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EDITOR IN CHIEF & DESIGN DIRECTOR: BOB GUCCIONE PRESIDENT: KATHY KEETON cDITOR- PATRIC: ADCROFT GRAPHICS :j!RECTOR PRANK DEVINO MANAGING EDITOR: STEVE FOX ART DIRECTOR: DWAYNE FLINCHUM

CONTENTS PAGE FIRST WORD The Future of Space Allan McDonald 10 Technology

OMNIBUS Data Bank 14 COMMUNICATIONS Correspondence 20 FORUM Results oiihe Interspecies Nina Guccione 22 Communications Experimen

SPACE NASAs Recycling Program Randall Black 24 EARTH Arlificia Islands Dwight Holing 26

STARS Neplune's Mysterious Moon J. Kelly Beatty 28

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Brain-controlled Computers Darrell E Ward 30 ARTS High-tech Jewelry Nina Guccione 34 MIND The Politics of Alcoholism .car' Rachel Goldberg 42 CONTINUUM The Truth About the 45 Right/Left Brains, etc.

TRANSCENDING SCIENCE Mystical Experiences Dennis Stacy 54

HOW TO HAVE A Mind- expansion Exercises, Keith Harary and 137 MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE plus an Interview with Jane Bosveld Joseph Campbell

SILVERBIRD Pictorial: West Germany's John W. Anderson 63 Spaceplane

ON THE EDGE Fiction Sharon N. Farber 70

LOS ALAMOS WHIZ KIDS Classified Children: Coming Nolan Hester 78 of Age in New Mexico p LONG DAY'S JOURNEY "he ""iysiology of Ronald K. Siegel 86 INTO FRIGHT Hallucinations

STAR TECH CL'ice 'ools to- the Year 2000 92 FLEDGED Fiction Carol irmshwiller 96

INTERVIEW AIDS Expert Luc Montagnier Thomas Bass 102

ANTIMATTER NASA and UFO 109 Invest cations, etc.

GAMES Origami Architecture, plus Scot Morris 156 Computer Gaming with Chuck Yeager

LAST WORD Humor: Psychic Abuse <:-iihv "homock 162

She " represents the "Venus of inalLtd., 1965 Broadway the future," says artist k POSTMASTER Send Jean Francois Podevin, who created of Alien Troy stribured in the USA, Can; lit lor China Sky's upcoming record *7 7QE, England Entire cor from CBS. The figure is an expression o! technology, humanity, and nature— with a dimension ot mystery 2 OMNI .

Thanks to NASA's most recent success, Aftef the space shiifle ChaMenget was lost, mourned the death of our future it e we crew members. Our hopes If the upcoming age of space engineer- the seven explore other, worlds ing is going to be great, however, the and dreams'lo responsibilities of tomorrow will be even seemed bleak at the time, and our missions into space came to a standstill. greater. I believe it's time for engineers as both' professionals and citizens Even now peoofe are still wondering accident could have '.to take 'a more active role In the decisions how the Challenge! Discovery that space technology creates. happened. The success of Engineers are more aware of the risks, puts' us back or- track, but every Ameri- that the costs, and the feasibility of certain- can citizen needs to understand technologies and should also be invoiced a risk is still present. what : s the in the decisions as to how these break- ... I have often been asked Ihrougns are applied. Our progress criterion for determining whether the shuttle solid in space is indeed a tech no logic a: feat, redesign of the space answer this bu: there are more issues at hand than rocket Poosler is safe. My to been: lust a technical challenge. difficult question has always Professional engineering associations h when today are a sadly underdeveloped, there has 'oeen sufficient testing and

design 'hat I .' source of expert counsel, it is essential analysis of trie new am

It myself. But there is no for such associations to be actively wiliing to fly in let wife represented on national steering' V: way that I would ever my or : mission into committees, planning commissions,'.. children ! y on a shuttle at ...... , , ; . p sit first flight of the DC-3 occurred FIRST rational and affordable national space The o be developed and put into 53 years ago Today airplanes are 20 times saior man cars There Is. however, action. It only makes sense that those commercial air IAJDRD who are on the forefront of space devel- an accepted danger In opment should be among the people ve sir! have accidents. allow ourselves By Allan McDonald who choose ihe direction our space With spaceflight, we must levelof'.,; program will take. theii.me to develop the same knowledge. The space ^Space engineers can We aiso nee:.! !o Know when it is besl experience and space shuttle is lhe most complex machine develop a strategy for to use 'obotic explorers. Every help mission. is mission presents a calculated risk, ever built by man. arid every ;. sending a manned but we need to determine when that flown on the .ragged edge of design, . to and danger is too great lor man and when a and technology. Rouune access mission to Mars or take part . "' robotic instrument can do 'he job as from space is a legitimatetgoaT-feut ;•;.. fn putting together : not short-term one. • ; well. Should we spend more energy a : a feasible plan that will send designing and building equipment to The future, of. spar- ' 7 And when' does a boundless as anything! know. Its a new colony of replace astronauts' mission require the skills and intellect of a possibilities are unlimited and its rewards: into outer space3 need, however, Earthiing? human being" I? la our responsibility to' abundant. What we ' professionals willing tc . dedicated ir order to get the , are job done right .and protect pur astronauts, accept a wider sphere of responsibili-

ties responsibilities that should naturally . . atthesarne time Alter ah, choosing tne nest combriailon cr abilities to fit a go along with a profession that.affects::' lives. given situation :s what engineers are so many v . / -z trained to do. We are on the threshold of a commer- the: one: '-,./, Not only will the increased participation cial space market as vast as of tne or engineers help work out sortie of that began with the development incredible field of opportu- the kinks in our spaco program, bu" it airplane. The Ameri- will also create a greater opportunity to nity thai is opening up for many

'i . ..ii accomplish our goals -r.cye quickly. . . -I i !!,; Engineers can help develop a strategy intense international competition to - microgravity tor sending a.manned mission to Mars, develop launch vehicles, satellites, tor instance, or ia.-=c part in putting manufacturing, communication together a feasible plan thaiwii: send a advanced propulsion, robotics, and new colony of Earthlings into space. applied artificial Intelligence, Engineers also have a responsibility Our recent success in reluming ihe marks to make sure the public is educated space shuttle to active 'light of in both the ores and cons -hat go along the beginning of a new era space orbrte- with extending our world into space. exploration. It Is 'fitting that the Every engineer understands that a Discover-/ was the vehicle chosen ; r space disaster of one kind or another Is for this first mission, for t will be most

': ' of i all era discovery.OQ . an , , '

' standing 'has not yet penetrated the.-

public sphere. The average citizen as ail >.,>' .,'.'. ..- .-. .. well as the' media expects' our 'space program to be 100 percent successful and 100 percent safe. and Discovery space shuttles. — — —

CONTRIBUTORS onnruii

' dilemma. a world statute that forced disturbances or electrical impulses in in from the rain, causing quite a Imagine won a Nebula award, you to stay within 100 miles of your the brain'' Michael A. Persinger, head of Kate Wilhelm Science Fiction Writers of birthplace and banned all types the neuroscience laboratory at Lauren- given by the tor her story "Forever Yours, of communication—television, telephone, tian University in Ontario, has devised a America, 1987. newspapers, even mail service. For "magic hat" said to induce mystical Anna," published by Omni in July Stoker award, given by the most of us this would be little better than experiences in his subjects. The Bram of America, went to prison. For the last part of this century Ronald K. Siegel, a psychopharma- Horror Writers Ft. Martin for "The Pear-shaped we've had access to virtually the entire cologist at UCLA, is one of the world's George Ft. October 1987. planet, with a few people traveling leading experts on hallucinations. In Man," published in authors and our beyond that boundary into space. And "Long Day's Journey into Fright" (page Congratulations to the Datlow. with the dawn of the New Age, there 86) Siegel writes about his work with fiction editor, Ellen In "Silverbird," the pictorial on page are those people who have felt a far patients who suffer from these sometimes are greater connection—one with the heavenly, sometimes hellish epiphanies. 63, you'll learn how the West Germans cosmos as a whole. Like any scientist, Siegel methodically going to bring the world closer with Having a mystical experience studied the symptoms of this phenome- the development of their aerospaceplane. will travel at of Mach 7, seven teeling connected to something greater non. Setting up situations that mirrored It a speed of sound. America than oneself—may be attained by the circumstances present during his times the speed vehicle the following the 12 exercises compiled by patients' hallucinatory episodes, Siegel promises an even faster — will fly at Mach 25. But Keith Harary in "How to Have a Mystical found that he, too, experienced shifts X-30, which theirs Experience" (page 137). You won't in reality. Asked to investigate a case of it looks as if the Germans will have off before we do. need any special props or training —just a man accused of kidnapping and the ground American ingenuity is evident in a a little uninterrupted time. The benefits murder, Siegel underwent a dangerous vary from understanding how your experiment to help the court determine new type of jewelry—and the boxes to

it (Arts, "Baubles, Bangles, and identity evolved to infusing your life with if the man was sane. The scene of house box shown here a sense of objectivity. Artist Steve the crime was reenacted, with Siegel as Bytes," page 34). The York designer Altemus) Hanks provided the illustrations. the prime player. After reading the (created by New new trend of combining Why do mystical experiences—the article, take a few moments to fill out the represents a components. visions witnessed by saints and the out- questionnaire on page 89 about your art with electronic of-body journeys taken by psychics- own experiences with altered states. This month's Interview (page 102) is biochemist Luc Montagnier happen in the first place? In For mind excursions of another kind, with "Transcending Science" (page 54) by read this month's fiction. "On the Edge" the French codiscoverer of the AIDS that is a Dennis Stacy, read about the controversy (page 70) by Sharon N. Farber tells virus. Montagnier notes 'AIDS

747. . . . Without brewing among traditional theologians, the story of a doctor whose preoccupa- disease of the Boeing parapsychologists. and nuts-and-bolts tion with an alternate world changes them [the big jets] there would be no epidemic." With man crossing the scientists. Can reports of religious her life. The second piece of fiction, Carol AIDS revelations, paranormal experiences, or Emshwiller's "Fledged" (page 96), is a boundaries between countries, he's goodwill. alien encounters be trace' tale of a winged woman who drifts j more than DQ - —

LETTERS CDnnnnuruiCMTiarus

Reigning Monarchs the invention of Thadeus Cadhill's The article by Jessica Maxwell on animal TeleHarmonium. For that matter, even oddities ["Into the Woods," September cavemen were able to produce acoustic 1988] was both accurate and interesting. sounds "digitally" without computers Your readers may want to know more assuming, of course, that they knew about the threats to the monarch butterfly how to snap their fingers. efforts and the being taken to conserve Jim Eshleman II these magnificent "cinnamon sailors." Macon, GA Lumber being cut tor timber and firewood poses the greatest threat to the winter- Wanna Bet? ing in colonies Mexico, while urban I was particularly pleased to note that and agricultural development has Professor Edward Thorp [Interview. destroyed roosts in the Golden State. September 1988] has done more than Fortunately, the Natural History Museum merely make money. His mathematical of Los Angeles County is working with discoveries will, of course, endure the U.S. National Park Service and state long after his wealth has been reduced agencies to ensure the monarch will to large integers ina yellow-paged continue to grace our fields and gardens bankbook. His cryonic quest for physical for decades to come. immortalily, however, is amusing to Christopher Nagano those of us who realize the cockroach Natural History Museum shall inherit the earth. Los Angeles Harold Sieglaft Phoenix Sari Dressing Regarding the painting that accom- Fossil Correcting panied the story "Schrbdinger's Kitten" I wish to respond to your article "Fossil

[September 1988], it does faintly disturb Wars" [Explorations, October 1988], me that an Arab girl, however Professional commercial fossil collectors advanced, could so rapidly forget how collect and donate many fossils for to wear her native garb. Technically, research and have supplied many of the garment is of Afghan origin, worn by the display-quality specimens exhib- nomadic tribes. The high, unslit portion ited in museums. They are also the of the dress is properly worn in the source of most of the fossil specimens front of the woman, not in the back! It is, used for teaching. They supply these however, a beautiful piece of art, services with greater efficiency than stunning in its color and undeniably a government and academe do, and at a very expensive, authentic costume. fraction of the cost. Ellen Norris There was a critical error near the end

of the article, where it was incorrectly stated that there were four vertebrate Finger Exercises paleontologists and four fossil dealers on Raymond Kurzweil's statement [First the National Academy of Sciences Word, September 1988] that twenty- first committee that made recommendations century music will be more interactive concerning government regulation of through the use of electronics is fossil collecting. The committee actually hindsight. The thererhin, a device that consisted of one environmental gained popular use in early science- engineer, two attorneys, eight paleontol- fiction movies, was an electronic musical ogists, and two geologists— only one instrument controlled by moving one's (myself) a fossil dealer. hand through an electromagnetic loop in Peter L. Larson a fashion described by Kurzweil as Black Hills Institute of Geological "interaction." Electronic instruments can Research, Inc. be traced back to the late 1800's with Hill City, SDDO FEATURE FEATURE FDRURTI By Nina Guccione

? their own language to , icier Sixty-one percent of the sometimes use Imagine a world with no creatures n stand other than man; how quiet and barren iorr.alo respondents fell that their pet express memory oi events. well of their Asked whether animals understand it would seem. And how lonely for understood them as as some percent of those who treasure their special bonds friends do. Sixty-three percent of males human facial expressions, 50 with animals. The ties between man felt their pet understood them fairly respondents said animals did some of time, lelt they did and other species may be just a simple well, considering it wasn't human. the and 48 percent mutual caring, or perhaps it's a basiG When you come home late at night, more often than humans. biological understanding o! one another. how does your pet respond? Most Four statements were listed, asking

! perceived In December 1986 Omni ran the first peop e who responded said their animal readers which ones they national experiment on interspecies both touches and "talks" to them. to be true. Most, 72 percent, agreed that

if il observes communication. By dialing a 900 number, What would you do if your pet turtle an animal may be upset readers could listen to seven animal died? Seventy-three percent of a family quarrel. Can an animal feel Thirty-five percent think so. To sounds. These sounds related lo the first respondents would give it a burial. remorse? Thirty- part of a 34-question poll. Almost all respondents would neuter what extent can animals love us? sending seven percent think they can fall in Sound I: The wolt. Sixty-eight percent tneir pet only as on alternative to percent feel of the respondents were correct in the animal, or its offspring, to the pound. love with us, while only two answering that the wolf was lonely. Of all respondents, 63 percent felt animals cah'ttruly love a human. would a chimp use sign language Sound II: The wolf. The majority of they'd grown emotionally because Why respondents, 55 percent, fell that the wolf of their relationships with animals. to talk to humans? To express emotions, said percent of respondents. And was expressing its identity. It was A Doberman rushes toward you. 59 actually protecting its den. What would you do? Most respondents— how does a chimp that uses a human

still. language compare lo one that doesn't? Sound III: The elephant. We asked if 55 percent— said they'd stand of Ihe the sound indicated anxiety, joy. or grief. Why do we think animals respond to Ninety-eight percent respondents Forty-nine percent were correct in us as they do? Sixty-four percent of felt that the animals are equal. assuming they were istering to an the men felt thai animals responded from Three statements were listed regarding anxious elephant. need or want, whereas 69 percent of animal emotions. Fifty-eight percent of respondents agreed that animal emotion Sound IV: The chimpanzee. Was it women fett that the animals respond screaming, whimpering; or laughing? because they care for us. is just as powerful as human emotion. Only 26 perceni made the correct How did the reader leel about Mr. Ed, When is it okay to kill animals in the wild? answer, for 52 percent, is only choice: It was whimpering. television's talking horse? Sixty-seven The prevent overpopulation. Sound V: The orca whale. We asked percent of the respondents knew it was as a means to studying primates how listeners felt when they heard the make-believe but loved it anyway. A couple who are whale's vocalization. Mosl of the Are intelligent animals such as apes raise a chimp at home, allowing it to respondents, 61 percent, were irritated. and dolphins capable of emotions? play with their young son. Most of the

percent, felt it was Sound VI: The orca whale. Was it The majorily of respondents said yes. respondents, 73 commumcainc a warning, pari ol a Endangered species —do we really eccentric but scientifically important.

7 lelt it was unfair to conversation, or a signal that it was lost? care about, tneir des'iiny' Ninety-six Twenty-seven percent Fifty percent of the respondents recog- percent stated that wildlife programs the chimp, while only two percent felt it for child. nized that its vocalizations were part should be funded to establish breeding was unhealthy the unlikely we'll ever able to of a conversation. programs [or enu (:ngeroa species. It seems be Sound VII: The tiger. Seventy-two The major' ty of the respondents, 53 teach animals a human language and percent of the respondents felt the tiger percent, felt that teaching animals a just as unlikely that we'll be able to imitate their tongues. Musical sounds was com rnu rioaling agreeing. .It was human language may somewhat alter actually sending a warning. their innate psychological characteristics. may be ihe bridge between the species. percent lelt that The remainder of the questionnaire How does I no reader act when he Of all respondents, 76 allow dealt with how we perceive and relate to. cornmunicalcs win animals? Eighty- music may one day human beings animals. Which specks did our readers sever porcerii; treat the animal as an to communicate with understanding have, the most contact with? Ninety equal.' And' why mighl animals commu- with other species. percent of respondent;, -epiisci lhat they nicate with one another? Seventy- Has an animals song ever moved spent more time with dogs and cats Ihree percent felt they did so for basic you emotionally? Fifty-six percent replied than with any other animal. Of those reasons—to eat, copulate, and warn that they were often affected by animal peopie who communicate w.tn pets, 60 others of danger. The majority of songs, and the respondents felt this was percent do so with words. Do the animals respondents felt lhat the animals due to the songs' emotional content. DO 22 OMNI RUNNING ON EMPTIED

By Randall Black

astronauts may soon space to any rvivale oarly tnat comes use of soent z s t 1985 and already

Shuttle : add garbage collecting to their up with a reasonable plan to provide for has sianed an n ta acreement with install rn-flight duties, but they wort'l safe reerlry As a li's: step "ne agency NASA thai will allow ETCO to be collecting junk. Instead they'll be recently advertised the offer in the scientific instruments in the ET "intertank," the space between hauling in a valuable raw materia!—the Commerce Business Daily, a U.S. 5,000-cubic-foot large rust-colored external tank (EX) government publication. "Our advertise- the tank's hydrogen anc oxygen carriers. will the forces that supplies hydrogen and oxygen to ment does not talk about companies The instruments record

exertec the tank after it separates the shuttle during liftoff. taking title to the tanks, just having use on Currently, after- the ET has carried the of them," says Barbara Stone, who directs Irom the shuttle and plummets toward shuttle 99 percent of the way to orbit, the ET privatization program in NASAs Earth. Ultimately, Ware hopes to convert all 70,000 cubic feet inside the ET (the it is jettisoned irom the craft, disintegrat- Office of Commercial Programs. As nation, States same volume as that of a 747} into a ing as it falls toward the Indian Ocean. the launching the United "Labitat," space warehouse But the 15-story tank, with its consider- is responsible for the ultimate disposition pressurized a support scientific as well able reserves o? fuel, has a ways seemed of the tanks, so NASA technically can't that could as activities at cost. to NASA like a terrible thing to waste. give them away. But the distinction commercial low

If Labitat can described as a After all, America's first space station, between using and owning becomes be warehouse, then Global Outpost, Inc.'s Skylab, was just a Saturn 5 upper-stage somewhat academic if the user can " qualifies fuel tank modified on the ground to keep a tank's orbit from decaying. "Once proposal as a Space Age company's house three astronauts. The question for you are assigned a tank and are trailer park. According to the will president, Tom Taylor, for just $20,000 NASA was how to salvage the tanks keeping it in orbit," says Stone, "we six months of without simply putting them in orbit, not take it back." a customer would get where they'd form a potentially deadly Even before NASAs ad, two compa- essential services (such as power and for an swarm of high-velocity space junk, nies had expressed interest in picking up communication capabilities) threatening to drop unexpectedly when the gargantuan "no deposit, no return" experiment or minifactory, which would outside of the their orbits decayed. tanks. Randolph Ware, president of be. attached to the external tank. Now NASA thinks it has cracked the External Tanks Corporation (ETCO), unpressurized like to low," problem: Give free use of the tanks in began lobbying for the chance to make "We would keep costs so says Taylor, "that people who have

always thought it was too expensive to do business in space, will realize they can get their feet, wet without a huge initial investment." He sees a potential market

in the companies that have had their shuttle "Getaway Specials" delayed. (Getaway Specials are experiments placed on the shuttle in containers about the size of oil barrels. NASA charges $10,000 per container.)

"If a company can afford ten thousand dollars in transportation and twenty thousand to thirty thousand dollars for the experiment inside a Getaway Special, they can get into the space research business in a reasonably sophisticated way," explains Taylor. "We're suggesting

that if they spend another twenty thousand dollars, we can figure out how to take their Getaway Special out of

the payload bay, attaching it to our plattorm. and letting them research for six months instead of five days."

It's too early lo tell how many compa- nies will be willing to join Ware and

CONTINUED ON PAGE 145 —

SURF AND TURF EARTH By Dwight Holing

Japanese architect Kisho Kuro- and an electric-powered light rail transit self- propei led ark wil dodge the ensuing kawa has a vision: in the year system that links it to the mainland. tsunami by weighing anchor and steam- 2016 a glistening city of glass and The designers of this nine-square-mile ing out to sea. Fittingly, the endeavor steel will rise from Tokyo Bay. Through system of interconnected landfills and is called the Noah Project. a web of underground tunnels, goods waterways tout it as a residential, About 35 other projects are either will be imported to the island aboard commercial, and industrial Utopia. under way or have been proposed for computer-conlrolled subways, while oil. "It is a cultural city on the sea," says the use of reclaimed land in Tokyo water, and olher vital liquids will be Mitsuya Ohtsuka, director of the Kobe Bay. For example, Kurokawa's island pumped through a grid of 45-foot-wide Port Authority. "It was designed in would need 13'billion cubic yards of pipes. Magnetic lev ;ai i:g Irains barrel- an attempt to pursue the vision of a future landfill to complete—that's the equivalent ing at speeds approaching 300 miles per city in the twenty-first century." of 26 billion loads in a half-ton-capacity hour will transport the 5 million to 7 In addition to islanas. japan is looking pickup truck. Mud dredged from the million residents of Japan's new capital at constructing huge floating hotels, bottom of Tokyo Bay and sand and rock to surrounding cities. airports, and nuclear power plants. One Irom two canals will have to be cut This ultramodern island is an idea employment agency, the Temporary around the existing city and across the that exists only on paper. But with 121 Cenier Ccporaiior. hat proposed a plan Boso Peninsula to the Pacific. The million inhabitants—30 million of whom for a 35,000 ton snipl ke o"'ice anchored canals would be part of a firebreak reside In the greater Tokyo area in Tokyo Bay that would accommodate scheme aimed at protecting the tremor- confined to a slender belt of coastline hundreds of workers who would prone capital again-:! Ihe same kind plains, a new man-made island that commute by water-bus and helicopter. of destruction that leveled it in 1923. would take over capital-city responsibili- Not only will space in the floating The $1 trillion price tag is undaunting ties may be Japan's only hope against offices go for a tenth of the price of a to Kurokawa, who is one of Japan's bursting at its own seams. comparable Tokyo high rise (last year leading architects, "Real estate on the

Along with Tokyo, which is so overpop- choice downtown land went for the island should have no trouble attracting ulated that some commuter-train stations equivalent of $6.7 billion an acre), but plenty of buyers," he says, noting that employ .white-gloved "packers" to jam according to the company, it will also be office space in lokyo's financial district bodies into cars, other cities have safer. Should an earthquake hit, the is nearly $7,500 a square foot now. attempted to relieve congestion by But building an island is no small feat. moving their borders out to sea. To avoid The 1,000-acre landfill that makes up crowding during the 1939-1940 Golden Port Island was constructed from more Gate International Exposition, for than 250 million tons of sand and instarce, the United States colonized gravel that was excavated from the back

Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. side of the Rokko Mountains. The And more than 20 years ago the Dutch material was transported to the sea by built Europorr. a man-made island/ an elaborate system of underground harbor complex at the mouth of the Rhine, conveyor belts or carried by trucks and which helped turn Rotterdam into the leaded onto barges. And while Port world's busiest seaport. But no country Is and has giver Kobe additional space, has constructed as many islands as life on the island is not without its Japan, which has already added 400 problems. By altering the coastline and square miles to its borders and plans to li iing in bay lands, natural currents add hundreds more. and sea life have been adversely Currently -he largest artificial island affected. Onshore, residents must complex in the world sits in Osaka Bay, contend with living amid industrial plants offshore of Kobe. Some 15 years in and with traffic tunneled through bottle- the making and built at a cost of more necks. And Port Island is becoming than $2 billion, Port Island is home as crowded as mainland Kobe itself. to 20.000 residents, who live in modem The proposed island may run into the apartments clustered around four same problems. But the alternative, separate parks. The island boasts Kurokawa wrote in a magazine article adfacent office buildings, restaurants, a this year, "is the slow but irresistible hospital, an international convention metamorphosis of Tokyo into a concrete center with hotels and conference halls, jungle lacking in human resonance." DQ 2& OMNI — —

VOYAGE TO A FAR MOON STARS

By J. Kelly Beatty

awn breaks on Triton, the same as that of Earth's satellite. The So tar, investigators have based their larger moon ot distant Neptune. surface's precise appearance is opinions of Triton on circumstantial The sun takes about 25 anybody's guess— at least until next evidence. In 1983 Hawaiian astronomer seconds to rise in the west. Three Earth August 25, when Voyager 2 will fly within Dale Cruikshank and colleagues Robert days later the pale yellow, far-off sun 24,000 miles of Neptune's satellite. H. Brown and Roger N. Clark used sets, vanishing over the eastern horizon, One of the odder bodies orbiting the infrared spectroscopy—which employs where space-black night meets a planets, Triton has puzzled astronomers a special filter to break up light into its shimmering, (rigid sea composed of since its 1846 discovery, It's the only component spectra —to analyze the liquefied gases. But Ihis brief respite irom large satellite that circles its parent infrared rays bouncing off the satellite's the night does little to warm the eternal planet in a so-callec retrograde fashion surface. The researchers uncovered chill: The average temperature hovers at which means that it moves around some evidence that the gas methane, a -350T on the moon's harsh surface. Neptune in a direction opposite the ubquitous component of frigid worlds,

Stranger still is the year. Unlike Earth, planet's own solar orbit. Some astrono- exists on Triton, too. They also found with its relatively simple seasons caused mers have suggested that because that the moon seems to be covered with by its orbit around the sun, Triton's of its unique orbit, the moon is a maverick chilled nitrogen —a molecule that seasons are dictated by many factors, that came drifting from afar and was dominates the earth's atmosphere. The including its tilt, its orbit around Neptune, then captured by Neptune's gravity. They planet watchers can't yet firmly decide and Neptune's orbit around the sun. theorize that a major tidal struggle from their sketchy data, however, whether Today's astronomer stands no chance between the two bodies could have the nitrogen exists in ice or liquid form. ot seeing this through an optical torqued and heated Triton's interior. Armed with the findings of observers telescope: Triton is 2.8 billion miles Catastrophic eruptions of gas and liquid like Cruikshank, theorists have postu- away, and the light that reflects oif its may have followed, glazing the" surface lated about what might be happening on surface must travel through space with n trogen and methane and in the Triton. "If nitrogen is present," says for four hours to reach Earth. The image process scarring the landscape. If it is chemisl Mona Delitsky of the Jet Propul- is so faint that researchers cannot viewed during Voyager's flyby, the sion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, calculate the moon's exact diameter surface might reveal clues to Triton's "some of it is going to be liquid." She although they estimate it to be about the behavior and origin. theorizes that an entire ocean's worth may exist, perhaps in a nitrogen-and- methane combination. Until the flyby,

nothing is certain. There could be no sea at all— or an entire planet's worth. Triton's bitter cold would slow most chemical reactions to a crawl—including those involving nitrogen and methane, On a body-at the far edge of the solar system, ice acts like rock, and everyday gases are liquids. This dearth of molec- ular activity should have kept Triton

more or less unchanged from its begin-

nings to the present. If a relatively modest amount of energy could get added to the brew, argue the theorists, things ™ight really start cooking. "Cosmic rays are a nice source of energy," says Delitsky, "and they bombard Triton

from all directions all the time." Over the moon's 4.5-bi!lion-year history, such rays could have slowly bonded the oceans' molecules of methane into the more complex hydrocarbon ethane, for example. The oceans would eventu- ally become saturated with liquid

tiay'irns ieiriijers'.wes soar to -350". ethane, which would rise to the top (as it CO\TI\JED ON PAGE 146 GAZE CONTROL ARTIFICIAL irUTELLEERJCE

By Darrell E.Ward

Eight years ago Dr. Lance Interface (BRI) in July 1983, it was placed Meagher in a chair equipped Meagher, a physician living in more science fiction than fact. Indeed, with a pair of antennas. After receiving a

Oregon, was stricken with to many people, it still sounds impossible. signal from the transmitter, the antennas

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou But explains the Swiss-born Sutter, carried it to the BRI's processor, a Gehrig's disease). Today he is unable to "there is really nothing magical about standard ofl-il c-aholl personal computer.

move his head, hands, or legs; he BRI. It is based on well-known principles The computer monitor, which served cannot talk, eat, or even breathe on his and readily available technology." as a visual keyboard, was electronically own. Nevertheless, the forty-year-old Last summer Meagher became the divided into a grid of 64 squares. Each physician and ex-pilot one day plans to first person to test Sutter's system. square simultaneously flickered a unique be placed in the cockpit of an airplane He underwent surgery to have four small pattern of dots. Superimposed on each to fly solo around the world. electrodes implanted beneath his skull. square was either a letter, word, number, Perhaps there's a touch of Don Quixote One of the electrodes was placed or command. When Meagher looked in Meagher, but there is also a belief in over the visual cortex, the region of the at one of ihe squares, his brain produced

the work of Erich Sutter, a theoretical brain that processes visual signals. It a brain wave determined by the physicist at the Smith-Kettlewell Institute could then pick up brain waves gener- squares flickering pattern. The computer

ot Visual Sciences in San Francisco. ated from the visual cortex. These waves, read this brain wave and compared it Sutter has designed a system that which are large and easily distinguished with the template of his brain waves enables an individual to control a comput- from other brain waves, are produced recorded earlier for each square. When er, turn on lights, use the telephone, when the eye focuses on a moving a match was found, the command and perhaps even fly an airplane or flickering object and vary according was carried out. simply by gazing at a computer monitor. to the type of object perceived. When Sutter plugged a desk lamp This first step toward brain-controlled Once Sutter had put the electrodes in into the BRI system, for instance, computers may help free the severely place, he was able to begin testing Meagher looked at the square labeled disabled from dependency on others. the BRI. First he plugged the wire leads lite on. A second later the light flashed When Omni first discussed Sutter's protruding from Meagher's skull into on. When he looked at the square

early conception for his Brain Response a small ampliiier and transmitter and marked lite off the light turned off. The system can handle up to 32 different grids, which the user can call up by looking at a designated square on the screen for switching grids. This puts 2,048 user-programmable commands at his or her disposal, enough for activating a speech synthesizer, or for operating "environmental controls," such as the TV, stereo, or motors that open and close windows.

If the system works well for Meagher

at home, it could be made commercially available in the next several years. Meanwhile Meagher has purchased his plane, a 1947 Stinson similar to one he flew in college. In order for him to fly

it, the plane will be equipped with

servomechanisms to control it, an autopilot, and a voice synthesizer. Sutter

agrees that in principle, "if you can control devices with BRI, you can control

an airplane," but he is hesitant to embrace the idea at the moment, wanting more time to observe BRI's perform-

ance. But, he says, "I think we've shown

Dr. Lance Meaght regaining mobility by simply looking at a computer. that it is possible." DO 30 OMNI ——

BAUBLES, BANGLES, AND BYTLC ART5 By NinaGuccione

^% I hen I first started working with colorful flickers. It's a shift to high turned the find into clothes, jewelry, and,

I I on a computer, I wenl tech, but I'd certainly wear a pair. finally, a business. She refers to her

«v U through a range of emotions: Next thing I know, I'm asked to find line of clothing as twentieth-century excitement, because I was tackling the computer chip itself beautiful. armor, appropriately, since entire

something new; fear, because I was Apparently some artisans are doing garments are forged of gold-plated intimidated by computers— they are so away with the computer as a medium computer chips pieced together. It's precise, and I'm not. I could not. and and rraking it an art form. Numerous great-looking gear, but the cost will take would not, see that any creative act fashion and jewelry designers are a big byte out of your pocketbook could be delivered by so rigid and eagerly embracing this trend of taking from a camisole priced around $1,000 mechanical a medium as the computer. the computer's small silicon brain and to a kimono for $50,000.

God. how I hate to be wrong I scraps of electronic gadgets and There's a tremendous amount of work In the June 1988 issue of Omni, there displaying them as wearable art forms. involved in creating each item, and, was a pictorial on computer art—visual Melissa Panages, a designer from Panages adds, "they're waterproof, interpretations ol mathematical San Francisco, has dispensed with the wrinkle-free, and you never have to take equations. Ken and Bonni Evans's traditional forms and fabrics lor clothes them to the cleaners." Panages's jewelry abstract forms were beautiful, and to my and accessories, opting for shock includes necklaces dangling with num- surprise, I enjoyed seeing them. Now appeal. Panages's creative use of erals—each number constructed of dif- the Evanses, an artist team from Ontario, electronic hardware, irom computer ferent components—and earrings made have transferred their bright, swirling parts to fallen satellites, proves that one from a mishmash of pins and pearls. computer images from a flat surface to person's rubbish is another's treasure. Cube Root's merchandise is a tad a three-dimensional form—jewelry. And it was garbage that spawned less ostentatious. Based in San Their latest creations include earrings, Panages's fashions. Almost ten years Francisco, this three-designer outfit bracelets, and pendants. Baked on ago her boyfriend found a bag of comprises two electronic engineers- phymo clay, the pieces are as light as discarded gold-tilled computer pins, both musicians—and an architect. Their lava rock. Computer chips and battery- pieces of the machine's inner mecha- creative talents and electronic powered bulbs accent the jewelry nisms. Fascinated by the "junk." Panages backgrounds brought them together. As a group they're "devoted to advanced electronic and machine aesthetics." Finding beauty in today's mechanized world led to creating brooches— square circuit pins, clear bulbs that flash red, and a battery proudly displayed positive side up. Apparently the blinking pins caused a lot of admiring conversation at a recent MIT event. Interesting accesso- ries, but I'm hesitant about anything

that comes with instructions, if you should lose your adornments during an evening of frenzied dancing, however, they're easily located—these pieces will light up and flicker for 200 hours. Allison Stern, a Los Angeles designer, uses whatever she can get her hands on— electronic components from telephones, satellites, even fighter jets. Her work is elegant, with clean, defined lines. A combination of offbeat materials are assembled into tuturistic and Art Deco styles. Stern's objective: to encourage other people to appreciate the detail and precision in simple and banal objects, in daily items that affect our lives — like cars and airplanes. CONTINUED ON PAGE 38 —

r Stern feels that the jewelry appeals to electron <:; a:: Brooch' p ns a e a bit about endarge-ec! soedes so he won't consumers because it's "simultaneously more arty, with different-shaped boards use real ivory), combined with tarnished refined and raw." overlying one another, looking like and textured metals. In addition to the Seattle's Transistor Sister is a designer miniature pieces of modern sculpture. textures, the visual depths of the pieces group, not metal rock a heavy band. "The response has been fantastic, ' says seem to insist thai you run your fingers Designer Susan Grzadzielewski originally Jo Ellen Kohlenbrener, a Gemboards across their surfaces. Mann designs focused on wood and clay sculpture, designer. "We grossed nine thousand some of the craziest-looking eyeglass incorporating various found objects into dollars in 1986, our first year, and expect frames I've ever seen (yes, I've been to her work. When a broken watch to see fifty thousand dollars this year." California). One pair in particular looks exposed its microcircuit, a new channel Thomas Mann, a jewelry designer for like a modified version of an eye doctor's for her creativity burst open. After that, 15 years, is based in New Orleans. apparatus —the one you look through Grzadzielewski started opening other His line of sculptured collage jewelry, while the doctor rotates the lenses contraptions and visiting electronics termed Techno-Romantic, weds high- and asks, "Is this one clearer? or this stores, searching for interesting elements. tech materials to humanistic images. one?" The pair at left sprouts metal "I try to keep them as direct and pure One of the reasons Mann's artwork is so lashes and small beads.

as possible," she "I is states. just add appealing his use of varied And what are you going to do with all component to component." Her pins materials —smooth Micarta, an artificial, these precious pieces you- buy? It and earrings are intricate arrangements ivorylike material (he's concerned wouldn't be appropriate to just fling them of tiny circuit boards. Detailed with in a felt-lined box that plays "Lara's multiple circuitry and precise wiring, the Theme" when opened. You're going compact boards are colorful, delicate to try to find an original Altemus pieces. "They're so colorful," Grzadzie- jewelry box. Altemus, a Mew Yorker, lewski notes, "because that's the way designed his first jewelry box at his they're electronically coded." Many daughter's request (she wanted of the brooches look like what you'd something compatible with the bedroom

expect if to see you took off the back of furniture he'd built). The metal boxes, your radio. before rid So you get of painted with a' granite or marble facade, that old clunker that hasn't played since look like architectural works. Starting Elvis was in the top ten, think of the out at about seven-inch squares, the gem you might be tossing out. Some of avant-garde containers are embellished Grzadzielewski's other pieces, bright with electronic parts — pins, drive twists with electronic parts, are similar to gears, and vacuum tubes, painted in more standard costume jewelry. soft pinks and blues and brilliant reds. Gemboards, a Chicago outfit, also The interiors are lined with animal- produces jewelry made of printed circuit skin-patterned fabrics, rubber tiles, and boards. More elaborate and stylized colored shapes. than Transistor Sister's, the Gemboards Despite the appeal of these creations, jewelry boasts a classic, dressy look, I'm still more comfortable with the The printed circuit boards are made to surreal and romantic efforts of the New specifications Gemboards for shape, Age. Catering to those like me is New color, and size and are woven together York designer Seth Jaben. His creations with copper wire. Cut colored stones are gentle reminders of a different path. and Austrian crystals enhance the Like his watches, with their mechanisms modestly concealed behind simple painted faces, Jaben's products are supposed to soothe you. His obsession with mystical and circus imagery, combined with his art printmaking background, inspired.this watch art. "I've always loved miniatures," he says. "My watches remind me of seventeenth- century miniature portraits painted

nside tiny frames." His collection is being sold under the label Art Under Glass. All Jaben's product designs and packaging, including posters, boxes, and shopping bags, follow his philosophy of "entertainment beyond product" giving the consumer a package worth reading as well as seeing. "Products were a natural evolution from packaging,"

says Jaben, "especially once I learned that people were stealing the labels

I'd designed without buying the product." Like a painter poised in front of a white canvas, Jaben approaches product design as a blank surface for his art to decorate. His ultimate goal; "to elevate the status of everyday consumer Bottom: High-tech clothing made of computer chips. Center: Mann and his W products with my art." DO 38 OMNI THE POLITICS OF ALCOHOU! nniruD By Joan Rachel Goldberg

philosopher I ^% I hen Herbert ability to control their cocktail intake. legal significance as well. If problem I I Fingarette published Heavy Some medical and health profession- drinkers suffer from a disease called KJ W Drinking: The Myth of als, too, have doubts about defining alcoholism, are they then handicapped Alcoholism as a Disease this year, the alcoholism as a disease. Certainly individuals, in legal terms, subject to

battle lines were clearly drawn. On one alcoholism doesn't fit easily into one the protection of the 1973 Federal side was the mild-mannered aca- framework. "It's a cultural and political Rehabilitation Act. which prohibits demic Irom the University of California at question more than a scientific one," discrimination on the basis of handi- Santa Barbara, who claims alcoholism says sociologist Robin Room, director of caps? That they might be is one is not a disease. Instead Fingarette sees the Alcohol Research Group at the of Fingarette's concerns. alcoholism as a "central activity to a Medical Research Institute in San While Fingarette stands proudly on person's way of life." As one drink turns Francisco. If you dismiss sin and crime, the ramparts, his opponents from the into many, drinking soon becomes an disease then becomes the plausible research and treatment communities alcoholic's main preoccupation. Problem explanation. "It's easier to understand if wonder where Fingarette's coming from.

drinkers choose to drink, and they ought Gall it you one thing," he contends. As "He seems very bright, competent; I this to have some control over habit. a political question, it has far-reaching wouldn't say he's malevolent," says

Aligned against Fingarette are almost consequences for the economy and Begleiter. "I tend to think he's sincere the entire medical and treatment for treatment. Fingarette deserves credit and honest. But he makes generaliza- with communities along most recovering for moving this issue out of the ivory tions that are not accurate. It's always a alcoholics. Dr. Henri Begleiler, a tower and into the fray of public debate. little difficult to talk about an area in professor of psychiatry at the State Alcoholism costs the United States which you're not trained. He's a University of New York Health Science a bundle: $116.7 billion annually, philosopher and talks in the abstract. I'm Center, maintains that an alcoholic is not according to the National Council on not, and I talk in the concrete. He gen- someone who is just boozing it up too Alcoholism. A staggering $71 billion is eralizes from a limited understanding of much. "We are talking about someone attributed to lost employment and personal experiences and reading." who is really hooked," says Begleiter. reduced productivity alone. The costs of Begleiter has been studying young "There is physical dependence and treafment add up to an estimated $15 sons of alcoholic fathers and finds biological consequences." billion a year. The issue has tremendous that as many as 35 percent of the boys The public, too. has mainly assumed have brain-wave patterns that re- that the question—Alcoholism: disease semble those of alcoholics. The sons or not?—was answered three decades have never even had a drink. ago. In the Fifties the World Health Begleiter sees his findings as evidence Organization, the American Medical that some children of alcoholics Association (AMA), and the American may inherit traits predisposing them to Psychiatric Association recognized problems with alcohol. alcoholism as a disease. And a recent The evidence for a genetic basis for poll Gallup reported that approximately certain types of alcoholism is mis- 87 percent of those surveyed agreed interpreted, says Fingarette. He says with the AMA's assessment. there is no decisive "biological This year a U.S. Supreme Court deci- case" for drinking behavior. The organic sion (Traynor v.Turnage), however, toll of alcoholism— brain changes and turned a spotlight on Fingarette and his cirrhosis of the liver, for example—is the concept of alcoholism. The High effect of drinking, not the cause. And

Court upheld ir a Veterans Administration he 'is sts 'hat disease is a "very vague policy classifying alcoholism as word" that lacks medical meaning. "willful misconduct." The ruling denied "It's a way in which we can tell the public disability payments tor veterans with that money should be tunneled to drinking problems but ducked resolving medical research and treatment, and the controversy itself: whether alcohol- doctors should be in charge," he ism is a disease. According to says. "What you find are jurisdictional Fingarette, the court based some of its arid political boundaries." reasoning on a 1970 Harvard Law "The American health system is Review article of his in which he based on the study of diseases," maintained that alcoholics have the Alcoholism; Disease o; "willful misconduct '? concedes Boris Tabakofl. scientific A2 OMNI I FW3£ w —

coruTiruuunn

THE RIGHT (LEFT) STUFF

Hames Garner is on TV pitching beef. "Ya heard about the easy recognition by the left hemisphere of a similar item. — the left brain/right brain stuff?" The logical left brain Sperry's split-brain patients were almost literally of two minds, understands nutrition, Garner explains, while the emo- and those two minds, he discovered, had different specializa-

- tional right brain "just knows it's good." Puhleeeze. tions. As his findings made their way into popular accounts, the Everyone knows that the left hemisphere is rational, logical, message became as garbled as a secret passed from person and Western., and the right is creative, intuitive, and Eastern. to person in the children's game Telephone. In this case, the Everyone knows, that is, except the scientists who did the end message was a vastly exaggerated version of the original: research on which the whole notion of left and right brains is When you worked on your novel, your left hemisphere was based. To them the idea that the brain's two hemispheres are busy while the right idled. Switch to a watercolor and the right either split into two tidy sections—one the center of creativity, the side takes over while the left slacks off. People were left-brained logi- other' of logical thinking—is simplistic and wrongheaded. right-brained (and therefore artistic) or (and Jerre Levy, a brain researcher at the University of Chicago, cal). One well-known writer summed up this new gospel in a is perhaps the most prominent of those now trying to undo the headline: why ralph nader cant dance. "mythoiogy" that has sprung up around right and left brains. In fact, Sperry did find that the left hemisphere is superior "No complex function—music, art, or whatever—can be as- in the kind of logic used to prove theorems in geometry. But in signed to one hemisphere or the other," she sputters indig- the logic of everyday lite, where the problem is integrating nantly. "Any high-level thinking in a normal person involves information and drawing conclusions, the right hemisphere is constant communication between the two sides of the brain." crucial. In almost all activities, there is constant interplay for Levy is funny and articulate, but her message has had as between the brain's two halves. In language, example, the much impact as a newspaper correction rectifying a faulty left hemisphere understands grammar and syntax, which the story. In part, that's because the true tale is complex; and in right does not. But the right hemisphere is better at under- part, it's because the left/right brain myth has a lot of pizzazz. standing intonation and interpreting emotion. Read a story or Unlike other rriyths, the left/right brain has its origins in engage in conversation, and the brain's halves are both in- science. In a series of landmark experiments for which he volved in processing information. eventually won the Nobel prize, Caltech's Roger Sperry probed The same is true for music and art. Pop psychology assigns the minds of patients who had undergone surgery to sever the both to the right hemisphere. In some musical skills, such as corpus callosum, the main fiber bridge linking the brain's two recognizing chords, the right hemisphere is superior. In others, halves. The surgery, a treatment for intractable epilepsy, left such as distinguishing which of two sounds came first, the left the patients seemingly normal. But Sperry and 'his colleagues hemisphere is more important Enjoying or creating music showed that things were not so simple. When, for instance, an requires integrating both these skills and a myriad of others. object was placed in the left hands of blindfolded split-brain It should really come as no surprise to anyone that the patients, they would deny that the object existed. But if the halves of the brain are in constant communication. The corpus patients were asked to search through a collection of items for callosum is the biggest bridge of nerve fibers in the brain. It is one that resembled the object they were told was in their left found only in placental mammals, and the smarter the creature, hands, they would inevitably make the right decision, even the bigger the connection. though they would say they were only guessing. What seemed It would, of course, be nice if there were a simple and to be happening was that the tactile information (what was in accurate way to characterize left brains and right brains. But the patients' left hands) had been transmitted to their brains' so far there's not, which isn't so surprising considering, as Levy right hemisphere, which is incapable of verbal expression. But puts it, that "we're trying to understand the most complex " the right halves did process the information nonverbally; thus piece of matter in the known universe EDWARD DOLNICK ''

coruTiruuunn

hippie-esque light £ hows? micr 3be 3 are bacteria

Suslick thinks not. i he light Fiierr

from this process is look t their DNA to intense," he says. mutated. We

in the dark, but it's. not the way to light up a long periods room."—Bill Lawrer they 'crobes may t

"Faith may be defin eel briefly f infection-figf as an illogical, belie drug \bout forty pe occurrence of the are resistant tc " improbable. antic

Organisms that may been around since the

of the dinosaurs are liv

the unexplored deep r cesses of Earth. Thai's conclusion reached by tists at the Savannah F Laboratory near Aiken. Carolina, who have rec ered more than 3,500 microorganisms—all b of which were previous unknown—from holes 850 feet below the Sa*. River nuclear weapons "No one expected l fnd them because no

| high-frequency sound, thought life e sted beyc

i they discovered, produced the root zone c)f plants [;

Over the past ten years, i expanding bubbles in the 50 feet down'_ i \ high-frequency ultrasound liquids. ! When the frequency biologist Carl Fliermans, has been used for everything of the bubbles grew.to match technical director of the De-

from submarine detection to : thai of the sound waves, partment of Energy's Microbiol- monitoring the health of an thebubbiesimploded.releas- of the Subsurface | ogy Deep unborn fetus. Now a pair of ing sudden bursts of heat. research program. Fliermans j chemists from the University : The heat, in turn, broke the adds that many of the Q of Illinois report that ultra- . liquid molecules into microbes were found in sed- sound has yet another : highly energetic carbon frag- iment layers probably dating

unlikely characteristic: It can ; ments that emitted a blue back 70 million years, "so actually cause the molecules I light—"the same light," says they could be just as old," of liquids to emit light. Suslick, the initial discovery some ; "you see when Since

Kenneth Suslick and you turn on a gas range." in 1986, only about 1 ,500 of . j Edward B. Flint beamed Will this phenomenon, the organisms have been j ultrasound at small quantities known as sonolumtnescence, classified. "There are some tri of two organic liquids: do- lead to liquid light bulbs or fungi, and bacterial a protozoa, Cr.i! hlisr-rnafis !'J5 'ound , decane and nitroethane. The i whole new species of exotic, viruses, but the bulk of the organisms us c-ij cj dinosaurs. 46 OMNI survived dry RACK OF LIMB I MICROWAVING Candida fungus UNDERWEAR microwaving but was dead

If you walked into the within five minutes when the operating room during one of Yeast infections, the bane underwear was wet. "If

! lives, occur used throughout the duration Dr. Walter Pyka s operations, ! of some Women's you might think you had i when Candida albicans, a of an active infection," the medieval naturalvaginalfungus.experi- researchers conclude, "micro- wandered into a \ torture chamber. Dr. Pyka is enees a population explosion. waves may reduce the risk an orthopedic surgeon at Unfortunately, once having of recurrent disease." Stanford University Medical taken over, Candida is Nevertheless, the research- Center and one of the few sometimes tough to get rid of. ers warn women not to surgeons in this country who But recently scientists at the microwave their underwear, have begun using the llizarov Baylor School of Medicine in in part because microwave procedure, a seemingly Texas may have come up ovens' power levels vary arcane technique developed with an unexpected way of and the scientists are not yet in the Soviet Union for making controlling the infection- sure what levels are re- legs longer by stimulating microwaves. quired to kill the tungus. In bone growth. Dr. Eduard Friedrich sus-_ addition, panties made of known In the llizarov procedure, . pected that the reason synthetics have been fine wires are run through a that some women who had to catch fire when mi- leg bone and attached under been treated for Candida crowaved.—Paul McCarthy tension to metal rings became reinfected was encircling the leg. The outer, because the fungus inhabit- "Democracy is based upon solid part of the bone is cut, ing their underwear survived the conviction that there are but the marrow and blood the washing machine. When extraordinary possibilities in vessels inside are left mostly they wore the panties again, ordinary people." intact. The bone is pulled they were reexposed to the —Harry E. Fosdick apart one fourth of a yeast. He and his colleagues millimeter four times a day by ran an experiment to see if "Everybody gets so much turning nuts on the rings. This microwaving [he underwear information all day long that allows new bone tissue to when dry or wet would they lose their common grow and gradually fill in the succeed in killing the fungus. sense." gaps in the bone. Their results showed that —Gertrude Stein Pyka has used this procedure both for lengthen- ing legs and for altering bone malformations. "We treated one gentleman who had a gunshoi wound to his tibia [shinbone]," says Pyka. "Because of bone loss, his leg was shorter by six inches. We were able to. lengthen the damaged bone so that it was equal to the normal one." In Europe the llizarov procedure has even been used to increase the height of dwarfs, but Pyka says that for the time being, anyway,

.Stanford will use ii only to treat bone injuries. —Oliver Fultz — —

CDruTiruuunn

WHAT NOW, BROWN DWftRF?

What do you call a star that never gets hot enough to light up? Astronomers call them brown dwarfs—accu- mulations of gas loo small (probably only a few times bigger than the planet Jupiter) to generate the pressure and heat necessary for ignition. For years scientists have been search- ing for these "not quite stars," far too dim to see with conventional telescopes. Only recently, however, has any- one captured a viable Preparing a corpse lor a funeral was a piece oi cake for one professional undertaker, u noticed that candidate on film. his testes were shrinking and his breasfs beginning to grow. The candidate, located in the constellation Bootes, Michael F. Skrutskie of the THE STRANGE CASE culprit might lie hidden in the showed up in an infrared University of Massachusetts, OFTHEGLOVELESS cream undertakers use photograph taken by astrono- and Mark Shu re of the MORTICIAN on cadavers before they mers William Forrest of University of Hawaii's Institute apply cosmetics. the University of Rochester, for Astronomy. The problem It was a case worthy of the Sure enough, when they in establishing the candi- most sophisticated medical analyzed the embalming date's identity is that another spadework. A professional cream, the scientists found a category of stars—very undertaker had, at the age of compound that mimicked the young, low-mass red stars fifty and after siring seven effect of estrogen. The looks quite similar. "The key," children, gradually lost not as-yet-unidentified compound says Skrutskie, "is that our only his fertility but also his had apparently passed

candidate is both slightly libido. As if that weren't bad through the skin of the cooler and slightly more enough, the mortician found undertaker's hands and into

luminous" than the young red that his testes had shrunk his bloodstream. There, it look-alikes. noticeably, and his breasts headed tor the estrogen re- If the object does turn out had grown. ceptors in the man's glands, to be a brown dwarf, the To endocrinologist Joel causing the symptoms. discovery could be im- Fin kel stein of Massachusetts A combination of testosterone mensely significant. Current General Hospital in Boston, injections and a cream-free theoretical models of the the symptoms indicated work environment restored cosmos indicate that the uni- either an overabundance of the mortician's libido and his verse's total mass should female estrogen hormones or sperm count.—Bill Lawren be roughly ten times greater a short' supply of male than the amount indicated by androgens. But tests showed "I believe I've found the actual measurements. "If that the undertaker was not missing link between animal

brown dwarfs do exist," says suffering from a hormonal and civilized man. It is us." Skrutskie, "there should be imbalance. When the patient —Konrad Lorenz a heck of a lot of them" told Finkelstein and his enough, perhaps, to help ac- colleagues that he had rarely "Societies that do not eat count for.at least a little used gloves while embalm- people are fascinated by Dark stars the size of Jupiter of the universe's missing ing bodies, the doctors began those that do." may populate the universe. mass. —Bill Lawren to wonder whether the —Ronald Wright 48 OMNI —

picture of the total energy, or class of sugars called people. would eat more of I

them if science could magnitude, produced by a ] raffinose oligosaccharides,

given quake. It will give which, because they are only eliminate the flatulence "quick, comprehensive data .partially digestible, tend to factor.—Bill Lawren on seismic events," says ferment in the digestive tract,

Kanamori. ultimately producing those "If I have any beliefs about Because the Mw scale unwanted postmea! sympho- immortality, it is that certain

uses the same numerical nies. If raffinose synthase is dogs I have known will go to rating system as the Richter indeed Ihe culprit (it's been .heaven, and very, very few i " scale, Kanamori doesn't identified in. several varieliey). persons i foresee any conversion then eliminating the gene —James Thurber problems for the press or the that codes for its production public. "They'll be adopt- may do away with beari- "I am not nearly so interested ing the Mw scale very soon," caused flatulence forever. in what monkey man was he says.—Bill Lawren De Lumen is careful to derived from as I am in what point out that he and- his kind of monkey he is to " colleagues- have just started become. "I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. the project and that they offer —Loren Eiseley

I don't intend to waste any of no guarantees that it e running around doing will—pa rd on the exp ress io n "The future is no more exercises." work out in the end. But if it uncertain than tlie -present." GOOD-BYE RICHTER, —Neil Armstrong does, it could be quite —Walt Whitman HELLO Mw important. Beans are an excellent of protein, "The.older a man growsjhe "Look for the ridiculous in source i

explains, faster he could run as a- boy." . The most famous device everything and you findit." De Lumen and \ for measuring the strength of —Juies Renard many nutritionists think-that —Red Smith an earthquake may be obsolete. The Richter scale, "If at! economists were laid many earthquake experts end to end, they would not say, is. too limited to give an reach a conclusion." accurate measurement of an —George Bernard Shaw earthquake's force. For one thing, explains seismologist THE UNMUSICAL BEAN Hiroo Kanamori of the California Institute of Technol- Who can forget the poem ogy, the Richter scale can that begins: "Beans, beans, chart the strength of an musical f ruit,/the more you eat 1 earthquake only at its source. the more you toot" Well, if

In addition, it can't be used food scientist Ben de Lumen for quakes that take place of the University of California more than 300 miles from the at Berkeley has his way, the scale, and it's not useful for sophisticated trickery of quakes that are exceptionally modern genetic engineering small or large. may someday silence the

To replace it, Kanamori malodorous music of the proposes an alternative scale common bean. known as Mw Because this The chemical "conductor" scale measures earthquake of the bean's digestive waves of long duration—200 orchestra,. De Lumen ex- to 300 seconds as opposed plains, may be an enzyme to O.t to 2 seconds in a called raffinose synthase.

Richter measurement— it This enzyme is believed to Toot. toot. Tootsie, good-bye Genetic engineering rr gives a far more accurate trigger the production of a gas out of the common bean. "

CDRjTifuuunn

WHY CANT A ROBOT BE MORE LIKE A MAN?

robots have resulted in only the palest of imitations: dumb metal beasts that do what

their inboard computers tell them to do. Now a small company in Boston has developed a robot that can actually adiust to novel and .unpredictable situations,

learning, as a: human

does, from its own experience. According to Michael Kuperstetn, a physicist who is president of Neurogen Corporation in Brookline, Massachusetts, the secret of

this new robot is its "brain," a software "neural network" that processes patterns of electronic signals in a way that mimics functioning hu-

Tret Muir Woods National Monument can': :.ee:n in '&&:< :i man brain cells. Using visual .giant redwoods, losing psrv oWciais to buiid nghe: fences and reroute trails. input from a pair of cameras that serve as "eyes," the DEATH BY LOVE monument. "The public truly and have begun to build robot can randomly explore

appreciates being in the higherfences to pave dirt the. space in front ot it, j and Managers of Muir Woods redwoods, but they are inad- trails through the redwood establish 'he coordinates of a National Monument in Califor- vertently harming the trees grove for additional protec- nia are breathing a sigh of by rubbing their hands on the tion. But if the damage to relief now that the 1988 tourist trunks, which wears down trees continues, says Fuller, crush is over. The giant the bark, and by stamping on they'll be forced to reroute redwood trees, which they're the trees' roots. They also existing trails to divert visitors in charge ot protecting, have are trampling ferns and other away from threatened red- survived another summer of plants that are growing woods to healthier trees. being loved to death. under the trees, and com- —Joel Schwarz The 550-acre park, north pacting the soil, making of San Francisco across the it difficult for the plants and "Things could be worse. Golden Gate Bridge, attracts trees to get water and Suppose your errors were 1 .6 million visitors a year, vital nutrients." counted and published every some of whom are harming In their eagerness to take day, like those of a baseball the trees and other fragile pictures and touch the trees, player. piant life in their eagerness to which can exceed 300 feet in —.Anonymous touch and photograph the height, tourists are ignoring redwoods. "People just want warning signs and climbing "We know what happens to to get close to a tree or have over protective knee-higli people who stay in the middle j their picture taken next to railings. Fuller says rangers of the mad. They get run | one," explains Glenn Fuller, have monitoring the | been manager of the national 1 tourist damage for five years —Aneurin Sevan .50 IMNI —

target object—a piece of pa- the galaxy over the past the passage of M81 is per, say, or a tool—then couple of million years," ex- perturbing the orbit, " he says. use its industrial robot "arm" plains Tully. "The energy "The clouds of gas are their and lo grab the object, even if the that's being released by this losing orbital energy robot- or the object is moved has caused everything to falling closer to the center. to a new location. And unlike heat up enormously, and this There they run into one an- a standard robot, which wind—composed mostly of other and start to condense." needs to be reprogrammed hydrogen atoms mixed with From observation of the regions of to adjust-to a new situation, i helium and other elements star-forming

our galaxy, scientists . Kuperstein's machine uses i is blowing out of the center o( own help the galaxy." know that these dense each new experience to I compile a more complete Why did so many stars gases lead to star formation.

that it explode in the first place? "Many stars are formed. picture of the space | to navigate. Tully thinks the answer Some are small, some are the needs I larger size of our sun, and some Kuperstein calls his new ] involves another, stars," Stockton robot INFANT because, he galaxy, known as M81 , "It is are massive "It is massive says, it gathers information a companion of M82, and the explains. the by random exploration "just two galaxies are probably stars that are going like a baby." Is INFANT the passing close by each other, through their lite cycles prototype for a truly intelligent which is causing a great quickly and turning humanlike robot such as upheaval, especially in the into supernovas after just a R2-D2? No, says Kuperstein, smaller galaxy," he says. few million years." who thinks that "were still University of Hawaii as- Tully adds that though pretty far from having a tronomer Alan Stockton astronomers think of M82 as machine that's close to explains that M81 is being "close," it's still 10 human capabilities." He does producing a gravitational million light-years away from think, however, that INFANT effect known as tidal us—so there's no chance that will lead to robots that can interaction, which is not unlike the M82 wind will affect Earth. walk quickly and gracefully the moon's effect on the "The gas will get lost in physician, "that the over uneven terrain and to earth. "Gas is normally intergalactic space and never surgeon automobiles that drive them- traveling in circular orbit reach us," he says. had ever seen." Tne pa- Sherry Baker tient, worked the night selves.—Bill Lawren around the center of W82, but — who shift at the airport,, had WINDSWEPT GALAXIES BUFFER'S BELLY developed a habit of resting his "rather large belly" Scientists have long theo- Two physicians at the Uni- (Kron's words) on the handle rized that the fiery deaths of versity Hospital of Cleve- of his buffing machine as airport floors. supernovas produce a blast land have identified a new, if he polished the vibration, of galactic wind. Only not exactly fearsome, tech- The machine's recently, however, research- nodemon: the supposedly combined with an early colon ers Brent Tully and Joss harmless, but potentially infection, apparently caused Bland of the University of insidious, buffing machine. this case of "buffer's belly." Hawaii's Institute for Astron- Seems a twenty-six-year- After a colostomy and comy came up with the best old maintenance man antibiotics, the patient soon clear-cut evidence yet that checked. into the hospital with recovered. For those who buffers in the phenomenon exists. They a high fever and severe must use the devil discovered a wind spewing abdominal pains. Subse- their work and are inclined out of our closest neighboring quent exploratory surgery to use the handle as a word galaxy, M82, at.a speed of uncovered a small abscess paunch rest, Kron has a 375 miles per second. on the man's colon—"one of of advice: "Just hold the "Hundreds, perhaps thou- the most unusual ab- handle normally with your sands, of supernovas have scesses," according to Dr. hands," he says. "It may be .." been going off at the core of Michael Kron, the attending harder, but. —Bill Lawren .

caruTiruuunn

system !hat amplifies human Kathleen Potosnak of the movement." Does this fore- Koffler Group in San Diego, Perhaps, the most compli- shadow bionic limbs, or even consultants on office produc- cated aspect of building a a $6 million man? Perhaps, processing, how about the tivity decided to find out. better robot is learning how concedes McCarthy, who Dvorak keyboard, the one Since the keyboard was to endow the automaton with says he can imagine "a with the rearranged keys? It patented by August Dvorak useful and flexible vision. One walking machine that you put has been shown to improve in 1935, more than 30 studies

way to circumvent that on like a suit of armor: a robot typing efficiency up to 50 .have tried to nail down. . problem, according to me- soldier suit, say, or a diver's percent, and it has grown in exactly how much improve- chanical engineer Michael suit that moves as you move popularity. More than 100,000 ment can be expected from it.

McCarthy of the University of buf can lift something twice U.S. users were claimed for Potosnak decided to reex- California at Irvine, is to as heavy."—Bill Lawren 1985, compared with 2,000 amine these figures. improve the robot's sense of users ten years earlier. Thetruih, shefound, is that touch so that it can negotiate "Trie world is not run by But is the increasingly it has never been convinc- tasks in much the same way thought, nor by imagination, popular keyboard really a ingiy demonstrated that the j that blind people use touch but by opinion:" shortcut to higher productiv- i revised layout in practice to help them negotiate the —Elizabeth Drew ity? California ergonomlst i adds appreciably to typing world around them. j speed. Moreover, many of the

To demonstrate this notion, j- studies using real typists were unscientific unreli- McCarthy and researcher j and Scott Leaver have built a able. The claim that Oregon ]

series of computer-controlled j state government operators robot fingers that can be had recently improved by 6D used individually or in percent with Dvoraks also combinations of two or more proved unfounded. to make up a working A computer simulation by "hand." The fingers, which Donald Norman and Diane weigh only 12 ounces each; Fisher of the University of can detect contact with an California at San Diego found object, then use built-in force that a typist who could sensors to calculate the manage 56 words a minute

" object's weight and surface on a standard QWERTY key- rigidity. Each finger can be board would, after a penod individually programmed, of retraining, barely im- says Leaver, which makes.it prove to 58 words a minute possible for "each hand to on a Dvorak keyboard. be configured to meet the Taking. into account all needs of the particular task i! the uncertainties and costs of is designed for, adding or changing over, Dvoraks subtracting fingers as are simply not worth the trou- needed." ble, Potosnak concludes. Once they're perfected, Or as her colleague Richard

McCarthy thinks the fingers Koffler puts it more bluntly, will replace less flexible "Unless you eat; breathe, hands on industrial robots and sleep typing, it won't and be used for making make a big difference." repairs in space and in —Anthony Liversidge underwater environments. In addition, they could be know only that the designed for use by human mn mind, like the universe amputees. He even envisions If, contains the seeds of the fingers as forerunners of what he calls "a robotic 52 OMNI ARTICLE

From the sense of infinity to visitations from beyond, scientists have traced the mystical experience to the brain TRANSCENDING SCIENCE BY DENNIS STACY

i had been a frustrating day. At around the earth. He landed at a the office, he'd lost a week's resort in the Bahamas, had a cou- worth. of writing when his com- ple of tequila sunrises, and went I puter crashed. Then his boss for a leisurely walk along a sun- called him in to say his work was drenched beach. He reentered his boring, redundant, and disorga- body easily through a thicket of nized. At home his daughter was stars, switched off the helmet, and sobbing because her room was in- felt an utter calm. fested with bees. One bee flew out. This scene may seem unrealis-

then a second and a third. He killed tic, but, in fact, a helmet for induc- them ail only after the fourth one ing mystical states already exists stung his ear. Finally, his mother as a prototype in the lab. From deja called and asked for a ride to the vus to alien encounters to out-of- hairdresser. When he tried ex- body experiences such as the one plaining why he couldn't do so, she above, this magnetic cap suppos-

called him a self-centered bum. edly does it all. In the past he might have called What's more, this extraordinary his shrink, fixed a cocktail, or taken helmet, now being used in experi-

a pill. But now he simply put on his ments at Canada's Laurentian Uni- helmet. He flipped a switch and sat versity of Sudbury, lies at the cen- back calmly as fingers of energy ter at a vigorous debate. On one massaged his brain. In seconds he side are traditional theologians and rose above his body, through the parapsychologists, who claim that stucco ceiling, and into orbit the mystical experience, or ME. is

PAINTING BY CLAYTON ANDERSON actually the perception of a force outside bility of death." Our evolutionary re- opened their scalps and exposed their the bounds of everyday reality. On the sponse to that anxiety, he says, was a brains. Then he instructed them to report other side are nuts-and-bolts scientists, survival strategy— the ability to tran- any thoughts or feelings as the experi- who say the ME is induced by the brain. scend our woes and, with the help of the ment progressed. Using a wire charged Some say they have traced MEs to ME, enter another mental plane. with a 60-volt direct current, he found he particularly deep dream states; others, to Persinger has even proposed a phys- could elicit vivid memories with a mere the nether land between wakefulness and iological mechanism by which the ME prick of his probe. Indeed, pricking the sleep. Still others contend that the ME is occurs. "When the sense of self is threat- same spot evoked recollection of the rooted in the temporal lobes, two lumps ened." he explains, "circuits in the brain same memory time and again. of gray matter buried beneath the major generate local electrical discharges. Soon he found that depending upon hemispheres of the brain. And, they now Primed, temporal lobe receptor mole- the point of stimulation, much more than suggest, even in perfectly healthy peo- cules begin to react easily with messen- mere memories poured forth. He could ple the lobes may be put into action by ger chemicals in the brain." The mes- evoke a crescendo of visual, auditory, and subtle stimuli, from the magnetic flux of a sage these chemicals send? 'A feeling of olfactory hallucinations; feelings of sad- helmet to the vibrations of the earth, suspension in space and time," Persin- ness or fear; and sensations ot detach- Reports of mystical encounters, of ger says. "The sense of infinity makes the ment from the environment and the self. course, go back to the beginning of re- self feel immortal, and the fear of extinc- Penfield could even play strange music corded time. To the Greeks, for instance, tion goes away." in the minds of his subjects or cause them what we now call epilepsy was known as THE MYSTIC BRAIN to see homunculi, malevolent figures the "sacred disease" because its mental threatening attack. and physical paroxysms were thought to The first modern connection between By the late Seventies, in fact, the rela- be curses from the gods. And the story transcendence and the brain was made tionship between the ME and the tem- of Paul, Christianity's foremost mission- by British physician John Hughlings poral lobes had become increasingly ary, embodies the mystical experience in Jackson, head of England's National clear. Working at the University of Wit- its most classic form. Formerly Saul of watersrand in South Africa, psychiatrist Tarsus, Paul was in the habit of persecut- Vernon Neppe established a correlation ing Christians until, while on the road to between the temporal lobes and sup-

Damascus, he glimpsed a light Irom posedly paranormal experiences, in- heaven. Blinded for three days, deprived cluding the sensation of unseen pres- stimulating of food and water, Paul emerged from the 6By ences and reports of OBEs. Using known experience born again. Following his the lobes with our helmet, symptoms of temporal lobe epilepsy conversion Paul engaged in a spasm of literature, we had achieved drawn from the Neppe com- epistolary explanations, authoring his fa- pared a group of people reporting para- mous letters to Christian communities in a widening and deepening normal experiences with a control group Rome and throughout the world. effect After not reporting such experiences. His find- Because the mystical experience has ing? People who claimed the experi- several sessions it kept pace with the times, however, mod- took ences reported -an average of six tem-

ern-day psychologists and neurophys- little to trigger poral lobe symptoms all told, while those iologists do not usually focus on tradi- in the control group reported none. the mystical state of mind.V tional religious fare, including encounters Indeed, by the time the Eighties rolled with angels or visions of God. Instead, around, many neuroscientists accepted they follow what they say are the Space the temporal lobes as the secular temple

Age versions of these experiences: the of the soul. Persinger sums it up best: If out-of-body experience (OBE), in which the brain was viewed as a bulbous, three- the mind seems to separate from the Hospital for Nervous Disorders. Around pound frog, the temporal lobes were the

body; the near-death experience (NDE), the turn of the century, while performing haunches on which it sat, poised for a in which heaven is glimpsed as a brilliant autopsies on epileptics, Jackson noticed leap. These haunches contained our light at the end of a tunnel; and the UFO their temporal lobes were different from sense of self, along with our perceived abduction experience, in which people those of people without the disease. In a relation to space and time. They were ob- claim they have been kidnapped by flash of insight, he attributed these peo- viously intimately involved with dream- aliens, which examine them with medical ple's seizures and dreamy states to in- ing, the sensation of movement—partic- probes and steal their eggs and sperm. creased electrical activity in the temporal ularly spinning and floating — and in fact, a survey conducted by sociolo- lobes. Soon he had identified other "tem- olfactory input. And what's more, they gist Andrew Greeley of the University of poral lobe traits," including feelings of contained two smaller, deeply buried Arizona, working with Chicago's National dissociation and alienation, as well as the structures—the hippocampus, known as

Opinion Research Center, revealed that twin phenomena of deja vu (in which one the "gateway to memory, " and the amyg- MEs have been reported by 43 percent believes one has gone through the same dala, seat of our passions and fears. of American adults. experience before) and jamais vu (in So when Persinger decided to investi- Why has mysticism remained such a which a familiar environment seems gate reports of unexplained phenomena, persistent part of our culture despite the completely strange). he (like a few. other scientists interested

existence of science to explain so much It was American surgeon Wilder Pen- in the field) couldn't help but consider the of the unknown? The ME is pervasive, field, however, who first induced full-blown role of the temporal lobes. A wiry, tightly says Michael A. Persinger, head of the visions of the sort Saint Paul reportedly wound man with thick-lensed reading neuroscience lab at Laurentian Univer- experienced. Working at the Neurologi- glasses on the bridge of his Roman nose,

sity of Sudbury in Ontario, because it cal Institute of Montreal back in 1933, the professor now has a few specks of

evolved right along with the human brain. Penfield was bent on eradicating epi- salt in his pepper-black hair. But he clearly

'As the human cortex grew," he sug- lepsy by excising it from the brain. His remembers the day he read a potboiler

gests, "we developed the ability to antic- immediate goal: tracing particular feel- on the paranormal while still in his teens. ipate events in the real world. But that ings and functions to precise regions "Most of the mysteries the author men-

ability was a two-edged sword." It gave within the lobes. To' perform this feat, he tioned," Persinger recalls, "were patent-

us the to plan for the future, it power but put his epileptic patients under local anes- ly preposterous. But I remember one

also forced us to "anticipate the inevrta- thesia. While they were still conscious, he thing— reports by stargazers of strange 56 OMNI lights on the surface of the moon—that with geophysicist John S. Derr, of the U.S. paranormal experiences were often could theoretically be verified." Geological Survey in Denver. Derr sup- highly emotional. High emotions, he knew, Hoping to do just that, Per singer wrote ports the correlations but notes that the were considered a sign of temporal lobe to the Mount Palomar Observatory lo ask mechanism for the manufacture of earth- sensitivity. In the process, he did another about the lunar lights. To his surprise, he quake lights has yet to be identified. One study as well. Using the literature as his received a lengthy reply, "They ex- possibility, he adds, "is a phenomenon guide, he set out to compile a compre- plained that the lights were due to gas- called exoelectron emission," in which hensive inventory of temporal lobe traits. eous emissions," Persinger recalls. "But electrons from breaking rocks excite the What he found suggests that all human what impressed me was that a scientist surrounding air. But how do these elec- brains lie along a continuum of temporal would take the time to encourage some- trons create strange lights in the sky?. lobe sensitivity, with ciinical epileptics one interested in the unexplained." "Very good question," Derr grudges. occupying only one extreme of the spec- "Nobody knows. The problem with earth- trum. Those he calls "temporal lobe sen- LIGHTS IN THE SKY quake lights is, how do you arrive at the sitives" may be open to the ME without

His curiosity sparked, Persinger pur- quantity of electrons needed? How do being clinically ill. "These people tend to sued graduate degrees in both psychol- you liberate them at the surface? And how be creative, intuitive, and occupied with ogy and geophysics, took his current job do you focus them into a sphere?" philosophical and aesthetic issues," he in the remote Canadian outpost of Sud- Despite such questions, Persinger has says. On the downside, he adds, they bury, and proceeded to search for mys- taken his notions further still. Working with "may show marked performance anxi- teries on which he could focus his partic- Gyslaine LaFreniere, his wife, he argued ety, with wide ranges of emotion and a ular expertise. Not having any luminous that not only UFOs but a panoply of so- tendency toward tension and compul- phenomena to investigate firsthand, he called paranormal phenomena— includ- sive thinking. During periods of personal finally turned his attention to reports of ing poltergeists, psychokinesis, and stress, they may be prone to paranoia." UFOs. Struck by their physical similarity OBEs—were related to magnetic forces But they make excellent hypnotic sub- to earthquake lights— ghostly globules of high in the atmosphere and deep within jects—and they tend to have MEs. luminosity that seem to precede or ac- the earth. It was one thing to explain away The beauty of Persinger s theory, of company earth tremors — Persinger for- UFOs as earthquake lights. But now Per- course, is thai it accounts for an other- mulated what he calls his "tectonic strain singer was saying that magnetic energy wise bewildering variety of paranormal theory of UFO generation." In essence, was actually inducing MEs via people's experiences, including classic OBEs, he postulated that UFOs are actually the temporal lobes— the most electrically NDEs, UFO abductions—even a visita- lights generated days to weeks before the sensitive region of the brain. tion from God. In fact, the theory has al- quake. He went on to demonstrate a cor- To bolster his theory he first decided to lowed Persinger to define the ME in a new relation between UFO reports and activ- replicate the original study done by way. It is, he says, "any event that in- ity along earthquake fault lines. Neppe himself. Working with 500 first-year volves a widening of emotional meaning, Cognizant of the need for geological psychology students, he showed that such that things not typically considered expertise, Persinger did much of his work those who most frequently reported significant would now be considered meaningful. After an ME, a person may

even view himself in relationship to a

larger entity—wholeness if he's a math-

ematician, or God if he's a Christian. "Moreover," adds Persinger, "the ex- perience will be perceived as extremely real, because those functions of the tem- poral lobe that are recruited are the same ones that assign meaning and signifi-

cance to experience in the first place." THE MAGIC HAT

To prove the validity of his notions, Per- singer has done the extraordinary: He has designed a helmet that literally induces MEs. The invention came out of his de- sire to stimulate the temporal lobes so he could study the phenomenon more closely in the lab. Without surgically opening the skull as Penfield did, how- ever, stimulating the temporal lobes was a difficult feat. The solution materialized in the form of an electromagnetic relax- ation device sold openly on the Cana- dian market. The device generated a wavering magnetic signal that, as luck

would have it, matched brain wave activ-

ity in the temporal lobes. Persinger made crude solenoids (components that transmit a magnetic field) by wrapping copper wire around ten-penny nails. Then he attached the solenoids to the relaxer. To eliminate the possibility that the nails would prick his subjects, he mounted the entire appara- "Oh, my God.' Call an electrician." tus on a motorcycle helmet from a local auto-supply store. Finally, to help the HUH" —

" ' SI ^SajKS

liHrara

.Jiripeti- veloper of the West German p,u. .... the su- Pollvogt's audience, consisting of -the space scientists and policymak

*;|- took the idea of a spaceplane i

i- seriously. The Ui nple, spent close to $1 million

become the first country with a vi- each day in the National Aerospace Plane. In of the Technology, Commerce, and Com- Union

i in Hous- ferred to the X-30 as the new "Ori- ent Express" because flight time

i between New York and Hong Kong spaceplane, known as the Sanger. Pollvogt is the president of MBB- two hours—that's flying at 25 times <—- ^ .

el tests can simulate

at hypersonic speeds (page 63). t MP*; -i -H — 4^ Computer-

generated designs ! i

can analyze the * [^WlM (these pages). — ^«s? I ~~~~~-~— FilF PL'll

** length 9t. 51 1 4-—— S^-~M 4#^ iS • l^ mm — :=-- ISil The Sanger, which is West ^^j mm X

fuel instead of hydrocarbon BEE* twenty-first century.

»at the end of #*m ising the

thai will kick in after the aero- cheaper " In sharp contrast to a space shuttle like the Challenger, the Sanger will

lercial or military airport plane. In the early F Eugen All this unique aircr

orbit with its _

i system to escape —t's gravity, lending on th FICTION

Dr. Entropy is beginning to intrude on Rachel Wirtham's life — and Rachel is beginning to think this may not be so bad ONTHE

Du"lue. When she stands, balanced as on a tight- rope, and looks below her, everything is blue. Strange and awful winds whipping her hair before her eyes, she turns cautiously to stare down the other way, Again, everything is blue—cold blue ocean reaching up into the endless sky. The air is crisp and dry. Far above, the blue sky fades into a pure black, dotted with alien constellations.

PAINTING BY MARVIN MATTELSON . —

"Excuse me, Dr. Wirtham, I beg your women's tears merge with the rain. mins, exercise, and lotion hold one poised pardon," said Dr. Raj, with his lilting In- She smiled. "Turkeys don't fly in the before the quantum leap from youth to dian accent, as half a dozen books fell rain." Ail over town, potential patients were middle age. He had a square jaw, wire-

onto the counter beside her head. "Oh, I staying inside, out of trouble; it was too frame glasses, and a cheap yellow run- am so sorry." wet for brawfs or muggings. People would ning suit unzipped to show a Green- "No problem," Rachel yawned, brush- treat their own minor ailments, and even peace T-shirt. He sat there, a spoon ing away a Manual of Medical Therapeu- those with true medical emergencies heaping with yogurt and honey granola tics. "I just dozed off. What's up?" would try io wait out the storm. poised before his mouth" Raj, leaning precipitously above her, She took a step outside, letting the wind "The Bizarros," she repeated. "You kept reaching for the Physicians' Desk whip her graying midnight hair, smelling know, The Bizarros were these imperfect Reference. "There is a patient who was the acrid odors ot the wet street. Sud- copies of Superman who did everything given phenothiazines by his friends." denly Rachel had a flashback to her backward and talked funny. 'Bad am

"Some friends." dream, understanding now what had good to us!' I dreamed that I was living "Yes, and he took them lo relax himself, seemed so strange. Despite the endless on a box-shaped planet, just like theirs. and now his head is bent like this, and vistas of ocean, fading into the horizon Isn't that too much?" ," his eyes cannot move." He twisted his that had been all wrong, there had been "Rachel , , own head ceilingward, in demonstration. no smell of salt and sea. She tossed the cube onto her uneaten Rachel ran her hands through her hair, Far off she heard the first soft wail of crepe. "Christ, Kent, didn't you read comic trying to return it to some semblance of an ambulance, taking the winding roads, books when you were a kid?" order. 'Acute dystonic reaction. Fifty of its siren fading in and out like a jazz vo- "Rachel, three people died last night," Benadryl." calist, while the rain gushed into the street "Yeah?" Her colleague stopped reaching for the and boat staccato on the car hoods. His jaw dropped slightly, and he low- shelf, "fifty milligrams?" "Hey, Doc!" someone yelled, behind ered the spoon. "Works like a charm. Or one milligram her "Multiple crunch coming in!" "Well, for God's sake, "she said angrily. of Cogentin." "What'd you expect? They were drunk

"Thank you. It is amazing how you re- all the drivers —and driving like assholes member all these dosages." in a storm. The Coast Highway's bad "Not really. Sherlock Holmes said your enough in good weather." mind is like an attic, with only so much "They died, Rachel. They might not 4T/ie doctor had a storage space. Well, when I was younger have if Las Pulgas had a trauma center,"

if it I knew the geologic eras, the fifty mus- momentary vision of the rain "You mean, hadn't been just me and cles in the human arm, and who penciled some camel jockey in that shit excuse lor forming a moat and inked the first eighty issues of 'The an ER?"

Fantastic Four.' Now all I know is how about the old hospital on the "Exactly! That's exactly what I mean," much penicillin in the butt you get for sy- Exchanging his spoon for a Cross pen, hill, turning it philis and how much for the clap." he flipped open a steno notebook. "With into of those 'Ah," said Bill the charge nurse. "The one mysterious proper facilities and a decent county romance of emergency medicine." comic-book casties: hospital, they'd be alive right now. Right?" Yawning, Rachel stood, draping her "I won't say that. You can't quote me on a place of hidden treasures.?1 stethoscope around her neck. Things jack, Kent." She laughed once. "You know,

seemed too quiet. Midnight, and only one I did save the dirtball driving the pickup. patient in the emergency room? She Homemade tattoos are pathognomonic walked out to the waiting room. A large for sociopath, and he was tattoo city. He

cockroach scurried past; raising her was turning blue; I didn't wait for the X sneakered foot, she paused. "No way. After a few seconds, when she did not ray, just stuck a needle in his chest. Blam!" Neverkill anything that will leave a stain reply, the voice came again. "Three cars! She waved her hands. "Guy had a ten- on your shoe." At least one dead! Shit, what a night." sion pneumothorax '10m Dusied ribs. With

Aside from the usual drunk or two She sighed, letting the door swing shut, these little hands I pulled him back from sleeping it off, and a chronic schizo- enclosing her inside. the edge of death. Couple o( months, he'l. phrenic they allowed to hide behind the "Yeah, yeah, I'll be there." be able to get drunk and do it all again." soda machine, Ihe room was silent. Ants Leaning back, she popped the sugar and roaches had gathered about a spilled She's flying. Hying uphiii. paralleling the cube into her mouth and grinned. can of cola. blue flat as a shcel bdovv hei Suddenly "Maybe next time, he can run into a

"Enjoy the quiet while it lasts, Doc," she reaches the crest and :s Hying straight school bus, right?" She began to chuckle called the receptionist from her iron- into space, and the blue beneath her re- uncontrollably. barred cubbyhole. cedes down the other way; over the edge,

Rachel swung open the door to the she heads into, the stars. . . It is dark, with flickers of light reflecting outside, immediately hearing the sound off the bars on the tellers' windows and ot the rain. Water was pouring from the "And then I realized it," she said, the corners of the desks. The quiet bank sky, casting halos about the streetlamps. reaching to the center of the table and smells dry and summery, like new money. Light-streaked lorrents ran down the in- pulling a lump of sugar from the china Pausing before the vault door, a caped cline. The doctor had a momentary vision cruet set. Everything at the Empress' Tea figure raises a gun and fires. The huge of the rain forming a moat about the old Garden was elegant; the wild-blackberry circle of metal dissolves, turning into col- hospital on the hill, turning it into one of crepe cooling on her plate was gar- ored mist, while below it a row of intricate those mysterious castles from the comic nished with carved orange and lemon wire-sculpture orchids springs into exis- books: a place of hidden treasures, slices. "I was breaming about a square tence. The mist gradually clears, and the vaulted halls, treacherous dungeons; planet—a cube in outer space." She held view into the vault is unobstructed. Coins ghosts would stalk the halls and mad- up the sugar lump as if it were exhibit A. glowing silver, piled deep, like water in a "Like the Bizarro world." swimming pool. You could leap in, dive, She looked expectantly at her break- kick back the surface, coins spar- Pages 70 and 71: Painting by Marv:r: Mattel- and to son, for the cover c: B ooci -!un by Leah Ruth fast companion. He was her age, in that kling in your hair as the dark night flowed

Robinson (New Ametican Library). brief and timeless moment when vita- onward. . . . 72 OMNI With the return of hot weather came the It was, as always, broad daylight when "Now, if this were a comic," she mut- return of standard chaos to the emer- she returned '"ionic, exchanging her dii'y tered, "Kent could dress up in a cape and gency room at Las Pulgas County Hos- scrub suit for a clean pair. The top was tights and do some real sleuthing. The pital. Dr. Wirtham sat at the counter, blue, with a deep neckline, the little print mayor would be involved in some con-

small and unimportant in her green scrub below reading property of ucsf. spiracy to give all migrant workers pneu- suit. Given the proper makeup and a rinse Too hyper to sleep, she went out onto monia, and in the last panel, about to to take the gray out of her hair, she might the porch. The ocean crashed angrily shoot our hero, he'd fall into a vat of diplo- have looked foreign and myslerious. As below, and everything smelled of salt and cocci and drown." She tipped the lounge

it was, she looked chronically weary. seaweed and mold. Off to the left some chair back to almost horizontal, closed "Ma'am," said a woman leaning over the children were climbing the rocks, gath- her eyes, and let the distant crashing of

counter and pointing to one of Ihe chil- ering tiny crabs irapped in puddles. Far the waves lull her to sleep. dren clustered about her. "Ma'am, my son to the right she could see surfers pad-

here ..." dling toward the breakers. She slumped "Great galaxies! It's the Board of Su- 'Ask a nurse," Rachel snapped at the into the lounge, opening up an old comic perheroesl" woman, not looking up as she scribbled book entitled The Geek, about a hip "Indeed it is, citizen," replies the mighty a history and physical. She paused to mannequin brought- to life in 1960's San muscled man in yellow, emerging from stare at her work. "Shit, / can't even read Francisco. When Rachel had sold her the shadows to confront the derelict. "Did

. this," she muttered. The patient's com- comics collection to fund her medical you see anything suspicious?" plaint was equally indecipherable. He education, Ihe buyer had refused to lake "Yeah, someone ran thatawayi" seemed all right, but what if she had the two issues of The Geek. "Thank you; you may have helped us overlooked something? She remem- "Certain really bad comics are valu- capture a bank robber and welt-known bered reading an old comic book, with able," he'd said. "The same way some of fiend!" Clapping the derelict heartily on Superman vowing to expose himself to Ihe great stuff, like Magnus Robot Fighter, the shoulder, the man in yellow looks over gold kryptonite, forever losing his pow- is practically worthless. Anything with his shoulder and calls, "This way fellas!" ers, if he ever caused anyone harm. He runs into the night-blackened alley. "Rachel?" The derelict watches, muttering the her- She gazed up. "Kent. Whal are you oes' names as they pass. "The mighty doing here? Paper cut?" Boar! Bald Eagle! Superbman! The Ab- ." "Sir . . said the charge nurse, ap- brevialor, Tiny Terror to Crime! All my for- proaching with tubes of blood and urine i»She slumped mer heroes, together again! And they for the out box. "Registration is out- into the lounge, opening an thanked me!" Looking down with disgust ." side. . . at his brown paper bag, he snarls. Then, old comic book "It's okay, Bill." Rachel tossed the chart standing up straight, he fosses the bottle down. "This is my pal, Kent Randolph called The Geek, about a hip against the wall and strides off proudly He's the ace star cub reporter for the Las Mannequin brought as Mulligan Brothers dry sherry shatters Pulgas Daily Journal." oh the bricks. "Have you given any thought to my to life in 1960's San Francisco. Inside the alley, the Boar holds up his question?" Bored by the rackety hand to stop the others. "Look! This back "Oh, God!" Bill cried. "Has he pro- wail has been vaporized!" plot, she tossed the comic3 posed?" He did a quick bump and grind. "What's that beside it?" asks Flyboy, the "Buzz off," growled Rachel, grabbing Eagle's young companion.

Kent by the elbow and ushering him to- His m, >t looks ward the waiting room. like the five-foot shelf of classics!"

"Well?" he asked. The Boar bends down to confirm it.

"You know how hard it is to get work in bondage or girls in prison sells like hot- "You're right, it's the Harvard Collection California, especially right on the coast," cakes. And you know those old Lois Lane of Great Books/ This proves Dr. Entropy she whispered. "Every doctor in the damn comics everyone threw away 'cause they has been here—we've found the spoor country wants to come here. And now were so dumb7 Well, now they're rare and of Ihe chaos gun!" you, Mr. Front-page Farrell, you wanl me worth a mint. But you can keep The Geek. "Huh?" to sing for your little expose and lose my I'd have more luck reselling Richie Rich." "It's simple, lad," answers the Abbre- job—for what? For these people?" Quickly bored by the rackety plot and viator, himself a scientist who has used She propelled him into the doorway. idealistic sentiments, she tossed the his knowledge of non-Newtonian phys- "Take a- good look, Scoop. The only comic down, picking up the Las Pulgas ics to shrink himseli. tight crime, and tour sober person in the whole waiting room Daily Journal instead. Kent's column ran the little planets that orbit nuclei. "You've is that old lady there, who comes in twice on the editorial page, with a story about heard of conservation of order? Well, a week with heart failure because she an illegal immigrant with pneumonia every time Dr. Entropy fires the chaos gun doesn't take the tousy medicine we give who'd delayed .going to the hospital fo' and disrupts things, the displaced order

her lor free.-Whoops, I beg your pardon! fear of being caught and deported. forms something wonderful!" He shakes That guy hasn't been drinking or fighting, Rachel had heard about the case—ER his tiny head. "What a fiendish device! either. No, he's got endocarditis, inlecled day shifl had intubated Ihe- woman and Once she actually made a silk purse from a heart valve by shooting cope. He needs shipped her directly to intensive care, a sow's ear!" at least six weeks of intravenous antibiot- where the police grabbed her family as The Boar shakes his fist deeper into ics, but every time he starts teeling okay, they kept watch. Bill had described it io the alley. "We've got you surrounded, you he signs a.m. a., then comes back when Rachel quite graphically, complete with doctor of disorder!" he's sicker 'n shit again." She slammed screaming bai>es and pleading parents In reply a bolt of azure light streams the door shut. but his rendition had come across as sit- outward, turning the building behind them "What happened to your human de- uation comedy rather than palhos. into an ancient ruin, a stone temple of cency?" Kent asked her, his jaw muscles The column ended with another im- gods forgotten millennia before the firs! rippling over clenched teeth. passioned plea for the mayor and the human history was recorded. To com-

' She made a show of searching her board of supervisors lo improve health pensate, the ground before them be- pockets. "Beats me. Hey, look! Want a' care for the indigent. She threw the news- comes a perfectly omieied rose garden. Life Saver?" paper on lop of The Geek: "Aiee!" scream-':- the Appreviatorasthe

74 OMNI thorn of an American beauty material- of lukewarm bittersweet chocolate, while work!" I he Boar nrops him. standing over izes beside him. skewering his thorax. beside them all appears a table with a him incredulously. Who are you? Where'd

The Baid Eagle snatches him off the ten- course Szechuan banquet. you get that gun? And where is. she? thorn. "No, little pal! Don't let it be true!" "Help! Fire!" calls Fiyboy Superbman, Where is Pr. Entropy?"

"It Is," Superbman says, gently taking washing himself of! guickly with jasmine the body from the Eagle ana placing it in tea and patting dry with napkins, pulls "I had the weirdest dream last night" a shoe box the Man ol Style has Sound in them out, then licks the chocolate from Rachel said. "There were, like, superhe- the rubble. "My superb hearing reveals his fingers. He hopes that the Boar will roes in it." no heartbeat! But we shall bury him in be all right. Superbman knows of the evil "Was it erotic?" asked Jack, the doctor the backyard at our headguarters, and Dr. Entropy, whose father had been a re- sharing her shift. They were gathered by we shall avenge him!" spected scientist, inventor of the chaos the Mr. Coffee during the predawn slump, The heroes unconsciously strike de- star drive. Dr. Entropy had for no good when even ihc roads are quid; when Cor- termined poses, from their shelter in the reason blamed his accidental death on tisol levels are lowest and the human body shadow of the ancient temple. "This is the mighty Boar and had perverted the least able to handle stress. They were odd," whispers the Boar. "I've loughi Dr. chaos drive into a horrible weapon, using dressed identically, in soft green scrubs, Entropy how many times? Fifteen ..." what might have been a boon for human- the loose tops and pajarna pants resem- "Sixteen, " corrects his friend, who also ity only for evil and self-gain. bling medical judo gis. "You and some has a superb memory. The Boar rushes onward, unstoppa- hunk from Krypton, righl? Or, hey, how "And no one's ever been killed before!" ble, Hke the powerful forest beast for which about Plastic Man?"

He clenches his jaw angrily. "I've been he is named. He comes upon a crouched, "Or Batman and Robin," leered Bill. too decent about ill Okay. D;. Entropy, no black-caped figure, surrounded by heavy "They're my favorites." more Mr. Nice Guy!" he screams, head- bags of money, who is leveling a pistol at "Come on. Didn't you ever think how ing for the back of the alley. him. He catches up a garbage can lid, easy things would be if we lived in the

"Wait!" and it takes the bolt ol light, becoming a universe; where comic books lake place?"

His friends spring after him. The blue circle of yesterday's newspapers. Toss- "No," said Jack. "Can't say I ever did. light bursts forth again, turning the Boar's ing it aside, where it knocks over a Ming Okay, who's gonna do the pelvic?" clothes into old rags with wonderfully Vase painted with plum blossoms, the "Not another. Are we having a half-price embroidered edges, but he continues Boar grasps the chaos gun, crushing it sale forPID?" Rachel unmaced. 'As seen running. A mound of garbage beside him to a fine powder. on channel seventeen: 'Women, do you becomes tiny leaping gazelles. The Then he lifts the cloaked figure, dan- have pain occasionally down there? Do chaos boll hits Superbman. covering his gling it over the pavement. "Now! I've you have a purulent discharge that would ." perfect physique with swamp debris. never hit you before, Dr. Entropy, but. . gag a maggot? Are you bored and list- Paving stories below the Bald Eagle and The hood falls back, revealing the less, with nothing else to do this slow his ward come alive and begin sguealing criminal's face. "No, please don't hit!" he Tuesday night? Why not come to the sce- and running, propelling Hie pair into a pit pleads. "I've just had extensive dental nic Las Pulgas County Hospital and Cockroach Motel for a fun-packed pelvic .?'" examination. . "With a cold plastic speculum," Jack added in a deep announcer's voice.

". . .and best, it's free!"

'Act now," Bill the charge nurse fin- ished, "and we'll throw in two million units of intramuscular benzathine penicillin!

Doctors are standing by. , . . Honestly, gang, you're nowhere near the record. That was when the cops decided to clean up the Stroll one night. Every hooker in town had nowhere to go, so they came to the ER for a checkup." "Sounds like a job for Johnny Quick,"

said Rachel. They flipped for it and she lost. After the exam she took a swab to the emergency room lab. This was a tiny room with a laundry hamper, a stack ol

bedpans 'Utc iu d :> 'i.ilc ,of t ii im's tan

reagent, and a microscope. It was a far

cry from any laboratory in a comic book.

She tried to menially dress r. up with bub- bling retorts, grinning skeletons, and a madly arcing Jacobs ladder. 'And now,

with my microscopic. vision, I will see the ." very fabric of the universe. . . The wet prep of the discharge showed a few clue cells and a triangular tricho- monad, waving its single flagellum gamely. "She's gotwigglers." Did they have trich in the world of su- perheroes? she wondered. Surely not, Surely people who could fly to the stars without spaceships, people who could become invircibe or incredibly strong, who Gould see the future or eat

CONTINUED ON PAGE 118 Four-wheel-drive pickups agers living in Los Alamos, Four decades ago physicist have replaced, hot rods, VCRs New Mexico, still seem J. Robert Oppenheimer have usurped jukeboxes, caught in the eerie twilight of and the U.S. government se- and calculators have taken the Cold War; not quite Ike lected the area for its primi- over Irom slide rules. But teen- but a long way from glasnost. tive isolation. Here they built PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID MICHAEL KENNEDY the first atomic bombs in breathtaking downtown mee",s :he man roao to the lab honor society, karate, and debate club privacy. Today ihe town and its neighbor, A deep canyon separates downtown and with a vengeance. Los Alamos National Laboratory, remain ;hs residential areas from the lab. Except At Los Alamos High School the fast

remote, hiding 25 mi es up a :wisted road for that dark canyon, it's-hard to find the track is the only track for most of the stu- from the populous Rio Grande Valley. center of Los Alamos. As Marly Daly, a dents. Advanced-placement, college- Classified work on mainline nuclear Santa Fe lawyer who grew up in Los Ala- level courses are prevalent, and this year weapons continues, and under Ihe aegis mos, says, "It's like a suburb to a city, one out of 14 seniors earned a perfect of the Strategic Dclcnsc Initiative (SDI), oxoepl here's no city." And the lab makes 4.0 grade point average (GPA). The or star wars, lab scientists are creating Los Alamos like no suburb on Earth. school of 1,200 students consis-en'.ly

space weapons for the next century. So'''e 2.800 scientists and 5,000 support produces more han its share of National The children of Los Alamos, raised in staff work at the lab, which could be mis- Merit Scholars —19 this year. One year the hometown of the bomb, remain shel- taken for a college campus. Parents with the school had 34. Roughly 20 percent tered from the fallout of modern times. Ph.D.'s are common—two thirds of Los of the school's seniors routinely win col- Among the nation's smartest kids, they Alamos's college-bound students come lege acadom c senoiarshios. About two often display an innocence not seen since from famil es w in g'aeuale degrees. thirds of the seniors go to college, com-

the days of Leave II to Beaver. Many Many kids accept their parents' weap- pared with about half of seniors nation-

adults try to shield—some say cut off— ons work, though some dream of a time ally. Last year the school's college-bound their k ; ds from life off "the Hill," as locals without nuclear arms. Few say they re- students scored 70 points above the na-

refer to Los Alamos. To their credit, a few gret growing up in Los Alamos. "It gave tional mean for the Scholastic Aptitude

parents push their kids into a wider world. me a :as:e of the fulure before most peo- Test. And with science all around, the But most want their children to stay close. ple," says James Graebncr. a playwright school has no gender gap. The physics Here, in a town that designs bombs, par- and 1968 Los Alamos High graduate. and advanced-calculus classes have ents say that Hie s sale, secure, predict- "The future is more mathe^at cal and lias nearly as many girls as boys. able. Their silent oath for their children: more computers. Los Alamos is the fu- Picking out the brilliant students in the Strive and ye shall be rewarded, for school hallways isn't easy. A few classic everything is under control. coneheads, guys with thick glasses and

Parents may design stale-of-t he-art dorky clothes, lugging two backpacks full nuclear weapons, but for many kids, their of books, scurry by. But most ot Los Ala- parents might just as well be plumbers. mos's whiz kids look, well, normal. From Yes, they say, their parents work at the 477ie debate over earnest student council members to the lab. "Nuclear something," they mumble SDI has given Los Alamos occasional punk rocker, being smart is when asked exactly what their parents do. no big deal. To stand out here takes more teenagers a rare Like teenagers everywhere, what mat- than brilliance. Most of the kids know it;

ters most to them is Friday night, not some glimpse of life beyond few parents let them forget it.

future Armageddon. Los Alamos ' is When the lab. Some "What math are you in?" often the kids want to make the scene, they head first question asked when Los Alamos wonder if the lab's work is down to the town library. It stays open students meet one another. Out of 340 until nine rm.— late for this isolated town as logical and students in last year's senior class, 90 took of 18,000. "Everyone goes to the library. calculus. Some, like Bowman, plan ca- noble as they've been told3 There's nothing else to do," complains reers in physics. Many others want to be eighteen-year-old senior Ngeci Bow- journalists, social workers, or English man. "Life is weird here." teachers. Why do they take calculus? "A The perks of a well-heeled suburb are lot of parents think that science and math everywhere: a public golf course and rid- are the only real professions," says Bow- ing stables, paved bicycle paths, and tu re. "Today's students seem to envision man. "The kids here are real y pressurec Olympic-size swimming pools. A down- a future of only more school, good jobs, to go into sciences." Now a freshman at hill ski area rises at the town's edge. Se- and eventually, adult lives much like [heir Yale, Bowman found the competition in rious crimes are rare. Mothers leave their parents'. Some kids hope to be physi- high school so pervasive that she shied children playing unsupervised outside. cists and engineers. Occasionally a few away from making friends with math and

There is no bad part of town, no wrong talk of becoming doctors and ministers. science students. All were potential ri- side of the tracks. Students say the -

10,000-foot mountains leap from the able results. Their ambitious faith is not straight-A seniors would tie for first in the town's backyard, and 100-mile vistas at all surprising. class. Now the school gives extra points crowd the remaining horizon. At night the The pressure to succeed starts early. for As in advanced-placement courses. town's lights shimmer across the desert Graebner remembers a friend had to cite The change fueled an even greater like a mirage, But in daylight Los Alamos an equal ion each -"orning before break- scramble for first place. "There's an in- remains a bit unreal. fast. Phil Barck, a school district perform- credible amount of competition for

The downtown projects all the perma- ance evaluator. says, ' Parents often can'l grades." says John Calanni, a senior who nence of a tent city: A paltry few fast-food accept that their kid is just normal," So moved to Los Alamos from Houston three joints stake down the edges; at the cen- many students, he adds, make a religion years ago. Calanni has a 3.98 GPA, but ter stands only the county government of grades. "This is not by design of the he does not even rank in the top tenth of building. Stores are scarce, side streets school district," he says, "but there's not his graduating class. sparse. The only sign of life comes from much else to do up here, so the students The upside to this fiercely competitive Los Alamos High, which sits where do get involved with academics." atmosphere, says district evaluator Barck. Obsessions come easily in Los Ala- is that the competition inspires many av- mos. Parents stay late at Ihe lab. and their erage students to do much better than Previous pages, trc-m lop to bottom: senior children turn school into full-time job. predicted their test John Calanm. i'Via Clark, who wants to be a a oy aptitude scores. journalist; physics mapr David Nix; and se- Without malls, under-twenty-one clubs, Some students from outside Los Alamos mor Valerie Via.:* Sackci'Gunti. the south lace or other hangouts nigh-school kies threw even seek the challenges found here. Joti ci spectacular loiavi Mesa. rhemsevos into band, student council. Rodar transferred to Los Alamos High BO OMNI ...... ,

NOTHING ATTRACTS LIKE THE IIVDRTED TASTE OF BOMBAY GIN.

CORIANDER SEEDS FROM MOROCCO *3* ANGELICA ROOT FROM ' ^ i ITALY LICORICE INDOCHINA SAXONY JUNIPER BERR£S FROM ITALY "CASSIA8ARK FROM INDO^ALMONDS FROM INDOCHINA I OlEMONPEELFROMSPAIN IS (IRIS ROOT) FROM FROM

Irom Pojoaque. which ties 25 miles down four a m , then get up at seven a.m. for they may not understand or help stu- four-wheel drive, so police cars seldom Sanders says he avoids Los Alamos's dents who think Los Alamos is dull or that the hill. She found her Pojoaque class- school. To be perfect—that's the goal. But dents different from themselves, "There bother to bump their way up. After a night whiz kids. "They don't know what the real the parents and students are smug. A mates complacent. At Los Alamos, she a friend of Calanni's suffered a nervous are some socioeconomic differences of partying, some kids have trouble world is," he says bitterly. "I can't wait to straight-A student who hopes to study bi- says, not only the are students more mo- breakdown just before finals and spent between students who live on the Hill and bumping their way back down. A lew have get out. Everyone here is so smart. That's ological sciences or law. she says, "I like tivated, but the teachers and classes in are three days the hospital. Calanni him- those who live in the valley, " he adds. rolled their four-wheelers on the danger- their pride and joy, and they just don't want it here. There's a lot of curiosity and myths, much better—and harder. At Pojoaque self tried lo keep pace until he realized Like most teenagers, however. Los ous hairpin turns that thread the cliffs. us around." but it's just a town. Some people think it's Rodar would have been valedictorian. At he "felt just awful all the time." Given the Alamos's best and brightest hate for peo- though none have died. Mara Beverwyk, who graduated last a very exclusive, snobby type ol com- Los Alamos, she says. "HI be lucky to be competition, "it's really tough for the av- ple to think of them as nervous, sheltered High-school students guess that about spring, grew up in a 100-year-old adobe munity and that everybody has a 4.0 in the top ten percent, and my grades erage students here," says James Goet- nerds. "I think of myself as kind of bal- three quarters of their classmates drink, home in Velarde. 35 miles away Irom the grade point average and everyone's fa- didn't drop that that zinger, much." Despite and the high school's assistant prin- anced." Clark says, "I worry as much and marijuana remains the illegal drug of lab. in the largely Hispanic Espanola Val- ther works at the lab and has a Ph.D. It daily the commute, she's glad to have cipal. "You end up in the lower fourth of about what I'm going to do on the week- choice. LSD also is back in fashion after ley. "The attitude in Los Alamos is totally simply is not true," Los Alamos is friendly, made the switch. your class." Some wrongly decide that end as how I'm going to do on a test on a hiatus in the Seventies. While kids here smug," says the freshman at Harvard. she says; being Hispanic has never Senior Tina Clark also likes the aca- they're good enough only for "easy" state Wednesday." Weekend nights for well- have more money to buy drugs, most say "They lake pride in their isolation." A Los caused her problems, even though His- demic pressure. "We get used to having colleges, or Ihey skip college entirely. behaved Los Alamos teenagers might that Los Alamos has no worse a drug Alamos view of Beverwyk's hometown panics are rare in town. smart people around. It's just ingrained The outside world can seem far away begin at the Sonic burger stand or the problem than anywhere else. And like came in a common student question: After college and graduate school Vigil in you that you're supposed to do well." in Los Alamos. While students often find Pizza Hut. followed by a flick at the single everywhere else, the kids who abuse "Since you're blond, do you ever get might like to return to the Southwest, she all it's " says. "We feel like our job to college easy compared with high school, movie Iheater. topped off by board games drugs can be geniuses or dropouts. Russ raped in Espanola7 She shakes her head maybe even to the lab to work as a full- get all the As way through high school. Goetzinger says, "some students have a or watching something on the VCR at a Shinn, a Los Alamos school district sub- in disgust. Sure, she says, the Espanola fledged scientist doing things like she did kind of pressure We ourselves." little bit of trouble adjusting to the real friend's house. Some cruise by the Ash- stance abuse counselor, says. "It's pretty Valley has its share of drinking, unem- last summer—mapping the human brain. According to a number of kids, how- world. They have been isolated. There's ley Ponde community center to check out much an equal opportunity destroyer" ployment, and family abuse, but Los Ala- Working side by side with Los Alamos ever, a lot of problems stem Irom living in a little bit of naivete about crime. They the dances that most kids avoid. Because of the lab's generous insurance mos is no shining example ot family vir- National Laboratory scientists, the sev- Los Alamos's perfect world. The less than just don't believe there are people out Teenagers seeking more excitement policy, kids with drug problems often are tue. "Perfect kids, perfect families—you enteen-year-old senior measured mag- brilliant, for instance, are beset with in- there who are going to pick their pockets head for the mountains to hike, drink, sent away to rehabilitation centers. hear that all the time about Los Alamos," netic fields within the brain. By compar- securities, isolation and the breeds na- or rape them or everything in between." smoke, and blast their car stereos. Scott Sanders, eighteen, went to a re- she says. "Espanola is a rough-and-tum- ing different fields, the lab hopes ivete about the "real" world. The elitist at- Calanni Ihinks his classmates are "shel- Graebner believes the mountains, not the hab center after being busted tor mari- ble town Los Alamos is more aloof and eventually to find the roots of speech. titude that pervades Los Alamos life causes tered." Everyday here is not quite as lab, leave the biggest mark on the chil- juana. He didn't like it and fought to get upper-class neglect." For her, life is bet- In a school where kids excel in all sub- kids look many to down on anyone with rigorous as in Houston. "What is a big dren of Los Alamos. "The mountains were out. When he returned to school, how- ter off the Hill—"It's looser and more jects, where everyone reveres brains and a lower IQ. interested in activities like problem for a kid here would be minor in freedom. The mountains were sex. The ever, Sanders resisted the school's after- open." But she credits Los Alamos's tough spends weekends studying, Tony Newlin sports, or brought up in a culture differ- Houston," he says. 'A lost boyfriend is mountains were getting drunk, and that's care program. He says school counsel- schools and mountain beauty for inspir- is a jock. The six-foot-three Newlin plays ent the the Hill. from one on And appar- monumental. If they saw some of the why everyone has a romantic attach- ors didn't understand his problems either. ing her to study biology at Harvard. Good basketball, fly-tishes for trout, or explores ently even the-etty of reason cannot over- problems other people had— poverty, ment to the mountains," says Graebner. He dropped out of school last spring and science, good English, and good teach- the nearby mountains by foot and with the come emotional undertow of being a crime —they might open their eyes." Be- "We grew up wedded to the landscape." eventually hopes to become a drummer ers are common at Los Alamos High, she his Jeep. "I hardly work at my grades at teenager. Driven to do better than their cause many students take nothing but The roads to pull-offs like Dead Dog, in a rock band. A big fan of Megadeth, says. "It's definitely not just physics." all." says Newlin, who still maintains a 4.0 peers, '-' many students study until three or advanced- 1 cvc classes. Goetzinger says, Bottom's Ups. and the Dome demand Metallica, and "harder-rocking stuff, Valerie Vigil disagrees with other stu- GPA. His nonchalance is deliberate. 82 OMNI "Some kias gel grounded il they lake a B visiting the ao. I harks to los Alamos's faithfully mirror the debate that has split home," says the seventeen-year-old se- tghl security, the Secret Service agents the adult scientific community over SDI, nior. "People in other places have a lot fell bask, and Kennedy mixed free'y with which now accounts for a fifth of the lab's more Fun," he adds. "The parents here the schoolchildren crowding around. "He $887 million annual budget. "Not one of

are so busy working thai Ihey neglect their made us feel like we were the culling line my friends thinks it's go ng to work." says children. A lot of people are workaholics." in the defense of the free world," Graeb- Calanni. Bowman complains that SDI has It hurts the kids and sore's them into the ner recalls. "We were the special com- forced too many scientists to choose be- mountains Per nighttime parties of booze munity—no one was going to deny that." tween basic research and weapons work. and drugs. "There are. a lot of lonely kids Outsiders don'l really understand these "The government always equates sci- in Los Alamos." things, say kids in Los Alamos. They ask ence with bombs," she says. "Los Ala- Determined to help, Newlin dropped dumb questons like, "Do you really glow mos is primarily a good research labo- astronomy in favor of sociology. After in the dark?" Insiders know that nuclear ratory, but the stuff with star wars is really school he wants to become a minister In energy and weapons are just bread, but- corrupting the place." tor the meantime he helps Youth Working ter, and the inesoapat>e oackdrop. Even Can it work? If it did, would it push both Youth, an antidrug group that tries to keep rebellious teens seldom hurl their anger sides toward a first-strike defense? Was kids out of trouble by sponsoring dances. at nuclear targets. L'kc the local pine for- the X-ray laser—the germ of President The dances, crowded two years ago, fell ests, the lab stands so close to lite's cen- Reagan's first star-wars speech—over- out of favor for a while, but "they're pick- ter here that few people can see it clearly. sold? The adult debate over SDI has given

ing up again," says Newlin. The town's re- Awakening, when it comes, if it comes, Los Alamos teens a rare glimpse of life sistance to change, however, frustrates arrives when kids leave the Hill. beyond the lab. For the first time, many Newlin. Many parents, tor example, frown Like their parents, most kids believe students are wondering il the lab's work

on competitive sports. They fear it steals that deterrence, through an up-lo-date is as logical and noble as they have been their children away from studying, ex- nuclear arsenal, remains America's bus; told. Maybe, they say, everything isn't un- plains Newlin, who has played varsity bail bet to keep the peace. Physics major der control. Jason Puckett, a seventeen- for two years. 'A coach here has virtually David Nix, eighteen, admits that he's year-old senior, captures the dilemma that no respect from the community, "he says. so'-ei mes bothered by how much money confronts many Los Alamos kids. He "The classes get new textbooks every the lab spends on weapons research doesn't think SDI makes sense, yet he year, but a broken rim won't get fixed for (S576 million in 1987). But, he adds, knows that it provides ,'obs 'or most of his

weeks." It's I simply not a priority item for "when look at the international scene, I friends' parents. "It's hard to say I don't the supersmart. it. see Ihe need lor I also begin to under- like it and live in a town that furthers it," Los Alamos is, of course, elite; the par- stand what the work at Los Alamos has he says, noting thai his father works at ents know it, the kids know it. Playwright done to strengthen the position of the the lab, though not on SDI. "It's some- Graebner remembers vividly when Pres- Uriied States." thing I light with. I guess they're doing ident Kennedy came to his school while The children of Los Alamos, however, what they ieel is best." DO

THE SEC#£r/}/?/o/?'s house. .^^^y ARTICLE

An intrepid psychologist joins his subjects as they explore the realm called hallucination

LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO FRIGHT

BY RONALD K. SIEGEL

magnetic field By 1988, however, the ceptions, I gave him Thesurrounding James marvels of high technol- credit for a valid experi- Tilly Matthews com- ogy had made influenc- ence, then explored that pressed, cracking ing machines more fea- experience with him.

his body as if it were sible. So when Ralph I treated Tolman's a lobster. Strange im- Tolman (not his real claims in the same ex- ages invaded his brain. name), a physicist work- perimental way I have Someone is playing the ing with a supersecret handled the experiences Air Loom again, thought Silicon Valley lab, called reported by dozens of Matthews. The Air Loom to tell me all about them, other people who was the world's first influ- I listened. Tolman said he claimed to see things no encing machine. It re- was controlled by the one else could verify. I sembled a church organ newest model: the per- began by asking him to so large that it had to be sonal satellite, launched describe his perceptions operated by a team of by a rival company to fol- with words and pictures. seven men and women, low him around and drive to share the sensations all technicians highly him insane. The satellite, recorded by his mind's skilled in advanced he claimed, was trans- eyes, ears, and many

pneumatic chemistry and mitting detailed pictures other senses. Then I tried electricity. They sat at in color and stereo di- to identify the root of his huge desks crammed rectly into his brain. The perceptions by studying with levers, pumps, and transmissions could tar- the conditions under tubes connected to a se- get him in daylight, inside which they occurred. ries of giant windmill-like a car. even in his sleep. Working with Tolman in

structures. Nothing ac- I invited Tolman to my my lab, I carefully in- tually touched Mat- labs at UCLA's Neuro- duced the stressful, iso- thews—he never even psychiatric Institute, not lating conditions that knew where the machine as a patient but as a col- tended to summon his was kept—yet its invisi- league: Together we satellite from the void. As ble threads could control would investigate his in- his hallucination pro-

him like a puppet. A phy- fluencing machine. I gressed, I even meas- sician, who said that Mat- wanted to stop Tolman's ured physical and psy- thews was hallucinating, machine almost as much chological changes with

had him locked up in a as he did, but first I had a host of sensitive ma-

London mental hospital. to understand how it chines and tests.

After all, it was 1810, and worked. Rather than Using this technique, I something like the Air make a clinical judgment studied many subjects, Loom was beyond any- that he was having hallu- re-creating the ambi- one's imagination. cinations, or false per- ence of prison cells.

PAINTING BY H. R. GIGER mental wards, and isolated desert and all lasers and microwaves. With the shield basic structure: They consist of previ- Arctic locales. My methods were fruitful: in place, his visions stopped. Later, when ously stored memories or fantasy images

Not only had I begun to chart the psy- I told him I'd removed the shield— I had woven together and projected onto the chological ebbs and flows of hallucina- not—the disturbing images returned. mind's eye. Furthermore, these scenes

tion, I even came up with intricate analo- Now I knew the truth: Tolman was hal- are usually accompanied by a pattern of gies to understand hallucinations in a lucinating. Why? A battery of tests indi- simple geometric forms. Both the com- whole new light. cated he was under a great deal of stress plex scenes and the simple geometries But ultimately this was not enough. My and was suffering from high blood pres- move in the same direction and with the objective approach left me outside the sure, which created the buzzing, tingling same speed.

phenomenon itself. If I were ever to grasp sensations. This, I knew, caused the pantc As I reviewed these characteristics,

the essence of the experience, I knew, I and anxiety, the bluish lights and bloody well documented in my own subjects and to would have accompany my subjects scenes. The horrific images, I deter- in the literature at large, I realized that both to the spectral sites where their visions mined after interviewing Tolman, were the geometries and the scenes had to be

occurred. I followed them down dark al- from El Topo, a Mexican film that had rooted in the same corridor of the brain. leys as black holes engulfed them and greatly disturbed him when he had seen Undoubtedly, the brain used the same

Buddhas commandeered their fates. And it several months before. mechanism in producing both the shapes like other scientists who have had to live As an expert in the study of hallucina- and the images.

I through something to understand it, I tions, knew that Tolman's brain was re- But how? It was while working with eventually started exploring my subject sponding in its own idiosyncratic way to people like Tolman that I found a simple directly— by inducing my patients' hallu- a simple trigger: the high blood pressure, analogy to illustrate this mechanism at cinations in myself. Starting with the night induced by incredible job-related stress. work. Picture a man in his living room. He

when an incubus sat on my chest and By eliminating the high blood pressure, I is standing at a closed window opposite

pinned me to the bed, I began an Odys- knew I could stop the hallucinations. And the fireplace and looking out at the dark

sey to the land of waking dreams, where I did. Antihypertensive medication cor- of night. As the fire starts to burn, the im- hallucination is king. ages of the objects in the room behind There's no better place to start my story him can be seen reflected dimly in the than with Tolman himself. Sitting calmly in window. As more logs burn and the fire my lab, the physicist described the onset in the fireplace illuminates the room, the of his visions, beginning with a buzzing man now sees a vivid reflection of himself satellite, in his ears and a tingling in his skin. Tol-

jects, he reported, would dart through his in living color and stereo take in the world. The fire is the electrical visual field. Then came a series of lights, directly into his excitation perpetually alive in the brain. pulsating with bluish colors. When the fire is stifled, the man sees very brain. The transmissions could To reproduce the experience and study little. But when the fire burns brightly, the

it all at once, I asked Tolman to sit inside target him in glass reflects the furniture— his memo- a dark, soundproof laboratory chamber ries, dreams, and fantasies in the rooms his sleep, even inside a car3 — and report on the lights as they ap- of his mind. Finally, some people step

peared. So that I could measure the right through the window, like Alice going speed with which these lights flashed on through the looking glass, and behave as

and off, I asked him to manipulate a dial though the images were real. that controlled flashing a red light, a real With Ihe help of this analogy, I also one. As he worked the dial, the red light rected the problem. Tolman's nightmar- came to understand how hallucinations pulsed fn unison with the blue light in his ish visions were gone, and the stress that could be caused not by too much stim-

mind, allowing me to measure its fre- fed on it diminished as well. He was able ulation, as in Tolman's case, but by too

quency in the lab. The lights, I soon to function well without even the need for little. For instance, the illumination in the learned, pulsated at eight cycles per traditional psychotherapy. Thanks to our room can be reduced so that normally second, a frequency that other investi- work together, Tolman's satellite never unnoticed images from the brain be- gators have found can excite visual path- bothered him again; but to this day, he come visible.

ways and generate geometric patterns. believes that it was real. I saw this phenomenon in action when

I tell, And as far as could that's what had The same was true for several other I asked research subjects to lie down in happened to Tolman, too. subjects who also claimed satellites were a dark room and close their eyes. Many As he sat in my lab, he saw Ihe lights following them and projecting visions into reported seeing bluish lights or check-

quickly arrange themselves into sym- their brains. One person ran and hid in erboard designs, patterns I attribute to metrical geometric forms. His sketches the basement. Another went to church phosphenes—the luminous patches that of these images — nearly identical to and prayed. Yet another sat on his roof appear on the inside of the eyelid when paintings made by other subjects on and cursed at the sky. the retina is excited. Others reported

psychedelic drugs—resembled futuris- In fact, I found, if hallucinations appear daydreamlike scenes, which often had a tic skyscrapers tumbling about in a great real enough, anyone can be looled. After washed-out appearance and were rarely earthquake. And soon these vivid draw- all, hallucinations can have all the sen- mistaken for the real thing. ings gave rise to mental images much sory qualities of real perceptions, includ- But in the right environment, these im- more horrific and complex: Parading in ing sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. ages turn into believable hallucinations. front of his eyes, Tolman told me, were They appear to be just as concrete, vivid, Part of my evidence comes from litera- ghastly scenes with so much blood, gore, and "out there" as real events. ture— it's well-known, lor instance, that and torture, so many impaled children They do not come from such things as high fever promotes perceptions so and festering corpses, that he became satellites or Air Looms, however, but rather compollingiy real !hat patients rise out of physically ill. from the enchanted loom of the brain. In- bed to walk and talk with hallucinatory To provide my "colleague" with some deed, despite the variety of human per- visitors. The overwhelming proof, how- relief, I covered the dark room with a Gop- sonalities, my laboratory studies showed ever, came when, in the dead of night, I

per shielding that I told him would block me that all hallucinations have the same had a hallucination myself. 88 OMNI . . - . . . .

No one is certain what an altered 8. As a child, did you have an imagi- unstoppable as the drives for food, state is, but most researchers agree it nary playmate? drink, or sex. is not just a Hollywood movie—or a. yes b. no a. yes b. no the state of California. One who should 9. As a child, you deliberately tried 23. Using drugs to produce ASCs is know; UCLA psychopharmacobgist to get dizzy by (circle all that apply) a basic human behavior that should Ronald K. Siegel, who consulted a. twirling or spinning be controlled, not suppressed. on the film Altered Slates. According b. swinging a. yes b. no to Siegel, an altered state of c. hyperventilation 24. If drugs capable of producing consciousness (ASC) occurs when an d. sniffing paint, glue, etc. ASCs were perfectly safe and legal, individual clearly feels a qualitative 10. You repeated this behavior you would take them shift in mental functioning, It puts you a. often b. sometimes a. often b. sometimes in a new realm, with changed percep- c. rarely d. never c. rarely d. never tions, emotions, and thinking—and 1 1 As a child, you enjoyed (circle all 25. We should develop ideal drugs can be induced by anything from that apply) that will avoid problems of drug abuse a daydream to a near-death experi- a. fever delirium yet allow for the pursuit of ASCs. ence. Whether produced by trance, b. laughing gas at the dentist's a. yes b. no hypnosis, dreams, or ecstasy, ASCs c. lucid dreams c. no. We should develop safer have much in common with Intoxication d. vivid nightmares nondrug methods for having ASCs from drugs. 12. Indicate your favorite type of 26. Your ideal ASC drug would be a The following questionnaire helps amusement park ride (check one). a. stimulant b. sedative us to explore our basic beliefs about As a child: Now; c. tranquilizer d. painkiller

ASCs. Siegel hopes to find out from it carousel - e. psychedelic how a relatively random group of Ferris wheel f other (specify) people feel about ASCs and just how roller coaster 27. In the future there will be over-the- varied and common such states Tilt-A-Whirl counter ASC drugs that are as really are. Even if you have never taken fun house harmless as the foods we eat and as an intoxicant or think you've never 13. Your first experience with uncon- helpful as the medicines we take. had an ASC, filling out the question- sciousness was from a. yes b. no naire may be illuminating. When Omni a. fainting 28. In the future there will be special publishes Siegel's data in a future b. sedation for surgery establishments where anyone can issue, readers will be able to look at c. alcohol blackout experience ASCs without drugs. their own questionnaires (please d. accidental knockout a. yes b. no make a copy to keep!) and see how e. other (specify) _ PERSONAL DATA their answers fit in with those of the 14. Your first drug intoxication was at entire group. age and was from (circle one) Male Female D a. alcohol Age 1 ASCs are (circle one) b. prescription medicine Highest educational level a. natural b. unnatural c. tobacco a. high school b. vocational 2. ASCs take place inside the brain, d. marijuana school a. yes b. no e. PCP (angel dust) c. college d. graduate school

3. ASCs are ways to leave the body, f paint, glue, gasoline, etc. Occupation _ a. yes b. no g. caffeine Total household income _ 4. ASCs are gateways to separate other (specify) _ City of residence _ realities. 15. Your first drug intoxication was Ethnic or cultural background a. yes b. no a. pleasant b. unpleasant a. black b. white c. Asian 5. Have you ever had an ASC? c. neither pleasant nor unpleasant d. Hispanic e. other _ a. yes b. no 16. You repeated this drug experience Do you observe any personal, religious, 6. Circle all the ways in which you a often b. sometimes or medical dietary restrictions? have achieved ASCs. c. rarely d. never a. yes b. no

a. sex 1 7. Please attach a separate piece of If yes, please explain. - b. drugs paper listing each nonmedical drug c. exercise or sports you have used, your age at the time of Are you obese? d. meditation first use, and the approximate number a. yes b, no e. religious rituals of times of use. Do you gamble excessively?

f. listening to music 18. Have you ever hallucinated? a. yes b. no g. other (specify) a. yes b. no How many hours per week do you

7. Circle all the effects you from 19. if so, did you ever have difficulty watch television? _ ASCs. distinguishing between real and Circle the descriptions that apply to a. excitement or thrills hallucinatory events? either of your parents. b. enhanced imagery with eyes a. yes b. no a. alcoholic closed or open b. recreational drug users c. feelings of floating or flying c. addicted to prescription drugs d. deeply felt emotions a. yes b. no d. addicted to nonmedical drugs

e. new thoughts and ideas 21. if so, it was g e. epileptic f transcending space and time a. pleasant b. unpleasant f suffered from migraine g. sense of sacredness c. neither pleasant nor unpleasant Have you ever had an ASC? h. other (specify) 22. Thepursuitof ASCsisas a. yes b. no — I —

Now, I'm a good sleeper. I usually fall chortle and gasp. Then, with a magi- asleep when my head hits the pillow and cian's flip of the hand, he produced a don't wake up until the alarm rings. One something about it: 1 could float inside a shiny golden needle from behind his ear cold winter night, however, I was awak- tank, waiting for THEM to carry me away. and poked himself in the navel, explod- ened by the sound of my bedroom door The tank was the size and shape of a ing in a burst of thunderous white light.

opening. I was on my side and able to large coffin. The ten inches of water within I coughed and vomited salt water. With

the clock. It I sooih see was 4:20 a.m. heard was heated to a ng 93° F and con- a quick thrusl of my arms I pushed the footsteps approaching my bed, then tained enough Epsom salts to keep my escape hatch open and climbed out of heavy breathing. There seemed to be a body bobbing near ihe surface. My the tank into the cool evening air. Appar-

I murky presence in the room. I tried to mouth, nose, and eyes were above Ihe ently had rotated onto my side during

I throw off the covers and get up, but was water, and although it was pitch-black, I the float, and my face had slipped be-

pinned to the bed by a weight on my could sense the ceiling of the tank only neath the surface. I returned to the ranch

chest. The more I struggled, the more I inches from my face. At first thoughts of house, showered, and then looked for was unable to move. My heart was suffocation made me uneasy. Bui after Lilly. We compared our experiences. Lil-

I struggled pounding. to breathe. many hours of floating I relaxed. ly's E.T.'s were certainly different from my

I I The presence got closer, and caught Warm and calm, finally felt that I was Buddhist prankster. But / knew that both a whiff of a dusty odor. A shadow fell on starting to separate from my body— were products of the same brain mech- the clock. Something touched my neck even sensed my "mind" hovering slightly anism. Very simply, they were stored vi- and arm. A voice whispered in my ear in above my physical self. It was in this dis- sual images comprising dements from a strange language that sounded like embodied position that Lilly had in- memories and fantasies now projected

English spoken backward. It didn't make structed me to await the E.T.'s. Indeed, onto the mind's eye. The isolation tank had

any sense. Then the voice stopped, the nakedness was not enough. I had to shed enabled me to see these images. presence left the room, and the intense my corporeal form, freeing my mind from Lilly, on the other hand, would not ac- pressure on my chest eased. It was 4:30 all bodily sensations in order to receive cept this analysis. His belief in the reality

A.M. I got up and checked the house. of his E.T.'s was unshakable. He not only There was nothing there. believed in the existence of the beings,

I had been visited by an incubus, a type he also allowed them to control a good of nightmare once believed to be caused deal of his everyday thinking outside the by a female monster or spirit that sat upon tank, much as Ralph Tolman had been the the dreamer. This was the stuff of chil- 6/n distance controlled by his satellite. dren's night terrors, but I was a grown- a tiny pearl materialized. As I My work in Lilly's tank proved most up, a universily professor, a psycholo- valuable, nol only because it made me got closer I saw the gist. How could this happen? privy to yet another form of hallucination

I — As I reviewed the literature, found the pearl was a tiny Buddha but also because it enabled me to truly answer already known. Researchers understand was ntit the Hindus' sacred one of my next subjects have found that the incubus sensation Harry Balise. Harry said he'd seen a long occurs in a state of sleep paralysis, when Buddha but a cartoon version line of historical figures— from Socrafes REM (rapid eye movement associated that looked more to Joan of Arc to Buddha—in a skid-row with dreams) intrudes in periods when hotel room in Los Angeles. He sat and like the Pillsbury Doughboy^ you have jusl been aroused from sleep. lalked wilh Ihern for three weeks— until The brain cannot instantaneously switch his supply ol crack ran out— then he re- from dreaming to awaking state, and the turned to his wife and children. dream extends into the waking period. At home Harry described the visions The brain circuits activated during to his family. He claimed that the proph- dreams then send signals — an image of ihe visitors. II rr.igh: U.ks most of a day ets had given him the power to levitate the incubus, for instance—to the cere- Lilly had informed me. But what's a day, objects, and he proved it by causing bral cortex, where they are processed as even a wet one, when you have wished pieces of tissue paper to float in his if they came from the outside world. lor a close encounier all your life? cupped hands. His children accepted the

But understanding has several levels. I tried to ignore Ihe pulsafing lights and story, practiced the tricks, and soon re- Now that I'd had a hallucination of my own, geometric patterns when itiey started to ported that they, too, could levitate small

I knew that intellectual, physiological ex- appear. I brushed aside images of the bits of paper jusl like Daddy. planations would never provide me with scenic drive to Malibu along the Pacific Harry's wife called me because she the gestalt- of the experience. With one Coasi Highway and flashes of people I knew I was a cocaine expert as well as

I hallucination behind me, was ready for had met al the ranch. I was waiting for an adviser to the Southern California more. So I contacted another explorer something more . . . alien. Skeptics — a group of scientists who in- Dr. John Lilly, the controversial scientist Then a surge of power like afterburn- vestgate claims ot V\e paranormal. Could

best known for his work with dolphins. ers lighting my .tank boosted me info a I tell her, she asked, whether Harry was One of Lilly's most publicized hobbies sea of nothingness. This was the stage, full of divine power or Peruvian flake? To was using a sensory-deprivation flotation Lilly had told me. at which he encoun- find out, I arranged for Harry to demon-

all I tank to see, of things, extraterrestrials tered the beings. And could see that 1 strate his skills in a lab at UCLA. After (E.T.'s). Lilly insists that while in ihe tank, would have an encounter as well. In the several missed appointments, he arrived he has communicated with E.T.'s, beings distance a tiny pink pearl materialized but refused to show me any of his stuff.

from deep space that are sending mes- As I got closer I saw that the pearl was a "I'm as real and knowledgeable as directly his According sages into brain. miniature Buddha— not the sacred Bud- Buddha," announced Harry, "and I don't to Lilly, I had only to float in his tank for a dha of the Hindus but an animated car- have to show off."

few hours—a boost from the hallucino- toon version that looked more like the "I've met Buddha," I declared matter- gen ketamine might'help—and I'd hear Pillsbury Doughboy. The Buddha was of-fact I y. It was, after all, true. the messages lor myself. naked except for an oversize pair of Harry was surprised. "Where?"

I didn't need-much coaxing. Respond- Mickey Mouse ears. He was holding a "In Malibu, a few weeks ago. I learned

' ing to the offer of a session in his tank, I pink balloon that read i am them. The a lot from the experience." rushed from my lab at UCLA and drove Buddha started laughing at me, holding "Like what?' Harry was cha'lenging me.

north to Lilly's ranch in the remote hills of his sides as they expanded with each new I was prepared. I asked him for a dollar

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Invite her in, of course FLEDGED BY CAROL EMSHWILLER

'/:?

'&r.

You could feel the spray. You could taste salt. Sand. Grit in your teeth. Wind blowing miniature

squalls across my toddy. I had ihe sliding glass door open on purpose. And talk about the PAINTINGS BY GERVASIO GALLARDO .

"brightness of midnight"— everything Strange, though she was part bird, she known thai way ol holding a cup, handle wonderfully luminous; waves luminous reminded me of my cat, Pasht. I don't facing away from her as though other

black, foam luminous white, when (and even know why I keep that old cat. Came people's germs—left-handed people and you'd have thought the door wasn't open to me the same way, out of a storm not right-handed people—as though the only that far), when, somersaulling at least so unlike this one, and been with me ever safe place to drink from was opposite the

twice, landing on the far side of the room, since and I don't like cats . . . and birds handle. Except that sort ol thing didn't fit

spraying, . . . water feathers flying less. I did like some- even calling, "Pasht, Pasht" with (he look of her eyes. I thought, of her

thing big, that's all I knew at first, sud- out the window, knowing the neighbors eyes, not in her eyes, "because you denly something big and birdish. had no idea why I'd named her that. Per- couldn't see In. I'd never seen eyes like

it if Then untangled itself from itself . , haps I looked up some other ancient that on a person. Close set. Wild. Fish- its from gray and white and black, and I goddess name tor this gull, I'd like her wild actually. All surface. And then there

it saw was a winged woman, huge wings, better. (Is there a gull goddess? I doubt was the way she swallowed her toast. I'd

but not at all it.) I naked woman, the sort you'd But then thought I'd not do that. I never seen a person do that before. expect would be flying around in seabird certainly didn't want an old lady hanging "Coo," she said, finishing her hot milk.

colors. Short and plump. I guessed about around. Not one like this. She looked as "Oh, coo."

sixty. I brought her a beach towel to cover though, if one could ever clean her up to Color had come back to her cheeks, herself with then and . . pushed her into the that extent, she'd be the sort who'd be but her eyes were still . well, in spite of

bathroom, where I thought she'd do the wearing medium heels and a flowery the cooing, she looked like somebody least started trying damage, and to dry dress and maybe do her best to keep who'd tear the wings off wrens for fun. I

her wings with the blow-dryer. A hope- anybody from discovering her wings. But wondered if she had.

less task. Afterward I noticed there were it was only her body that looked like that. Lots of birds fly up from South America streaks the hall along wet down the walls Her face ... the look in her eyes . . . that this season, but I don't know much Span-

all across the ceiling. I and even was put was entirely different. ish, and I get it mixed up with Italian. And

out by the whole thing. I've been told I'm She wasn't but half dry when I let her there certainly wasn't a Spanish or Italian

fussy I a man, but was having a party the look about her. I tried, though. "Parlate

very next night I I put out. don't . and was espagnol? Italiano? . . Oder deutsch?" like to make trouble myself or messes for I tried all the languages I had smatterings others to clean up. I'd never be found of. I was thinking she might look familiar having been blown, all wet and soggy, because I'd met her on one of the busi-

into I'd 6Her lips someone else's living room. have ness trips I used to take. She responded taken precautions. It was just like a were blue and she was out of ... or, rather, sort of responded only to woman, I thought, not to have listened to my bad French. "D'ou venez-vous?" I breath. Her feathers the weather report, to be caught out, no asked, in polite form. "Oil allez-vous?"

I clothes on, though I didn't give a damn 'stuck out In all directions. "Ici, ici, ici," she said, like a bird would about that. I certainly wasn't interested couldn't bring say it. I wasn't even sure it was French. any longer in a. woman my own age, Perhaps it was only "Ti, ti, ti," or maybe myself to her winged, naked, or not. Certainly not in- push back into she meant "tea." terested in chubby little gray ones with the storm, but I My empathy for wild things is practi-

unkempt hair and ragged fingernails. And nil, I worried what she'd mess up.V cally though don't consider myself a I found I resented the fact that she wasn't cruel person. My Pasht, lor instance, has young and beautitul. I could see that in her special cushions and the best cat

I myself. resented that wasn't I she at all food can get. I often cook up a batch of what you'd expect in a flying woman, es- liver as for her for myself. much as I think pecially not one with such large, white, that's the reason she's lived so long in black-tipped wings. I was thinking she out of the bathroom and took her into the such good shape. And the same goes ought at least to be built like a dancer. kitchen for hot milk and toast. (I'd thought for me. I take the same good care of my- Maybe small but well-shaped breasts, of eggs first, but that seemed insensitive. self. You'd never guess my age any more

it maybe short-cropped black hair or, bet- As turned out, I needn't have worried.) than you'd guess Pasht's. I don't take care

ter yet, black feathers, little I ones curling All the time was getting herthe snack, of her like this because I love her so much. round her face in a kind of cap, and a 1 kept having this funny feeling that I'd It's just a matter of pride to have a sleek nice ring of black around her eyes. I've known her from somewhere: the way she and handsome animal. She matches me. seen that on some birds. I'd have liked sat on the edge of her chair, leaning for- We go our independent ways, but there's that. But no matter her age and that she ward—she had to, of course, because of mutual respect. But what was happening

as looked, still it looked she and even though the wings, but seemed a familiar now was.. . . I don't know, all wrong. It's

all floors I she'd dripped over my and rugs, pose, as though 'd known someone who odd to say, but I didn't feel philosophi- not to mention what she'd done to the sat like that al! the time, poised for some cally ready to tackle this sort of thing, es-

ceilings, I didn't have the heart to shoo leap up that never came. Now her legs pecially not right belore a parly. I couldn't her out the back onto deck, though that were crossed, rather primly, I thought, cope. How could I have once known a

first it was my thought. under the circumstances, and wasn't bird-person when I had never heard of Her lips were blue with cold and she the best pose for her. And- they looked such a thing? was, even still, out of breath. Her feathers terrible, all black and blue. Her circulation It wasn't until the next morning (I was

stuck out in all directions. I couldn't bring must be awful. I knew that wasn't so un- in that half-awake state they always say myself to her into the usual push back storm, in a woman her age, but hers were is fhe most creative) that I knew who she but I was worried about what else she the worst I'd ever seen. And her toenails! reminded me of—who she, maybe, was,

I would mess up when let her out of the Black! And obviously hadn't been cut in though I wondered how in the world that

bathroom and she started swinging those ages. She'd been letting herself go. I could be.

of hers around. I if wings had a lot of valu- wondered she was depressed, and then I had put her to bed in the guest room. able art books and some pretty good I thought, Well, with those things on her First laken out everything breakable in- prints on the- walls, and then there was back, who wouldn't be? cluding the pictures off the walls, floor '

I my party. had to have everything nice I watched her closely, though I pre- lamp, night table, mirror, and so forth. Took

tor that, but she couldn't stay in there. all' tended not to, and I couldn't get over how the quilt off the bed and left her a good night. I couldn't do that to her. all her. gestures seemed so familiar. I'd warm blanket. Shut the door and braced 98 OMNI —

it with a chair so she'd not get out wiihout It was Julia all right, you couldn't mis- me knowing, and leil her lo find her own take her, but really sort of magnificent. way of sleeping as best she could with Wings even larger than I'd remembered. "Laugh away," I said, "but you'll have those cumbersome things on her back. Nose quite grand. No wonder I'd not rec- to get rid of those things by this evening."

I it Then went to bed myself, and was ognized her at first. And, actually, she did I didn't have the slightest idea how this only toward morning, half awake, that I look older than she should have, though could happen. It looked as if it would be knew, or thought I knew (though I won- perhaps only worn down. Perhaps the quite an amputation. And of course it

I it all dered, was making up out of some stresses of twice-yearly migrations. The takes time to find the fight doctor, I kind of guilt or fear or remorse, but I'd cold of the upper air.The outdoor life. wouldn't want just anybody, any more than simply I done what had to do and under They say being in the sun ages one, and I would take Pasht to just any veterinar- actually, ol the guidance, a psycholo- her face did look chapped and weath- ian. But then I had the idea that I'd make gist), I thought that she resembled, lo a ered. And of course those awful legs and it a costume party It was hard to think remarkable degree, my first wife. I hadn't feet (she'd had varicose veins years ago that anyone wouldn't notice even so, but seen her for twenty years. (I was alone before I'd left her, but nothing like this). I'd keep the lights low. I'd hurry and call again now, after a short second mar- Her hands, too, had suffered. The rough everyone right away and tell them that I'd riage.) She would have aged more or less perches, no doubt, and cold water. No just thought of it and they didn't have to this much. . .if I wasn't imagining the hope of keeping even one or two decent come in costume but it would be nice if whole thing. But i/this was true, then I'd fingernails, I suppose. She had suffered. they could manage something because have to speak to her in no uncertain terms. I knew I wasn't entirely blameless in that there was someone coming to the party After all, we'd gone our separate ways myself. No wonder her eyes were blank who had a great one. long ago, and she was not, by any means, and black The only way lo dress her would be in a stray cat. Her size alone precluded that But then, suddenly, I was wondering scarves and veils or towels. Nothing else

I take her in. This time, though, I'd have where was Pasht! I hadn't seen her all would fit around her wings. Of course,

the to talk lo her in English. I sense (Why morning. That wasn't unusual, but wor- there were sheets. If I could find some had I not thought to do that before?) This white ones she could be an angel. Ex- would not do, feathers all over the place, cept there wasn't anything about her that Ihe smell of the sea permeating every- was angelic, it turned out I -didn't have

thing. I not tolerate would her imposing white sheets, anyway. Then I thought of herself uninvited, and so forth, throwing a sort of Renaissance avenging angel. ^Looking straight herself in by the back door in the middle my dark gray sheets, Harlequin mask,

. . . of the night. And those ridiculous en- at me, she picked up three yellow bathrobe cord. I did have a white cumbrances! How could anyone live like silk scarf two, in fact. I could use both. siices of bacon —

I'd I've I that? help. always been willing to worked so hard on her costume I never help when help was really needed. I'd pay and swallowed them in one did get a chance to fix one for myself, to have them removed, should it come to Strange how they accepted her, how - gulp. I didn't know that—and I really felt it should come to she seemed to fit right in in spite of her whether it was a warning of that— I'd help out in that way, but she occasional squawks. Her laugh wasn't couldn't stay. I had just, not so long ago, a statement about that much louder than some others, and

if it. found myself— that's the way to put I she had that glazed-eyed, not-under- what had happened to Pashtl needed my own space. The house is standing, not-really-listening look most small. Living-dining area smaller even everybody had as the evening went on. than the deck. And people liked her. I don't know why.

It was early, but I found it impossible to (But then, people had always liked Julia.) sleep anymore. The storm was past. I Perhaps because she said so little. (She'd swept the feathers out into the sunshine, ried just the same. The question of eggs always said little.) Actually she said noth- where they blew away. There were an (and bacon!) for breakfast took on signif- ing. Absolutely nothing. Laughed in the

I if awful lot of them. wondered she was icance, so I had them and it turned out wrong places as well as the right ones.

sick, or molting, they fine with I maybe though perhaps were her, but then remem- And I couldn't believe how little they it was just due to the storm. bered she'd always liked them. And seemed to notice or care about the wings.

After I cleaned up, I took care to put chickens. Fish. Raw clams. I decided, My sheets and wrappings hadn't done away the breakables in the rest of the however, that I wouldn't be cowed by any much to disguise that they were real, house. Party or not, this had to be done of this and that it was time for a serious huge, factual wings that Huffed out when

Sculpture off its pedestal and into a cor- talk. "What about my cat?" I asked, though she laughed. But they did notice—on ner, my best pictures into the closet, room that wasn't what I'd meant to take up first. some level, anyway—because the con-

I divider up against the wall. worried about What I needed to know was how long she versation went from aviaries to omelets; the bookcase and the books. Also about thought she was going to stay, especially from guano to condors, the demise of, or

the shelf of dishes (Mother's old china) since I was havjng my party that night. rather, the last few (its strange how that hanging on the far wall in the kitchen. I'm MyGod, I thought, whatwillldowithher? always happens—how one manages to a six-foot man, and I'd have trouble Looking straight at me. she picked up mention what seems unmentionable), knocking them over even if I tried, but three slices of bacon and swallowed them through Lindbergh, budgies, passenger

. . she. who could tell? all at the same time in one gulp. I didn't pigeons. . . . Gulls, strangely— or per-

As soon as I heard sounds from the know whether to take it as a warning to haps not so strangely—weren't men-

guest room, I opened the door. She sat, myself or a statement about what had, tioned at all. naked again, in the middle of the bed, maybe, happened to Pasht. And then she And she! Laughed a lot, said "clock" her wings stretched partly up and partly did just what I'd been worried she'd do: and "rack" and "gack," "cheek," "cheek,"

." out behind her at the angles that cormo- got up, turned around, and— it didn't "eat," "ork," "currr . . but they were rants hold theirs to dry. Even half folded seem on purpose, just the turning enough. Ate more than her share. Drank.

like that, they it I touched the ceiling. Her around—knocked every single dish off No, was who drank, and as I watched feathers still looked ragged, her hair was the shelves across the room. "Hawk," she her, I became more and more fascinated.

still I a mess, but she looked a lot better said — I could tell she wasn't sorry admired her in spite of myself. How than she had the night before. "Hawk," "hawk," with the self-confidence of a gull grand she had become. She had she said. Rather disagreeably, I thought. and a look of either all understanding or achieved a strange sort of dignity.

100 OMNI OONriNUtOON PAGE 160 The French discoverer of the AIDS

virus tells of his "friendly" rivalry with American Robert Gallo and previews what's ahead in the battle against the world's most intelligent pathogen irUTERV/IEUU

People regard him as a magician and phone him in [he and the mingling of people into a world culture. "The whole middle of the night begging for help. Out of necessiiy world is married to one another," says Montagnier. "The glob- he has had to build a wall around himself, instructing alization of culture has globalized our germs." his secretaries to steer people to clinics and doctors working Analysis of a sliver of tissue frori"- Iho swollen lymph nodes of

: T directly with patients. "Even so, I find them waiting on my door- a homosexual mar aom t .ed io La Pi:ie Sapeinere Hospital in

step when I get to work at seven in the morning," says Luc Paris led Montagnier, the director of the viral oncology unit at Montagnier, the that AIDS. Paries Pasto-j.' Inal : lu:e io isolate the virus in early 1983. Quickly who discovered vims causes : AIDS is a disease of civilization, the French biochemist says, publishing his findings in the journal Science that May, he would a disease of the city. Yet he thinks the virus itself is old, so old it spend the next year battling to convince his colleagues that might well have appeared earlier in history to wipe out previous AIDS was caused by a virus—and by this virus in particular. civilizations. Since then, the virus has been biding its time in His major opponent in the United Stales was Robert Gallo of isolated populations, masking its ex;sierce behind other tatal the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Gallo held diseases— until the cofactors of modern life united to spur it thai a member of the leukemia-producing family of retroviruses into an epidemic. These cofactors, weakening the immune sys- thai he had discovered caused AIDS. Montagnier agreed that tem, include sexual promiscuity, industrial pollution, drug use, they were dealing with a retrovirus— a virus whose genetic ma-

PHOTOGRAPH BY HENNER PREFl —

\' terial is made of RNA— but he kept telling land, the young biochemist made '<- in- ended, if not by a vaccine, then by Gallo that the AIDS virus and his leuke- itial discoveries that allowed him to return changes in human behavior. mia viruses had opposite effects. In- home and work his way up to an appoint- Montagnier is currently attacking AIDS

stead of causing cells to multiply uncon- ment at the Pasteur Institute. on all fronts. Working to develop a vac- trollably, as did the leukemia viruses, the Montagnier's early work focused on cine, he's also testing 200 chemicals each AIDS virus killed them. cancer. His idee fixe was that certain week as potential drug therapies. And At this stage in their careers, Monta- cancers are caused by viruses. The first he's doing research on the virus itself, in gnier and Gallo were friendly rivals in the to show how single-stranded RNA vi- the hopes of outsmarting'what he con- same research. Twice in 1983 the French ruses replicate by making a double helix, siders the world's most intelligent patho- investigator sent samples of the new vi- he then invented a technique for multiply- gen. This activity counters a lot of pres- rus to his American colleague. Monta- ing cancerous cells in agar. This is now sure for him to move out of the lab and

gnier was dumbfounded when in April standard lab procedure. And he isolated into the public spotlight. "The last thing I 1984, at a Washington press conference the messenger RNA of interferon—pro- want to be is someone revered for a short called by the U.S. secretary of health and teins that stimulate immune cell activity time and then forgotten," says Monta-

human services, Gallo announced his which led to its eventual cloning. One day gnier. "I want to stay in the race." discovery of the AIDS virus. He chris- Pasteur Vaccines, an affiliate of the Pas-

tened it HTLV-3, the third in his series of teur Institute, asked him to look at a Omni: Why did you become a scientist? T-cell leukemia viruses. strange organism (the AIDS virus) that Montagnier; My father's hobby was sci- Scientists quickly confirmed that Gal- might be contaminating its blood supply. ence. When the weather was good he

lo's virus was virtually identical to Mon- This was originally supposed to be only went fishing. When it was bad, he tin- tagnier's. Gallo's claims to have worked one among many ongoing experiments, kered in the basement making electrical independently of the French laboratory but Montagnier now spends 100 percent batteries and things. My earliest memo- were further compromised when he "ac- of his time working on AIDS. ries are of my father doing his Sunday cidentally" published Montagnier's pho- Walking past a statue of the institute's experiments. When the war arrived in tographs of the virus in a Science article 1940, there was no more Sunday sci-

announcing his findings. Montagnier was ence. Originally I wanted to be an atomic

outraged when the U.S. patent for the physicist. But when I saw how many peo- AIDS blood test, which he had applied ple were killed by the bomb in Hiroshima

for in 1983, was awarded a year and a in 1945, 1 said, "That's enough atomic en- '•For a year we half later—to Robert Gallo. "I was fu- ergy for me." I was never good in math,

rious," says Montagnier, who ended up worked completely on our own, so I couldn't have become a physicist

suing Gallo and the U.S. government. anyway. By the time I was fourteen I had with almost no one The two parties settled out of court in become an amateur chemist, making ni- 1987. As announced at the White House understanding the Importance troglycerin in our basement laboratory.

' by President Ronald Reagan and French of our findings. Then I turned to medicine and biology, prime minister Jacques Chirac, royalties thinking they might give me more con- Gallo didn't believe on the AIDS blood test will be split be- me then, crete answers to my questions. tween the two countries. Most of the which put him Omni: You were trained as a medical money will go to a foundation for AIDS doctor. Why did you switch to research? squarely in the enemy camp^ research. Montagnier and Gallo will Montagnier: I knew right away I'd make a henceforth be known officially as codis- bad doctor. I'm not altruistic enough, and

coverers of the virus. The dispute over I don't like being around sick people all

what to call the virus was resolved by an- day. I wanted to do research related to other independent commission, which human biology, but in France there was settled on human immunodeficiency vi- founder and around the house where no training in this area outside of medical rus, or HIV. Two major strains of the AIDS Louis Pasteur lived and is now buried, one school. My parents were opposed to my virus are now recognized: HIV-1, which comes to the low brick building identified doing something as risky as becoming a has infected millions of people in the as the virus laboratory. Montagnier's of- researcher. Their dream was for me to United States and the rest of the world; fice lies at the top of the stairs, where he become the village doctor, make a lot of and HIV-2, a West African strain Monta- presides over a long corridor of rooms money, and live in a big house. gnier discovered in 1986. overflowing with equipment and experi- Omni: From the start, what drew you to The American press has branded ments in progress. cancer research? Montagnier as patrician and aloof. This A short, energetic man in a rumpled Montagnier: There are two kinds of sci- may be the case when he's speaking suit and tie, Montagnier ascribes his small entists: the explorers who set out to dis- English, but at the Pasteur Institute he is stature to malnutrition during World War cover new territories-— either an islet or witty and outspoken. Among his staid II. The experience made him conscious an entire continent—and those who oc- colleagues Montagnier stands out as a of his health and the cofactors that he cupy these territories and build struc- scrappy figure freely acknowledging all thinks are so crucial in depressing the tures on them. Both types of scientists the motives behind his research. "I'm a immune system of AIDS patients. When are necessary, but clearly at the begin- self-made man," he says. "In my aggres- he and interviewer Thomas Bass went to ning of my career I wanted to be one of sivity I'm really half American." lunch at Le Recamier, a restaurant pop- the former—an explorer, an adventurer. The grandson of peasants and the only ular with writers in the Saint-Germain What interested me were the great enig- child of an accountant, Montagnier was quarter of Paris, Montagnier refused to mas in biology. One of these is cancer.

born in the Loire valley in 1932. After eat on the terrace. He drives an air-con- On a more personal level, I saw my studying natural sciences at the local ditioned car and lives outside the central grandfather die of colon cancer. It lasted university in Poitiers, he got his medical city. Walking the streets of Paris — filled seven years, and he wasted away little

degree in Paris and then left France for with diesel fumes and asbestos flaking by little. I was fifteen when he died, and I four years to work in labs in England and off the brake shoes of cars—is to him a keenly remember how much he suffered. Scotland. At the virus research unit of the risky business. Once inside the restau- Omni: Why, then, study viruses? Medical Research Council (MRC) atCar- rant, however, Montagnier ate with gusto. Montagnier: There was no way at the time shalton, south of London, and at MRC's He discoursed happily in French to Bass to attack the cancer problem directly. So

Institute of Virology in Glasgow, Scot- on the epidemic he thinks will soon be I began working on viruses, which were 104 OMNI easier to understand. This led lo what I played the role of the outsider who ar- ger RNA. I would have liked to have been consider one of my major contribu- rives to notice things that have been there the first to have done it, but, alas, I was

tions—the discovery of how RNA viruses all along but that no one has seen. Work- not. It required a lot of money I didn't have. manage to replicate. How can a virus ing in Glasgow with Ian MacPherson, and This happens a lot in France. We make containing only a single strand of RNA using an observation made by Kingsley discoveries that we have neither the

reproduce itself? Our goal was to dis- Sanders in my London lab, I discovered means nor the will to perfect; so others cover the famous double helix, made this how to grow cancerous cells in agar. This benefit from them. time out of two-stranded viral RNA rather allowed me to return to France and apply Omni: The American press describes you than DNA. I was the first to observe this my new technique to the search for can- as proud and ambitious to the point of in England in 1963. cer-producing viruses in humans. It's an arrogance. Are you proud of that?

There is an element of luck in scientific idee Fixe of mine that certain cancers are Montagnier: It depends on the day. When research, but you have to put yourself in caused by viruses. you're climbing a mountain, the last thing the way of being lucky. I had humble be- The second goal of my work at the time you want to do is look behind you and provincial ginnings in a school. Then at had to do with learning how these viruses say, "Oh, my, it's too high. What am I doing the Sorbonne I had the misfortune to fall replicate, and this naturally included the up here?" I realize I'm a long way from on a scientifically mediocre professor. retroviruses. I failed in this search be- the top— in fact, there is no summit! In

Because of this I had to go abroad lo cause I set out with the wrong model. We science there are always new problems; launch my scientific career. In leaving now know that retroviruses replicate by if it weren't AIDS it would, be something

France I made a lot of enemies in the ac- [hijacking a cell's] DNA, but I was wrongly else. I'm a gambler out for the big killing. ademic community. I'm a solitary figure, looking only at their RNA. Nonetheless, I Like a roulette player at the table, I'm ad- an individualist who doesn't like to follow found some interesting things along the dicted to getting results out of my labo- the lead of other people. way, including double helixes of RNA that ratory. Last week everyone was away at

I was lucky enough to fall on a good exist in normal cells having nothing to do a conference. With no one in Paris doing laboratory that my discovery of RNA with viruses. experiments, I got very nervous, like a double helixes actually helped destroy, I was also working on interferon, and junkie suffering withdrawal symptoms. as I'd completed its principal objective in the early Seventies I and colleagues Omni: You've said many times, "I have [and the lab group was disbanded]. After Jacqueline and Edward DeMaeyerwere lots of enemies."

working for three years in London, at the the first to isolate its messenger RNA. My Montagnier: I probably do! In France we're age of thirty-one I was surrounded by a experiment showed how you could ex- very egalitarian: so if you get out ahead glow of success. But before returning to tract the messenger RNA from the cells of the pack, they shoot at you. I'm a tar-

Paris, I went farther north to Glasgow, of a chicken and introduce them into a get. This comes not only Irom my scien- where my research began in earnest. In mouse. Because interferon is species tific sl.cccss tut also from my success in

Scotland I began to look at animal on- specific, the mouse would start produc- the media, which is something new for a cogenic [cancer-producing] viruses that ing chicken interferon. Our findings scientist in France. From the start, AIDS

I hoped to find in humans. Once again I eventually led to the cloning of messen- has been a show-business disease. The press and media have been fascinated

by it. People are making major discov- eries in other domains, but they receive none of the attention accorded to AIDS, while I'm being barraged with invitations to appear on TV around the world. Omni: To set the record straight, did you discover the AIDS virus? Montagnier: There's no debate about this point. The argument with Robert Gallo had to do with proving causality. Did the

virus I discovered cause the disease? I don't think Gallo disputes that we were the first to isolate the virus and publish our findings in May 1983. All he has ever claimed is that he isolated the virus at roughly the same time. He wasn't able,

however, to characterize it. Belore the press conference we were informed by

Gallo. I remember well the day he came to my office in April 1984. He sat al Ihis

table, in the chair you're sitting in now, and told us he had discovered the virus that causes AIDS, which he was calling

HTLV-3. It was obvious his virus was

close, if not identical, to ours. My reaction was altogether positive. He was confirm- ing our work. Afterward the debate be- came polemical, but my first reaction was, "Good, I'm pleased Gallo has rediscov- ered what we've already found." Omni: Even though he was said to claim all the credit for himself and co-workers? Montagnier: We both contributed to the discovery of the virus. The difference be-

tween science and religion is that in sci- ence everyone has to agree on rational CONTINUED ON PAGE 123 tNASA stands ready to respond to any bona fide physical evidence of UFOs presented by credible sources.^

Question: Which gov- up. But any NASA ernment agency inves- commitment lo some tigates physical evi- review of the phenome- dence from UFOs? An- on, Williamson real- swer: NASA. red, would not satisfy "We stand ready the believers if the re- to respond to any sults were negative or bona tide physical evi- the critics if the results dence from credible were positive. Be- sources," says David sides, such a task Williamson. NASA's might place consider- special assistant for able demands on policy integration and NASA manpower and its point man on finances. The final pro- UFOs. That has been posal: NASA would the policy, but NASA not "establish a re- has not been terribly search activity in this

area," it busy at it. In fact, they yet would ana- have analyzed only a lyze any hard evi- few items, all ot which dence on UFOs of- proved to be as ordi- fered to it. nary as the bottom of Is NASA's ambiva- a cola bottle; one item lent attitude part of an sent in turned out to organized cover-up? be just that. Henry doesn't think "We never found UFD UPDATE so, "I think it's just that anything nonterres- officials at NASA had trial." says Williamson, "anything that was so extraordinarily other, more important things to do," he says. final decision different, or anything unavailable on Earth." I Williamson explains the reason behind the NASA got involved in the UFO business-in 1977, when this way: "NASA didn't try to figure out whether UFOs

Rank Press, the science adviser to President Carter, asked , should be studied," he says, "but whether they could be

they not. if the agency to take over all the UFO mail pouring in lo the ! studied at all," NASA decided that could But White House. Press also wondered whether NASA shouldn't physical evidence comes in from credible people, then ft Investigate any new findings on the subject since the last should be NASA's responsibility to look it over. "There official investigation in 1969. must be someplace," Williamson explains, "where an analy- al sis of material can be trusted," Richard Henry, now a professor of astronomy Johns I such behind-the- Williamson's knowledge and open-mindedness on the Hopkins University, has recently provided a , scenes look at just how NASA handled this sensitive re- . subject puzzle people. It turns out, however, that back in the back then he worked in the winter of 1952-53, Williamson, while on night guard duty at quest, Henry knows, because I light his line Office of Space Science, the NASA branch that made the ! Fort Leonard Woocf, Missouri, saw a white cross decision Henry recalls that it was David Williamson, assist- of sight, stop, and then suddenly zip away, "almost like in

I 1 ' later grilled his sighting "intelli- ant for special projects, who eventually drafted the NASA i a cartoon. He was on by reply to Frank Press's request. ! gence types." One admitted that radar had picked up the

1 in an early memo Williamson had weighed NASA's op- same object. And to this day, Williamson says, the sighting tions: If NASA refused there would be charges of a cover- is, listed as "unidentified."—PATRICK HUYGHE Sunday clothes. He got up

again and saw a "deathly still Just about everyone now moonlit night " Said Jung. knows of writer Whitley "I felt obliged to consider the

Strleber's nighttime encoun- possibility of Its reality.*' ters with small entities and Years later, in October UFOs from his best seller 1958, Jung dreamed of two Communion. "Very much like gleaming discs "flying di- Strieber's experience, but rectly toward me," One came largely unmemioned,' notes within four or five hundred researcher Dennis Stillings. is yards. When Jung awoke, he what a wond-renowned thought, IVe always think psychologist encountered that the UFOs are projections some 60 years earlier In of ours. Now it turns out Switzerland and recounted in that we are their projections. his autobiography Memories. All this ted Sellings, a Dreams, Reflections. Jungian scholar In Minnesota,

The psychologist was Carl to wonder if Jung had Jung. One night In the believed in extraterrestrial spring ol 1924 he woke up craft manned by intelligent hearing noises outside beings. So he contacted his secluded home in Bolli- Marie-Louise von Franz, a gen. He looked out the colleague who had worked window and saw no one, so with Jung for 40 years, "The he returned to bed and answer," says Stillings, "was went back to steep. But once a definitive and straightfor- more Jung said he heard ward no."—Patrick Huyghe footsteps, talk, laughter, and music and had "the visual "He was part of my image of several hundred dreams—but then I was part dark-clad figures." He thought of his dream too." they might be boys In their —Lewis Carroll

incessant ticking followed her that the woman could "tune

there as well. It sounded, In to" the ticking when she

Can a woman be haunted she later told Eastham, like a stood by her bookshelves. "I by an Invisible clock? That clock she'd owned as a interviewed her extensively," was the question facing Peter child during the blitz of World he says. "She seemed quite

Eastham, a British parapsy- War II. She'd late' given normal. She had no psy- chotogist, when he began in- the clock to a repairman, who chic experiences. But she did vestigating the case of a closed his shop without remember that her Jilted woman who reported hear- finishing the job. In fact, con- ex-lover had said something ing a mysterious ticking all sulting with a medium, she about a future time when over her house. Her son even was told that "a gray old man she'd hear a ticking clock." recorded the noise in the who liked clocks" was try- Investigating further, East-

kitchen and played it back to ing to communicate with her. ham installed a high-

horologists (people skiiled in Confused, the woman fi- quality cassette recorder near the measurement of time), nally wrote a letter to the bookshelves. Then he

who concluded that it was a London's Society for Psychi- sent his recording to a poor-quality alarm clock cal Research. Since he lived specialist who made insect around 60' years old. nearby, Eastham, of Lewes in films. After listening, the When the woman moved East Sussex, was assigned filmmaker guessed that the to another home, the same to the case. He scon learned ticking was caused by — —

Trogium pulsalorium, a spe- shot a few decades ago In cies of book louse no bigger Vietnam. "This material is still than a pinhead. Earth's mountains, jun- controversial," Heuvelmans When Ihe woman ques- gles, and oceans could be admits, "and it is con- tioned whether such a tiny home to a vast array of sidered insufficient or incon- creature could make that loud undiscovered creatures clusive by some zoologists." a noise, Eastham slapped a ranging from medium-size Anthropologist Frank Poir- wicker place mat on the lizards, snakes, and birds to ier of Ohio State University kitchen table. "We couldn't pygmy elephants, two- says that the list shows that believe our eyes." he reports, hundred-foot-long squid and cryptozoologists are inter- '"when several ot the insects wild Neanderthal men. That, ested in a variety of then fell out." at least, is the opinion of as-yet-undiscovered animal According to Eastham. zoologist Bernard Heuvel- species and not just famous a British Museum expert later mans, who has put together "monsters" like Nessie and confirmed the identity at a list, backed up with 25,000 Bigfoot "As an anthropolo-

it the lice. The experience, he references, that describes gist, I find quite impossible adds, provides a lesson. more than 100 mysterious that Neanderthals have ' "Never jump to a paranormal animals not yet recognized survived into modem times," conclusion when a normal by science. he says. "But some of one will do."—Ivor Smullen Heuvelmans, who heads the animals Heuvelmans the International Society of has listed probably do exist. held at regular places and Cryptozoology, says there is Others may have become limes That, he emphasizes, evidence that some of the extinct in historical times, and Are you itching to ask your is still one of the most strange creatures on his list others are probably just long-dead grandfather a effective ways to communi- areflesh-and-blood animals myths. It's foolish for anyone question—and get an an- cate with spirits: "If you keep including footprints belonging to think there could not be swer? Want to contact a meeling, you will definitely get to Sasquatch and an African new species of animals to disembodied spirit who lived some manifestations, per- "dragon," photos of a discover, since last year a thousands of years ago? Now haps messages in the form gigantic African snake and previously unknown primate you can, according to of rapping or table tapping." the Loch Ness monster, and was found in highly popu- astrologer and Spiritualist Philosopher Paul Kurtz, a whole specimen of what lated Madagascar." minister Zolar. who heads CSICOP (Commit- appears to be a Neanderthal —Sherry Baker

"Spiritualism Is the ability tee for the Scientific Investiga- of a material person to tion of Claims of the Para- contact an immaterial exist- normal), is rather dubious that ence," Zolar explains. "Some anyone can talk with the people are bom with a higher dead. "By the 1920's, ^mri potential for it than others, but Spiritualists had been largely anyone can develop the discredited as frauds—the ability to do this." Fox sisters [Spirtualists in the The keys to contacting the mid-1800's who supposedly dead, he points out in Zolar's received taps from beyond] Book of the Spirits (Prentice- finally admitted, for example, Hall Press), include medita- that they created raps by tion "to energize the psychic cracking their toe knuckles body" and breathing exer- against wooden floors " he cises "to assist in entering says. "Until self-proclaimed the trance state " When powers are corroborated by

Spiritualism first became a independent observers, I popular practice in the would be very skeptical about nineteenth century, Zolar 'so-called communication with explains, devotees formed "home circles"—seances Harris's theory, of course, has been challenged by more Could Jesus Christ have than a few. For instance, been a Thai's woman? a skeptics say, the imprint on distinct possibility, according the shroud of Turin shows British to biochemist Anthony a muscular, six-foot-tall man. Harris, who is formerly of But Harris counters that the Trinity College in Dublin, shroud of Turin was a fake, Ireland, and Kings College in conceived by popes to London. His evidence, he impress the laity and the says, lies in records dating clergy. As for the notion that back to the Inquisition. Jesus would never have According to the records, perpetrated such a hoax on Harris explains, Cathar relics the people, Harris says, in Ihe preceptory found of "Disciples believed Jesus to Villeneuve, France, included be maie, so why should they a hinged casket shaped like have been disabused? a woman's head. Reportedly The central truth was not the within the casket were two gender but the message." pieces skull of a female It it's physical evidence labeled lviii caput (head 58). he wants, however, that may The Cathari had claimed to be difficult to find. The possess Christ's flesh and allegedly femaie skull, Harris blood, and as far as Harris is says, "was stolen. It has concerned, Caput LVIII was since vanished from history Ihe skull- and today probably lies in the To support his unusual the- Vatican."—Ivor Smullen sis, Harris points out that the Jewish historian Josephus "Waiting and hoping are the reportedly said that once whole of life, and as soon as Christ was a mere five feel a dream is realized It is i tall. Other reports from history destroyed." suggest that Jesus was lion of the gonads (the organs high adrenaline levels com- —Gian-Carlo Menotti slightly built and did not have that produce sex cells). This bined to cause blood io flow, beard. a Furthermore, the Is caused by the partial or "When Yeshu was born," "And she understood that the " Messiah was intensely emo- complete absence of one of Harris concludes, "Mary hour had come to herself. tional and bled easily. In fact, the X chromosomes. Women knew no female redeemer —Georges Bernanos Harris says, Luke reported with this condition are short, would be taken seriously. So that during Jesus' agony in with wide chests but have she entered her child as a "Philosophy has succeeded, Ihe garden of Gelhsemane. undeveloped breasts and boy in the census. When not without a struggle, in "his sweat was as if it were overgrowths of small blood Luke reported that the child freeing itself from its great drops of blood falling to vessels in the skin. An was circumcised, it was to obsession with (fte soul, only the ground." absence of menstrual bleed- 'prove' that Yeshu was both to find itself landed wftf? To bolster his point of view, ing is another symptom. Jewish and male. Yeshu something still more Harris has even written a In her agony in Gethsem- herself had to act tike a boy mysterious and captivating, called book The Sacred Vir- ane, says Harris, Yeshu or else give up her mother's the fact of man's bodiliness." gin and the Holy Whore literally sweated blood. Be- dream of saving so many —Friedrlch Nietzsche (Sphere Books, London). In it, cause she knew she was defenseless people. And the he claims that Jesus—whom about to be arrested and Jewish temple priests ".. were . there is time, still timejfor he calls Yeshu, a variation crucified, her capillaries burst so misogynistic that Yeshu those who can groan/to on Jesus' Hebrew name- under intense blood pres- had to be disguised as a sing./for those who can sing suffered " from Turner's syn- sure, while the powerful man to enter the teaching to heal themselves. drome, a form of degeneta- beating of her heart and her area ot the synagogue." —Galway Kinnell 112 OMNI found the experiments so pleasurable that ORIGINAL they kept coming back for more. "By MASTER stimulating the temporal lobes," Persin- ger says, "we had achieved a widening and deepening of the emotion they as- sociated with the experimental experi- ence." In fact, after several sessions, Per- ULHADiK singer found it took little" to send them aloft— subtle visual cues, background music, even the presence of a cross could trigger the mystical state of mind. Persinger attributes this phenomenon

to "a kind of kindling effect in the tem- poral lobes themselves. In the classic epileptic seizure," he explains, "an elec- trical discharge takes place at a partic- ular focal point. Because temporal lobe neurons are so sensitive, that single light- ning stroke soon spreads into an ener- getic storm. Temporal lobe sensitivity also explains why, even in the normal brain, the ability to have an ME can be learned. Repeated minibolts [from the helmet, for instance, or a mantra] actually alter the biochemical structure of the neurons un-

til sending them down the ME pathway

requires almost no stimulation at all." RECONSTRUCTING REALITY

Despite the evidence, not everyone studying the field agrees that MEs are generated by the temporal lobes. Psy- chologist Sue Blackmore, now at the brain and perception laboratory at the Univer- sity of Bristol in England, developed an alternative theory after experiencing an OBE of her own. subjects were not simply regurgitating the She recalls the experience well: While TRANSCENDING popular myth of extraterrestrial visitors still a college student at Oxford in the early portrayed in innumerable movies, books, Seventies, Blackmore had a late-night articles, and Star Trek reruns? "The criti- session with a Ouija board. Then she re- forces penetrate deep within the brain, cal factor," says Persinger, "is that we tired to a room with friends and smoked one of Persinger's graduate students weren't looking only at the details of the some hash. Fatigued, eyes closed, sit- wrote a computer program that literally reported experience but also at whether ting cross-legged on the floor, Black- changed the magnetic field's shape. The the experience was reported in the pres- more suddenly found herself whizzing helmet was then hooked up to a com- ence of the magnetic field. The control along a tree-lined road. (Blackmore notes puter, which directed the firing of the group also had lights flashing in their that this street had the same iunnellike magnets in a carefully timed way. "This faces, but they were not exposed to the characteristics as the passageways of controlled pattern," Persinger explains, magnetic field. The question was, Could light reported in UFO abductions and "generated a magnetic vortex that we influence the content of the imagery? NDEs.) "It seemed as real," Blackmore reached the site of the temporal lobes." What we found was very convincing. remembers, "as it would have had I first The thing Persinger set out to do More temporal lobe themes and images looked at it with my eyes open." with his helmet was to study the claims of show up in the narratives of those ex- Someone then asked Blackmore where UFO abductees. To participate in this posed to the field." she was, .and to her surprise, she re- study, subjects who had never reported Persinger used the same approach to sponded, "I'm on the ceiling." Eyes a close encounter wore the helmet while study other forms of the ME, from the closed, she seemed to see the entire its magnetic vortex massaged their sense of a foreign presence to deja vu. room from a bird's-eye view. Her body

brains. As the helmet whirred, Persinger Time and again he found that subjects was still sitting on the floor below. Her told them to imagine they were emerging donning the helmet were much more likely mouth was moving. But her conscious- from a in woods and could see a light the to have a mystical experience. And from ness floated on high. Just by willing it, sky. (He had actually set up a pulsing one person to the next, the details in a Blackmore found she could also pass overhead light in the lab.) Then he asked given category of experience were, al- through the roof of the building, where Ihem to free -associate, giving vent to the most without exception, the same. she saw chimneys and red tiles. (They images pouring into their brains. "The brain is like any closed system." later turned out to be gray.) Blackmore

Unbelievably, these ordinary subjects Persinger now observes, "in that the area flew away in the open air, first to Pahs, began spinning stories chock-full of the utilizing the most energy at any given time then to New York and South America. details repeatedly reported by pro- is the one that controls behavior. So it Over the-Mediterranean she saw a star- fessed abductees. From gray-skinned, seems only reasonable that if the tem- shaped island with 100 trees that slit-mouthed aliens to blue beams of light poral lobes are being stimulated, then "seemed to me then, as now, more like to horrific reports of medical probes, the temporal lobe behavior will emerge." somebody's idea of an island rather than scenarios were the same. What surprised Persinger most, how- an island as it would appear to a real ob- But how could Persinger be sure" his ever, was the discovery that his subjects server." Twice she returned to the room, 114 OMNI 2

on one occasion expanding her own And as in some dreams, this new model sleepers say they are attacked by terri-

"body" until it burst through the walls and of reality is often "seen" from the bird's, fying humanlike forms. Given this focus, out into space. After almost three hours rather than the worm's, point of view. "In- one almost expects dark shadows to of disembodied travel, she found herself terestingly," Blackmore says, "we've found eclipse the windows of Hufford's office at back in her body, looking out through her that people who report OBEs lend to re- the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, eyes on the real world as before. call their dreams from the head-on van- deep in the heart of Pennsylvania choc- A temporal lobe model of the OBE, tage point. My theory of reality modeling olate country. Instead, a late-summer sun Blackmore believes, does not even be- can explain thai, and I'm not sure the slants through the shades, illuminating the gin to explain the complexity of the ex- temporal lobe one can." usual professorial clutter— helter-skelter perience described above. "It doesn't Other researchers, however, think piles of paper and wall-to-wall books. explain why the OBE sometimes occurs Blackmore's theory is too narrow as well. When Hufford stands, he exhibits the alone and sometimes takes place as part "There are four classical variations of the height of a basketball player, though the of the near-dealh experience," she says. OBE, of which Blackmore's experience is impression is countered by a standard-

Nor does it explain why it usually seems only one," says William Braud, senior re- issue academic beard. Hufford, in fact, is to occur late at night, under decreased- search associate at the Mind Science that rarest of academic players: a folklor- stimulus conditions. You don't normally Foundation of San Antonio. "In some ist-cum-behavioral scientist who actually have temporal lobe seizures lying in bed OBEs, for instance, consciousness gets paid to analyze belief systems. at night, but you do have OBEs. clothes itself as a mobile sphere of light. Hufford made his biggest splash not Blackmore also says the temporal lobe Other times consciousness has no spe- long ago with the publication of The Ter- model fails to explain why ME images al- cific location in space at all." Not only ror That Comes in the Night, a widely rec- most always hit the viewer head-on. does Blackmore's theory fail to account ognized landmark study of reports of

"Why," she wonders, "doesn't the brain, for these OBEs, he adds, it may not even nocturnal assault from around the world. the observing consciousness, look to the account for her own flight. "If you're sim- He had spent four years in Newfound- right or the left?" Her own hypothesis is ply constructing a body image to make land teaching courses on accounts of su- based on the way we continually recon- sense of the world again," Braud won- pernatural evil and doing doctoral re- struct and model reality in the brain itself. ders, "why would it include the wander- search on local beliefs. As part of his

"The important question is, Why does ing to far-off places and back again?" research, he was studying a local tradi- anything seem real?" she says. "I sug- tion known as the "old hag." As part of ATTACKS IN THE NIGHT gest the brain takes the best model it has this tradition, subjects reported waking at any point in time and calls this reality. Other researchers have tried to ex- up paralyzed with fear at the sight of a When we go to sleep, our everyday per- plain mystical encounters in terms of the threatening humanlike entity in the room. ception of reality starts to break down, dream state as well. Psychologist David This entity often took the form of a wrin- and other models may take over. For ex- Hufford, for instance, is studying the ter- kled old woman— the old hag. About 20 ample, they may come from memory." rifying realm of nocturnal assault, in which percent of his subjects reported this ex-

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perience, and Hufford soon equated the adds, "These theories ignore the body of bers of 13 Protestant congregations about old hag with the aswang of the Filipinos external evidence indicating that some of their involvement with MEs. More than and Ephialtes of the ancient Greeks, these mystical experiences really did oc- 600, slightly above 30 percent, admitted among others. cur. Whether that evidence is adequate to an ME. Johnson agrees that some, if

What struck Hufford most was the re- or not, it is nol taken into account." not many, experiences can be attributed markable consistency of the event. And Michael Grosso, a philosopher at to wishful thinking and projection. Still, he

"Modern medical students," he says, "re- Jersey City State College and author of finds it odd when his Lutheran parish- ported the same range of details as Es- the book The Final Choice, says that ex- ioners awake in the middle of the night kimos and Filipinos did." plaining the whole spectrum of mystical and find a vision of the Virgin Mary stand- Finally convinced, therefore, that the experience in terms of a single physio- ing at the foot of their bed. Cultural con- experience was not a cultural artifact, logical factor such as temporal lobe sen- ditioning and any subsequent program- Hufford began casting about for a theory sitivity is just wrong. For instance, he says, ming seem to fly out the bedroom window of his own. He settled on the phenome- "to account for multiple witnesses of a in such instances, he declares. "My own non of sleep paralysis as the explanation. single UFO by saying they all had simul- understanding of psychiatry and psy- During an episode of sleep paralysis, the taneous seizures is ridiculous. Moreover, chology," says Johnson, "is that they will waking state and the dream state vir- there are many ways to interpret possible match data to the assumption that there tually merge. Victims achieve conscious connections between neurological dis- is nothing outside of ourselves, no matter awareness but are unable to initiate vol- turbances and MEs. One explanation is what the data" untary movement, becoming easy prey that temporal lobe sensitivity might pre- The stance of theologians like Johnson for dream images like the old hag. dispose someone to detect external seems legitimate to nuts-and-bolts sci- forces such telepathic MYSTIC DOUBT as influence." entists like Hufford as well. In the wake of Grosso adds that "there are too many his book, Hufford explains, he received There are, of course, many objections kinds of MEs to lump them together. You a letter from a New Mexico attorney suf- to such hard-and-fast interpretations of would have to have very solid grounds to fering from nocturnal assaults. "I remem- the ME. "Even if the temporal lobe model draw a connection between Saint Paul's ber he liked the book," says Hufford, "and or other theory some does turn out to be conversion on the road to Damascus and thought I was on the right track. He even correct," says psychologist Keith Harary, someone's modern-day UFO experi- agreed with my physiological explana- who did the seminal work on the out-of- ence. Even if you could draw the connec- tion that the experience could be a form body experience back in the Seventies, tion, you can only speculate that Paul ex- of sleep paralysis. But he was still con-

"all it means is that the brain and the body perienced unusual temporal lobe activity vinced that the experience was abso- are doing the same thing during the ex- during his conversion." lutely real, that the old hag, or whatever it perience. You still haven't explained why Many theologians agree. In a recent might be, could get at him only when he people are having the experience itself." questionnaire, Dr. Ben Johnson, parish was in a state of paralysis. As far as he MarcelloTruzzi, head of the Anomalies priest of Salem Lutheran Church in St. was concerned, my investigation stopped h Center in Ypsiianti, Michigan, Cloud, Minnesota, asked 2,000 mem- where his began. Any scientist who re- duces a mystical experience to a phys- iological explanation runs the same risk the risk of leaving the most challenging part of a puzzle unexplained."

Persinger, for his part, is used to run- ning risks Afterword of his temporal lobe model of the ME leaked out, fundamen- talist protesters stood outside his sec- ond-floor office intoning passages from the Bible. Physical threats against his person were made and almost carried out. But Persinger's answer to these

protesters remains firm: Even if there are real, other-dimensional wonders out there, he says, there must be a physical mech- anism by which their voices come

through. 'And," he adds, "even if there are no aliens, no gods, no old hags, our hu- man need to escape Ihe mundane dic-

tates that we conjure them—be it from the temporal lobes or the astral plane." And as David Griffin, professor of the philosophy of religion at the Claremont School of Theology in California, points out, the human mind might do both. "Daniel Koshland, a microbiologist at the University of California, Berkeley." Griffin says, "has recently shown that bacteria seem to have a crude sort of memory and can make decisions based on that

memory. If the lowest form of life has this ability, then the complex society of one hundred billion brain cells—what we call the mind—must have it as well." With that ability, the mind becomes partly self-de- "!! was my that squirrels their understanding got own nuts." termining, capable of generating images that may in fact be real.OO .

The funeral tor restaurant in the capital city of the "I was trying to get the glass fragments "Then I'd have to be crazy all alone. leers at Dale. 'Ooh, whai a gorgeous pure niuses League function! mous

out," Jack said. Where's the fun in that?" lady. Toss her into my harem; I'll be there poor Hans!" square planet. ..." "Shut up, man!" He put down his coffee. "Why the hell soon.' Finally he gets to Zarkov. 'Ooh. Dr. "You do seem familiar. She nods. "Rick 's one-third human; he con" :;; >=D F^i",^ rvvr.r ,-n Rachel shook her head sympatheti- did you do it?" Zarkov, you're such a fine scientist. Put Striding to the edge of the porch, May- has the best Earth cuisine this side of Al- i!" metal. . .surely would not cally. for in air-conditioned lab, boys. hem glances down. "Such an amazing pha Centaur such people "He must need something pain." She shrugged. "Off the record? I him a nice

I "Ahh. the broccoli squid with Sir- suffer from Trichomonas. The sociopath's face lit up. "I'm allergic dunno. The asshole was annoying me." and give him everything he wants.' That's planet! have often wondered how they and

I kept it from eroding to a spherical ian sauce. . .but I digress! Whilst there, flourished the slide, glaring evilly I I school." back She to codeine, man. need Demerol." "I think— shit! I think you enjoyed the why decided to go to med af the laundry hamper. Then she heard a Rachel nodded to the nurse. "Go get whole damn thing. That's why you won't He slammed his notebook shut. "You shape andhow its gravity could keep the overheard some-heroic sorts at the next crash and a scream, seventy-five of Demerol. Let me see this." help me. You like chaos in the ER." know, you're crazy." oceans flat! I should have guessed they table! They were discussing Dr. Entropy, Turning off the microscope, she strode She gloved up. "I need a new suture "Maybe." were painted-on!" whom they described as a renegade across the hall, where Jack had been set. Well, give me your arm," she added, He sighed. "Okay, let's do something She's on the porch, looking out at the She nods. "The dry air does annoy priestess of the Cult of Chaos and a sworn preparing to sew up a laceration. annoyed. 'And get that out of my face so on the record. Why'd you become a doc- ocean; behind her is another ocean, one's sinuses, and I tire of having to cre- foe of humanity! It seems that when she

fusion time I her chaos gun to The sterile tray had been knocked over, I can work. How 'd you do this?" tor?" He clicked out his pen point. slanling off in the opposite direction. Her ate water by nuclear each disappeared, she gave

and the floor was slippery with Betadine. is built the very of wish a bath, but I would not trade this a lackey!" "Got mad and slugged a window," he "You mean the inspirational stuff I told condominium on edge Jack and nurse, small said proudly, letting her the planet. its founda- condominium for any other fortress on "Severance pay, when I retired!" a a gray woman, recleanse the med school admissions about how I Two seas wash were backed up against the wall, Jack skin. Jack began to edge for the door. wanted to alleviate suffering, work in a tions. Her robotic butler enters. "Madam, any other planet!" "He unfortunately appears to have

agrees. I daresay it to kill the Abbreviator!" with his gloved hands up. Rachel couldn't "Oh, look, there's the glass. I can get free clinic for migrant workers, and maybe there is a gentleman at the door! He is "Just so," he "Now used in tell if he was trying to maintain sterility or it—" She grabbed the tweezers, saying, even join the Peace Corps? Well, it's all unarmed, and my sensors reveal no this is why I appear familiar!" He points She gasps amazement. They stand to surrender. little. at the sky. Looking past his finger, she a minute in silence, then she sighs. "For A thin with "Here, pull the skin I it. I superabiiities!" young man back a see bullshit. Sure said all that once, I think I up obnoxious, uptight little twit, wasn't stringy hair and a number of homemade I've almost got it," even believed it. But you want to know "Show him in," she says, lingering a notices the constellation. an he tattoos holding them. in the of "Why, it's too bad!" was a gun on As the sociopath retracted for her, the why I rea//y became a doctor?" small blaster she keeps pocket you!" 'You tryin' to kill me. man?" he was say- gun on the gurney behind him. the police He nodded. "Your public awails." her dressing gown. Should she fire, the He sighs ruefully "What do you get for He puts a sympathetic hand upon her ing. to include the burst things are un- the everything? My Iriends shoulder. "The Abbreviator's friends have He swung about new- In. "Cancel the Demerol," said "When I was a freshman in college they robe will be ruined. These man who has death Dr. En- comer under the rubric of the pistol. Rachel. "Turkey. I should sew you up ran the old Flash Gordon serial, one epi- avoidable. rearranged the stars for my birthday! Un- sworn to avenge his upon "Do you mind?" Rachel asked. "I'm without lidocaine." sode every Wednesday, after the Berg- "Dr. Hugo Mayhem," announces the fortunately, they moved Fomalhaut into a tropy, following her if need be to the ends trying to see a patient. man films. Every week, Flash and Dale robot, retiring to a corner The newcomer low-rent region, with the Gamma Egregi- o! the universe!" "A sick little baby," she added for the "That was crazy," Kent said. He'd and Zarkov would get captured by some is a tall man with a hawk nose, slightly ans lor their closest neighbors! There's a She shrugs. "Well, so much for retire- sociopath's benefit as he glared at her. waited until her shift was over and then bizarro mutant types and then be crazed eyes, and hair and beard sadly in large price on my head as a result!" ment! The Boar will find me; he has un-

"And if she starts crying, we'll never get dragged her out for breakfast, this time dragged in front of, say, the king of the need of a trim. He wears blue jeans, an He begins to took about nervously. She canny forest senses I Plus t had to go and any peace." to a diner on the wharf. They watched Irish knit sweater, and hiking boots. When changes the subject. "What brings you leave a clue, didn't I?" " "He's tryin' to kill me. Look." He pointed fishing boats setting out into the fog as 'Ooh, what do we have here?' asks he speaks, it is with an Oxonian accent. here, Dr. Mayhem?" "Oh, not a clew!" the gun muzzle at his forearm, where a they ate hotcakes and home fries. "Things the king. 'What a wonderful heroic man "Dr. Entropy?" "Oh, the usual! I was tleeing for my life "Yes, I really did!" She shakes her head thinking closely deep wound was outlined by iodine prep. like this wouldn't happen if the emer- Flash is. Throw him in the pit and make "You have the advantage, sir!" and decided to stop for lunch at Rick's ruefully, how she has ol "Ooh, that's nasty. Needs stitches." gency room was adequately staffed." him shovel radioactive lizards.' Then he "We met, I believe, at a Corrupt Ge- Cafe Terresthale!" he says, naming a fa- conformed to the unwritten rules su-

There it is. spread before you In all ils impos- sibly complicated, compleiely unmanageable glory.

Your lile. Just one short week of which mighf consist of

22 meetings, 1 34 messages. 297 calculations. 5 lunch

dates, 1 business trip, your Auni Sally's 80th (81st?)

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perviliainry. "I wrote, 'I'm going where it's equipped; how you wouldn't take your annoyance masking her face. "Crusad- hip'.' less maiden aunt's poodle there. And I know ing reporters are probably all the rage. Her visitor frowns. "Naturally, sooner or you despise poodles." You could go into your secret lab and in- later he's bound to realize this can only "Christ, why me? I'm. no idealistic lover vent a superserum."

refer to the squarest planet in the uni- of humanity." "Not me. I flunked chemistry." verse! I'm afraid you blew it, Dr. Entropy! Kent took off his glasses and rubbed "Yeah, you're more the magic word It's only a matter of time before you re- his eyes. "You're my best bet, Doctor. Be- type. Like—Billy Batson saying 'SHAZAM.' ceive a visit from the mighty Boar! (Such cause you're not from some med school Let's see " She began to giggle, then

an aptly named character!)" in a country I can't even pronounce, and said in a resonant voice, "When Kent She pauses in her misery "Hey, watch you don't work ER just for a down pay- Randolph, heroic boy reporter for the what you say about my archfoe!" ment on a Mercedes, and you don't look Daily Journal, says the magic word

like an ad for Cocaine User's Profile. Last 'WARR' he is mystically imbued with the They paged her in the cafeteria, and accomplishment: saving a life. Favorite expose abilities of Woodward and Bern- she ran all the way back to the emer- snow: Andean flake." He looked at her stein, the popularity of Ann Landers, the gency room. Bill was bent over an uncon- suspiciously. "Do you have anything you wit of Royko, and the power of the Pu- scious patient, trying to find a viable vein can wear besides scrub suits?" litzer prize!" in an arm decorated with old needle "I have formal scrubs. ... Let me sleep Kent laughed also. 'And how about tracks. "Two bullets to the squash," he on it." She smiled winningly, thinking it was you? Let's see, a doctor would need the called. "Vitals are stable. Should we call time to retreat. "Have I told you about idealism of Schweitzer, the diagnostic in ." neurosurgery?" Ihese strange dreams I've been having?" acumen of Ben Casey . . ," Blood was dripping onto the floor from "Dreams? What's next, astrology and "ThesheerhumanityofW.C. Fields. . the turban of bandages, and the room biorhythms?" He flinched, seeing his star Kent leaned across the table. "Okay, already stank of unwashed feet and Mul- witness dissolving into just another trendy Wonder Doc. How about starting your ligan Brothers rose. "Not yet," Rachel Las Pulgas yuppie. quest lor truth, justice, and the American muttered. "What happened?" way by helping me?" "Family says he comes home tonight," She shook her head. "Sorry, physi- a paramedic began, "and he tells them cians aren't superhero material. Re- his friends shot him two times in the head." search scientists, wealthy playboys, re- "Some friends." porters: Those are the folks who become it "Then he goes, 'I'm done fori' and falls ^Rachel shrugs, masked sentinels of justice. Doctors just down, so they call us." is, after all, a dream. They turn into maniacal world conquerors. Dr. "Let's get portable skull X rays, and Doom, Dr. Psycho, the Brainwave." go to her room, preop bloods." Taking a deep breath, she He looked astonished. "But medicine

added, "Check the EtOH level, too," and Dr. Entropy insists on a is so. . .so respectable. It seems made stealing a glance at the clock. Everyday tour of the apartment, for heroics!" about eight rm., the ER changed its smell "Well, yeah, there were a few." She be- from blood and urine and old disinfeclant meanwhile describing her gan to tick them off on the fingers of one to cheap beer and cheaper wine. The own condo on the hand. "Dr. Strange. He was a money- odor seemed to linger until she smelled grubbing alcoholic surgeon before edge of the cuboid planet^ it constantly, even when she wasn't at changing his profession to sorcery. Dr. work, and the thought of taking a drink Mid-Nite. He quit medicine to become a made her stomach chum. sensationalist writer. Thor. He was so ob- Rachel did a quick neuro check; the noxious that the gods of Asgard took patient was lethargic, but his brain stem away his memory and sent him to medi-

and motor functions seemed intact. She "Of course not. You know me, I don't cal school as a punishment. He's the only held her breath while staring into his eyes believe in anything. It's just, they're so one who stayed in practice— until all his with her ophthalmoscope, then leaned weird. ..." She tried to describe the patients left because he was always off back, finally unveiling his head. There was dreams: first the glimpses of the cube- fighting mystic menaces during office a small scalp laceration, still oozing blood, shaped planet, then the superbattle, and hours." but that was all. "Two bullets?" Where the finally the mad scientists who just stood Pushing back her chair, she stood.

hell were they? and chatted. "Excuse me, I've been here too long. I

Later, after seeing three more drunks, "I mean, you always knew the heroes can hear the suffering calling to me from two bellyaches, and a sore throat, things must hang out and party together, sort of the ER. And you know what they're say- had quieted down enough for her to go like old-time movie stars going to Pickfair. ing?" She paused at the tray rack. to midnight supper. She was not sur- 'Honey, let's cruise over to Doom Patrol "They 'relaying, 'Hey, Doc, got a beer?' prised to find Kent in the cafeteria, wait- headquarters and see what's cooking!' Kent smiled perfunctorily at her joke ing like some predatory animal. "I guess it makes sense villains would until she was gone, then began shred- "Lemme tell you about this case," she be chummy, too." She picked at her un- ding a napkin. "Dr. Worthless." said. "Guy stumbles home, says he's been nameable casserole. "My all-time favorite shot, then keels over. I'm in a panic; do story was Flash number 123. That's where "' hear you're looking for me!" you know how brain looks after a thirty- the 1961 Flash meets another Flash, The Boar spins about. He never ex- eight? Only, this guy's fine. I keep looking who'd starred in the 1940's Flash comic pected to find Dr. Entropy sitting in his for bullets on the X rays, and there aren't book. They concluded that when Gard- living room. Merely thinking of the con- any. I spent five hundred of the taxpay- ner Fox, the Golden Age Flash writer, had sequences of his secret identity having ers' dollars on this guy, and he'sjust dead thought he was dreaming, his mind was been discovered makes his heart race. drunk from too much table wine." actually tapping into events in a parallel "How did you know?" he asks, pulling

Kent said, "Look. We're almost to the dimension. God, it was great!" his mask back snug. "Uh . . . how'd you point where we can force a hearing. We "Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me know I'd be visiting my friend Wiliard just need one. person from the inside to that you're getting news from another Wasp, the crusading reporter?" testify that the place is a pit. You could world, where superheroes exist?" He "Just luck! Lucky I noticed that you two do it, Rachel. Tell the board of supervi- leaned away from her. are the same height, have the same eyes sors how it's understaffed, under- "You ought to move there," she told him. and chin ..." go OMNI "

"Lots of people look alike!" you changed my boots to peanut butter!" He approaches cautiously. She holds "Consider it a prophylactic double up empty, ungloved hands. cross," she laughs. "I knew you'd seen

"Sit down, hero! I come in peace!" me stealing the ether batteries, an of- Waiting until he has complied, she con- fense committed after our truce, and you

tinues. "I understand you're looking lor were probably going to sock me away in me! I'm really sorry about the Abbrevia- jail for that!"

ted but you can't blame me; I was two "You're right. " he smiles. "Well, I prom-

galaxies away at the time! I've retired, ise I'll help! I'll put in a good word, and turned over a new leaf!" the judge'll- probably give you a reduced "I've heard that one before!" the Boar sentence!"

. says bitterly. "Mad scientist pretends to "No way, " she snarls. "Okay, I asked. .

reform, becomes your best friend. . . .You and she throws a small chaos grenade give him your unlisted phone number or at him as he lunges for her. She's over a signal calculator. Next thing you know, the couch and heading for the door, but

it's pow! Your secret weakness, or a piece he's blocking it. Meanwhile his stylish of your long-lost planet, right in the gut!" young-professional living room turns into

"You know me better than that! Have I a student hovel, albeit with pure gold brick ever lied to you?" and board shelving, and the Barry Man- He scratches his head. "No, Dr. En- ilow song on the stereo becomes a catchy tropy, you haven't—and you're better in tune by the Dead Kennedys. The cur- that regard than my airhead girlfriend." tains are now spun crystal.

"Admit it, Boar, we've had some good "You're trapped, " he says.

times! Remember when I brought all the "Never!" She bolts into the kitchen, statues at the Metropolis Museum of locking the door and shoving a chair

Modern Art to life?" against it, then looks about quickly for He starts laughing. "And the knight was weaponry. If only she'd built a new chaos ." fight. chasing the police cars. . . gun. But then, she hadn't intended to "Or the time you caught me at the auto She pauses, furious at. the turn of

show—honest, I was only checking out events. She is caught in a typical bach- — elor's kitchen, with cookery and spices the new models and I transformed the Buicks into dinosaurs?" good for any contingency but a pile of "Do you know the mess they made?" dishes in the sink and Lean Cuisine "Be thankful they were herbivores! packets in the freezer. Cockroaches are

Come on— / just want to sit in my nice lunching in the dirty dishes. She tosses quiet condo and work on my memoirs or a small chaos grenade into the sink; the maybe a unified field theorem!" cockroaches turn to slime, but the dishes

"Why should I believe you?" become Wedgwood china, embellished "Look, let me tell you my origin story! with azure silhouette roaches. I'm a doctor! I'd invented a ray to cure "Hope he likes blue," she says, reach- cancer and psoriasis; the prototype of the ing into the refrigerator. She cracks open

chaos gun! But I needed a power a Diet Pepsi and thinks. source—pure radium! My colleagues All she has to work from is a collection will thought me crazy! I couldn't get a grant, of upscale cooking equipment. That and I'd already used up my life's savings be enough. Quickly she rewires the Cuis- building the ray! inart, attaches a corkscrew and a set of

"So I thought I'd borrow the radium! You Ginsu knives,, then grounds it with a

know, once they saw it work, they'd for- wooden salad bowl. She can hear the give me the theft and let me mass-pro- Boar banging against the door; he is duce the thing! What a boon to a suffer- hesitant to demolish his own apartment ing humanity! and. besides, thinks her trapped and

"Only, when I went to borrow the rad- helpless. Turning the handle of the grater, and . ium, I needed help, so I hired these bum- cheese she watches space bling idiots from the Planet of People With time warp before her and prepares ;o step

No Vowels in Their Names! The next thing through. . . .

I know, you're there trashing my lackeys, I've turned your Boarmobile into rotten Rachel was exhausted. She'd spenl at haddock, and I'm a wanted criminal! So least an hour wrestling with a man who'd

what else could I do? I didn't have a job been beaten up by some friends ("What's

anymore— / had to keep robbing stuff!" with friends in this town?"). He was en- The Boar sighs. "Have you learned your cephalopathy from head trauma, unable lesson?" to understand that he was in a hospital.

"Yes! Never again will I hire anyone from Not even truly conscious, he'd screamed the Planet of People With No Vowels in and (hrashed and destroyed a set of

Their Names. No, seriously: I didn't want leather restraints before forty-five milli-

to be a villain; I just wanted to help.' Now grams of Valium had calmed him down,

I just want to be left alone!" "Enough to kill a small horse," the The Boar rises, holding out a hand. .charge nurse had remarked as they'd fi- "You've been a good archfoe. Remem- nally quieted the man enough to get the ber the time we teamed up to defeat No- CT head scan. where Man and his invisible- Army? We "Unless the horse also had alcoholic did swell—until they were defeated and cross- tolerance," she replied. . "

After that and the usual other plea- finds herself longing for such a home, so ble every time we're caught with one!" sures of an emergency room on a warm far from Earth and Earthlings. She lends Rachel looks suspiciously at her visitor. Saturday night when the moon is full and Dr. Entropy her extra trench coat—fne Working at a public hospital, she is used paychecks recently cashed, she re- coastal fog is quite dense today—and to criminals, but they are usually socio- turned home. Her clothing smelled of they set off down Maginot Boulevard to paths and small-time hoods, whose blood and vomit and wine. She show- tour Las Pulgas. "Must be a lot different criminal behavior is limited to the petty,

ered, changed into a fresh scrub suit (with from your universe, right? I mean, dis- violent, and unimaginative. She has never ." Centralcity General Hospital's initials eases, social unrest, no air cars . . met a renegade genius before, espe- prominent on the pockets), and contem- "Oh no, it's just like my world!" cially one who looks just like her.

plated throwing her dirty sneakers into the Rachel walks a few minutes in silence. "Trust me! If we both hold it simulta- ocean. "Probably kill all the fish and cause "But—you guys live in space. Every neously, the MT will merely act as a con- a red tide," she realized, and tossed them cheap thug has a solar-powered air car. duit for memories!" on the back porch. Lying on the couch, Serums give invulnerability, and soft "What the hell, it's just a dream," Rachel

she closed her eyes and . . drinks make you stretch. And you say says. They both hold the device. Memo- nothing's different?" ries flood Rachel's mind. She sees child-

. . .sees Dr. Entropy emerge from the Dr. Entropy sighs. "Unfortunately! All hood, medical school, battles, retirement kitchen. "It's okay, I come in peace!" you say is true! Our physical laws must on the square planet, everything. Rachel sits up and stretches. "I've seen be slightly different from yours! For in- Suddenly she understands, without the ..." you before. stance, I think your light beams travel sense of sudden understanding. There is

"On TV, right? I think Dan Rather cov- faster, and your sound waves slower!" no "Eureka!", no light bulb going on in- ers the superbattles very well—Cronkite Rachel nods. She'd always wondered side her head. She just understands, in a always seemed faintly disapproving! i how superheroes could converse while quiet way, as if she'd done so all her life. hated thinking Cronkite didn't like me!" dodging laser beams. Dr. Entropy has fled a world of super- "This is crazy. " Rachel clutches her hair. "I suspect human physiology must be ficial blacks and whites, with an under-

"I'll wake up in a minute." lying ambiguity Why have the benefits of Her cloaked visitor is examining her an advanced science (and a science so outfit. "CGH. Let me guess! Captain radically different from Rachel's that any Green something or otherl Green's the moderately brilliant person can be a most popular color motif for superher- polymath, inventing supersauces in the 4S/ie ran downhill oes, I hope you realize that!" ubiquitous basement labs) not filtered "Huh?" to the beach, hair flying behind down to the populace? Dr. Entropy points to the initials. Dr. Entropy suspects that it is the work her like a cape, "These are scrubs. Stolen from Cen- of a mysterious group of savants, the tralcity General Hospital." stethoscope banging against Committee, who understand that cheap "They certainly look more comfortable solar power, miraculous wonder drugs, her chest. Next it than what I'm wearing!" Dr. Entropy is clad routine reanimation, and ready space the stairs. in skintight black leotards, with red belt, was up She ran travel would destroy the status quo, and gloves, and boots, a black cape, and into the kitchen, so they suppress such advances. Those goggles. "You're a doctor and a thief? We who refuse to play by their rules, who want flinging open the door.V have a lot in common! In fact, we even to push back the frontiers of forbidden look a bit alike." knowledge, are labeled as mad scien- She takes off her goggles and shakes tists, becoming fugitives. out her hair. They could be twins, except "So you aren't really malignant and that Dr. Entropy is in better shape from amoral and power crazy?" Rachel asks. her life on the run and has a more stylish different as well! We don't have posttrau- "Like I am?" haircut "Who are you?" matic encephalopathy, like that patient Her new friend laughs politely but "Rachel Wirtham, M.D." you told me about! When we're knocked seems disturbed. "What an awful Earth Dr. Entropy sinks into the bentwood out, we just wake up, say 'Great galaxies, you live on! Everything is so unclear, so rocker. "Oy! So am I! What gives?" She I feel awful,' and start fighting again!" much room for improvement."

rocks pensively, the chair scraping over "Not even any retrograde amnesia?" "Now you're talking like. . .whoops, let's the end of her cape. "What's that?" go back." They have climbed the hills al-

"I think I understand." Rachel explains Rachel imagines a world without con- most to the hospital, and Rachel can see about parallel worlds, and Flash number cussions, probably without dementia the hospital's neurosurgeon leaning 123, and her own dreams. pugilistica as well. Otherwise, with the against a car, talking to someone who,

"Makes sense, " says Dr. Entropy. As a frequency with which they were struck on from only his back, she recognizes as doctor, she understands all about things the head, every superhero would soon Kent In Dr. Entropy's universe, the me- like quantum physics and alternate real- be within a chronic-care facility. chanics of recognition are more com- ities. Medical education on her world is a "I've got an idea," Dr. Entropy says. She plex; she'd never be able to tell him just bit more general than that on Rachel's. pulls Rachel behind some trees, taking from his back. Glasses or a wig could "I've never traveled to another dimension out a small device rather like a suction utterly disguise a person. before, though my archfoe the Boar does cup with a calculator attached to it. "What's wrong?" asks Dr. Entropy. it fairly regularly! I understand he's a Boar "This is a memory transducer, the lat- "I don't want to run into Kent." in every dimension he's visited!" est thing in villainry! Let's say you've been "Your friend from the newspaper? You "I've met a few people like that cornered and are about to be struck dead must be proud to know such an impor- Dr. Entropy smiles. "A new world! Well, by a meteor or the. platen of a giant type- tant person!" show me the sights!" writer! The MT already contains most of She laughs. "Newsmen aren't such a

Rachel shrugs. It is, after all, simply a your memories! You just clap it to your big deal on this world." dream. They go to her room for jackets, head momentarily, to get it up-to-date, "You mean you don't even have dolls and Dr. Entropy- insists bn a tour of the then toss it at a bird or a passerby! Presto, of famous reporters?" apartment, meanwhile describing her he becomes you' and escapes. Lucky For once, Rachel is speechless. They own beachfront home, the condominium these things are covered under the Fifth return to her home, and Rachel lies back on the edge of the cuboie planet. Rachel Amendment; otherwise we'd be in trou- down. She is surprised to find the couch 124 OMNI . ©ARTCUMINGS

I didn't know I love it / you were into It brings out? gra-ffiti another -facet of my taisnt

J never kr\

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empty; she expected to see herself

dreaming on it. Dr. Entropy hangs up the coat, redon- ning her cape and goggles. "It's been long enough; the Boar shouldn't still be watching his kitchen!" They shake hands, the doctor in her greens, the villainess in her cloak.

"If I were you," Dr. Entropy says, "I'd help Kent!" "That's because in your world there are definite heroes and villains." "Sometimes a stranger sees things more clearly!" "Nice meeting you, " says Rachel. "But

I need some restful sleep if I'm to survive work tonight."

Rachel was finding it hard lo concen- trate. She tried to keep her mind on the task of the moment— cleaning and re- pairing a long, jagged thumb lacera- tion — but her thoughts kept returning to her dream and the other world. A world ot heroes, of villains, of excitement and

chaos. . .Bill dumped some more sterile

saline in the tin. "Thanks." She sponged

it over the laceration. Someone was shrieking loudly in a nearby room.

"Nice plastics job," Bill remarked. "Yeah." The compliment didn't seem important tonight. She shrugged: the stethoscope draped over her shoulders was starting to leel heavy. "Be much longer?" "No." "Good. They're stacked up knee-deep

in the waiting room, and Raj is talking to Medic Three from Buena Mota. They're

bringing in a code." "Doesn't matter," By the time a cardiac arrest could arrive from Buena Mota, miles away up the Coast Highway, resuscita- tion was an academic exercise.

'And that lady in room lour? I think she's going to deliver." A high-pitched scream punctuated his comment. "OBs coming in." He sighed melodramatically. "It's chaos tonight. Utter chaos!" Rachel paused, looked up, grinned.

"Chaos! I thrive on it." She wished she had Dr. Entropy's chaos gun. What would happen if she sprayed the ER with its beam? Somehow she imagined things could only look better. Maybe everything would dissolve— patients, staff, the old stone building itself. Just a pile of rubble; springing up beside it, a crystalline gar- den. She went back to the thumb. It was slow work, but she was determined to do a perfect job. Not that it really mattered how pretty the old man's thumb looked he'd just cut it again on another broken bottle— but the job tonight seemed to demand some pretense of attentiveness. She had four stitches to go. "Ahem." Looking up, she found the hospital's young neurosurgeon standing there, come "straight from surgery. He wore a paper cap and booties with his scrubs, and a mask still hung from his neck, its tie threatening to catch fire from his cig- virus, while France was relatively disin- arette. "Thought you'd want to know. Al- IfUTERWIEUU terested. For a year we worked com- ..." coholic you all saw yesterday pletely on our own, with almost no one 'The one who we poured Valium in, like understanding the importance of our a sink? grounds. For a fact to be a fact, it has to findings. Gallo didn't believe me at the "Yep. Took him to surgery last night. be reproducible. Miracles,, by definition, time, which put him in the enemy camp,

Evacuated a subdural. Clot was getting are not reproducible. if So we were ca- but I have many rivals closer to home. In pretty large. Probably saved his life." He of isolating pable the virus that causes the end, Gallo and I have the same ene- looked vaguely pleased at their collabo- AIDS, it's not surprising that others could mies, which makes us allies. rative effort. "Thought you'd like to know." do it as well. For a long time Gallo re- Omni: What was your reaction to the po- "Gee, thanks, masked man." jected the idea that this was a new virus litical pressures surrounding AIDS re- He started to leave, then added, "Saw completely different from the leukemia- search in the United States? friend this afternoon. you and your producing virus he'd discovered. He was Montagnier: I was particularly furious that Looked just like you." finally forced to admit that we had some- our patent for the blood test was ignored

"Huh?" thing new, not simply a variant of HTLV. until Gallo's was accepted. Scientists in "Wears weird boots and gloves, Omni: What was Gallo 's contribution? the U.S. are exposed to high pressure to though. Relative?" Montagnier; He found a way to grow the produce results, and it sometimes warps Rachel stared at him, eyes wide. He virus in continuous cell cultures. We de- their sense of ethics. Scientists have even stubbed his cigarette in an emesis basin. veloped a similar technique at the same faked their experiments to look like win- "Back to the wars." time, but our cell lines were less produc- ners, and not only in the U.S. The best She kept staring after him. tive .than his. Later we found one equally way to avoid this is to have several cur- After a minute, the patient said, "Doc? as good, but in the beginning his line was rents of thought and different countries Hey, Doc?" better. This was important for developing working on the same problems. She looked down at him. "Buddy, a sensitive AIDS blood test. We also owe Omni: Were you surprised by the nature what's the nature of reality?" to him the idea that AIDS was caused by of American science? "Ha. You tell me." a retrovirus. Montagnier: No, I really don't object in the

She stood, stripping off her gloves. "I Omni: Is it possible that Gallo's cell lines least to the aggressivity of the Ameri- think I it's easier to know a place where might have become contaminated with cans. I object to the passivity of the figure out." Heading for the ambulance your virus, which would explain why he French, who met my work with incompre- Dr. entrance, she passed the room where reproduced it so faithfully? hension and indifference. Thanks to this Raj was asking the woman in labor to Montagnier: These accusations were research, France could be making please not scream so loudly. once made by the Pasteur Institute. And breakthroughs in biotechnology, but my "Hey, Raj," she called. "Finish sewing Gallo himself did not exclude this possi- country is letting the opportunity slip up my thumb, okay?" bility, although he could argue that he also through its fingers. There's a sort of dis- She paused at the nurses' station. had an independent isolate from a Hai- equilibrium between our scientific abili- "Beep whoever's on second call." Then tian patient, different from ours. But let ties and their industrial applications. This, it was out the door, into the crisp night air. me give you another example. When he not the pushiness of the Americans, is Somewhere far off she heard a siren and was trying to isolate the second AIDS vi- what frustrates me. some dogs barking. Stars shone above rus, HIV-2, Max Essex at Harvard appar- Omni: Have you ever thought of moving the hills, and she could smell the ocean. ently contaminated his cultures with a vi- to the United States? What if the chaos ray were large enough rus from monkeys. What he called HTLV- Montagnier: I'm not opposed to the idea; to cover an entire town, a county? Gone 4, using Gallo's terminology, was actually but even if I did, I'd remain very French the tenements, the boring housing tracts, a monkey virus. This happens quite often in my sense of measure, logic, and love the derelicts, and the sturdy conformists. in labs where scientists usually cultivate of good food. I was born in the Loire val- What silvery artful objects might spring their Gells in C02 incubators. This tech- ley, where people live reasonable, or- up in their place? She ran downhill, all the nique makes it impossible to keep in- dered lives. My school was called the Ly- way to the beach, hair flying behind her fected cell lines completely isolated. While cee Rene Descartes, and Descartes like a cape, stethoscope banging against the gas is entering the incubator, mi- himself was born twenty miles away. Be- her chest. Next it was up the stairs, two croaerosols of virus could escape. After cause of this Cartesian influence, the at a time, and into the apartment. She experiences, I some bad rejected the C0? French are endowed with good sense. switched on the light and ran to the technique for isolating viruses. We use a Alas, the U.S. is not very Cartesian, kitchen, flinging open the door. system of gas-filled bottles that are.com- People think the Pasteur Institute is rich

It is dark inside, the dark of space, deep pletely closed to the atmosphere. and that I, its incarnation, must also be with unblinking ruby and emerald stars. Omni: Because of his ability to mass-pro- endowed with all the funds and equip- There is a vortex of agate, twirling mist, duce the virus, Robert Gallo has been ment I want. This is not the case, and if and Dr. Entropy steps from it. Rachel called the Henry Ford of AIDS research. the situation ever became impossible in steps forward to meet her. Montagnier: Gallo is not someone who France, I wouldn't hesitate to move. I want "You'll need this!" Dr. Entropy hands her has merely perfected other people's dis- to keep working! I know what has to be a gun belt and holster, then slips out of coveries. Many important findings have done to conquer AIDS. I'm not doing this

it her cape and drapes about Rachel's his laboratory, If it come from things like in- for personal gain. were only money I shoulders. terleukin-2, the growth factor that al- was after, I could exploit my renown and "Thanks!" In turn, Rachel gives over her lowed us to isolate the AIDS virus. He live off the fame of my past research. stethoscope and a slip of paper. They lot generates a of creativity. He's not Quite the contrary, I live a hard life, with shake hands. merely Henry Ford, a biological me- no vacations, short nights, and long days "One thing," Dr. Entropy says. "Don't chanic. Gallo and l.have worked together that are filled with thousands of things I try to swim in the oceans. They're, just in I the past, and we'll probably do so don't have to do but feel I should do. If I painted on," again. The unhappy period that he and I can do my work in France, I'll stay here. Rachel nods, stepping into the mist. Dr. lived through was distorted way out of Otherwise I'll go elsewhere. I'm loo young Entropy closes the kitchen door behind proportion by the press and by the poli- to be embalmed under glass. her, then goes to the phone, dialing the tics of the disease. There was terrible Omni: Were you pleased with the agree- number on the slip of paper. "Hello, Kent? pressure in the United States for an ment that you and Gallo signed in 1987? ."00 About that hearing . . American to be the first to discover the Montagnier: Yes. I thought from the start 128 OMNI [here had to be a compromise. No one covered. AIDS is a terrible malady, and I virus from the epidemic. The epidemic is

should be made to look as if he were los- don't want to suggest that scientists are undoubtedly new. But isthe virus old in

ing face. The only solution was to split the reaping their honors at other people's ex- humans, or did it develop after a pas-

royalty money fifty-fifty and establish a pense.' I haven't changed because of my sage from monkeys to humans?

it. foundation for spending I was proba- notoriety; but there's tremendous pres- One could imagine a scenario in which bly happier about the settlement than sure from the media and the public, who the virus lay hidden for generations be-

Gallo, because it was my idea. Many think of us as a cross between magicians hind other diseases that killed people at

people thought I could have done better, and movie stars. a relatively young age. -If so, what ex-

but I don't think so. The affair caused a Omni: Tell me about the research pro- plains its sudden emergence in Africa

lot of ill will, and AIDS is too important for gram you've recently -launched. and America? If AIDS is of African origin,

the problem to have remained unsolved. Montagnier: This year, for the first time, why didn't it come to Europe before the

It was giving certain scientists—and sci- we're getting substantial money from the U.S.? Historically, we've been much more ence itself—a bad name. Not to have European community. But research on closely linked to Africa. There was the fought would have created a bad prec- AIDS involves more than conquering the American slave trade, but apparently the edent, signaling that one can get away disease. Many industrial spinoffs will fall slaves— at least those surviving the with anything in science, which isn't true. to pharmaceutical companies and bio- crossing — didn't have AIDS. The virus Omni: Are you under a gag order that technology firms. Cetus, a San Francisco seems to have come to Europe from the

prevents you from talking about the de- firm, has developed a machine that al- U.S. It might even have reached Africa tails of the accord? lows us to multiply a cell's DNA thou- via the same route. There are other hy-

Montagnier: It's not exactly a gag order, sands of times over. The technique, called potheses concerning the origin of AIDS,

although it's stated in the agreement that gene amplification, is crucial for a virus such as "the American hypothesis." The no one will reopen the scientific argu- like AIDS, which can lie hidden in the lym- traffic in blood might have caused the ment. There were actually two agree- phocytes and macrophages [immune epidemic. An isolated population in South ments: a legal accord between the cells that engulf invaders], unexpressed America could have been the focus of a American government and the Pasteur natural infection that was amplified by the Institute, and a scientific accord between sale of blood products to the U.S. Gallo and me, which was published in Omni: Why do you think the virus is old? Nature. The scientific agreement took a Montagnier: We're boarding a train that's lot of work, and we finished the task only already in motion. New species aren't a few days after [President] Reagan and W'm addicted being created. We're seeing the old ones [Prime Minister Jacques] Chirac an- to getting results out of evolve. The AIDS virus's complexity

nounced the legal settlement. I flew to shows that it has undergone an arduous my laboratory. Frankfurt and met Gallo at the Intercon- process of selection. With nine genes, it's

tinental Hotel on his fiftieth birthday. I took Last week everyone was away the most complex retrovirus known to him a bottle of cognac, but Gallo said he at a conference, man. [Retroviruses have three basic wouldn't drink it until we were finished. genes. HIV has at least six more regula- I got very nervous— We worked right up to the last minute be- and tory genes.]

fore I left to catch my plane. So I never like a junkie We find the virus now in many species did get a drink of that cognac. of monkeys—a whole family of viruses. suffering from withdrawal.^ it of Now Gallo and I are getting along well. But seems to have reached a state

We respect each other. This often hap- biological equilibrium that keeps it from pens to people who've fought a lot. They being pathogenic in mammals in the wild. finish with a better understanding of each It's hard to know for sure, since a monkey vi- other. Gallo and I were friends to begin can die with no one seeing it, but the with, and we've ended by being friends and undetected. The only way to rev< rus appears not to be lethal for green

again. J bear no grudge against him. My its presence is to find the DNA of the monkeys and mangabeys. rancor is reserved for the people who are rus. But gene amplification isnotonlyi " It's not the virus that has changed its

still trying to get in the way of my re- portant for AIDS, it will be useful for de- basic configuration over the years but the

search. I have a reputation for being an tecting all sorts of genetic maladies behavior of its host. The conditions of civ-

imperialist, an expansionist, because I Cetus could sell thousands of machines ilization have created the epidemic. Of

ask for a lot of money. But this is what it and make a fortune from its invention. this I'm absolutely convinced. We're a takes to do research on AIDS. AIDS is not Omni: What's the AIDS virus's origin? civilization of blood, of blood transfu-

an alfair that's going to last fifty years. It's Montagnier: Man had his origins in Af- sions. This practice has existed for only

going to be settled in ten years, and if rica, so it's natural that a virus associated a little over half a century, and then came you want to put the package together, you with him should also have originated in the so-called sexual revolution. We've can't drag your feet. Africa. The prototype virus has probably created one world environment for our Omni: Do you deserve a Nobel prize for been in man for a long time. We know this germs. The globalization of culture has discovering the AIDS virus? from looking at its evolution in different globalized our parasites. You could say

Montagnier: It's not for me to say. The No- species of monkeys. There is a virus of that AIDS is a disease of the Boeing 747. bel committee might want to give the prize green monkeys; a virus of mangabeys; a The big jets are its vector, and without

to the discoverer of the vaccine, although virus of baboons and mandrills. But all them there would be no AIDS epidemic.

it was the discovery of the virus itself that these viruses have the same basic prop- Omni: Do you think that monkeys passed

allowed for its detection in blood and the erties as the human virus. They recog- the virus to humans? development of public health measures nize [lock-and-key style] the same se- Montagnier: This seems to be the case that can limit the epidemic, even without quences on the [immune system's] T4 with the second AIDS virus, HIV-2, whose a vaccine. The contribution of the Amer- white blood cells. The AIDS virus may be epicenter lies in West Africa. That human

ican team is also important; so I doubt as old as the evolution of primates, be- AIDS comes from two different viruses is the prize wilt go to only one of the virus's cause -the. viruses diverged with the dif- abnormal. HIV-2 so closely resembles

codiscoverers. If someone develops a ferent species themselves. one monkey virus that it could have been miracle drug against AIDS, that, too,' Although Africa is the likely source of passed accidentally from monkeys to hu-

would merit a Nobel prize. It has already. AIDS, one could debate the point for mans. But no one has found a monkey been five years since the virus was dis- hours. First you have to disassociate the virus resembling HIV-1, with the excep- 130 OMNI tion of one study that seems to have found cision, clitoridectomy. favors infection by was interrupted to begin working on AIDS. it in two chimpanzees Green monkeys the virus and its transmission, Omni: Why do you describe the AIDS vi- are innocent of giving AIDS to humans. Omni: What are the differences between rus as intelligent?

This might be true of all monkeys, at least the two AIDS viruses? Montagnier: It has a tremendous capac- for HIV-1. Green monkeys are also inno- Montagnier: HIV-2 is found in the old Por- ity for genetic variation. It plays roulette cent of giving us HIV-2, although other tuguese colonies of Africa. The virus all the time, and it keeps only the good species, such as the macaque and the seems to have originated in Guinea-Bis- numbers. All retroviruses are highly vari- mangabey, might be implicated. sau and spread to the Cape Verde is- able because their enzymes have an in-

Omni: So where does HIV-1 come from? lands. We first isolated HIV-2 from Afri- trinsic capacity to make lots of mistakes.

Montagnier: Man It's a classical notion in can patients dying of .AIDS in a Lisbon But what's surprising about the AIDS vi- virology that a change in species makes hospital. So it was clear from the start that rus is its ability to fully exploit this capac- a virus pathogenic. This is also true of HIV-2 caused a disease as fatal as ity. It leads a double life. Part of the time

viruses that move into a different popu- HIV-1 . The two viruses provoke the same it has a vegetative, larval exisience, like lation of the same species. Perhaps an neurological disorders. But there's tre- a cat that sleeps all the time—and when ancient strain of AIDS, tolerated by an mendous variability within each group ol a virus sleeps, it doesn't mutate. But it isolated African or American population, viruses, differences both in genetic vari- also has a nocturnal life, when it wakes later escaped from this state of biological ability and in their pathogenicity [killing up and starts changing itself to resist the equilibrium to infect the world at large. A power]. Certain strains of each are more i immune system. study supports this theory. In some vil- virulent than others. The AIDS virus might have been veg- lages of eastern Zaire, where the disease Omni: How do you define a virus? etating for thousands and thousands ot is pandemic, the percentage ot people Montagnier: It's a parasite that can't exist years until it found the civilization that seropositive, or testing positive for AIDS without a cell. You might compare it to the spurred it into action. It's not impossible antibodies, hasn't changed in ten years, cassette in your tape recorder. Without a that social conditions analogous to our

Omni: Why in the United States did the machine to play it back, the virus is use- own provoked AIDS epidemics in the virus first attack homosexual men? past. Promiscuous civilizations, with a lot Montagnier: The AIDS virus plays the role of sexual contacts and changing of part- of a lion hunting a troop ot gazelles It will ners, could have ended in epidemics that bring down only the weakest among killed a good part of the population. This them. Likewise the virus will kill children could explain Why all the world's great re- QThe globalization and adults with immune systems less ligions prohibit adultery. If I were a devil strong than the others'. The immune sys- of culture has globalized creating a malicious virus to be intro- tem of homosexuals is already de- duced that would cause the most prob- our parasites. pressed. The virus searches for favor- lems possible for the human race, the vi- able terrain in which to establish itself. It AIDS is a disease of the rus I'd create would be AIDS. Knowing creates an epidemic in territory already Boeing 747. The man's capacity for making vaccines, this prepared by the cofactors that homosex- is -the virus that has found the Achilles' are its vector, uality generates. Not only the establish- big jets and heel of our immune system. ment of the virus but also its transmission without them there Omni: Can the AIDS virus be transmitted genes that parents pass is aided by these cofactors. would be no AIDS epidemic.^ vertically in the Whether in the developed world or in on to their children''

Africa, AIDS is a disease of the big cities. Montagnier: So far there's no evidence City living has created the kind of pro- that the disease can be transmitted ge- miscuity that allows for the virus to spread. netically among humans. But Michael

Other cofactors are generated by city liv- Martin and colleagues at the NIH [Na- ing. Environmental pollution can also de- less.- Viruses are biological objects, but tional Institutes of Health] have done a press the immune system. The fact that they're not living objects. All the genes in remarkable experiment showing that someone becomes seropositive for AIDS a cell are integrated into the proper func- AIDS can be passed transgenetically might itself be associated with cofactors. tioning of that cell. But there is always the among mice. After genes of the virus are It's not easy to become seropositive. Re- danger that a gene could escape from introduced into the ovum, all cells de- cent discoveries have shown that the vi- this integration and replicate itself rather rived from this egg are infected. The baby rus can exist in a latent state, unex- than the DNA of the cell, This fragment mice have the AIDS virus throughout their pressed until it eventually breaks through wants to protect itself from dying, so it bodies, and they die within thirty days. our immune defenses. One can be in- surrounds itself with a few supplemen- The virus normally seeks out two targets, fected without showing any signs of an- tary genes [within the virus] and the pro- macrophages and lymphocytes; the mice tibodies, which means more people have tective proteins. These let it be inserted die of an infection in macrophages. the AIDS virus, in its latent form, than the back into the machine that's going to read Omni: Why is it that macrophages have official statistics indicate. it. This is a virus, become a hot topic in AIDS research only Omni: Have you been to Africa? Omni: What distinguishes the AIDS retro- recently?

Montagnier: I've visited the Pasteur Insti- virus from other viruses? Montagnier: It's in part the fault of my lab- tute in the Central African Republic, one Montagnier: Retroviruses are probably oratory, I'm afraid. AIDS is essentially a of the poorest countries in Africa, and ancient genes that have broken away disease of lymphocytes. So that's natu-

Tanzania. My limited experience in Africa from the cell. They're primitive molecules rally where we began looking for it. When has already taught me a lot. Sexual trying to return home. Home in this case you separate lymphocytes irom macro- promiscuity is high, especially among the is the DNA of the chromosomes, While phages, it's easy to lose the latter. We young. Everything needed for transmit- other viruses have developed a more in- knew how to culture lymphocytes, but ting AIDS is found in an African hospital, dependent existence, retroviruses have only two or three years ago did we learn where conditions are unimaginable. preserved the memory of their origins. A how to culture the virus in macrophages. Omni: Why is AIDS transmitted hetero- lot of retroviruses cause cancer in ani- Gallo's lab deserves credit for this dis- sexually in Africa? mals, and I suspected they might also covery. That the virus develops in mac-

'

Montagnier: Other cofactors are at work, cause cancer in" humans, I thought I'd rophages is crucial to explaining the neu- including frequent genital ulceration and discovered one, a retrovirus that pro- rological symptoms of AIDS [macro- infections of women. Also female circum- duces breast cancer, when my research phages operate in the brain]. Infected 13? OMNI macrophages secrete substances that We inject the virus directly into the blood, disease. The same thing may be true of poison the immune system. Lympho- but the natural route for transmission is young men and women now being in- cytes die immediately after they're in- sexual, where the doses are much fected. AIDS is not only a disease of the fected; infected macrophages continue weaker.' We could find a vaccine that suf- big city, it's also a disease that strikes a working as the reservoir of the virus. fices for this kind of transmission, but it's certain sector of the population —jour- Omni: The AIDS virus mutates so fast that going to be hard to prove it works. nalists, television personalities, artists, doctors report cases of people dying from Omni: Would you ever inoculate yourself singers, actors, people who lead a cer- a different strain than the one that origi- with an experimental drug? tain kind of life. And this is no accident.

nally infected them. Montagnier: Without a doubt. I often give Omni: Were you ever warned against Montagnier: Because the polymerase [an blood in the laboratory. Knowing that the working on AIDS for fear of jeopardizing enzyme] of the AIDS virus makes ten risks were minimal, if I had to inject my- the reputation of the Pasteur Institute? thousand times more errors than a nor- self with something. I wouldn't hesitate to Montagnier: This didn't stop me tor a sec-

mal cell, it has ten thousand times the experiment on myself. ond, I began working on AIDS because possible number of mutations. The tro- Omni: Do you treat AIDS patients? an affiliate of the Pasteur Institute was pism [attraction] of the virus for f he mac- Montagnier: I sometimes visit AIDS pa- manufacturing an antihepatitis B vaccine rophages might depend on one specific tients in Pasteur Hospital if we're running from human plasma, and the scientific di- mutation. You must also realize that tesls on them. People in the final stages rector wanted to know if his blood supply someone with AIDS is infected not with of the disease resemble terminal cancer could be contaminated. Guaranteeing the one virus but a melange of different vi- patients. Our progress in treating AIDS- safety of our vaccines got me interested ruses —a virus soup, with all of them opportunistic infections has led to our in the problem. When it became known helping one another out. This is a very seeing a lot more people dying of the what I was working on, people at the in- dangerous situation because it can AIDS virus itself. It's agonizing to see stitute began to talk: "What's Montagnier evolve in whatever direction it wants. For someone wither away to a skeleton, and doing looking at a disease of homosex- this reason I describe the virus as "intel- it pushes me to work harder on experi- uals and other marginal people? This is ligent": It "knows" the need for genetic bad for fund-raising." I was discouraged diversity in assuring ils survival. and demoralized by this reaction, but it

Omni: Does this chameleonlike quality of didn't stop my going ahead, because I the virus make it impossible to find a vac- found the research itself exciting. I'm not cine against AIDS? a homosexual, and it was irrelevant to me ^lf I were a devil Montagnier: We're changing our ideas whether I was researching a disease of about what's required for developing a creating a malicious virus homosexuals, drug addicts, Hindus, or vaccine. Initially we thought it could be whatever. Many scientists have an irra- to cause the most made from the protein envelope of the tional fear of AIDS. The Pasteur Institute virus, which varies the most. We also problems for the human recently built some new laboratories, and

to in mind the virus's highly they didn't give one. I suspect this is wanted keep ' race, the virus me selective attraction for T4 lymphocyte because the other scientists were afraid virus cells, a tropism that's probably relatively would be AIDS. The has of having the virus inside their building. stable. But antibodies made against the found the Achilles' Omni: What are the differences between envelope don't offer sufficient protection. the U.S. and France in handling AIDS? heel of the immune system$ We're now looking at proteins inside the Montagnier: AIDS is an enormous prob-

virus to introduce what we call cellular lem in the U.S. , where it's the number one immunity. We have fewer paths to follow, public health issue. This is not yet true in but one of them might be good. It's a France, even if it is the European country gamble, but the discovery of a vaccine with the most cases. The French are a isn't essential to ending the epidemic, If mental treatments. I have no choice but Latin people who take their sexuality the AIDS epidemic has its origins in the to try everything possible. People have lightly. No one dies of sex; it's just not nature of our civilization, one can halt the put their confidence in me. It might be possible. Everyone assumes that if the epidemic by modifying this civilization misplaced, but they're waiting for me to Pasteur Institute is working on the prob- through public health measures and ed- do something. lem, it will be solved in short order. ucation. Admittedly, this is a slow proc- Omni: The Centers for Disease Control Omni: Albert Camus said that plagues ess that could take a lot longer than de- [CDC] predict that AIDS has a fatality rate and wars always take people by sur- veloping a vaccine. These changes can't of nearly one hundred percent. prise. Were you surprised by AIDS?

be forced on us, as they were in the past, Montagnier: AIDS does not inevitably lead Montagnier: I would have to say yes. But by social taboos and religion. There's no to death, especially if you suppress the epidemiologists have known for a long going backward. But people have begun cofactors that support the disease. It's time that we're vulnerable to new epi- to redefine Ihe idea of love, and this could very important to tell this lo people who demics. The same civilization that cre- be quite fruitful. are infected. Psychological factors are ated the AIDS epidemic could create

Omni: What do you think of Daniel Za- critical in supporting immune function. If others, with infectious agents even more gury at Pierre and Marie Curie University, you suppress this psychological support virulent. We haven't exhausted all the who's currently testing an AIDS vaccine by telling someone he's condemned to germs in our tissue capable of being on himself and fifty volunteers in Zaire? die, your words alone will have con- transmitted by sexual relations. The

Montagnier: I could make a joke about demned him. It simply isn't true that the greatest danger lies in nonconventional chimpanzees being rarer than humans. virus-is one hundred percent fatal. If you viruses that produce no immune reac- Zagury has had interesting results on lead a normal life—sleep regularly at tion. They resist sterilization and all known himself, but he's well aware that he still night, avoid alcohol, coffee, and to- drugs. Our civilization is in the process of doesn't have a vaccine. He wouldn't dare bacco—your immune system could per- selecting the successful germs of the fu- inject himself with the virus to prove that haps resist the disease for ten or fifteen ture—those capable of escaping detec- he's immune. The bad news is that no years. By then we might have found an tion by the immune system. We already level of immunity you induce in an animal effective therapy.. Furthermore, the CDC know that some brain diseases are is sufficient to protect it from the disease. statistics are biased. They're based on a caused by such agents. If any time re-

The same is true of human beings. But single homosexual population [San Fran- mains for me after AIDS, this is what I hope maybe our test conditions are too severe. cisco], with a lot of cofactors aiding the to work on next.OQ 13d OMNI HOW TO HAVE A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

Myslical experiences are not necessarily exiraordinar-y IMAGINE events that happen only to extraordinary people such Objective: To understand as dedicated meditators or who you've become (your peyote eaters. You may de- identity) by pretending your liberately induce a mystical memories are merely a state by paying altention to product of your imagination; subtle feelings and ideas to ask yourself, Is there a lying just beneath the layers more basic and immutable of everyday awareness. That part of my identity beneath is what mystics and gurus the superficial rotes I as-. have been telling people for sume? Is there some aspect thousands of years. Quite of my life—a particular ex- simply, begin to notice —in a perience or another per- nonjudgmental way—how son— lhat is impossible to you talk about your life, ra- imagine as an illusion? tionalize your behavior, ex- Setting: Choose a plac plain the world around you. where you're completely By shilling your awareness alone for a couple of hours. from mundane concerns (You also may practice this and temporarily suspending exercise if you're alone your "belief systems," you among a group of strang- may be more ready to ex- ers—on an airplane or in a perience life from the van- movie theater.) tage point of the sage. You may even feel connected to INSTRUCTIONS something greater than 1. Sit in a comfortable yourself. Your rigid concept chair, close your eyes, and of time will probably dis- lake a deep breath. As you solve into a sense of time- continue to breathe slowly: Isi less ness, blurring the dis- your life pass before you: tinctions between past, cnilohood events, adoles- present, and future. cent experiences, major life To achieve a subtle shift in accomplishments or it' perspective and induce a ARTICLE BY KEITH HARARY lakes, memories of family mystical experience without members and friends. Don'l dramatically altering your TAKE A STEP OUT OF THE ORDINARY become analytical about it past relationships or get way of life, you may find AND SHIFT INTO helpful to practice the fol- stuck on particular experi- lowing exercises. Proceed at MYSTIC GEAR WITH THESE TWELVE ences. Just let your impres- your own pace; practice MIND-EXPANDING sions come and go. How when you're sober, feel EXERCISES FOR THE COMING YEAR. does it feel to be !he person emotionally relaxed, and at you've become? a time when you won't be in- ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEVE HANKS 2. Take another deep terrupted. Warning: Be- breath. As you exhale, c cause these exercises are or psychiatrist. You may ter- time when you usually feel centrate on how alone you designed to challenge the minate any exercise when- more open to other people are at this moment. Pay at- sense you have of yourself ever you like and complete and more willing to look at tention to your physical en- and of reality, we recom- it later. Even though these your life from a new point of vironment and your body's mend that you check with exercises are intended to be view. At the end of these ex- sensations. Continue to your doctor if you feel un- practiced alone, you may ercises, the late mythologist breathe slowly. certain about your ability to adapt them for small groups. Joseph Campbell talks 3. Now imagine that your handle them. If you have a' Some exercises are de- about the impoverishment of presenl situation and imme- history of psychiatric prob- signed to be practiced dur- living without a connection to diate surroundings repre- lems, consult your therapist ing the holiday season; a the mystical realm. sent the whole of reality. 137 COSMIC CONNECTIONS

Everything you remember you first visited this place as this place at some point in

about the world and your life, a child. Let go ot your adult the future. The exact date

the people and events in it, perspective. Concentrate on maybe left open, or you may

is imaginary. In tact, you've your worldview as a child. want to specify a particular

just come into existence in What questions were impor- time, say, on New Year's Eve

the past few moments. If tant to you at that time? in five years. You may use you are surrounded by Maybe you felt misunder- this spot anytime as psy- strangers, imagine that they stood and secretly wished chologically sacred ground, are also experiencing their for a wise grown-up friend to a place to reflect on your lives as an illusion. answer your questions. present life from the vantage Benefits: With regular 2. Focus on your child- point of the future. practice you may begin to hood feelings until you iden- experience everyday reality tify feelings you had as a INSTRUCTIONS in a different way— not as child that you've continued 1. Take a few moments to boring, habitual, or con- to experience as an adult, think about your current flicted. You may feel freer to 3. Now imagine that time problems. Are you dissatis- consider more satisfying ca- does not exist and that you fied with your job? Unhappy reers, start creative proj- can communicate directly in a relationship? Afraid to try ects, or ask potentially with your childhood self. Ex- something new? Don't ana- threatening questions like, change viewpoints with each lyze your problems—just let

What do I want out of life? other: As the adult, share them float by you. Ask yourself who you might with the child what the adult 2. Now imagine you're at

be if all you remember about now knows about life; as the this spot in the future, re-

your life is an illusion. child, tell the adult about the viewing your present con-

THE CHILD'S INSIGHTS MAY HELP SOFTEN THE JADED PARTS OF YOUR ADULT PERSONALITY. THE ADULT MAY BE ABLE TO SOOTHE THE CHILD'S PAIN.

EXERCISE 2 child's aspirations, desires, neously as a child and an cerns with the experience THE GHOST OF and goals— things the adult adult. Some of the distinc- you've gained in the inter- CHRISTMAS FAST may have forgotten. tion between past and pres- vening years. Ask your fu- 4. Complete this exercise ent may begin dissolving. ture self to talk to you about Objective: To transcend by giving a present to the your current problems. the restrictions imposed by child. Ask the child what he EXERCISE 3 Benefits: If you feel frus- our limited concept of time or she would like—atoyora BACK TO THE trated about your present and to communicate with the trip to the zoo or an amuse- FUTURE situation, the insights you re- child you once were. ment park. ceive from your future self Setting: Choose a spot Benefits: The child's in- Objective: To transcend may help alleviate some of that was important to you as sights may help soften the the restrictions imposed by your tension or unhappi- a child during the holiday hardened or jaded parts of our limited concept of time ness; you will be less likely season—a church, an attic your adult personality. The and connect with whom to feel stuck, because you're room, or possibly the home adult point of view may help you'll become in the future. willing to look at your life from of a favorite relative. resolve conflicted'child- Setting; Return to the lo- a future perspective. You hood feelings. You also may cation you chose to practice also may experience sen- INSTRUCTIONS experience sensations of Exercise 2. For this exercise, sations of timelessness,

1. Take a few moments to timelessness, as though you however, you must contract which may begin to loosen remember how you felt when somehow exist simulta- with yourself to go back to your rigid concept of time. 138 OMNI EXERCISE 4 EXERCISE 5 onds before this event oc- EXERCISE 6 SILENT NIGHTS PERCHANCE TO curs. Take another deep GRAND CENTRAL breath. Watch the second Objective: To spend a hand sweep around the Objective: To understand weekend in silence. Objective: To induce a clock—seconds quickly add the ways in which you ar Setting: Stay at home, go mystical experience by de- up to minutes, and the min- multaneously radically dif- camping, or rent a cabin priving yourself of sleep. utes add up to hours. ferent from and very similar near a lake or forest—far (Warning: You must be sta- Benefits: Sieep depriva- to other people. away from civilization. If you ble both physically and psy- tion often induces a sense ol Setting: Pick a crowded choose to remain at home, chologically to practice this intense objectivity, as though location such as a busy a don't watch television or lis- exercise, If you have any you were observing your ex- port, bus terminal, or train ten to the radio. reservations, check with periences from a distance. station. Spend a day sitting your doctor.) When you see yourself in in one place observing peo- INSTRUCTIONS Setting: Home. such a way, you may feel free ple come and go during the

1. Set aside an entire to question your identity or holiday season. If you don't weekend, preferably during INSTRUCTIONS the roles you play in a non- have the time or patience tc the holiday season, to be si- 1. Remain awake for at threalening manner. sit for a day, try to spend a lent. Don't talk to anyone. least 24 hours. To conserve Sleep deprivation also couple of hours watching the 2. To avoid embarrassing your energy, don't engage in may induce deja vu experi- crowds pass by. situations, explain your plans strenuous physical activity. ences in which unfamiliar_ to a friend and ask your con- 2. Use the time when you situations seem oddly famil- INSTRUCTIONS fidant to be your interpreter. would be asleep to write let- iar. But there's no rational ex- 1. Notice the stationary

3. If you remain at home ters or Christmas cards or to planation for your feelings. If objects in your environ- and need to go out, don't prepare new dishes for holi- you experience deja vu dur- ment—benches, vending

•.'^^MW»

...

cross the street to avoid day meals. If you choose ing sleep deprivation,.don't machines, newsstands, r meeting a friend. If neces- activities you enjoy, your at- try to figure out why the. ex- taurants, coffeehouses. sary, your interpreter will ex- tention will be diverted from perience seems familiar. 2. Watch the movi plain what is happening. thinking about the sleep you Imagine that you've really crowd and the coming and Don't use a pen and paper are missing. been "here" at another time. going of buses, trains, air- to write messages. 3, After a couple of hours. Indulge yourself in the fan- planes, taxicabs. After an Benefits: Self-imposed si- find a comfortable place to tasy and see what happens. hour you'll probably begin to

lence will allow you to feel sit and look directly at an il- When you watch time in notice patterns of motion and both the joys and restric- luminated watch or clock the way you have done in this activity that at first seemed

tions of verbal communica- that has a second hand. Dim exercise, you may begin to to move in a random way. tion. You'll probably experi- the lights and then watch the appreciate its subjective 3. As you watch the peo- ence a flood of emotions clock for a while. quality and realize that our ple, consider the possibility varying from frustration to 4. Take a deep breath and perception of time is largely that no one around you per- euphoria because you will think of a significant event based on cultural traditions. ceives reality in the exact be completely alone with that you're really looking for- As the hours pass, your same way. Pick out your thoughts and feelings. ward to. Estimate the num- sense of time may begin to stranger, and compare your Notice the way people re- ber of days before the event change. Your internal focus reality to his reality. Don't spond to you when they, re- happens. Then count the of attention affects your sub- dwell on the superficial dif-

I alize you "cannot" talk. hours, .minutes, and sec- jective experience of time. ferences between you such 139 COSMIC CONNECTIONS

as physical appearance, ra- EXERCISE 7 EXERCISE 8 ticular attention to the se- cial identity, and cultural SINGULAR THE DAILY NEWS quence of news stories and background, but consider SENSATION to the commercials that are how differently the two of you Objective: To achieve a interspersed between the perceive the world. Your be- Objective; To experience sense of identity with the rest various reports. lief—I share the same reality all of reality as unified and of humanity. 4. Continue this exercise with this stranger—may be not as a collection of dispar- Setting; Living room. on a nightly basis for about an illusion. Ask yourself, for ate objects. ten days, sitting in' the dark,

example, if you have anyway Setting: Choose any ordi- INSTRUCTIONS watching the news with the of knowing if the two of you nary surrounding —your fa- 1. Spend at least two sound turned off. You may perceive the color red the vorite chair at home, a park weeks avoiding contact with interrupt your periods of si- same way. bench, a beach. Make sure television news, newspa- lent observation with addi- 4. Relax, take a deep you feel relaxed. pers, or magazines. Even tional news blackouts to help breath, and turn your atten- tion back to your general surroundings. Now consider what you have in common with the people you're watching: You're all alive

during this moment in hu- man history; your lives have

crossed paths even if at a comfortable distance.

Benefits: It takes only an

unexpected shift in circum- stances—a terrorist attack, an earthquake, a fire— to INSTRUCTIONS though you will hear bits of tighten the loose connec- 1. Focus on some com- news or see an occasional tions that bind you to the mon object in your immedi- headline, you probably will people around you. In such ate environment such as a begin to feel disconnected circumstances many indi- candy dish, a seashell, a leaf. from events in the world. vidual differences can Make certain that the object 2. After two weeks, quickly disappear, and peo- is close to you. choose an evening to watch

ple see what they have in 2. Take a deep breath and the 11 rm. news. Turn off all common with one another. concentrate on the object the lights. Sit far enough But you do not have to share until it's all you see or think away from the TV so you a traumatic experience to in- about. As you exhale, con- maintain a sense of dismrcc duce a sense of camarade- sider the fact that a candy and objectivity. Turn off the rie. Picture yourself and the dish, for example, is just a sound on the television. Your

strangers you're watching as receptacle. Depending on its goal: to concentrate on the

a single group, one entity function, it could be an -in- images, not on the com- moving without individual cense burner or an ashtray. mentators' interpretations. perceptions. You probably 3. Imagine what its struc- 3. Watch the facial will feel closer to the people ture might be like on the mo- expressions of the male.and

around you. At the same lecular or quantum level. If female anchors who report time, when you consider the you and the object are com- the day's events. Are their possibility that your percep- posed of the -same basic iac!3l exprss&'Ors appropri- tion of reality is unique, you particles, perhaps you are ate in light of the images they may get a dramatic clue to not as different from the ob- present? Do they smile as your own identity. Ask your- ject as you imagined they introduce stories ac-

self: If I'm alone in the way I Benefits: Mystics claim companied by violent im-

perceive reality, wbal do my that all reality is unified, it ages or tragic scenes? How perceptions- tell me about might be helpful to experi- much of the news is upbeat?

who I am? Repeat this ques- ence reality, if only for a few How much is an accounting tion to yourself until its Heeling moments, from this of the day's misfortunes

meaning sinks in. alternate perspective. around the world? Pay par- 140 OMNI —

you maintain objectivity and 4. If you leel comfortable sider that people around the EXERCISE 11 a sense of distance. merging with a domestic an- world can watch the same A ROOM WITH Benefits: Ask yourself how imal, then try to merge with star patterns. A VIEW your view of the world and an animal at the zoo. 2 As you watch the sky, your understanding of hu- Benefits: As the bound- review your past year, and Objective: To induce a man nature are influenced aries between you and the imagine what the new year sense of objectivity about by regular exposure lo these animal dissolve, you may feel will be like. your life and a feeling of images. Don't judge the mo- as if you've really traded 3. Continue to watch the connectedness to the rest of tives of the reporters, but places with a member of an- constellations and think the cosmos. imagine you're an alien from other species, as though a about some distant place SeftfngrAquiet, dark, and another planet observing part of you has become the you would like to visit. Ask secluded spot from which human behavior for the first animal —this is the height of yourself how these same you can clearly observe the time. What are you learning? subjective merging. You may constellations would look constellations.

YOU MAY FEEL AS IF YOU'VE REALLY TRADED PLACES WITH A MEMBER OF ANOTHER SPECIES AS THOUGH SOME PART OF YOU HAS BECOME THE ANIMAL.

EXERCISE 9 begin to feel more compas- above that location, imagine INSTRUCTIONS TRADING PLACES sion for other species. You'll that you're already there in 1. Stand with your head also probably recognize that place, looking up at the turned slightly upward, your Objective: To trade places some of the artificial differ- same pattern of stars. Now legs slightly apart, and your menially with a dog. cat, ca- ences beiween the human you're back home, looking at hands at your sides. Take a nary, or animal in the zoo. and animal worlds. those stars. Continue drift- deep breath and concen-

Setting: Home or the zoo. ing back and torth between trate on a particular star in EXERCISE 10 locales until you're in both lo- your favorite constellation. INSTRUCTIONS BIO SKY cations at the same time. •2. Imagine the star as a 1. Relax and sit in front of Benefits: The grandeur point of consciousness in the animal so that you can Objective: To help you re- and immensity of the night space as though the center easily look into each other's flect on your past year and sky will probably induce a of your forehead and the star eyes. Make sure Ihe animal prepare for the year to come. sense of wonder at the world were connected by invisible feels secure with you. Setting: Find a comfort- and a serene acceptance of lines of force.

2. Take a deep breath. As able spot where you can see your place, in it, a prerequi- 3. When you feel con- you slowly exhale, look into the sky on New Year's Eve. site for any positive changes nected to the star, imagine the animal's eyes, and imag- (If you are not familiar with you may want to make in that you are a constellation ine thai a part of your aware- the constellations, familiar- your life. As you travel back composed of individual stars ness is being transmuted ize yourself with the night and forth between locales, located at different points all through your breath into the sky; see page 144.) the limitations of space and over your body. animal's mind. Watch the time seem less important. 4. Take, another deep animal breathe, and imag- INSTRUCTIONS You may look ahead ten breath, and as you exhale, ine that a part ot its aware- 1. At midnight relax and years without worrying about imagine that your body is ness is being transmitted look up at the constellations. whether you'll be satisfied dissolving. Only the stars into your mind. Remember that people have with your life —you've al- marking out your overall 3. Continue looking di- viewed these same constel- ready begun to accept your shape remain. rectly into the animal's eyes lations for millions of years past and what that makes 5. As you continue slowly until you can feel your con-' and that these same con- you.'You're now open to in- inhaling and exhaling, imag- sciousness merge with, the stellations will be visible long fluencing your future in a ine that the stars marking out animal's consciousness. after, you have died. Con- positive way. your shape mirror the posi- COSMIC CONNECTIONS

Setting: The demolition really are leaving a mental site of a condemned build- trace of your own experi- ing, followed by the site of a ences there for future gen- building under construction. erations to think about. Benefits: By experiencing INSTRUCTIONS some of the ways in which 1. Position yourself at a even the most seemingly safe distance from the dem- constant aspects of your en- olition site, and observe the vironment may be only a

building as it is being slowly temporary part of a particu-

torn down. lar time in history, you may 2. Imagine how perma- feel less confined by your nent the building must have assumptions about every- seemed to the people who day reality or the immediate once lived there. Pay atten- worldviews of those around tion to the relationship be- you. By realizing that noth- tween the different floors and ing is permanent, you may rooms. Don't they seem also be more willing to risk close to one another once making positive changes in

the outer walls are gone? your life. Think about all the people who have lived in the build- ROAD TO SOMEWHERE ing, their worldviews, occu- These exercises are like pations, even the activities seeds you plant and eagerly

*'

I .^V ~*^W«. tions of the stars in the con- universe. Seen from space, and conversations carried wait to sprout. Some of these stellation you are viewing— your life may seem insignifi- on in the building. exercises may not affect you; as if the constellation is a re- cant in relation to the rest of 3. Go immediately to visit others probably will. There is flection of yourself. With a lit- the cosmos, but remember: the site of a building that is no guarantee you will have a tle more imagination, you You're connected to some currently under construc- mystical experience. But if may become a reflection of larger reality, represented by tion, Consider that the work- you practice them, you the constellation. Alter- the constellation. Everyday ers are not merely con- probably will become aware nately, imagine that you're on experience then may seem structing another structure of feelings,- thoughts, and Earth looking up at the con- to take on much greater sig- but are creating a reality for questions about your place

- stellation and that you're in nificant to you. those who wHI live or work in in the universe—the subtle space looking back at Earth. the new building, Who will stuff we daily ignore or are Benefits: By developing EXERCISE 13 live here? What will they say not even conscious of. You the ability to let go of your URBAN RENEWAL to one another? cannot -change what you will physical form and look back 4. Make an agreement not accept or even look at at your life on Earth, you may Objective: To experience with yourself to explore the about yourself— and that begin to look at.your life from the relationship between, interior of the new building willingness to scrutinize an objective distance, re- your personal life and the once it is completed. When yourself is the peephole to an ducing stress and gaining lives of people in the past you explore the finished altered state of conscious- insights into your place in the and the future. . building, imagine that you ness, a mystical view of life. 142 OMNI thology why the same ism, Islam are THUS SPAKE — and — out of Campbell: How can I say this ZOROASTER: AN themes occur in cultures date; they don't function in easily? Most of the mytholo- INTERVIEW WITH throughout the world and the modern world. gies of the world have to deal how they formed the JOSEPH CAMPBELL basis Omni: Where does Eu with putting the individual ir for both Eastern and West- dhism fit in? accord with nature—with his Feeling connected to the ern religions. He was greatly Campbell: Buddhism is nature, with the nature of the world is, as Keith Harary concerned about the break- something else. Buddhism society, putting the society

points out in "How to Have a down of myth in the modern has to do with the inward life, in accord with the nature of

Mystical Experience," world, and in the following and it amalgamates very the universe; all of that, the sometimes a matter of excerpt from an interview easily with the local peda- harmonization. In the Near changing our perceptions. with Omni senior editor Jane gogical myths. For example, East, however, about the first Mycologist Joseph Camp- Bosveld. conducted before in Japan Buddhism and millennium b.c, there came bell, who died last year, his death, Campbell ex- Shintoism are together; in Zoroaster, and this is the understood the value of plained how the religions of China Buddhism and Taoism transformation that I think mystical experiences. He the West have contribuled to go together. Buddhism has underlies the whole thing. spent a lifetime studying the that demise and what indi- to do not so much with the Zoroaster saw two creators: myths that have nurtured the viduals can do to rebuild a total life pedagogy as with a creator of light and truth, human imagination and have strong, unifying mythology. the ultimate inward disen- and a creator of darkness given us a sense of the gagement and then reen- and deception. Ahura mystical in everyday life. In Omni; Why is mythology im- gagement, to find your inner Mazda created a gc books such as The with Hero portant? place. It's a spiritually ori- world; Ahriman filled if with a Thousand Faces and The Campbell: To me, the most ented rather than a culturally evil. You have a fall — a fall in MasksofGod, Campbell ex- important fact about mythol- oriented tradition. the very nature of the uni- plored the meaning of my- ogy is that it remains the Omni: Does that form a verse-—and so you don't put same. All the myths and re- ligions of the world share common themes that keep coming back time and time IN again and form the spiritual BEING TOUCH WITH MYTH AND ground from which all hu- MYSTICISM, ACCORDING

man life must I move. see TO JOSEPH CAMPBELL, IS WHAT mythology serving several BINDS US TO THE functions: One iunction is the pedagogical, guiding the EARTH AND TO ONE ANOTHER. human being through the in- evitable stages of the hu- man lifetime, which have been the same since the Pa- yourself in accord with na- leolithic caves. These are the ture, you correct it. And that's dependency of childhood Campbell: Well, Buddhism where we got off. The Bible

and then the movement from believes that life is sorrowful rhe; : ts thai; we have the fall that at the crisis of adoles- and that the release from in the Bible. And also the no- cence to the responsibilities sorrow is nirvana. Nirvana is tion of the Jews as somehow of adulthood. It's a total the disengagement of one's exceptional and apart from transformation of psychol- total commitment from the everybody else, and every- ogy that has to take place; transitory aspects of life to body else is simply goyim that's' what the initiation rites the permanent ground within and indifferent to God. were concerned with as well the self. What we learn from Christianity takes it over, and

as those that help us deal the Orient is the inward Islam takes it over. So in- with death. sense of the religious Ufa stead of accord with nature, Omni:. Do you think the which has been forgotten in you have this choosing of myths are working now? our traditions. We're way over righteousness and thB Campbell: No. they're not on the go-and-help-your- right— ethics —and also the working at all. We don't have neighborside. desacralization [the divest-

any. I mean, the ones that we Omni: How did that come ment ot supernatural quali- Christianity, have^- Juda- about in the West? (ies]oftheuniverse, which is I 143 DO SOMETHING ABOUT ALIEN ABDUCTIONS! WEAR GALACTITAGS,.! AS SEEN IN THE "OMNI WHOLE UNIVERSE CATALOG" '

no longer seen as holy. The only holy thing ace. It really is. It's a horrible, horrible

is Israel: the only holy thing is the Chris- thing. The future, if there's going to be

tian community; the only holy thing is Is- one, has to be a fjissolution of those three lam. And so everything depends on the systems and an opening up of the hori- society. Puritanism went even further and zons to the planet. Gone, cut out all the rituals, and then all you had Omni: What do you mean by that? was ethics and one group saying they're Campbell; You have to realize that your But Not better than another; you worship God in society is not that of your small religious your way, we worship God in His. The community, or even big religious com-

world is disenchanted, and the rituals thai munity, but of the people of the world. Forgotten. effect a deep transformation are lost. Omni: But how do you get people to think We no longer believe in a mystical tran- of themselves as part of a larger global

is important community? The passenger pigeon. The heath scendent ground, which an mythologies. only thing that can it, hen. The Labrador duck. The Carolina feature in all When we speak Campbell: The do listen their clergy, is pasateet about the ultimate mystery, it neither Is because people io The tist of extinct animals grows. nor Is not; it goes beyond all categories for the clergy to begin talking about hu-

But it doesn't have to. of speech. When you've got a God who manity instead of their own little sect and,

The National Wildlife Federation is says, "I'm it," he's not transparent to tran- instead of saying, "We have it," say, "It is working to save endangered species. scendence: he stops you there. So you through us. through our religion, that we

Join us while there's still time. aren't transparent to transcendence realize that all people have it. And what The National Wildlife Federation, ." either. You can't say, as the Hindus say, Ihey have is as follows. . and then talk 14121 6th Street. NW, Washington, DC "Thou art it." Both are closed off. Also, about the spiritual implications rather than 20036-2266 God has been named, and we have a the historical limitations of their tradition.

book by Him, and we know all about it. Omni: But there are individuals who do

No mystery! It's gone! So after that, we have some sense of that in the world. How don't have a myihologically grounded did they arrive at that even though it's not sense of the mystical. inherent in the culture?

it Every mythology grew up within a Campbell; Well, I arrived at by reading bounded horizon and was addressed to something that wasn't just sectarian in its

a certain people, a certain society. What treatment of the spiritual. I did compara- is the society now to which mythology tive historical studies— comparative lit- must be addressed? The society of the erature, comparative religions, compar-

globe. And if you want to see how the ative mythologies—and traveled around mythologies that we've inherited are a bit and saw that one song is being sung working, look at Lebanon and Beirut to- in many different languages. That's what ' day. The three major religions of the West one finds out. Bui few people get out of knocking each other to pieces there. They the bondage of their cultural environ-

are so ethnically bound that it's a men- ment. Very few; it's amazing. DO .

Taylor in the ET business. But even if pri-

vate industry jumps all over the idea, it's doubtful that NASA's plans for the ET will STtfR + be abandoned, especially since the pri- GPTE vatization program does not include tanks from military flights. An application con- sidered early in the shuttle program pro- The Inner Workout posed that tanks be converted to com- ponents of a space station. "A powerful tool for eliciting Making a tank livable, however, would require considerable amounts of EVA, new insights into personal issues."* NASAs acronym for extravehicular activ-

ity. Astronauts would need, for example, Sure, Star + Gate is great tun their own meanings to the card- to deactivate and remove the ET's pyro- to play. But it's also a genuinely symbols they draw." technic tumble valve, now used to set the helpful mechanism for solving —Ms. Magazine tank spinning to ensure proper breakup relationship and career problems, 2. The Sky Spread Gameboard after jettison. In addition, the ET comes making better decisions in your — equipped with divided into areas represent- a Range Safety System, a life, attaining your goals, and ing the past, the future, and the means of destroying the tank upon com- unlocking your intuitive and mand. Currently, present. the shuttle has no creative powers it method lor unlocking the device once it 3. A Complete Instruction Star + Gate consists of: is armed, so wiring modifications would Booklet 1 . The Symbolic have to be made to use the ET in orbit. Cards — 96 playing 4. Keys to The Kingdom - an NASA is also considering other uses cards, each illus^_ in-depth illustrated guide to -the for recycled ETs that would require far less trated with pic- cards, the Sky Spread Game- EVA. For example, astronomers and en- tures designed board, and the entire system of gineers have already devised plans to to elicit non- the game (written by Star + Gate use a modified ET to house a large verbal impres- creator Richard Geer). Gamma Ray Imaging Telescope that sions... and could fly in the early Nineties. Another plan backed with Sid Kemp, in East West Journal, is to turn ETs into orbiting service sta- words that bring said. "Star + Gate allowed me tions, which could convert solar energy to clarity and organize some up more associations. into fuel for other spacecraft. And by thoughts I'd had in my mind for

"What sets Star + Gate apart. . weeks. I found I melting down ETs in a solar furnace, the answers didn't is that the participants assign know I had." aluminum could be forged into construc- tion materials including relatively cheap radiation shielding for long-term space habitation and interplanetary travel, In addition, by attaching a cargo carrier to ST

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is lighter than nitrogen], forming a slick several feet thick. Cosmic rays zapping

this ethane could easily transform it into more complex organic compounds. Delitsky and co-worker W. Reid Thompson have developed the notion that Triton's landscape could thus be one of the few in our solar system that are coated, like Earth's, with complex or- ganic compounds. Once such organics existed, the various compounds could have formed layers of sludge that would Now the magazine of the future con be sink or float, depending on their makeup. kept for the future, Store your Issues of Library As researchers suggested in 1987 in the OMNI In a new Custom Bound Cose made of black simulated leather, It's built to journal Icarus, "Perhaps Voyager2, turn- lost, and It will keep 12 issues in mint ing its cameras on Triton in 1989, will see condition Indefinitely. The spine Is embossed plains of white and colored organic de- with the gold OMNI logo, and In each case posits and, maybe, the glint of a distant there Is a gold transfer for recording the date. sun reflected off a calm nitrogen sea." Because most recent Earth-based ob- Send your check or money order ($8.95 each; 3 for $24.95; 6 for $45.95| servations hint that Triton's atmosphere is postpaid USA orders only. USA orders add clouding EXPAND YOUR over, the success of Voyager 2's $1.00 and foreign orders odd $2.50 viewing may be out of NASA's control. LEVEL OF Researchers think that the sort of chem- To: OMNI MAGAZINE istry that transforms the hydrocarbons CONSCIOUSNESS in Jesse Jones Industries, 499 E. Erie Ave. Triton's surface brew could also be cre- Phlkx PA 19134

ating high-altitude layers of organic dust CREDIT CARD HOLDERS (orders over $15) Your consciousness has no limits— if to form a haze— the same way that pho- CALL TOLL FREE l-BOO-972-5858 you let it rise above its present bonds. Or mall your order, clearly showing your Inspiration tochemical smog forms above earthly and Intuition are not just account number and signature. Pa. residents cities. Some planetary scientists fear that haphazard events. You are an infinite add 6% sales tax. Voyager 2's flyby may be clouded partoftheUniVersa/ Cosmic /nte///gence. out— SATISFACTION GUARANTEED a replay of the troubles met during its 1981 You can draw, at will, upon this Intelli- and Voyager 1 's 1980 Saturn encounters. gence for seemingly miraculous results. Then the two failed This Cosmic Intelligence flows through probes to get a clear picture of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP you. It is the very vita! force of life. It h On the other hand, Triton's atmos- not supernatural; it is a natural phenome- pheric haze may be the result of some- non. Learn to reach for this higher level thing akin to a spring thaw. The combi- of your consciousness and avail yourself nation of orbital of its intuitive enlightenment. geometry and counterrevolution of the moon appears to This Free Booklet make for great seasonal weather swings, and some spots in Triton's northern hemi- These statements are not idle fantasy. sphere are now getting their strongest They are made by the Rosicrucian dose of sunlight in 600 years. Under the Order, AMORC, a worldwide cultural right conditions, says Delitsky, the long- organization. For centuries, it has made frozen slushes of nitrogen and methane its dynamic teachings available to thou- could warm up every six centuries to a sands of men and women who are serious balmy -280°F—enough to drive gases about self-development. For more in- skyward and speed the creation of haze. formation, send for a free copy of the If the weather's clear next August, the booklet. The Mastery of Life. It tells how 1,797-pound Voyager that lifted off from you may start learning to derive the marshy Cape Canaveral in August 1977 utmost from your Self—and life. Address: might get another, glimpse of "swamp- Scribe BPB land"—the slushy surface of Triton. But if the haze looks too thick, scientists may guide their probe's camera to the back side of Neptune instead.

San lose, California 95191, U.S. Triton represents a slow-motion dem- Kindly send me a free copy of T onstration of the kinds of chemical reac-

Life. I am sincerely interested. tions that happened throughout the solar NAME ____ system soon after its formation. Says De- litsky, "We have nitrogen here on Earth, yet we have to go three billion miles out in space to get a handle on what went on when our atmosphere was first forming." This makes Triton a kind of planetary deep freeze that allows scientists, in a sense, to look back in time.OQ nniruD CONTINUED FROM MJ3E 42

director of the National Institute on Alco- hol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA). To remove alcoholism from the disease con- Unsure of your spelling? Simply type in 'ord and touch a key, No matter how stellation would certainly darken the fu- you botch it, you'll get the right ture for federally funded research in the sr in seconds. field. And it could sound the death knell Want to write with precision and pizzazz? for medical control of treatment ' centers, Simply hit the •DEFINITIONS" key insurance protection, Medicare, and other mce you have verified the correct financial support systems. spelling of your word. Now press

The "series of decisions, judgments, the "SYN" key and a complete list and choices that a person makes that of all synonyms for the definition of the word selected will be displayed. coalesce into alcoholism" is what Includes games like Crosswords, Fingarette thinks should be studied. He Scrabble. Hangman, and rr believes it's possible for alcoholics to Batteries, earning case, 90-day learn partial abstinence. warranty and our 30-day money-back "Free will," counters Begieiter, "is, in guarantee included, fact, present in many, many diseases." card holders may call our toll- For a hypertensive, taking salt is free will. number, or mail your check to the A diabetic who eats sugar against a address below. CA residents add 6 % sales ta Please include doctor's advice is exercising free S5. 95 for shipping and insuranc will. Poor spelling doesn't "Just because there's a behavioral WordMaster com- dumb. Poor writing doesn't mean you're HXC515 S99.95 ponent doesn't make it less of a dis- dull. But many people think otherwise. ease," he maintains. Begieiter argues Now avoid these embarrassments at Order toll Ires £4 hrs. a Jay that the evidence for alcoholism as a the touch of a button, with our new 800-443-0100 «t 690 WnrdMasler® — a combined 1 disease is "incontrovertible. If you walk 15,000 word spell checker — around my institution's alcohol ward—or (including definitions unlike other any institution's— hand-held units) and a whopping RYANST and talk to the patients, 470,000 word thesaurus ... in a 5" x it will take you only half an hour to con- B Y A I L 214" x Vi " package barely larger than a M vince yourself that it's a disease. There credit card. The dictionary function uses are those who abuse alcohol and those definitions from Merri am-Webster's

1 who are alcoholics. There are many dif- Dictionary. ferent kinds of behavior." In the future the NIAA's Tabakoff foresees research where, as in cancer, subtypes of alcohol- ism will be clearly identified, each with distinct causes and treatments. "I prefer to view alcoholism as a vulner- RUSSIA ability," says Shirley Y. Hill, director of the Alcoholism and Genetics Research Pro- WINS? gram at the University of Pittsburgh's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. "It's not bad behavior," she hastens to

add, "but behavior is involved. Calling it a disease, though, misplaces the etiol- ogy." Hill's own work helps support the claim for a genetic predisposition to al- coholism. By identifying genetic markers on chromosome 4 that appear linked with a possible gene for susceptibility to alcoholism, she has provided more evi- dence for biological determinants rather The than, say, lack of willpower, CRYSTAL Nevertheless, she has reservations WORKSHOP about the disease concept and thinks the responsibility should fall squarely on the problem drinker's shoulders. She pre- r: Sterling Silver ® $20.00 fers to save the word disease for condi- Catalogue free with purchase Catalogue tions where "even if you do everything $3.00 without pur, right, you'll still get a disease." And she worries that calling alcoholism a disease D *20OO 4 Pari Unit. J249 may lead some alcoholics to "seek medi- C4000BPadUnit.S475 cal treatment for the consequences of D fSOCO 12 Pad Unit. S775 D OBOOO 16 Pad Unit. SB75 their alcoholism when they should be seeing a professional psychotherapist." The answer to the question is not an easy one. Like alcoholism itself, fhe argu- ments are complex and varied—and can have dangerous consequences. DO ' —

LONG DAY'S JOURNEY CONTINUED FROM Pi

bill, which 1 crumpled into a ball and

placed in my open hand. As I wrinkled

my face in concentration, the bill started to rise about six inches above my hand,

I let it hover just in front of Harry's eyes,

then floai slowly lo my other hand. I

handed the bill back.

the device I used for this effect, avail-

able in magic stores for $10, is known as

the "floating dollar bill." It can be used with any dollar bill'at all. Harry had never seen the trick, and he accepted my ex- planation that Buddha gave me the

power. Now it was Harry's turn. He tore the dollar into tiny pieces, placed them in his hands, and stared. The tremor in his hands caused the pieces to jiggle, but they weren't flying the way he claimed. Next he pointed to my coffee cup and

announced that it was moving several feet across the table. He pointed to my pencil

and said it was starting to roll off the desk. Then he wiggled his finger at my book-

case and said it was falling. Harry ig- nored my physical measurements, which proved the objects were stationary. Noth-

ing I said could change his perception. Harry was truly hallucinating. Harry's hallucinalions were caused by cocaine. Sensations of motion in the cor- ners of the visual field are common co- caine hallucinations. Tapping this effect, Harry focused "on specific objects, then \ \ 1 I I / / / provided an elaborate and grandiose ex- BID BenBova's / planation, He was so awake and alert thai JH» \ he ielt his perceptions must be real. He exciting journey , was readily fooled, and his conviction re- ' mained strong even months after the in- \ into light, vision, toxication. This intense belief had con- vinced Harry's family that his visions v and color / and their own acts of levitation—were real. RRoal They were all suffering from folie a deux, a rare delusional disorder that is shared \WW$mM£M / among family members. In a sense, the Balise family was iucky s because ihey hallucinated only when they deliberately tried to levitate objects. Imagine walking along the sidewalk when a giant black hole suddenly starts chas-

ing you! It happened to an obese and

likable young man I'll call Rudy. Rudy reported that the black hole would appear once or twice a month in the most unexpected places: on the street, in the park, once even popping

CALL TOLL FREE I ' ' 1 s out of a newspaper. And Rudy would run 1-800-426-6027 S "a pleasure to read" N to the nearest police station or hospital In New York 1718-41 7-3737 for help, The police laughed, and the —Isaac Asimov / \ doctors gave him tranquilizers. j&r Music World. Depi. OMOoes When Rudy showed up at my olfice, / "captivating" v. he was shaking. The hole, he cried, was /—Hugh Downs waiting for him just outside the front door. Availableatyour local bookstore. \ We sneaked out a side door, and I drove him home. He returned for several weeks BWILEY of tests and observations by the institute Third Avenue, /605 NewvYork,York, NY 10158 V staff, but no one could find anything Call Tbll-Freel 800)0 526-5368 \ wrong with him. Because he didn't have CITY STATE / I I \ I \ \ > a black hole experience at the institute, I 148 OMNI '

but they arc snort lived and rarely trap

the person in a separate reality. m mr Exercise true for Mario Navas, how- That wasn't with ever, whose cug-indjcec hallucination swallowed him. To deal with his visions. More Less Mario believed, he needed a gun, On Thursday. October 7, 1982. Mario MMORE EFFECTIVE By dup- boarded Amtrak train no.-82 in Jackson- licating the motion c ville. Florida, en route to New York. He skiing, the world's bi was accompanied by his sister, her infant NordicTrack provides the son, her Ihree-year-old daughter, and a ideal aerobic workout. MORf COMPLETE ,45-caliber machine gun. The family entered a compartment in a Unlike bikes and other sleeping car. Mario went to sleep in the workouts c top bunk Thursday night and was awak- NordicTrack exercises painful and poten- ened early Friday morning. The train had all the body's major tially harmful jarring. stopped. The window shade was mov- muscles for a total JA NordicTrack workout reaching body workout. is completely jarless. ing. Fingers were under the MMORE CALORIES MNO DIETING No shade. The compartment door opened. There were Mashes of colored lights. BURNED In tests at a other exercise machine into sity, NordicTrack Someone came the room. Marfo faqew burr stk NordicTrack ... so you can lose that the intruder was an armed com- Luke a a rowing weight faster without dieting. mando. He shot the commando. But there MNO SKIING EXPERIENCE were others who had surrounded the train. automatic a hel- MMORE CONVENIENT'With REQUIRED Easy and fur, to use. They had weapons and NordicTrack, you icopter. He recognized the voices ol old comfort of your home. FREE BROCHURE AND VIDEO friends, only now they were part ot the Call Tbll Free Or Write: NordicTrack easily folds, requiring commando unit. Mario hid in the top bunk, f 23'' 1-800-328-5888 storage space of only 17" x .'..... flattening himself against the wall like a ,,, .

141 lonstlnii lilvci, N, Ckiska, MX 55318 frightened animal. More commandos invaded the train, Ah0&» ™l»r peGVHSCBETA Mario heard footsteps and heavy breath- fSJordicjrack ing outside the compartment. He fired shots at the door and warned the com-

mando not to shoot back: "Be carefull If

you shoot, I have the machine gun at the

boy's head." • decided to keep Rudy company for a few common in a var c.ycf conditions includ- On Monday, after 79 hours, he left the returning weeks after he left. I hoped I would be ing drug intoxication. While Rudy was train. Like Dorothy to Kansas with "him when the hole reappeared. sober that nighl, he had chain-smoked from Oz, Mario stepped from his com- Rudy made his living playing pool in ten cigarettes in the 30 minutes prior to mando-infested compartment into the train station at Raleigh, North Carolina. local bars, and I spent many nights the attack. Furthermore, Rudy had seen

watching him hustle the customers. It was a similar funnel years ago when he tried The police SWAT teams—the comman- Inside the 1:00 a.m when we left a west-side bar and LSD. I suspected that the black hole was dos—took him into custody. started walking to Rudy's apartment, his a flashback to that trip, now triggered by compartment were the decomposing pockets bulging with cash. A drizzle was the excitatory effects of nicotine. body of his sister, with a bullet in her fore-

I of falling. I heard Rudy gasp and turned to If I was right, should be able to repro- head, and the dehydrated remains the

see his face freeze in horror. duce the black hole by stimulating Ru- infant. The daughter survived.

"It's here!" he whispered, and bolted dy's brain in a similar way. I brought him In his hallucinatory confusion, Mario

down the street. I ran with him for a block back to the lab, where he was wired to had killed his sister, not a commando. While cowered the top bunk, the before I decided to look over my shoul- an EEG (electroencephalograph) ma- he in der, halt expecting to see a mugger after chine that measured his brain waves. The infant was dying of thirst in the berth just district attorney Rudy's cash. The street was deserted. readings were normal. Next I turned on below him. The charged time for co- I grabbed Rudy. "Rudy! Stop and look a photostimulator, which would bathe him Mario, who had once done

at it." I forced him to turn around. in bright, pulsating light, kindling a subtle came dealing, with murder and kidnap- He became catatonic, stiffening like a electrical fire in his brain. After a few sec- ping. Was Mario just another paranoid claimed, statue. I kept yelling his name and asking onds Rudy was catatonic. He was look- coke dealer or. as the defense him to describe what he was seeing. After ing di r ecliy into the: back hole. Looking an insane schizophrenic who should be

five minutes he could talk again. The at the EEG readouts, I could see the same excised? After all, wouldn't you have to black hole was now gone, he panted, but pattern ot excitation associated wilh LSD be insane to have such hallucinations?

he had seen it clearly for the first time: a intoxication. Rudy's black hole was a The judge appointed me to invest gate.

giant funnel about 16 feet in diameter. The 'lashoack after all. I learned that after Mario fired the first

outside of the funnel was covered with a After further testing I compiled a list of shots, the train was halted in Raleigh. black lacework, while the inside was lined things that would trigger Rudy's black When police approached, Mario fired withgeometrically arranged girders. hole: cigarettes, coffee, and dickering from the machine gun. His sleep ng car

There was a bright light in the very center roon lights. It would be hard for a street was then isolated on a s.cng, where the

of the hole. hustler to avoid such things, but if he three-day hostage s ene look place.

could. I that the black hole In what turned out lo be a great boor I recognized Rudy's black hole as one assured Rudy

of the hallucinatory geometric forms firs! would disappear. If he persisted in his life- to my investigation :his oasic information described by Universily of Chicago psy- style, he was certain to be confronted by was supplemented by a set of audio- chologist Heinrich Kluver in 1926. Kluver the hole again. Yet he needn't be afraid: tapes. Luckily for me, the police had wired found that these hallucinatory forms "were These hallucinatory forms are annoying, Mario's compartment with sensitive mi- 150 OMNI crophones and tape-recorded all sounds. and sniffed along with Mario. I would do Train doors opened and closed. Any min-

When I listened to these tapes, I heard this 64 more times throughout the exper- ute I expected the commandos to break gunfire, Mario yelling and screaming at iment. It became impossible to sleep. into my compartment. During a previous

the commandos, the children crying for (Without the drug, I would' not have been examination, Mario had made a veiled

life. water, and the noise from the news heli- able to reproduce the situation, including threat against my The FBI had said I copter overhead. The microphones also the paranoia and sleeplessness.) should lake it seriously because Mario

picked up several distinct sounds: "chop, I wasn't hungry, but by Saturday night had connections to Colombian cocaine

'. chop, chop . . sniff, sniff"—the telltale my thirst was so intense I started seeing kingpins. Now it was happening. More

I sounds of cocaine use. These occurred dolphins and sharks swimming on the noises. The door moved. I thought saw no less than 64 times. After the sniffing, ceiling of the compartment. The cries for someone come inside. I freaked. I threw Mario's rate of speech jumped from 108 water from the kids didn't help. Then, on a pillow at the door. But you can't win a

words per minute to 188. the tape. I heard Mario slip into the bath- pillow fight with a commando. I clutched

Cocaine use was confirmed by a most room and take a drink. I felt justified in the only weapon I had— my portable uri- unusual urine lest. Mario had been so taking two swallows from my emergency nal—and positioned myself to throw it at afraid to leave the top bunk that he was water bottle. the next thing that moved.

forced to urinate in his pants. I sent those The first time I had to urinate, [ did it in Nothing moved. After an eternity my

pants to the FBI lab, which found large my pants. The next time I was using a guard yelled. "Everything's okay." Later,

amounts of cocaine metabolite. But Ihere portable urinal when, at almost the same when I emerged from the compartment,

was more to Mario's experience than time, I heard Mario urinating in the bath- I learned that an Amtrak worker had heard coke. There were the conditions of stress, room! Later, canisters of putrescine and about the experiment and wanted to isolation, sleep deprivation, hunger, thirst, cadaverine, two noxious chemicals pro- check out the crazy doctor. He was Ihe and life -threatening danger. Put all of duced by decaying flesh, were released one who had banged on the window. The these conditions together and I sus- in my compartment to mimic the smells police stopped him before he could en- pected that anyone would start halluci- from the corpse of Mario's sister. The ter my car. nating. But I had to be sure. I decided to Was the doctor in the compartment

run a dangerous experiment: I myself crazy or just the victim of conditions con- would play the role of Mario in a reenact- ducive to hallucinations? For bolh Mario ment of the incident. and myself, the hallucinations started with

On a Thursday I flew to Jacksonville, the misinterpretation of real stimuli (the »/ thought I saw where I had the same steak-and-lobster shade moving, the door banging), which dinner that Mario had eaten. I boarded someone inside. I freaked. became embellished with paranoid Amtrak train no. 82 and allowed the po- thoughts, then images. Neither one of us i threw a pillow lice to lock me in Mario's compartment, had a clear window to the real world out- where I would remain for the next 79 at the door. But you can't win side the train, and we were forced lo con- hours. I crawled into the top bunk and struct our own versions based on limited -a'pillow fight with a went to sleep with the light on, as Mario sensory data and our own projections. had done. commando, so I clutched my The isolated conditions combined with

I discovered that trains are full of me- portable urinal and chemical stimulation to produce another chanical noises, and a loud one jerked reality— one full of paranoid hallucina- positioned myself to throw it3 me awake ai 5:30 a.m., the same time tions— inside the compartment. I knew Mario was awakened. The train had made what was happening, but the conditions a stop outside Raleigh, then clunked were so powerful that I couldn't stop the along to the city. My compartment was hallucinations Irom influencing my be- vibrating so hard that the window shade, havior. My conclusion: Under the right

which did not fully cover the window, smells got to me. Just as I vomited, I heard conditions, any brain will hallucinate.

I started to move. As I reached over to grab Mario vomiting Our bodies were in sync! Mario had told the police. "Don't go and it, I saw a.reflection of my fingers in the What about our brains? believe thai I'm crazy or something." That

glass. The door was also rattling, and as I became irritable. I thought that the goes for the doctor as well. the sun rose in a hall window outside the police who were assigned to help with EPILOGUE door, bursts of colored light danced the experiment were making too much

through the cracks. noise. I banged on the compartmenl James Tilly Matthews became the

The train arrived in Raleigh, and the wails, screaming for them to be quiet. I subject of a book by his physician, John police turned off my light, leaving me in found myself using Mario's words: "i&- Haslam. A copy of this 1809 book, which the same relative darkness that Mario had lencio! jSilencio!" is now considered a classic, recently sold

endured. My sleeping car was uncou- I became hypervigilant. I checked out for $1,250/ pled from the train and moved to a sid- every creak and groan in the compart- Ralph Tolman lectured on his experi-

ing. A generator kept the heat in my com- ment. Suspicion turned to paranoia. I be- ences to a UCLA psychology class. More partment at the same sweltering lieved lhat the police were spying on me than 90 percent of ihe students said they temperature Mario had experienced. The through cracks in the door. When I heard believed the satellite was real. i

generator also powered a sound system the helicopter on the tape, I really thought John Lilly wrole about Ihe E.T.'s in his that, at 10:30 a.m., started broadcasting il was from Mario's defense team, which 1978 autobiography, -The Scientist. the tape of the incident through a venti- had discovered my secret experiment Rudy is still playing pool and running lation duct. and was bent on stopping me. Then away from the black hole. The first shots startled me. Then came someone started banging on the win- Mario Navas is serving a life sentence the sirens, voices of police, more shots, dow. I froze! for murder. When he walks down the

and Ihrough it all, the incessani crying of That isn't -on the tape, I thought. An- prison corridors, inmates make sounds the baby and the little girl. The audio other bang on the window. Then another. like a train whistle.

quality was incredibly realistic. Then I Oh, my God! Someone's really there! Ronald K. Siegel, an experimental heard Ihe first of many repeated sounds: "Is that you?" I yelled to the police guard psychologist and psychopharmacolo-

"sniff, sniff . , . aaah." Mario had started In the hall outside my compartment. gist at UCLAs Neuropsychiatry Institute, snorting coke. I pulled out my own vial "Is that you?" he echoed. now refuses to travel by train. He is pre- (containing a legal cocaine substitute) Someone was running down the hall. paring a book based on this article.DQ 154 OMNI Origami pop-ups: Defying the laws of a traditional Japanese art, plus flying tips from Chuck Yeager

By Scot Morris

It's beginning to look a loi filling every square inch of paper-cutting and folding that achieve simplicity and like the post office's busiest the white rectangle. technique? We're primarily elegance, yet are both time of the year. And you'd Such designs are part of interested in those forms aesthetically pleasing and better kind of play watch out—because a new paper that take shape when a card surprising. your mailbox will soon be called origami architecture. is opened to a 90° angle. The grand prize-winner jammed with all kinds of Masahiro Chatani, a profes- like those shown in the will receive a Psion Orga- cards wishing you a happy sor of architecture at the photos here. They start as nizer II, a computer daily di- holiday season. Tokyo Institute of Technol- flat rectangles and. when ary that includes built-in In that stack of mail, ogy, says he came up folded, fit into an envelope. alarm reminders; calendar; however, might you happen with the idea while teaching Their plans use only the calculator; and appoint- upon an inauspicious his children how to make cut, valley, and ridge lines. ment, phone, and address containing sim- Year's greeting envelope a New cards Use white paper, which books. Retail value: ple white card. As you in 1981. Since then he shows the design off to $179.95. (See Psion's ad on slowly and carefully open it, has crafted paper versions best advantage. "I enjoy the pages 118 and 119.) a form will begin to take of hundreds of buildings, angle, lighting, and delicate Four runners-up will each shape. It could represent from the Parthenon to New variations of a white sur- receive $50. A copy of almost anything: your name, York's Chrysler Building. face," says Chatani, who will the recently published The a cathedral, a wedding A recent book entitled serve as a judge in this Next Book of Omni Games cake, a stage, like those American Houses (Kodan- competition. (New American Library) shown below, or a model of International) sha includes The instructions for and the Gallery 91 collection Mount Vernon, the Taj plans for everything from a Competition #48, however, of Chatani's cards will also Mahal, the White House, or tepee and an adobe hut are only guidelines. We be sent to each winner. even your house. to a replica of Fallingwater, tionally will, own use a single, ideally you but it isn't tennis. here has been rotated 90°; can't very well restrict Omni Include your name and The treasure inside the the Bear Run, Pennsylva- piece to in its square of paper More interested the bottom of the card is readers to less freedom address on the back of card will become com- nia, designed by create frogs, birds, and home untraditional style, others ruler. at the left of our illustration.} than Chatani gave himself. your designs, and send your pletely identifiable when the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, other creatures. The paper don't care about such Dashes indi- Chatani's origami archi- If you think you've got a entries to Omnigami, c/o card is opened to a 90° is never cut or glued. technicalities as what to call BREAKING THE RULES cate where tecture is also available in a better idea, try it. We'll allow Omni. 1965 Broadway, New angle. Continue unfolding Chatani violates many of it. As early as 1983. enthu- the paper should collection of eight precut, . anything— glue, tape, rub- York, NY 10023-5965. All to a full 180°, and all the Of course, origami archi- the origami rules. He siasts in Japan began be folded up and toward prefolded greeting cards ber bands, staples, even entries must be received by columns, corners, slairways, tecture isn't really origami. begins with a roughly six- by forming origami architecture you, pushing the line of with envelopes printed batteries. It's up to you. January 15, 1989, and I spires will lie gently In the ancient and Japanese art eight-inch rectangle, clubs. And newspapers dashes to the bottom of the by Japan's A.G. Industries. We'll be looking for the most become the property of down in their fiat positions, of paper folding, you tradi- systematically cutting the and magazines, including fold's valley. Along the Send $24, plus $2.50 for creative violations, those Omni. None will be returned. paper and folding parts of it Japan Architect and the dotted lines, fold the paper shipping and handling, to up or down. He'll even Japanese edition of Omni, down and away from you, Gallery 91, 91 Grand Street, use glue to accomplish the featured articles on the with the dots aligned along New York, NY 10013. desired design. paper play, Some even held the fold's ridge. The sphere shown on contests seek the OMNIGAMI to out If you follow the instruc- these for Chalani's pages, example, best new models. tions for the plan at right If origami architecture

violates all the origami rules work was finally introduced you'll end up with "White isn't really origami; origami at once: It's made from 14 in America in an exhibit Stage," as shown in the isn't architecture, either. separate discs, cut from at New York's Cooper-Hewitt photo on the previous page Chatani's models include separate pieces of paper, Museum in 1985. (bottom left). But don't try smiling and crying faces. none of which are folded. Perhaps the enthusiasm it on this paper—it's too Flowers, animals, Japanese And the sphere is anchored for origami architecture lightweight to create a stiff or English words, and geo- to the card base with string derives from its originality. It model. You'll get better metric figures have all and glue. rules, has its own which results if you photocopy the popped out of his white Some purists believe that are elegant in their simplic- plan on heavier paper; cards. He has even de- Chatani s work shouldn't ity. A plan is drawn on the best material is two-ply signed origami architecture be classified as origami, the card using three kinds bristol board or lightweight versions of the space with its imposed limitations. of lines: A solid line indicates cover stock. And for a shuttle and of satellites, as Remove the restrictions where the paper should better Working size, you well as the Omni logo. and it's like playing tennis be cut, preferably with an can also try enlarging the What designs can you

without a net: Call it what X-acto knife and a metal I image. (The plan as printed come up with using this COMPUSCANS GAfUlES

The closest some astro- the home or office." And nauts ever get to spaceflight there are. no tricks or secrets is simulation, where the involved, he points out. conditions of deep space The first of three instruc- are produced artificially in a tion levels teaches such lab. The closest most of us basic skills as iakeoffs and will come to even piloting a landings; in the second plane: playing those com- you use the rudders, aile- puter games that allow us rons, and other external to experience flight without parts of the plane for ad- leaving our armchairs. Such vanced maneuvers; by the flight simulation software third level, you're learning

is available from Microsoft, a.erobaiic stunts. A simula- Share Data, SubLogic, tion of Yeager, moreover, Bullseye Software, and other gives on-screen evaluations, computer game compa- but you won't 'see him un-

nies. Games like Chuck lessyou've crashed. ("I don't Yeager's Advanced Flight often see my face on the Trainer (AFT), published by screen," Yeager says.) The Electronic Arts, offer the player's goal, therefore, ;

thrill of flying while instruct- j should be to avoid crashing:

player in Yeager's image ing the the sci- VIDEO HITS COUNTDOWN Seeing ence of aerodynamics. while playing AFT, after all, following best-selling, video listed When software designer The: games are ac- could be like a near-death Ned Lerner came up with cording to their compatible game system. Some newer experience. games, of course, like Nintendo's Metroid, may be more the idea for AFT he decided popular than the lists to indicate. : VIDEO REVELATIONS that the user had to feel seem

more like a pilot than a 5. Jungle Hunt The goal of Nintendo's

navigator. To true .' Brothers achieve a 1 . Super Mario Brothers 6. GafO Super Mario video

semblance of flight, Lerner 2 The Legend ot Zelda 7. Barnyard Blaster : game is to rescue the

' sought the guidance of 3. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! 8. Ms-. Pac-Man kidnapped princess. In the

' an experienced pilot—Gen- 4. Kung Fu 9.'Pac-Man process, you.have to over- 5. Pro 10. eral Chuck Yeager, the Wrestling Real.Sports Football come supernatural villains 6,'Rad Racer legendary Air Force pilot that attempt to block your 7. Ice Hockey who broke the sound barrier progress, while racking 8. R. G. Pro Am 1. After Burner and paved the way for a up as many points as pos-

9. Golt . 2. Double Dragon generation of astronauts. 10. Metroid '; 3 Thunder Blade sible. Here's a tip for getting Yeager agreed to serve 4 Shinobi a quick 3,000 points: Jump

as consultant it the game 5 Out Run on the flagpole. outside didn't concentrate on T. Hardball 6 Alien Syndrome each castle when the last scenery, which a pilot like 2. One On One Basketball 7 Choplitters number on the timer ends in 3. David's Midnight ' 8 Great Baseball- Yeager never has time 1, 3, or 6. The fireworks ' Magic 9 Great Foolbalh to enjoy. "Besides," he says, will then go off one, three, 4*. Food Fight : 10 Great Bsskeibai! "Edwards Air Force Base or six times, with each doesn't have much to look explosion worth 500 points.

at." Instead Yeager envi- models, in- fact, includes a . F-16andtheF-18. Do you have any tips sioned users flying real Simulation of the jet Yeager "The main objective of for playing specific video or planes and experiencing flew to break the sound the game's design," Yeager computer games? Send Mach-speed flight. barrier, the Bell X-1, and the adds, "is to give the player them to Tips, c/o Omni, 'AFT also teaches the general's favorite aircraft, an opportunity to enjoy 1965 Broadway, New York, characteristics of different the P-51 Mustang. There are flying,, as close to the real NY 10023-5965. Well pay aircraft," Yeager says. The also experimental planes thing as possible, without $25 for each one we print. game's choice of aircraft and such modern jets as the the risk and without leaving —Kevin McKinneyOO 158 OMNI wings would have to go, no question had loved Pasht all this time.) "But I'm FLEDGED about that, but then, I'd be making sac- willing to forgive." rifices, too. I already had: my walls and "Grackle," she said. Obviously she CONTINUED FROM PAGE 100 ceilings -permanently ruined, my books, didn't care much about forgiveness.

. . Centered. That's what she was. What Mother's dishes . and, after all, I'd lived She went to the sliding doors, pushed I'd always wanted to be, though this was alone tor quite some time now and liked them wide open, and stepped out into

the first time I really knew what it meant. it, or thought I did until this moment. the dawn. I could understand her want- And, though chubby, she had a kind of As they left, everybody said they ing to get into the fresh airio think about grace. Swooped herself about. Guests, wanted to see her again. Everybody it. I stepped out, too. Off on the horizon it like Mother's dishes, seemed swept be- made me promise to bring her along to looked stormy again, but it looked as if

fore her, spun in and out, scattered as the the next parties. Some went so far as to there would be a spectacular sunrise. I

it feathers scattered. People picked them hug her good-bye. I worried what she'd was thinking how nice was, being with up and put them in their buttonholes, in do, and when some gave her a peck on somebody, sharing the rising sun. I came their hair, or behind the ears. They were the cheek, she looked at them as if she'd up behind her and put my arm around having fun. Wherever Julia was they were peck them back, but she didn't. her waist. having fun. And there was that touch of When the last guests had gone, I told "How," she said, but again with finality. danger. They liked that, too. Some of the her she could stay, though she'd have to She seemed not to mind my arm around guests hung so close to her, leaning for- get rid of those things, and I said how her, to hardly notice it, in fact, but she ward as they spoke, looking into her half- we'd both have to make compromises, turned and looked at me with that fish- open mouth, I had to keep watching, which was only right, though I did under- bird/bird-fish stare, and I took my arm

wondering was I close enough to get stand that hers would be the greatest, away, I couldn't help it, And then she there in time just in case. I had to be near physically at least, and that maybe hers stretched, reached both wings and arms

... but for lots of reasons, It was as if I had been the greatest, mentally, too, even up as far as they'd go, and, my God, I'd

had been living someone else's life and before, from the beginning. not realized. I'd not understood at all. I

now I was back to the question . . . same 'Aw," she said, and "How?" and shook just kept saying, "Oh, my God," over and old question as then— Did I or didn't I love herself, fluffing out her feathers and look- over. I mean she could never live here. her?—had to be rethought, and who ing large. "How!" But this time it didn't Those wings . . . they'd have to go. There would leave who, and when, and would sound like a question, and it didn't look was no way a person could get around

one of us leave? I thought I had become as if a compromise (on her part) was like that. There was no house (that I could whole over the last few years, but now I going to come about. afford, anyway) that could contain them, felt halved. Humpty-Dumpty ever since 'All right," I said, "stay any way you like, Probably no house anywhere that could.

she'd come. but stay. I don't care. I don't even care if I didn't even know how she managed to

As I drank, warmth spread all through you ate Pasht, but I want you to know that sleep. And think of her getting into a car.

me, and, suddenly, I wanted her to stay. I I think you did." (Actually I did care. It was I mean trying to. Think of getting into an

needed for her to stay. Of course the only just, then that I realized I probably airplane, for heaven's sake.

But now I could see, storm or not, she was going to leave. She was going to take

off in this wind. "Stop," I said, "you'll be blown away, You'll be struck by lightning." But perhaps she had been waiting for a

wind like this all along in order to take off. She kept on stretching and making prac- tice motions with her wings. They kept looking larger and larger and sounded like sails when the ship luffs, out of con-

trol. Suddenly I didn't care how wet and

I cold and hungry I might be, wanted to come along to whatever rocky cliff she must live on. Nest on. "Take me with you,"

I said. "Let me hang on. I can." "Quack!"

Then there was a great flapping and 1

reached for her. I had her, for a moment, by one awful, blue-streaked leg, but there

was all that wind and sound ... a great

sound, and I dropped to my knees to keep from being blown off the deck. She headed out over the ocean toward the

storm. I heard her "Hawk, hawk" blow back to me as she lifted into the wind.

And here I was, down . . . down here with the mess of the party, more drunk

than I'd meant to be, and no Pasht to talk

to. I couldn't face my own house. I sat on the deck and watched the storm come, and as soon as the rain started—really started —Pashtcame back, not eaten up after all, except she'd lost her tail. Of

course I don't know whether Julia did that is, re -all "Know what your trouble Roger? You' It or not, but I suspect. takes away a lot surface. That's what your trouble is." of the snaky gracefulness Pasht had, but

I keep her. ... I love her anyway.DO '

." Last month civic and business leaders, in touch with my fishness. .. sports. celebrities', and movie stars By tefling her story pubficly. Green converged on MalibuBeachTorthe : .:.

' opening of Hermitage USA—a cosmic endured, 'Americans ne.ed'a.reasonably : theme park and halfway house for priced sp recovering New Age addict's. This sizes Green. "For years, expensive- ' ' secluded,- yet elegant, rehabilitation crystals and high-priced channelers center was designed by L'aura Green, have serviced only the psychic demands the movie queen and fertilizer heiress. of the rich and famous." ; .Green recently recovered from long !errn But changes have begun.. Ever since ..

: . |!.< ;;,.'.. .'!.,. ,,

fortune, in for intial in the middle- . d'ere'd her the search

the Founiain of Truth. American market, psychic unirepre- ' .:

The publicity from Green's obsession fteurs have hit the streets with New Age. .-

;:, ,..,...,. ! . ... j. , : products "designed to woo the spiritual a widespread epidemic of poverty and dollar from the "average" American. despair, suffered by thousands of New in the travel world, promoters of the Agere, whoselives were ruined: by. Supernatural Sky-Train promise sight- -'the high cost of raised consciousness. seers a satisfying, no-frills cosmic

.' "It's shameful," asserts Green; "that experience. For the timid tourist smiting-- here in America people are going without gurus lead mind excursions to other the basic spiritual necessities, Hermi- .galaxies, while do-it-yourselfers can refer'"'

: . Touring the tage USA v il tbiish In heprice.of to Fodor's new volume- enlightenment needn't be out of sight." inner Universe on Less than $5 a Day.

' Hermitage USA was the major benefi- Next-month McDonald's will.be

ciary of Billy Crystal's recerii telethon 1 promoting McCrystals in its Happy " "Karmic Relief." In Arkansas highly .Meals. "True, they're just sail crystals, ' ''' ii . WJORD evolved biuegrass musicians- staged a i benefit concert billed as the "Harmonica McBundle. "But our research .indicates

' By Kathy Thornock ; Convergence." These contributions 'hat salt is an economicai substitute

will defray costs, thus reducing admis- tor quartz— as long as It doesn't get wet. first &M the New Age sion fees to ;.he rehabilitation center. Besides." continues McBundle, "they .. like a- v.. good with McFrjes." was a harmless At first the New Age seemed taste harmless pick-me-up. At parties Green For those with a more hciis:io outlook. pick-me-up. Green thought would- do 'a chart or two, maybe have Shirley MaoLaine and'-Jack LaLanne considered ' toproduceaMacLa- .she was in control, someone read her palm. She hav'eteamed up :

;'.' herself a casual social thinker. /'rrnri . Lan tied

but before she knew what ' ..'.' ' . .. ii contro!. she fold' herself. 7 can slop ; ; •' '. '• /was happening, . whenever t want. This season TV networks are getting shehada$1,0Q0-a-day But sdon L'aura Green was a hostage into the act witrvNew Age programs in the psychic jet set, Shecouldn'tgd like Moonlighting. Name That Shaman, psychic habit? anywhere without her healing crystals'. and These Are Your Lives. And she found herseft spending more Disneyland has also announced a

.' time out of her. bony than in ii. Ursatlsiieo New Age addition:' NewLand;. Annexing ''

: . ^;,j::,. ii .::,"!/ : arxl Will feature innova- with regini; . \<>v.r\ such

consulted high-priced "tunnelers," tJo.hs.asOut ' - > id Star

ii: Jupiter. extraordinary mediums' who perform a . Tours' Captain Eo Returns to cosmic version of the conference call. Prominent Dallas psychic, Uri Polaris Green's favorite channels Mother now offers economy reincarnations. Cassandra, who in turn channels Sybil, "Our inexpensive sessions review loss- for an all-inclusive high price. dramatic pas! lives than do the more " - costly versions," he explains. "For fifteen, Beforeshe'realizedwhatwaS '. happening. Green was supporting a dollars you can review your life as a " $1,0OO-a-day psychic habit. She believed shoe salesman in Wich-ta trie only nourishment she required was Many religious professionals are

a'r i unhappy with these- developments.

' a pregnant South American red-lipped "People tnese days want everything," lizard. Understandably, these supple- complains one TV evangelist; "it used io ments are very expensive. be that Americans were content to be Green's inheritance dwindled as her born again. Now they want to be born

' quest for the perfect metaphysical again and again and again."

1 :: But New Age preachers are aiming lo

; . . performed j i^.uy-\. u ; New Age . . immortal Minority offer they can't shrinks treated .her with chakra therapy. . his an Financially and emotionally devas- refuse: Feelwelt, promised, his followers

tated, L'aura Green suffered a psychic that if they send him $3 million in the

breakdown. Evicted from her Beveriy next Six'- weeks,.'- he will be called home. Hills mansion, she lived briefly In a Now, that's a bargain OO tenement- owned by slum iahdiord Oscar :

. de Low F . . ' Ksthy ''ho.'-.-iicA. who Hunker! out of "hang out" on the beach. "As;a Pisces,"'. automatic writing, now ^anneis a comfe :

': her processor. explains Green, "I felt f needed to. get spirit tPfougr: word Time's up. So did vou select

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