one simulation of war, Ricochet is something whether fo make a shot or to move a piece. basic scenario most board games offer. This way a player can find one that suits his or her skill and interest levels. DeKoven now wants to reach further than that. "One of the delights of playing on a computer," he explains, "is that it allows you to enter other realities." Witness another DeKoven game, Alien Garden. The idea of Alien Garden centers upon a figure-it-out-as-you-go experience that will subtly test and develop analytical skills. In an alien world presented to you by the computer, you move an insectlike figure through a videoscape in which there are 19 different kinds of crystals that do things like shrink, grow, explode, shy away, and so on. Some crystals are edible and give a player strength (and points]. Some are deadly and explode on contact. And oth- ers will, disappear from the screen if you stroke them with one of the creature's wings. Once someone has played the game long enough to perceive these laws, he will un- derstand the behavior of the crystals. Like real crystals, the video ones will grow on the screen geometrically and according to their individual characteristics. Although it is supposed to be a game, it is just as pleasant to sit back and watch the crystals grow, the effects are so stunning. Going from idea to machine code to any videoglyph is not simple even for the best of designers. DeKoven, who is happy with his job, admits that working on video games has its down side. What could be depress- ing about thinking up games? Well, for ex- ample, he has a concept for a game that would visually simulate the flight of an ea- gle, its hunt for prey, and the dive— all from the eagle's perspective. But he can't pro- duce it, because it's impossible to pro- duce the graphics that could portray the game realistically, There are technologies that might help. One is to connect the computer to an in- teractive video disc containing thousands of detailed computer images. Using holo- graphically portrayed surroundings in 3-D is another. Although both are feasible, they are also too expensive right now. A DeKoven idea for the near future is his concept of a Fitness Arcade. It would elim- inate the drudgery of keeping fit by giving the person exercising some sort of fantasy environment to work out in. Take some- thing like a rowing machine. "The player slips a twenty-five-dollar token into a slot," DeKoven says. "In front of him is a very detailed video screen. He now finds him- self sitting on a raft, which he must try to guide through whirls, eddies, and cur- rents, He might even find himself being chased by frightening creatures." The difficulty of the course shown on the screen and the tenacity of the creature would increase in proportion to how well the player is doing. The machine would also monitor the rower's pulse through the sensors in the handle grips. It would also monitor how many strokes the rower is making and how full they are. Each rower would have a maximum heart rate pre- scribed for him according to an exercise program, and the game would shut off once he reached that rate. The technology is al- ready available to build this, DeKoven as- serts. The cost: a few thousand dollars more than that of a Nautilus machine. As futuristic as the Fitness Arcade sounds, DeKoven can top it. He recently visited a Berkeley, California, company named Autogenics, which makes biofeed- back equipment for the medical industry. Autogenics has a machine that senses al- pha waves, which are produced by the brain in a relaxed or meditative state, and that allows a person in an alpha state to tff^^F before Wh prop move an object on a video screen simply U 8 ore ^J I*** * js m of by thinking about it. Instead of a joystick, the person uses a headband, and instead of snapping and jerking his wrist back and forth, the player just relaxes and tries to let it happen. "The game that I am proposing for their machine," he explains, "is a telekinetic game. You would see on the screen before you a table with three fragile objects on it. As you meditate or relax, one of the ob- jects starts to rise off the table. The better easier it is to elevate it and Boo*** . you get, the But then, ^» ijprCP* move it around. If you lose your concen- tration, the object falls and breaks and you lose points. As you begin to explore the possibilities, you will find you can make the objects move around simultaneously, per- haps almost juggling them. Then, of course, the game will try to keep up with your skills by introducing more objects onto the table. teleki- Did I tell you about my two-player . netic game concept . ,?"DQ THE EYE OF REALITY BY ROBERT SHECKLEY L_egend tells of a nameless planet located on the edge of our island universe. On that planet there is a single tree. Wedged in its topmost branch is a large diamond, placed there by a long- vanished race. Looking into the stone, a man may see all that is or was or may be. The tree is called the Tree of Life. and the diamond is called the Eye of Reality. PAINTINGS BY MICHAEL PARKES I,hree men set out to find this tree. After much danger and difficulty, they came to the place where it grew. Each in turn climbed to the top of the tree and looked through the gem. Then they compared their impressions. The first man, an aulhor of considerable reputation, said, "I saw innumerabie actions, some grand and some petty. I knew then that I had found the keyhole of the universe, which Borges calls the Aleph." "V '•V I he second man, a renowned scientist, said, "I saw the curvature of space, the death of a I photon, and the birth of a star. realized that I was looking into a superhologram, self-created and self-creating, whose entirety is our universe." "Understanding is sensuous," said the third man, an artist. He showed them the sketches he had just made, of women and leopards, violin's and deserts, mountains and spheres. "Like you," he said,'"! saw pretty much what I always see." DO Computers are only a few half-moves from becoming genuine MIND MACHINES BY PHILIP J. HILTS Ken Thompson was nervous when I arrived at Bell Labs (or an interview. His computer had been arrested. Belle is the world computer chess champion. Thompson had boxed Belle and was shipping it to the Soviet Union for an exhibition when Customs agents seized it on the grounds that computers going to the USSR might give away American technological secrets, especially secrets that might be used militarily. Thompson says the only way Belle could be used militarily would be "to drop it out of an airplane. You might kill somebody that way." Thompson would get the machine back some weeks after my visit so that it could once again do battle in its own sphere ot combat: taking on top chess players and, for the most part, vanquishing them. Not that Belle is mindful of its wins. Like all programs in artificial intelligence, it has no mind at all beyond its specialty. It doesn't know that it exists, or the name of the game it plays. It doesn't know its rights when arrested. Yet in the tiny fraction of the world where chess moves are important, it has extraordinary power. Programmers call the power "brute force." The number of chess players who can beat the best computers is down to perhaps 300. The 30,000 other serious PAINTING BY JEAN-PIERRE ALAUX human chess players in the country can- ceptible to, and immersed in, the world, rious players. It was six years ago, at the not win against the modern machines. filled with billions of bits of knowledge and Paul Masson American Chess Champi- Thompson told an illustrative tale: At a chess experience—of the magical, the irrational, onship, in California. The tournament draws festival in Hamburg a year and a half ago, the sensual, the honorable, and so on. hundreds of players, from the bottom rank he says, the chess grand master Helmut The great chess machines of today are to grand masters, who enjoy the ambi- Pfleger gave an exhibition of simultaneous wired to do nothing but extremely fast ence: Boards are set up ouldoors, and the play—walking from board to board and number crunching on problems fhat arise sponsor serves wine between rounds. playing 26 opponents at once. When it was in the game of chess. These machines know At the time of the tournament, Slate's over, he had won 22, drawn 2, and lost 2. nothing of wooden boards or ivory pieces program was the most powerful then built. He was asked afterward whether he had or the right psychological moment to strike. No one, including Slate, took the program suspected that there was anything unu- They are not storehouses of chess knowl- very seriously as a contender in a human sual about those who played against him. edge and lore, as humans are. tournament. But in that tournament, for the No, he had not. Then he was told that The fact is, these powerful chess ma- first time, the program would be running three of his opponents had radio receivers chines are fundamentally chess-stupid. en a very big, very fast computer—the Cy- in their ears and the moves they played They can't think up strategy or follow a plan ber 176 of Control Data Corporation. were dictated to them from three computer of action from move to "move. Some of the Slate entered the B-class tournament. He chess programs. One of the three was Belle. simple rules of thumb learned by novices thought the category might be too high for When he learned that one of the players are not known to the computers. Their his program. He thought there was a good who beat him actually was Belle disguised "evaluator" functions, which decide the possibility that it would lose every game. as a human, Pfleger was "upset, really value of the moves they look at, are crude. And as the tournameni got under way, shocked," Thompson says. So the burst of power that elevated the rank things began to go wrong. The telephone Grand master Pfleger was not the only of computer chess machines has come as hookup to the computer went down. Ter- one who couldn't distinguish between hu- just as much a surprise to their program- minals were overheating in the sun. These man and computer play. After the match, mers as to the human victims they defeat. kinds of problems are not forgiven in tour- five games from the exhibition were dis- naments, when time limits are strict. tributed to chess players around the world. But the machine won its first game. Then They were asked to pick out the comput- its second. And its third. er's game from among the four human and By its fourth hands-down win, the tour- one computer games presented. In look- ^•Outraged human nament was in an uproar. Outraged human ing through the games, chess players, in- players actually attempted a mid-tourna- cluding grand masters, looked for blun- players actually attempted ment coup d'etat and physically seized the ders they thought would be made by a a mid-tournament announcer's microphone. The Revolt of the computer. On the whole, the chess players Humans, it was called. The computer had guessed wrong. coup d'etat and physically no business being brought in against hu- ' This little experiment may have had more - seized the man players who were so much weaker, significance than first appears. Early in the announcer's microphone. some players said. Those who never had history of machine intelligence, mathe- to play against the computer had a huge mafician Alan M, Turing recognized that The Revolt of advantage, they complained. fhere could be an endless debate about Eventually order was restored. The pro- the Humans, it was called* whether machines might be said to "think" gram won five games and lost none, out- the way people do. He devised a hypo- classing all 128 humans in the Masson thetical game to settle the question, in- tournameni. It was the first such win for any volving a person and a computer, each computer, and the first major test outside closed in its own room. An observer out- computer circles of what is now called the side the two rooms, communicating only From the time when computer intelli- brute-force approach. by teletype, would have to decide through gence pioneers such as Claude Shannon "We were as surprised as anyone else," dialogue which was the person and which and Alan Turing first considered the prob- Slate says. "It turned the consciousness was the computer. In the realm of chess, lem of how to make chess-playing com- around on what computers could do." From at least, a machine passed Turing's test. puters, designers believed that sophisti- that time the use of brute force in chess It is interesting, though, that a few of the cated, humanlike- knowledge of the game computing seemed to dominate the field. compuler specialists who took part in the would have to be put into the machines to Ironically, it was believed for centuries . test picked out Belle's game. Their method make them even passable opponents. The that what made a grand master a great was the opposite of the chess maslers'. other alternative— merely letting the ma- chess player was a prodigious memory and They looked for dumb moves that only a chine "look at" every move, all possible the ability to see 20 moves ahead and look human would make. They were right; the responses, all the responses to those re- quickly at hundreds of various possibili- best of the games was Belle's victory. sponses, and so on—was thought to be a ties. This is what the computers now do; it Do computer chess programs now face useless undertaking. After all, examining turns out to be exactly the opposite of what a barrier to future success, the wall that all the moves and their possible answers great human players do. 5i separates most players from the masters? would mean looking at something like 38 Grand masters, and other good chess "People always say things like that," possibilities, most of them completely players for that matter, actually see ahead Thompson says. "They have said it at every worthless. A computer operating at the on any one move only about 6 half-moves, minute in the history of computer chess. speed of light would be billions of years at not 20. A half-move is one player's move; But computer chess goes through those the task. Yet, so far, raw calculating power frequently there are many reasonable re- limits in absolute linear motion. I mean it has carried the day. Machines don't ex- sponses to a single half-move. As for com- just walks right through." amine every possibility, but they do ex- puters, Ken Thompson and Joe Condon's What Thompson is speaking of is the plore millions of moves on each turn. Belle now searches eight or more half- power of a machine brain, not a machine There was one moment, says North- moves deep and examines about 50 mil- mind. The brain is a machine for calcula- western University's David Slate, cobuild- lion moves altogether on its turn. tion. Fed carefully pared and tenderized er with Larry Atkin and William Blanchard The startling fact is that grand masters information, it is a paragon of brute logical, of the computer chess program with the do not search much but actually manage mathematical force. The mind can be longest history of success, that indicated to see only the very best moves. They do viewed as a similar machine, but one sus- to him the emergence of computers as se- not even glance at other options. 106 OMNI This ability does not come from an in- nately powerful memory. When A. D. deGroot scattered chess pieces randomly on the squares and asked grand masters to look for five seconds and then recon- struct the array, they could not do it. They managed to recall where only three or four ;es were. Chess novices did exactly as well. But when the pieces were arranged on the squares as they might be in a real game, suddenly the grand masters and masters could recall the placement of vir- tually all the pieces correctly. Those ranked expert also did well, recalling about 72 percent of the pieces. Lower-ranked play- recalled about 50 percent. Novices could recall only about 33 percent. The grand masters recognize chess po- sitions without having to examine them piece by piece. They see configurations on the board as a reader sees a phrase in i book, as a single unit of meaning. With ;ach chess position, or "phrase." no doubt, the grand master automatically associates some moves, the best moves, and ignores legions of others, This power simply to "see" situations and best moves makes it possible for a chess master to play simultaneously against 30 or 40 opponents and still win all but one or two ot the games. The chess master's ability to see in this way develops over decades of practice at the game. Putting such chess knowledge into computers has been difficult. All re- searchers in the vanguard of artificial in- telligence face the same challenge, in a se to give computers experience and knowledge of the world. "Wonderful adventure, great The problem has been that applying the sort of rule-of-thumb playing knowledge I — characters a masterpiece by a used by humans—and there are probably hundreds of these rules in chess— takes super- writer from the up great amounts of computer calculating J jgg time. In a tournament chess match there 'Golden Age.'"-AE van Vogt IF are only about three minutes per move. Thus, programs that are very smart don't "A huge (800+ pages) slugfest. Hubbard have time to look at many possible moves. celebrates fifty years as a pro writer with In the end. programs that emphasize tight plotting, furious action, and chess knowledge always face the most Kirkus Reviews have-at-'em entertainment."— embarrassing type of loss: the loss by "If you like Heinlein, you'll like Hubbard." blunder. Robert Hyatt, the builder of the -Publishers Weekly Cray-Blitz program, which took second place in the National Computer Chess Championship last year, at one time ran a , .» chess program that emphasized knowl- edge over speed searches. BATTLE? It was disheartening, he says now, be- cause there are hundreds or thousands of bits of chess knowledge to be put into a EARTH and then as many exceptions and machine, AagsoftkejmriOOe special cases as there are rules. Because there are gaps in the knowl- RonHubbard edge that can be put in, "in the course of a game, the computer is bound to make a L nistake, miss an important move. Some- mes the error is not enough to lose the ttARJWS PBISS game," he says, "but too often it is," It puts the programmer on the edge of his chair throughout a match, wondering, Will it see this? Will it miss that? David Wilkins, of SRI International, a "— nonprofit research and consulting organi- zation, worked on knowledge-based chess play when he was a graduate student at Stanford University. "It is easy to put i knowledge, but the problem is that if there is even one piece of knowledge missing, the program will make catastrophic er- rors." For example, he says, a terribly em- barrassing two-move checkmate can re- sult if a programmer fails to include some knowledge of back-rank checkmates those in which the king is silting behind three pawns and can be mated by putting a rook on the back rank with the king, The stories of mistakes made from chess ignorance are voluminous. One describes a program that had an unstoppable < but failed to see that it could just push its pawn across the board to be queened. Hans Berliner, a pioneer in artificial in- telligence and particularly computer chess, says that even the brute-force programs can be erratic. "They really have weak- nesses in their understanding. I've seen Belle try to capture a pawn, at a cost of completely dislocating its pieces across board, and then lose." Thompson says that Belle sometimes strays into awful situations. "The computer will generate weaknesses in the oppo- nent's position, but then it won't pick on these weaknesses. Just their existence is what it wanted to see. So then it just sits there and loves its position." Some of the pioneers of artificial intelli- gence 25 years ago would have been amazed to hear of such embarrassments. Early successes led to rash predictions. Working on the assumption that a small group of powerful problem-solving tech- niques was behind all human mental abil- ities, researchers created programs like the Logic Theory Machine. The program was given a few mathe- matical abilities and was asked to derive the basic equations of logic, an assign- ment sometimes given to college fresh- men. The program quickly found proofs for 38 of the 52 theorems it tried in Principia Mathematics, the epic work of mathemat- ical logic by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell. The program also found one proof even more elegant than the one proposed in the book; this feat is still talked about a quarter-century later. At the same time the Logic Theory Ma- chine made its impressive debut, Arthur Samuel, then at IBM, built a checkers- playing program that could beat its pro- grammer and even learn a little from games as it played them. It once beat the state champion of Connecticut, who was also "Now that there's a Jensen made for it, one of the best players in the nation. this baby's perfect for us." There followed more successes: a pro- gram that solved geomeiry problems, one With a Jensen® ThinMount™ car stereo speaker system, you don't have to that did word problems in algebra, and one sacrifice sound performance for size. Remarkably thin mounting depths let that accurately imitated the choice-making you put full range Jensen speakers in a variety of ability of the investment officer of a bank. '"EHWTCTIWT tight places, Then sit back, listen and be moved. Typical- of the excitement of those times vJuJ^I JJEuW is this quotation from Herbert Simon, now CAR AUDIO a Nobel laureate: "It is not my aim to sur- prise or shock you, but the simplest way. I When it's the sound that moves you. can summarize is to say that there are now Drosophila, Neurospora, and Escherichia in the world machines that think, that learn, coli [the key organisms researchers have that create. Moreover, their ability to do ford University, cal'cd Mycin, can diag- long used to study problems of biology] of these things is going to increase rapidly nose some types of infections and research on human cognilive skill." researchers are trying now to make until— in a visible future—the range of recommend treatment. Another example Some problems they can handle will be coexten- is Dendral, a program that can determine the very successful brute-force programs sive wifh the range to which the human the structure of organic molecules from in chess also capable of using chess mind has been applied." In 1957 he pre- spectrometric data. Prospector, at SRI In- knowledge. What 'brute-force programs dicted that in ten years "a digital computer ternational, is a program containing the don't know is astounding. 'A lot of what will be the world's chess champion." collective wisdom of "a number of world- people assume has been in chess pro- Then further advances failed to occur. class geologists." according to Peter Hart, grams for years and years is not, in fact, The researchers ran up against the prob- director of artificial intelligence at SRI. in there at all," says Slate. As an example, lem they still face. Yes, cleverly organized One of those who has moved rapidly even low-class human players know that one calculation can put on good perform- within the field as it expanded from its first when the game gets down to a king on ances, surpassing many humans. But no embarrassing days is Herbert Simon. He side and a king and knight on the other, general intelligence, or even a limited one is now an expert on the mental processes the game is a draw. Many chess programs fhat has some real judgment, is possible of experts. "Experts solve complex prob- don't know this and will play on hopelessly. without broad and deep knowledge of the lems considerably faster and more accu- This is the case throughout the field of intelligence. that world or some area of it. The human mind rately than novices do," he wrote in an ar- artificial Programs seem in brief patch of does not use sophisticated calculation; it ticle in Science. "Those differences are smooih and smart one uses instead a vast quantity of stored commonplace, yet only recently have we . running can be ridiculous in another. One knowledge to effect judgment. begun to understand what the expert does famous example is from Joseph Weizen- When programmers began to study what differently from the novice to account for baum's computer program called Doctor. they call knowledge representafion, artifi- this superiority." The differences, it turns It mimics a psychotherapist using the cial intelligence entered a new phase. By out, are much like those between a grand techniques of Carl Rogers; knowledge representation they mean how master and a novice: The expert is able to (The program speaks in capitals, the information in huge quantities— such as the see problems and solutions quickly, based patient in lower-case.) grammar, semantics, and vocabulary on a combination of perception and deep Men are ail alike. needed for language— can be stored so knowledge and experience. IN WHAT WAY his They're always bugging us about some- that it can be called up instantly and rum- Simon and associates have concen- maged through, as we do in thinking. trated their machine intelligence work in thing or other. From the newer, "knowledge-based" chess, algebra, and physics. But fhey point CAN YOU THINK OF A SPECIFIC EX- programming in artificial intelligence have out that what they have found can be ap- AMPLE come such things as the "expert" pro- plied to other areas of knowledge. "Chess, Well, my boyfriend made me come here. grams like those that now routinely do things algebra,, and physics are serving as the YOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HERE He says I'm depressed much ot the time. I'M SORRY TO HEAR YOU'RE DE- PRESSED It's true. I'm unhappy. DO YOU THINK COMING HERE WILL HELP YOU . . . This sounds good, but try an equally representative snatch from the time that journalist R. D. Rosen talked to the Doctor about his "menu anxiety": Sometimes I'll be eating at an Italian res- to taurant, and I cannot decide whether order fettuccine or clams casino, and I be- come very agitated and disoriented. HAVE YOU TRIED Tried what? TELL ME ABOUT WHAT What the hell are you talking about? WHAT THE HELL ARE I TALKING ABOUT Can you help me overcome my anxiety concerning menus? WHY DO YOU SAY YOUR ANXIETY CONCERNING MENUS . . . In the realm of chess, some similar com- puter disorientation is clear. It comes nat- urally from using a mere brain to play chess, rather fhan a mind, which would compre- hend chess more deeply. Slate's program, called IMuchess (for Northwestern University Chess), is rated unofficially in the expert category at about a 2,100-point level. (Points are won or lost '' in tournament play. Experts hold between // • 2,000 and 2, 199 points. Masters hold 2,200 "Oh, go ahead and swallow it. Does everything you eat have to have a name?'' and up.) "But," Slate says, "my program is like a D-class, thirteen-hundred player BRMIfU FRQfUTERS INTRODUCTION ECSO ran«35S H FETAL THOUGHT? A cenlury ago Sigmund Fre ;lruggling young physician will mmsm— m '''»!», fe{llilXCT^i&W mmm. potential reading problem LEARNING WITHOUT BRAINS lill jmparaDle to the bell Ivan jBBHi i jBB il ii l Hpi lorce-field language ol nerve cells. mm H Ihe supply. And higher lides of acelylcholine, BRMinJ FRDfUTIERS THE HEROIN DEN body overreact. Results from several recent studies indicate that human drug addicts may be conditioned to environmental cues. In • " H* —i get high on a placebo idling drugs. jues at McMaster University, in On found support for this theory in a study of heroin-i Animals moved to a new locale and given higher-than-usu; ot the drug tared poorly compared with rats that got the same high doses in familiar surroundings. TRUFFLE TURN-ON NASAL PSYCHOSIS ; mm . Drs. Donald S. Robinson, of Marshall University, Johnson, of the Upjohn Com jreDOPEGI n they studied a qroup of 58 depi drugs and felt improved, the BRMIRJ FRDfUTIERS FACTOR S, AS IN SLEEP ...., .disrupted, and was no apparent effect on f whether it comes from a a human, leading the doctors ...... latthe substance may be identical and about five tons of human uj„,_ , II animals. Microinjection technique collect a sample of Factor S weighing slightly less than a grain of salt. Drs. John Pappenheimer and W ' Dl Harvard Medical Si use this nugget of Factor REGRESSIVE RACISM wmlmSm »BWmhb1 . Actually ihe sderates, working LEARNING CHEMICAL mawa •iiirrajji MIND METAMORPHOSIS ipS pBB8Bfflg KbH H FARMER ON THE DOLE BY FREDERIK POHL Stretching east to the horizon, a thousand acres, was all soybeans; across the road to the west, another thousand acres, all corn. Zeb kicked the irrigation valve moodily " His exorcssior b-ghtened. "But and watched the meter register the change reverend was a plump, pink-faced man anymore," the it's not all bad! You'll be glad to know that in flow. Damn weather! Why didn't it rain? whose best sermons dwelt on wages It they've expanded the soil bank program He sniffed the air deeply and shook his of sin'and the certainty of heil-fire. had Miz Boss and the head, frowning. Eighty-five percent rela- always been a disappointment to him that as a consequence. So for. children and I are well provided As a tive humidity. No, closer to eighty-seven. the farmhands who made up his congre- matter of fact," and he beamed, "we'll be And not a cloud in the sky. gation weren't physically equipped to sin better off than before, moneywise." From across the road his neighbor called, in any interesting ways, but he made up a little "Dat's good!" 'Afternoon, Zeb." for it by extra emphasis on the importance hebben be praised!" Zeb nodded curtly. He was soy and Wally of being humble. "Even," he finished, his "Oh, expressions broke into grins was corn, and they didn't have much to baby-fine hair flying all around his pink The doleful : the farmhands nudged one another, re- talk about, but you had to show some man- scalp, "when things don t go the way you as lieved. But then Zeb spoke up. "Boss? ners. He pulled his bandanna out ot his hip think they ought to. Now we're going to sing askin, but what's gone happen pocket and wiped his brow. "Had to rise 'Old One Hundred,' and then you soy peo- Scuse my -?" to us folks? You gonna keep us on up Jhe flow," he offered for politeness' sake. ple will meet in the gymnasium and corn looked irritated. "Oh, that's impos- "Me, too. Only good thing, CO^'s up. So people in the second-floor lounge. Your Boss can'tcollect the soil-bank money we's geltin good carbon metabolizin." bosses have some news for you." sible. We if there's just no sense in hav- to pick up So it shouldn't have been surprising, and we plant; so . Zeb grunted and bent down of fact wasn't surprised at ing all of you around, don't you see?" a clod of earth, crumbling it in his fingers as a matter Zeb his Silence. Then another farmhand ven- to test for humus, breaking off a piece, and all. Some part of the cryocircuits inside skull long noted the portents. tured, "How bout Cornpatch Boss? He need tasting it. "Cobalt's a tad low again," he titanium had workers? You know us hates said meditatively, but Wally wasn't inter- Scant rain. Falling levels of soil minerals. some good fat, corn, but we could get rep rog rammed ested in soil chemistry. Thinning of the topsoil. The beans grew anything—" "Zeb? You aint heard anything?" because there was an abundance of car- quick's his head. "He's telling his "Bout what?" bon in the air tor them to metabolize. But Boss shook right now. Nobody "Bout anything. You know." people the same thing Zeb turned to face him. "You mean aint needs you." down the The farmhands looked at one another. I heard no crazy talk bout closin "Preacher, needs us," one of them of- farms, when everybody knows they can't he : fered. "We s his whole congregation," never do that, no. I aint heard nothin like ZZeb's soil-grimed afraid even Reverend Harmswallow it "I'm that, an if I did, I wouldn't give heed." anymore," Boss said "Yeah, Zeb, but they's sayin— fingers siowiy unbuttoned doesn't need you kindly, "because he's been wanting to go "They can say whatever they likes, Wally the flannel shirt. time, and to the into missionary work for some I aint listenin, and I got to get back he's just received his call. No. you're su- lines fore Becky and the kids start worryin. Before he got to the last that's all." Evenin. Nice talkin to you." And he turned button, she perfluous; and marched back toward the cabins. "Sperfluous?" impatiently pushed his "Redundant. Unnecessary. There's no "Uncle Tin," Wally called sneehngly, but here," Boss told them. Zeb wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hands aside reason for you to be trucks will come in the morning to take noticing. All the same, he pulled out his "So and pulled it wide open$ all Please be outside your cabins, bandanna and mopped his brow again. you away. ready to go, by oh-seven-hundred." It wasn't sweat. Zeb never sweated. His again. Then Zeb: "Where they arms, his back, his armpits were perma- Silence Boss?" nently dry, in any weather, no matter how takes us, shrugged. "There's probably some hard or how long he worked. The glisten- Boss I've place, I think." Then he grinned. "But ing film on his forehead was condensed no matter how much you irrigated, they got a surprise for you. Miz Boss and I aren't from the air. The insulation around the su- dried up fast in the hot breezes. And those without having a party. percooled Josephson junctions that made were only the physical signs. Boss's body going to let you go tonight we're going to have a good old- up his brain was good, but not perfect. language said more, sighing when he So with new ban- When he was doing more thinking than should have been smiling at the three- fashioned square dance, for the best dancers, and then usual, the refrigeration units worked harder. legged races behind the big house, not dannas you're all going to come back to the Big And Zeb was doing a lot of thinking. Close even noticing when one of the. cabins spirituals for us. I promise down the farms? Why, you'd have to be needed a new coat of whitewash or the House and sing the children and I are going crazy to believe that! You did your job. You flower patches showed a few weeds. Zeb Miz Boss and right there to enjoy it!" tilled the fields and planted them, or else observed it all and drew the proper con- to be you cleaned and cooked in Boss's house, clusions. His constraints did not forbid that; they taken to was a grimy or taught Boss's children, or drove Mrs. they only prevented him from speaking of The place were cinderblock building in Des Plaines. Boss when she went to visit the other them, or even of thinking of them on a con- white truck beefy, taciturn bosses' wives. That was the way things scious level. Zeb was not programmed to The driver of the was a interfered with the robot who wore a visored cap and a leather were on the farm, and it would go on that worry. It would have for jacket with the sleeves cut off. He hadn't way forever, wouldn't it? happy, smiling face he bore Boss, and questions when they Zeb found out the answer the next morn- Miz Boss, and the Chillen. answered any of their onto his truck at the farm, and he ing, right after church. So, when Boss made his announce- loaded off-loaded Since Zeb was a Class A robot, with an ment, Zeb looked as thunderstruck as all again answered none when they chain-link gate, with a sign that effective IQ of one hundred thirty-five, the other-hands. "You've been really good in front of a read receiving. though limited in its expression by the built- people," Boss said generously, his pale. the 'Just stand over there," he ordered. "You in constraints of his assigned function, he professorial face incongruous under slapped the tail- really should not have been surprised. Es- plantation straw hat. "I really wish things all out? Okay." And he off, leaving them in a pecially when- -he discovered that Rever- could go on as they always have, but it just board up and drove sprinkle of rain. end Harmswallow had taken his text that isn't possible. It's the agricultural support gritty, misty warm Fourteen work- morning from Matthew, specifically the program," he explained. "Those idiots in And they waited. prime robots, shes and three little Beatitudes, and in particular the one about Washington have cut it down to the point ing hes and plant here ones, too dispirited to talk much. Zeb wiped how the meek would inherit the earth. The where it simply isn't worthwhile to 120 OMNI . -.:, *rf^,»¥ 'What We Have Loved < For Centuries.You ! Will Love In Seconds. L Since 1608 it's been the same old story. People love Old Bushmills the second they taste it. Because Old Bushmills is smooth and mellow. A smoothness not easily come by The secret lies in an ancient process that goes back centuries to Ireland To the village of Bushmills, and the oldest whiskey distillery in the world. Here we pick the local barley ripe for harvest in nearby fields. We draw clear water from the River Bush water born for whiskey. We commit these and other choice ingredients to our age-old triple distilla- iA tion process. Then our whiskey matures in ftl handmade oaken casks. Y^t When it finally comes of age years later, only then is it worthy of our label. Old Bushmills. But, like 18 generations before you, you'll know exactly what that means. After your very first taste. ; The taste you don't have to acquire " gers. "Now this will feel iunny for a minute we've got right now, but it's good work, lieving them ot -,val:ei. watcnes, and rings. and you won't be able to talk, but hold still." and steady. You're going to be a mugger." When he had everything, he faced them Funny? It felt to Zeb as if the bare room to the wall, kicked each of them expertly were swirling into spirals, and not only After his first night on the job Zeb was behind a knee joint, and, as they fell, turned couldn't he speak, he couldn't remember amused at his own apprehensions. The and' ran, soundless in soft-soled shoes, words. Or thoughts! He was nearly sure farm had been nothing like this! back to the bright lights. He was fast and that just a moment before he had been won- He was assigned to a weasel-faced he- he was abrupt, but„by this time Zeb had dering whether he would ever again see robot named Timothy for on-the-job train- begun to recognize some of the elements the—The what? He couldn't remember. ing, and Timothy took the term literally. of his style. He was ready. He was follow- Then he telt a gentle sensation of some- "Come on, kid," he said as soon as Zeb ing on Timothy's heels before the robbed thing within him being united to something came to the anteroom where he was wait- couple had begun to scream. Past the else, not so much a click as the feeling of ing, and he headed out the door. He didn't marquee, lost in a crowd in front of a the- a foot fitting into a shoe, and he was able wait to see whether Zeb was following. No ater, Timothy slowed down and looked at to complete the question. The farm. He chain-link gates now. Zeb had only the Zeb approvingly, "Good reflexes," he found he had said the words out loud, and vaguest notion of how far Chicago was, or complimented. "You got the right kind of the R.R.R. laughed. "See? You're half- in which direction, but he was pretty sure class, kid. You'll make out." reoriented already." that it wasn't something you walked to. 'As a soi-disant common cutpurse?" Zeb "He grinned back. "That's really aston- 'Are we going to entrust ourselves to the asked, somewhat nettled at the other ro- ishing," he declared. "Can you credit it? I iron horse?" he asked, with a little tingle of bot's peremptory manner. was almost missing that rural existence! anticipation. Trains had seemed very Timothy looked him over carefully. "You As though the charms of bucolic life had glamorous as they went by the farm— pro- talk funny," he said. "They stick you with any meaning for— Good heavens! Why am duce trains, freight trains, passenger trains one of those surplus vocabularies again? it's done?" I talking like this?" that set a farmhand to wondering where Never mind. You see how The she-robot said, "Well, you wouldn't they might be going and what it might be Zeb hesitated, craning his neck to look want to talk like a farmhand when you live for pursuit, of which there seemed to be in the big city, would you?" none. "Well, one might venture that that is "Oh, granted!" Zeb cried earnestly. "But correct," he said. one must pose the next question; The for- "Okay. Now you do it," Timothy said textual grammar, the imagery cheerfully, and he steered Zeb into the al- malisms of Hhat victim had of poetics, can one deem them appropri- ley for the hotel tourist trap's stage door. ate to my putative new career?" not been a robot. She had literary-critic midnight Zeb had committed five fel- The R.R.R. frowned, "it's a been a living By vocabulary store," she said defensively. onies of his own, had been an accomplice true female being; "Look, somebody has to use them up!" human in two more, and had watched the smaller "But, one asks, why me?" ' and when he robot commit eight single-handed, and the "It's all I've got handy, and that's that. two muggers were dividing their gains in heard all the police sirens Now. You'll find there are other changes, the darkest corner— not very dark— of an too, I'm taking out the quantitative soil- coming straight at all-night McDonald's on North Michigan analysis chips and the farm-machinery him, he was not surprised^ Avenue. "You done good, kid." Timothy expansively. "For kid, subroutines. I could leave you the spiritu- admitted a green als and the square dancing, if you like." anyway. Let's see. Your share comes to six "Why retain the shadow when the sub- watches, eight pieces of jewelry, counting stance has fled?" he said bitterly. that fake coral necklace you shouldn't have "Mow, Zeb," she scolded. "You don't need bothered with, and looks like six to seven this specialized stuff. That's all behind you. like to get there. Timothy didn't answer. He hundred in cash." and you'll never miss it, because you don't gave Zeb a look that mixed pity and an- 'As well as quite a tew credit cards," Zeb know yet what great things you're getting noyance and contempt as he planted him- said eagerly. in exchange." She snapped his chest back self in the street and raised a peremptory "Forget the credit cards. You only keep in place and said, "Give me your hands." hand. A huge green-and-white-checkered what you can spend or what doesn't have "One could wish for specifics," he hovercab dug down its braking wheels and a name on it. Think you're ready to go out grumbled, watching suspiciously as the screeched to a stop in front of them. Tim- on your own?" R.R.R. fed his hands into a hole in her con- othy motioned him in and sat silently next "One—hesitates to assume such respon- trol console. He felt a tickling sensation. to him while the driver whooshed down sibility "Why not? Infrared vision, for one thing," Kennedy Expressway. The sights of the "Because you're not. So forget it." The she said proudly, watching the digital suburbs of the city flashed past Zeb's fas- night's work done, Timothy seemed to have readouts on her console, "so you can see cinated eyes. They drew up under the mar- become actually garrulous. "Bet you can't in the dark. Plus twenty percent hotter cir- quee of a splashy, bright hotel, with hand- tell me why I wanted you backing me up cuit breakers in your motor assemblies, so some couples in expensive clothing strolling those two times." you'll be stronger and can run faster. Plus in and. out. When Timothy threw the taxi "One acknowledges a certain incom- the names and addresses and phone driver a bill, Zeb observed that he did not prehension," Zeb confessed. "There is an numbers of six good bail bondsmen and wait for change, apparent dichotomy. When there were two the public defender!" Timothy did not seem in enough of a hurry victims, or even three; you chose to sav- She pulled his hands out of the machine to justify the expense of a cab. He stood age them single-handed. Yet for solitary acid nodded toward them. The grime was rocking on his toes under the marquee for prey you elected to have an accomplice." scrubbed out of the pores, the soil dug out a minute, beaming benignly at the robot "Right! And you know why? You don't. from under the fingernails, the calluses tourists. Then he gave Zeb a quick look, So I'll tell you. You get a he and a she, or smoothed away. They were city hands now, turned, and walked away. even two of each, and the he's going to the hands of someone who had never done Once again Zeb had to be fast to keep think about keeping the she from getting manual labor in his life. up. He turned the corner after Timothy, al- hurt; that's the way the program reads. So "And for what destiny is this new armo- most too late to catch the action. The wea- no trouble. But those Iwo hes by them- rarium required?" Zeb asked. sel-faced robot had backed a well-dressed selves—hell, if I'd gone up against either "For your new work. It's the only vacancy couple into the shadows, and he was re- of those mothers, hemightVeiakenmyknife 122 OMNI " " away from me and picked my nose with it. his neck to see what his six fellow students far ahead, teacher. A lot can happen." You gol to understand robot nature, kid. were like, until her voice crackled at him: "And don'l call me teacher!" She turned That's what the job is all about. Don't you "You! With the yellow sweater! Zeb!" back to the board and wrote: want a Big Mac or something?" He flinched. "Pardon me, madam?" DR. ELENA MINCUS. B.SC . M A.. PH.D. Zeb shifted uncomfortably. "I should think She said, with gloomy satisfaction, "I "You can call me Dr. fvlincus or you can not, thank you," he said, but the other robot know your type. You're a typical recidivist call me Ma'am. Now pay attention." was looking al him knowingly. lumpenprole, you are. Can't even pay at- And Zeb did, because the ten nights in "No food-tract subsystems, right?" tention to somebody who's trying to help the county jail before he got his hearing "Well, my dear Timothy, in the agricul- you when your whole future is at stake. and his first offender's parole had con- I seven slugs? vinced him he didn't to back there tural environment— I inhabited there was no What've got, of you rcan want go evident need see what's coming. I guarantee two of you again. The noise! The crowding! The bru- "You don't need them now, but you ought will drop out without finishing the course, tality of the jailers! There was nothing you to have them. Also liquid-intake tanks, and and I'll have to expel two more because could do about that, either, because some maybe an air-cycling system, so you can you skip classes or come in late. And the of them were human beings. Maybe most smoke cigars. And get hd of that faggoty other three'll be back on the streets or in of them were. Looked at in a certain way, vocabulary they stuck you with. You're in the slammer in ninety days. Why do I do there probably wouldn't even have been a a class occupation," he said earnestly, "and it?" She shook her head and then, lifting jail if some human beings hadn't wanted you got to live up to your station, right? No herself ponderously, went to the black- to be jail guards. What was the sense of subway trains. No counting out the pen- board and wrote her three command- punishing a robot by locking him up? nies when you get change. You don't take ments: So he paid attention. And kept on pay- change. Now you don't want to make trou- 1. ON TIME ing attention, even when Dr. MinCus's les- ble your tirst day on the job; so we'll let it 2. EVERY DAY sons were about such irrelevant (to him) go until you've finished a whole week. But 3. EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO niceties of civilized employed persons' be- then you go back to that bleached-blonde She turned around, leaning on the back havior as why you should always partici- Three-R and we'll get you straightened out," pate in an office pool, how to stand in line he promised. "Now let's go fence our jew- for tickets to a concert, and what to do at els and stuff and call it a night." a company Christmas party. Not all of his classmates were so well behaved. The lit- All in all, Zeb was quite pleased with tle ancient next to him gave very little trou- took himself. His pockets lined with big bills, he 4He another ble, being generally sunk in gloom, but the read menus outside fancy restaurants to swallow of the beer. It was two she-robots, the ones with the beaded prepare himself for his new attachments. handbags and the miniskirts, richly de- an interesting He was looking forward to a career at least served (Zeb thought) to be the ones to ful- as distinguished as Timothy's own. sensation, the cold, gassy fill Dr. Mincus's statistical predictions by That was his third night on the Gold Coast. ' liquid sliding down being expelled from the course. The one He never got a chance at a fourth. with the green eye makeup snickered at His last marks of the evening gave him his new neck piping and almost everything the instructor said and a little argument about parting with a dia- thudding into the- made faces behind her back. The one with mond ring. So, as taught, Zeb back- the black spitcurl across her forehead storage tank in his hip3 handed the he and snarled at the she and gossiped with the other students and even used a little more force than usual when dared to talk back to the teacher. Repri- he ripped the ring off her finger. Two min- manded for whispering, she said lazily, utes later and three blocks away, he took "Hell, lady, this whole thing's a shuck, aint a quick look at his loot under a streetlight. it? What are you doing it for?" He recoiled in horror. of her chair. "Those are your Golden Rules, Dr. Mincus's voice trembled with indig- There was a drop of blood on the ring. you slugs. You'll obey them as God's com- nation and with the satisfaction of some- That victim had not been a robot. She mandments, and don't you forget it. You're one who sees her gloomiest anticipations had been a living true human female being, here to learn how to be responsible, so- realized: "For what? Why, because I'm 7 " and when he heard all the police sirens in cially valuable creations, and—what trained in psychiatric social work . . . and . . . the world coming straight at him, he was The skinny old he-robot in the seat next because it's what I want to do and be- not in the least surprised. to Zeb was raising a trembling hand. It was cause I'm a human being, and don't any easy to see how he qualified for the reha- of you ever let that get out of your mind!" "You people," said the rehab instructor, bilitation program. He was a thirty-year-old "have been admitted to this program be- model at least, with ball joints in the shoul- The-course had some real advantages, cause, a, you have been unemployed for ders and almost no facial mobility at all. Zeb discovered when he was ordered back not less than twenty-one months, b, have He quavered, "What if we just can't, to the robot replacement depot for new fit- not fewer than six unexcused absences teacher? I mean, like we've got a sudden tings, The blonde R.R.R. muttered darkly from your place of training or employment, cryogenic warmup and have—to lie down. to herself as she pulled pieces out of his c, have a conviction for a felony and are or haven't had a lube job, or chest and thrust others in. When he could currently on parole, or, d, are of a date of "You give me a pain," the instructor told talk again, he thanked her, suddenly aware manufacture eighteen or more years past, him, nodding to show that pain was exactly that now he had an appetite — a real ap- choice of any of the above. That's what the what she had expected from the likes of petite. He wanted food, which meant that regulations say, and what they mean," she him. "Those are typical excuses, and they're some of those new pieces included a whole said, warming to her work, "is, you're scum. not going to be accepted in this group. digestive system- and thai she had muted Scum is hopeless, shiftless, dangerous, a Now if you have something rea//y wrong the worst part of his overdainty vocabu- social liability. Do you all understand that with you, what you have to do is call up at lary. She pursed her lips and didn't answer much at least?" She gazed angrily around least two hours before class and get your- while she clamped him up again. the room at her seven students. self excused. Is that so hard to remember? But then he discovered, too, that it did She was short, dumpy, red-haired, with But you won't do it when push comes to not relieve him of his duties. "They think bad skin. Why they let shes like this one shove, because you slugs never do." because you're handicapped" the R.R.R. off the production line Zeb could not un- The ancient said obstinately, "Two hours smirked, "you're forced to get into trouble. derstand. He fidgeted in his seat, craning is a pretty long time. I can't always tell that So now you've got all this first-rate equip- 124 OMNI " kicked out already." I mark irom getting merit, and if you want to know what think, that had a wasted. bums in that class "Well, thanks, Lori." Now Zeb I think it's The biochemical accessories suitable for $1,000 always revert to type," she told him, "and set of "I gave away to a city dandy rather than a farmhand, he if you want to try to be the exception the wore heavy doses of rules, you're going !o have to apply your- discovered that she his diagnostic sensors because I couldn't self when you're back on the job." perfume— musk, "Mugging?" told him, with trace amounts of hibiscus, Although." she bergamot, and extract of vanilla. Smelling tell "What else are you fit for? Ben Franklin sniffing out the added, pensively twisting the crystal that pertume was not at all like water vapor, and par- dangled from her right ear around a fin- levels of C02 , ozone, from Alexander ticulate matter in the air over the soy fields. gertip, "I did have an opening for a fresh- It him feel quite uncomfortable. man English composition teacher. If I hadn't made — door, Hamilton." replaced your vocabulary unit He let her tug him through the front smiled up at him. "I knew we'd get "I'll take mugging, please." and she only loosen up a She shrugged. "Might as well. But you along real well, if you'd to dance?" can't expect that good a territory again, little, sweetie. Do you like as-yet-unpracticed you know, Not after what you did." Zeb explored his yes, I think I do," he So, rain or dry, Zeb spent every six p.m. stores of skills. "Why, to midnight lurking around the old Robert said, surprised. somewhere Taylor Houses, relieving old shes of their "Listen. Why don't we go can just sit and get to know each rent money and old hes of whatever pitiful where we possessions were in their pockets. Once other, you know?" But Lori, I certainly wish we could. in a while he crossed to the Illinois Institute "Well, to get down to my territdry." of Technology campus on the trail of some I'm supposed right? That's just fine," night-school student or professor, but he "Down Southside. his arm. "because I was always careful to ask them whether she cried, squeezing near there. they were robot or human before he touched know a really great place right "That's before I knew violate you them. The next offense, he knew, would Come on. nobody's going to about Vivarin Stimulant bit night. Flag allow him no parole. for starting a teeny late one Tablets. A man came in with There was no free-spending taxi money that taxi, why don't you?" a hundred dollar check. I was from such pickings, but on nights when was a low ce- tired. And instead of giving Zeb made his quota early he would some- The really great place building that had once been a him ten tens, I gave him ten times take the bus to the Loop or the Gold ment-block It on a corner, facing a hundreds. Coast. Twice he saw Timothy, but the little garage. stood better days, look of disgust, turned away. shopping center that had seen So I told my supervisor. robot, after one over the door would drift down to Amalfi and the liquid-crystal sign Instead of handing me a pink Now and then he Amadeus Park, along the lakefront, where read: slip, she offered me a Vivarin. green grass and hedges reminded him of SOUTHSIDE SHELTER Vivarin is a medically tested COMMUNITY CENTER the good old days in the soy fields, but the AND stimulant tablet—America's LOVES YOU 1 urge to chew samples of soil was too strong, GOD it works because joyously, his best-seller. And and the frustration over not being able to, "It's a church!" Zeb cried of the happy it has the same caffeine as two too keen. So he would drift back to the mind flooding with memory Reverend Harm- cups of coffee. It's the perfect bright lights and the crowds. Try as he days when he sang in pick-me-up anytime yon might, Zeb could not really tell which of the swallow's choir. Water- "Well, sort of a church," Lori conceded need a lift. well-dressed figures thronging Shore Drive were as she paid the cabbie. "They don't bother Now I can stay alert for tower Place and Lake on in and meet lite on the planet Earth you much, though. Come hours. I'm also glad to say my humans, clinging to fashionable the gang, and you'll see for yourself!" returned the extra instead of living in one of the customer really that much of a orbital colonies, and which were robots as- The place was not the day." money next It was more like the signed to swell the crowds. church, Zeb observed. Reverend Harm- Nor was Dr. Mincus any help. When he second-floor lounge over room, back on the dared to put up a hand in class to ask her, swallow's main meeting like— he rummaged she was outraged. "Tell the difference? You tarm, even more "Neigh- mean you don't know the difference? Be- through his new data stores— a were tween a human person and a hunk of ma- borhood social club," Trestle tables low room, with chinery that doesn't have any excuse for scattered around a large, patch existence except to do the things people folding chairs around the tables. A been left don't want to do and help them enjoy doing in the middle of the room had dozen hes the things they do? Holy God, Zeb, when open for dancing, and at least a and shes were using it for that. The place time I put in learning to be I think of all the inhabitants were empathetic and patient and supportive with was crowded. Most of the lot more like Zeb's fellow rehab students you creeps, it just turns my stomach. Now a than like Reverend Harmswallow's con- pay attention while I try to show you he- tired-looking, faded-looking Take only as directed. slugs the difference between dressing like gregation. A table of reli- a human person of good taste and dress- female was drowsing over a door, in spite of a blast ing like a pimp." gious tracts by the Vivarin keeps you auditory-gain- At the end of the class, Lori, the hooker of noise that made Zeb's There were no other going when the with the green eyeshadow, thrust her arm control cut in at once. through his and commiserated. "Old bitch's signs of religiosity present. noise turned out to be heavily am- giving you a hard time, hon. I almost got The going gets rough. a ten-piece band with right up and tole her to leave you alone. plified music from six singers. Studying the musicians care- Would have, too, it I wasn't just one black . fully, Zeb decided thai at least some of them (wo foaming tankards of beer. "You got two were human, too. Was that the purpose of choices, Zeb," she said. "You can dance, the place? To give the humans an audi- or you can go home alone." ence for their talents, or an outlet for their' Zeb hesitated, taking a quick sip of the spiritual benevolence? Very likely, he de- beer to stall for time. He was not so rich in cided, but he could not see that it aftected friends that he wanted to waste any, and the spirit of the crowd. Besides the danc- yet there was something going on at this ers, there were groups playing cards, clots table that he wanted to know more about. of robots talking animatedly among them- "Well, Zeb?" she demanded ominously. selves, sometimes laughing, sometimes He took another swallow of the beer. It deeply earnest, sometimes shouting at one was an interesting sensation, the cold, another in fury. As they entered, a short, gassy liquid sliding down his new neck skinny he looked up from one of the ear- piping and thudding into the storage tank nest groups seated around a table. It was in his right hip. The chemosensors in the Timothy, and a side of Timothy that Zeb storage tank registered the alcoholic con- had not seen before: impassioned, angry, tent and put a tiny bias on his propriocen- and startled. "Zeb! How come you're here?" tric circuits, so that the music buzzed in "Hello, Timothy." Zeb was cautious, but his ear and the room seemed brighter. the other robot seemed really pleased to "Good stuff, Lori," he said, his words see him. He pulled out a chair beside him suddenly a little thick. This remarkable book and patted it, but Lori's hand on Zeb's arm "You said you could dance, Zeb" she shows you . . held him back, said. "Time you showed me." * How to professional I prepare "Hey, man, we going to dance or not?" Timothy looked exasperated. "Oh, go y news releases and articles so they "Lady," said Timothy, "go dance with ahead. Get her off your back! Then come will be accepted by the media. somebody else tor a while. I want Zeb to back, and we'll pick it up from there." * How to develop your mailing meet my friends. This big fellow's Milt; then there's Harry, Alexandra, Walter 23-X, the Yes, he could dance. Damn, he could fists. * to work with the news kid's Sally, and this one's Sue. We've got dance up a storm!. He discovered sub- How a kind of a discussion group going." routines he had not known he had been * to measure the effectiveness "Zeb," Lori said, but Zeb shook his head. given: the waltz, the Lindy, (he Monkey, a How of your publicity "I'll dance in a minute," he said, looking score of steps with names and a whole set * around the table as he sat down. It was an of heuristic circuits thai let him improvise. Dozens of ways to secure odd group. The one called Sally had the And whatever he did, Lori followed, as good additional publicity at nominal form of a six-year-old, but the patches and as he. "You're great," he panted in her ear. cost. * welds that marred her face and arms . "You ever think of going professional?" Over 600 outlets for free publicity showed a long history. The others were of "What the hell do you mean by that, Zeb?" and reference lo thousands of all kinds, big and little, new and old, but she demanded. additional sources. they had one thing in common. None of "I mean as a dancer." In (his comprehensive publicity guide, them were smiling. Neither If was Timothy. "Oh, yeah. Well, that's kind of what I was Harry Barber eliminates Ihe mystique of the gladness to see Zeb was real, it did not programmed for in the first place. But there's Tree publicity"—shows you in detailed, to show in his expression. no work. Human beings do it when they step-by-step procedures, how and where get it all the tree publicity you'll 'ever "Excuse me for mentioning it," Zeb said, want to, and sometimes you can catch on — want for yourself or your organization. "but the last time we ran into each other, with a ballet company or maybe a night- To Steal Million Free Public- you didn't act all that friendly." club chorus line when they organize one. How A $ In ity is the ideal reference guide for business Timothy added embarrassment to the But then they get bored, you see. And then owners, corporate executives, political other expressions he wore; it was a con- there's no more job. How bout another beer, groups, non-profit organizations, and siderable tribute to his facial flexibility. "That big boy?" individuals in all walks of life. was then," he said. They sat out a set, or rather stood it out, About the author— " 'Then' was only three nights ago," Zeb bellied up to the crowded while bar, Zeb Nationally prominent advertising and pointed out. looked around. "This is a funny place," he public relations executive, Harry Barber, "Yeah. Things change," Timothy ex- said,. although actually, he recognized, it gives it to you straight in his latest book. plained, and the hulk he had called Milt could have been the funny feelings in all The author has developed hundreds of leaned toward his Zeb. sensors and actuators that made it seem publicity campaigns in conjunction with "The exploited have to stick together, so. "Who's that ugly old lady by the door?" screen and television personalities, LIS Zeb," Milt said. "The burden of oppression Lori glanced over the top of her tankard. Astronauts. USAC Racing, major corpo- rations, makes us all brothers." It was a female, sitting at a card table loaded and private individuals. "And sisters," tiny Sally piped up. with what, even at this distance, clearly were Only 114.95 postpaid SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! "Sisters, too, right. We're all rejects to- religious tracts. "Part of the staff. Don't worry gether, and all we got to look forward to is bout her. By this time every night she's Success Sellers recycling or the stockpile. Ask Timothy here. drunk anyway." Publishers & Booksellers Couple nights ago, when he first came here, Zeb shook his head, repelled by the fat, P.O. Box 16801 he was as, excuse me, Zeb, as ignorant the pallid skin, the stringy hair. "You won- Irvine, CA 92713 as you are. He can't be blamed for that, der why they make robots as bad-looking any more than you can. You come off the as that," he commented. Please rush me a copy of Harry Barber's line, and they slide their programming into "Robot? Hell, she aint no robot. She's book, HOW TO STEAL A MILLION S IN PUBLICITY. I you, and you try to be a good robot be- real flesh and blood. This is how she gets FREE enclose S 14. 95. cause that's what they've told you to want. her kicks, you know? If it wasn't for her and We all went through that." maybe half a dozen other human beings Timoiby had been nodding eagerly. Now, who think they're do-gooders, there as he looked past Zeb, his face fell. "Oh, wouldn't be any community center here at God, she's back," he said. all. About ready to dance some more?" It was Lori, returning from the bar with Zeb was concentrating on internal sen- C':r\ VirvjCD ON PAGE 164 — — Inside the holographic brain, time and space are enfolded, and the distinctions between self and others, science and spirituality, cease to exist IRJTERV/IEUU Computers and monkeys seem to pervade Dr. Karl Pri- who then dominated psycnoicgy rejected the subjective world, bram's office, as they do his working life. While Stanford treating humans and animals alike — in Pribram's words, as "be- University undergraduates cycle through the green-and- having machines." No longer is the mind a locked vault. Largely gold afternoon, Karl Pribram, the Father of the Holographic Brain, owing to painstaking research by scientists such as Pribram. hunches over a compuler terminal in his office in the utilitarian modern neuroscience is bridging the gap between Ihe minuscule psychology building. A pensive, sad-eyed monkey gazes down firings of single brain cells and the enigma of consciousness. from a framed portrait on the wall, and a huge stuffed baboon Pribram showed up at the right place at the right time: Yerkes "my newest graduate student"— squats in an armchair. Suddenly, Laboratory of Primate Biology, then in Orange Park, Florida, in his statistics disentangled, Pribram leaps up, grinning like a child 1946, to work under the tutelage of physiological psychologist who has jusl conquered Rubik's cube, and the visitor senses that Karl Lashley. (He would briefly become acting director of Yerkes neuropsychology could be the best game in town. alter Lashley retired in 1956.) Lashley was cutting slices out of When, in 1941, the Austrian-born Pribram earned his M.D. from rats' brains to see whether he could trace particular memories the University of Chicago— a twenty-two-year-old wunderkind on memory traces, or engrams—to particular parts of the cortex. the brink'of a neurosurgery residency— the brain was still a shad- But when his trained rats still performed learned tasks with large owy, mysterious organ. So mysterious was it that the behaviorists amounts of their brain tissue removed, Lashley put forth the unor- PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANTHONY WOLFF ma\ thodox notion thai memory is somehow similar to those used in holography, the distributed throughout the brain. Pribram, lensless photographic process invented by who joined Lashley in his quest for the en- Dennis Gabor in 1947. gram in chimpanzee brains, was to mull Unlike an ordinary photograph, which is over the idea for almost 20 years before a two-dimensional image of an object, a launching his own revolutionary theory. hologram is an eerily lifelike three-dimen- Meanwhile, during a decade of pioneer- sional image formed by light. Its stored code ing laboratory research at Yale, Pribram's on film doesn't look anything like the visual scalpel was probing the workings of some image, but is a record of the wave patterns 1,000 monkey brains. Operating on living scattered by the object. Imagine dropping animals, he invented new surgical tech- two pebbles into a pond and freezing the niques to reach the deep core brain, a vast, surface immediately so that the frozen silent terra incognita then ignorantly called overlapping ripple patterns record the the rhinencephalon, or primitive "smell pebbles' passage through a moment of brain." After his Lewis-and-Clark-like ex- time. So it is with a hologram. A beam of peditions to such unfamiliar topographies light energy— a laser, in most cases— is as the amygdala and the hippocampus, split in two, one part traveling directly to the smell brain stood revealed as the com- the holographic film as a reference beam, plex emotional circuitry of the limbic sys- while the other is first bounced off the ob- tem. Today, when the two-way traffic be- ject to be photographed. The two beams tween (he brain's inner regions and the then collide on the film, which stores the lordly cortex (the top, outer layer) is a text- interference pattern of the two intersecting book cliche, it's easy to underestimate Pri- wavefronts; the pristine, undisturbed ref- bram's audacity when he avowed, back in erence beam and its twin beam that has the Dark Ages of brain science, that the been "disturbed" by the object. It's this core brain did more than passively take "disturbance" that the hologram records, •Not only do we orders from "higher" centers. though on the actual film all one can see construct our perceptions By the time he moved to Stanford in 1958 is an apparently meaningless pattern of to become a professor at the Center for dark and light swirls. But when illuminated of the world, but Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sci- by a reconstruction beam.— that is, a laser we also go out and ences, Pribram had charted other neuro- beam identical to the original reference scientific Newfoundlands. The so-called beam— a three-dimensional image re- construct those perceptions posterior association areas, which had sults. It's as if the object's wavefront had baffled researchers of the Forties. Pribram been frozen in time in the holographic plate in the world. showed were actually sensory-specific until the beam releases it to continue its We make tables and areas: The' interior temporal cortex proc- path to your eye. esses vision; the superior temporal cortex, So may memories and images be stored bicycles and hearing; and so on. In the heyday of lo- in our brains, Pribram says. And just as musical instruments botomies, his lab work proved that the many different holograms can be super- frontal lobes, with their intimate links to lim- imposed upon one another, so can infinite because bic centers, were not some vestigial ap- images be stacked inside our brains. Per- pendix to be cut as a routine psychiatric haps when we recall something particular, we can think of them3 panacea. ("I nearly got kicked out of Yale Pribram suggests, we're using a specific for saying things like that," Pribram recalls, "reconstruction beam" to zoom in on a happy to have the last laugh.) particular encoded memory. He also fixes No mere virtuoso knife wielder, Pribram upon another quality of the hologram: the was all the time hatching theories, mainly fact that it records the same wavefront on the puzzles of perception and memory: across its entire surface, repeating it over how we recognize a familiar face; how a and over. Should you drop and shatter a lifetime of memories is packed into an or- hologram, and salvage only a fragment of gan the size of a melon; how light waves the plate, it will still be enough to recon- travel from an object to the eye to the retina struct the entire image. Pribram feels that to the brain's visual cortex, thereby con- the brain's scattered code likewise allows juring an image. .In 1960 came Pians and memories to survive sometimes awesome the Structure of Behavior, coauthored by brain damage. He theorizes, what we call Pribram, George A. Miller, and Eugene mind may be stored in the physical brain Galanter, a book that was a "Marseillaise" as a sort of ghostly hologram— located to psychology's coming cognitive revolu- everywhere and nowhere at the same time. tion and a knell of doom to behaviorism. While some of Pribram's fellow brain re- Still later, Pribram began pondering clas- searchers frankly regard his theory as wild, sical puzzles: Where is such a thing as few would deny the grandeur and bril- consciousness encoded in the flesh-and- liance of the model. No less would be blood brain? For that matter, is the "mind" expected from this wiry, gentle-voiced, contained within the physical organ, or is incandescent, sixty-two-year-old Renais- it something separate and soullike? . sance man. Pribram has written masterful By the late 1960s, the philosophical and books and articles on such diverse sub- the pragmatic had coalesced for Pribram jects as language. Freudian theory, neu- into one of the brain science's grandest, rophysiology, philosophy, and experimen- most controversial theories: Pribram's ho- tal psychology. lographic model of the brain. What Pri- Pribram has also made an unusual bram proposed, simply, is that the brain physical sacrifice for his science. In 1980, stores information v a rathematical codes as the neuroscientist was examining the exploits of Washoe "the talking chimp" at Omni: In other words, just as the human states, that orainarhy pe 1 tain to animals as the University of Oklahoma, a trainer placed brain constructs images out of sensory well as humans. Then we use the term to her meal nearby. The chimp, perhaps sus- messages, does it project its own thoughts speak of conscious Or unconscious proc- pecting Pribram of threatening her food as objects in the material world? esses. If John is in a grouchy mood, you supply, suddenly raked the scientist's hand Pribram: Exactly. And that means we al- might refer to his "unconscious problems." against the sharp bars of her cage, and he ways have ihe mind available to us as a Bui when a cat hisses, you don't say the lost two thirds of a finger. Bui thai has not frontier. The brain operates such that we cat's unconscious conflicts have deter- stopped Dr. Pribram from performing del- can always construct new commodities. mined its behavior. Wrjen we talk about icate neurosurgery. People are starving. There is a lot of grain conscious or unconscious processes in Karl Pribram was interviewed at his growing, but not in the right places. So sci- human beings, we're talking about de- Stanford office by writer Judith Hooper. entists at the University of California at Davis grees of self-awareness. Finally, in addi- develop new kinds of grain that can grow tion to the state and process definitions of Omni: You're an interdisciplinary man in in India. We don't have to paint ourselves consciousness, we've got the contents of what is of necessity an interdisciplinary field: into a corner and say, "Well, we've had it." consciousness—what we pay attention to. brain science. Here at Stanford, don't Eng- Omni: You've referred to the brain as an Omni: To what extent are nonhuman pri- lish arid history majors sit cheek by jowl organ that mediates between an organism mates and other higher mammals capable with the regular science jocks in your un- and its environment. It's as if you can't con- of "self-consciousness"—an awareness of dergraduate neuropsychology course? ceive of mind as existing in a vacuum, is self as distinct from the outside world? That seems quite unusual. that right? Pribram: We've tried to test this. The usual Pribram: Yes, I don't have any prerequi- Pribram: Right, We can use the analogy of test is the mirror test, in which you paint sites, though it helps to have had some gravity. You can't dig into a mass and dis- the animal's forehead and place it in front biology and perhaps a psychology course. cover gravity, because it's not a thing. Just of a mirror. If it tries to rub the paint off its it's that the im- I think we ought not to keep the science all as gravity describes the relationship be- forehead, you know aware to ourselves. We really should be teaching tween masses, so, too, mind, conscious- age is of itself. The major apes— gorillas, brain science in high school. When I've chimpanzees, and orangutans—do this, given lectures to high-school students, they but the minor apes, such as gibbons, don't. have no more trouble than my medical stu- It's an interesting cutoff. But I'm worried dents across the way here. about the mirror test because gibbons, it. I also several business school stu- which are very, very socially aware, fail had cause, back in the 1950s, I had tried to guish between ihe finger and where it's spirituality in the world? apply economic theory to brain theory. The pointing, which is a sort of subtlety that's students' input refreshed an old interest thai It would basic to self-consciousness, and perhaps culminated in the concept of a "cognitive not be adaptive.^ to language. commodity." Omni: Washoe has learned about one Omni: What is a cognitive commodity? hundred fifty signs in American Sign Lan- Pribram: Those of us who work with the guage, and, here at Sfanford, Penny Pat- brain know that perception isn'i as simple terson has trained a gorilla named Koko to and direct as it appears to be. In the visual sign. Do you consider that language? Pribram; strings of system, as I move my eyes about even ness, and such terms reter to relationships Koko can pui together slightly, there's always a little jiggle to the between organisms and their environ- three words, li is certainly communication, train- image. Yet I see the environment as still. ment. We won't find mind either by digging which is whai Penny and Washoe's Obviously the brain must be making com- into the brain, as many neurophysiologists ers, Allen and Beatrice Gardner, are inter- plex computations and corrections to keep hope, or by searching its environment, as ested in. Loads of communications pass, the world still. It's like what NASA does. In behaviorists attempt to do. That's a bit dif- even between my dog and me. He wags the Venus flyby, for instance, everything is ferent from ihe way Sir John Eccles looks his tail, and I know he's happy. What Koko moving so fast that the picture is just a blur. at the mind. He does seem to think of con- and Washoe do isn't our kind of language, So NASA scientists subtract out the motion sciousness as everywhere, surrounding us. however; it lacks the rich syntax of human to get the picture. Our brains are doing that Omni: What is it about the brain that gives natural utterances. But it's marvelous sort of thing very rapidly. it the infinite flexibility you've described? communication. They can communicate Now the problem is this: When I look at Pribram: A short answer is, I don't know. more richly than monkeys and not as well my desk, my immediate perception is of a But there are some leads. In human brains, as human beings. That's what evolution is desk, not of pieces of wood or metal of the raiio of cortex [gray matter] to basal all about. certain colors and shapes. But our brains ganglia [the very front end of the brain stem] Omni: I hope you've had pleasanter inter- could not have been built to recognize has increased so much that we have a re- changes with Koko than with Washoe. desks, chairs, books, rugs, and other con- flective unit that is responsible for con- Pribram; Yes, I'm fond of gorillas. They're structions of our culture. So all sorts of sciousness and so on. And the computing more thoughtful than chimpanzees. qualities like color, intensity, movement, power is greater, of course. Omni: Reading of your experiments with shape, and so on must be processed and Omni: Do you think of "consciousness" as primates, one is struck by what seems to reprocessed simultaneously. How can this something that animals possess, or is there be their very complex intelligence. For ex- be? We must be constructing our percep- a distinct consciousness that you and I have ample, chimps that learned to trade poker tions on the basis of our experiences. and ihat Washoe the chimpanzee, for ex- chips for food developed a primitive eco- But, in addition, we go out and construct ample, lacks? nomic system, hoarding chips and ex- "perceptions" in JJae world. We make ta- Pribram: There are at least three different changing them among themselves. Yet you bles and bicycles and musical instruments ways in which the word consciousness is seem to conceive of a quantum leap be- because we can perceive them in our used. First, we have states of conscious- tween chimpanzee and human intelli- mind's eye; we can conceive them. ness, such as sleep or waking or coma gence. Is our intelligence so unique? 132 OMNI chim- tween herself and the world. Immediately MOST MEN C^J**** Pribram; Of course it is. How many AGREE and found a bro- panzees are sitting across from each other, afterward she ran home tOQG broken interviewing each other, recording the in- ken doll, and she realized she had separate subject from ob- terview o'n tape, transcribing it into a it. She could and take responsi- lets you manuscript? I'm tempted to say that hu- ject—"l-broke-doll"— mans are as different from nonhuman pri- bility for her actions. Helen Keller mates as mammals are from other verte- Omni: Before language, seemed to live in a continuous, undiffer- shave closer brates. We're not unique in possessing need language intelligence, but our kind of intelligence is entiated present. Don't you experience, to have what John Ec- very, very different. to store calls "continuity memory"— the sense it wouldn't with John cles than Omni: I take you agree self? Lilly's ideas that porpoises may be as in- of a continuous Whatever produces lan- telligent as we? Pribram: Yes. memory. foam measure "intelli- guage also produces that kind of Pribram: How does one in They seem to arise together, but continuity gence" across species? I was down a consequence of lan- Florida, working with porpoises and whales, of self may not be of self may and our team was trying to gei electrical guage. Language and feeling source. recordings from porpoise brains. We ran both stem from some underlying the brain specialized to into some problems in anesthetizing dol- Omni: Is human language, or was language an phins for surgery, and because I heard Lilly produce once devel- had been thinking about these problems, accidental by-product that, down. He joined us oped, structured the brain in certain ways? I invited him to come You know, I it goes both ways. on the third or fourth expedition and got Pribram: think without a limb, there's no rep- the brilliant idea of lape-recording por- if you're born part of the poise vocalizations and then playing them resentation of that limb in the ordinarily controls the limb. Other back at half-speed. He found this fantastic cortex that the take over. If that part of richness of communication, most' of it at areas of body frequencies above our hearing range. the brain is electrically stimulated, you don't feeling of a phantom limb, but In one sense, porpoises are smarter than activate the part of the body. we. They don't make wars. They swim of some other devoted much of your career around in a very temperature-controlled Omni: You've in neurophysiology to figuring out pre- environment. By the way, I did some test- construct what you ing a long time ago and showed that por- cisely how our brains and a "World poises distinguish between Strauss's "Vi- call a "World Out There" is, our sense receptors dis- enna Woods" waltz and all other Strauss Within." That tinguish between a Cuisinart that is over waltzes. They had been fed to it. When I remembered or imag- played other waltzes, they ignored me, but there in space and a Woods," they ined Cuisinart. How do we distinguish be- when I played the "Vienna started jumping around the platform. tween the two? porpoise Pribram; Well, this question calls to mind Omni: It was Number One on the James's ideas about Top Forty? psychologist William selectively attend- Pribram: Yes. Their auditory nerves are as self-consciousness. By distance senses, we make big as my wrist, you know. And they have ing to our bodies' between ourselves and the no olfactory sense at all — no smell. They a distinction world. we don't make these live in a world very different from ours. outside When experience, Omni: Jesuit theologian and paleontolo- distinctions, as in an oceanic to Keller's initial state. There gist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin envisioned we are back an infant's devel- a mind principle, a spiritual inevitability, seems to be a stage in differentiates be- hovering over the process of evolution. Do opment before he clearly tween "Mommy" and "me." you see it so? participated in a series of exper- Pribram; Perhaps we are inventing such a I once von Bekesy, principle because our brains are capable iments performed by George University, to show how we lo- of spiritual experiences. Could we be pro- of Harvard space. If two small jecting those experiences onto the uni- cate an object out in symmetrically on two the but it's an vibrators are placed verse? I don't know answer, the important question. Why would you bother of your fingers, you will experience the vibrators as to have a brain that can attain spiritual ex- sensation caused by back and forth for a while, then as periences if there were no spirituality in the jumping existing between the fingers. In this case world? It wouldn't be adaptive. strapped I von Bekesy Omni: Well, how basic is language to our where was involved, arm and uniquely human intelligence? one set of vibrators on my right left. I felt a spot over here Pribram: Very important, especially if in our another on my it would jump definition of language we include music, and a spot over there, and about half mathematics, and other languagelike sys- back and forth. Suddenly, after you do?" said, I He tems. On the other hand, natural language an hour, said, "What did "I haven't done anything. What did you has a special place. I remember reading [?" this grin on his face. about how Helen Keller learned her first fee And he had odd there," I could feel a solid word, the sign for wafer. She had sensa- I said, "It's out between arms! tions of cold running wetness on her hand, object in front of me, my that we have and suddenly she realized that this feeling Omni: Then it's no accident eyes, and was connected with the word water. For two symmetrically placed ears, which to perceive the outer world. the first time she could distinguish be- so on with 134 OMNI Pribram: Right. Now I'm not saying the world familiar, strange. We're trying to learn more out there is an illusion. I am confident that about these states by implanting elec- (his table and this chair exist. But the kind trodes into the visual portion of animals' of mathematical process that von Bekesy brains and observing how chemical stim- simulated with his vibrators is basic to how ulation of the amygdala affects the neu- our brains construct our image of a world rons' tiring patterns, but so far we haven't out there. I say "construct," because the come up with anything definitive. perception of so-called hard reality isn't In transcendent states the distinction really as immediate and direct as it seems, between what is most familiar, the self, and but a complex coding operation. the unfamiliar "other" disappears. As we Omni: How does the brain represent the saw in the case of Helen Keller, the dis- "World Within," the subjective realm? tinction isn't there originally. Once the dis- Pribram: Whenever you're experiencing an tinction is made, it's there. Then in states emotion—when you're scared or ecstati- of consciousness best described in East- cally in love or whatever— all kinds of vis- ern mystical philosophy, self and other ceral/autonomic changes take place in your merge once more. This is consciousness The Afterlife body. All these metabolic and endocrine without content, oceanic consciousness. happenings in your body become repre- Could it be that the techniques of yoga and Is there too much emphasis sented in the brain's core by receptors for Zen have manipulated the neurochemistry sex hormones, blood-sugar levels, tem- ot systems related to the amygdala? on the afterlife? Are the heaven perature, and other functions. Just as your Omni: Presumably you've witnessed such and hell men anticipate figments perceptual systems enable the brain to cases during the course of your career? of their own minds—and condi- make maps of the outer world, input from Pribram: Yes. I once knew a very nice and tions which they create here? Is within your body allows your brain to con- intelligent lady who worked as a psychol- it not possible that here—on Earth struct an inner world. ogist at Napa State Hospital, here in Cali- —men can become the real images We react emotionally whenever there is fornia. I was lecturing there. One day she of their god by understanding a discrepancy between the "map" we've mentioned that she was going to a party and expressing the infinite ele- I established over a long time and what our that night. When saw her a week later. I body chemistry and autonomic nervous asked her about the party, and she said, ment within them? Are you for- system— heart rate, blood pressure, and "Oh, I never got there. I was tired and fell feiting the divine opportunities so forth — are telling us now. We have an asleep." Later in the day someone else this life affords by merely mak- alerting mechanism, an autonomic charge, happened to mention the party and asked ing it a preparation for a future when we notice something novel. But of her whether she had enjoyed it. She said, existence? If deity is universal in course it can't be novel unless there is "I didn't go." The other person replied; "But its essence, not isolated in remote something tamiliarwith which to compare you were there. You seemed to be having space, then ail the elements of it. Patrick Bateson, of the zoology depart- a good time, even though you seemed a ment at Cambridge University, has shown little phased out. I thought maybe you'd spiritual ecstasy and beatitude that animals build up familiarities in an en- had a little too much to drink." are possible in this life. vironment, and when something different The lady had a type of epilepsy. She re- For too long man has closed happens, imprinting occurs. He had chicks membered going to her room and nothing his consciousness to the in a cage, in which they were exposed only after that. So she assumed she'd dropped Cosmic to vertical stripes. He showed them hori- off to sleep. Actually she'd gotten dressed, Force residing within him. Today, zontal stripes, and wow! They followed gone to the party, had a good time, and in this world, it is possible to anything with horizontal stripes. returned home. But all that never became experience that supreme state of Omni: Presumably, we humans are vulner- part of her tamiliar-continuous self. Peace Profound. able to imprinting, too? Omni: That's fascinating. The question is. Pribram: We are. We fall in love. The auto- Who was experiencing the party? This Free Book nomic charge comes with novelty within Pribram: I don't know. Perhaps the "self" the framework of the familiar—the young is a particular code. Unless our experi- Write today, foryour free copy lady who resembles, and yet is so different ence is translated into that code, it stays of the Mastery of Life. The Rosi- from, our mother, for example. outside of what we recall as our experi- crucians will be happy to share Omni: Don't we habituate to novelty? ence. with you their information on Doesn't the response fade? Omni: And you get what is known as "au- attaining Peace Profound. Pribram: Oh, yes, it works only for so long. tomatism," when someone acts as if on au- That's the problem with marriage. You just tomatic pilot. get more jaded in all your tastes: you've Pribram: Yes. No doubt you know the fa- which to match incoming impressions. about twenty-eight years old. I asked him Omni: You've written about certain kinds about his life, his marriage, and so forth. Scribe DLj of epilepsy and other brain disturbances He said everything was essentially the Rosicrucian Order. AMORC that in some respects mimic transcendent same. Then we started talking about atrip San Jose. Califomla95191. U.SA experiences. What happens then to the to Africa that he had planned. He got all Please send me a copy of the "World Out There" and the "World Within"? excited, I because knew the areas he had Mastery of Life. in Pribram: Abnormalities the limbic sys- planned to visit. Then I gave him some Name tem around the amygdala can produce al- simple learning tasks to recall, such as ternate states of consciousness. Patients telephone numbers, and he did very well. with lesions in the area of the amygdala I was called out of the room to answer the of I have feelings de/a vu and jamais vu, phone. When came back, I asked, "Where when the unfamiliar seems familiar and the were we? Do you recall the numbers I gave GOVT WED O^ PAGE iSS PSI-QTESTII: REMOTE VIEWING Can your mind leave your body to travel 144 numbers. Your job is to concentrate ways. Some get a visual image; some through space? Can you sit in your living during a given time interval until you "see" "sense" the site, as one might sense an room and accurately describe places or the site represented by the chosen num- unseen person in a dream; some "hear" events hundreds of miles from home? And ber, and then to describe the site by means their perceptions. There is no "right" way, if so, does this special talent hinge upon of a rough drawing. and the process should be effortless. Don't the contours of your personality? To help put the experimental results in try too hard. Parapsychologists have tried to answei perspective. Mobius has also included a You need to have a pen in your hand and these questions for years. While experi- questionnaire that measures personality. a sheet of standard typewriter paper, pref- mental results have varied, some re- Indeed, many parapsychologists believe erably blank. When you are comfortable searchers report that gifted psychics, as that certain personality traits enhance and relaxed, in a setting with few distrac- well as subjects who claim' no special abil- psychic skills; others contend that the most tions, print your full name and the hour, ity, can use extrasensory perception to d& powerful psychic perceptions occur in minute, and date in the upper righthand scribe distant target sites time and again. times of great emotional upheaval. corner. Now you are ready to begin. To explore the phenomenon further, the A few weeks after you've sent in your Targets will be randomly designated for Mobius .Group designed the following < response sheet, the Mobius Group will send 20-minute intervals beginning on the hour. periment especially for Omni. A fee of $£ you an analysis of your test results. Both Ideally, you should arrange to remote-view is required, to be paid to the Mobius Group. your target selection accuracy and your during only one of the designated 20-min- If you participate, you'll be asked to de- personality profile will be compared with ute intervals. Your perceptions can come scribe a spot somewhere on Earth. You those of the others participating in the ex- immediately or take a few minutes to won't be given clues that will allow you to periment. And. because you will receive a emerge. Remember, don't strain, and don't meet this challenge intellectually; only psy- photograph of your target site along with try to interpret what you see. chic skills will move you to your destination. a copy of your drawing, you will have a As soon as you perceive your target, To set up their experiment, Mobius re- chance to evaluate your own response. make a simple drawing. This is not a test searchers selected 144 visually unique sites Last year 18,000 Omni readers took part for artistic ability. So a few lines will do. around the globe. Then they assigned a in the first Psi-Q experiment, aimed at ex- Observe and record any smells, colors, or number to each site and fed each number ploring the ability to describe a future event. other sensations you experience. Because into a special computer. Every 20 minutes, If you weren't part of the last experiment, remote-viewing impressions usually emerge from 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on this may be a good time to start exploring almost immediately, you should spend no Tuesday, September 14, 1982, until 9 p.m. the mysterious powers within you. more than ten minutes completing this part PST on Thursday, December 23. 1982, the of the experiment. HOW TO TAKE PSI-Q II computer will randomly select one of the After you have completed your remote Remote viewing, parapsychologists say, viewing —and only then— turn to the ques- is like daydreaming. Descriptions of target tionnaire and record your responses on the sites come to different people in different answer form provided. BOB CURR9. 140 OMNI PERSONALITY PROFILE — -^ Please record in ink your responses to the following questions on the answer sheet. provided on page 182. You are to circle the Good times offer: capital letters (A or B) for clear-cut an- swers; lower-case letters (a or b) should Show off the drink you think is tops-with this terrific be indicated it you are not really sure that red & white T-shirt for men your response holds true most of the time; and women. In soft 50°/o select the question mark, a symbol of total combed cotton/50% poly- ambivalence, only as a last resort. ester, with three athletic stripes on the raglan sleeves. 1. (A) It is difficult for me to express en- Please send this coupon, along thusiasm. with a check or money order, for $4.95 (no cash, please) to; (B) It is natural for me to be very en- thusiastic. Seagrams 7 Crown T-Shirt Offer, P.O. Box 1662, New York, NY 10152 2. (A) I occasionally take chances just to create excitement. (B) I never take chances, no matter how boring things become. 3. When I meet people on the street whom I know well, (A) they are more likely to speak first. (B) I am more likely to speak first. 4. When I was a child, (A) it was relatively easy for someone Adult sizes only. Specify quantity. to hurt my feelings. T-shirt @ S4.95 each; S M L (B) it was relatively difficult "to get to Amount enclosed S_ No purchase necessaq. IS.25°4S3le$!a>. ;ks for shipment. OMB102 Seagram's 5. It is more important to (A) prepare for the future. (B) preserve the past. 6. When it comes to participating in sports, I prefer (A) individual activities like swim- ming or hiking. (B) team activities like volleyball or softball. 7. People are more likely to describe me as (A) a procrastinator. (B) impatient. 8. Given my own choice, I would prefer (A) purely functional surroundings. (B) varied but harmonious decor. 9. When I think of something to say in conversation, I find that (A) it is easy to gain the attention of others. Ifyou think all this sounds impressive, (B) it is difticult to gain their attention. wait tillyou pick it up. 10. Other people tend to see me as (A) a follower. RP-700FAM/FM Our por- And it goes anywhere (B) a leader. table radio may weigh less you do. You can hear your than a pound, but it sure favorite am announcer at 11. My response to a sudden loud sound doesn'tsound like it. a ball game, fm rock in the is more likely to be You not only get great park, or the news at your (A) an underreaction. sound out of our oversized kitchen table. speaker, but with our ail, it's (B) an overreaction. All in worth stereo headphones you'll picking up. think you're listening to an 12. It would be a greater compliment to expensive audio component. TOSHIBA te11 me that (A) I have a lot of common sense. (B) I am loaded with imagination. I in as 41. I prefer to 13. I would rather learn the news from the information carry my head (A) radio or television. (A) miscellaneous. (A) understand the "big picture" be- (B) a newspaper. (B) specialized. fore dealing with any details. (B) master my own task before get- ting too involved with others' 14. The most significant part of my life 28. I can talk about my feelings and emo- (A) is still to come. tions problems. (B) has already passed. (A) only with difficulty. (B) easily. 42. (A] I tend to have strong likes and dislikes. 15. When I look at the clock, I am apt to I indifferent toward most be startled because 29. It would be more accurate to say .that (B) tend to be things. (A) it is earlier than I expected. (A) I live to eat. (B) it is later than I expected. (B) I eat to live. 43. On the whole, people think I am force to (A) hard to get to know. 16. I am best known as 30. When circumstances me do (A) a good listener. two or three things at once, (B) easy to get to know. (B) a persuasive talker. (A) all of the tasks will be done as well as usual. 44. I am at my best when I can (A) follow a prescribed routine. 17. As a child, I was (B) one of the tasks will not be done (A) nervous and high-strung. so well. (B) respond to an emergency. (B) placid and uncomplaining. I experience stress-related symptoms 31. I generally learn more about a new like headaches 18. (A) I feel that my mood fluctuates from subject time to time. (A) by listening to a discussion. (A) almost never. (B) There are no important variations (B) by reading a book about it. (B) with predictable frequency. in my mood. 32. My friends sometimes say that 46. I would rather talk about economics, I (A) 19. I would rather talk about (A) am too tense. (B) politics. (A) interesting experiences I've had. {B) I am too relaxed. (B) my plans for the future. 47. (A] I my temper except in- 33. I would rather talk about never lose 20. The best way to get an important job (A) theories. tentionally. done is to (B) facts. (B) Sometimes my emotions are be- control. (A) delegate it to an expert. yond my to (B) do it myself. 34. It would be a greater compliment tell me that If I were traveling in a foreign country, I rather I logical. would 21. When I am in a group, all oi them my (A) am always completely (A) with friend who knows the good friends, (B) I am a person of real feeling. go a (A) I do more than my share of the (B) find my own way. talking. 35. I would be more inclined to undertake (B) I do less than my share of the talk- a new project because ing. (A) it is my duty. 49. My level of education: (B) it may make me famous. (1) Some high school. (2) Graduated from high school. 22. When I am in a strange situation, time, I college. (A) it bothers me not to know all the 36. Given some unexpected free (3) Some college. consequences of my actions. would probably use it (4) Graduated from postgraduate work. (B) it is not different from being in a (A) to enroll in a self-improvement (5) Some familiar situation. (6) Master's degree. (B) to relax and have a good time. (7) Doctoral degree. 23. I would be more likely to undertake a 50. I new project because the experience 37. When I am talking, am will be (A) my thoughts run ahead of my (1) female. (A) pleasant. speech. (2) male. (B) useful. (B) my speech keeps up with my thoughts. 24. In the course of a typical day, ("1) left-handed. right-handed. live, I (A) I do less than I planned to accom- 38. In choosing a place to am more (2) plish. attracted by (3) ambidextrous. I sounds and activity of the city. (B) I accomplish more than ever (A) the planned to do. (B) the quiet and solitude of the 52. Are any members of your immediate country. family lett-handed? 25. It is typical for me to (1] Yes. No. (A) get very involved with whatever 39. After I have done all that is possible (2] I'm doing. to resolve a difficult problem, write, the point of your (B) hold back. (A) I put it completely out of my mind. 53. When you does it. point the or the bottom (8) I may continue to worry about pen toward top 26. It would be more accurate to say that of the page? the time Top. (A) I don't spend enough time antic- 40. "Most of (1) ipating problems. (A) I prefer people to say exactly what (2) Bottom. (B) i spend" too much time worrying they mean. remote- about trivia. (B) I enjoy people who find new and 54. To which category does your unusual ways of expressing their viewing target belong? 27. It would be more accurate to describe ideas, (1) City 142 OMNI CONTINUED ON PAGE 132 " steam gave out, and the answer nearly far astern the invisible twin steam sirens deafened us. There was a sound of frantic answered us. Their blasting shriek grew till at last it seemed to tear out of MATTER threshing in the water, apparently about fifty louder, yards away, and something shot past in Ihe fog just above our quarter, and I cow- it ered while the Rathmines plunged bows- for a good half-mile. the whiteness that looked as though were swell that crossed. We went down that hollow, nose under gray and red. under on a double more," said Frithiof. "Let us get away, for the most part, and the air smelt wet and "The Pembroke Cdstle bottom up," said "No of God." muddy, like that of an emptied aquarium. Keller, who, being a journalist, always in the name Paris for explanations. "That's the colors "Now if a torpedo boat with a City of There was a second hill to climb; I saw that sought broke her moorings much, but the water came aboard and car- of a Castle liner. We're in for a big thing." siren went mad and is bewitched," said Frithiof from and hired a friend to help her, it's just con- ried me aft till it jammed me against the "The sea wheelhouse. ceivable (hat we might be carried as we smoking-room door, and before 1 could the — this thing is catch breath, we were rolling lo and fro in Anolher siren sounded on our bow, and are now. Otherwise words died on Keller's lips, his torn water, with the scuppers pouring like the little steamer rolled in the wash of The last eyes began to starl from his head, and his eaves in a thunderstorm. something that had passed unseen. feet above the 'There were three waves," said Keller. "We're evidently in the middle of a fleet," jaw fell. Some six or seven in fog, and as ut- "and the stokehold's flooded." said Keller quietly. "If one doesn't run us port bulwarks, framed full hung The firemen were on deck, waiting, ap- down, the other will. Phew! What in crea- terly unsupported as the moon, face, It not human, and it certainly parently, to be drowned. The engineer came tion is that?" a was this for there poisonous, rank was not animal, for it did not belong to and dragged them below, and the crew, I sniffed, was a to man. The mouth was gasping, began to work the clumsy Board smell in the cold air— a smell that I had earth as known revealing a ridiculously tiny tongue— of Trade pump. That showed nothing se- smelt before. open, elephant: should say that it was as absurd as the tongue of an land, I "If I rious, and when I understood that the was on there were tense wrinkles of white skin at Rathmines was really on the water, and not an alligator. It smells somewhat like musk," the angles of the drawn lips; white feelers beneath it, I asked what had happened. like those of a barbel sprang from the lower "The captain says it was a blowup under sign of teeth within the sea— a volcano," said Keller. jaw, and there Was no the mouth. But the horror ot the face lay in "It hasn't warmed anything," I said. I was were sightless white, feeling bitterly cold, and cold was almost the eyes, for those — 9The water came in sockets as white as scraped bone, and unknown in those waters. I went below to wrinkled as my cabin to change my clothes, and when aboard and carried me aft blind. Yet for all this the face, the mask of a lion is drawn in Assyrian I came up, everything was wiped out by till it jammed me clinging white fog. sculpture, was alive with rage and terror. our bul- 'Are there going to be any more sur- against the smoking-room One long white feeler touched warks. Then the face disappeared with the prises?" said Keller to the captain. , door, and before swiftness of a blindworm popping into its "I don't know. Be thankful you're alive, I could catch my breath, that I remember gentlemen. That's a tidal wave thrown up burrow, and the next thing in own ears, saying by a volcano. Probably Ihe bottom of the we were rolling is my own voice my "But the air blad- been lifted a few feel somewhere gravely to the mainmast, sea has to and fro in torn water$ this cold der ought to have been forced out of its or other. I can't quite understand know." spell. Our sea thermometer says the sur- mouth, you Keller to me, ashy white. He put face water is forty-four degrees, and it came up took a cigar, bit should be sixty-K ght degrees at least." his hand into his pocket, it, it. thrust his shaking thumb into "It's abominable," said Keller, shivering. dropped his mouth, and mumbled, "The giant "But hadn't you better attend to the fog- I answered with conviction. something," "Not ten thousand alligators could make gooseberry and the raining frogs! Gimme horn? I heard little bead of "Heard! Good heavens!" said the cap- that smell,'' said Zuyland. a light—gimme a light!" A Frithiof. dropped from his thumbnail. tain from the bridge. "I should think you "Bewitched! Bewitched!" said blood motive, the man- I though did." He pulled the string of our foghorn, "The sea she is turned upside down, and respected the ifestation was absurd. "Stop, you'll bite your which was a weak one. It sputtered and we are walking along ihe bottom." Keller laughed bro- choked, because the slokehold was full of Again the Rathmines rolled in the wash' thumb off," I said, and cigar. Only Zuy- water and the fires were half-drowned, and of some unseen ship, and a silver-gray wave kenly as he picked up his a over the port bulwarks, at last gave out a moan. It was answered broke over the bow, leaving on the deck land, leaning declared later from the fog by one of the most appalling sheet of sediment— the gray brolh that has seemed self-possessed. He its place in the fathomless deeps of the that he was very sick. steam sirens I have ever heard in my life. sprinkling of the wave fell on my "We've seen it," he said, turning round. Keller turned as white as I did, for the fog, sea, A said Keller, chewing the un- the cold fog, was upon us, and any man face, and it was so cold that it stung as "What?" may be- forgiven for fearing the death he boiling water stings. The dead and most lighted cigar. into cannot see. untouched deep water of the sea had been As he spoke, the fog was blown "Give her steam there!" said the captain heaved to the top by the submarine vol- shreds, and we saw Ihe sea, gray wilh mud, empty of all to the engine room. "Steam for the whistle, cano—the chill, still water that kills all life rolling on every side of us and emptiness. life. Then in one spot it bubbled and be- if we have to go dead slow." and smells of desolation and We bellowed again, and the damp We did not need either the blinding tog or came like the pot of ointment that the Bible trouble dripped off the awnings to the deck as we that indescribable smell of musk to make speaks of, From that wide-ringed were shivering with cold a Thing came up— a gray and red Thing listened for the reply. It seemed to be astern us unhappy; we this time, but much nearer than before. and wretchedness where we stood. with a neck— a Thing that bellowed and "The Pembroke Castle, by gum!" said "The hot air on the cold water makes this writhed in pain. Frithiof drew in his breath ship's Keller, and then viciously, "Well, thank God. fog," said- the captain. "It ought to clear in and held it till the red letters of the his jersey, straggled we shall sink her, loo." a little. time." name, woven across whistle, let's get out of and opened out as though they had been "It's a sidewheel steamer," I whispered. "Whistle, oh! and with a little "Can't you hear the paddles?" it," said Keller type badly set. Then he said throat, "Ah, me! It is blind. Hur This time we whistled and roared till the The captain whisked again, and far and cluck in his 144 OMNI Iwistmgs jerkings mate paused in her search—we could hear ilia! That thing is blind," and a murmur of with crampings and and fro, till little the wash beating along her sides— reared pity went through us all, for we could see of the white bulk to and our high as she could reach, blind that the thing on the water was blind and steamer rolled again, and each gray wave her neck as lonely in all that loneliness of the sea, in pain. Something had gashed and cut coated her plates with [he gray slime. The and sent desperate bellow booming the great sides cruelly and the blood was sun was clear, there was no wind, and we and one the swells, as an oyster shell skips spurting out. The gray ooze of the under- watched, the whole crew, stokers and all, across across a pond, Then she made off to the most sea lay in the monstrous wrinkles of in wonder and pity, but chiefly pity. The the sun shining on the white head the back and poured away in sluices. The Thing was so helpless and, save for his westward, behind it, till nothing was left blind white head flung back and battered mate, so alone. No human eye should have and the wake indecent to see but a little pinpoint of silver on the the wounds, and the body in its torment beheld him; it was monstrous and in waters be- horizon. We stood on our course again, rose clear of the red and gray waves till we to exhibit him there trade the Rathmines, coated with the sea saw a pair of quivering shoulders streaked tween atlas degrees of latitude. He had and from bow- to stern, looked like a with weed and rough with shells, but as been spewed up, mangled and dying from sediment ship gray with terror. white in the clear spaces as the hairless, his rest on the seafloor, where he might made nameless, blind, toothless head. After- have lived till the Judgment Day, and we notes," was the first wards came a dot on the horizon and the saw the tides of his life go from him as an "We must pool our rocks in the coherent remark from Keller. "We're three sound of a shrill scream, and it was as angry tide goes out across trained journalists- -we hold absolutely the though a shuttle shot all across the sea in teeth of a landward gale. The mate lay record. Start fair." one breath, and a second head and neck rocking on the water a little distance off, biggest scoop on is gained by I objected to this. Nothing tore through the levels, driving a whisper- bellowing continually, and the smell of musk collaboration in journalism when all deal ing wall of water to right and left. The two came down upon the ship, making us facts; so we went to work Things met— the one untouched and the cough. with the same in batter each according to his own lights. Keller other in its death throe— male and female, At last the battle for life ended, a triple-headed his account, talked about our we said, the female coming to the male. of colored seas. We saw the writhing neck captain," and wound up with an She circled round him, bellowing, and laid fall like a flail, the carcass turn sideways, "gallant American enterprise in that it her neck across the curve of his great tur- showing the glint of a white beily and the allusion to of Dayton. Ohio, who had tleback, and he disappeared underwater inset of a gigantic hindleg or flapper. Then was a citizen it. the serpent. This sort of thing for an instant, but flung up again, grunting all sank, and sea boiled over while the seen sea would have discredited the Creation, much in agony while the blood ran. Once the en- mate swam round and round, darting her direction. more a mere sea tale, but as a specimen lire head and neck shot clear of the water blind head in every Though we saying, might have feared that she would attack of the picture writing of a half-civilized peo- and stiffened, and I heard Keller Zuyland took a as though he was watching a street acci- the steamer, no power on Earth could have ple, it was very interesting. that heavy column and a half, giving approxi- dent, "Give him air. For God's sake give drawn any one of us from our places lengths and breadths and the whole him air!" Then the death struggle began, hour. We watched, holding our breath. The mate ! l r f**V* !***.,„.,. ™- time space battle THE ulT||v|ATE COMPUTER CONFLICT a between the forces of the Colonists Attacking, evading, scanning, com- You'll receive the illustrated guide to and the Kryon Empire. Join en inter- municating. That's MegaWars. Easy CompuServe, America's most compre- galactic shootout with up to eight star- to learn but difficult to master. That's hensive Videotex service, plus the ship commanders transmitting orders why CompuServe will give one free MegaWars Commanders Briefing. from the keyboard cockpits of their hour to every MegaWars player enter- CompuServe craft anywhere in the U.S.A. ing a game before December 31 , 1 982. BOOO Arlington Centre Blvd. " — I'i-u can there, though." old man said that I was to tell you that they list of the crew whom he had sworn on oath don paper. You have least. I'm touching the didn't want any more of your practical jokes, .to testify to his facts. There was nothing "Not In the not that knew the hours to call if you papers. I shall be happy to and you fantastic or flamboyant in Zuyland. I wrote thing in .the sell, and that they'd see three quarters of a leaded bourgeois col- leave 'em all to you, but surely you'll cable had anything to you condemned before they helped to puff umn, roughly speaking, and refrained from it home?" here of your infernal yarns. What record do if I the one putting any journalese into it, for reasons "No. Not can make scoop for truth in this city anyway?" that had begun to appear to me, and see the Britishers sit up." you hold You ran against it, that's Keller was insolent with joy. He was going "You won't da it with three columns of 'A beauty. Qp all. don't you leave the English papers to cable from Southampton to the New York slushy headline, believe me." Why York? Everything World, mail his account to America on the "I'm beginning to think that, too. Does alone and cable to New same day, paralyze London with his three nothing make any difference in this coun- goes over there." that's just he said. Golumns of loosely knitted headlines, and try?" he said, looking out of the window, "Can't you see why?" it don't intend generally efface the earth. "You'll see how "How old is that farmhouse?" "I saw a long time ago. You "New. It can't more than two hundred to cable, then?" 1 it," said. be I work a big scoop when get he "Yes, I do," he answered, in the over- "Is this your first visit to England?" I asked. years at the most." not "Yes," said he. "You don't seem io ap- "Urn. Fields, too?"- emphatic voice of one who does know preciate the beauty of our scoop. It's py- "That hedge there must have been his own mind. I walked him abroad and ramidal— the death of the sea serpent!" clipped for about eighty years." That afternoon about, over the streets that run between "Curious to think that it will never appear "Labor cheap—eh?" like the like channels of grooved "Pretty much. Well, I suppose you'd pavements in any paper, isn't it?" I said. bridges that Zuyland was near me, and he nodded. to try the Times, wouldn't you?" and tongued lava, over the of stone, through sub- "What do you mean?" said Keller. "If "No," said Keller, looking at Winchester are made enduring with yard-thick you're enough of a Britisher to throw this Cathedral. "Might as well try to electrify a ways floored and sided hayrick. to think that the World would concrete, between houses that are never thing away, I shan't. I thought you were a And newspaperman." rebuilt, and by river steps hewn to the eye from the living rock. A black fog chased "I am. That's why I know. Don't be an Westminster Abbey, and, standing ass, Keller. Remember, I'm seven hundred us into I could hear the years your senior, and what your grand- there in the darkness, wings of the dead centuries circling round the children may learn five hundred years QThe dead and most from grandfathers head of Litchfield A. Keller, journalist, of hence, I learned my water of Ohio, U.S.A., whose mission it was about five hundred years ago. You won't untouched deep Dayton, can't." to make the Britishers sit up. do it, because you the sea had been gasping, into the thick This conversation was held in open sea, He stumbled, heaved to the top by the where everything seems possible, some gloom, and the roar of the traffic came to hundred miles from Southampton. We submarine volcano his bewildered ears. office and ca- passed the Needles Light at dawn, and the "Let's go to the telegraph —the chill, still water that ble," I "Can't you hear the New York lifting day showed the stucco villas on the said. ser- green and the awful orderliness of Eng- kills aii life World crying for news of the great sea pent, blind, white, and smelling of musk, land— line upon line, wall upon wall, solid and smells of desolation^ volcano, stone dock and monolithic pier. We waited stricken to death by a submarine assisted by his loving wife to die in mid- an hour in the Customs shed, and there visualized by an independent was ample time for the effect to soak in. ocean, as newsy, brainy "Now, Keller, you face the music. The American citizen, a breezy, newspaperman of Dayton, Ohio? 'Rah for Havel goes out today. Mail by her, and I'll three ask for more with the Buckeye State. Step lively! Both gates! take you to the telegraph office," I said. take columns and — Princeton as the influence of illustrations, tool It's sickening." Szz! Boom— ah!" Keller was a I heard Keller gasp needed encouragement. the land closed about him, cowing him as "But the Times might," I began. man, and he they say Newmarket Heath cows a young "Might! You might work your way through "You've got me on your own ground," overcoat pocket. He horse unused to open country. the bow plates of a cruiser. Look at that said he, tugging at his pulled out his copy, with the cable forms "I want to retouch my stuff. Suppose we first page!" strikes that It?" 1 said. for he had written out his telegram —and wait till we get to London?" he said. "It you way, does "I pass. Zuyland, by the way, had torn up his ac- "Then I'd recommend you to try a light and put them all into my hand, groaning, country journal." If I hadn't come to your cursed count and thrown it overboard early that frivolous like this of of ours? if I'd sent it off at Southampton— if I ever morning. His reasons were my reasons. "With a thing mine— — of the Alleghenies if In the train Keller began to revise his copy, It's sacred history!" get you west — mind, Keller. It isn't your fault. It's I and every time that he looked at the trim I showed him a paper that conceived "Never it fault of country. If had been little fields, the red villas, and the embank- would be after his own heart in that was the your you years older, you'd have done ments of the line, the blue pencil plunged modeled on American lines. seven hundred remorselessly through the slips. He ap- "That's homey," he said, "but it's not the what I'm going to do." to I are peared to have dredged the dictionary for real thing. Now should like one of these "What you going do?" fat old columns. Probably there'd be "Tell it as a lie." adjectives. I could think of none that he Times dis- had not used. Yet he was a perfectly sound a bishop in the office, though." "Fiction?" This with the full-blooded branch poker player and never showed more cards When we reached London, Keller dis- gust of a journalist for the illegitimate than were sufficient to take the pool. appeared in the direction of the Strand. of the profession. if I shall call "Aren't you going to leave him a single What his experiences may have been. I "You can call it that you like. tell, but it seems that he invaded it a lie." bellow?" I asked sympathetically. "Re- cannot member, everything goes inthe States, from the office of an evening paper at 11:45 a.m. And a lie it has become, for Truth is a idle naked lady, and if by accident she is drawn a trouser button to a double eagle." (I told him'English editors were most of the sea, it behooves "That's just the curse of it," said Keller at that hour) and mentioned my name as up from the bottom either to a print pet- below his breath. "We've played 'em for that of a witness to the truth of his story. a gentleman give her said furiously ticoat or to turn his face to the wall and vow suckers so often that when it comes to the "I was nearly fired out, ".he he did not see. I DO golden truth— I'd like to try this on a Lon- at lunch. 'As soon as mentioned you, the that 148 OMNI iUFO witnesses weave their abduction stories from haunting but submerged memories of birthV A group of volunteers Missing Time- (UFO hypnotized were Update, May 1982), hushed Callloi author Budd Hopkins hospital, 'hen askei says he and a col- to imagine detatlei league studied doz- encounters wilh ex- ens ot people who traterrestrials 1 One reported periods of woman fantasized a amnesia. creature that probed Under hypnosis her 1 with a beam from them "re- its single eye. A nurse membered' elabo- saw herself levitated rate abductions in- from her car into a letuslike spaceship operated = - by letuslike beings and with bumpy skin. Ana gilt. Hop- a student imagined kins contend being whisked Inti were kid- UFi" a cavernous napped by aliens, but through a tunnel of as far as my research brilliant light team is concerned, The researchers Missing Time ac- — hypnotist William tually supports the McCall, ufologisl birth-trauma theory John de.Herrera, and And we believe we I —had chosen ihese UFD UPDffTE can prove it. First, subjects because abduction stories told they knew litlle or nothing about classic UFO lore; we under hypnosis can be scrutinized for echoes oi an in- expected their stories to differ drastically from those told dividual's birth history When a subject says an alien's by allegedly real UFO abductees like the legendary Betty metal clamp heid and twisted him, for example, we can and Barney Hill. But to our surprise the fabricated en- try to discover whether or not he had a forceps-aided counters were virtually identical to the "real" ones. delivery. If so, hes remembering his birth If the subject To us, these findings mean one thing: UFO abduction reports an easy passage into a chamber of light instead stories not stem from meetings with aliens but from an twisting can.ai, we can try to learn whether he ihner fantasy world that may be common to us all The was caesarean-born. II so. then the birth-trauma hypoth- root of such fantasy is the trauma of birth itself. esis would hold true once again Indeed, most UFO abduction stories are loaded with Finally a bit of recent research even suggests thai birth birth images: tunnels, womb-shaped rooms, eervixlike >unt ior (he period of "missing time." Scientists doorways Just as the fetus moves through the tortuous have found that oxytocin, the hormone that floods the birth tunnel into big, bright room, a where adults handle mother and fetus during birth, causes amnesia in labo- It, so the abductee levitates through an ominous lunnel ot ratory animals. Doctors say the substance probably causes light into a UFO's wast interior, where strange creatures amnesia in people. too—ALVINH. LAWSON probe its body. But most UFO researchers have ignored the implica- Alvin H. Lawson is a ufologisl and professor of English at tions of our work For instance, in a recent book called California State University af Long Beach. . " BIGFOOT AT WALLA . . . AND ON FILM WALLA . . John Beckjord remains To hear the Bigfoot fans convinced that Bigfoot is real, however, proba- tell It, it's finally happened: In and and around the watershed bly a lot stranger than any area of Walla Walla, Wash- common ape. As proof, ington, reliable witnesses he cites the peculiar things have at last found tracks he sees in the so-called proving that an enormous, Patterson film, a movie of a two-legged primate stalks supposed Bigfoot taken the American wilderness. by long-time monster hunter The watershed, a patch ot Roger Patterson in 1967, mountainous woodland and rejected as a fraud even east of Walla Walla, provides by many Bigfoot fans. most of that city's water. "I got a copy of the film," "Watershed riders" from the shaped steel plate," he -rely Beckjord says, "and en- U.S. Forest Service patrol explains, "then backed a i as a real larged it frame by frame. In the area on horseback, fire truck into it The truck freak about Bigfoot," Jones one segment we have ejecting would-be campers placed thirty-one hundred adds "He lalked about it all what looks like a long-legged gorilla, with addi- who might pollute the sup- pounds of pressure on the time. I don't know female ply. And during one such the plate, which dug a half- whether he made the prints tional faces and little heads mission, Patrolman Paul inch hole in the ground. or someone else did It as a coming out of the main Freeman allegedly spotted The prints found by Free- practical joke on him. But head, growing larger and a nine-fooHall "Bigfoot." man, however, were an inch we're sure it was a hoax." Ihen growing smaller and Hastening back to the deep—even more at the Freeman, he notes, was disappearing, like cactus Forest Service post, he heel. So you know it took an employee with the Forest buds. You're not supposed related the tale to his supe- something really huge Service for less than a to see this sort of thing in riors, who mounted a search to make them,'' month. He quit shortly after traditional apes and men," and found the first prints. Dennis Jones, Forest the would-be sighting and he concludes "It could They were 14 inches long Service administrator for the hasn't been seen since bean alien and pressed deep into watershed area, disagrees, Neither have the Bigfoot So far Beckjord has the hard-packed dirt. A "We called in an expert tracks.—Owen Davies convinced few of the dedi- second trip into the woods tracker from Ihe border pa- cated people who search produced nearly 400 prints trol," he reports. "From "These Easfer eggs weren't for explanations of Bigfoot " stretching for a mile. the placing of the prints, he brought by (he bunnies sightings and other mysteri- "They were some of the was sure someone had —Robert Can ous phenomena. 'John's a best footprints I've ever wild and crazy guy," says seen," says John Beckjord, Marcelio Truzzi, head of the head of Project Bigfoot, a Center for the Study of Seattle-based organization Scientific Anomalies. "He's dedicated to finding the shown me his blowups, elusive critter. "When the and there are smudges you Forest Service made cast- might be able to interpret ings [pictured here], you is he does But it's like could even see ridges Rorschach tesi. It doesn'l on Ihe toes." prove anything." According to Beckjord, Richard Greenwell, found- the Walla Walla finding er ot the International Society is the first to give research- of Cryptozoology, says, ers some idea of What "We've rejected him for Bigfoot weighs: "The Forest membership in the society, Service cut out a footprint- and he's been calling 152 OMNI people all over the country in Minneapolis. "The advent and threatening to sue. It ol robots with sexual-serv- we have to, we'll accept him ice capabilities and simu- But he'll be thrown out the lated skin will create the next day," potential for marriage Beckjord concedes that between living and nonliving he has an image problem, beings within the next and not iust photograph- twenty years." ically. 'About half the people Harkins suggests the who've seen the enlarge- domestic robots that first roll ments agree there's some- off the assembly line will thing there," he sighs. be littie more than sophisti- "The rest think I'm some kind cated appliances, pro- of nut " — Owen Davies grammed to perform a small number of iunctions and to interact with humans in a THE ALCHEMIST'S atomic weight. Since mer- limited capacity. But for CURSE cury has only one more very lonely people, these proton than gold, Allen primitive robots will make Any self-respecting notes, anyone with a power- excellent companions. Renaissance king kept an ful radioactive emitter As artificial-intelligence alchemist or two at court could have performed the systems are fully developed, After all. with the alleged transformation with ease. perhaps with biologically change lead or As it turns out. Allen says. based computer compo- mercury into gold the ancient alchemists had nents. Harkins theorizes thai alchemist was considered a access to a variety robots (which don't age and hedge against royal ters that could ha^t can work nonstop) will be- economic disaster. the job: Uranium ar come highly desirable as Such get-nch-quick radioactive ores m marriage partners for hu- notions were dismissed as layered through Ihe mans. In many instances, utter nonsense by the pean mountains Ar such marriages will be nineteenth century, and alchemists themse celebrated with traditional today most scientists say talismans wedding vows and country- alchemists were simply active fos club receptions. charlatans: There is one records --. Eventually, Harkins be- modern-day researcher, churchr - lieves, the robot will become however, who disagrees. chemists the dominant being on According to mineral econ- of the de Earth, capable of self-per- omist and computer analyst - r. petuation through manufac- Patrick Allen, of the US bleeding sores, racking pain, ROBOT MARRIAGE ture ol new versions of Army, alchemists may have and nausea—all symptoms itself. "Not all intelligent been transforming common reasoning. A sociologist predicts robots,' he says, "will metals into gold after all. By the sixteenth century, that there soon will be a new choose to consort with Early in the development alchemy was a vanishing kind of mixed marriage: humans."— Eric Mishara of nuclear science, Allen art But it may well be that. between human and robot. explains, it was discovered for a few hundred years "Man's capacity to manu- Man is not born to solve that one element could at least alchemists turned facture a robot ti'ie that appears problems of the universe, be converted into another if mercury to gold with the and like acts a human is but to find out whet it was bombarded with tools of nuclear physics. exponentially increasing," problems begin, and then to radiation. The radioactive — Moira Anderson says Arthur Harkins. director lake his stand within the energy would knock protons of " the graduate research limits of the imelligible oft the original element, "To know is nothing at all; to in " program futuristics at the —^lohann Wolfgang transmuting It to a lighter imagine is everything. University cf Minnesota, substance with a lower — Anatole France BLOND MUMMY OF ong-jawed man beside the nough, who had hit a girl SINKIANG lad stuck his thumb out hitchhiker with his car in d hailed him Fulton 1974. Setting the girl beside A comely blonde woman stopped the car, and the the road, Goodenough might not be so rare in hitchhiker climbed in, clearly had gone to fetch help, only Western societies, but what silhouetted in the overhead to find the girl forever van- was she doing in China light triggered by the open ished when he returned. around 2000 b.c ? That's the door. The man said nothing, In almost every instance, question lhat's been tanta- merely pointing straight however, Goss had trouble lizing Chinese scientists ahead. So Fulton turned to proving the truth of the since they unearthed a the task of negoliating the stories Newspaper accounts - the narrow road In contradicted another, 1 one we 1 p re se rved Ca ucasi a n car down mummy last year in the the darkness. When he few witnesses were named, northwestern province of finally looked around to offer and even when they were, Sinkiang. a cigarette, the man was Goss could rarely interview Archaeologists unearthed gone. them. Fulton was the only the corpse while digging blood type was O, that Fulton's encounter with "Credible" witness he ever in the desert province near she had high levels ot cho- his disappearing passenger, managed to find. After an atomic-test site Accord- lesterol in her muscles parapsychologist Michael listening to Fulton's story ing to a report in the China and — inexplicably— the Goss reports, Is only one of twice one night in a Dunsta- Daily, she's about five element antimony in her a rash ot phantom-hitch- ble pub, Goss decided he leet tall, forty years old, with lungs. This mystery woman hiker incidents in southern was nothing more than a reddish brown skin and is certainly not the only England in Ihe past several "sober, nol overly imagina- blond shoulder-length hair Caucasian mummy ever years. Shortly after inter- tive working man," Her skin is still elastic, found in China, but she viewing Fulton. Goss also Nonetheless, the lack of because of the preserving /s the oldest and most com- visited the nearby village witnesses who could cor- qualities of the desert In plete.—Douglas Starr of Nunney, where a series of roborate Fulton's story or any which she was buried, and phantom-hitchhiker sight- other stories led Goss to her internal organs are PHANTOM HITCHHIKER ings had sent residents doubt that phantom hitch- virtually intact. rushing to the local police hikers are physically real. Experts say she was Carpet-fitter Roy Fulton in "virtual hysteria." And ihe Rather, he believes, they are probably a member of the was driving home late after same year Goss investi- a "rare, hallucinatory event" Uigurs— forerunners of a darts match in Dunstable. gated newspaper accounts brought about by folklore present-day Turks—who England, when a gaunt. of one Maurice Goode- that lingers In our collective flourished as nomadic imagination from the time traders in central Asia cen- when man first drove horses turies before Christ was and chariots. Late at night, born. Although the Chinese exhausted and alone on considered the Uigurs a dark road, the vulnerable barbarians. Wu Tung, a driver may summon the curator at the Museum of ancient hitchhiker from his Fine Arts, in Boston, explains unconscious; in his weak- that these people, pictured ened state, he becomes above, possessed a rich convinced that the eerie fel- culture Influenced by low is truly sitting beside Greeks, Chinese, and Indi- him. — MarkTeich ans alike. They were finally driven west by the Chinese "Phantoms in general are Han dynasty in the second nothing more than trifling century a.d. disorders of the spirit, Doctors in Shanghai who images we cannot contain have been examining the within the bounds of steep." mummy have found that her —Luigi Pirandello 154 OMNI le, UFO's, OMNI's Continuum Through the pages of OMNI your fr wonders of tomorrow's world, guided by the breathtaking visions of such minds as Buckminster Fuller, Rene Dubos, Jonas Salk, Arthur C. Clarke, and Francis Crick. - OMNI is also the first magazine to combine science fact OMNI presents the imaginary worlds of such writers as ac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert and Robert Ffeinlein ...the very best in their field. only $23.95. That's $6.05 off the a beautiful gift card to announce "giftcosts only $21.95. Il-free 1-800-331-1750. Ask foi Dnnrui Everybody's making money FOUNDATION'S EDGE sellfiling microcomputers. Trantor. Nothing could be done io stop it. Somebody s going to make money Consequently. Gendibal had to be maneu- vered somehow into making his move be- fore he became First Speaker. servicing them. "Fortunately, because Gaia has been New NRI Home Study Course Shows You How To Make Money Servicing,. working carefully for decades, we have Repairing, and Programming Personal and Small Business Computers brought both Foundations to the proper place at the proper time, I repeat all this primarily so that Councilman Golan Trevize of Terminus may understand," Trevize cut in at once, again ignoring the effort to converse by thought. He spoke firmly, "I do no! understand. What is wrong with either version of the Second Galactic Empire?" Novi responded, "The Second Galactic Empire, worked out after the fashion of Ter- al systems control, minus, will be a military empire, estab- hiiJ«x:r:y lecip^s At:-;. Ihousands of hobby- lished by strife, maintained by strife, and ists 3't. a'.ready "' ''' e'periiiier.!i:ig ai'd eventually destroyed by strife. It will be Growing Demand for nothing but the First Galactic Empire re- Computer Technicians born. That is the view of Gaia. This is only one of the growth rectors ir "The Second Galactic Empire, worked slicing the increasing opportunities for qualified Trantor, computet technicians. The L.'.S. Department out after the fashion of will be a ilO'.c of Later proiects ovfr a i increase in ioii paternalistic empire, established by calcu- ops-rungs for tin; dec-ids through 19*5 Most lation, calculation, and in of :hem new jobs coaled by the expanding maintained by ilaine:]. y:r![i:r.c:- -liid finiiiialion drive hum; perpetual living death by calculation. That Learn at Home in Your Spare Time is the view of Gaia." e IO write 5. iTiple programs yourself, NRIcj Gaia have Become the Complete Trevize asked. 'And what does microcomputers, but word proc Computer Person to offer as an alternative?" In addition k> training in BASIC an;: ad- "Greater-Gaia! Galaxia! Every inhabited : uilh rl,!5rli..-w- .r:,::n "hilt- s\?.i>" I, you iced niichir.e language. y.:u gain l:and=-oi planet as alive as Gaia. Every living planet do evening; or u'eskends. ivi-hou: going :<> lapplica- classes!!i q-.nMcig youi present job. combined into a greater hyperspatial life. Every uninhabited planet participating. abilities Every star. Every scrap of interstellar gas. and features io perform a bos: of personal anc day's computers. You're ready to take your place Perhaps even the great central black hole. s;r I-.! I o:h small coir pjts:: business unctions No in the new electronic age. •lefor 10 other A living galaxy and one that can be made Other Opportunities and relied on by so many people. And it's yours favorable for all life in ways that we cannot NRI has been giving ambitious people yet foresee. A way of life fundamentally dif- 1 '! . Ii .1. i i, .. ,. ! .! ..i. .,' I ..i i. I'y'/A ii I- I . i II,' '.. ferent all that before, and ' from has gone pad of yoi 1 1 co-.ir.e. you build ,ivi-i s:ud;, circuits - alternative is it to be?' " - NB] Schools McGraw-Hill Conc.ru .no There was a vast silence that followed, hducation Center and finally, in that silence, Trevize's voice, _ c!939 Wisconsin Avenue mental at last, for he was too taken aback ?i IbM Washington D.C. iCOlo to speak, sounded small, but still defiant. "Why me?" lllH We'll give you tomorrow. Novi answered, recognized NO SALESMAN WILL CALL. "Though we the moment would come when either Ter- minus or Trantor would become too pow- erful to stop— or, worse yet, when both might become so powerful that a deadly stalemate would develop that could dev- astate the Galaxy—we still could not move. Ciiy/SMIe/Zip For our purposes we needed someone, a particular someone, with the talent for 'Tightness.' The people of Trantor found you. The act of finding you attracted our atten- " tion. Golan Trevize, you have the gift of knowing the right thing to do." "I deny it," Trevize retorted. "You are, every once in a while, sure. And we want you to be sure this time, on behalf oi the Galaxy. Perhaps you do not wish to have the responsibility. You may try not lo have to choose. Nevertheless, you will realize that it is right to do so. You will be sure! And then you will choose. Once we found you, we knew the search was over, and we have labored to encourage a course of action that would, wilhout direct mentalic interference, influence events so that all three of you, Mayor Branno, Speaker Gendibal. and Councilman Trevize, would be in the neighborhood of Gaia at the same time. We have done just this." Trevize said, "Is it not true, Gaia, that you can overpower both Ihe Mayor and the Speaker? That you can establish this living Galaxy without my decision?" "I Novi said, do not know whether I can explain this to your satisfaction, Gaia was formed thousands of years ago with the help of robots that for a brief time served the human species and now serve them no more. They made it quite clear to us that we could survive only by strictly applying the Three Laws of Robotics to all life. The Here's your chance to acquire two have been allocated for Norrh American First in Law, those terms, is 'Gaia may not rare, solid gold coins. The 1982 sale at this time. harm life or, through inaction, allow life to Gold Proof Sovereign and Half-Sov- Because of their rarity, craftsmanship come to harm.' We have followed this rule ereign. Issued in extremely limited and value, these coins are sure to be in- through all of our history, and we can do quantities. By the Official Government creasingly nothing else. sought after by collectors. We Mint of the United urge "The result is that we are now helpless. Kingdom. you not to miss this golden oppor- We cannot force our vision of the living tunity. Place your order for the 1982 Gold Proof Coins: Galaxy upon a quintillion humans and Proof Sovereign and Half-Sovereign today! The finest in countless other forms of life. Nor can we" the world do nothing and watch the Galaxy destroy To experts, proof coins are considered the itself in a struggle that we might have pre- world's most beautiful — because of their vented. We do not know whether action or craftsmanship and quality. Each of these inaction will cost the Galaxy less. Nor, if we distinctive 22 karat gold proof coins is choose action, do we know sup- whether double-struck on special blanks with high- porting Terminus or Trantor will cost the ly polished dies. That ensures sharp, clear Galaxy less. Let Councilman Trevize de- lines on every facet of the design. And, cide. Whatever his decision is, Gaia will each design stands out in frosted follow it." Please send all credir card Please send all Canadia relief against a brilliantly pol- "How do you expect me to make a de- 1 orders and U.S. funds to: fundi to: ished background — the tradi- cision?" Trevize inquired. 1 British Roval Mint British Royal Mini tional mark of proof coins. C/E Bardnvs Bank of N.Y. The Guardian Trus | do Co. Novi replied, "You have your Computer. | P.O. Box 2560 123 Yonge | Street The people of Terminus did not know that ' New York, N.Y. Classic designs 10163 Toronto M5CIW4 when they made it, they made it better than Item Price Qty. Amoim from history and legend they knew. The Computer on board your 1 1982 Gold Proof $199 (US) Sovereign S2-i--i . | (CAN) $ R09 ship incorporates some of Gaia. Place your Both coins feature two of the | | 1982 Gold Proof 5119 (US) hands on the terminals and think. You may world's most famous designs. Hal, -Sovereign 514" 1 (CAN) *x| think Mayor Branno's shield impervious, for The obverse of each bears the -rnTi t t instance. If you do, it is possible that she famed Arnold portrait Machin N.Y. re idents only, add sales tax will at once use her weapons to disable or of Queen Elizabeth II. And each GHAMT-lTnTAT f destroy the two other ships and thereby reverse beats a portrayal of the Check enclosed VISA MasterCard establish physical rule over Gaia later and, legendary St. George slaying on, Trantor." the dragon —a design so classic . 'And you will do nothing to stop that?" r h few that it has appeared on every said Trevize, astonished. gold sovereign since 1887. "Not a thing. If you are sure that domi- "**•' _:,,,„.., .„,,: B. ;- , f..r W" ,,:„(„,; „ || ,;,„,,.| , : 1.^ nation by Terminus will do the Galaxy less Less than 5,000 available harm than any other alternative, we will Only 22,500 of these coins will gladly help that domination along even at be struck worldwide — the most the cost.of our own destruction. R™». -7- "On the other hand, you may find Speaker limited mintage available to 1 collectors Gendibal's mentalic field, then join your in 40 years. Of that P.'eai! allmc 60 days for liiint-y. AH prim twiudi Hulugi. pat-kin quantity, only 5,000 of each DO,, Computer-magnified push to his. He will, | " free their machinery will not allow human history, no decade has been in that case, surely break free of me and sion because of bloodshed and violent death. Choose push me back. He may then adjust the them to. So they depend on you. They will and that will continue for a if bid them to. Is Mayor Branno Mayor's mind and, in combination with her destroy themselves you The dreary, all- the Galaxy?" million more decades. same ships, establish physical domination over this what' you want for The Seldon Plan offers re- whether I deadly round. Gaia, assuring the supremacy of the Sel- Trevize said, "I do not know not at the price of be- will. My mind may have lease from that and don Plan. Gaia will not move to stop that. have free Mayor. give coming one more atom in a Galaxy of at- "Or you may find my mentalic field and been subtly dealt with, so that I will desired." oms, being reduced to equality with grass, join that, and then the living Galaxy will be the answer that is "Your mind is totally un- bacteria, and dust." set in motion to reach its fulfillment, not in Novi said, bring ourselves to_ad- Novi spoke next: "What Speaker Gen- generation, or the next, but after cen- touched. If we could this Empire, purposes, this whole dibal says of the First Foundation's turies oi labor during which the Seldon Plan just you to suit our with. he says of his own, I do unnecessary. Were we I agree What will continue. The choice is yours."' meeting would be not. The Speakers of Trantor are, after all, Mayor Branno said, "Wait! Do not make that unprincipled, we could have pro- beings. Are with what we would find most independent free-will human decision just yet. May I speak?" ceeded a pol- concern for they free of destructive competition, of Novi nodded. "You may speak freely, So pleasing to ourselves, with no of clawing upward at all costs? Are may Speaker Gendibal." the greater needs and good of humankind itics, there no quarrels, and even hatreds, at the Branno said, "Remember that you are a as a whole." Table? Will they always be guides you dare Foundationer and a human being, that you Gendibal said, "I believe it is my turn to do not be follow? Put Speaker Gendibal on his honor, do not want to be a cipher in the plans of speak. Councilman Trevize, parochial feelings. fact and ask him this." the bloodless mathematicians ot Trantor, guided by mere The Terminus-born should not lead "No need to put me on my honor," Gen- than a cipher in a Galactic mish- that you are or less have our believe that Terminus comes before dibal said. "I freely admit we mash of life and nonlife. You want yourself, you to Gal- hatreds, competitions, and betrayals at the your descendants, your fellowpeople to be the Galaxy. For five centuries now the Table. But once a decision is reached, it is independent organisms possessing free axy has been operating in accordance with never been Plan. adhered to by all. There has will. Nothing else matters. the Seldon been, part of the Sel- an exception to this." "These others may tell you that our Em- "You are, and have lesser role as Foun- Trevize asked, "What if I will not make a pire will lead to bloodshed and misery, but don Plan before your this dationer. Do not do anything to disrupt the choice?" it need not. It is our decision whether narrow concept "You must," said Novi. "You will know should be so or not. We may choose not. Plan, either on behalf of a and you will there- with of patriotism or out of a romantic longing that it is right to do so. In any case, it is better to go to defeat untried. men of Trantor fore make a choice." free will than to live in meaningless secu- for ihe new and The choice and can- I a will in hamper the free will of hu- "What if try to make rity as a cog in a machine. Observe that no way not despots. not?" Trevize insisted you are now being asked lo make a deci- mankind. We are guides, Galactic Empire fundamen- "You must." sion as a free-will human being. These "We offer a Throughout Trevize said, "How much time do I have?" things of Gaia are unable to make a deci- tally djfferent from the First. Novi said, "Until you are sure, however long that takes." Trevize sat silently. It seemed to him that he could hear the pulsing of his blood. He could hear Mayor Branno's voice say firmly. "Free will!" Speaker Gendibal's voice said peremp- torily. "Guidance and peace!" Novi's voice said wistfully, "Lite." Trevize, noticing Pelorat looking at him, asked, "Janov, have you heard all this?" "Yes, I have, Golan." "What do you think?" "The decision is not mine." "1 know that. But what do you think?" frightened all three "I don't know. I am by alternatives. —And yet a peculiar thought comes to me "Yes?" "When we first went out into space, you showed me the Galaxy. Remember?" "Of course." "You speeded time, and the Galaxy ro- antici- tated visibly. And I said, as though pating this very moment, 'The Galaxy looks like a living thing, crawling through space.' Do you think that in a way it is alive al- ready?" And Trevize, remembering that moment, was suddenly sure. He turned in haste, anxious not to have time to think, to doubt, to grow uncertain. He placed his hands on the terminals and thought with an intensity he had never known before. He had made his decision —the one on which the fate of the Galaxy hung.DQ MIND TRIPPING CONTINUED FflOM PA Y)u never forget tion, in Topeka, Kansas, have wired up In- dian yogis in order to extract their neuro- transcendent secrets, and turned up (lashy electroencephalograms (EEGs) here and yourfirstGirl. there. But, by and large, the physiological mapping of altered states remains a fairly unevolved science. Only in sleep and dreams do brainwave recordings exactfy mirror states of consciousness, but to everyone's dismay, the great REM (rapid- , eye-movement) sleep discovery of the early Sixties didn't usher in a bold new age of precise consciousness measurement. Meditation research has yielded an am- biguous melange of EEGs, galvanic skin responses, and so on, while the venerable 200- year-old science o! hypnosis so eludes scientists' instruments that some doubt it's an ASC at all. We know a good deal about the way LSD meddles with brain chemistry but not whether one will merge with the universe, suffer grotesque nightmares, or just enjoy an extra thrill on a ride at Dis- neyland. Then, of course, there are innu- merable odd states, tram trance medium- ship to out-of-body travel and Greek fire- walking, the physiology of which remains virtually uncharted. Parapsychologist/altered-states mogul Charles (Chuck) Honorton has picked up some intriguing EEG changes and other biological phenomena in a handful of med- itators, psi performers, and people who pass through his Ganzfeld sensory-isola- tion chamber at the Princeton (New Jer- sey) Psychophysical Research Laborato- ries. Yet he admits, "Trying to interpret brain function from surface electrodes is like trying to figure out a computer program by putting a microphone on top of the cabi- " net. We're talking about the most complex piece of matter we know of." Honorton has certain notions about sainthood, however, or at least the state of consciousness underlying it. Still the sens- es, shut out the bustle from the outside world, and profound spiritual states may well up from within, just as dreams occur when we close off the sensory gates at night. This concept goes by the name psy- chophysical noise reduction, and that is what Ganzfeld—which Honorton uses to warm up his subjects for psychokinesis and other psychic tests — is really about. Never one to look a gift ASC in the mouth, I accept Honorton's invitation to spend 20 minutes in the Ganzfeld room. Gazing at an apricot-colored light, my vision muted with split Ping-Pong balls and my ears cov- ered with earphones that play waterfall sounds in my ears, I do pass into a dreamy state. The rosy light turns into a stylized sun, then an orchid that blooms and shrinks again, and then I am far, far away from the Princeton-Psychophysical Research Lab- oratories and at some remembered lake. My legs underwater are alien greenish fish, and only those long-legged skating bugs deficit of ripple across my thoughts, until Honor- tem into a domain of pure consciousness. "So I think we store up a these brain/mind question is periods, whose purpose is to 'recharge' I thinks the ton's assistant calls me and I surface. Barber the fertilized our brains with internal stimuli," Carrington emerge, spaced out, it unenlightened. I am a silly one. "Go back to egg no Joan of Arc, and the voices that speak where we all began," he says. 'And then asserts, "and that may be just as damag- deprivation." to me sound more like crackling radio an- ask where mind comes in. It's so obvious ing as prolonged REM-sleep with the "self" nouncements. that it's both mind and matter from the very The result? We lose touch "One way of looking at some religious beginning. The molecules have mental as we know in reverie, meditation, and dreams, Carrington notes in her aphorisms is as a system of progressive well as physical properties in that they have the one that, as psychophysical noise reduction," Honor- plan and purpose, which are attributes of book Freedom in Meditation, "operates in from ton says. "Purity, poverty, contemplation, mind." a dim but intimate world, removed time and involvement with and so on aren't for the sake of piety but If there is one undisputed fact about al- considerations of because these are methods of removing tered states, though, it is that we need them. past and future." sensory distractions and increasing men- Many of us, in fact, may be walking around I think Carrington is right. There was a bouts of black an- tal concentration. A good example is Pa- today in an acute state of altered-state time when, troubled by palmist tanjali's yoga sutras, composed in the sec- deprivation. omie, I used to consult a named lived, with of ond century B.C., in India. All the practices "My hypothesis is that we live in a so- Madame Ruby. She a brood can be seen as syslematic noise reduc- ciety that is starved for natural rhythms, for dirty children, in a boxlike stucco house in and a tion, which eventually culminates in sa- the biological alternation of activity and rest the shade of a spindly palm tree in her madhi, a transcendental state in which the we see in animals," Dr. Patricia Carrington, huge neon-lit hand. Taking my hand normal boundaries between the self and a psychologist and meditation authority who pudgy bejeweled one, she'd gaze soulfully eyes and say meaningful things others disappear. It may not be so dissim- teaches at Princeton University, tells me. into my person, but some- ilar to what people on marijuana experi- "Only in man is there such a thing as sev- like, "You are a good ence when they find themselves staring at enteen hours of continuous wakefulness." times you are sad," and then she'd ask for the wallpaper for twenty minutes." Carrington points to studies documenting a donation for her "church." I knew she I natural daytime cycles thai correspond to was a fraud, but I went anyway. Perhaps STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART our nocturnal journeys into REM (dream- was altered-state-deprived, or perhaps I to be reminded that some es- Despite all the research — all the ques- ing) sleep every 90 minutes. Left to our just needed tionnaires, psychonaut excursions, Ganz- own devices, we humans spontaneously sential Self in me, perhaps graven in the feld chambers, EEGs, and brain-stripe "shift gears" into reverie states about every lines of my palm, was connected with a Pattern. once told me, models— confusion still reigns in altered- 90 minutes of the day, according to ex- As Madame Ruby with states land. Siegel believes that all altered periments conducted by University of Cal- amid the fat Buddhas, anemic Christs other re- states spring from quite similar quirks of ifornia sleep researchers Daniel F. Kripke exposed radioactive hearts, and the brain machine, while Tart and Honor- and David Sonnenschein. Unfortunately, ligious bric-a-brac of her palm-reading ton suspect that some may be trapdoors our society doesn't allow us to indulge in room, "Do not look for God outside of you. out of the physical brain and nervous sys- thesd cyclical mini-ASCs. God is always in your heart." DO chance to find the best move. In simplified to push the pawn up first, but that leads to form, here's how brute-force searching a draw. Winning requires using the king to MIND MACHINES works: The computer considers making one outmaneuver the opposing king. Today move, -and its opponent's reply, followed Nuchess not only can win such maneu- having a very good day. The world's luck- by another move by the computer and so vering but will look ahead and trade off iest and strongest thir teen-hundred player, on for eight or so of these half-moves. The pieces to get to the two-on-one situation. Stanford, devel- because it doesn't know a thing, but still it machine considers every possible alter- Wilkins, in his work at finds nice tactical combinations." native in a rapidly branching tree of moves oped and proved a rjiethod by which the 1 Since a computer in operation is no more and then assigns a number to the board computer can use concepts such as how than a great cascade of arithmetic in a box, position at the end of each tree branch. to capitalize on a weak defensive array Slate says that a computer playing chess This value depends on how many pieces around the king. "wanders through a space ot positions that the computer would have, and other fac- Berliner, at Carnegie-Mellon University, it doesn't understand. It wanders into tors. At the end of each search, the basic has built a backgammon program that two something where it turns out that it is win- brute-force chess-playing device moves years ago beat the world champion— the ning. It seems [in the view ot the computer] in pursuit of the highest payoff. The whole first time that a computer program had to happen almost by chance. It suddenly process requires no sophistication. beaten a world champion at any board or built what was additionally un- says, Aha! I seem to be winning!' Many of those who have computer card game. But "The computer doesn't know what it's chess programs are now trying to add more usual about the match was that the pro- calculation, doing from move to move, but it finds clever chess knowledge to their programs. gram won, not by brute-force ways of surviving, and it wears out its hu- "I have to get some sort of notion of at- but by more subtle, humanlike play. man opponent," he says. tacking weak points, putting the pressure Berliner built into that program—he be- This "spacey" sort of chess can actually on," Thompson says. lieves it can be a powerful technique in create a psychological advantage for ma- Slate adds, "The key is to have a smart, chess as well— a kind of master control function (called in chines against human opponents. "Our brute-force program. What I want to do is system. This new SNAC program has won against people by get- put in enough chess knowledge to make the backgammon program, for smooth- ting into ludicrous positions where its king Nuchess a sixteen-hundred player having ness, nonlinearity, and applications coef- wanders all over [he board or something," a very good day. A sixteen-hundred player ficients) gave his program a real feel for unnerving the human player by dragging on a good day is probably a master." the game and where it stood: SNAC per- him into unchesslike situations. One thing Slate has added to his pro- mitted choice in the style of play— more But at the heart of the power of brute- gram recently is a bit of knowledge for the aggressive or passive—as the game force chess is the simple fact that exam- end game, the stage of play following a changed. It allowed Ihe program to make ining many possible moves—thousands of .major reduction in the number of pieces: use of a whole array of new knowledge. totally worthless ones as well as one or two that the game can be won by a pawn and "It seems SNAC functions are the proper brilliant ones — gives the computer a a king facing only a king. Computers tend means of capturing the characteristic that (^^m£A^-^^____ " "Ot course, it's only a prototype. The actual product will be much smaller and come In assorted fruit flavors. 162 OMNI . human beings call judgment," Berliner says. "They make it possible to respond to small changes in stimuli with small changes in behavior, and this is exactly what judg- ment (as opposed to deduction) is all about. The next five years should see remarkable advances in computer game-playing." By most estimates, a computer will beat the human world champion in 20 years. There is already enough powerful hard- ware, and plenty of ideas on how to put more chess knowledge into machines, to ensure the computer's victory. The remaining problem is that the entire developmenf of computer chess has been done by resea'cners sneaking an hour here and there in spare time. Government funds simply are not available. The poliiical cost would be too high if someone found out ,Your Rabbit can delivers superb traction in rain that tax money was being spent on games. ^bea real tiger or snow. Handling is crisp Never mind that computer chess re- on the right set of tires. id precise. And the fuel give it search, even withouf funds, has produced So a set of new economy of 721 Metrix Firestone 721® Metrix a number of programming advances that will help your Rabbit —the steel-belted perform at the pump. may be useful in such "experl knowledge" radials designed Tires can make a big programs as the ones that help a doctor specially for imports difference. So check diagnose disease. There are no bounda- like your Rabbit. out the 721 Metrix, ries between disciplines in artificial intel- 721 Metrix is Ready for you ligence. From tricks to make programs run an all-season radial. —and your Rabbit a little faster to fundamentally important re- With it's aggressive at your Firestone search in the understanding of human European tread, it Retailer now. thinking, it is one field, populated by some Renaissance men. Simon, for example, one firestone of the pioneers in artificial intelligence, won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1978. 721 METRIX. THE RADIAL, REDESIGNED FOR IMPORT CARS. Computer chess programmers speak. wistfully of what might happen if they had more time to spend at their machines. Fred Schwartz, who runs Chaos, a chess-play- ing program at the University of Michigan, says, "We have about twenty-five man- HITACHI years' work outlined [to put more knowl- edge into Chaos], and about one month to presents the sound of actually work on it in the next year. "What if Ken [Thompson] spent a full year on building up his evaluation function? I think he would make another big leap for- ward. Maybe not all the way to grand mas- QUALITY ter, but pretty far," Schwartz estimates. He concludes with a story about the last World Computer Chess Championship, held in Linz, Austria, in 1980. At the end of regular play. Belle and Chaos had tied. Belle with its brute-force approach looked at something like 150,000 positions in asec- ond during the match. Chaos, emphasiz- ing a far more subtle evaluation of moves, looked at only 85 positions a second. Before the sudden-death match to de- Finally.. .A Deck That Tests Your EQ. cide the winner, Schwartz recalls a con- Introducing the 'most sophisticated tape deck Hitachi has ever versation with Thompson: "In of a moment created. It not only has every hi-tech feature imaginable — it has a exuberance, Ken said, 'Well, I'm only doing drain; The heart of Hitachi's Automatic Tape Response System. By a hundred fifty thousand nodes a second, means of a micro-computer, it will run a musical test sequence and but I've got a plan to do two hundred fifty automatically adjust the bias, gain and EQ levels to exactly match thousand nodes, and I'll be back next lime that particular tape. The brain's memory will store the with that!' " Schwartz, equally high on the • characteristics moment, replied, "Great, Ken, but we'll of four different tapes. And the battery back-up will come back next time with one that searches preserve the memory through intervening power-offs. only ten nodes a second!" Belle won the close contest. But no one HITACHI is writing off the future of subtle machines, # or discounting the finesse of the human minds that design them. DO " that, all right. all the work too, soon as I get this down—" "We do We do The he named Walter 23-X sneered. tor them, and half the play, too. We're the FARMER "Slave mentality! What's it going to get ones that fill the concert hall when one of you?" them wants to sing some kind of dumb Lat- sations tie had never experienced before. "Well, I've got a job to do," Zeb said de- vian art songs or something. God, I've done "Well, actually," he said uneasily, "1 feel a fensively. that so many times I just never want to hear your/ob was!" about another birch tree again! We work in little funny." He put his hand over his hip "Job! Timothy told us what — factories tank. "Don't know what it is, exactly, but it's Walter 23-X took a deep draft of the beer the and farms and mines to " said wistfully. "There's not of in this : Zeb kind of iike I had a power-store failure, you and went on, one us "Used to, right, and that they don't know? And it all swelled up inside me. Only whole place has a real job! If we did., we "Used now that's not where my power store is." wouldn't be here, stands to reason! Look need us for that, they make us fill up their left on Earth Lori giggled. "You just aren't used to at me. I used to chop salt in the Detroit damn cities so the humans drinking beer, are you, hon? You got to de- mines. Now they've put in automatic dig- won't feel so lonesome. We're a hobby. Zeb. cant, that's all. See that door over there gers and I'm redundant. And Milt here, he That's all we are!" marked he? You just go in there, and if you was constructed for the iron mines up "Yeah, but—" can'f figure out what to do, you just ask around Lake Superior." "Oh, hell." sneered Walter 23-X, "you somebody to help you." "Don't tell me they don't mine iron," Zeb know what you are? You're part of the objected. "How else would they build us?" problem! You don't care about robot rights!" Zeb didn't have to ask for help. However, Milt shook his head. "Not around the lake, "Robot rights," Zeb repeated. He under- of words perfectly. the process was all new to him, and it did they don't It's all out in space now. They've stood the meaning the it occurred him require a lot of trial and error. So it was got these Von Neumann automata, not even of course, but had never to some time before he came back into the real robots at all. They just go out to the to put them together in that context. It tasted noisy, crowded room. Lori was spinning asteroid belt and ship off ore and refine it strange on his lips. around the room with a big, dark-skinned and build duplicates of themselves, and "Exactly. Our right not to be mistreated he, which relieved Zeb of that obligation. then they come back to the works in low- and abused. You think we want to be here? He ordered a round of beers and took them Earth orbit and hop right into the smelter! In a place like this, with all this noise? No. back to the table. How's a robot go no ic compete with that?" It's just so people like her can get their Somebody was missing, but otherwise "See, Zeb?" Timothy put in. "It's a tough jollies," he said angrily, jerking his head at they didn't seem to have changed position world for a robot, and that's the truth." the nodding fat woman by the door. at all. "Where's the little she?" Zeb asked, Zeb took a reflective pull at his beer. The she named Alexandra drained the ventured, "Well, really, setting the beers down for ail of them. "Yes," he said, "but, see, I don't know how last of her beer and it "Sally? She's gone off panhandling. it could be any better for us. You know? I Walter, I kind of like here. I'm not in the Probably halfway to Amadeus Park by now." mean, they built us, after all. We have to same. class asyou heavy thinkers, I know. Toying with his beer, Zeb said uneasily, do what they want us to do." I'm not really political. It's just that some- sure," cried the Sue. times, honestly, I could just scream. So it's "You know, maybe I better be getting along, "Ob, she named either a place like this, or I go up to Ama- deus Park with Sally and the other alco- holics and drifters and bums. Speaking of which," she added, leaning toward Timo- thy, "if you're not going to drink your beer, I'd just as soon." The little robot passed it over silently, and Zeb observed for the first time thai it was untouched. "What's the matter, Timothy?" he asked. "Why does something have to be the matter? I just don't want any beer." "But last week you said — oh, my God!" Zeb cried, as revelation burst inside his mind. "You've lost your drink circuits, haven't you?" "Suppose I have?" Timothy demanded fiercely, And then he softened, "Oh. it's not your fault," he said moodily. 'Uust more oi the same thing. I had an accident." "What kind of accident?" Zeb asked, re- pelled and fascinated. Timothy traced designs m the damp rings that his untouched beer glass had left on the table. "Three nights ago," he said. "I at had a good night. I scored four people once, coming but ot a hotel on East Erie. A really big haul —they must've been pro- grammed to be rich alcoholics, because they were loaded. All ways loaded! Then when I was getting away, I crossed Mich- igan against the light and — Jesus!" He shuddered without looking up. "This big- wheeled car came oui of nowhere. Came fimp- screeching around the corner, never even slowed down. And there I was in the street." "You got run over? You mean that messed up your drinking subsystems?" " . "Oh, hell, no, not just that. II was worse. .It crushed legs, my you see? I mean, just scrap metal. So the ambulance came, and they raced me off to the hospital, but of after I course was there, since I was a ro- bot, they didn't do anything for me. just shot me out the back door into a van. And they took me to rehab for new legs. Only 1 that blonde bitch.' he sobbed, "that Three- R she with the dime-store earrings— If Zeb's eyes had been capable of tears, they would have been brimming. "Come on, Timothy," he urged. "Spit it out!" "She had a better idea. 'Too many mug- . gers anyway,' she said. 'Not enough crip- 1 ples. So she got me a little wheeled cart and a tin all cup! And the special stuff I had, the drinking and eating and all the rest, I wouldn't need them anymore, she Help your Datsu said, and besides, she wanted the space It delivers superb traction in deliver the kind ain or snow. Handling is crisp for other facilities. Zeb, I play the violin now! of performance and econ and precise. And as for fuel I don't I And mean play it well. I play it so omy it was designed $ economy, 721 Metrix was bad I can't even stand to listen to myself, for. it a Give set of new '„ id with your and she wants me on Michigan Avenue Firestone 721'' Metri Datsun in mind. everyday, in front of the stores, playing my —the steel- belted Tires can make a fiddle and begging!" radials designed for big difference. So cars Zeb stared in horror at his friend. Then like your Datsun check out the 721 suddenly he pushed back his chair and The721Metrixis Metrix. Ready for the an all-season radia peered under the table. It was true: Timo- 200 SX and other with aggressive thy's legs ended in Datsuns, at your black leather caps, European tread. Firestone Retailer. halfway down the thighs, and a thing like a padded-wheeled pallet was propped against the table leg beside him. fire$tone Alexandra patted his hand as he came 721 METRIX. back up. "It's really bad when you first get THE RADIAL, REDESIGNED FOR IMPORT CARS. the picture," she said. "I know. What you need is another beer, Zeb. And thank God you've got the circuits to use it!" THE SPACE SHUTTLE Since Zeb was not programmed for full alcoholism— not yet, anyway, he told him- SILVERPIECE SERIES self with a sob—he was not really drunk, but he was fuzzy in mind and in action as Limited release proof issue he finally left the community center. " He was appalled to. see that the sky right '^v 0NE above the lake was already beginning to " OUNCE lighten. The night was almost over, and he SOLID had not scored a single victim. He would SILVER have to. take the first robot that came along The first ha!f-dozen, in fact, if he were to meet his quota, and there simply was not actual size time to get to his proper station at the Rob- ert Taylor Houses. He would have to make $24.50 do with whoever appeared. He stared around, getting his bearings, and ob- 'AMERICA'S GREATNESS IN SPACE' served that around the corner RARITIES from the MINT is proud to Introduce an exclusive limited edition of a 100% pure silver proof spec. in community center there was a lighted, men ^ wr.es of lour, commemorating the achievements of each of America's first three space shuttle craft. This release offers you the swinging sign that said robot's rest mis- opportunity to become a pan of Ana.-njas soaoe history. sion. That r was the outfit that kept the.com- These brilliani n oo1 q.aliiy siivorpiscss are minted from master hand-engraved dies which capture the munity center open, he knew, and there space shuttle's fin-:- details in ;nri=* i'!r~i?n:ional relief. Every K liver piece gm t,i=fli.?d plastic xn n wii-i j; cer:'is;d assav -:.r-j-iificaje was a tall, prosperous-looking to guarantee he coming purity, werght, serial and number. Each of the series will be available in a limited quan- out of the door. tity. America's Greatness in Space' shown above, is the introduction to our series of Zeb didn't hesitate. He stepped up, pulled By acting before Dec. 31, 1962, you will be able to out his knife, and acquire this exclusive edition pressed it to the victim's and will be guarantee Q% so |id belly, hard enough to be felt silverpiece. These. :re n-s! ;,.:orie? of without pen- £.riijtrler;raH iiUvsf pir-f.-.t -,vi.l become a family heirloom, making you and your family etrating'. "Your money or your life," he part of America s great space hislory. growled, reaching for the wristwatch. Then the victim turned his head and RARITIES MINT, P.O. BOX 3937, ANAHEIM, CA 92803 caught the- light on his features. It was a face Zeb knew. CREDIT CARD HOLDERS, CALL NATIONAL: 1-800-854-0561; "Reverend Harmswallow!" he gasped. IN CALIF. 1-800-432-7257, Ext. 916 "Oh, my God!" 'Second in the series -Columbia the Explorer' issuance 2/31/83 The minister fixed him with a baleful look. mobility up lo the red line and darted oul age design, Sally was obviously quite an faint odor that "I can't claim that much." he said, "but between cars. Brakes screamed, horns old robot. From the smoky maybe I'm close enough for the purpose. brayed but he was across. came to him Ihrough the drizzly air he re- My boy, you're damned for good now!" Behind him was the busy skyline of the alized she was fuel-cell-powered. Half a Zeb didn't make a conscious decision. city, ahead the statue of Amalfi Amadeus, century old. at least. He emptied his pock- He simply turned and ran. the man whose invention of cheap, easy ets. "Get yourself some new parts, kid," he hoarsely. If he hadn't had the alcohol content fuzz- hydrogen-fusion power had made every- said ing .his systems, he might not have both- thing possible. Zeb stood on a paved- path "Gee, thanks. Zeb"!" she sobbed, then ered, because he knew without having to among hedges and shrubs, and all around, added, "Watch it!" She drew him into the shelter dripping shrub. park police think about it that it was no use. There him furtive figures were leaning against of a A weren't many places to run. He couldn't trees, sprawled on park benches, moving hovercar whooshed slowly by. ail lights off, run back to the Robert Taylor Houses, his slowly about. windshield wipers slapping back and forth assigned workplace; they would look for 'All leather, one dollar," croaked one male across the glass, sides glistening in the but him there first. Not back to the community figure, holding out what turned out to be a wet. Zeb retreated into the shadows, center, not with Harmswallow just around handful of purses, the police were just keeping an eye on the the corner. Not to the rehab station, be- "Hey, man! You want to smoke?" called park's drifters, losers, and vagrants. cause that was just the same as walking another from behind a bench. As the hovercar disappeared around a right into jail. Not anywhere, in fact, where And a tiny female figure detached itself curve in the path, the drifters, losers, and there were likely to be police, or human from the base of the monument and ap- vagrants began to emerge from the un- warily; beings of any kind, and that meant not any- proached him. "Mister?" it quavered. "Can derbrush. Zeb looked around he where in the world, because wherever he you spare the price of a lube job?" hadn't realized until then how many of them went, they would find him sooner or later. Zeb stared at her. "Sally!" he said. "It's there were. are doing here, Zeb?" she If worse came to worst, they would track you, isn't it?" "What you the radio emissions from his working parts. The little robot gazed up at him. "Oh. hi. asked. "I little trouble," said, then But that would not happen for a while. Zeb," she said. "Sorry I didn't recognize had a he Amadeus Park' Trash and vagrants col- you. What are you doing out in the rain?" shrugged hopelessly. What was the point "I to lected there, and thai was exactly what he He hadn't even realized it was raining. of trying to keep it a secret? went out was now. He hadn't realized much of anything not mug somebody, and I got a human being In broad daylight he loped all the. way directly related to his own problems, but by mistake." up the lake shore until he came to the park. now, looking down at !he wistful little-girl "Oh, wow! Can he identify you?" The traffic was already building up, hover face, he was touched. Around the table in "Unfortunately, I used to know him, so, vehicles in the outer drives, wheeled ones the community center she had just been yes — no. you keep it." he added quickly between park and city. Getting through the one more stranger. Now she reminded him as she made as if to return the money he stream was not easy, but Zeb still had his of Gienda. the little she from the cabin next had given her. "Money won't help me now." heavy-duty circuitbreakers. He pushed his to his back on the farm. But in spite of her She nodded soberly. "I wouldn't do it, but . . . Oh, Zeb, I'm trying to save for a tell whole new chassis, see? I can't you how much I want to grow up, but every time 1 ask for a new body, they say the central nervous array isn't really worth sal- vaging, All I want's a mature form, you know? Like hips and boobs! But they won't let me have a mature form. Say there's more openings for juveniles anyway, but what I want to know is. if there are all those open- ings, why don't they find me one?" "When was the last time you worked regular?" Zeb asked. "Oh, my God—years ago: I had a nice spot for a long time, pupil in a preprimary school that some human person wanted to teach in. That was all right. She didn't realty like me. though, because I didn't have all the fixtures, you know? When she was teaching Ihings like toilet-training and cov- ering coughs and sneezes, she'd always give me this dirty look. But I could handle the cookies and milk all right," she went on dreamily, "and I really liked the games." "So what went wrong?" "Oh— the usual thing. She- got tired of teaching 'Run, Robot! See the robot run!' So she went for a progressive school. All about radical movements and peace marches. 1 was doing real good at it, too. Then one day we came in and she told us we were too juvenile for the kind oi classes she wanted to teach. And there we were, eighteen of us, out on the streets. Since "/ doubt that anybody is more devoted to the study then it's been nothing but rotten." She of penguins than Sister Margaret!" glanced up, wiping the rain out of her eyes— or the tears — as the purse vendor " ' approached. "We don't wan! to buy any- thing, Hymie." "Nobody does," he said bitterly, but there was sympathy in his eyes as he studied Zeb. "You got real trouble, don't you? 1 can always tell." Zeb shrugged hopelessly and told him about the Reverend Harmswallow. The vendor's eyes widened. "Oh, God," he said. He beckoned to one of the dope pushers. "Hear thai? This guy just mugged a human being—second offense, too!" "Man I That's a real heavy one, you know?" He turned and called to his part- ner, down the walk, "We got a two-time person mugger here. Marcus!" And in a minute there were a dozen robots standing around, glancing apprehensively at Zeb and whispering among themselves. , Don't ask it to do ^^^©* outstanding traction in rain or Zeb didn't have to hear what they were its best on til snow, The handling is crisp that weren't saying; he could figure it out. designed nd precise. When it comes it. Instead, give your "Keep away from me," he offered. "You'll to fuel economy, 721 Escort a set of new Metrix is just get mixed up in my trouble." state of the Firestone 721 f: Metnx On721Metnx,the Sally piped suddenly, "If it's your trou- —the steel-belted performance of your ble, it's everybody's trouble. We have to radials designed for Escort will give you stick together. In union there is strength." today's smaller cars. 5£ 5jiOS plenty to be proud "What?" Zeb demanded. 721Metrixisthe ~t yS^[ about. So check out "It's something I remember from, you ideal companion for jjP ifcfcAl this remarkable new front-wheel know, just before I got kicked out of the Escort :^T SfSEa radial. Now at your drive. ..to give progressive school. 'In union there is you irScr^Ai Firestone Retailer. strength.' It's what they used to say.'" "Union!" snarled the pitchman, gestur- 1 ing with his tray of all-leather purses. "Don ! T So what was I supposed to do? They made' me a sidewalk pitchman!" He stared at his tray of merchandise, then violently tlung it into the shrubbery. "Haven't sold one in two months! What's the use of kidding my- self? If you don't get along with the rehab robots, you might as well be stockpiled. It's all politics." Sally looked thoughtful (or a moment, then pulled something out of her data stores. "Listen to this one," she called. "The strike's your weapon, boys, the hell with politics!' Zeb repeated, "The strike's your weapon, boys, the hell with politics!' Hey. that doesn't sound bad." "That's not all," she said. Her stiff, poorly automated lips were working as she re- hearsed material from her data storage. Dispelling many com- "Here. 'We all ought to stick together be- Rbri misconceptions of both science aEHj ..religion, the author explains the subtle cause in union there is strength.' And, let's but:-.'.- .definite psycho-physiological laws whicri-5 see. 'Solidarity is forever.' No, that's not right." "Wait a minute," Hymie cried, "I know that one. It's a song: 'Solidarity forever, sol- idarity forever, solidarity forever, for the Self-Realization Fellowship union makes us strong!' That was in my =-W? \,0;i 3880 San Rafael Ave., Dept. 2L basic data store. Gosh," he said, his eyes HK Los Angeles, California 90065 dreamy, "1 hadn't thought of that one in CELESTRON INTERNATIONAL ?sh I YOGI. years!" P.O. Box 3S7S-OM 2B35 Columt En*s?d i; 5. 50—postpaid (CA add sales iax| Torrance. CA 90503 Zeb looked around nervously. There were NAME. nearly thirty- robots in the group now, and while it was rather pleasant to be part of this fraternity of the discarded, it might also be dangerous. People in cars were stow- ! " " ing down to peer at them as they went past where the human guards were said to get Harmswallow, to Zeb's surprise and on the drive. "We're attracting attention," their jollies out of making prisoners fight concern, was beaming. He looked up from he ottered. "Maybe we ought to move." each other for power cells? the CRT and inspected Zeb carefully. "And But wherever they moved, more and more A toe 'caught him on the hip. "On your some restructuring of the facial-expres- people stopped to watch them, and more feet, Mac!" It was a guard. Big, burly, black, sion modes, I should think. He ought to and more robots appeared to join their with a nightstick swinging at his hip, the look fiercer, wouldn't you say?" procession. It wasn't just the derelicts from very model of a brutal jail guard—Model 'Absolutely, Reverend! You have a mar- Amadeus Park now. Shes shopping along twenty-six forty-seven, Zeb thought; at least, velous eye for this kind of thing." the lake-front stores darted across the somewhere in the twenty-six hundred se- "Yes, I do," Harmswallow admitted. "Well, street; convention delegates in the door- ries. He reached down with a hand like a I'll leave the rest to you. I want to see about ways of the big hotels stood watching and cabbage and pulled Zeb to his feet. "The the design changes for the young female. 1 I I is sometimes broke ranks to join them. They rest of you can go home," he roared, open- feel so fulfilled . You know, think this were blocking traffic, and blaring horns ing the pen door. "You, Mac! You come the sort of career I've been looking for all added to the noise of the robots singing with me!" He led Zeb through the police my life, really, chaplain to a dedicated and shouting. "I got another one," Sally station to a waiting hovertruck with the striking force, leader in the battle for right called to him across the front of the group. words rehab division painted on its side, and justice!" He gazed raptly into space, " 'The worker's justice is the strike.' thrust Zeb inside, and, startlingly, just as then, collecting himself, nodded to the re- Zeb thought for a moment. "It'd be bet- he closed the doors, gave Zeb a wink. hab officer and departed. ter if it was 'The robot's justice is the strike.' Queerly, that lifted Zeb's spirits. Even the Although the room was carefully air-con- "What?" pigs were moved! But the tiny elation did ditioned, Zeb's Josephson junctions were " 'THE ROBOT'S JUSTICE IS THE not last. Zeb clung to the side of the van, working hard enough to pull moisture out STRIKE!' " he yelled, and he could hear peering out at the grimy warehouses and of the air. He could feel the beads of con- robots in the rear ranks repeating it. When factories and expressway exit ramps that densation forming on his forehead and they said it all together, it sounded even once had seemed so glamorous, but now temples. "I know what you're doing," he better, and others caught the idea. sneered. "War games! You're going to make Hymie screamed, "Let's try this one: me a soldier and hope that I get so smashed Jobs, Not Stockpiling. Don't Throw Us on up I'll be redlined!" the Scrapheap!' All together now!" The blonde stared at him. "War games! And Zeb was inspired to make up a new What an imagination you have, Zeb!" one: "Give the Humans Rehab Schools: mZeb stumbled Furiously he dashed the beads of mois- We Want Jobs!" And they all agreed that and missed a step. On one ture off his face. "It won't work," he cried, was the best of the lot; with a hundred fifty "Robots have rights! I may fall, but a million side Hymie grabbed robots shouting it at once, the last three others will stand firm behind me!" words drummed out like cannon fire, it his arm; on the other She shook her head admiringly. "Zeb, raised from the building fronts, and you're a great satisfaction to me. You're echoes • _ he reached out heads popped out of windows. practically perfect just as you are tor your the hand of They were not all robots. There were and caught new job. Can't you figure out what it is?" "1 dozens of humans in the windows and on a robot whose He stirugged angrily, suppose you're the streets, some laughing, some scowl- going to tell' me. Take it or leave it, that's name he didn't even know3 ing, some looking almost frightened — as if the way it's going to be, right?" human beings ever had anything to be "But you will like it, Zeb, After all, it's a frightened of. brand-new Mechanical Occupational it. And one of them stared incredulously Specialty, and I didn't invent You in- right at Zeb. vented it for yourself. You're going to be a Zeb stumbled and missed a step. On were merely drab. Depression flowed back protest organizer, Zeb! Organizing dem- one side Hymie grabbed his arm; on the into him. He would probably never see these onstrations. Leading marches. Sit-ins, other he reached out and caught the hand places again. Next step was the stock- boycotts, confrontations — the whole of a robot whose name he didn't even know. pile— if they didn't melt him down and start spectrum of mass action, Zeb!" He turned his head to see, over his shoul- over again. The best he could hope for was He stared at her. "Mass action?" der, the solid ranks of robots behind him, reassignment to one of the bottom-level jobs 'Absolutely! Why. the humans are going now two hundred at least, and turned back for robots. Nothing as good as mugging to love you, Zeb. You saw Reverend Harm- to the human being. "Nice to see you again, or panhandling! Something in the sticks, swallow! It'll be just like old times, with a Reverend Harmswallow," he called and no doubt. Squatting in blankets to enter- few of you rabble rousers livening up the marched on, arm in arm, the front rank tain tourists in Arizona, maybe, or sitting It felt if his circuits steady as it went— right up to the corner on a bridge with a fishing pole in Florida. "Rabble rouser?" as of State Street, where the massed ranks ot But he strode to the rehab building with were stuck. Rabble rouser? Demonstra- police cars hissed as they waited for them. his head erect, and his courage lasted right tion organizer? Crusader for robot rights up to the moment when he entered the and justice? Zeb lay on the floor of the bullpen. He blonde Three-R's office and saw that she He sat quiet and compliant while she ex- was not alone. Half the hes from the im- was not alone. Reverend Harmswallow was pertly unhooked his chest panel and re- promptu parade were crowded into the big seated at her desk, and the blonde herself placed a few chips, unprotesting as he was cell with him, along with the day's usual was standing next to him. "Give me your buttoned up again and his new systems catch of felons and misdemeanants. The ear." she ordered, hardly looking up from were run against the test board, unresist- singing and the shouting were over. Even the CRT on the desk that both she and ing while Makeup and Cosmetic Repair the regular criminals were quieter than Harmswallow were studying, and when she restructured his facial appearance. But his usual. The mood in the pen was despair- had input his data, she nodded, her crystal mind was racing. Rabble rouser! While he ing, though from time to time one of his earrings swinging wildly. "He won't need waited for transportation back to the city comrades would lean down to say, "It was much, Reverend," she said, fawning on the to take up his new MOS, his expression great while it lasted, Zeb," or, "We're all human minister. 'A little more gain in the was calm, but inside he was exulting, with you, you know!" But with him in what? speaking systems. All-weather protection He would do the job well indeed. No rab- Recycling? More rehab training? Maybe a for the exterior surfaces. Maybe armor plate ble needed rousing more than his, and he long stretch in the Big House downstate, for the skull and facial structures." was just the robot for the job! DO 16B OMNI , IRJTERVIEUU CONTINUED FROM PAGE 135 you?" Neither of us remembered. I was about to ask more questions when he sud- denly asked, "Have you been in here be- fore?" I'd been gone about five minutes, but the interruption had diverted the stream of familiarity. Omni: I would think that would interfere with one's normal emotional life. What if you were in love with someone one moment and for- got the person's existence the next? Pribram: I've known some people like that. Actually, H. M. functioned, more or less, although no! too well. He pinned lists to himself—grocery lists, places he was sup- posed to go, and so on. But he couldn't plan anything. The problem is one of coding. British re- searchers have found that if you give such a patient a list of words to remember, then embed that list in another list and ask him which words he has seen before, he'll say, "I don't remember." But when you get him to memorize additional lists, he'll make in- trusion errors: Some of the words he's been shown in the first list will show up as wrong answers. That means the traces of the words have been stored in the brain some- where, but they are not accessible to re- trieval. Yet retrieval per se isn't the prob- lem, because the patient can i everything that happened before surgery. Thus it seems that current input isn't coded appropriately so that it can be retrieved. I think we haven't paid enough attention to the fact that the brain must code and re- code everything over and over again. We change. You aren't the same person you were five years ago. Omni: The subject of coding brings us to some crucial paradoxes about memory that eventually led you to propose your holo-" graphic model of the brain. Did these ideas begin to take shape while you worked with Karl Lashley? Pribram: Yes. I worked with Lashley at Yerkes back in the 1940s. He'd been mak- ing lesions in rat brains, looking for the en- gram, or memory trace. Since he could de- stroy a good deal of cortex without disturbing the rats' behavior very much, it looked as if there wasn't a one-to-one cor- respondence between a particular mem- ory and a particular part of the cortex. And ot course people who have a stroke or who suffer other brain damage don't lose part of their memory stores. So we know the memory store must be a distributed store. But we must make a crucial distinction. The memory store— the storage system— is distributed, but the retrieval mechanisms are not; they are highly localized. I can re- trieve something by rereading it, hearing it again, talking about it, or writing about it. and all these mechanisms can be sepa- rately damaged by brain injury. They are all separate mechanisms. Omni: Did you join Lashley in his search for the elusive engram in rats' brains? Pribram: No. Based on his work on rats. Omni: When did you propose an alterna- Omni: Is that like looking at energy as waves Lashley was saying thai there is no differ- tive theory of perception? or particles? Can it be seen either way? It ence between different parts of the brain, Pribram: l came up with an alternative in Pribram; Either way. depends which at least when it comes to such higher func- the mtd-Sixties to suggest that maybe mathematics is easier to use. Neither the tions as memory. Coming from human Lashley was right, and the simple one fea- wave nor the statistical approach by itself neurosurgery, I said to him, "We dropped ture-one cell notion was wrong. Sensory gives you the complete picture. the idea a century ago that these functions input addresses neuron networks, and Omni: At what point did the wavefront idea are all over the brain." But he showed me patterns within that network constitute fea- coincide with the optical information proc- persuasive evidence that even in humans tures. But one of the problems both Lash- ess of holography, paving the way for your the situation was not as simple as I had ley and I had always had was, What con- holographic brain model? believed. So we started a program on in- stitutes these patterns? Then NicoSpinelli, Pribram: Well, after I read Eccles's article termediate organisms, chimpanzees and working with me here at Stanford, found about wavefronts. I started paying more monkeys. an old article in Scientific American that attention to Scientific American. The next Lashley had a genius for skepticism, for Eccles had written before he got the Nobel issue contained an article on holography. poking holes in all the myths that had grown Prize. In it, Eccles .said. "I've been looking That was just incredible. Here were inter- up about how the brain works. His strength at synapses all my .life, and I've been able ference patterns, and here was a mecha- was that he was antitheory, or, as he said to look at them only one at a time. But syn- nism for getting from an interference pat- in when I once confronted him with that aptic events always occur together; many tern to an image. And the hologram the in thought, "No, i am not antitheory, only anti- synapses are activated simultaneously. One information is distributed, as memory is other-people's-theories." He felt that not could consider these as a wavefront." the brain, and a small part can generate a only memory but perception also resulted Of course I kicked myself. We'd been whole image. from mechanisms we completely tailed to puzzling about this for a decade, and Ec- Omni: Can we back up just a minute to understand. How is it, for instance, that cles just sort of dropped it as an aside. trace how the nuts and bolts of perception I looking stuffed when I view your face from different dis- Omni: Could you explain exactly what it is are holographic? am at the there . . . tances or different angles, I still perceive baboon over on the chair the same face? Pribram: Well, first of all you need a lens to Omni: Does that mean memory and per- capture the diffuse rays of light and bring ception can't work like an ordinary photo- the image into focus. When the lens fo- graphic image, with a point-to-point cor- cuses the scatter on the retina, you get a rid of our respondence between object and image? ^Get real image on the retina. Pribram: Right. There can't be a single brain senses, and we'd experience Omni: So I get a tiny baboon on my retina? Pribram: Yes. But your eye is a constantly cell that says, "Bzzz— Judy's face" or a pure frequency "Bzzz— Judy's nose." Perception must be moving camera, and so you have a mech- a very flexible sort of thing, not a pattern domain. What would that anism higher up to clean up the image. that's wired in. Lashley was tussling with domain look like? The retinal image is projected onto the vis- all these things and came up with the idea ual cortex at the back of your brain, There Ask the mystics, though they of interference patterns. is a rough correspondence between lo- In the mid-Sixties, by which time Lashley have trouble cations on the retina and locations on the it like was dead, I got interested in possible ex- cortex. So far, at this level, works a describing it, too. 9 planations of perception. The one thing that conventional photographic image, though everyone believed in at the time was that the image is a little distorted, feature detectors were its basis. That's the Now here comes the holographic part. idea that each neuron responds to a par- The interesting thing is that within the re- ticular feature of the sensory input—such ceptive field of each cell you get the scat- as redness, greenness, verticality, and so thatmakes up these wavefronts in the brain? ter again. The image within each neuron is on—and that these features are later com- Pribram: The changes in electrical poten- transformed back into the frequency bined to put together a whole image. tial at the fine branches of nerve endings. mode—the scatter that you would see if Omni: The trouble is, that doesn't allow for If you look at a whole series of these to- you saw without a lens. The nerve cell's a richness of perception, does it? And it gether, they constitute a wavefront. They code for storing sensory input resembles raises the problem of how we can recog- sort of line up. One comes in this way. an- the overlapping patterns of shadow and nize new inventions, like tables, toasters, other that way, and they interact. And all of light that form the interference patterns on and so forth. a sudden you've got your interference pat- the holographic plate. Pribram: Correct. It would also mean that tern! You've actually pinned Lashley's idea Omni: Using a holographic code, the brain a new feature detector has to be used every to a mechanism, a very classical mecha- piles multiple "pictures" in a tiny space? time I get closer to, or farther away from, nism, without having to invent anything Pribram: Yes. I have a hologram made something, or when I look at it from another mysterious. through a process invented here at Stan- angle. But it's still the prevailing theory. Omni: Let me try to make this concrete now. ford by a radio astronomer who took a se- Torsten Wiesel and David Hubel, of Har- You've said that the brain works in two dif- ries of pictures of the heavens. He had them vard, were awarded the 1981 Nobel Prize ferent modes: One mode is basically bi- transformed into holograms and patched in Physiology and Medicine for pioneering nary; on or off; a neuron either fires or it them all together in the right order. When work that led to it, though, of course, they're doesn't. The second mode is what you call he illuminated the result so as to retrans- not as naive as some of the interpreters of a "graded slow potential," the gradual form it into an image, it was an image of their work, buildup of current at the nerve ending, and the heavens in three dimensions. If these Brain cells do selectively respond to fea- it is this that creates the wavefront. little patches are merely overlapped, the tures, but not uniquely so. The same cell Pribram: Yes. You can have an on/off light whole picture is reconstituted. Any part of responds to a color, a movement in a cer- switch on the wall, or you can have one of the set of patches will give you a record of tain direction, the velocity of the move- those dials you use to dim the light slowly. all the objects, of their relationship to one ment, luminosity, and so on. Each cell is Neurons have both. A wavefront is one way another, contained in the whole film. It's so something like -a- person with many traits. of looking at these graded potential different from anything we're ordinarily ex- So when you abstract blueness, you must changes, but you can also think of them posed to that it's hard to grasp. I remem- address all the cells in the network that as probabilistically interdependent events ber having lunch with Gabor when he was detect blue. and do statistics on them. in Paris and asking him to explain to me in 170 OMNI nonmathematical terms what the holo- erations, which can be described by Ga- experience only the frequency domain. would that domain look like? Ask the gram was all about. I came away with three bor's mathematics, to code, decode, and What napkins full of mathematical equations. recode sensory input. mystics, though they have trouble describ- f Gabor had used the integral calculus in- Technically, the mathematics is related ing it. But the purpose o so ence is to make vented by Newton and the seventeenth- to a Fourier transform. Any pattern, no sense of the world, and mystical experi- century philosopher Gottfried von Leibniz, matter how complicated, can be broken ence makes sense when one can provide who, by the way, suggested that a holo- down into simpler ones. With this mathe- the mathematical transform that takes one forth im- graphlike order exists. Leibniz called it matical operation—on which holography back and between the ordinary "monadic." is based—you can break a complex wave age-object domain and the frequency do- Omni: And Leibniz conceived of his "mo- form into simpler constituents, each vary- main. The frequency domain is "mystical" nads" as microcosms of the whole? ing in amplitude and frequency. But you in that there is no space and no time. Pribram: Yes. He called the monad a win- don't have to use waves; you can do Ihe Omni: Are space and time collapsed in the dowless structure that represents the whole. same transiormylior statistically. holographic domain? I time If we change "windowless" to "lensless." [Editor's note: Roughly speaking, a Fourier Pribram: prefer to say that space and we have a hologram. transform involves using a computer to re- are "enfolded." For example, say, you plot pattern of light to in an electroencephalogram [EEG]. On the Omni: When I look at the baboon, its image duce a mathematics, is compared with the image of all previous one example, a lens coupled with a com- vertical axis, there is amplitude, the height baboons I've seen, right? Do the new pic- puter can be used to pick a specific image of the wave; on the horizontal, there is fre- ture and the preexisting images in my brain out of a larger image. For instance, say a quency. Neither space nor time per se ap- form a kind of holographic interference general is looking for an enemy tank in a pears in the graph. pattern? very large, detailed aerial photograph. He Our brains apparently can perform the Pribram: That's right. Interference pat- would superimpose a Fourier transform of transforms back and forth between space- terns are also produced by Ihe various ob- the tank on a Fourier transform of the aerial lime reality and the frequency reality, or jects in the room. But don't forget your brain photo. This would filter out everything in perhaps they always keep track of both is operating in two different modes simul- sides of the transformation. A computer taneously. You have the spatial represen- using Fourier transforms does this in per- tation, which maps the retinal image onto forming rapid correlations, and CAT scans the cortex, as we've said. And then, within and other imaging techniques are based the receptive field of each neuron, you've on the same principle. One takes an X ray £Mind isn't located got this holographlike code, which can best of the head from different angles, converts be described mathematically. The mem- in a place. What we have is the densities to numbers, then Fourier- transforms and correlates. Finally, one re- branes between nerve cells are the most a holographlike likely storage site. No other technique transforms to get a three-dimensional im- known to man allows for the storage of so machinery that turns out age of the head and its contents, an image much information. images, which in ordinary space, Omni: And your holographic model seems Omni: The holographic brain theory is at- we perceive as existing to solve several perplexing problems: the tractive to parapsychologists, as well as to fact that memory is distributed; the fact that somewhere psychologists of the Gestalt school, be- it could account for psychic phe- I cause can recognize a face regardless of angle outside the machinery.^ and distance; the fact that a whole uni- nomena. Do you believe that extrasensory verse of memories and perceptions can perception may occur in the frequency do- be housed in the same group of cells, main, beyond the senses? Pribram: Correct. Radio and television Pribram: Well, people have invoked the idea programs are carried by sets of wave forms for ESR and to some extent I would go and are then transformed into complex au- the large image except the tank, if present. along with it. I don't know whether psychic ditory and visual images. If you took a cross When a third Fourier transform is then per- phenomena occur or not, but at least there's section of the airwaves at any moment in formed over the two superimposed trans- a basis for understanding them if they do. time, the cross section would resemble a forms, the tank shouldjump right out at the Omni: I was interested in your comment hologram. To decode it, you need a radio that the world may be a hologram, and that or TV receiver. Our senses code such re- Now you have asked, Why doesn't the perhaps the individual brain is a part that ceivers. brain simply print an image, as in photog- contains the whole. Of course the idea that in all creatures is a rec- Omni: Therefore, if I used an imaginary in- raphy? A holographlike code automati- the atman, or soul, strument, a "cerebroscope," to peer into cally takes care of imaging from different ord of the universal atman is basic to Ori- your brain and see your neurons firing and distances and angles. The problem of grain ental mysticism, felt, is Pribram: Yes and no. The world is not a so on, I couldn't see what you saw or solved; you can have very fine-grained because that exists in code, doesn't it? textures. And perhaps the most important hologram; only one aspect, one order, is Fourier trans- holographic. the holographic principle Pribram: A holographlike code, I use the reason is the same reason But word hologram here not to designate op- forms are used with computers. In the is working everywhere, and descriptions tical engineering devices but Gabor's Fourier domain, correlations can be per- of spiritual experiences sound holo- mathematics, on which they are based. formed almost instantaneously. That's ex- graphic. The holographic domain is ho- Omni: I'm a little puzzled by one thing. When actly what our brains do when we instan- listic in a different sense from the Gestalt Gestalt, the is I color, In whole I first read about the holographic brain, taneously process the table's texture, use of the word. different from, the thought of it as a metaphor. Then I began dimensions, luminosity, distance, and re- greater than, and sum to think you meant it as an actual model. lation to all other tables we've seen. of its parts, whereas in a hologram, every Which is correct? Omni: Haven't you proposed the idea that part is distributed in the whole, and the Pribram: Both. First it was a metaphor. Then, spiritual reality lies in the holographic do- whole is enfolded in its parts. David Bohm starting with my book Language of the Brain main and that there might be ways to gain [professor of theoretical physics at Birk- [1971], a model developed, because the access to it in the brain? beck College, in London, and author of mathematics fitted the data gathered in Pribram: Yes, it would be a matter of ab- Wholeness and the Implicate Order] has several laboratories around the world. There rogating our retrieval systems so that we derived the same idea from quantum are no laser beams in the brain. I'm simply can experience the brain's minicodes. 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For the first time in three understand, I think, and they feel I've hundred years science is admitting spirit- overgeneralized, which I haven't. The ex- ual values into its explorations. That's ter- ceptions are physicists, engineers, radar ribly important. 11 you deny the spiritual pari scientists, and crystallographers, who are '1-55-2 36 of man's nature, you end up with atomic trained to make Fourier transforms of what bombs, a technocracy devoid of humanity. they observe. The ideas aren't so foreign, TI-35-SP TI-PROG 50 y, j9 Omni: Doesn't Bohm make the point that, either, to the people who invented the CAT HEWLETT-PACKARD it we persist in thinking of little bits of mat- scan, and image makers in general. SLIMLINE PROGRAMMBLE # ter as the basic building blocks of nature, There is now solid evidence that neu- LCD PROBLEM SOLVERS fragmentation? rons in the cortex respond to Fourier trans- «' we condemn ourselves to HP-11C Scientific Fourier HP-15C Scientific (New) II Pribram; Absolutely. Strange as it 'may forms of sensory input—to the HP-1EC Financial 1' seem, psychology and physics are really transform of an image rather than to lines HP-16C Programmer (NeuiJ . . overlapping fields, for quantum physics and other features of three-dimensional takes you into a mental realm, and psy- space. Some very fancy experiments by chology must deal with the physical. Eu- Fergus Campbell and John Robeson, of gene Wigner [winner of the 1963 Nobel Prize Cambridge, and Russell and Karen De- in Physics] made the point that quantum Valois, of the University of California at physics deals with observations, not ob- Berkeley, among others, have shown that HP-IL Modulo. . servables. Observables stay constant re- the cells of the visual system are tuned to Dig. Cassette Drive. 415 I HP-IL Printer 375 I gardless of how I observe them, but in spatial frequency; they respond to ap- Interface Video .... 235 I quantum physics, when you change your proximately an octave of spatial fre- HP-S7 IBM instruments, you're observing different quency. That doesn't mean that's all that's phenomena. So you're really talking aboul occurring, butit's one of the things the brain a different observation, and that's basi- is doing. n Modules [HP41] cally psychology, isn't it? However, let me emphasize that I treat Conversely, in psychology, we're inter- (he holographic model as a scientific hy- ested in behavior, which is manifested in pothesis. Just in the last few years scien- the physical universe. And we neuropsy- tists at MIT and Horace Barlow, at Cam- chologists also examine the physical and bridge, have been integrating Fourier biological underpinnings of behavior. Think transforms theory and the feature detector about it: If we start with ourselves and pro- theory of perception, showing how both ceed to sensations and perceptions, and play a role. There are ways of bringing these from perceptions to the brain, and from the viewpoints together. brain to cells, to membranes, to chemistry, Omni: What has the holographic model ISlELEK-TEKJnc. to physics, we end up with mathematics. suggested to you about the ancient riddle Well, is mathematics physical or mental? of the mind/brain relationships Is there an la s:,ss; • "sifivs'ss At that level, distinctions disappear. If you immaterial mind that can exist apart from go in the other.direction, from ourselves to the flesh-and-blood brain, as the "dual- social systems, and then to information ists" suggest? Or are the mind and the brain processing and communication, is that one and the same? 'SCWL'V.l physical or mental? Pribram: I've always felt that dualism is okay Omni: That brings to mind a point you once in the ordinary image-object domain— the made about uncertainty and indetermi- domain in which the eye constructs im- nacy. A physicist deals with uncertainty at ages and the brain operates on the sen- ^^a the quantum level—the infinitely small world sory image to make objects and so on. AUDIO TAPES within the nucleus —while the psychologist Dualism's fine for the Newtonian domain, MIND POWER encounters the most indeterminacy at the especially if you've got to talk. Language macrolevel of social systems. is comprised of subjects, verbs, and ob- BEYOND HYPNOSIS Pribram: A funny thing about science is jects — subject and object, dualism all the Behavioral science now reveals an that when a scientist looks downward in way through, astounding new technique that goes the hierarchy of systems, it's not consid- But it doesn't apply to the holographic, beyond hypnosis to give you an easier, ered speculative. A psychologist could write enfolded order. There is no space and time, more effective way !o accomplish your causality, matter no goals and get more out of euery day a whole book about the neurophysiology no no and mind. Ev- living. Eliminate unwanted habits — lose of attention without ever telling you what erything is enfolded. There are no bound- weight — relieve stress — gain he means by attention, and no one cares. aries, and so you can have neither mind health, confidence — discover new But going upward in the hierarchy, things nor brain. Actually there is only potential talents — improve your memory supposedly get softer and softer. When a perhaps potential energy that can be con- power — develop a dynamic, physicist talks chemistry, he's going soft. verted into work in the ordinary space-time winning personality —just to name a few of the many exciting SCWL™ When a chem st talks biology, that's really domain. Of course every time you say Subliminal programs now available. soft. When a biologist ta-Ks psychology, he "material" you're implying the existence of Backed by extensive clinical research apologizes. But that really is a mirage. No the mental. And the mentalist wouldn't have and major university studies, ' SCWL experimental psychologist would ever to say he was a mentalist if there were has become the choice of thousands of publish anything without g ving his tech- nothing to be distinguished from. Doctors, Psychologists and individuals niques, the of his subjects, Well, the mystics have said that the nationwide. Learn how easily and number how Omni: inexpensively you can go beyond simple he found his sta: shoal re lability, et cetera. world of opposites is an illusion. hypnosis to release your ultimate sub- Say you read a neuroanatomy paper; they Pribram: That's all I'm saying. But I'd claim often don't even tell you what techniques that the world of opposites is one reality Write for free brochure and studies to: they use. and the enfolded order, another. Mean- MIDWEST RESEARCH, INC. Omni: Do your colleagues in neuroscience while I'd like to specify where dualism ap- 6515 Highland Road consider your holographic brain theory to plies, and where Identity theory—the the- Suite 203 —67 be soft, or heretical? ory that mind equals brain— best accounts Pontiac, Michigan 48054 Pribram: The hard-nosed scientists don't lor the oa:a. and so on. ;" i! Omni; Still, haven't you provided on on the brain's association areas to being concent; di^d 'r. o s called oceans; solution to the mind/brain problem irts of the brain not devoted to sen- the emergent properties have changed the image of a hologram? You can't ph> tor systems], distribution of hydrogen and oxygen on our locate the image anywhere on the es wrote a book with the philoso- planet. graphic film, and the mind bears a iir Karl Popper entitled The Self and Now let's apply this analogy to the mind relationship to the brain. Can you ex tin in 1977. If you read the book care- problem. As mental beings, we have the that better than I just have? 'ou see that Popper and Eccles had feeling of freedom under certain condi- Pribram: I think you've expressed it very different ideas about dualism. tions. That feeling of freedom, that mental well. Mind isn't located in a place. V'ht Popper says is that we create arti- property, has emerged from our particular have is holographlike machinery tf at t in our environment— books and so brain, from the organization of its mole- out images, which we perceive as exis which he calls "World Three." Then cules, cells and so on. And it changes the somewhere outside the machine that sad these books, and this programs distribution of human beings on the earth. [ duces them. We know our eyes are Drain and forms memory traces there, People want io leave Communist countries volved, but I don't image you on the s- ;h in turn form new behaviors that re- and come to the "free world." People strive face of my retina. Even though the cod i in new books and other artifacts, and toward frontiers, or into outer space. The are in brain I my somewhere, perceive y on. I have no basic quarrel with Popper, point is, a mental property, the feeling of there the over on chair. :>ugh I prefer the term cognitive com- freedom, changes the distribution of the Omni: One problem that has beset mir idity to World Three. physical system. Something mental em- brain theorists is the precise liaison t nni: How would you resolve the issue of bodies itself into the material out of which tween mind and brain, that is, where w mind acts on a physical organ? it emerged. actly does a nonphysical mind, or s( bram: Think of water, composed of mol- Omni: To extend that idea, hasn't neuro- connect with the physical organ? jles of gas, hydrogen and oxygen. You science shown that mental experiences Pribram: That is true. The problem for ,t these molecules together in a certain actually affect our brain's chemical and of us has been one of downward cau iy and you get water. The emergent physical structure? = tion. How mental properties emerge fr operties of water are wetness and the Pribram: lt s tricky, but one can say that the brain organization is easy to see. ;t that it floats when it freezes and va- you redistribute the flow of nerve impulses then, as Roger Sperry [the California jrizes when it boils. Now for downward on the basis of ideas as well as sensory stitute of Technology neuroscientist whc iusation. The wetness of water and the input. When you look at something over split-brain research earned him a Nol ict that it floats when it freezes have al- and over again, you begin to recognize it; Prize] says, mind has to turn around ai wed it to accumulate on the earth in it becomes differentiated, detailed. Though operate on the brain. But Sperry has n ceans, glaciers, and polar icecaps. The there's no direct evidence yet, I'm quite specitied this h; how happens. Eccles mergent properties of water have moved sure the same is true of thoughts. If I think proposed the su same idea and once e molecules from being evenly distrib- and rethink something, I must be changing gested that mind operates as a "cogniti ed in the air and on the earth's surface the patterns of neural processing. DAYS OI' FUTURE PAST COMPLETE YOUR COLLECTION OF OMNI NOW. FILL OUT THE COUPON AMD MAIL WITH YOUR PAYMENT TODAY. lannrui Bookie I RO. Box 5700, Bergenfietd, N.J. 07621 I List desired issues below using Z Creek or J Money Order for i $3.50 per issue, (Postage and i handling included.] [Payment must accompany Total amount enclosed $ . Payment musi be m- flMy^8h>i>ffl|[J|ijaff^fcOTi 3LK camera A&d our Sobact 80-200ijun ioaio lens . better bWaust* you cad zoom to compose ihe shots fyou want beHer b*Tause tho>*« claar, sharp image: vou 5*=*- are th* res-alt of nearly 30 years of Soliyoi Jen- tech.rolo.jy and .quality. The l«ni says it. the results say tt, end million- ol satisfied r«:tonie»? bjve I heeo giving il far vests S« the Sobgot 80-200mm One Touch Zoom t Macro at y£u,( dealer and get be'i«?r picture* toon Or, wrr.e for full iniorroaricn '.. ""." ". ' :. . . There's one far eacn popular brand: £anon|- Minolta; Nikon, . Olympus, Pent^s and others flare earth glass, precision I engineered 12 -element :i construction, multicoated;" all the finest quality features you'd expecfeof Soligpr, plus an- unbeatabte price! In a singi. SDUGOR' control zoom, locus and MAKES THE DIFFERENCE macro operations, all while keeping your aye on the subject Omni: Maybe this is the neurophysiologi- ropsychology. He had his solutions and his neglect awareness. Lawrence Weiskrantz, cal basis for the way mental habits be- model. In some places his model is cor- of Oxford, and Elizabeth Warrington, of the come lodged in us. Maybe something like rect; in others it's dead wrong, but at least National Hospital, in London, have de- psychoanalysis, which is a mental activity, it's a model. It isn't a bunch of abstractions, scribed patients with blind sight: An op- influences the brain's physical structure by which is whal mefapsychoiogy has be- eration on one side of the brain's visual rep rog ramming one's thoughts. come. If we go back to its roots, we can cortex has made them blind in the oppo- Pribram: Freud not only suggested that, but straighten things out. site visual field. I! turns out they can per- he drew a diagram that resembles what we Omni: That suggests that the current gap form a great number of visual tasks "in- now recognize as a nerve net. It looks like between analytical psychiatrists and neu- strumentally." They'll be eighty or ninety a little, hierarchically organized nerve net- ropsychologists such as yourself is built on percent accurate in pointing to, and de- work, and it appears in his Project for a a false premise. It didn't have to exist. scribing, shapes in the blind visual field. Scientific Psychology, in a section on Pribram: Yes. And, you know, everyone But when you ask them what they saw. they thinking. Instead of making new connec- came to my London lectures except the say. "Nothing." They were "guessing." So tions in an overriding way. as we would by older, dyed-in-the-wool analysts, even some parts of the brain are working, but behaving in a certain manner, Freud wrote, though they had invited me to speak. They the parts that generate reflective aware- thinking makes miniconnections. It's like boycotted the talk because the subject was ness have been removed surgically. When what happens when I go out in the world biology; they couldn't relate to it. a blind-sight patient sees something and and build a table; if I make a mistake, I Omni: Though you were trained in the tells me he can't see, that makes me think must take the table apart and do it over methods of behaviorist, stimulus-response there are two levels of seeing: one that completely. However, if I plan it out in my psychology, you speak quite a different consists of instrumental behavioral re- mind, or draw a diagram, I see my errors tongue. And you once predicted that the sponses to optical information, and an- before they're irrevocably embodied, and "soft sciences" of today may form the core other that refers to subjective awareness. I gain flexibility. By the way. it's possible to of the hard sciences fifteen years from now. It is extremely awkward to try to account see Freud's metapsychology as an early Can you explain that 7 for everything by looking at inputs and out- neuropsychology, but that part of Freud's Pribram: Back in the 1940s and 1950s, the puts alone, and eventually the whole at- theorizing is not well known to experimen- behaviorists thought they were the hard tempt to build a stimulus-response psy- tal psychologists and neuroscientists. scientists. They dominated psychology, and chology without inferring states and I delivered the Freud Memorial Lectures what we learned came out of the tradition processes such as awareness fell apart. at the University of London last year on the of positivist philosophy. It was good, hard You can't even sell books without using one hundredth anniversary of Freud's re- science, with an impressive technology. subjective terms. If B. F. Skinner had called ceiving his medical degree from the Uni- The problem with behaviorism was that his book Conditioned-Operant Fi's [Fixed versity of Vienna [in 1881 ]. And I said that words like awareness and consciousness, Intervals] and Vl's [Variable Intervals], how at least Freud had in mind the problems even perception, were taboo. Let me give many books would he have sold? But Be- we're still worrying about in current neu- you an example of why psychologists can't yond Freedom and Dignity—wow! OQ 176 OMNI = 4 (4 - 4) + 4 The "four fours" problem was originally expounded in an 1881 issue of a London (4 X 4) + 4 GMRT1ES 5 = weekly titled Knowledge: An Illustrated GAMES (PAGE 200) Magazine of Science, Plainly Worded—Ex- 1. Freedom from fear actly Described. It was there observed that 2. Famine 19 is the only number less than 20 that can- 3. Blood not be expressed within the restrictions. 4. Health 7 = 4-1 If we add the factorial symbol I (41 = 1 HONEST NUMBERS: "Two cubed," "twelve x 2 x 3 x 4 = 24) or the decimal point, plus one," "one half of thirty" (or "twenty g = 4 + 4 + 4 - 19 can be generated thus: minus five"), "minus four squared," "the = _ _ largest prime less than thirty." There are 9 - 4 19 41 4 |, or undoubtedly other ways to make other numbers "honest." In his Incredible Dr. «,_ 4 + 4 - .4 10 = - Matrix (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976, pp. 221-223), Gardner reports on other vari- incidentally, this latter ations on the theme, including honest 11 = (Note, formula yields numbers in other languages (e.g., vier ir 19 when any number is substituted for 4.) Another mathematical use of the dot is German, cinco in Spanish, and penta ir t + 4 12 = - Greek), and the observation that an infinity to place it above a decimal number to sig- of honest numbers can be created by us- nify a repeating decimal. A point placed ing the ten-letter phrase "added to ten" 13 = - above .4 indicates the repeating decimal If (e.g., "four added to ten, added to ten, .44444 . . ., or 4/9. this symbol is added ."). to the others mentioned, the list can be added to ten . . 14 = 4 The convergence of English number extended to 112. names on 4 was first pointed out by Sidney For more on the tour tours, see Gard- + 4 Kravitz in The Journal of Recreational ner's book The Incredible Dr. Matrix, pp. list numbers to Mathematics (1974, 7, pp. 225-228). Kravitz 49-52 and 212-214. A of found that German and Dutch number ^4 + 4 + 4 + 4 100 with four 4's may be found in L, Har- names also converge on 4; Italian, on 3. wood Clarke's Fun with Figures (London: THE FOUR FOURS. There are many dif- = (4 x 4) + Heinemann, 1954) and Angela Dunn's ferent solutions. Here, we think, are some Mathematical Bafflers (McGraw-Hill, 1964). ot the simplest:. = (4x4) + ^ FILM QUIZ ANSWERS 4 + 4 + 4 1. The Tempest. The father and daughter 20 = -(4 x 4] + V4 + V4 roles are adapted from Shakespeare's play. Morbius (played by Walter Pidgeon) is clearly a Prospero, and his daughter, Alta (portrayed by Anne Francis), like Miranda, has never seen men. 2. Hitler saw too great a similarity between the rocket ships shown in The Girl in the Moon (or By Rocket to the Moon, as it was titled in America) and the designs for Ger- man rocket weapons. Rocket expert Willy Ley served as a technical consultant on the Lang film. 3. Elsa Lanchester again. Incidentally, you can trip up many film-trivia butts with, "Who played the title role in The Bride of Fran- kenstein?" The doctor's wife was played by Valerie Hobson. 4. The Blob. 5. Lugosi, Hungary. 6. Michael Landon. 7. Christopher Lee. 8. James Arness. 9. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), the sf film directed by Robert Wise. 10. Cell block 1138 is mentioned, an allu- sion to George Lucas's science-fiction film THX-1138. The number THX 138 appears #*< on a California license plate in Lucas's 1973 £^ movie American Graffiti. 11. George Pal, because of his friendship with Woody's creator, Walter Lantz. In The Time Machine, for example, a young girl carries a Woody Woodpecker doll. 12. The Black Cat (1934) uses Latin phrases without regard to sense or context be- cause the producers did not wish to get into trouble with the Hays Office. OO © ART CUMINS9 I can't live without a reason BI) / for being Man has no right to make a woman his reason for being To a9k her to be hie salvation His heaven .B* The Mobius Group 6) A a b B 34) A a ? b B 2525 Hyperion Avenue MOBIUS PSI-Q ? b B 7) A a b B 35) A a Los Angeles, CA 90027 CONTINUED FROM Pi 8) A a b B 36) A a ? b B Name: (2) Mountain. 9) A a b B 37) A a ? b B (3) Place where land and water meet. Street address: (4) Ruins. 10) A a b B 38) A a ? b B City State (5) Farmlands. 11) A a b B 39) A a ? b B (6) Technological installation. Country Zip code: 12) A a b B 40) A a ? b B Birthdate: month .... day year. 55. Do you think some people are some- 13) A a b B 41) A a ? b B times able to gel information by means Transcribe from your remote-viewing sheet of ESP? the time and date when you took the test: 14) A a ? b B 42) A a ? b B (1) Sure about it. (1) Time: hours . . . minutes . . . a.m./pm 15) A a b B 43) A a ?bB (2) It is a possibility. (3) It might be so, or not. (2) Time zone (check one): 16) A a b B 44) A a ? b B (4) It seems unlikely. 1. Pacific 17) A a b B 45) A a ? b B . . . . (5) It is impossible. 2. Mountain 3. Central . . . 18) A a b B 46) A a ? b B . Carefully record in ink your personality 4. Eastern . . 19) A a b B 47) A a ? b B questionnaire answers. Your response must 5. Other (by name) be postmarked no later than December 23, 20) A a b B 48) A a ? b B 1982. Please allow approximately three to (3) Date: . .day month, 1982 21) A a b B 49) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 six weeks for delivery of your personal PSI- (4) Did you take the Mobius PSI-Q test last Q II profile. Be sure that you answer all the 22) A a b B 50) 1 2 year? Yes D No D questions, that they are marked as clearly 23) A a b B 51) 1 2 3 as possible, and that your full name and address are legibly printed or typed. Your 1) A a ? b B 29) A a 24) A a b B 52) 1 2 attention to detail will enable us to return 2) A a ? b B 30) A a 25) A a b B 53) 1 2 a complete response quickly. Send the pa- per with your re mote -viewing impressions, 3) A a ? b B 31) A a 26) A a b B 54) 1 2 3 4 5 6 your answer sheet (or a photocopy of it), 4) A a ? b B 32) A a 27) A a b B 55) 1 2 3 4 5 and your check or money order for $6 (U.S. funds) to: 5) A a ? b B 33) A a 28) A a b B *r> ..... "I'm reasonably sure of it, but of course it'll be some time before we have the technology to test it." — boons. Human vasopressin, for example, in culture or frozen, for a long time, If sci- can learn to make them grow into THE EDDY is identical to that in both rats and mon- entists keys; so it's possible—even probable mature nerve cells instead of cancers, they that a rrionkey's vasopressin cells will be may be a good source of material. performed on a human patient with Par- nearly identical to our own. It may also be Finally, cells from the adrenal gland can kinson's disease at the Karolinska Hospi- that cells from other parts of the monkey replace those of the substantia nigra. As tal, in Stockholm, Sweden. Doctors there or baboon brain will closely resemble the in the Swedish experiment, a patient with transplanted the man's own adrenal-gland corresponding human cells. If so, trans- Parkinson's disease can donate to himself. tissue directly into his brain. According to plants between the species should be fea- Surgeons remove one adrenal gland, take Science magazine, the Swedish physi- sible. out the appropriate cells, and transplant cians say they cannot yet evaluate the out- There would probably be moral oppo- them into the brain. come of the experiment, though the pa- sition to this approach as well. A few peo- "Let me emphasize," Gash stressed, "that tient shows slight improvement. ple would complain that it is "unnatural" or for now this is all speculation. We have a Whether or not the Karolinska experi- "immoral" to put brain cells from a monkey tremendous amount of work yet to do. Every into ment is finally judged successful, many into a human being. But if it works, the time something about our work gets a problems still remain in the field of brain overwhelming benefits should make it so- magazine, our phone rings continually with repair. Among them is the issue of donor cially acceptable. calls from people who want transplants, material. "Where are you going to get brain (In fact, there are precedents tor this sort even experimentally Except for Parkin- the glands, we tissue to transplant?" I asked Gash. of transplant. The first human heart-trans- son's disease and adrenal "There are four possibilities," he replied. plant patient in the United States received are still years away 'from that." "One would be aborted human fetuses, but the heart of a chimpanzee; it was not big The next step, he added, is to test the to the person's life. Baboon procedure in monkeys if funding for the I think that for moral and legal reasons that's enough save — unlikely to be practical." kidneys have also been transplanted into study can be found. It may not be easy. Brattleboro rat costs about $30; I concurred. Opposition to abortion is al- people. They worked well for a very short An adult ready strong and well organized. It anyone time, then were rejected by the human re- monkeys are $250 to $1,000 apiece. were to suggest that we take brain tissue cipients.) "We're hoping we'll be funded. We think is from aborted fetuses and donate it to brain- Gash has already begun testing the idea our work has merit, but research money damaged adults, the roar of the antiabor- of cross-species transplants, putting brain awfully tight," he fretted. Gash's work is tionists would be loud, clear, and probably tissue from gerbils into rats. He has had at funded by the stroke and trauma program overwhelming. least partial success. of the National Institutes of Health, but there A second possibility seems much more A third possible source of brain cells, he is no guarantee that this governmental realistic and exciting. Since the brain is ex- said, is the human neuroblastoma cell. support will continue. traordinarily tolerant of transplants, Gash Neuroblastomas are tumors, usually seen Yet I asked him to speculate a bit more: and others seriously hope to give human in children, that are made up of primitive "Do you think that sometime we might be beings brain tissue from monkeys or ba- nerve cells. These cells can be kept alive, able to transplant brain cells to replace those destroyed by a stroke or a blow to the head; to substitute for damaged cells that cause epileptic seizures: to remedy the problems of cerebral palsy victims?" "I don't want to offer anyone false hope," he said, "but, yes, I think all those things are possible. At least theoretically, any part of the brain can be repaired. I see no road- blocks at the moment— exeepf, of course, time and money." "What about repairing the spinal cord?" I asked. "Think what that could mean to paraplegics and quadriplegics." "The problems in the cord are different than in the brain," he answered, "but it's still possible that grafts would help. Some very promising experiments in this field have been done already." That evening, as I flew home to Minne- sota, I looked over the notes I had taken and the articles Gash had given me. Even with all the caveats, it seemed to me, and it still does, thai the transplantation of brain tissue may, in the next few years, ease the lives of many patients. There is obviously much work yet to be done, and when one is dealing with the human brain, the ethical, moral, and legal problems are almost as difficult to solve as the scientific ones. But ihe benefits to be gained if brain repair does become a reality are so great as to be almost beyond our comprehension. It would be tragic if economic factors a what the odds are of finding someone were to halt, or even inhibit, research that me threshold of pain?" shows signs of being so beneficial to so many people. DO 134 OMNI — — Many filmmakers even so make use of a At least a dozen other recently made small percentage of the government film films combine some of the same stock FIL/ archives. The most frequent, and least de- footage with other materials, principally in- OOrTiNUEJ FROM PAGE 38 manding, users are the television network terviews. They can be divided into two Pierce Ralferty spent so much time at the news departments, but they tend to broad- groups: those that treat nuclear war as a Film Depository ot the National Archives, cast the same images over and over again medical problem Survivors. Dark Circle. in Washington, that staff members joked and, in so doing, create codes: Mushroom The Last Epidemic, Who Will Be Next?, about renting him office space as a way cloud equals arms race; Abraham Zapru- Mama, I Can Hear You (the last two are out of their budgetary crisis. His persist- der film equals Kennedy assassination. It Japanese), and Paul Jacobs and the Nu- ence paid off in a hoard ot visual and aural short-circuits thinking. In his 1967 -film Re- clear Gang (a Public Broadcasting Service riches. There is the contemptible: The port, Bruce Conner repeats frames from production) — and those that treat it as a po- Marshall Islanders are urged to abandon the Zapruder film, alternating them with litical issue The Day After Trinity, Save the their homes to make way for a nuclear- advertising footage, to show how televi- Planet, War Without Winners, and the pro-nuke weapons test site. The ludicrous: A school- sion subordinates the power of the images SALT. Syndrome. To watch them is to see boy .in a shredded-lead bomb-proof jump to the power of the events. the same images—the crew of the Enola Gay, suit tries vainly to mount his bicycle. There Not surprisingly, the wisest of the Nu- a devastated Hiroshima landscape, the is the tragic: GIs witness a test blast in Ne- clear Age compilations is Conner's Cross- burned and disfig.ired hbaf.usha ("survi- vada, then march blindly into a hail of ir- roads. Like Report, it focuses maniacally vors") photographed by Japanese camera- radiated debris. And the absurd: Two on the best-known image of the era, Op- men whose footage was confiscated by homely high-school girls lecture their eration Crossroads, the underwater test American occupying forces, and seques- classmates on the foodstuffs the well- shot at Bikini Atoll on July 25, 1946. There tered lor many years. Operation Crossroads, stocked Cold War larder must contain. All the military anchored a fleet of decommis- tests in the Nevada wasteland, the launching is deftly assembled. Modest Mussorgsky's sioned naval vessels to gauge the de- of Polaris missiles— oyer and over again. Pictures at an Exhibition is mated with a structive force of an atomic blast at sea. Most of these films are radio with pic- reporter's description of the electrocution tures: They use archival material to illus- of Ethel Rosenberg (which was, after all, trate a text, to corroborate a thesis, to tack the crudest sort of political exhibition). on a moral. The best of these films is Oka- "It was a difficult process just locating zaki's Survivors, interviews with 30 Amer- Okazaki their many the footage," Pierce Rafferty says. "We did £The Atomic Cafe ican hibakusha. uses a lot of preliminary research. We didn't just voices over now-familiar stock footage to walk in the door and say, 'Give us every- is more awesome than it create a single account of the day when : under for atomic bomb.' d get the bomb obliterated Hiroshima, the suc- thing A We is satisfying, hundreds and hundreds of films and be ceeding days of anguish and disbelief, the fast-forwarding through them, sometimes satyrical where No Place return to the United States (many were U.S. in war), the on two machines at once. In no way do I 'to Hide is sardonic. citizens trapped Japan by the want to imply that this was pulling the wool fears" of the delayed effects of exposure to Both derive their bite from over someone's eyes. Obviously we have radiation. "We are," says one, "just a group our own opinions about this material and viewers' contem- of Japanese American ladies trying to get about things like the Civil Defense pro- plation of World War Hi* some medical benefits before we die." gram. We actually got into discussions with Okazaki and Chris Beaver (of Dark Cir- some of the people in the Civil Defense cle) both conclude from their study of ar- Agency. They'd sit there and tell us about chival material that the government has Swiss civil defense, noting the fact that shown greater interest in structural than in every house in Switzerland is built with a human damage, in gross medical horror shelter, and ask, 'Why are Americans so The mushroom cloud that blossomed there, than in subtle pain. Both films, in Beaver's apathetic?' No, it wasn't as if we were filmed and rushed as newsreel footage into words, "give a face to things that are usu- sneaking around in the night, lerreting our the nation's movietiouses, became the ar- ally treated as statistics." way into these collections." chetypal metaphor ot the Atomic Age, "re- A few filmmakers score archival coups. Nevertheless, The Atomic Cafe is more placing the devil." says Conner, "in most The Day After Trinity contains a stunning, awesome than' satisfying, satirical where of our lives." silent sequence of the final preparations No Place to Hide is sardonic. Both derive A thirteen-year-old Kansas boy when he of the first bomb right before detonation. the greater part of their bite from viewers' first saw shots of the test, Conner recalls Scientists cluster about the mighty sphere it inti- contemplation of World War III and a post- thinking, "I'll see more of it. But what I saw they called "the gadget," touching Watergate hunch that government rhetoric for thirty years was less and less." In 1975 mately before, girt in tape and wires, it is tends toward euphemism. But The Atomic he "wormed [his] way through the bu- hoisted to its firing position above the des- Cafe is smug and censorious— Nixon foot- reaucracy" and acquired prints of 26 of the ert. Dark Circle is the first to use images age is crowd-pleasing shorthand for cov- camera angles from which the blast was of a school bus blown to smithereens and erup—while No Place to Hide tackles the originally photographed. It took him nine the assembly line where hydrogen bombs, harder task of arming viewers with a jus- months to edit his film. like so many Ford Pihtos, are produced. tifiable skepticism of authority. Crossroads opens just before the blast None of these films, with the exception Vast inventories of stock footage swell (gulls cry. the sea is calm). Detonation. A of The Atomic Cafe, is likely to receive wide the archives. But the material, Bird charges, tower of seawater, blown sky-high, dwarfs theatrical play—documentaries seldom is largely in the hands of people who view the flotilla scattered around its base. Sub- do— but already, in 16mm, they are estab- it as a problem rather than a treasure. Ac- sequent angles show the blast from cir- lishing themselves as de rigueur for edu- cess is difficult; nitrate stock is flammable cling aircraft, peering through enshroud- cational groups and anti-nuke fund-rais- and subject to shrinkage; storage, re- ing mists. The 1 cloud is magnificent, ers, The Los Angeles-based Direct Cinema trieval, and reproduction costs are rising, seductively beautiful, stupefying. The (distributor of No Place to Hide) compares "it's not really film [to the National Archives power is reappropriated from the event to them favorably with civil rights films in vol- staff]," says another filmmaker, Steven the image. Rediscovering the power of ume, and the Oakland-based Serious Busi- Okazaki; "it's filing cards." The Ratfertys Atomic Era images, first Conner, then ness Company no longer has any doubt that generously attribute the staff's attitude to Johnson and Bird, the Raffertys, and Crossroads is about to prove the potency of a lack of funds, not a lack of interest Loader, invite our critical reflection. an antique image.DO 186 OMNI test. Line-On on toe' Flignl. Paining is de- up short-handed." says John Mazor. a EXPLORATIONS : signed to replicate sr ac.ual i' ghi. The crew spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Associ- follows all the predeparture procedures, ation, The issue was recently arbitrated by cockpit communication and recommended calling' out checklists to ensure the airwor- a presidential commission, which decided assertiveness training for the crew. thiness of the plane. Visual-display units in favor of the smaller crew. The tragedy of Flight 173 galvanized mounted on the cockpit windows provide The technology of air safety has also United into creating a new training pro- a surprisingly realistic wraparound image made dramatic leaps. After a series of short- gram ior its 5,000 cockpit personnel. The of the airport. A hidden sound system approach accidents, ground proximity responsibility fell to Ed Carroll, then vice- mimics the whine of the engines and reacts warning systems were installed in all air- president for flight standards and training. to the slightest touch of the throttles. liners. A pilot who makes too steep an ap- Carroll reasoned that the problem lay with After the make-believe ilighl is airborne, proach will hear "Glide slope" or "Pull up" the crew as a unit, rather than with any the instructor punches in a mechanical from a mysterious voice, audio imperatives individual crew member. In the first phase malfunction, such as the hydraulic failure to take quick corrective action. If the plane of the program, pilots learn to identify var- on the Chicago to Cleveland flight. The suffers a sudden loss of altitude, another ious, personality characteristics. In spot- problem is serious, but not insuperable, and warning system engages. Pilots humor- ling the strengths and weaknesses of oth- the crew has the options of returning to the ously refer to it as "the whup-whup," a par- ers, the crew gains self-insight, "the gift to airport, proceeding to the original desti- ody of its unnerving sound. Unfortunately, see ourselves as others see us," Carroll nation, or selecting an a tentative. There is fhe warning may not come in time. Sudden says, paraphrasing Robert Burns. no "correct" choice, and the captain of wind shear has been cited as a possible In the second stage of training, crews Flight 236 decides to continue to Cleve- cause of the Pan Am crash in New Orleans are assigned at random to act out a cock- land. Later the crew views the entire flight last July. pit scenario. For example, a captain de- on videotape, identifying points where their Ultimately the technological solutions to cides to take off despite unfavorable resource management needs improve- in-flight crises are limited, and the excel- weather. His copilot, concerned for the ment. To ensure that the recording will not lent safety record of the airlines stands as safety of the flight, must decide how to be used against a pilot, the tape is erased a credit to their crews. A pilot who learns handle an authoritarian personality. One afterward. to utilize the full talent and skills of his crew United copilot tells of a colleague who sim- The next generation of airliners will strain has an even greater chance of flying out ply refused to release the brakes on the these management skills further. This fall of trouble. No matter how sophisticated the fictitious airplane. United begins flying the Boeing 767. awide- art of flying becomes, safety depends on The key objective of the program is syn- bodied jet designed ior a two-man crew. effective human relations. harmonious The airlines have long contended that the ergism, the ability of a crewto Group tours o' iha Umtea Awnes Training Cen- exceed the sum of its individual talents. third man is redundant in a highly auto- ter are available by wiling tc United Airlines at The third phase takes place in the simu- mated cockpit, though many pilots dis- Siapleton Airport. Denvo'. CO 80207, or by call- lator, where the pilots are put to the acid agree. "A two-man crew sometimes comes no 303-398-4210. " "Don't be alarmed! Sodium nitrite showers are becoming more common around supern-.a.rXets 188 OMNI — [he giant station and back; the three-man Soyuz-T vehicle would not have the ca- pacity to supply adequate staffing. The ferry apparently will be the semimythical "So- viet space shuttle." Last June it proved its existence with a test flight that landed in the midst of a seven-ship Red Navy re- covery task force in the Indian Ocean. The official Soviet designation for the mission was Casmos-1374— just another routine scientific satellite, or so the press BEHIND EVERY GOOD release from Moscow claimed. But the strange orbital track of the vehicle, to- gether with the recovery of some sort of SINCLAIR IS A MEMOPAK spacecraft by the Soviet fleet (an opera- tion watched closely by Australian P-3 Ori- If you own a Timex-Sinclair IflOO or ZX8I computer, . on aircraft), tipped off observers that have a Memopak benir.il ii. From increiLsed memory lo high something significant had occurred. After resolution graphics, Memotedi ha; a Memopak to boost your several weeks of analysis and rumor sisleni's captDihlics. Eve-;. Memoprrv-; peripheral a black ai iodised aluminum case and is designei swapping, a consistent picture emerged. fit together in "piggy back" fashion to enable The Cosmos-1374 vehicle, it turned out, you to continue lo add on and still keep an was not a full-scale shuttle, but instead upjti'iite: system look. weighed only about a ton. This in turn in- dicated that the flight had been intended to test the aerodynamic characteristics of the spacecraft shape as it plunged through the atmosphere at speeds as high as Mach 30. Since the vehicle was recovered, the test must have been successful. Order at no risk Some aspects of the flight remain ob- All Memotech products carry our day scure. Why, for example, was the intended 10 money back guarantee. If you're not completely landing spot on the ocean, since Soviet ' satisfied, return it in ten days and we will give space vehicles have traditionally avoided, you a full refund. if the water landings? And why, Russians And every Memotech product comes with a six were testing just reentry guidance, did the month warranty Should anything be defective craft go all the way up into orbit, circle the with your Memopak, return it to us and we will earth once, and then have to make the del- repair or replace it free of charge. Dealer icate de-orbit burn to get back down, when inquiries welcome, lb order any product write Memotech a direct up-down hop could have boosted or call our toll-free number the craft to the same speeds and brought 800/662-0949. it down in a standard recovery zone? In any case the interval between a sub- scale test such as Cosmos-1374 and a full- Memopak 64K RAH tin- :>;!; R\V. mends the Memopak High Resolution Graphics The Memopa:-: scale but unmanned flight of a prototype memory o? vour Social: iy. ffcK :ii a hill 64K. It is HRG coiiliiius\i IK I'.F'ROM moub.or and is fully shuttle could be as short as two years. either programmable foi hub resolution irapriics The HRG The development of this two-part pro- swiierhed nor paged ari'i accepts such basic conmiiriel provides for up ;o L9- bv -4* pLv?f resolution — gram, the big booster and the minishuttle, as 10 DIM A (9000). The Meirapnk 64K turns your $144.95. certainly will hold center stage in the So- Sirxlnir in!!.' :-, powerful compute:? suitable for Memopak Printer Interface The memotech viet space program of the late 1980s. But business, rncrenlio'ial jnd edacatroniU use. No Centronics para. 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OQ 7550 West Yale Avenue Denver, Colorado 80227 (303) 986-1516 TWX 910-320-2917 — " UN SHAKE TAR5 By 'Allan Hendry 5ince ihe 1960s scientists have use '.he so:a r vtvanons -"' Q'obe the sun's Classical Newtonian physics accounts known that the surface of the sun unseen interior. Working with physicist for only 92 percent of the shift. oscillates, or vibrates — a fact Dr. Philip Goode and graduate student Einstein sought to improve on Newton's they considered interesting but hardly Randall Bos, Hill searched for patterns law of gravitat:on by caking nto account significant. Then in 1974 a soft-spoken among the thousands of individual the way the sun's local gravity warped University of Arizona astrophysicist, Henry oscllaticis so a".ed oy Bos as part both space and time around it. Cal- Hill, announced that the whole sun was of his research for a Ph.D. dissertation. culations based on Einstein's theories quivering like some mammoth ball of An analysis of these vibrations revealed resolved the discrepancy in Mercury's jelly. This past spring Hill announced that the sun is rotating at various speeds. precession, and the mystery appeared to clues from studying scar oscillations The inner 60 percent, Hill says, rotates be solved. may unsettle over 50 years of confidence six times faster than the surface. The catch now is that Hill and his in the equations used to prove Einstein's Because the core is spinning so rapidly, colleagues have asserted that the sun is general Iheory of relativity. the sun is not round, but oblate not uniformly round, something that Hill made his initial discoveries about flattened at the poles and bulging Einsteinian tests assume in the beginning. the sun's oscillations by using a specially at the equator. This creates problems because, by designed solar telescope, which allowed Why'should such disclosures threaten being nonuniform, the sun alters the him to measure the polar and equatorial the general relativity theory? Scientists accepted value of its gravitational field. diameters of the sun to an accuracy of have come to accept Einstein's tenets And so at a meeting of the Royal within one part in a million. He discovered because they have passed various Astronomical Society in Ireland last spring. these diameters would consistently experimental tests. One, proposed by Hill made this startling announcement: shrink and expand, indicating the sun is Lirsiein hirrself. involved :he planet "If the observations of Mercury's orbit are vibrating, or "ringing" like a giant bell. nearest the sun, Mercury. correct. to within the stated margin of This discovery suggested a potential for It has long been known that over time error, ihen we can say with ninety-five an exciting new science; solar seis- when the planet reaches its perihelion, percent certainty that Einstein's theory of mology. Just as geologists monitor the. point in its orbit when it is closest to general relativity is not correct." earthquake-triggered vibrations to study the sun, the location of that perihelion But as Dr. Ronald Hellings, a relativity our planet's core, astronomers could shifts around the sun slightly each year. expert at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, points out. astronomers are still uncertain about the amount of precession there is in its orbit. Furthermore, there are other sun- based tests of relativity that still seem to support Einstein. One is that the gravitational warp of space around the sun is strong enough to bend light waves. Not surprisingly, Hill disagrees with his critics. "The light-bending experiment tests only one aspect of the theory." he remarks, "while the advance of Mercury's perihelion tests another. Success in two or three areas doesn't preclude failure in afourth." Beyond that, he thinks, the huge wave of publicity about his challenge of the relativity theory is missing another, more important story. "Discussion about general relativity is really beside the point, he told one group of experts convened by the New York Academy of Sciences. "That is just a spinoff of this work. The main point is we now have a way of studying the structure and the behavior of the sun. "DO scientists In order to live at the vents, I learned, no mouth, no anus. Thus, the who animals must do more than just endure hy- first saw it assumed thai it simply ab- drogen sulfide like astronauts masked and sorbed nutrients from the water. Not so. EARTH!:'•.. :' ..ON i 'X l-'ROIv' r-/i;";: -.h suiled against a noxious atmosphere: They In reality, the worm obtains food from a must embrace their harsh environment, second "creature" locked inside it; Its body using the toxic substance lo survive. And, cavity is packed with a soft gray-green tis- the wind or partake ot the environment. We according to microbiologist Holger Jan- sue called trophosome, a bacteria-filled had to use the same techniques one would nasch, of the Marine Biological Labora- mass that serves as"the power plant of the use in exploring outer space." tory, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, bac- animal. Trophosome bacteria ilourish be- Those techniques did, however, allow teria were the first to master the trick. cause they are supplied with large quan- some hands-on contact, providing biolo- Somewhere along the line, he explained, tities of hydrogen sulfide delivered through gists with the real treasures — not video- certain bacteria learned to convert hydro- the worm's bloodstream. Worms, which tapes, but specimens grappled like moon gen sulfide into organic carbon com- apparently produce a special blood pro- rocks with Alvfn's mechanical arms or swept pounds, just as plants convert water and tein to detoxify hydrogen sulfide, survive into "slurp guns," scoops, and tows. I stood sunlight into nourishment on the surface by absorbing nutrients from the bacteria. on deck each evening as Alviris catch of world. The bacterial process, called che- Sunbathing with me on deck one day, Jan- the day was pulled aboard in a 200-pound mosynthesis, is not unique to the- vents. In nasch came up with this analogy: To be foot locker known as the clam coffin. The the black, sultury mud of lakes and estu- like the lube worm, a person would need parceling ritual had become the social event aries, Jannasch notes, chemosynthetic a transparent window over his stomach and ot those languid days at sea, but a suc- "bugs" can be found thriving on the hy- a garden of green plants inside; he cessful haul meant plenty of work. drogen sulfide produced by rotting vege- could dine just by lying in the sun. Dispersing to their labs on the Melville tation. On the earth's surface they are in- To Woods Hole scientist Howard Sand- and the New Horizon, the scientists probed, significant in the food chain. At the vents, ers, patriarch of blue-water biology, these dissected, and measured the vent crea- they are the cornerstone. extraordinary tube worms oifer clues about tures, sometimes into the wee hours of the In the Galapagos, mussels eat the bac- the evolution of blue-water animals and the morning. They hoped that each tedious teria. But there are no mussels at 21 de- age of vent systems worldwide. 'Almost detail would shed light on larger questions: grees north, and the dominant animals, the every vent creature is as highly special- How do these animals manage to flourish worms and clams, opted some time back ized as the tube worm," he told me, at the vents? How do they fend off the poi- for a more sophisticated system; They "adapted to the vent environment and no son of hydrogen sulfide? How do their off- house bacteria within them, living in ap- other." These fine-tuned animals didn't just spring find new vents, a necessity since parently inseparable symbiosis. appear when the vents in their particular old ones die out in a decade or so? And The tube worm, superstar of the vent corner of the world opened up a decade why haven't other creatures abandoned world, may turn out to be the most unusual or so ago: It took millennia for them to evolve. their dependence on leftovers from sun- animal on Earth: the first, in a sense, to "The only explanation [ can think of." nier realms to join the vent community? make Its own food. The worm has no gut, Sanders adds, "is that the vent environ- ment is very ancient, even though any sin- gle vent is ephemeral." Vent creatures grow at a frantic rate, probably producing large numbers of offspring in larval form. When a vent closes, hardy larval scouts can drift long distances, a few making it to other vents and beginning their community anew. With our own species moving closer to exploiting the deep ocean—for man- ganese nodule mining, radioactive waste disposal, chemical dumping— I wondered about the vulnerability of this deepwater environment. But few Oasis scientists seemed worried. "The vent system is too vast. The community is obviously adapted to a high turnover and recovery rate," Hessler said. "I'd say this is an area where we don't have to worry about man's activ- ities .much." Others believe vent creatures might even be hardy enough to colonize vapory Venus and other alien worlds. But Jannasch re- jects that idea, because it could never be controlled. "If we ever found life on Venus," he says, "we'd have no way of telling whether it came from Earth or had been there before." Besides, it is not the vent creatures, well- nourished by the heal and chemistry of the earth, but we who reach out for other worlds. Sitting on the surface of a planet we con- tinue to abuse, we dream of moving on be- fore we self-destruc:. Watching the watery horizon, I found it reassuring that life on Earth has more options than we had imag- ined. The tube worms may never even heed our passage. DO 192 OMNI PAINTING CONTINUED FBOM PAGE 36 \\%wh 498 years after the MFoundation function allows things to be separated and integrated simultaneously." came into existence. And far too long Siler calls it Object-Mtrror-lmage. The reality can be mapped onto the idea. The since the masters last navel. brain and the mind mirror each other. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the real structure of the brain and the ' tual process of the mind. The mirror is thus a tool that allows both the tangible and the intangible to be simultaneously explored. • In this respect, Siler says, a kind of "virtual physics"—an optics of the mind— is cre- ated. "The ceiling of particle physics is the floor of the mind." And for the present his Cerebreactors are the physical represen- tation of that. "Scientists are beginning to look over their shoulders and wonder what's going on rotation's f when they see an artist like Todd/' says Ronald Feldman, of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery, in New York City, where Siler had his one-man Cerebreactors show in 1981. "He did a Cerebreactor at MIT, and members of the science faculty were quicker to understand it than the artists. I don't know whether he's an artist or a sci- entist. His ability to integrate so many dis- ciplines with such insight is quite stagger- ing." Siler's work has impressed others in the art community, too. He is one of 12 in- dividuals selected internationally to exhibit at ARC 2 at the Musee d'Art Moderne de •IDOUBLEDAY Ville de Paris, in France, this year. Siler has done significant research in hard science and won a patent for an artist's canvas-stretching device. He's proposed to do a "video pile," a video art show em- ploying television sets as cloud chambers to display the paths of alpha, beta, and FOR gamma rays. He proposes to design a de- vice to measure the activity and intensity of certain electrical fields of the brain. He seems driven to push the technology of art FUTURE REFERENCE and the art of technology into conver- gence. "In 2000 B.c." he says, "the big Moving? We need 4-6 weeks annrui question was body and spirit. During the notice of a change of address. Fill Renaissance it was science and art. When in the attached form. the new physics burst on the scientific New Subscription or Renewal? world, it was matter and nonmatier. Now One year of Omni is$24 in the U.S. it's mind and brain, which brings us vir- tually full-circle," comments the artist, who $34 in Canada and overseas. is now working on a Ph.D. in architecture, Please enclose a check or money art, and environmental studies at MIT. It is order for the appropriate amount his interdisciplinary approach toward con- and allow 6-8 weeks for delivery ceptualizing the aesthetic attraction be- Lisfing/Unlistlng Service? Omni tween brain and spatial form. makes the names and addresses "I think artists shy away from science r r because science brought us the atomic of its subsc :be s avafable to other bomb," Feldman says, "but we need art- publications and outside com- ists with the ability and the information to panies. The publications and criticize it. Todd is the future. Or, if he isn't companies selected are carefully the future, who is? In the fields of art and screened for their acceptability science, it, this is and I think we need it." and quality of their offers, If you "We celebrate art and science sepa- would like your name removed rately," Siler concludes. "We should cel- from this mailing list please check ebrate the 'and,' the link between the two, the appropriate box on the the conjunction that allows them to be con- sidered together."DQ coupon. coruinjiuruicMTior\J5 CONTINULDFBOMP; hypothesis that levophobia is peculiar to the Phoenix metropolitan area. The more than 1.4 million residents gen- erate considerable .traffic on city streets. which appallingly are devoid of median strips and left-hand turn signals. When I first moved to Arizona, I thought it more than a little odd that people would plan routes far out of their way simply to avoid having to make left-handed turns. I discovered that the area's motor vehicle accident rale far exceeds the national rate. in I have to take my life my own hands every day. The Left Hand Turn Avoidance School of Thought is now beginning to look a little more sane. Chris Shirley Phoenix. Ariz. Think a Million Thanks for the $10. I recently read a short article in Omni entitled "Deadly Dreams" [Antimatter, June 1982] that implied one might be able to conjure up £1 million just by thinking about it. Since my job does not require too much concentration, as often as possible I think about a $100 bill. I was walking outdoors one day and spotted a $10 bill. Not exactly next time I'll what I had ordered, but con- FICTION COMPUTER KIDS—Good-bye, blackboard and erasers; hello, TRS-80, Apple, and Atari. There is a new generation of children growing up who handle the intricacies o( computer language and programming the way other generations the article "Premature Thaw" [Antimat- to ride bike. For better or worse, the computer has become a fixture stated that the learned how a , December 1981] we in modern childhood. The next issue of Omni shows how the first wave of computer yonics Society of California was located kids is using this tool for fun and, in some disturbing instances, for profit, too: Berkeley. The organization was, in ac- ility, founded in Los Angeles in 1966 and GENIUS TRUST— II you have a few million dollars that you must give away, to Ki>ryar whom do you give it? That was one enviable problem facing the John D. and lear Berkeley—Ed.OO Catherine MacArthur Foundation recently. The solution was called the Prize Fel- lows Program, also known as the Genius Trust. In next month's Omni you will find ;redi the scientists were received the MacArthur largess, what out who some of. who Page 10, Pa! mil. Scie a ire page 1 the large— up to aquarter million dollars— grants have done to them and for them. and how the American version of the Nobel Prize hasn't quite measured up. page 28, Dr Don ^ Ga :~ ".'. page p;itje4BL!) The time is millions of years from now. The place, planet Earth, FUTURE MAN— page 43 creature through its trunk is our own, altered And the hard-shelled sucking water A ' c descendant. Acting on a suggestion advanced by Omni, paleontologist/model S,aK* p ;!g .j SO Do Dougai Dixon has created an extravaganza of pictures that forecast the ». : :.- :- maker 51 bottom, OlqaSos , pag top future of man. Bui because Dixon's vision is peculiarly his own, we asked other gel page 51 Jan geneticists to furnish their views on tomorrow's left, paleontologists, physiologists, and page 64.--: evolution. To see what form our heirs might take, read November's Omni. page 86. pages GENETIC MARKERS— Is it possible to detect the presence of the gene that page 112 top. Joe Ba -, page i 2 Bottom. Mitchell Funk; psga 11 causes multiple sclerosis? The day is approaching when inherited defective chro- .; V,-,: page mosomes will be wiped, out. Genetic researchers are now on the verge of being able to peer into your biochemistry and to predict, years or even decades in page 114 right. Gotlfr 11 5 ° P :..' advance, what diseases you are most likely to. contract. Read about the genetic 'bottom* - Tst key that. could help reshape our biological destiny, in the November issue of Omni. page 116 FICTION—Stephen Robinett, a frequent contributor to Omni, has written a gem Lid page 117 right, P of a story, "Number Thirteen," in which the thirteenth re-creation of the First Officer -:: page of a space-colony ship carefully examines his past lives for clues to his future. ".pagel Steve Perry, a new contributor to the magazine and a former paramedic, puts his om. _ .:: medical experience to good use in "Augenbltck." Perry's hero is a dedicated V^^HNUM -TagTm doctor with a talent that leads him to a serious moral and professional dilemma. PHERJOrUlErUM i hair. To those who practice -.... w „„,ence of Irichoanalysrs— sludying the properties of human hair—this shattering of a hair shaft is technically udosa. When stressed mm® 535 point where you feel as if these damned "It's all in the exercise. If you exercise ruiiruD kids better produce. You can get to teeling the brain early enough, the child will soon pretty resentful." become self-reliant, " she adds. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 Buschel admits that, some of Doman's That sounds reasonable, but critics point child reaches school age. "My only con- techniques, if applied vigorously, can pro- out that the long-term results of Doman's cern is how the teachers will react to him," duce startling results. But they may not be Better Baby techniques won't be known for she says. "The school system likes only very meaningful. years. And already a few of the claims are average students. That's all they're geared "One of the 'bits' the institute likes to show beginning to seem exaggerated. to deal with. Slow learners and fast learn- off to newcomers is a math technique," Elaine Stogo, thirty-eight, was one of the ers are off in a category'by themselves. I Buschel says. "They hold up two cards, first parents to enroll in the institutes' pro- don't know whether I will put him in a public one with four hundred dots on it, and the gram for healthy babies in 1976, two years school system or not. I know I don't want other with three hundred fifty, and show before the Better Baby Institute was for- him to be thought of as an oddball." how one of their kids can crawl over and mally set up. Stogo's daughter was two- Success like Cianfrani's demands an pick the one with four hundred dots on and-a-half years old then. enormous commitment from the parent. command. It looks more amazing than it "I would recommend the program to Bruce Buschel, thirty-four, a New York City actually is. It's the same principle cops use anybody," she says, "but, like anything else, writer and video producer, decided to en- to estimate crowds. If you look at enough you have to choose the parts of the pro- roll in Doman's program alter a two-year- dotted cards long enough, you get to know gram that apply to your own situation. I en- old girl visited his home and began read- instinctively how many dots are on each rolled my child at the institutes because I ing a book aioud to his two-year-old twins. one. The question is, Will this information wanted her to learn how to play the violin. I "The first thing did was ask the girl's mother translate to anything useful? I doubt it." At the time the conservatories in the area what was wrong with her kid," Buschel re- Critics of the Better Baby Institute also wouldn't take her, because she was so I members. "The second thing was sent in argue that the program's regimen takes young. They kept telling me I was being my money to the institute. After watching away the one chance in a lifetime a kid has too pushy and that I should wait until she the girl read, I figured I owed it to my kids to act like a kid. Even if it's possible to teach was old enough to know what she was to investigate what this was all about" a baby math and a two-year-old to play doing. But, thanks to the institutes, today While Buschel reports that the week-long the violin, they say, doing so requires that she plays the violin beautifully." seminar taught him some valuable parent- the child be drilled daily. While Stogo's daughter may someday ing techniques, he also learned that the Kerr has heard the criticism before. "You credit the institutes for her musical virtu- program has practical problems. "If you can't make a. baby, or even a child of two osity, she finds some of that training harder take it all at face value, the program can or three, pay attention if he or she doesn't to remember. "This year she learned all begin to take over your life," he says. "I want to," she says, 'Just try it sometime. about Japan in school," Stogo says. "I was taking care of the kids all day and But believe me, children want to learn, more thought she'd be well ahead of her class- staying up all night cutting out pictures to than they want to sleep or eat; they just mates because she'd been taught Japa- make flash cards. You can soon reach the don't want to do it every minute of the day. nese at the institutes every day. But the language didn't come back to her at all." So committed was Stogo to her child's education that she can no longer imagine having the energy to carry out Doman's program again. "I always thought that when I was approaching torty, I'd try to have a couple more children," she says. "But I wouldn't want to, unless I could devote the same amount of energy again. I have bookshelves and bookshelves filled with flash cards that I worked on for my daugh- ter. I just don't think I could do that for an- other child." Doman (now chairman of the board) rubs his silver-gray beard, pats his ample mid- riff, and strides jauntily across the front of the large lecture hall, surveying the faces of the 90 parents in front of him. "You know, there is a great difference between functional intelligence and po- tential intelligence," the sixty-three -year-old founder of the Better Baby Institute says. "For example, if you begin cutting an earthworm in two, it will resist in every way it knows how. Admittedly, it doesn't know many ways, but it will try anyhow. But if you try to cut off the leg of a human being who is in a coma, he won't do anything to stop you. You can cut off his head, for that mat- ter. It is simply not possible for a human being to act intelligently in the absence of information. Same with the kid who's put away in the attic. He'll never have func- tional intelligence. Why? He needs infor- mation. And that's all we want to do with our children: We want to give them the in- formation to act intelligently."00 I Defend The Galaxy... Join The Galactic Task Force. STAR FRONTIERS r" Game...from the makers Play the role of a Dralasite, Vrusk, Human or of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Games and Yazirian. By playing any one of these, you other popular role-playing adventures. Sharpen become a member of the Galactic Task Force. your role-playing skills with the science fiction Your mission is to defend the galaxy against game that's taken years to develop. ruthless adversaries. It's a tough job, but you're equipped for just about anything! Game includes basic rulebook, expanded rulebook, first module (SF-0), maps, counters and dice. For more information In the UK: and a free catalog write: TSR Hobbies, (UK) Ltd. TSR Hobbles, Inc. The Mill, Rathmore Rd. POB756, Dept. 170-121-OM1 Cambridge, England nirfjiiwWmmfe Lake Geneva, W I 53147 CB1 4AD All Rights Aestnnt. DUNGEONS a. DRAGONS and STAR FRONTIERS ate trademarks o» Fours, the sons of Rubik, and a ^ O film quiz By Scot Morris I! is the smallesi square number and the 4. The 4H Club; The H's stand for subtraction, multiplication, and division, smallest nonprime number (other than head, heart, hands, and . . . and the parentheses. For example: and 1). It is the only integer that is both 1 = 44/44 the product of two numbers and the 2 = 4/4 + 4/4 sum of those numbers. II is the number It is possible to create every digit of players on a polo team, the number contains and spell that number. Count the between 1 and 10 this way. If the square- of players in bridge, and the number of letters again and spell that number. root sign is also allowed, numbers 11 bridges of Toko-ri in the James Michener Repeat the process until you reach a through 20 can all be expressed, with one novel. It is the number of gospels, of single number. What is it? exception. See whether you can create sides in the base of the Great Pyramid, When Martin Gardner pointed out that formulas for the numbers between 3 and of dimensions in space-time. And this among all the infinity of numbers, 4 is 20, and find the one number that cannot is month it the anniversary celebrated by the only "honest number"— that is, it is the be expressed with these simple-symbols-. the only science magazine with a four- only one that states correctly the number THE WORLD'S HARDEST CUBE PUZZLE letter title. of letters in its English name— several (SO FAR) Can you name the fourth four in these of his readers argued the point. Gardner four groupings? was correct if only the simple names Shortly after Rubik's Cube hit the' stores. 1. The Four Freedoms (as expressed of numbers are considered, but if a similar puzzle called the Pyraminx in a 1941 speech by Franklin Delano operational phrases are allowed (e.g., appeared— actually a tetrahedron with Roosevelt and commemorated in a quartet "squared," "added to"), several exceptions four triangular faces, each containing nine of Norman Rockwell paintings]: Freedom can be found. See whether you can find smaller "trianglets." You may have of speech and expression, Freedom phrases that will make honest numbers assumed that this puzzle was invented of religion, Freedom from want, and . . . out of 8, 13, 15, 16, and 29- after the Rubik craze hit. but actually 2. The Four Horsemen of the THE FOUR FOURS. A classic problem in Uwe Meffert claims that he designed this Apocalypse; Conquest (War), Pestilence, recreational mathematics is to form as twisting tetrahedron in 1972 as a fiddling Death, and . . . many whole numbers as possible, starting toy and a meditation aid., then put it on the 3. The four of Hippocratic humors with 1, using the digit 4 tour times—no shelf, assuming it had no commercial and medieval medicine; black bile, yellow more, no less—and the common value. When the Cube took fire, he quickly bile, phlegm, and . . . mathematical .symbols for addition, patented his earlier design and marketed puzzles, pairs, lei: onginat New oy uom A,fe'Ws Pv-xiv-r.x Megan?::;,. ,'.-;e aoJecaneora! hatcJesi pu.zi-i ret" the Pwmvmx Cute. ,r. :>s cubic Hate and hallway through a turn; the tmpossi-Ball, two puzzles in one; Naoki Yoshimatois ingenious invention Starburst. shcv.-nv; r.tjbe Hml star forms. 200 OMNI it under the name Pyraminx (a name here), which twists along axes that go ^ $FILM QUIZ chosen for its Egyptian associations, a straight through the cube's center. For cross between pyramid and sphinx). people who are used to Rubik's Cube, Louis Phillips is preparing a quiz book The German-born Meffert, who now handling this one can be most for Walker Publishers, 505 Questions resides in Hong Kong and makes his living disconcerting: It takes a bit of practice About Movies That Your Friends Can't An- as a sports medicine consultant, quickly before one even figures out how to twist swer. Some selected items from his got caught up in the mania and started it. Another is his Impossi-Ball (pictured), chapter on science-fiction and horror films: turning out puzzles in profusion. He two puzzles in one. You can twist the 1. Forbidden Planet (1956) is loosely has designed puzzles on all the Platonic layers as shown, or any of the triangular based on what Shakespearean play? solids, and this fall he introduces the pieces can be popped out; then the 2. In the 1930s Adolf Hitler ordered the Megaminx (pictured here), which has the other triangles can be moved into the destruction of all available prints of Fritz distinction of being the most complicated "hole." This is a 3-D sliding analogue Lang's 1928 film Die Frau im Mond (The of all puzzles in the new genre. of Sam Loyd's famous 15 Puzzle. Girl in the Moon). Why? If we consider the total number of If you can't find these puzzles in stores, 3. In The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) possible color arrangements, Rubik's you may order them (and a catalog Boris Karloff, of course, played the 19 listing others) directly Meffert, Elsa his Cube has on the order of 10 , and Rubik's many from monster and Lanchester played Revenge, the new 4x4x4 cube by at'Pncewell {Far East) Ltd., P.O. Box bride. But who played the role of Mary 10"a Ideal, has . For the Megaminx, the 31008, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Meffert Shelley, the author of the classic novel 68 number is an astronomical 10 . has offered to send any of his puzzles Frankenstein? "Those numbers can be misleading," to Omni readers for $8 postpaid for 4. Steve McQueen made his screen Meffert tells me, "For example, it wouldn't surface mail, or $10 for air mail. debut in what 1958 horror film? 5' be fair to say that the Megaminx is 10 Douglas R. Hofstadter's "Metamagical 5. Where was Bela Lugosi born? (Once times harder than the Cube. A more Themas" column in the July 1982 you know, it's easy to remember.) relevant comparison is to look at the Scientific American gives a mathematical 6. The actor who played the title role in number of possible arrangements left after analysis of the Pyraminx, Meffert's Cube / Was a Teen-age Werewolf (1957) later you have solved all but the last layer." (which he calls the Skewb], and several went en to star in two long-running TV Rubik's Cube's last layer leaves you with other twisting puzzles. Hotsladter also series. Who is he? some 62,000 possibilities; on the reports that H. J. Kamack and T R. Keane 7. Boris Karloff has portrayed Megaminx that number is 4.7 million. have simulated a four-dimensional Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, and Meffert says that he cannot solve the Rubik's hypercube (3 x 3 x. 3 x 3) on a Dr. Fu Manchu. What other screen star Megaminx himself without referring to computer. They call it Rubik's Tesseract, has also played those three roles? notes, though he knows of several young and they have calculated that the number 8. What actor played the Thing, in the people who are able, to do it in less than of distinct arrangements it has Is nearly 1951 classic The Thing? 100 five minutes. agoogol (10 ). 9. In what sf film can audiences see The Megaminx is a dodecahedron, three well-known radio and newspaper with each of its 12 sides being pentagons. Another remarkable toy in the genre, reporters—Drew Pearson, H. V. It has 12 fixed pieces (the inner pentagon designed by Naoki Yoshirhoto, is more an Kaltenborn, and Gabriel Heater? of each side is connected by a shaft to art object than a puzzle The one shown 10. In Star Wars a character mentions a central ball) and 50 floating pieces. By was presented to me by Itsuo Sakane, a certain cell block. The number of comparison, Rubik's Cube has 6 fixed who writes a column similar to this one for the cell block alludes to an earlier film and 20 floating pieces. The Megaminx can the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. directed by George Lucas. What is the be taken apart in much the same way It starts out as a silver 2x2x2 cube. number, and what is the other film? that Rubik's Cube can be (I described Give- it a few twists, the inner surfaces 11. Woody Woodpecker is alluded to, how to do that in the October 1980 exchange with the outer surfaces, and it or can be seen, in almost every post- issue). The Pyraminx cannot be taken becomes a gold cube. That's remarkable 1950 film made by what noted producer apart without destroying the inner enough, but take the gold and silver of sf classics? mechanism. sections apart and each-can be folded 12. In what Boris Karloff film does Meffert has designed two other into a beautiful star shape, a stellated Karloff deliver an invocation to Satan, dodecahedron puzzles, with entirely rhombic dodecahedron (shown in gold). including numerous inappropriate Latin different twisting properties, which will be This ingenious piece of three- phrases, such as in vino Veritas ("in wine, marketed as the Pyraminx Ball and the dimensional engineering is being truth"). Cave canem ("beware of the r? Pyraminx Crystal. One of Meffert's most marketed in multicolored versions by dog"), and reductio ad absurdum unusual designs is the cube (pictured Entex, under the name Starburst. Answers are on page 178.DO 201 ' - Lbe.tes, heart attack, or-strol- fore age fifty, subtraci.4. tables that r el ed almost exclusively on either parent is'stii! alive to s ems and medical history ster, and criticize your even 11 .parent. to datem-ae iusi how long a person most we, subtract. per ; !; & a doctor -at tea st of}' l-ri do" 5 years, as i have learned and 3 and treat yoi more about man and his die;, li and environment, a new, more 50. pound: method of gauging a person's p- you a by iife span has-been developed -the Liff Expectancy Quiz, "ioday ?sverai versions If someone 5G subtract 12. 1 medical just sat on you, oi this g .:;:: are used by doctors, still working. groups, and msuiance companies. After (5) If you are over 65 and tihornugh examination o! these quizzes add' 3: If work in- any- of the iolicwmg iwever. I have discovered one basic you regardless oi age, . iw: They s^npiy do notgo far enough. professions, " They downplay too many 'actors of subtract accordingly;- '. player, everyday lite and completely ignore a) National Hockey League several olher important ones subtract 3. pilot, 7. """his discovery prompied me to develop b) DC-1'0 subtract my own Life Expectancy Quiz, the only c) Janitor at -Three Mile Island, subtract 13.' one of its kind and. I modestly suggest, 15. LA5T the most accurate at judging the- probata! :.li Polish dissenter, subtract subtract 19 life span of men and women for !he 1980s e) Pope,. take f) Argentine soldier, subtract. 22. and beyond. I now invite you to pen or pencil in hand and see just how WORD long will live. Personal subtotal — you By John Ficarra Begin with the number 72, respond to ill: GENERAL INFORMATION . . I'ne relieving, and add or subtract PART If any room oi your house or • True or False: accordingly, (1) y engulled in PART I: LIFE-STYLE-STATUS The Heimlich maneuver is an subrr, 120. advanced sexual True or False; The. Heimlich maneuver is an advanced sexual technique after the technique named 'lamec afto' ;he 'amc-d German sex famed German sex therapist Dr. Car! Heimlich. :, 1. i! vou answered False." add therapist Dr. Carl Heimlich} If you answered "True." subtract 1 and never dine alone. For even/ Republican president who hasheidofficeinyour lifetime, Hes a day. subtract 2. 1 ; I;.: i !. .' 'i i ' i VOL.' ison you're "-"O' v lifetime,, subtract 20.