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Striker Vehicle Deployed To Iraq; Firermen In Belize Try To Protect Reefs, Oceans From Devastation; South Korean Scientists Clone Human Embryo

Aired February 14, 2004 - 15:00   ET

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

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR, NEXT@CNN: Hi, I'm Ereka Hill. Today on NEXT@CNN, the army's newest vehicle hits the streets in northern Iraq. We'll show you what it can do. Also trouble in Alphaville. What happens when the player in the online game tries to expose the seamy side of the Sims. And some fishermen in Belize come up with a way to protect the reefs and oceans from devastation. All that and more on NEXT.
Welcome to NEXT@CNN. Daniel Sieberg is off this week. Another deadly week in Iraq, with suicide bombings in Baghdad killing scores of Iraqi civilians. In northern Iraq a recently arrived U.S. army unit has an added line of defense. In a new agile armored vehicle. Jane Arraf reports from Mosul, Iraq.

JANE ARRAF, MOSUL, IRAQ: This is part of the new American army in the north of Iraq. The infantrymen have been here for only two weeks, in vehicles called Strykers that have never been deployed before. Relatively safe inside, the soldiers can see the city of Mosul rolling by. They can pinpoint potential danger on this computer screen. And rather than relying on radio they can send computer messages to other Strykers up to 50 miles away.

This is one of the highest-tech vehicles in the army. But one of its main advantages is really pretty simple. It's got a lot of space, up to 10 soldiers in full combat gear can fit into a vehicle whose grates are designed to stop rocket-propelled grenades, and plates to protect them from explosions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The real advantage to a Stryker, the real firepower is not actually in the cruiser of weapons, it is the guy coming out of the back who will close and defeat the enemy.

ARRAF: But it's a complicated mission. The Stryker brigade has half the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division, which helped rebuild Mosul after the war. The 101st worked hard on local relationships, and did a lot of its work on foot. In this visit part of the army's community relations, the Stryker cracked the sidewalk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We try not to run on the sidewalks too much. It just happened.

ARRAF: The Stryker Brigade is continuing the 101st's work. On this visit, Lieutenant Matt Lompton talks to the head of security at the oil ministry about a recent rocket attack. For Commanding General Carter Ham, it's a learning process, as well. BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAM: The key is that at the end of this, it's Iraqis who are responsible for a successful Iraq. We have a large responsibility in helping them get to that point.

ARRAF: In Iraq, success will be judged by the army phasing itself out of a job.

HILL: This week in a peer review paper in the journal science a team of South Korean scientists say they've made a breakthrough in so- called therapeutic cloning. They've cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells from them. The researchers believe stem cells could be a medical gold mine. The key to the ability to grow new tissue.

But regular use of embryos to make stem cells still appears to be a long way off with huge technical hurdles and major ethical questions still unresolved. Stem cell research is highly restricted in the U.S. over the past few years, claims of success in the reproductive cloning of human beings have prompted strong skepticism and a fierce debate over whether it's the right thing to do.

China reported more cases of bird flu this week while the World Health Organization is trying to determine how the disease spreads. Some experts say part of the problem may come from old-fashioned agricultural practices. Iaime Florcruz reports from Beijing.

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a common sight in Chinese towns and cities. Humans and birds living in close contact. But health and agriculture experts now say something is wrong with this picture.

GAMAL AHMED, FAO REF IN CHINA: I think that the (INAUDIBLE) efforts have to be reviewed, particularly the poultry raising, in the whole of Asia.

FLORCRUZ: Poultry farming experts say should adopt modern concepts to reduce future risks.

AHMED: The idea is not to destroy the small farming community, but at least to give those small farming communities the possibility to carry out the husbandry, which is sound.

FLORCRUZ: A large percentage of China's poultry are raised in farms where birds that exist with other animals and with humans, creating a huge reservoir for viruses like bird flu. One-third of China's provinces and regions have reported outbreaks. Most involve chickens, but some involve ducks and geese.

LIU JIAN, AGRICILATURE MICE (ph) MINISTER, (TRANSLATOR): The poultry population in China is quite big and production methods are quite diverse. That has brought us some difficulties in controlling this epidemic.

FLORCRUZ: But officials insist the epidemic is under control. China, they say, has learned lessons from its fight against SARS last year, especially the importance of transparency and accurate reporting. JIAN, (TRANSLATOR): Governments of different levels are required not to conceal, trump up or falsify report information on the epidemic.

FLORCRUZ: They deny covering up the extent of the outbreaks, and insist there is no human infection so far. Like the SARS epidemic last year the bird flu is forcing the Chinese to rethink many of its traditional practices. They include not just agricultural production and public health systems, but also information and crisis management.

HILL: Bird flu isn't just a problem in Asia; officials in Delaware ordered 72,000 chickens killed on Tuesday when the disease was found at a farm in Sussex County. It was the second outbreak in Delaware this month. The Delaware virus is different from the one affecting chickens in Asia.

Experts say it can't be transmitted to humans. But still, more than a dozen countries have banned imports of same or all U.S. poultry. State officials quarantined 80 farms to try to stop the threat to the billion-dollar export industry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up, one man's quest to clean up the wild world of a bunch of cartoons characters.

And later in the show, the competition is tough at the Westminster Dog show. We'll show you why the top dog isn't the only winner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Can you believe it? A little more than five years ago, there was no Google. Today, of course, the Internet search engine is a solid part of popular culture, and it's expected to begin selling stock to the public within just a few months. Google has been golden from the beginning, but as Jen Rogers reports, now that an IPO looms, investors may be more wary.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a noun, a verb and the most anticipated IPO in years, Google.

DAVID MENLOW, PRES. IPOFINANCIAL.COM: This will actually bring every possible walk of life that is familiar with the word Google into the IPO market.

ROGERS: Google won't comment on an IPO. But it's widely expected the company will tap the public market this spring. And investors are salivating.

MENLOW: They are just going to want the stock, period, the end.

ROGERS: The beginning for Google, a pair of dorm rooms at Stanford. That's where PHD. Candidates Sergey Brin and Larry Page hatched the idea of a smarter search technology. It was 1998, dotcom fever was rampant, but the duo has said money was not their motivation. SERGEY BRIN, FOUNDER GOOGE: Google is a way to make that technology available to the world. Rather than a way to get rich or something like that.

ROGERS: That being said, you are probably looking at two soon- to-be billionaires. At least on paper, while estimates of the company's finances vary, no one disputes that Google makes money. By licensing search technology and selling targeted advertising. The company processes over 200 million searches a day, making it the top search provider in the U.S. with 35 percent of the market.

Of course, an IPO brings an infusion of cash to help fight increasingly aggressive competitors. But, other challenges lurk. Threats money may not erase. Managing growth, the possibility that wealth would change a culture of frugality. And finally Google's own popularity.

DANNY SULLIVAN, EDITOR SEARCH ENGINE WATCH: It's been built up so high in the press, and in the expectations among people, that any mistake it makes is very magnified.

ROGERS: Google's past to a public offering will also be heavily scrutinized. Whispers say an IPO can value the company between $15 billion and $20 billion. A hefty sum for sure, but nowhere year a Google. The mathematical term the company is named after which refers to a 1, followed by 100 zeros.

HILL: The sale of Whitehouse.com also won't bring anywhere near a Google. But the for sale sign is posted for that pornography Website which is disturbingly close in name to Whitehouse.gov. The cyber home of the president. The company that makes White House applesauce and apple juice has expressed interest.

If you're wondering why the porn site owner is calling it quits. It seems he has a son who's about to start kindergarten and he's worried the child's classmates might make fun of him over the family business.

Another seemingly innocuous Website is raising the ire of child protection activists. Bruce Burkhardt reports from the world of the Sims online.

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Alphaville, where you can be whatever you want to be. Do whatever you want to do. It is the virtual community that you become part of when you play this online version of the Sims, the hugely popular computer game that's rated "t" for teen. You invent your own alter ego, after tar to represent yourself and interact with others in this virtual community.

Problem is this online city is not all that different from the real thing. There are a number of houses like this. They're called romance houses, but in reality they're just meeting places for cyber sex, cyber prostitution, where you pay samolians, that is the game's currency, for sexual favors. Would you all give it a rest for a second while I'm talking? And other nasty elements have popped up in the game. Mafia families and con artists.

PROF. PETER LUDLOW, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: More and more, I became aware of more problematic elements of the social structure of the game.

BURKHARDT: Peter Ludlow, a philosophy professor here at the University of Michigan, is interested in the development of online cultures. He joined up to play Sims online.

LUDLOW: I mean I don't want to accuse any of these places of being cyber brothels. But, you know, smooth skin, rough sex, that might be a good bet.

BURKHARDT: Using his in-game identity, Professor Ludlow started up an online newspaper, the Alphaville Herald, to expose some of the seamier elements here. Not long after his account was terminated by Electronic Arts, which makes the game.

LUDLOW: I think the only reasonable explanation is that they just didn't like the Alphaville Herald reporting on the seamier sides of events going on inside the game.

BURKHARDT: Electronic Arts declined an on-camera interview but in writing said Ludlow was terminated for other violations. And that no sex takes place, that it would be impossible for the game characters. In a sense, they're right. You don't actually see graphical representations of sex. It's blurred out. Geez, but you can see couples hug and kiss. But after that cyber sex takes over in the form of instant messaging. So, what's the problem with all this?

LUDLOW: What is disturbing, I suppose is the fact that the game is advertised as being suitable for 13-year-olds. When the content is pretty clearly adult content.

BURKHARDT: And in a world in which more of our lives are being lived online, not just for games, but also for business, and relationships, that line separating virtual from real is becoming thinner and thinner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we come back, we'll look at some archaeological treasures that have been frozen in the ice of Northern Canada for thousands of years. And find out why they're suddenly coming to light.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's got to hurt, scientists now say our human ancestor, and Homo erectus did something similar. Well, smacked each other over the head with clubs, probably in fights over cavewomen. These new findings help solve the longtime mystery of the unusual anatomy of the Homo erectus skull. The given species before or after a thick skull wouldn't have stopped predators like giant hyenas. They could crunch right through it. But it would help them survive blows to the brain, ears and eyes, perhaps in those aggressive mating rituals. So, those who inhabited that skull, shaped like a bicycle helmet, had a better chance of winning, or at least recovering from one of these smack-downs. Researchers Russell Sckern (ph) and Noel Broack (ph) studied skulls found at a famous fossil site in China. Some showed healed skull fractures of those who had recovered from the fights.

Homo erectus survived for 1.5 million years, partly because the head protection made for good defense. Sort of like what a turtle or tortoiseshell does. So, why do modern humans, Homo sapiens have a scaled down skull? Probably to accommodate a bigger more useful brain, and less bloody dating rituals. For core science. I'm Phemy (ph) Okay (ph).

HILL: Scientists are studying some ancient artifacts that came out from under the ice in northern Canada last summer. Rising temperatures melted ice that had been frozen for centuries and revealed remarkable bits of history. Vick Ashenko of the CBC has the story.

VICK ASHENKO, CBC CORRESPONDENT: The ucons alpine ice patches have been the subject of international interest ever since the discovery in 1997 that for centuries they were the favorite summertime hunting grounds for local first nations. Now, global warming has seen those ice patches melt and recede. Revealing archaeological treasures. They include tons of accumulated caribou dung, and many of the ancient weapons and hunting supplies lost or left behind by the hunters. Organic, handmade implements, perfectly preserved in these natural iceboxes. Among this season's prize finds, an ornately sewn leather bag, dated 1400 years old.

GREG HARE, ARCHAECLOGIST: So here we have our seam of stitching here, and some stitching there. And some leather, cut leather drawstring here. So this kind of preservation, the opportunity to look at a bag that was being carried by a hunter 1400 years ago is really exceptional.

ASHENKO (ph): But the summer's biggest surprise may have come from radio carbon dating these fragmented dart shafts.

HARE: Doesn't look like much, but we're actually looking at one of the oldest artifacts -- well we're looking at the oldest artifact that's ever been found in an ice patch dating back to 8360 radio carbon years old. It really pushes back the limits on the ice patch research. It adds another millennium, another thousand years to research potential up on the ice. So this is certainly the highlight of the summer's fieldwork.

ASHENKO (ph): The artifacts joined a growing collection of more than 150 spears, darts, and arrows, spanning more than 9,000 years. American researchers involved in the project are also excited after the discovery of two similar ice patches near Denali Park in Alaska. The search for more continues next summer.

HILL: The archaeological treasures of Greece haven't been sealed under ice. But there are plenty of them buried underground. And that's making life even more complicated for officials scrambling to get ready for this summer's Olympics. Robin Oakley reports from Athens.

ROBIN OAKLEY,EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: If there were gold medals for optimism, Greece, amid its preparations for the Olympics, would have won those already.

DORA BAKOYANNIS, ATHENS: I believe at the end we will be ready.

GEORGE PAPANDREOU, GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER: Greece is going to be ready, and the deadlines will be let.

OAKLEY: There's no doubt of the effort being put in, or of the weight Greece feels on its shoulders. But transforming a city full of buried history hasn't been easy.

JOHN HADOURIS, OLYMPICS REPORTER ATHENS NEWS: For every single project, be that because of archaeological discoveries or because of local protests, pretty much every single deadline has been exceeded.

OAKLEY: At one stage, preparations lagged so badly the Olympics committee warned Greece would have to sharpen up or lose the games. But slowly, steadily, with a dusty Athens echoing to the thump of the pile driver, and the stuttering of the pneumatic drill, the authorities have knocked things into shape. But Athenians seem to have taken the disturbance in their stride.

BAKOVANNIS: Our biggest supporters are the people of Athens, who want to make absolutely sure that everything goes well.

OAKLEY: And what's not in any doubt is the desire of the Greek nation to make it a warmly welcoming Olympics.

PAPANDREOU: We all know when someone has somebody come from the family from after many years; they make the best of preparations. And the best of -- put out their best silver, and food, and this is what we're going to do for our citizens that come from around the world.

OAKLEY: Preparations sometimes seem to Athens residents to have turned their city into one vast building site. So will everything be in place in time to stage successful games? Deadlines have been missed along the way. But organizers and politicians insist they will make it. Even if the margin is as close as a photo finish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up in our next half hour, new pictures from Mars have scientists fascinated. We'll show you some of the very latest.

And local fishermen join with an international conservation group to protect the unique underwater treasures of the leagues.

(NEWS BREAK)

HILL: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN. Climate Change Scientists are about to get some powerful help from IBM. The University of California at Irvine has asked Big Blue to create a supercomputer that can model climate change up to 300 years into the future. It will use seven IBM P-655 systems, that's the same system that created this modeling of the hole in the ozone layer. IBM says the supercomputer will take climate change research to a new level.

Meantime, global warming is taking a toll on Big Horn Sheep in the California desert, according to research from the University of California Berkeley. The study says of the 80 known groups of the sheep, 30 have now died out. Researchers studied disease, human disturbance, and other factors, but concluded that rising temperatures consistently correlated to the disappearance of the sheep. In fact the say if the most dire global warming forecasts come to pass, desert Big Horn Sheep in California could become extinct.

A new federal ruling on snowmobiles in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks came Tuesday when a judge slapped a temporary restraining order against clean air rules which severely limited the number of snowmobiles allowed in the parks this year and would ban them altogether next winter. Those rules went into effect just before the start of the snowmobile season, sending park service officials scrambling to comply. Well, now they're scrambling to comply with the new ruling just a month before the end of the season. The new ruling increases to 780 the number of snowmobiles that can enter the park daily. Environmentalists say the snowmobile ban is needed to fight pollution, and protect wildlife. But, area communities say the loss of tourism would be devastating.

Tourism may be the final hope for saving a key coral reef in the Caribbean. Gary Strieker has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the vast underwater space of the oceans there could be, according to some scientists, ten times as many species of life as are known on land, an incredible diversity of life now seriously threatened because we're consuming it.

SYLVIA EARLE, CONSERVATION INTL.: We have the technology not only to understand the ocean in new ways, we have the technology to make inroads in the ocean in a devastating way in a very short period of time. New ways of finding fish, capturing fish, sending fish and lobsters and conch and clams, whatever they are, to distant markets all over the world.

STRIEKER: Renowned marine biologist Sylvia Earle has devoted her life to studying and protecting the oceans and she's played a major supporting role in a new project here in Belize where local fishing villages are working together to protect some very special Caribbean treasures.

Gladden Spit is one of the few known regular congregation sites for the seldom-seen whale shark, the planet's largest fish and a growing attraction for tourists in Belize, but if continued over- fishing wipes out snappers here, whale sharks could also disappear.

Twenty kilometers off shore, along the edge of the reef, an example of what local fishermen say must be stopped: a shrimp boat that drags its troll nets and damages coral reefs, netting huge amounts of other fish in addition to shrimp. LINDSAY GARBETT, FRIENDS OF NATURE: Some of the crime here is that the local fishermen used to fish for small snappers. They're not able to anymore because the shrimp boats are just pulling everything in.

STRIEKER: But, when they realized that their marine resources were being destroyed, people from five villages here joined together to do something about it.

JACK YOUNG, FISHERMAN: It's an organization that grew out of the desire of the people, their recognition that there was a need to protect what we had left.

STRIEKER: They lobbied and persuaded the government to give legal protection to two critical areas of the reef. Laughing Bird Caye is now a national park. Gladden Spit is a marine reserve where only traditional fishing is now allowed, but simply declaring them as protected areas was not enough.

COSTAS CHRIST, CONSERVATION INTL.: Fourth percent of Belize is under some form of protected status, but they simply don't have the resources to manage it, so a lot of these places are what we call paper parks. They're protected on paper, but in reality they're not protected.

STRIEKER: The fishermen here realized that. Organized as a group called "Friends of Nature," they struck a deal with the government to co-manage these protected areas. With their own park rangers, they now patrol these waters with a legal mandate to arrest anyone fishing unlawfully here.

RICHARD SARAL, PARK RANGER: Just our presence here, we have reduced illegal fishing around the area.

STRIEKER: The rangers are based on this small island, Little Water Caye. Ideally situated between the two protected areas, supported by Sylvia Earle, "Friends of Nature" was able to buy this outpost with funds provided through Washington-based "Conservation International."

CHRIST: It's a conservation dream come true, that "Friends of Nature" has been able to get this island. Without it, honestly, I don't think we would have seen any effective way to protect these areas.

STRIEKER: There's the growing awareness that the future economy of this coastline depends, not on fishing, but on a sustainable ecotourism industry.

(on camera): As a result of the acquisition by "Friends of Nature," the government has now expanded the marine reserve to include this island. Little Water Caye is now the main base for monitoring the marine reserve and the nearby national park, containing some of the most critically important marine habitat in the Caribbean.

EARLE: I take heart from what's happened, here in Belize, as certainly a success story, but more than that as a symbol, as a source of inspiration for what people can do all over the world, in their own backyard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(ANNOUNCER): Still to come, if you're bored with just clicking a mouse or thumbing a console to play video games, we've got some games you can play with other body parts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Sciences are poring over the latest pictures from NASA's Mars rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity." One series of images taken by opportunity studies a rock outcropping just a few inches high. The fact that the layers are not always parallel suggests they were deposited there by moving air, or water. Evidence of water on mars is always interesting, because it opens the possibility of life on the red planet.

Meantime, President Bush's plan to send humans to Mars was the subject of a public hearing in Washington. The commission charged with setting the plan in motion heard from a variety of experts. One said the proposed $150 billion budget isn't nearly enough, and to try to get to Mars on the cheap is, quote, "an invitation to disaster."

So, you think playing video games is a lot of fun, right? Well our gaming guru, Mark Salzman, found some devices that can make them even more fun. Daniel Sieberg gave them a try.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, so you've got your gaming system at home. You've got a few games to play on it. Now what? Well, turns out there are a lot of accessories and peripherals out on the market and I'm joined right now by Mark Sazman.

Mark, these peripherals help you do everything from sing karaoke to stop you from sweating. When you're playing some of these games.

MARK SALZMAN, CNN GAMING GURU: Right. I would sweat if I had to sing karaoke. But, you're absolutely right. So, let's look at a product called the Xbox Music Mixer. This, among other things, will let you sing karaoke to either the songs that are already on the console. You can also strip your favorite music tracks from your CDs, so you can take the lyrics out and sing along with it, which is a lot of fun, or you can even buy songs for about a buck apiece off the internet through Xbox Live.

SIEBERG: All right, but we're both from Canada. There have been some great singers out from Canada in the past.

SALZMAN: Yeah, we're not too bad.

SIEBERG: But not us.

SALZMAN: Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not. SIEBERG: Yeah, definitely not me, so I'm going to bring in our very own Taylor to help us out here.

SALZMAN: You simply plug the microphone, that comes with this product, so it's a disk and a microphone together for $35, into the Xbox controller and then there you go. You can see it right on the screen.

SIEBERG: Take it away.

(SINGING)

SIEBERG: Fantastic, great well thank you so much Taylor.

SALZMAN: Wow, good job.

SIEBERG: And we are going to bring you back a little bit later, if that's all right.

TYLOR: OK

SALZMAN: We have one more karaoke product to get to.

Yeah, thank you.

SIEBERG: Thank you.

SALZMAN: You can go in and adjust the echo levels, which is something that I would have to do, and make you sound better than you really are. So, that's neat product, 35 bucks.

SIEBERG: All right, well now there's another peripheral on the market from Microsoft. Now, this helps you to access the internet. Some people have their console in one room and computer in another, but they still want to access Xbox Live.

SALZMAN: Yeah, good point. Setting up a wireless home network has been a popular trend this year. This plugs into the back of the Xbox and allows you to surf the net at high speeds wirelessly. You can play on Xbox Live, your favorite Xbox games, against friends around the country. It's $140 for this product, and you also get a rebate if you subscribe to Xbox Live.

SIEBERG: Mark, one thing we didn't talk about with the Xbox are controllers.

SALZMAN: Right.

SIEBERG: What about with the Sonly PlayStation, you got a couple of them here not made by Sony.

SALZMAN: That's right. We've got two third party solutions both from a company called Nyko. This is neat one called the AirFlo EX. As the name suggests, it actually blows cool air through the pores of its controller. So, can you hear that? Here let me turn it on.

SIEBERG: OK. Yeah, hear the fan going. Yep.

SALZMAN: Yeah, you can here it, and there's variable settings, as well, you can have it turned off altogether and or high or low.

SIEBERG: So for those intense gaming moments.

SALZMAN: Yeah, that's right, when you're sweating while you're playing that heated action game. And, this product is 30 bucks. Also from Nyko is the iType 2, as you can see, it looks like a regular PS2 controller except for the thumb pad, the little keyboard that's integrated right onto the device. So, this is ideal for those who like to play games online and chat. And, this product is 40 bucks and is called the iType 2.

SIEBERG: All right, well speaking of "I" we're going to go from a iType to iToy.

SALZMAN: Right, one of my favorite products of the year, it's from Soly and it's for the PlayStation 2. The iToy is a little tiny video camera that you place on top of your TV that points in your direction and you are the controller. You're actually moving your hands, your head, your elbows, even your feet and you get to control the action and the game.

SIEBERG: You get a bit of a workout.

SALZMAN: You do. And, let's -- let me give you a demonstration. Here, I'm putting my hand over it to reset it. We are going to play, of all things, a window Washing simulation.

SIEBERG: Oh, the drama.

SALZMAN: OK. So, we're going to clean windows as fast as we can.

SIEBERG: You can use any part of your body, right?

SALZMAN: You can -- your head, but there's this -- there you go. This is an ideal, sort of purduct...

SIEBERG: For a party gathering.

SALZMAN: Yeah, exactly. It's still, even for parties, for us older folks. There's about twelve games in total, they all -- they are rated "E" for everyone. And, it's 50 bucks and it's called the iToy.

SIEBERG: All right, speaking of parties we're going to go back to karaoke. So, this is Karaoke Revolution. It sounds kind of familiar, in a way.

SALZMAN: Right, well it's from Kunami and they brought us Dance Dance Revolution. Well, this time around you have to sing the right notes. A little bit trickier, especially for us...

SIEBERG: Yeah, well we can't sing the right notes. So we're going to bring our Taylor back in, going for the one-name approach like Cher or Madonna.

Taylor, thanks so much for joining us again.

SALZMAN: Well, this time around, so it comes with a little headset. There's actually two versions you can buy: Karaoke Revolution on its own for 40 bucks, or if you want the headset, if you don't already own one it's $60. So, we've got Avril Lavigne here, "Complicated." Hope this song is OK with you. There's other songs from Bare Naked REM, Nickleback, about 35 in total. You'll see the crowd will tell you if you're doing a good job.

SIEBERG: No pressure though.

SALZMAN: They'll boo, they'll cheer -- yeah, no pressure -- and you'll be given a score, as well. So, let's sit back and watch Taylor at work.

SIEBERG: All right.

SALZMAN: All right.

SIEBERG: Over to you.

TAYLOR: (SINGING)

SIEBERG: All right, I hate to cut you off, because the crowd is loving what you're doing. But, Taylor thanks so much for joining us. To help us out again, that was great. You saved us from singing.

All right, Mark, how much does this go for?

SALZMAN: Yeah, so it's 40 bucks on its own, if you don't own a PlayStation 2 headset, or 60 with a combo, with the headset.

SIEBERG: All right, that's going to do it for us. Mark Salgzman, thanks so much for joining us.

SALZMAN: Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: For more on the gaming peripherals and other stories on our show, click on over to our website CNN.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: When we come back, a new weapon in the war against mosquitoes. Courtesy of an inventor in his teens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Scientists have discovered a new species of jelly fish that's unlike any they've seen before. The creature was found in deep water off California by researchers from Monterey Bay Aquarium. Instead of tentacles it has four arms sticking out from inside the bell which it uses to shovel food into its mouth. It's covered with tiny bumps so scientists nicknamed it, you guessed it, "Bumpy." It's so different, in fact from other jellyfish, this is not just a new species, it's a new subfamily.

Insects were some of the first animals to set foot on land and have been around for more than 400 million years, longer than the experts thought. That's what scientists decided after studying a fossil from Scotland of the earliest known insect. The researchers write in this week's journal "Nature" this may help explain why insects are so abundant and so diverse, today.

And, speaking of abundant insects, mosquito season may seem a long way off from February, but in just a few months we'll once again be swatting, scratching, and worrying about West Nile virus. Though this year we may have a little less to worry about, thanks to an idea from a teenage inventor.

Bill Tucker has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are the menace of summer. Spreading malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis and West Nile virus. And thanks to this young man, a new sonic weapon has been added to the arsenal against mosquitoes.

MICHAEL NYBERG, INVENTOR, NEW MOUNTAIN INNOVATIONS: When I put the sound into the water, these air bladders will resonate and they vibrate so much that they'll explode from the tissue that's holding them in, and without these air bladders they'll essentially just suffocate.

TUCKER: Michael Nyberg was only 15 when he made his discovery, and that's after he was told it would not work. Amazingly, his machine kills only mosquito larva and harms nothing else. Meaning that it can be used where spraying and pesticides are prohibited.

JOSEPH CONLON, MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSN.: Well, this was absolutely out of the blue. Which is quite remarkable, and again, quite welcome for someone thinking outside the box, so to speak, thinking beyond standard and normal mosquito control procedures.

TUCKER: Not content to just stop at the idea, Michael and his father started a business, New Mountain Innovations. The business remains small because they focused on selling mainly to selling to health departments.

NYBERG: So, finally I see it's fairly success successful. I mean, we've taken this idea, we built the -- our first unit as a storm drain unit, and we built that two years ago and we started selling it, and then it's grown in popularity this year.

TUCKER: Later this month, Mike and his dad will introduce a unit that works in marshland, hoping to open up a consumer market. Not bad for a guy that's just a freshman at Clarkson University in upstate New York, where he's studying engineering. Michael's an Eagle Scout, a member of his school's Air Force ROTC, and Michael is a young man with his eyes set on the future. Oh, my future? Well, I hope after -- well, after working in the Air Force, I hope to work with NASA in their space program. But, also work with the New Mountain Innovations. It's a new frontier.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, they can't all be best in show. But, there's more than one way to be a winner at the Westminster dog show. We'll be right back with a shaggy dog story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: It was sort of like a fish out of water. Monday morning, a sea lion was found wandering along a road in central California, 60 miles from the ocean. When the California highway patrol, also known as CHIPs, arrived on the scene. The sea lion commandeered the trunk of a petrol car to sun himself, earning the animal the name "Chippy." After Chippy was taken to a wildlife center, vets discovered another surprise, a bullet in the back of his skull. They speculate that may have cause him to become disoriented. Despite the slug, though, Chippy seems to be doing just fine. That zoo plans to keep him under observation before deciding whether to release him or remove the bullet.

It was technology to the rescue at Orange Park, Florida, this week. A kitten got stuck in a drain and spent four days there, while people tried to figure out how to get him out. Finally, the Roto- Rooter man was called in bringing a camera made to snake through pipes. It showed exactly where the kitty was, so the pipe could be cut safely. The kitten is apparently none the worse for wear after the drainpipe drama.

By now, you've probably seen the dog that won the Westminster Dog Show this year, a huge, friendly New Finland named "Josh."

But, don't think the rest of the 2,600 plus dogs at the show were losers. Jeanne Moos has the story of the little sheep dog that could.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There can be only one Best in Show, and "Molly" wasn't it. But, in her first trip to Westminster, this old English Sheepdog, showed that Best in Show isn't the only show in town.

ADELL MACASKILL, MOLLY'S OWNER: You ready to go? Is it time to go?

MOOS: There she was, amid the Setters in ear wraps, the Blood Hounds in headband, the Afghans in babushkas, and even track suits, covered from head to toe, dressed not to kill, but to stay clean.

(on camera): It's a lovely rear end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all I do.

MOOS: You are joking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no. I just do rears.

MOOS (voice-over): Owner and breeder, Adel McCaskill, introduced us to Molly, AKA

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Poop Head.

MOOS: Not exactly a name for a champion in this bastion of champions. From the giants to the petite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Dachshund has never won Best of Show.

MOOS: From beauty to the beast. Around here, even a dog that looks like a mop has a shot at wiping up the competition. So, Adelle brought Molly down from her home in Ontario, Canada. A young Sheepdog with a few wins already under her collar.

MACASKILL: She comes into the house and she runs up and down in front of the other dogs "naner, naner, na ner, I was at a show and I won."

MOOS: But, no one expected a win at Westminster. OK, maybe it was only Best in Breed. Molly didn't go all the way, but this is one Sheepdog who'd rather show than lie around counting sheep.

MACASKILL: She won! She won.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: That's all the time we have for now, here's a look at what's coming up next week.

We'll take you to an oasis in the desert, an oasis that's played house to the likes of Alexander the Great. Find out why the water that makes this place possible could also be its downfall.

That's coming up next time. Until then, we'd love to hear from you. You can e-mail us at NEXT@CNN.com. Thanks much for joining us. I'm Erica Hill, we'll see you next time.

END

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