Return to Transcripts main page

Next@CNN

Summer Promises to Be Fiery; New Move Against Spam; Space Travel Becomes Available to Tourists for $20 Million

Aired June 21, 2003 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: NEXT@CNN begins right now.
Today on NEXT@CNN, we'll get the latest on the Arizona wildfires that have raged across thousands of acres in the past week. Where is the danger headed next? Also, new move against spam this week. Can they slow the avalanche of junk mail before it buries the entire e- mail system? And space travel is becoming available to just about everyone -- everyone with $20 million, that is.

First, predictions for a long, hot, fiery summer appear to be coming true for the American West. Four straight years of severe drought means we can expect more of the massive forest fires that have torched that part of the country over the past few years.

For more, let's go to Dan Lothian. He's in Tucson, Arizona, with the very latest from there. Hi, Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka.

Well, certainly another long, hot day for firefighters here in Arizona fighting the Aspen fire. We just wrapped up a press conference with fire officials within the past hour. They gave us the latest numbers on the destruction so far, more than 6,300 acres have been burned.

They also told us that about a third of the homes in an area called Lower Soldier Camp have been destroyed. It's difficult to find out exactly how many homes that represents, because they don't know exactly how many homes are there. They say anywhere from between 30 to 50 homes are in the area. They're saying about a third of those homes have been destroyed.

So far, 700 firefighters out there on the front lines. They expect to get about 300 or so additional firefighters to help out. What they are trying to do is essentially choke off this fire, to dig trenches, to put a ring around this fire. But they are running into some major challenges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY HUMPHREY, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: The trouble with the fire is, it's on both sides of the Catalina Mountains, which is extremely high, rough, difficult terrain. So we're fighting fire on the north side and on the south side. Extremely rough, difficult terrain. We have dehydration issues. It's really tough to keep hydrated. Even though it's cooler, the crews are working extremely hard in that steep country.

As you know, as you get higher, you have a lot more trouble breathing even when you're really well conditioned. So you -- so it's really draining for those crews.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Fortunately for firefighters, only minor injuries. One firefighter broke a thumb. Another one had some back problems. But that is really minor, considering how many firefighters are out there. They have seven helicopters up in the air attacking this fire. And then they have two air tankers as well.

Now, you can imagine this is difficult for the residents who had to evacuate from their homes. So far more than 250 homes have been destroyed. Earlier, we had a chance to talk to one resident who lost his home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB ZIMMERMAN, SUMMERHAVEN RESIDENT: It will make anybody who's been up there, when they drive into the village, they're going to cry. It's so sad and so forlorn. And we're trying to move past that, though, and focus on the future and get rid of debris and get a process of rebuilding, because we know that if we can get people actively involved with that we'll be OK. We'll have our community back sooner than later, you know, and that's what we're trying to focus on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Now, in terms of when this fire will be contained, officials say they really don't know. It could be anywhere from two to three weeks. So far, this fire has caused $900,000. That number expected to rise.

Now, the governor is expected to take a tour of the fire sometime this afternoon. She'll be flying over the area. She'll also be coming here to the command center to talk with the media and also talk to local residents, who have a lot of questions, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, Dan, you talk about the tankers and the helicopters that are being used in this firefight. But because of the rugged terrain there, how are these firefighters able to traverse the terrain to fight these fires?

LOTHIAN: Well, really, right now the most effective way has been really on the ground, just clawing their way through this terrain. Setting these lines, these fire lines, they're digging trenches. And, of course, the support for that are these helicopters and the air tankers from above.

Now, the difficulty with the air assault is that sometimes when the wind picks up, they are grounded. And that's what happened yesterday through a small portion of the day, they were not able to fly the helicopters, were not able to fly the tankers, because of the high winds. They are expecting the winds to pick up again today, but don't expect it to be as bad as it was yesterday.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thank you very much.

Let's check in with CNN's meteorologist Orelon Sidney who is keeping a close watch on the situation there. And Orelon, part of the problem that Dan was explaining, with the high winds, it makes it difficult for the firefighters, it makes it difficult for them to get this high technology into that area. What are they up against there with the forecast?

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the forecast actually gets better. Today we've seen winds gusting up to 36 miles an hour. They are expected to be sustained around 15 to 25 miles an hour. Tomorrow, they will lessen; 10 to 20 miles an hour expected.

And this critical fire danger area that we now see is going to be pushed to the north. We're going to see a problem, though, in this area until Sunday morning, extending southward all the way down to the Mexican border.

This area of low pressure is the problem. It has a southwesterly flow coming out of Mexico, very dry, and, of course, very warm. Humidities will be extremely low and that continues in the forecast, really, until early part of July, even find the monsoon getting going then, and things could get considerably better, which is good news.

On Sunday, we'll see this fire danger area pushed a little bit farther northward. You'll find most of this activity is going to diminish in the south, at least as far as we're concerned with, let's say, the high temperatures. Not going to be too bad either as far as humidities are concerned in most of that area. Things will be getting better for you going into the week, early part of the week, but the drought will continue across parts of Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Orelon, thanks very much for the update.

Well, Western wildfires are made worse by the drought, and drought is made worse when trees are killed by a pest called the bark beetle.

Casey Wian reports from Arizona on one of nature's vicious cycles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arizona rancher Ken Evans fears this week's Western wildfires are just the beginning.

KEN EVANS, ARIZONA FARM BUREAU: Memorial Day, these trees were green, you know, looked normal.

WIAN: Drought is quickly killing millions of trees in Arizona's high country. Dry trees have allowed tiny bark beetles to spread like a biblical plague.

EVANS: That's where the beetle has gone in, you know, and these trails are where they started chewing, leaving their droppings behind.

WIAN (on camera): The numbers are staggering, according to the Arizona Farm Bureau. The bark beetle has infested a million acres, killing 13 million trees at a rate of 9,000 dead trees per day.

(voice-over): As trees lose moisture, the air becomes even drier, fueling both drought and fire.

EVANS: We have just a huge source of flammable (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- you know, product out in the forest that we cannot, under any set of circumstances, deal with. So the danger is probably greater now than at any time in recorded history, maybe at anytime in the history of these forests.

WIAN: Much of the West is experiencing its worst drought in hundreds of years. Eleven states are suffering from either extreme or exceptional drought conditions, while Arizona and Utah have declared states of emergency.

RICH TINKER, NOAA: Unfortunately, if you're looking at the areas that are in the worst shape right now, the immediate future doesn't look real promising. It's a fairly dry time of the year for them right now. So even if they get above-normal precipitation, in the grand scheme of things, it's not going to be enough to improve conditions significantly.

WIAN: The impact of the drought ranges from shrinking livestock herds, to growing restrictions on water use, to increasingly bitter local disputes over water rights. The federal government's drought plan urges resolving those differences and conservation through infrastructure investments.

GALE NORTON, INTERIOR SECRETARY: When you look at the potential savings in water that can come about through the lining of canals or in other ways, bringing our irrigation infrastructure up to the 21st century, we can find a lot of water that is available through that.

WIAN: But for some, time is running out. Ken Evans once kept 1,200 head of cattle on this property. This year, none.

EVANS: That's all we're trying to do, is just hang on by our fingernails until this cycle does break.

WIAN: This mountain town, normally teeming with tourists, is now surrounded by dead trees.

Casey Wian, CNN, Payson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When we come back, we'll tell you how a weapons test that misses the target can still be considered a success. And later in the show, we'll find out what kind of experiment these science students are cooking up in our upstairs studio right there. Would you want to eat with your fixing? The answer just might surprise you. Looks scary, but this might be tasty. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, a test of the proposed missile defense system this week didn't go off according to plan. But the Pentagon says the project is still on course.

Kurt Aiken (ph) reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KURT AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like trying to hit a bullet with a bullet -- that's how military planners design antiballistic missile defense, and it's something the United States Navy tried to do on Wednesday in the Pacific Ocean.

The U.S. military launched an Ares target missile from an installation in Hawaii. About two minutes later, a U.S. Navy cruiser in the Pacific tried to shoot it down.

It missed. But a U.S. Defense Department official says, quote, "It's still considered a success, in that we gained great engineering data. We just don't know why it didn't hit."

It's the fourth test of the sea-based Aegis ballistic missile defense system since President George W. Bush took office. Three tests last year were more successful. Candidate Bush made missile defense a key part of his 2000 election platform, and after September 11, he intensified his public calls for a deployable system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will develop and deploy effective missile defenses to protect America and our allies from sudden attack.

And this year, for the first time, we're beginning to field a defense to protect this nation against ballistic missiles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AIKEN: North Korea's recent public insistence it needs to build a nuclear arsenal is only adding momentum to the Bush administration's conviction that missile defense is a must. North Korea's existing missile technology is capable of reaching targets in South Korea, Japan, and parts of southeast Asia. And analysts say it won't be long before Pyongyang can target the U.S. West Coast.

The U.S. also fears Iran is pursuing a robust nuclear weapons program and may be willing to share its weapons with Islamic militant groups like Hezbollah. Two of the biggest opponents of U.S. missile defense are Russia and China. They say the U.S. moves could ignite a new arms race.

But for now, the logistical issues of missile defense are preempting the geopolitical ones. The U.S. Defense Department estimates it will spend about $50 billion over the next six years getting those issues worked out and on target.

Kurt Aiken (ph) for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, checking some stories making news in this first day of summer, rather. NASA says its Mars-bound spacecraft is right on course after some maneuvers yesterday to fine-tune its trajectory. The craft, which was launched almost two weeks ago, fired rockets to adjust its course. It's due to arrive at Mars on January 3 and deploy a rover that will explore the surface. A second Mars rover mission is scheduled for launch on Thursday.

This SUV is going for a spin. NASA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have teamed up to test the rollover limits of SUVs in the high-capacity centrifuge at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The spinning centrifuge simulates the kind of g forces a vehicle would experience when making a turn at high speed. Well, engineers hope that a better understanding of how SUVs respond to physical forces will help them prevent deadly rollovers in the future.

Russian scientists say they've found the spot where a huge meteorite crashed to Earth in Siberia last year. They're examining the burned out crater. One researcher says the impact last fall was comparable to a medium atomic bomb. Team members have found samples that they think include pieces of the meteorite, and they found evidence that suggests two meteorites fell that night, not just one.

An ancient burial chest did not belong to the brother of Jesus, according to a panel of scientists, after all. When the bone box was discovered last year, some people believed the inscription linked it to Jesus. Well, now the experts say the inscription is a fake, even though the box really does date to Biblical times. They found evidence that the inscription was written recently by someone trying to imitate ancient Hebrew characters. And one scientist says it's not even a good fake.

Discovery of an iron coffin is giving researchers a new look at the life and dress of Civil War soldiers. Smithsonian researchers identified the remains of Isaac Newton Mason (ph), a Confederate Cavalry soldier, who died in 1862. He wore tailor-made clothes and booths suggesting that he came from a wealthy class. Well, scientists say his boots are an important find since it's unusual to recover men's shoes and boots in 19th century burials. The coffin was found during the relocation of a graveyard in Poleski, Tennessee.

When we come back, spam now makes up half the e-mail that's sent, and some experts say that efforts to solve the problem are actually making it worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): So here's the deal. You can split the money between you any way you want. Negotiating a Deal, here's a game two of you can play to see if your emotions could get the better of you. Put $10 on the table. Only one of you decides how to divvy it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any way I want?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any way you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.

WHITFIELD: But here's the catch. For both of you to get the money, you both have to agree on that split.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's greed.

WHITFIELD: No agreement, no money for either of you. According to a Princeton University study published in the journal "Science," when the pot was unevenly split, like you give the other guy a dollar and keep nine for yourself, half the people in the study turned down the deal altogether and made no money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't agree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't want him to have it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, if he want to be like that.

WHITFIELD: According to researchers, a scan of their brains showed their emotions got the best of them. Anger centers in the brain lit up. The more active those emotional centers, the more often a person refused the deal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What can I do with a dollar?

WHITFIELD: Emotions overwhelmed the more logical area of the brain that was probably telling you to take the money, no matter how much it is, and run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I rework this?

WHITFIELD: OK, rework it, go ahead, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Let me see how much it is. Four dollars, five, five. You got a even split, and that's all out of love. And this is my boss, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (on camera): Wow, good move, then, if that's your boss, half and half.

Well, have you checked your e-mail inbox lately? Chances are, half of what you find there will be spam, up from just 8 percent in the year 2000. Microsoft filed suit this week to try to stop a problem that some fear could bring e-mail to a screeching halt within a couple of years.

CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg joins us now with an update. Hi, Dan.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka.

That's right. These lawsuits from Microsoft are just the latest legal step trying to stem the tide of everybody's spam coming into their e-mail inbox. But are they actually effective, and what can be done about spam in the long run? This is a question on the minds of a lot of people.

And joining us right now is Evan Schwartz of MIT's "Technology Review."

Evan, thanks so much for joining us.

EVAN SCHWARTZ, MIT'S "TECHNOLOGY REVIEW": Well, it's a pleasure to be here, Dan.

SIEBERG: You know, you had a cover article this week, "Spam Wars" is the title of it right here. Everybody who goes in to work probably feels like they're in the middle of a cyberbattle every day, filtering out or cleaning out their inbox. Just how bad is it at this point?

SCHWARTZ: Well, we all know about the spam jam. We're talking about unsolicited commercial e-mail, 13 billion messages sent per day. Of course, it seems on a bad day that they're all coming to your inbox. Most of them get blocked.

But the metaphor, the analogy we use in the story in "Technology Review" this month, is of a war, or an escalation of a war, an arms race, just like the nuclear arms race of the cold war, where each side escalates how much they spend and the resources, and it's actually making the problem worse and threatening the survival of the Internet.

SIEBERG: Well, Microsoft, probably and other tech companies as well, maybe feel like they're some of the generals involved that are involved in this war. Are these lawsuits going to be that effective? What are they trying to do? Are they actually going to find these spammers?

SCHWARTZ: Well, there are three fronts in this war, and one of them is this legal front. And AOL has won about $6 million from a spammer, Earthlink about $6 million, Microsoft now filing against 15 spammers at once. So the legal department is becoming a profit center now.

They're going to be able to find some of them and get some money from some of them, and maybe deter some other spammers, but it's really just putting your finger in the dam. It's not going to solve the overall problem. But it has to be done. It's just one front of this three-front war.

SIEBERG: And some critics would say that these lawsuits are also -- it's a bit of a PR campaign for these companies. Obviously they'll look like they're doing something about spam.

Let's talk a little bit about the difference between spam that may be considered legal and spam that is illegal. What is the difference between those two? And talk a little bit about deceptive spam, for people who don't know what that is.

SCHWARTZ: Well, the definition of being legal right now is, did you have any contact with that marketer? Did you request a newsletter? Did you buy something from them? Did you opt in, as they say? If you didn't, then if there's been no communication, no contact, and they spam you, if they just send you stuff unsolicited, whether it's pornographic or offensive or just plain old marketing for a mortgage, that is unsolicited, and that is what we call spam.

SIEBERG: And deceptive in some way, and this is always what concerns the FTC. Who are these spammers? You know, what is the profile of somebody who sends out all of these messages? I think somewhere in the article, one of the experts you talked to said that only about 200 spammers are responsible for nearly 90 percent of the messages sent out.

SCHWARTZ: That's right. I interviewed a lawyer who prosecuted some of these spammers, and his quote was, "These are hackers gone bad, or crooks gone geek." These are people who've never been successful in anything else before. And we tried to track down some of them. And of course, they don't return phone calls.

And who are they? They work in the U.S., a lot of them, in the suburbs. One of them's name is Allen Rolski (ph), alleged to be one of the top five spammers in the world, in a Detroit suburb. Some people call him the spam king, sending out tens of thousands of messages per hour. And he thinks this is a great business. And he's been on the record saying this is -- I'm never going to stop doing this. It's a great business.

They're known to get about one in 1,000 responses, and they actually make money, believe it or not.

SIEBERG: All right. Well, I guess we'll just have to see where this goes from here. Evan Schwartz from MIT's "Technology Review," thanks so much for joining us today.

SCHWARTZ: Well, thanks, Daniel. We, of course, have to change e-mail as we know it, and that, of course, could be a follow-up story.

SIEBERG: Right. And a bit of an uphill battle. Thanks so much for joining us, Evan.

And Fredricka, I guess it's just going to be the old standby for some people for a while, the delete key.

WHITFIELD: Yes, no kidding. I use that a lot. Thanks a lot, Dan.

SIEBERG: Exactly. All right. WHITFIELD: Well, coming up in our next half-hour, some people say genetically engineered food is a ticking time bomb. Others say it's a solution to world hunger. Get an update on the controversy.

And later, plans are in the works for a space flight whose only mission is to give two tourists a ride. It could be you, if you've got the loot, lots and lots of money. First, we'll take a break, then check the latest headlines, then come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

WHITFIELD: The biotechnology industry will be holding its annual convention next week in Washington, D.C. controversy over genetically-modified food continues to flare up even now; seven years after the first commercial crops were planted. It's -- is transgenic food bad for you? Will it save the world or wreck the environment? Joining us now to help sort out the issues is Peter Pringle, author of the new book "Food, Inc., Mendel and Monsanto, the promise and perils of the biotech harvest."

Well, good to see you, Peter.

PETER PRINGLE, AUTHOR, "FOOD, INC.": Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right, so what should we know about this genetic -- genetically engineered food? What is it, really?

PRINGLE: Well, it is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? genetically -- but, it's a very simple idea. What the scientists looked at, and they said, let's take this plant and make it better, make it grow better, and perhaps let's make it resistant to pests. So if we can find a toxin that's not harmful to humans but harmful to the pests, then we can find that gene that produces that toxin, we can take that gene from something else and put it into this plant, we can make that plant produce this toxin, and that's what they did.

WHITFIELD: Now, there were a couple arguments that came with that, with the start of genetically engineered foods. Some said, wait a minute, are you crazy? This can't be good for us. We don't want to consume food like this. And then there were others who said, well, if we do this, it means more food for more people. Did either party on either side end up being right, even seven years later?

PRINGLE: Well, that's exactly what happened. Actually, that's what got me interested in this. On the one hand, you had Greenpeace screaming at you saying, these are Frankenfoods, they're going to produce superweeds, they're going destroy biodiversity. And on the other hand, you had large seed companies like Monsanto saying, look, shut up and eat your corn flakes, they're perfectly good for you. And at the end of this seven-year trial period, we actually have nobody who's actually been harmed as far as we know from genetically modified foods, but we do -- we do still have a debate, and we do still have differences. So there are things to consider.

WHITFIELD: So, how much of the food that we consume every day or maybe on a weekly basis is actually genetically-engineered food?

PRINGLE: It's difficult to say, but if you just take corn, for example, one-third of the American corn crop is now genetically- modified. That's not necessarily -- we don't eat it as corn, it goes into processed foods. So we don't really see it and, of course, it's not labeled, so we don't know.

WHITFIELD: And so far I don't have a third arm sprouting, so, so far I'm safe. But is seven years really enough? I mean, maybe the other part of the argument is, give it a little more time, we say see repercussions that come with this kind of frankenfood, as you call it.

PRINGLE: Well, that's exactly right and that's the difference between the European approach and the American approach. The American approach basically says that a tomato -- if it looks like a tomato, it smells like it, it tastes like a tomato, then it is a tomato. And so it's substantially equivalent to a tomato that's not genetically modified. The European approach says, hang on a minute, let's just see. If it's possible that this tomato might -- could cause an allergy or could disrupt, somehow, the ecosystem, then we should actually prove that it's not going to do that before we -- before we produce it. And that's like proving the negative, it's very difficult. So, there are two distinctions here, and that's what the transatlantic rout, as we call it, is all about.

WHITFIELD: And you're using the Europeans as an example, because as a whole, most of them are saying, no way, we don't want this. So, what's the matter with Americans? Why are they so apt to give this a shot or have given it a shot?

PRINGLE: Oh, now, you're asking me? Well, there's the famous hit song, "I Wish Lunch Would Last Forever," and I think it's a European sentiment, and we always say in Europe we know more about food than Americans, and we taste food better, and our food tastes better and we like longer lunches, et cetera. It's not -- not exactly true, but I think that what happened in Europe is very important. You'll remember the scare about BSE and mad cow disease, et cetera. That put the Europeans in a frame of mind of, woops, here comes another, perhaps, frankenfood, here comes something which is not properly regulated by governments, perhaps we should say no, and that's basically what they did.

WHITFIELD: And so far, Peter, President Bush seems to be saying yes to this kind of food because he's going to be talking about, he's one of the guest speakers during this conference this coming week.

PRINGLE: That's right, and he's saying yes because the American farmers, particularly corn farmers, are unable to sell their crops in Europe and this is a $200 million a year loss to them. So, you know, President Bush is representing his constituency.

WHITFIELD: All right. Peter Pringle, thanks very much and thanks for letting me put you on the spot.

PRINGLE: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you.

PRINGLE: Thank you. Bye-bye.

WHITFIELD: A new x-ray system that was originally developed to keep diamond mine workers honest is now being used in trauma centers to help save lives. Christy Feig has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): Doctors call it the golden hour, the first 60 minutes of trauma. Diagnosis and treatment during this window is crucial to saving lives, but traditional x rays take time.

DR. THOMAS SCALEA, UNIV. OF MD SHOCK TRAUMA CTR.: To take 30 minutes of the golden hour to take x-rays, you've burned a lot of time.

FEIG: Now, a new technology called "Statscan" could x-ray someone from head to toe in just 13 seconds. Since it's digital, there's no film to be developed, the image, much clearer than a traditional x ray is displayed on a computer screen within seconds.

SCALEA: If I can take somebody that's been shot five times and in 13 seconds, understand where every bullet is, and every cavity that is at risk for injury, I -- I'm a lot better off.

FEIG: This technology was first developed, not for medicine, but for security in the diamond mines of South Africa, deployed to make sure workers weren't taking diamonds home. It's not only quick; it uses 75% less radiation than traditional x rays.

DR. STUART MIRVIS, UNIV. OF MD SHOCK TRAUMA CTR.: It may be a good tool to try in the emergency setting for young kids because we have to be much more safety-conscious with radiation exposure.

FEIG: The first machine in the U.S. is already up and running at University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and two more will be arriving in Nebraska and Colorado this summer.

Christy Feig, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When we come back, some baby penguins get their first medical checkup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's Moon Unit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

WHITFIELD: Well, checking some next news headlines, a strong earthquake shook North Central Chile Friday, but authorities say no one was hurt, and the tremor caused little damage. It had a magnitude of 6.2, which is capable of causing major damage. The quake was centered near the pacific coast about 350 Miles north of Santiago.

The International Whaling Commission has ended its annual meeting by setting up a committee devoted to saving threatened marine mammals. The meeting left Japan angry, once again, it had asked for permission to resume commercial whaling and, once again, it was turned down. Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986. Japan already hunts hundreds of whales a year under a commission loophole allowing hunts for scientific purposes.

Well, remember a few months ago we told you how the penguins at the San Francisco zoo were swimming around in circle as if they were migrating? Well, turns out they were doing more than just swimming. They were getting busy, if you know what I mean. This spring, they produced a bumper crop of chicks, twice the number that's usually to them. Quick, little devils. Well, zookeepers took the fledglings out of their burrows onto the zoo's Penguin Island on Thursday to band them, give them a checkup, and to transfer them to a facility where they'll learn to swim and get used to humans. And, after they've grown, they'll be returning to the Penguin Island, perhaps to join in another mock migration or some other kind of social.

Well, another bumper crop of babies at a Beijing wild life facility. Two litters of lion cubs have just been born at an animal safari park. The park says it has succeeded in breeding nearly 100 lions with an extremely high survival rate. 200 of the big cats now live in that park.

Well, hybrid gasoline electric cars have been slow to catch on with consumers, but in Japan, hopes are high that the latest clean machines will outpace the gas guzzlers. Kristi Lu Stout reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTI LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A blaze of publicity at this annual environmental forum in Tokyo. Toyota is driving home a simple message. The hybrid is still hot.

FUJIO CHO, PRES. TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. (through translator): We have continued to pursue development of hybrid technology as a versatile power source, as the core technology for eco-car development.

STOUT: Hybrid cars taking both climate heating gas and eco- friendly electricity, emitting as much as 40 percent less carbon dioxide than the usually internal combustion engine. U.S. auto makers, Ford and GM have plans to rollout hybrids cars in the next two years. The only ones on the market today are built by Japan's Honda and Toyota. Launched back in '97, Toyota's Prius was the first hybrid on the block. These days the company is kicking the tires of the new and improved version, the Prius 2004, which analysts say is bigger, faster, and cleaner than the original.

JASON MARK, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: The next generation Prius is extremely exciting technology. It's proof positive that hybrid technology can deliver both, better performance, as well as better environmental protection. STOUT: The latest model will go on sale, later this year, in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. So far Toyota has sold only 143,000 hybrid hatchbacks around the world. To spur demand, the car maker is banking on more choice. By boosting its hybrid model range to six in the next three years. A range that includes a hybrid minivan, a hybrid luxury car, even a hybrid SUV. The vehicle class that has provoked the ire of environmentalists.

Also in the pipeline, a hybrid city bus which will start service on the streets of Tokyo this year. The market for hybrid electric cars is expected to grow from 100,000 a year to half a million by 2008. A sizable increase, but still, a tiny market. Right now, there are about 70 million cars on the road in Japan. It will take some time for this clean machine to go bumper to bumper with the gas guzzlers. Kristi Lu Stout, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When we come back, we'll tell you what it takes to be a space tourist. Here's a hint: Only the rich need apply.

And just about everybody loves ice cream, right? Would you love it even more if you could make it homemade? Homemade ice cream in seconds, no less. We found the secret ingredient in a science lab, of all places.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, it's vacation season, and perhaps you're thinking of someplace far away and exotic? Well, after an announcement this week, some folks are thinking about a trip that is really out of this world. Miles O'Brien reports on the first space flight just for tourists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Imagine for a moment a game show of the future, "The Price is Right" meets "The Jetsons."

Tell them about our showcase, Johnny?

You a companion will be whisked away to not-so sunny Russia, you'll spend two not-so relaxing weeks enduring the mother of all physical exams, then quick as you can say Koskie, we'll be pulling high G's in a spinning at the centrifuge at historic Star City. Then you'll jet to the not-so scenic steps of Kazakhstan to board your dream ship, a Soyuz rocket. You'll have a blast on your ride to the international space station. Stay for a week, food, water and air included and talk about room with a view. How much would you give for this showcase?

ERIC ANDERSON, SPACE ADVENTURES: $20 million per person.

O'BRIEN: That's what company is hoping to pair with little fear and lots of cash will pay to fly on this pioneering space tourism flight.

ANDERSON: Clearly it's the first private mission to the space station, but for the first time ever, two people can fly together, we could do things like have a father and son or a bride and groom.

O'BRIEN: Eric Anderson's company, Space Adventures, is no fly to space by night operation. It brokered the deals that made Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth the first space tourists.

DENNIS TITO, FIRST PACE TOURIST: How you spend your time, I listen to opera. I enjoyed the experience and for me it was like being in a -- in heaven, being in the second life.

O'BRIEN: Tito and Shuttleworth flew in a spare third seat on a rocket that was already on its way to the station. This time, Space Adventures, has bought it's own Soyuz with all the trimmings, including a cosmonaut pilot leaving two seats for paying spacefarers.

SERGEY GORBUNOV, RUSSIAN SPACE AGENCY (through translator): Russia was the first in the area of space tourism, as you know, the first space tourist, Mr. Dennis Tito, flew on board of a Russian ship.

O'BRIEN: When he crossed the threshold as the first tourist in orbit, many space fans hoped it was the beginning of a high frontier tourist booms. But the stratospheric price tag, the long commitment, the physical and mental demands, and inherent risk left those grandiose plans on the launch pad. But, space entrepreneurs like Eric Anderson are tenacious, if nothing else.

ANDERSON: Certainly we'd like to get to the point where we can fly -- you know, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine people per year to the space station.

O'BRIEN: Don't hold your breath. But, so long as there are big dreamers with big bank accounts, efforts like these will endure and seats like these will find takers. And you thought a trip on the Concorde bought you some bragging rights.

Miles O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, maybe it's ice cream that sends you to the moon, especially on the first day of summer. Well, CNN's Daniel Sieberg is back, this time whipping up a batch of -- or a batch of ice cream -- I was about to say a batch of Lickety Split, but no, just lickety-split you're whipping up that batch.

Have you had that ice cream before?

SIEBERG: Yeah, this is not your mom use to make it, unless your mom was a chemist, so it's a little different than what you might be use to.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. SIEBERG: So, we dragged in a couple of Emory University chemistry grad students, also chefs, I would say, pretty much -- amateur chefs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We try to be.

SIEBERG: We've got Wade Neiwert (ph) on my right here and Leah Hybl (ph). We're going to make some ice cream, but we're going to use a bit of an unconventional ingredient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That right.

SIEBERG: Liquid nitrogen. So, you're not going to turn away because we are actually going to make it. But, off the top, let's get a quick demonstration of what the liquid nitrogen looks like. And, we should tell people, don't try this at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

SIEBERG: You guys are professionals, here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can be potentially dangerous.

SIEBERG: Can be potentially dangerous. Let's look have a look at what the actual liquid nitrogen looks like. And, it's stored -- what's the temperature this is at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is at about negative 350 degrees Fahrenheit,

SIEBERG: OK

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, it's about 425 degrees Fahrenheit below room temperature.

SIEBERG: Wow! And that's necessary when we're making the ice cream because -- why? It's just...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, that's what's going to cool the mixture of the cream and the sugar and egg and the vanilla, all of that together and just harden it up as if it were ice cream.

SIEBERG: All right, well, let's get going here, we are not Iron Chefs, by any means, but we're going to throwing in ingredients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, let's go and throw it all in. We've got cream...

SIEBERG: It's a relatively simple recipe; I came across it online, last week, a few different recipes...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a couple quarts of cream, sugar.

SIEBERG: Couple quarts of cream. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A cup of sugar...

SIEBERG: A cup of sugar. OK. These are some household ingredients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. That's right. Four teaspoons of vanilla, we'll just be generous with that.

(CROSSTALK)

SIEBERG: And now the strawberries, I'm going to add in some of the strawberries, here, right? You can flavor it with whatever you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any, flavor. Any flavor will work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to use an egg substitute here. Pour in some strawberries. Either will work.

SIEBERG: Make a huge mess, and pour all that in there, just like that. Now the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to make sure that the sugar gets all dissolved up in the cream.

SIEBERG: OK. Why is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to stir it up.

SIEBERG: Is a reaction that's going to happen with it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's not a reaction, necessarily, it's just a cooling of the cream, but we want to make sure all the sugar's in there, because the cream and the sugar is what's getting microcrystalized, basically.

SIEBERG: All right, we only have one minute left.

OK, go ahead and put that in, will you.

(CROSSTALK)

SIEBERG: Add the nitrogen. Now, this is really going to be quite the reaction here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right, get ready.

SIEBERG: All right, I'm going to stand back a little bit, actually.

You can see it pouring out there, and Wade is just doing a great job of stirring that up and it's actually coming out of the bowl, this is quite the chemical reaction we have going on here. Now, that -- you keep stirring this and it's solidifying over time. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. Go ahead and add it a bit little faster.

SIEBERG: Pouring more in there, and it's -- we've got quite the chemical reaction happening right here. And you know, fortunately we made some earlier and I'm going to bring in our senior producer, Alex Walker (ph), because he has some, here, that we made up earlier so that we can get a shot of exactly what it looks like and the consistency of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, that...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's just our vanilla, so.

SIEBERG: OK. And this is the vanilla flavor here and we've got the strawberry being made right here. The consistency of it is a little bit like mashed potatoes and maybe some cottage cheese, but after you've been stirring all this, Wade, it's...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a little bit, it's not quite done yet, but...

SIEBERG: I'm going to reach in there with my spoon, really quickly and just grab some

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

SIEBERG: Now, it's not going to burn me, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Might be -- could be still a little cold.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait until it stops to stop fuming.

SIEBERG: ...stop fuming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a small bite of it there, Daniel.

SIEBERG: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead and add a little bit more, Leah. Try to get this one wrapped up, here.

SIEBERG: It's very good. It tastes like you would expect it to taste. It actually tastes like ice cream.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

SIEBERG: Yeah?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Surprise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very smooth and creamy.

SIEBERG: I think you guys have a future as chefs. Well, Leah Hybl (ph) and Wade Neiwert (ph), are both from Emory University. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm having a little problem...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for having us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

SIEBERG: Fredricka, back to you. And, you'll have to come up here later and try some, up in the studio. We got an extra spoon for you....

WHITFIELD: Yeah, save me a bowl.

SIEBERG: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Dan, really, you're willing to have more than just a spoonful?

SIEBERG: Well, if there's any left, you're going to have to hurry up here.

WHITFIELD: Oh, OK.

SIEBERG: We have some people, here in the studio waiting to...

WHITFIELD: I'll come lickety split.

SIEBERG: All right.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Dan.

Well, that's all the time we have for today, but next we'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern Time with another hour of news seen through the lens of science and technology.

Among the stories we'll be covering for you, the Hulk can make mincemeat of bad guys on the big screen, but he's no match for bootleggers who put the movie on the Internet before it hit theaters. We'll take a look at piracy and what film execs are doing to stop it.

That story and more coming up tomorrow, hope you'll be watching us. And thanks for joining us today.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Travel Becomes Available to Tourists for $20 Million>


Aired June 21, 2003 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: NEXT@CNN begins right now.
Today on NEXT@CNN, we'll get the latest on the Arizona wildfires that have raged across thousands of acres in the past week. Where is the danger headed next? Also, new move against spam this week. Can they slow the avalanche of junk mail before it buries the entire e- mail system? And space travel is becoming available to just about everyone -- everyone with $20 million, that is.

First, predictions for a long, hot, fiery summer appear to be coming true for the American West. Four straight years of severe drought means we can expect more of the massive forest fires that have torched that part of the country over the past few years.

For more, let's go to Dan Lothian. He's in Tucson, Arizona, with the very latest from there. Hi, Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka.

Well, certainly another long, hot day for firefighters here in Arizona fighting the Aspen fire. We just wrapped up a press conference with fire officials within the past hour. They gave us the latest numbers on the destruction so far, more than 6,300 acres have been burned.

They also told us that about a third of the homes in an area called Lower Soldier Camp have been destroyed. It's difficult to find out exactly how many homes that represents, because they don't know exactly how many homes are there. They say anywhere from between 30 to 50 homes are in the area. They're saying about a third of those homes have been destroyed.

So far, 700 firefighters out there on the front lines. They expect to get about 300 or so additional firefighters to help out. What they are trying to do is essentially choke off this fire, to dig trenches, to put a ring around this fire. But they are running into some major challenges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY HUMPHREY, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: The trouble with the fire is, it's on both sides of the Catalina Mountains, which is extremely high, rough, difficult terrain. So we're fighting fire on the north side and on the south side. Extremely rough, difficult terrain. We have dehydration issues. It's really tough to keep hydrated. Even though it's cooler, the crews are working extremely hard in that steep country.

As you know, as you get higher, you have a lot more trouble breathing even when you're really well conditioned. So you -- so it's really draining for those crews.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Fortunately for firefighters, only minor injuries. One firefighter broke a thumb. Another one had some back problems. But that is really minor, considering how many firefighters are out there. They have seven helicopters up in the air attacking this fire. And then they have two air tankers as well.

Now, you can imagine this is difficult for the residents who had to evacuate from their homes. So far more than 250 homes have been destroyed. Earlier, we had a chance to talk to one resident who lost his home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB ZIMMERMAN, SUMMERHAVEN RESIDENT: It will make anybody who's been up there, when they drive into the village, they're going to cry. It's so sad and so forlorn. And we're trying to move past that, though, and focus on the future and get rid of debris and get a process of rebuilding, because we know that if we can get people actively involved with that we'll be OK. We'll have our community back sooner than later, you know, and that's what we're trying to focus on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Now, in terms of when this fire will be contained, officials say they really don't know. It could be anywhere from two to three weeks. So far, this fire has caused $900,000. That number expected to rise.

Now, the governor is expected to take a tour of the fire sometime this afternoon. She'll be flying over the area. She'll also be coming here to the command center to talk with the media and also talk to local residents, who have a lot of questions, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, Dan, you talk about the tankers and the helicopters that are being used in this firefight. But because of the rugged terrain there, how are these firefighters able to traverse the terrain to fight these fires?

LOTHIAN: Well, really, right now the most effective way has been really on the ground, just clawing their way through this terrain. Setting these lines, these fire lines, they're digging trenches. And, of course, the support for that are these helicopters and the air tankers from above.

Now, the difficulty with the air assault is that sometimes when the wind picks up, they are grounded. And that's what happened yesterday through a small portion of the day, they were not able to fly the helicopters, were not able to fly the tankers, because of the high winds. They are expecting the winds to pick up again today, but don't expect it to be as bad as it was yesterday.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thank you very much.

Let's check in with CNN's meteorologist Orelon Sidney who is keeping a close watch on the situation there. And Orelon, part of the problem that Dan was explaining, with the high winds, it makes it difficult for the firefighters, it makes it difficult for them to get this high technology into that area. What are they up against there with the forecast?

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the forecast actually gets better. Today we've seen winds gusting up to 36 miles an hour. They are expected to be sustained around 15 to 25 miles an hour. Tomorrow, they will lessen; 10 to 20 miles an hour expected.

And this critical fire danger area that we now see is going to be pushed to the north. We're going to see a problem, though, in this area until Sunday morning, extending southward all the way down to the Mexican border.

This area of low pressure is the problem. It has a southwesterly flow coming out of Mexico, very dry, and, of course, very warm. Humidities will be extremely low and that continues in the forecast, really, until early part of July, even find the monsoon getting going then, and things could get considerably better, which is good news.

On Sunday, we'll see this fire danger area pushed a little bit farther northward. You'll find most of this activity is going to diminish in the south, at least as far as we're concerned with, let's say, the high temperatures. Not going to be too bad either as far as humidities are concerned in most of that area. Things will be getting better for you going into the week, early part of the week, but the drought will continue across parts of Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Orelon, thanks very much for the update.

Well, Western wildfires are made worse by the drought, and drought is made worse when trees are killed by a pest called the bark beetle.

Casey Wian reports from Arizona on one of nature's vicious cycles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arizona rancher Ken Evans fears this week's Western wildfires are just the beginning.

KEN EVANS, ARIZONA FARM BUREAU: Memorial Day, these trees were green, you know, looked normal.

WIAN: Drought is quickly killing millions of trees in Arizona's high country. Dry trees have allowed tiny bark beetles to spread like a biblical plague.

EVANS: That's where the beetle has gone in, you know, and these trails are where they started chewing, leaving their droppings behind.

WIAN (on camera): The numbers are staggering, according to the Arizona Farm Bureau. The bark beetle has infested a million acres, killing 13 million trees at a rate of 9,000 dead trees per day.

(voice-over): As trees lose moisture, the air becomes even drier, fueling both drought and fire.

EVANS: We have just a huge source of flammable (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- you know, product out in the forest that we cannot, under any set of circumstances, deal with. So the danger is probably greater now than at any time in recorded history, maybe at anytime in the history of these forests.

WIAN: Much of the West is experiencing its worst drought in hundreds of years. Eleven states are suffering from either extreme or exceptional drought conditions, while Arizona and Utah have declared states of emergency.

RICH TINKER, NOAA: Unfortunately, if you're looking at the areas that are in the worst shape right now, the immediate future doesn't look real promising. It's a fairly dry time of the year for them right now. So even if they get above-normal precipitation, in the grand scheme of things, it's not going to be enough to improve conditions significantly.

WIAN: The impact of the drought ranges from shrinking livestock herds, to growing restrictions on water use, to increasingly bitter local disputes over water rights. The federal government's drought plan urges resolving those differences and conservation through infrastructure investments.

GALE NORTON, INTERIOR SECRETARY: When you look at the potential savings in water that can come about through the lining of canals or in other ways, bringing our irrigation infrastructure up to the 21st century, we can find a lot of water that is available through that.

WIAN: But for some, time is running out. Ken Evans once kept 1,200 head of cattle on this property. This year, none.

EVANS: That's all we're trying to do, is just hang on by our fingernails until this cycle does break.

WIAN: This mountain town, normally teeming with tourists, is now surrounded by dead trees.

Casey Wian, CNN, Payson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When we come back, we'll tell you how a weapons test that misses the target can still be considered a success. And later in the show, we'll find out what kind of experiment these science students are cooking up in our upstairs studio right there. Would you want to eat with your fixing? The answer just might surprise you. Looks scary, but this might be tasty. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, a test of the proposed missile defense system this week didn't go off according to plan. But the Pentagon says the project is still on course.

Kurt Aiken (ph) reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KURT AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like trying to hit a bullet with a bullet -- that's how military planners design antiballistic missile defense, and it's something the United States Navy tried to do on Wednesday in the Pacific Ocean.

The U.S. military launched an Ares target missile from an installation in Hawaii. About two minutes later, a U.S. Navy cruiser in the Pacific tried to shoot it down.

It missed. But a U.S. Defense Department official says, quote, "It's still considered a success, in that we gained great engineering data. We just don't know why it didn't hit."

It's the fourth test of the sea-based Aegis ballistic missile defense system since President George W. Bush took office. Three tests last year were more successful. Candidate Bush made missile defense a key part of his 2000 election platform, and after September 11, he intensified his public calls for a deployable system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will develop and deploy effective missile defenses to protect America and our allies from sudden attack.

And this year, for the first time, we're beginning to field a defense to protect this nation against ballistic missiles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AIKEN: North Korea's recent public insistence it needs to build a nuclear arsenal is only adding momentum to the Bush administration's conviction that missile defense is a must. North Korea's existing missile technology is capable of reaching targets in South Korea, Japan, and parts of southeast Asia. And analysts say it won't be long before Pyongyang can target the U.S. West Coast.

The U.S. also fears Iran is pursuing a robust nuclear weapons program and may be willing to share its weapons with Islamic militant groups like Hezbollah. Two of the biggest opponents of U.S. missile defense are Russia and China. They say the U.S. moves could ignite a new arms race.

But for now, the logistical issues of missile defense are preempting the geopolitical ones. The U.S. Defense Department estimates it will spend about $50 billion over the next six years getting those issues worked out and on target.

Kurt Aiken (ph) for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, checking some stories making news in this first day of summer, rather. NASA says its Mars-bound spacecraft is right on course after some maneuvers yesterday to fine-tune its trajectory. The craft, which was launched almost two weeks ago, fired rockets to adjust its course. It's due to arrive at Mars on January 3 and deploy a rover that will explore the surface. A second Mars rover mission is scheduled for launch on Thursday.

This SUV is going for a spin. NASA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have teamed up to test the rollover limits of SUVs in the high-capacity centrifuge at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The spinning centrifuge simulates the kind of g forces a vehicle would experience when making a turn at high speed. Well, engineers hope that a better understanding of how SUVs respond to physical forces will help them prevent deadly rollovers in the future.

Russian scientists say they've found the spot where a huge meteorite crashed to Earth in Siberia last year. They're examining the burned out crater. One researcher says the impact last fall was comparable to a medium atomic bomb. Team members have found samples that they think include pieces of the meteorite, and they found evidence that suggests two meteorites fell that night, not just one.

An ancient burial chest did not belong to the brother of Jesus, according to a panel of scientists, after all. When the bone box was discovered last year, some people believed the inscription linked it to Jesus. Well, now the experts say the inscription is a fake, even though the box really does date to Biblical times. They found evidence that the inscription was written recently by someone trying to imitate ancient Hebrew characters. And one scientist says it's not even a good fake.

Discovery of an iron coffin is giving researchers a new look at the life and dress of Civil War soldiers. Smithsonian researchers identified the remains of Isaac Newton Mason (ph), a Confederate Cavalry soldier, who died in 1862. He wore tailor-made clothes and booths suggesting that he came from a wealthy class. Well, scientists say his boots are an important find since it's unusual to recover men's shoes and boots in 19th century burials. The coffin was found during the relocation of a graveyard in Poleski, Tennessee.

When we come back, spam now makes up half the e-mail that's sent, and some experts say that efforts to solve the problem are actually making it worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): So here's the deal. You can split the money between you any way you want. Negotiating a Deal, here's a game two of you can play to see if your emotions could get the better of you. Put $10 on the table. Only one of you decides how to divvy it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any way I want?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any way you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.

WHITFIELD: But here's the catch. For both of you to get the money, you both have to agree on that split.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's greed.

WHITFIELD: No agreement, no money for either of you. According to a Princeton University study published in the journal "Science," when the pot was unevenly split, like you give the other guy a dollar and keep nine for yourself, half the people in the study turned down the deal altogether and made no money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't agree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't want him to have it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, if he want to be like that.

WHITFIELD: According to researchers, a scan of their brains showed their emotions got the best of them. Anger centers in the brain lit up. The more active those emotional centers, the more often a person refused the deal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What can I do with a dollar?

WHITFIELD: Emotions overwhelmed the more logical area of the brain that was probably telling you to take the money, no matter how much it is, and run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I rework this?

WHITFIELD: OK, rework it, go ahead, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Let me see how much it is. Four dollars, five, five. You got a even split, and that's all out of love. And this is my boss, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (on camera): Wow, good move, then, if that's your boss, half and half.

Well, have you checked your e-mail inbox lately? Chances are, half of what you find there will be spam, up from just 8 percent in the year 2000. Microsoft filed suit this week to try to stop a problem that some fear could bring e-mail to a screeching halt within a couple of years.

CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg joins us now with an update. Hi, Dan.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka.

That's right. These lawsuits from Microsoft are just the latest legal step trying to stem the tide of everybody's spam coming into their e-mail inbox. But are they actually effective, and what can be done about spam in the long run? This is a question on the minds of a lot of people.

And joining us right now is Evan Schwartz of MIT's "Technology Review."

Evan, thanks so much for joining us.

EVAN SCHWARTZ, MIT'S "TECHNOLOGY REVIEW": Well, it's a pleasure to be here, Dan.

SIEBERG: You know, you had a cover article this week, "Spam Wars" is the title of it right here. Everybody who goes in to work probably feels like they're in the middle of a cyberbattle every day, filtering out or cleaning out their inbox. Just how bad is it at this point?

SCHWARTZ: Well, we all know about the spam jam. We're talking about unsolicited commercial e-mail, 13 billion messages sent per day. Of course, it seems on a bad day that they're all coming to your inbox. Most of them get blocked.

But the metaphor, the analogy we use in the story in "Technology Review" this month, is of a war, or an escalation of a war, an arms race, just like the nuclear arms race of the cold war, where each side escalates how much they spend and the resources, and it's actually making the problem worse and threatening the survival of the Internet.

SIEBERG: Well, Microsoft, probably and other tech companies as well, maybe feel like they're some of the generals involved that are involved in this war. Are these lawsuits going to be that effective? What are they trying to do? Are they actually going to find these spammers?

SCHWARTZ: Well, there are three fronts in this war, and one of them is this legal front. And AOL has won about $6 million from a spammer, Earthlink about $6 million, Microsoft now filing against 15 spammers at once. So the legal department is becoming a profit center now.

They're going to be able to find some of them and get some money from some of them, and maybe deter some other spammers, but it's really just putting your finger in the dam. It's not going to solve the overall problem. But it has to be done. It's just one front of this three-front war.

SIEBERG: And some critics would say that these lawsuits are also -- it's a bit of a PR campaign for these companies. Obviously they'll look like they're doing something about spam.

Let's talk a little bit about the difference between spam that may be considered legal and spam that is illegal. What is the difference between those two? And talk a little bit about deceptive spam, for people who don't know what that is.

SCHWARTZ: Well, the definition of being legal right now is, did you have any contact with that marketer? Did you request a newsletter? Did you buy something from them? Did you opt in, as they say? If you didn't, then if there's been no communication, no contact, and they spam you, if they just send you stuff unsolicited, whether it's pornographic or offensive or just plain old marketing for a mortgage, that is unsolicited, and that is what we call spam.

SIEBERG: And deceptive in some way, and this is always what concerns the FTC. Who are these spammers? You know, what is the profile of somebody who sends out all of these messages? I think somewhere in the article, one of the experts you talked to said that only about 200 spammers are responsible for nearly 90 percent of the messages sent out.

SCHWARTZ: That's right. I interviewed a lawyer who prosecuted some of these spammers, and his quote was, "These are hackers gone bad, or crooks gone geek." These are people who've never been successful in anything else before. And we tried to track down some of them. And of course, they don't return phone calls.

And who are they? They work in the U.S., a lot of them, in the suburbs. One of them's name is Allen Rolski (ph), alleged to be one of the top five spammers in the world, in a Detroit suburb. Some people call him the spam king, sending out tens of thousands of messages per hour. And he thinks this is a great business. And he's been on the record saying this is -- I'm never going to stop doing this. It's a great business.

They're known to get about one in 1,000 responses, and they actually make money, believe it or not.

SIEBERG: All right. Well, I guess we'll just have to see where this goes from here. Evan Schwartz from MIT's "Technology Review," thanks so much for joining us today.

SCHWARTZ: Well, thanks, Daniel. We, of course, have to change e-mail as we know it, and that, of course, could be a follow-up story.

SIEBERG: Right. And a bit of an uphill battle. Thanks so much for joining us, Evan.

And Fredricka, I guess it's just going to be the old standby for some people for a while, the delete key.

WHITFIELD: Yes, no kidding. I use that a lot. Thanks a lot, Dan.

SIEBERG: Exactly. All right. WHITFIELD: Well, coming up in our next half-hour, some people say genetically engineered food is a ticking time bomb. Others say it's a solution to world hunger. Get an update on the controversy.

And later, plans are in the works for a space flight whose only mission is to give two tourists a ride. It could be you, if you've got the loot, lots and lots of money. First, we'll take a break, then check the latest headlines, then come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

WHITFIELD: The biotechnology industry will be holding its annual convention next week in Washington, D.C. controversy over genetically-modified food continues to flare up even now; seven years after the first commercial crops were planted. It's -- is transgenic food bad for you? Will it save the world or wreck the environment? Joining us now to help sort out the issues is Peter Pringle, author of the new book "Food, Inc., Mendel and Monsanto, the promise and perils of the biotech harvest."

Well, good to see you, Peter.

PETER PRINGLE, AUTHOR, "FOOD, INC.": Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right, so what should we know about this genetic -- genetically engineered food? What is it, really?

PRINGLE: Well, it is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? genetically -- but, it's a very simple idea. What the scientists looked at, and they said, let's take this plant and make it better, make it grow better, and perhaps let's make it resistant to pests. So if we can find a toxin that's not harmful to humans but harmful to the pests, then we can find that gene that produces that toxin, we can take that gene from something else and put it into this plant, we can make that plant produce this toxin, and that's what they did.

WHITFIELD: Now, there were a couple arguments that came with that, with the start of genetically engineered foods. Some said, wait a minute, are you crazy? This can't be good for us. We don't want to consume food like this. And then there were others who said, well, if we do this, it means more food for more people. Did either party on either side end up being right, even seven years later?

PRINGLE: Well, that's exactly what happened. Actually, that's what got me interested in this. On the one hand, you had Greenpeace screaming at you saying, these are Frankenfoods, they're going to produce superweeds, they're going destroy biodiversity. And on the other hand, you had large seed companies like Monsanto saying, look, shut up and eat your corn flakes, they're perfectly good for you. And at the end of this seven-year trial period, we actually have nobody who's actually been harmed as far as we know from genetically modified foods, but we do -- we do still have a debate, and we do still have differences. So there are things to consider.

WHITFIELD: So, how much of the food that we consume every day or maybe on a weekly basis is actually genetically-engineered food?

PRINGLE: It's difficult to say, but if you just take corn, for example, one-third of the American corn crop is now genetically- modified. That's not necessarily -- we don't eat it as corn, it goes into processed foods. So we don't really see it and, of course, it's not labeled, so we don't know.

WHITFIELD: And so far I don't have a third arm sprouting, so, so far I'm safe. But is seven years really enough? I mean, maybe the other part of the argument is, give it a little more time, we say see repercussions that come with this kind of frankenfood, as you call it.

PRINGLE: Well, that's exactly right and that's the difference between the European approach and the American approach. The American approach basically says that a tomato -- if it looks like a tomato, it smells like it, it tastes like a tomato, then it is a tomato. And so it's substantially equivalent to a tomato that's not genetically modified. The European approach says, hang on a minute, let's just see. If it's possible that this tomato might -- could cause an allergy or could disrupt, somehow, the ecosystem, then we should actually prove that it's not going to do that before we -- before we produce it. And that's like proving the negative, it's very difficult. So, there are two distinctions here, and that's what the transatlantic rout, as we call it, is all about.

WHITFIELD: And you're using the Europeans as an example, because as a whole, most of them are saying, no way, we don't want this. So, what's the matter with Americans? Why are they so apt to give this a shot or have given it a shot?

PRINGLE: Oh, now, you're asking me? Well, there's the famous hit song, "I Wish Lunch Would Last Forever," and I think it's a European sentiment, and we always say in Europe we know more about food than Americans, and we taste food better, and our food tastes better and we like longer lunches, et cetera. It's not -- not exactly true, but I think that what happened in Europe is very important. You'll remember the scare about BSE and mad cow disease, et cetera. That put the Europeans in a frame of mind of, woops, here comes another, perhaps, frankenfood, here comes something which is not properly regulated by governments, perhaps we should say no, and that's basically what they did.

WHITFIELD: And so far, Peter, President Bush seems to be saying yes to this kind of food because he's going to be talking about, he's one of the guest speakers during this conference this coming week.

PRINGLE: That's right, and he's saying yes because the American farmers, particularly corn farmers, are unable to sell their crops in Europe and this is a $200 million a year loss to them. So, you know, President Bush is representing his constituency.

WHITFIELD: All right. Peter Pringle, thanks very much and thanks for letting me put you on the spot.

PRINGLE: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you.

PRINGLE: Thank you. Bye-bye.

WHITFIELD: A new x-ray system that was originally developed to keep diamond mine workers honest is now being used in trauma centers to help save lives. Christy Feig has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): Doctors call it the golden hour, the first 60 minutes of trauma. Diagnosis and treatment during this window is crucial to saving lives, but traditional x rays take time.

DR. THOMAS SCALEA, UNIV. OF MD SHOCK TRAUMA CTR.: To take 30 minutes of the golden hour to take x-rays, you've burned a lot of time.

FEIG: Now, a new technology called "Statscan" could x-ray someone from head to toe in just 13 seconds. Since it's digital, there's no film to be developed, the image, much clearer than a traditional x ray is displayed on a computer screen within seconds.

SCALEA: If I can take somebody that's been shot five times and in 13 seconds, understand where every bullet is, and every cavity that is at risk for injury, I -- I'm a lot better off.

FEIG: This technology was first developed, not for medicine, but for security in the diamond mines of South Africa, deployed to make sure workers weren't taking diamonds home. It's not only quick; it uses 75% less radiation than traditional x rays.

DR. STUART MIRVIS, UNIV. OF MD SHOCK TRAUMA CTR.: It may be a good tool to try in the emergency setting for young kids because we have to be much more safety-conscious with radiation exposure.

FEIG: The first machine in the U.S. is already up and running at University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and two more will be arriving in Nebraska and Colorado this summer.

Christy Feig, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When we come back, some baby penguins get their first medical checkup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's Moon Unit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

WHITFIELD: Well, checking some next news headlines, a strong earthquake shook North Central Chile Friday, but authorities say no one was hurt, and the tremor caused little damage. It had a magnitude of 6.2, which is capable of causing major damage. The quake was centered near the pacific coast about 350 Miles north of Santiago.

The International Whaling Commission has ended its annual meeting by setting up a committee devoted to saving threatened marine mammals. The meeting left Japan angry, once again, it had asked for permission to resume commercial whaling and, once again, it was turned down. Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986. Japan already hunts hundreds of whales a year under a commission loophole allowing hunts for scientific purposes.

Well, remember a few months ago we told you how the penguins at the San Francisco zoo were swimming around in circle as if they were migrating? Well, turns out they were doing more than just swimming. They were getting busy, if you know what I mean. This spring, they produced a bumper crop of chicks, twice the number that's usually to them. Quick, little devils. Well, zookeepers took the fledglings out of their burrows onto the zoo's Penguin Island on Thursday to band them, give them a checkup, and to transfer them to a facility where they'll learn to swim and get used to humans. And, after they've grown, they'll be returning to the Penguin Island, perhaps to join in another mock migration or some other kind of social.

Well, another bumper crop of babies at a Beijing wild life facility. Two litters of lion cubs have just been born at an animal safari park. The park says it has succeeded in breeding nearly 100 lions with an extremely high survival rate. 200 of the big cats now live in that park.

Well, hybrid gasoline electric cars have been slow to catch on with consumers, but in Japan, hopes are high that the latest clean machines will outpace the gas guzzlers. Kristi Lu Stout reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTI LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A blaze of publicity at this annual environmental forum in Tokyo. Toyota is driving home a simple message. The hybrid is still hot.

FUJIO CHO, PRES. TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. (through translator): We have continued to pursue development of hybrid technology as a versatile power source, as the core technology for eco-car development.

STOUT: Hybrid cars taking both climate heating gas and eco- friendly electricity, emitting as much as 40 percent less carbon dioxide than the usually internal combustion engine. U.S. auto makers, Ford and GM have plans to rollout hybrids cars in the next two years. The only ones on the market today are built by Japan's Honda and Toyota. Launched back in '97, Toyota's Prius was the first hybrid on the block. These days the company is kicking the tires of the new and improved version, the Prius 2004, which analysts say is bigger, faster, and cleaner than the original.

JASON MARK, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: The next generation Prius is extremely exciting technology. It's proof positive that hybrid technology can deliver both, better performance, as well as better environmental protection. STOUT: The latest model will go on sale, later this year, in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. So far Toyota has sold only 143,000 hybrid hatchbacks around the world. To spur demand, the car maker is banking on more choice. By boosting its hybrid model range to six in the next three years. A range that includes a hybrid minivan, a hybrid luxury car, even a hybrid SUV. The vehicle class that has provoked the ire of environmentalists.

Also in the pipeline, a hybrid city bus which will start service on the streets of Tokyo this year. The market for hybrid electric cars is expected to grow from 100,000 a year to half a million by 2008. A sizable increase, but still, a tiny market. Right now, there are about 70 million cars on the road in Japan. It will take some time for this clean machine to go bumper to bumper with the gas guzzlers. Kristi Lu Stout, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When we come back, we'll tell you what it takes to be a space tourist. Here's a hint: Only the rich need apply.

And just about everybody loves ice cream, right? Would you love it even more if you could make it homemade? Homemade ice cream in seconds, no less. We found the secret ingredient in a science lab, of all places.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, it's vacation season, and perhaps you're thinking of someplace far away and exotic? Well, after an announcement this week, some folks are thinking about a trip that is really out of this world. Miles O'Brien reports on the first space flight just for tourists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Imagine for a moment a game show of the future, "The Price is Right" meets "The Jetsons."

Tell them about our showcase, Johnny?

You a companion will be whisked away to not-so sunny Russia, you'll spend two not-so relaxing weeks enduring the mother of all physical exams, then quick as you can say Koskie, we'll be pulling high G's in a spinning at the centrifuge at historic Star City. Then you'll jet to the not-so scenic steps of Kazakhstan to board your dream ship, a Soyuz rocket. You'll have a blast on your ride to the international space station. Stay for a week, food, water and air included and talk about room with a view. How much would you give for this showcase?

ERIC ANDERSON, SPACE ADVENTURES: $20 million per person.

O'BRIEN: That's what company is hoping to pair with little fear and lots of cash will pay to fly on this pioneering space tourism flight.

ANDERSON: Clearly it's the first private mission to the space station, but for the first time ever, two people can fly together, we could do things like have a father and son or a bride and groom.

O'BRIEN: Eric Anderson's company, Space Adventures, is no fly to space by night operation. It brokered the deals that made Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth the first space tourists.

DENNIS TITO, FIRST PACE TOURIST: How you spend your time, I listen to opera. I enjoyed the experience and for me it was like being in a -- in heaven, being in the second life.

O'BRIEN: Tito and Shuttleworth flew in a spare third seat on a rocket that was already on its way to the station. This time, Space Adventures, has bought it's own Soyuz with all the trimmings, including a cosmonaut pilot leaving two seats for paying spacefarers.

SERGEY GORBUNOV, RUSSIAN SPACE AGENCY (through translator): Russia was the first in the area of space tourism, as you know, the first space tourist, Mr. Dennis Tito, flew on board of a Russian ship.

O'BRIEN: When he crossed the threshold as the first tourist in orbit, many space fans hoped it was the beginning of a high frontier tourist booms. But the stratospheric price tag, the long commitment, the physical and mental demands, and inherent risk left those grandiose plans on the launch pad. But, space entrepreneurs like Eric Anderson are tenacious, if nothing else.

ANDERSON: Certainly we'd like to get to the point where we can fly -- you know, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine people per year to the space station.

O'BRIEN: Don't hold your breath. But, so long as there are big dreamers with big bank accounts, efforts like these will endure and seats like these will find takers. And you thought a trip on the Concorde bought you some bragging rights.

Miles O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, maybe it's ice cream that sends you to the moon, especially on the first day of summer. Well, CNN's Daniel Sieberg is back, this time whipping up a batch of -- or a batch of ice cream -- I was about to say a batch of Lickety Split, but no, just lickety-split you're whipping up that batch.

Have you had that ice cream before?

SIEBERG: Yeah, this is not your mom use to make it, unless your mom was a chemist, so it's a little different than what you might be use to.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. SIEBERG: So, we dragged in a couple of Emory University chemistry grad students, also chefs, I would say, pretty much -- amateur chefs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We try to be.

SIEBERG: We've got Wade Neiwert (ph) on my right here and Leah Hybl (ph). We're going to make some ice cream, but we're going to use a bit of an unconventional ingredient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That right.

SIEBERG: Liquid nitrogen. So, you're not going to turn away because we are actually going to make it. But, off the top, let's get a quick demonstration of what the liquid nitrogen looks like. And, we should tell people, don't try this at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

SIEBERG: You guys are professionals, here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can be potentially dangerous.

SIEBERG: Can be potentially dangerous. Let's look have a look at what the actual liquid nitrogen looks like. And, it's stored -- what's the temperature this is at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is at about negative 350 degrees Fahrenheit,

SIEBERG: OK

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, it's about 425 degrees Fahrenheit below room temperature.

SIEBERG: Wow! And that's necessary when we're making the ice cream because -- why? It's just...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, that's what's going to cool the mixture of the cream and the sugar and egg and the vanilla, all of that together and just harden it up as if it were ice cream.

SIEBERG: All right, well, let's get going here, we are not Iron Chefs, by any means, but we're going to throwing in ingredients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, let's go and throw it all in. We've got cream...

SIEBERG: It's a relatively simple recipe; I came across it online, last week, a few different recipes...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a couple quarts of cream, sugar.

SIEBERG: Couple quarts of cream. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A cup of sugar...

SIEBERG: A cup of sugar. OK. These are some household ingredients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. That's right. Four teaspoons of vanilla, we'll just be generous with that.

(CROSSTALK)

SIEBERG: And now the strawberries, I'm going to add in some of the strawberries, here, right? You can flavor it with whatever you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any, flavor. Any flavor will work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to use an egg substitute here. Pour in some strawberries. Either will work.

SIEBERG: Make a huge mess, and pour all that in there, just like that. Now the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to make sure that the sugar gets all dissolved up in the cream.

SIEBERG: OK. Why is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to stir it up.

SIEBERG: Is a reaction that's going to happen with it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's not a reaction, necessarily, it's just a cooling of the cream, but we want to make sure all the sugar's in there, because the cream and the sugar is what's getting microcrystalized, basically.

SIEBERG: All right, we only have one minute left.

OK, go ahead and put that in, will you.

(CROSSTALK)

SIEBERG: Add the nitrogen. Now, this is really going to be quite the reaction here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right, get ready.

SIEBERG: All right, I'm going to stand back a little bit, actually.

You can see it pouring out there, and Wade is just doing a great job of stirring that up and it's actually coming out of the bowl, this is quite the chemical reaction we have going on here. Now, that -- you keep stirring this and it's solidifying over time. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. Go ahead and add it a bit little faster.

SIEBERG: Pouring more in there, and it's -- we've got quite the chemical reaction happening right here. And you know, fortunately we made some earlier and I'm going to bring in our senior producer, Alex Walker (ph), because he has some, here, that we made up earlier so that we can get a shot of exactly what it looks like and the consistency of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, that...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's just our vanilla, so.

SIEBERG: OK. And this is the vanilla flavor here and we've got the strawberry being made right here. The consistency of it is a little bit like mashed potatoes and maybe some cottage cheese, but after you've been stirring all this, Wade, it's...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a little bit, it's not quite done yet, but...

SIEBERG: I'm going to reach in there with my spoon, really quickly and just grab some

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

SIEBERG: Now, it's not going to burn me, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Might be -- could be still a little cold.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait until it stops to stop fuming.

SIEBERG: ...stop fuming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a small bite of it there, Daniel.

SIEBERG: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead and add a little bit more, Leah. Try to get this one wrapped up, here.

SIEBERG: It's very good. It tastes like you would expect it to taste. It actually tastes like ice cream.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

SIEBERG: Yeah?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Surprise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very smooth and creamy.

SIEBERG: I think you guys have a future as chefs. Well, Leah Hybl (ph) and Wade Neiwert (ph), are both from Emory University. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm having a little problem...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for having us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

SIEBERG: Fredricka, back to you. And, you'll have to come up here later and try some, up in the studio. We got an extra spoon for you....

WHITFIELD: Yeah, save me a bowl.

SIEBERG: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Dan, really, you're willing to have more than just a spoonful?

SIEBERG: Well, if there's any left, you're going to have to hurry up here.

WHITFIELD: Oh, OK.

SIEBERG: We have some people, here in the studio waiting to...

WHITFIELD: I'll come lickety split.

SIEBERG: All right.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Dan.

Well, that's all the time we have for today, but next we'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern Time with another hour of news seen through the lens of science and technology.

Among the stories we'll be covering for you, the Hulk can make mincemeat of bad guys on the big screen, but he's no match for bootleggers who put the movie on the Internet before it hit theaters. We'll take a look at piracy and what film execs are doing to stop it.

That story and more coming up tomorrow, hope you'll be watching us. And thanks for joining us today.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Travel Becomes Available to Tourists for $20 Million>