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Thousands Still Without Power In Florida; Scientists Recondition Ancient Buddhist Temple; Korean DMZ To Become Wildlife Sanctuary

Aired August 21, 2004 - 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.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Erica Hill. Today on NEXT@CNN, a lot of people were unprepared when hurricane Charley to a last minute turn. But our federal forecast is to blame.
A double (UNINTELLIGIBLE) anti chief from the Iraqi war plans a normal life. We will show the high tech leg that will help get him there.

And to suffice to say, in this summer weather there are no dog day afternoons for Athens while the Olympic games are in town. We will explain. All that and more on NEXT.

Thanks for being with us. Daniel Sieberg is off this week.

A week after Florida said goodbye to Charley, residents are still picking through the mess the hurricane left behind. And many people in the hardest hit areas, say they received little warning but CNN's Brian Todd has a reality check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Amid the stories of homes devastated, lives shattered by a monster hurricane, words of recrimination from people who hadn't thought they were directly in Charley's path, like these residents of Punta Gorda, Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't know where it was turning in at until about an hour away.

TODD: A storm chaser tells CNN he too was thrown off by pre storm projections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one thing that concerns this is that there was a lot of focus on Tampa.

TODD: You didn't even have to observe closely to notice the abundance of local and network TV resources in Tampa as Charley approached.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at this point the forecast track does bring it somewhere into Tampa Bay.

TODD: But you should listen closely to what officials from the National Hurricane Center were saying in the days before Charley came ashore. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we have hurricane warnings up not just for western Cuba, but for the lower Keys and most of the Florida west coast.

TODD: Official at the National Weather Service remind us those warnings were consistent, serious and issued responsibly in advance.

D. L. JOHNSON, INT. NATL. WEATHER SERVICE: We issued a hurricane warning when the storm was still south of Cuba that included the west coast of Florida, as you can see by the graphic here for a major hurricane. So a full 23 hours out --

TODD: National Weather Service officials and meteorologists tell CNN they draw a so called cone of uncertainty around a storm's projected path to let people in many far-flung areas know they could also be in danger. They admit the course of a storm like Charley, which paralleled the coastline, is harder to predict than a hurricane coming directly at the coast from a 90-degree angle.

And they say Charley's rapid shift in intensity moving from category two to three and then four very quickly did surprise them. But given Tampa's development and vulnerability, experts say it was not irresponsible for the news media to send reporters there.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well Tampa was also a very big concern because of the population there. There are a lot more people that live in Tampa and you also have the bay area involved and you tend to get a little bit more of a funnel effect as that waive of water that storm surge moves through.

TODD (on camera): An official with the National Weather Service does offer one point of regret, that with Tampa getting so much attention, the message that the entire west coast of Florida was vulnerable may have gotten lost.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: The extent of the damage from Hurricane Charley can perhaps best be seen from the air. These satellite pictures courtesy of our friends at Space Imaging show neighborhoods of Port Charlotte in 2002 and immediately after the storm struck. You can see debris and plywood laid bear after roofs blew away. It is much the same story in Punta Gorda. White roofs are gone, leaving bear wood.

And this photo from the U.S. Geological Survey shows what happened to the vacation haven of North Captiva Island. It's now two islands.

More dramatic pictures now from the southwest coast of England this week as floodwaters tore through the village of Boggs Castle. Cars were swept out to sea or stacked like toys after torrential rains sent a wall of water through picturesque valley and village of 800 people. Residents and tourist had to take refuge in trees and on rooftops. About 150 people were airlifted to safety. The rescue effort was one of Britain's biggest emergency operations in years. Despite the horrific scene though authorities believe no one died or was seriously injured.

If you've been waiting for a good reason to worry about global warning? How about this? A new report says it could hurt the quality of California wine. According to a study published in the proceedings of "The National Academy of Scientists," climate change could cause much hotter summers and smaller snow packs in California by the end of this century endangering an already fragile water supply.

This would in turn jeopardize the states grape and dairy industries. The study is more pessimistic than previous reports. Researchers came to their conclusions after running various scenarios through new computer models. Some other scientists question the model's reliability.

U.N. officials say more swarms of locusts are invading northwestern Africa devouring crops and sparking fears of famine. They said it is the worse plaque in 15 years and it could get worse. Officials say hot humid weather has created ideal breeding conditions for the pests. Molly Mortanya (ph), Niger Centigal (ph) and Granvia (ph) are already asking for international aid to battle the bugs. Locust's swarms can cover several hundred square miles and one square mile can contain 50 million insects.

In Korea the strip of land separating North and South has become a haven for wild life. Thanks to the threat of war. Now the threat of peace could endanger the area. Sohn Jie-Ae explains.

SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Korean demilitarized zone, the DMZ was created at the end of the Korean War as a buffer between North and South Korea. Now after more than a half a century of tensions, this four-kilometer wide strip spanning the entire Korean peninsula, the only thing separating about a million man army on both sides could become a wild life sanctuary. The DMZ is now a safe haven for endangered species, like the red crowned cranes and the black-faced spoonbill.

GEORGE ARCHIBALD, CRANE FOUNDATION: For those two species of birds the DMZ is just critical for their long-term survival.

JIE-AE: Kim chairs a group called the DMZ Forum, which is trying to get the area design aid as world heritage site recognized by the United Nations. Kim's group recently met in Seoul and boarded a bus for a trip to the North Korea's Kune Gun (ph) mountains, which gave them a rare first handed look at the area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This lake is very pristine. See the natural vegetation all around it is just beautiful.

JIE-AE (on camera): Right now, the only way groups of South Korean civilians can pass through the DMZ and enter the north is on one road through the restricted area of the mountain Kune Gun (ph) to (INAUDIBLE). The concern, however, is that this won't last for long.

JIE-AE (voice over): Relations between the two Koreas have improved greatly since the summit four years ago, which is prompting groups like this one to speed up their efforts to preserve this rare sanctuary born out of conflict before peace destroys it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Sohn Jie-Ae will return later in our program with another story of preservation, this time explaining how digital technology is helping to save priceless ancient relics.

But right now, Andrew Brown reports on a method that is less high tech and a bit honoree it is being used to preserve the scenic hills surrounding Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Most Hong Kong people have never seen a mule in real life before. Especially mules like this, they come from a ranch near the U.S. Canadian border and have been flown across the Pacific to work on an unusual construction project.

SIMON GILLAM, MULE MANAGER: When we left Alberta to fly over to Hong Kong there was snow on the ground.

BROWN: No snow here, the mules are sweating their way up and down a mountain trail flanked by tropical vegetation. This is Lentile (ph) Island where contractors are building a cable car to a giant bronze Buddha. It's a challenging project because the Buddha's in the middle of a country park.

GILLAM: They were looking for an alternative system of moving materials up there because there are no roads.

BROWN: The project manager enlisted the help of six Canadian mules to shift heavy loads without destroying the parks natural habitat. The mule's clip-clop carefully along the root of a cable car with 120 kilograms of building materials strapped to their backs. They're not meant to leave the trail although occasionally they do; they are not even supposed to eat along the way.

ROGER BAYLISS, PROJECT MANAGER MTR. CORP: The mules are going to be muzzled so they are not going to be destroying the plants as they go along.

BROWN: You can't blame the mules for having an odd nibble. They're carrying a heavy burden.

GILLAM: There is materials, cement, sand, soil, some acoustic talk equipment I have recently taken up.

BROWN: Guitars.

GILLAM: Yes, not quite.

BROWN (on camera): Seriously though music is an important part of a mule culture. In 1949 a country/western classic called "Mule Train" soars to the top of the U.S. billboard charts. It was Frankie Lane who sang about the heroic stamina of pack mules trekking through the Wild West. This image of mules has endured. There's nothing like a mule train letting off steam.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up on NEXT@CNN, new forms of wild life you've never seen before.

Later a granny with a goal to build the world's loudest boom car.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: The Mars Rovers are still keeping scientists busy and turning out beautiful pictures. These images released this week- captured clouds passing over the Opportunity rover inside endurance crater. Scientists are intrigued by dunes that have formed at the bottom of the crater. On the other side of the planet, Spirit is doing some mountaineering in the Columbia Hills.

Scientists are excited about a rock called Clovis that they say contains clear evidence of ancient water. NASA says the Cassini spacecraft has discovered two tiny moons in orbit around Saturn; this brings Saturn's moon count up to 33. The smaller of the two new moons is only two miles in diameter that is nearly one-thousandth the size of our moon.

For now the moons will be called s 2004 s one and s 2004 s two. Not the most imaginative names, scientists though say the moons hadn't been previously detected because they're too small to see from Earth.

From new moons to new birds. Researchers have discovered a new bird species on the island of Kalia (ph) in the northern Philippines. The Kalian (ph) brail is related to the well-known moorhen. Flightless and flamboyant with its dark feathers and red beacon legs, this bird is found only on the small island. Experts say most of the flightless rail species have gone extinction over the years and that 18 of the 20 remaining species are considered threatened.

It's said elephants never forget. Now whether that's true, who knows? But one thing is for sure. Researchers who stumbled across one particular elephant will never forget the encounter. Femi Oke has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Chelanca (ph) a small country off the coast of India has a most unusual resident. Her name is Sue. And researchers from the wildlife thrust say these pictures are the first ever taken of a wild white elephant.

PRUTHU FERNANDO, CENTILE FOR CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH: What you see is like the skin color. And it doesn't have pigment in the skin.

OKE: Albinism (ph) a rare genetic condition can be found in species across the animal kingdom. But albino or white elephants have a very special status in this part of the world.

FERNANDO: There's a lot of importance to white elephants in cultures and religions, because they're considered omen of good luck.

OKE: This white elephant came out of Whonew (ph) National Park where researchers like Pruthu Fernando are assessing the effect of habitat clearing on elephants.

FERNANDO: Right now, the area that she's in is outside the park, and we are able to track her.

OKE: While tracking Sue outside the park may be easy, other problems arise when the elephants wander from their protected area.

FERNANDO: Elephants are considered a threatened species. The main problem in Salanka (ph) (INAUDIBLE) is contact with people. We have an agricultural based economy and elephants raid crops. Elephants get injured and elephants die. But that's only one side of the story because people also get injured and people get killed by elephants.

OKE: Fernando and conservationist alike hope the finding this white elephant will bring good luck when it comes to expanding the protect the habitat for all Shri Lankan (ph) elephants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Well a bear in Washington State may have been seeing pink elephants. The black bear was found passed out at a camp ground after drinking though campers coolers some three dozen cans of Rananeer (ph) beer a local brew. Wild life agents eventually chased the bear away, but back it came.

So they used a humane trap baited with donuts, honey and you guessed it raineer (ph) beer. It worked and the critter was relocated. By the way witnesses say the bear did try a can of Busch beer but went back to the Raineer (ph) for his drinking binge. What would Yogi say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Later on NEXT, time to get set for back to school with gadgets that make the grade.

And later ever seen an Olympic size swimming pool that was portable? You will if you stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Well Google was finally ready for its close-up this week. The Internet search company started trading on the Nasdaq Thursday. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page opened the trading day. Under the symbol GOOG, the company's initial public offering was $85 a share. But when trading started, it was up to $100 a share.

Some have speculated the much anticipated and much bally hoo'd (ph) Google IPO could signal the beginning of another dot.com boom. Well Google investors are busy seeing the color of money. But imagine seeing the color of sound. For instance, seeing colors when you hear music. We're not talking about acid trips here, it is actually a brain disorders that is not as rare as you might think. Holly Firfer reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): What over is your Monday?

JAY HARREN, MUSIC DIRECTOR, 99X RADIO: It is the color yellow, it is like a banana yellow kind of color. Tuesday is dark blue, Wednesday is light blue, and Thursday is a dark green.

FIRFER: DJ Jay Harren is not a freak. He is literally seeing the words of the days of the week spelled out in different colors. It's condition called Synesthesia. Although he and fellow DJ's joke about this neurological disorder, it's quite common.

In fact doctors say as many as one in 200 people are Synesthesia. What cause it? Well our senses are connected in the brain during development, at birth these connections are sheared. But a genetic defect will often cause a couple to may remain attached.

When that happens and one sense is triggered, the other responds as well. Whenever Kathryn hears music, she sees colored shapes.

KATHRYN: Oh, it has all kinds of blues and lavenders.

FIRFER: Dr. V. S. Ramachandran talks about a patient who had to break up with his girlfriend because every time he heard her name he tasted broccoli.

DR. V.S. RAMACHANDRAN: Why did this gene survive? We think it may be involved in creativity? Because if you ask yourself what is creativity, what is metaphor, what is analogies? The ability to link seemingly unrelated things.

FIRFER: DR. Ramachandran says we don't know what makes us creative thinkers but this condition is one explanation. He adds non Synesthesia have the ability to understand this way of thinking.

RAMACHANDRAN: You taste cheese, and what do you say it's sharp. It is a taste, why do you call it sharp? Which is a touch sensation. So our language our experience of the world is replete with metaphoric associations and the Synesthestic (ph) metaphors.

FIRFER: Synesthesthesia is more common in women than in men and eight times more common among artist, poets and novelists.

RAMACHANDRAN: Look at the movie "Fantasia."

FIRFER: This is how people live.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Speaking of colorful characters, a lot of drivers do a double take when they see who was behind the wheel of one very loud SUV. Angela King of CNN affiliate KCPQ leads us on a tour of a boom box in a Bronco or is it the other way around?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the original one and only Bronco.

ANGELA KING, KCPQ CORRESPONDENT: Hence 18-inch speakers, 15 alternators with 250 amps each, and 120 something behind the wheel of this Bronco, right?

ALMA GATES, BOOM BOX BUILDER: People are always surprised when they find out that it's not an 18 or a 26-year-old male doing this.

KING: Instead, it's Alma Gates, the 68-year-old owner of this souped up SUV. A vehicle that would make any teenager drools. Alma got her introduction to cars by helping her then teenage son with the project. He grew up and then forgets about it but Alma stuck with it along with her sidekick, Mike Maxwell.

MIKE MAXWELL: The whole goal behind this almost wanting to be the loudest vehicle in the world, undisputed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't want that in my Pontiac, probably blow it up.

KING: This vehicle is capable of pumping out 60,000 watts.

GATES: A small power station is 50,000 watts.

KING (on camera): But what's equally impressive about this vehicle is once you shut the doors, you can hardly hear a thing.

MAXWELL: The doors are completely filled with concrete; the glass in this is two inch thick.

KING: All because being considerate of others is a must for this great-grandmother.

GATES: Not everybody wants to listen to a boom car.

KING: And Alma admits she doesn't always like to listen to rap.

GATES: But my young friends would probably cringe if I told them I like country/western, jazz and soul.

KING: That is only after they get over the shock of who built this beast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up in our next half hour, the technology that is helping soldiers who have lost limbs resume a normal life.

Later, every dog has its day, but not in Athens during the Olympics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Welcome back. In Oregon, a state of execution for some Cold War era chemical weapons. The Army's Umatilla Weapons Plant postponed plans to begin incinerating it's stockpile of mustard and nerve agents this week citing safety concern after dangerous vapors were released during a test run. The Army decided to push back the launch date to ensure all safety precautions were in place. In a press release, Army officials stated plans to begin disposing of the weapons in the upcoming week.

Similar weapon incinerators in Anniston, Alabama and Tooele,Utah drew fierce opposition nearby residents and environmentalists who say the risk of an incinerator accident outweighs the benefits.

From destroying weapons to restoring one man's life. Barbara Starr brings us a soldier's story with a high-tech twist.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Army Specialist Kevin Pannell was on foot patrol in Baghdad June 13th when his unit was hit with three grenades.

SPEC. KEVIN PANNELL, U.S. ARMY: One of them landed at my heels. It went off. That's how I lost both of these.

STARR: Now a double amputee, this is an extraordinary day. With his wife looking on, Pannell is getting his first prosthetic leg.

DENNIS CLARK, PROSTHETIC TECHNICIAN: This is day one, appointment one, minute one.

STARR: But more than just an artificial limb.

CLARK: Sensitive areas?

K. PANNELL: Not really. Not at all.

CLARK: Problem areas?

K. PANNELL: Not at all.

STARR: Pannell is being fitted with a $48,000 limb driven by an internal microprocessor. Today, he will stand for the first time since the attack.

CLARK: Let's slide you right in here.

STARR: More adjustments.

K. PANNELL: I'm not locked...

CLARK: No, you're not locking, you may not get locked until we get you up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to put this other belt around it.

K. PANNELL: Do you want me to stand up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not yet.

CLARK: All right, so we're just going to go ahead and stand up. You all locked in?

Nice and slow. Nice and slow.

STARR: A remarkable piece of technology. The leg will be hooked up to a laptop computer and specifically programmed for Pannell.

CLARK: That's a great first step right there.

He'll be able to go up and down steps, get in and out of a car, go up and down ramps.

STARR: The knee will adjust 50 times per second.

CLARK: We can actually program a second mode for bicycle riding, for rowing, for whatever -- whatever it is that he wants to do -- for golf.

STARR: Pannell's wife Amanda.

AMANDA PANNELL, SOLDIER'S WIFE: In the years ahead, what I can see is just maybe everything just getting back to normal.

STARR: The emerging generation of Iraq war veterans are so young, they face another 50 or 60 years of challenges and a commitment from the Army to help them.

DR. PAUL PASQUINA, WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: As advances in rehabilitation or advances in medical or surgical techniques come on, we need to be able to identify them. And we need to be trying to set some treatment plans now that may have a long-term impact, a positive impact on their eventual outcome.

K. PANNELL: I don't see other than -- you know, playing in the NBA, I don't see anything that I won't be able to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Pretty incredible story.

You know, kids are always wanting to do everything they can. Technology is helping them do a lot more these days. And joining us, we'll look some gadgets that can help you kids go do and learn more, is Janet Chen. She's editor-at-large for "CNet.com."

Great to have you back here.

JANET CHEN, CNET.COM: Thanks for having me.

HILL: We're going to start off with stuff for younger kids. This globe we've been having a great time with here ever since you brought it in. Tell us a little bit about it.

CHEN: This is the Leapfrog Explorer Globe and basically it's an interactive globe so it uses a technology to teach kids about cultural facts, about geography, you can do -- you can quiz yourself, quiz your kids on where different locations are and also it gives you lots of statistics.

HILL: We have it set to tell us the population of a country.

GLOBE: Iceland, population, 280,000.

HILL: Not very much people in Iceland, huh?

CHEN: It's a great learning tool so you can find out more about the world.

HILL: This is also neat for younger kids it's sort of their own -- I don't know, what would you call it? Gaming device? Not really.

CHEN: It is. It's sort of like -- it's an educational toy, I think, really. Basically what it does is, you can use -- like of the other Leapfrog products, you use cartridges and the cartridges have different content on them and you can play games that kind of teach you about music, about art, about science, math, depending on the cartridges and the cartridges also let you have content that's for older kids and younger kids, so basically as you -- as your kid grows out of it, you can add a new content that makes it a little toy that they can use.

HILL: To go the next level.

CHEN: Exactly.

HILL: This is for older kids, sort of a PDA for them, but also a study tool.

CHEN: That's right, it's more of a study tool than that, that's more of a game.

This is um, basically it's the iClass and what this does, it lets you quiz yourself on different products -- on different topics and it works as PDA, you manage your contacts, your address book, as well as, your calendar, but the cartridges can be tailored to the grade you're in and they actually have content from textbooks all around the country and they have the majority of the textbooks that your student might be using and you can quiz yourself before you take your quiz at school.

HILL: That's great.

CHEN: And then this is actually -- the one that we have is a SAT prep quiz. Where you can actually...

HILL: Which you're definitely going to need.

CHEN: Right.

HILL: Real quickly before we let you go, this is notebook, sort of an introductory notebook? CHEN: That's right and it's also for children probably ages nine and up. And what you can do is you can do typing tests and learn to type and learn use a computer and lots of different educational games, as well.

HILL: and when you're on the computer, sitting there with -- maybe sitting there with the kids and parents together, a new version of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia is out?

CHEN: That's right. And Microsoft Encarta it's great for the whole family it's a encyclopedia and has a lot of reference tools, but this version has specific content tailored to kids seven to 12 years old.

HILL: So, you know what they're doing, you know what they're looking at, and you know it's just for their age group. Janet, thanks for being here, we appreciate the look at all this fun stuff.

CHEN: Thank you.

HILL: Janet Chen is editor-at-large for CNet.com.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Later on our program, A cave that could be a major find for biblical archeologists.

Also, when it came to the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, not only were the athletes speedy, so was construction of the pool. Stay with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: So, you think those Olympic swimmers are fast? You should see the folks who build their pools? Donna Tetreault has more on a construction feet that's worthy of its own medal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONNA TETREAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looked like the coliseum during the height of the Roman Empire. But, this stadium filled with 10,000 spectators in Long Beach had its modern day gladiators vying for a spot interviewing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team. This pool, the largest temporary pool ever constructed in the United States was the main attraction.

BETH WHITE, LONG BEACH AQUATICS: Swimmers have said it. They can't go backwards now. You have to keep going forward. This type of event, this type of field of play for these elite athletes has to be continue to be replicated going forward.

TETREAULT: This portable competition pool was erected in less than four weeks. Normally it takes nine months to build a pool this size. This time lapse shows the construction. The pool is 50 meters long with eight lanes for swimmers. It took the Long Beach Fire Department nine hours to fill it with 650,000 gallons of water. But, beyond being portable, this two meter-deep pool was designed for blistering speed.

RANDY MENDIOROZ, AQUATIC DESIGN GROUP: The depth of the pool was very important. We wanted to make sure that they were deep enough that we wouldn't get any currents coming off the bottom of the pool, as well, when they were doing their strokes and kicks. If we maintain that, then it was all up the athletes.

TETREAULT (on camera): This state-of-the-art pool proved to be one of the fastest pools ever constructs. At the U.S. Olympic trials, six world records were broken along with nine American records.

JESSICA HARDY, SWIMMER: I swam my life-time best time at this pool. It was by far the best pool I've ever swam in. Just -- it was just amazing.

TETREAULT: Seventeen-year-old Jessica Hardy competed in the hundred meter breaststroke at the trials. She placed fifth, not fast enough to make the U.S. Olympic team, but she's young and going to continue to compete. She hopes to dive into a pool like this again.

HARDY: It was amazing swimming with so many swimmers who were breaking so many records and you could just tell, even if you were spectating, it was amazingly fast.

TETREAULT: Also amazingly fast, how long it takes to break it all down. In less than three weeks, the pool will be gone, only a parking lot left. The pool heads for permanent installation in the California town of Yucaipa. The modern day technology behind it could set the pace for the for your of swimming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: While the rest of the world is focused on the Olympics in Greece. Some long-time Athenians are asking, "Who let the dogs in?" There's still some controversy about the hospitality the city's stray dogs are receiving. Michael Holmes unleashes this report.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the more curious Olympic stories in Athens isn't about medals and doping, it is about dogs -- stray dogs. There are thousands of strays, many of them mingling happily with the tourists. And they're not just tolerated by the locals, many Greeks say they're part of the city's character, even Greece's democratic heritage.

GEORGE PAPAIOANNOU, KENNEL OWNER: I think it's the spirit of democracy that we use to have since, I don't know, since ancient Greece. What's the meaning of democracy? We are -- we're going to kill them?

HOLMES: But, an Olympics changes things. Host cities are meant to be spruced up and packs of dogs don't help with the sprucing. Letting sleeping dogs lie wasn't really an option so a round-up began. (on camera): Dogs that are picked up off the streets and brought here are treated by veterinarians, made healthy, most importantly they are neutered. And then if they haven't been adopted within a couple of weeks, they're taken back to where they were picked up and let go again.

HOLMES: That's right, back to the streets. Part of a program that's been running for two years, but didn't have much impetus until the games came along. There are few shelters in Athens, something animal welfare activists say shows a lack of respect for a man's best friend.

ANGELA HARITAKIS, "CARING FOR ANIMAL': There's absolutely no infrastructure whatsoever.

HOLMES: Angela Harricarcas runs an independent welfare group and says there's been poisoning of strays in the past and wants Greeks to change what she says is an uncaring attitude to dogs.

HARITAKIS: We do not acquire one because we want it a as a gift to our little toddler, and don't throw it in the street as soon as the first problem arises.

HOLMES: Is that what happens?

HARITAKIS: That's what happens.

HOLMES: But other say Greeks are not crewel to the street dogs, far from it. George Papaioannou says the strays he receives are far from unhealthy.

PAPAIOANNOU: Most of the dogs are not -- are come in here and they are quite healthy, they are fat and that's because someone logically feed them.

HOLMES: It's something other cities around the world might not understand. Cities where strays often end up euphemized, not here. Athens city officials say two million euros will be spent this year on neutering and education, encouraging Athenians to adopt a strays and keep it inside. Others say after the Olympics, the strays of Athens will return to their dog's life and there's nothing wrong with that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Just ahead, even though those aging documents are hundreds of years old. They could last for thousands more. We'll show you how.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: There is circumstantial evidence for a dramatic discovery in biblical arcology. A cave near Jerusalem could be the site where a fiery creature named John the Baptist met with his followers. Stan Grant has the story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John the Baptist in all his glory, you can see...

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON GIBSON, ARCHAEOLOGIST: John the Baptist, in all his glory. You can see...

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a crude cave drawing, but it could be proof John the Baptist existed.

GIBSON: ... the eyes, a very long nose, the mouth...

GRANT: To archaeologist, Shimon Gibson, this cave is a doorway into the time of Jesus, for centuries hidden near Jerusalem, close to where John was born, only now giving up its secrets, a place where the fiery New Testament preacher carried out his cleansing rituals.

GIBSON: The evidence we have dates back to the late 1st century B.C. and early 1st century A.D., to the time of John the Baptist himself. And this is quite astounding.

GRANT (on camera): According to archaeologists, this footprint represents an important part of the puzzle. It shows a break with Jewish tradition. It was here that followers would come and place their feet to be anointed with oil. They then undergo a new ritual: Baptism performed by John.

GIBSON: Following that, people will then have immersed themselves in the water at the back of the cave. Then they would have come out and put on new robes, and they would have been purified. And then, they would have set out from the cave.

GRANT (voice-over): Who was John? The Bible says a man who preached in the wilderness, depicted as a wild figure living on locusts, clad in camel skin with matted hair. He's believed to have been a cousin of Jesus and baptized him. Shimon Gibson imagines Jesus himself with John in this cave.

GIBSON: But this is speculation. But it's nice to think about it, the idea that, down these steps, Jesus himself walked and then performed baptism rites.

GRANT: But is all of this to be believed? There are no inscriptions, no written proof. The evidence, Gibson concedes, is circumstantial.

GIBSON: It would have been wonderful if John the Baptist had sort of inscribed in the wall, "I am John the Baptist, and this is the place where I baptize," but you know, that's the nature of archaeological discovery.

GRANT: Gibson is ready for the debate. For five years, he's kept his discovery a secret, since he was told about the cave by locals. The story of John, he says, is on the walls. Depictions of his decapitated head and severed arm, all pointing, he says, to one of the great archaeological finds of the gospels, the cave of John the Baptist.

(END VIDEOTAPE).

HILL: Some ancient relics in Korea could survive for many more generations, thanks to a complex engineering technique. Sohn Jie-Ae has more this cutting edge preservation process.

JIE-AE (voice-over): The Tripitaka Koreana, more than 80,000 wooden blocks containing the 25 million Chinese characters of the Buddhist canon. It survived 800 years through techniques like submerging the high-quality birch trees in water for three years, or painting the carving with poisonous lacquer. But to ensure it will survive well beyond the 800 years, modern science is stepping in.

Each character is being digitalized, painstakingly sculptured and then transferred onto a film. Using this film as a base, the characters are branded onto a special bronze plate. The bronze plate goes through a chemical process of imprinting and melting, and after a few final touches, it is turned into a duplicate of the wooden orginal.

But, instead of lasting hundreds of years, like the wooden originals, these are expected to last thousands of years.

LIM JEA-SUN, WOO YOUN METAI (through translator): We are confident no other company in the world can compete with us in making these bronze plates so precise and intricate.

JIE-AE: The confidence comes from the fact that the company in charge of the entire process, Woo Youn, has received international awards for what is called "super microparticle processing technology." In laymen's terms, the ability to make designs on copper plates by etching 26,000 microholes in a square centimeter.

(on camera): Now, the technology comes into play when you want to turn a faded photograph, like this into this, something that could last you thousands of years. Most of the demand for this process is preserving historical documents or making high value-added tourist products. But, it could soon see such etchings appear on elevator and other steel doors. Successfully completing the Buddhist canon, Woo Youn officials hope, will also open many other doors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still to come, what did men do before the age of Viagra? Leave it to Jeanne moos to find out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HILL: Long before Viagra, long before someone came up with the term E.D., there were plenty of positions and gizmos aimed at improving sex. And here's a surprise, most of them didn't work. Jeanne Moos reports on what's supposed to be a stimulating exhibit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These days the come-ons come in e-mail, promising bigger, longer, stronger, but what's really long is the history of quackery.

DR. REINER ENGEL, AMERICAN UROLOGICAL MUSEUM: That's actually a spark...

MOOS: To spark up your sex life, there have been gizmos ranging from the vibrating chair for women...

ENGEL: Yeah, you can vibrate it here, too.

MOOS: ...to the unisex violet ray machine with attachment that go places best left to your imagination.

ENGEL: We haven't had any volunteer who is willing to have those sparks delivered.

MOOS: Here at the American Urological Association headquarters near Baltimore, even the flags are limp. The Urological Museum features head shakers like a kidney stone so big doctors had to take out the kidney.

At the just-opened quackery exhibit, you can find items like the Heidelberg belt. Guys, you can imagine where the loop goes. The belt delivers a small electrical charge that promises quick relief of all weaknesses.

MOOS (on camera): So, what is the most sort of blatant, dumbest piece of quackery you ever saw?

ENGEL: Probably a rectal dilator.

MOOS (voice-over): Yikes. Dr. Young's perfection comes in ever-larger sizes, guaranteed to cure ills ranging from insomnia to impotence.

ENGEL: You're not going to try one?

MOOS (on camera): Not on camera.

MOOS (voice-over): And here's a charmer, intended to discourage nighttime arousal.

ENGEL: The teeth would dig in there and (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MOOS (on camera): The Spermataria (ph) ring was sold in a Sears catalogue in 1903 for 25 cents. MOOS (voice-over): As for the violet ray machine that delivers a tiny charge, it came with attachments to improve your eyesight, grow hair, fix your thyroid.

And then there's the infamous device even Austin Powers disowned.

AUSTIN POWERS: That's not mine.

MOOS: The exhibit's curator says it might work, but only if you used it all the time risking tissue damage.

ENGEL: If I take your tongue and put a couple of weights on it, and if you do that for a year, you have a tongue that hangs down to here.

It's charged.

MOOS: Uh huh, I feel better already.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: On that note, I'd better bite my tongue. But, before we go, let's give you a sample of what's coming up next week.

Hurricane Charley devastated much of the Florida Gulf Coast. But, if a hurricane hit New Orleans, which lies below sea level, it could do untold damage and kill thousands. We'll tell you how the city that care forgot, is trying to keep it that way. That's coming up next week.

Until then, let us hear from you. Send us an e-mail to NEXT@CNN.com and be sure to visit our website, CNN.com/NEXT.

Thanks for being with us this week. For Daniel Sieberg, I'm Erica Hill. See you next time.

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

Aired August 21, 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: Hi, I'm Erica Hill. Today on NEXT@CNN, a lot of people were unprepared when hurricane Charley to a last minute turn. But our federal forecast is to blame.
A double (UNINTELLIGIBLE) anti chief from the Iraqi war plans a normal life. We will show the high tech leg that will help get him there.

And to suffice to say, in this summer weather there are no dog day afternoons for Athens while the Olympic games are in town. We will explain. All that and more on NEXT.

Thanks for being with us. Daniel Sieberg is off this week.

A week after Florida said goodbye to Charley, residents are still picking through the mess the hurricane left behind. And many people in the hardest hit areas, say they received little warning but CNN's Brian Todd has a reality check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Amid the stories of homes devastated, lives shattered by a monster hurricane, words of recrimination from people who hadn't thought they were directly in Charley's path, like these residents of Punta Gorda, Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't know where it was turning in at until about an hour away.

TODD: A storm chaser tells CNN he too was thrown off by pre storm projections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one thing that concerns this is that there was a lot of focus on Tampa.

TODD: You didn't even have to observe closely to notice the abundance of local and network TV resources in Tampa as Charley approached.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at this point the forecast track does bring it somewhere into Tampa Bay.

TODD: But you should listen closely to what officials from the National Hurricane Center were saying in the days before Charley came ashore. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we have hurricane warnings up not just for western Cuba, but for the lower Keys and most of the Florida west coast.

TODD: Official at the National Weather Service remind us those warnings were consistent, serious and issued responsibly in advance.

D. L. JOHNSON, INT. NATL. WEATHER SERVICE: We issued a hurricane warning when the storm was still south of Cuba that included the west coast of Florida, as you can see by the graphic here for a major hurricane. So a full 23 hours out --

TODD: National Weather Service officials and meteorologists tell CNN they draw a so called cone of uncertainty around a storm's projected path to let people in many far-flung areas know they could also be in danger. They admit the course of a storm like Charley, which paralleled the coastline, is harder to predict than a hurricane coming directly at the coast from a 90-degree angle.

And they say Charley's rapid shift in intensity moving from category two to three and then four very quickly did surprise them. But given Tampa's development and vulnerability, experts say it was not irresponsible for the news media to send reporters there.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well Tampa was also a very big concern because of the population there. There are a lot more people that live in Tampa and you also have the bay area involved and you tend to get a little bit more of a funnel effect as that waive of water that storm surge moves through.

TODD (on camera): An official with the National Weather Service does offer one point of regret, that with Tampa getting so much attention, the message that the entire west coast of Florida was vulnerable may have gotten lost.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: The extent of the damage from Hurricane Charley can perhaps best be seen from the air. These satellite pictures courtesy of our friends at Space Imaging show neighborhoods of Port Charlotte in 2002 and immediately after the storm struck. You can see debris and plywood laid bear after roofs blew away. It is much the same story in Punta Gorda. White roofs are gone, leaving bear wood.

And this photo from the U.S. Geological Survey shows what happened to the vacation haven of North Captiva Island. It's now two islands.

More dramatic pictures now from the southwest coast of England this week as floodwaters tore through the village of Boggs Castle. Cars were swept out to sea or stacked like toys after torrential rains sent a wall of water through picturesque valley and village of 800 people. Residents and tourist had to take refuge in trees and on rooftops. About 150 people were airlifted to safety. The rescue effort was one of Britain's biggest emergency operations in years. Despite the horrific scene though authorities believe no one died or was seriously injured.

If you've been waiting for a good reason to worry about global warning? How about this? A new report says it could hurt the quality of California wine. According to a study published in the proceedings of "The National Academy of Scientists," climate change could cause much hotter summers and smaller snow packs in California by the end of this century endangering an already fragile water supply.

This would in turn jeopardize the states grape and dairy industries. The study is more pessimistic than previous reports. Researchers came to their conclusions after running various scenarios through new computer models. Some other scientists question the model's reliability.

U.N. officials say more swarms of locusts are invading northwestern Africa devouring crops and sparking fears of famine. They said it is the worse plaque in 15 years and it could get worse. Officials say hot humid weather has created ideal breeding conditions for the pests. Molly Mortanya (ph), Niger Centigal (ph) and Granvia (ph) are already asking for international aid to battle the bugs. Locust's swarms can cover several hundred square miles and one square mile can contain 50 million insects.

In Korea the strip of land separating North and South has become a haven for wild life. Thanks to the threat of war. Now the threat of peace could endanger the area. Sohn Jie-Ae explains.

SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Korean demilitarized zone, the DMZ was created at the end of the Korean War as a buffer between North and South Korea. Now after more than a half a century of tensions, this four-kilometer wide strip spanning the entire Korean peninsula, the only thing separating about a million man army on both sides could become a wild life sanctuary. The DMZ is now a safe haven for endangered species, like the red crowned cranes and the black-faced spoonbill.

GEORGE ARCHIBALD, CRANE FOUNDATION: For those two species of birds the DMZ is just critical for their long-term survival.

JIE-AE: Kim chairs a group called the DMZ Forum, which is trying to get the area design aid as world heritage site recognized by the United Nations. Kim's group recently met in Seoul and boarded a bus for a trip to the North Korea's Kune Gun (ph) mountains, which gave them a rare first handed look at the area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This lake is very pristine. See the natural vegetation all around it is just beautiful.

JIE-AE (on camera): Right now, the only way groups of South Korean civilians can pass through the DMZ and enter the north is on one road through the restricted area of the mountain Kune Gun (ph) to (INAUDIBLE). The concern, however, is that this won't last for long.

JIE-AE (voice over): Relations between the two Koreas have improved greatly since the summit four years ago, which is prompting groups like this one to speed up their efforts to preserve this rare sanctuary born out of conflict before peace destroys it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Sohn Jie-Ae will return later in our program with another story of preservation, this time explaining how digital technology is helping to save priceless ancient relics.

But right now, Andrew Brown reports on a method that is less high tech and a bit honoree it is being used to preserve the scenic hills surrounding Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Most Hong Kong people have never seen a mule in real life before. Especially mules like this, they come from a ranch near the U.S. Canadian border and have been flown across the Pacific to work on an unusual construction project.

SIMON GILLAM, MULE MANAGER: When we left Alberta to fly over to Hong Kong there was snow on the ground.

BROWN: No snow here, the mules are sweating their way up and down a mountain trail flanked by tropical vegetation. This is Lentile (ph) Island where contractors are building a cable car to a giant bronze Buddha. It's a challenging project because the Buddha's in the middle of a country park.

GILLAM: They were looking for an alternative system of moving materials up there because there are no roads.

BROWN: The project manager enlisted the help of six Canadian mules to shift heavy loads without destroying the parks natural habitat. The mule's clip-clop carefully along the root of a cable car with 120 kilograms of building materials strapped to their backs. They're not meant to leave the trail although occasionally they do; they are not even supposed to eat along the way.

ROGER BAYLISS, PROJECT MANAGER MTR. CORP: The mules are going to be muzzled so they are not going to be destroying the plants as they go along.

BROWN: You can't blame the mules for having an odd nibble. They're carrying a heavy burden.

GILLAM: There is materials, cement, sand, soil, some acoustic talk equipment I have recently taken up.

BROWN: Guitars.

GILLAM: Yes, not quite.

BROWN (on camera): Seriously though music is an important part of a mule culture. In 1949 a country/western classic called "Mule Train" soars to the top of the U.S. billboard charts. It was Frankie Lane who sang about the heroic stamina of pack mules trekking through the Wild West. This image of mules has endured. There's nothing like a mule train letting off steam.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up on NEXT@CNN, new forms of wild life you've never seen before.

Later a granny with a goal to build the world's loudest boom car.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: The Mars Rovers are still keeping scientists busy and turning out beautiful pictures. These images released this week- captured clouds passing over the Opportunity rover inside endurance crater. Scientists are intrigued by dunes that have formed at the bottom of the crater. On the other side of the planet, Spirit is doing some mountaineering in the Columbia Hills.

Scientists are excited about a rock called Clovis that they say contains clear evidence of ancient water. NASA says the Cassini spacecraft has discovered two tiny moons in orbit around Saturn; this brings Saturn's moon count up to 33. The smaller of the two new moons is only two miles in diameter that is nearly one-thousandth the size of our moon.

For now the moons will be called s 2004 s one and s 2004 s two. Not the most imaginative names, scientists though say the moons hadn't been previously detected because they're too small to see from Earth.

From new moons to new birds. Researchers have discovered a new bird species on the island of Kalia (ph) in the northern Philippines. The Kalian (ph) brail is related to the well-known moorhen. Flightless and flamboyant with its dark feathers and red beacon legs, this bird is found only on the small island. Experts say most of the flightless rail species have gone extinction over the years and that 18 of the 20 remaining species are considered threatened.

It's said elephants never forget. Now whether that's true, who knows? But one thing is for sure. Researchers who stumbled across one particular elephant will never forget the encounter. Femi Oke has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Chelanca (ph) a small country off the coast of India has a most unusual resident. Her name is Sue. And researchers from the wildlife thrust say these pictures are the first ever taken of a wild white elephant.

PRUTHU FERNANDO, CENTILE FOR CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH: What you see is like the skin color. And it doesn't have pigment in the skin.

OKE: Albinism (ph) a rare genetic condition can be found in species across the animal kingdom. But albino or white elephants have a very special status in this part of the world.

FERNANDO: There's a lot of importance to white elephants in cultures and religions, because they're considered omen of good luck.

OKE: This white elephant came out of Whonew (ph) National Park where researchers like Pruthu Fernando are assessing the effect of habitat clearing on elephants.

FERNANDO: Right now, the area that she's in is outside the park, and we are able to track her.

OKE: While tracking Sue outside the park may be easy, other problems arise when the elephants wander from their protected area.

FERNANDO: Elephants are considered a threatened species. The main problem in Salanka (ph) (INAUDIBLE) is contact with people. We have an agricultural based economy and elephants raid crops. Elephants get injured and elephants die. But that's only one side of the story because people also get injured and people get killed by elephants.

OKE: Fernando and conservationist alike hope the finding this white elephant will bring good luck when it comes to expanding the protect the habitat for all Shri Lankan (ph) elephants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Well a bear in Washington State may have been seeing pink elephants. The black bear was found passed out at a camp ground after drinking though campers coolers some three dozen cans of Rananeer (ph) beer a local brew. Wild life agents eventually chased the bear away, but back it came.

So they used a humane trap baited with donuts, honey and you guessed it raineer (ph) beer. It worked and the critter was relocated. By the way witnesses say the bear did try a can of Busch beer but went back to the Raineer (ph) for his drinking binge. What would Yogi say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Later on NEXT, time to get set for back to school with gadgets that make the grade.

And later ever seen an Olympic size swimming pool that was portable? You will if you stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Well Google was finally ready for its close-up this week. The Internet search company started trading on the Nasdaq Thursday. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page opened the trading day. Under the symbol GOOG, the company's initial public offering was $85 a share. But when trading started, it was up to $100 a share.

Some have speculated the much anticipated and much bally hoo'd (ph) Google IPO could signal the beginning of another dot.com boom. Well Google investors are busy seeing the color of money. But imagine seeing the color of sound. For instance, seeing colors when you hear music. We're not talking about acid trips here, it is actually a brain disorders that is not as rare as you might think. Holly Firfer reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): What over is your Monday?

JAY HARREN, MUSIC DIRECTOR, 99X RADIO: It is the color yellow, it is like a banana yellow kind of color. Tuesday is dark blue, Wednesday is light blue, and Thursday is a dark green.

FIRFER: DJ Jay Harren is not a freak. He is literally seeing the words of the days of the week spelled out in different colors. It's condition called Synesthesia. Although he and fellow DJ's joke about this neurological disorder, it's quite common.

In fact doctors say as many as one in 200 people are Synesthesia. What cause it? Well our senses are connected in the brain during development, at birth these connections are sheared. But a genetic defect will often cause a couple to may remain attached.

When that happens and one sense is triggered, the other responds as well. Whenever Kathryn hears music, she sees colored shapes.

KATHRYN: Oh, it has all kinds of blues and lavenders.

FIRFER: Dr. V. S. Ramachandran talks about a patient who had to break up with his girlfriend because every time he heard her name he tasted broccoli.

DR. V.S. RAMACHANDRAN: Why did this gene survive? We think it may be involved in creativity? Because if you ask yourself what is creativity, what is metaphor, what is analogies? The ability to link seemingly unrelated things.

FIRFER: DR. Ramachandran says we don't know what makes us creative thinkers but this condition is one explanation. He adds non Synesthesia have the ability to understand this way of thinking.

RAMACHANDRAN: You taste cheese, and what do you say it's sharp. It is a taste, why do you call it sharp? Which is a touch sensation. So our language our experience of the world is replete with metaphoric associations and the Synesthestic (ph) metaphors.

FIRFER: Synesthesthesia is more common in women than in men and eight times more common among artist, poets and novelists.

RAMACHANDRAN: Look at the movie "Fantasia."

FIRFER: This is how people live.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Speaking of colorful characters, a lot of drivers do a double take when they see who was behind the wheel of one very loud SUV. Angela King of CNN affiliate KCPQ leads us on a tour of a boom box in a Bronco or is it the other way around?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the original one and only Bronco.

ANGELA KING, KCPQ CORRESPONDENT: Hence 18-inch speakers, 15 alternators with 250 amps each, and 120 something behind the wheel of this Bronco, right?

ALMA GATES, BOOM BOX BUILDER: People are always surprised when they find out that it's not an 18 or a 26-year-old male doing this.

KING: Instead, it's Alma Gates, the 68-year-old owner of this souped up SUV. A vehicle that would make any teenager drools. Alma got her introduction to cars by helping her then teenage son with the project. He grew up and then forgets about it but Alma stuck with it along with her sidekick, Mike Maxwell.

MIKE MAXWELL: The whole goal behind this almost wanting to be the loudest vehicle in the world, undisputed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't want that in my Pontiac, probably blow it up.

KING: This vehicle is capable of pumping out 60,000 watts.

GATES: A small power station is 50,000 watts.

KING (on camera): But what's equally impressive about this vehicle is once you shut the doors, you can hardly hear a thing.

MAXWELL: The doors are completely filled with concrete; the glass in this is two inch thick.

KING: All because being considerate of others is a must for this great-grandmother.

GATES: Not everybody wants to listen to a boom car.

KING: And Alma admits she doesn't always like to listen to rap.

GATES: But my young friends would probably cringe if I told them I like country/western, jazz and soul.

KING: That is only after they get over the shock of who built this beast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up in our next half hour, the technology that is helping soldiers who have lost limbs resume a normal life.

Later, every dog has its day, but not in Athens during the Olympics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Welcome back. In Oregon, a state of execution for some Cold War era chemical weapons. The Army's Umatilla Weapons Plant postponed plans to begin incinerating it's stockpile of mustard and nerve agents this week citing safety concern after dangerous vapors were released during a test run. The Army decided to push back the launch date to ensure all safety precautions were in place. In a press release, Army officials stated plans to begin disposing of the weapons in the upcoming week.

Similar weapon incinerators in Anniston, Alabama and Tooele,Utah drew fierce opposition nearby residents and environmentalists who say the risk of an incinerator accident outweighs the benefits.

From destroying weapons to restoring one man's life. Barbara Starr brings us a soldier's story with a high-tech twist.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Army Specialist Kevin Pannell was on foot patrol in Baghdad June 13th when his unit was hit with three grenades.

SPEC. KEVIN PANNELL, U.S. ARMY: One of them landed at my heels. It went off. That's how I lost both of these.

STARR: Now a double amputee, this is an extraordinary day. With his wife looking on, Pannell is getting his first prosthetic leg.

DENNIS CLARK, PROSTHETIC TECHNICIAN: This is day one, appointment one, minute one.

STARR: But more than just an artificial limb.

CLARK: Sensitive areas?

K. PANNELL: Not really. Not at all.

CLARK: Problem areas?

K. PANNELL: Not at all.

STARR: Pannell is being fitted with a $48,000 limb driven by an internal microprocessor. Today, he will stand for the first time since the attack.

CLARK: Let's slide you right in here.

STARR: More adjustments.

K. PANNELL: I'm not locked...

CLARK: No, you're not locking, you may not get locked until we get you up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to put this other belt around it.

K. PANNELL: Do you want me to stand up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not yet.

CLARK: All right, so we're just going to go ahead and stand up. You all locked in?

Nice and slow. Nice and slow.

STARR: A remarkable piece of technology. The leg will be hooked up to a laptop computer and specifically programmed for Pannell.

CLARK: That's a great first step right there.

He'll be able to go up and down steps, get in and out of a car, go up and down ramps.

STARR: The knee will adjust 50 times per second.

CLARK: We can actually program a second mode for bicycle riding, for rowing, for whatever -- whatever it is that he wants to do -- for golf.

STARR: Pannell's wife Amanda.

AMANDA PANNELL, SOLDIER'S WIFE: In the years ahead, what I can see is just maybe everything just getting back to normal.

STARR: The emerging generation of Iraq war veterans are so young, they face another 50 or 60 years of challenges and a commitment from the Army to help them.

DR. PAUL PASQUINA, WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: As advances in rehabilitation or advances in medical or surgical techniques come on, we need to be able to identify them. And we need to be trying to set some treatment plans now that may have a long-term impact, a positive impact on their eventual outcome.

K. PANNELL: I don't see other than -- you know, playing in the NBA, I don't see anything that I won't be able to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Pretty incredible story.

You know, kids are always wanting to do everything they can. Technology is helping them do a lot more these days. And joining us, we'll look some gadgets that can help you kids go do and learn more, is Janet Chen. She's editor-at-large for "CNet.com."

Great to have you back here.

JANET CHEN, CNET.COM: Thanks for having me.

HILL: We're going to start off with stuff for younger kids. This globe we've been having a great time with here ever since you brought it in. Tell us a little bit about it.

CHEN: This is the Leapfrog Explorer Globe and basically it's an interactive globe so it uses a technology to teach kids about cultural facts, about geography, you can do -- you can quiz yourself, quiz your kids on where different locations are and also it gives you lots of statistics.

HILL: We have it set to tell us the population of a country.

GLOBE: Iceland, population, 280,000.

HILL: Not very much people in Iceland, huh?

CHEN: It's a great learning tool so you can find out more about the world.

HILL: This is also neat for younger kids it's sort of their own -- I don't know, what would you call it? Gaming device? Not really.

CHEN: It is. It's sort of like -- it's an educational toy, I think, really. Basically what it does is, you can use -- like of the other Leapfrog products, you use cartridges and the cartridges have different content on them and you can play games that kind of teach you about music, about art, about science, math, depending on the cartridges and the cartridges also let you have content that's for older kids and younger kids, so basically as you -- as your kid grows out of it, you can add a new content that makes it a little toy that they can use.

HILL: To go the next level.

CHEN: Exactly.

HILL: This is for older kids, sort of a PDA for them, but also a study tool.

CHEN: That's right, it's more of a study tool than that, that's more of a game.

This is um, basically it's the iClass and what this does, it lets you quiz yourself on different products -- on different topics and it works as PDA, you manage your contacts, your address book, as well as, your calendar, but the cartridges can be tailored to the grade you're in and they actually have content from textbooks all around the country and they have the majority of the textbooks that your student might be using and you can quiz yourself before you take your quiz at school.

HILL: That's great.

CHEN: And then this is actually -- the one that we have is a SAT prep quiz. Where you can actually...

HILL: Which you're definitely going to need.

CHEN: Right.

HILL: Real quickly before we let you go, this is notebook, sort of an introductory notebook? CHEN: That's right and it's also for children probably ages nine and up. And what you can do is you can do typing tests and learn to type and learn use a computer and lots of different educational games, as well.

HILL: and when you're on the computer, sitting there with -- maybe sitting there with the kids and parents together, a new version of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia is out?

CHEN: That's right. And Microsoft Encarta it's great for the whole family it's a encyclopedia and has a lot of reference tools, but this version has specific content tailored to kids seven to 12 years old.

HILL: So, you know what they're doing, you know what they're looking at, and you know it's just for their age group. Janet, thanks for being here, we appreciate the look at all this fun stuff.

CHEN: Thank you.

HILL: Janet Chen is editor-at-large for CNet.com.

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ANNOUNCER: Later on our program, A cave that could be a major find for biblical archeologists.

Also, when it came to the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, not only were the athletes speedy, so was construction of the pool. Stay with us.

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HILL: So, you think those Olympic swimmers are fast? You should see the folks who build their pools? Donna Tetreault has more on a construction feet that's worthy of its own medal.

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DONNA TETREAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looked like the coliseum during the height of the Roman Empire. But, this stadium filled with 10,000 spectators in Long Beach had its modern day gladiators vying for a spot interviewing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team. This pool, the largest temporary pool ever constructed in the United States was the main attraction.

BETH WHITE, LONG BEACH AQUATICS: Swimmers have said it. They can't go backwards now. You have to keep going forward. This type of event, this type of field of play for these elite athletes has to be continue to be replicated going forward.

TETREAULT: This portable competition pool was erected in less than four weeks. Normally it takes nine months to build a pool this size. This time lapse shows the construction. The pool is 50 meters long with eight lanes for swimmers. It took the Long Beach Fire Department nine hours to fill it with 650,000 gallons of water. But, beyond being portable, this two meter-deep pool was designed for blistering speed.

RANDY MENDIOROZ, AQUATIC DESIGN GROUP: The depth of the pool was very important. We wanted to make sure that they were deep enough that we wouldn't get any currents coming off the bottom of the pool, as well, when they were doing their strokes and kicks. If we maintain that, then it was all up the athletes.

TETREAULT (on camera): This state-of-the-art pool proved to be one of the fastest pools ever constructs. At the U.S. Olympic trials, six world records were broken along with nine American records.

JESSICA HARDY, SWIMMER: I swam my life-time best time at this pool. It was by far the best pool I've ever swam in. Just -- it was just amazing.

TETREAULT: Seventeen-year-old Jessica Hardy competed in the hundred meter breaststroke at the trials. She placed fifth, not fast enough to make the U.S. Olympic team, but she's young and going to continue to compete. She hopes to dive into a pool like this again.

HARDY: It was amazing swimming with so many swimmers who were breaking so many records and you could just tell, even if you were spectating, it was amazingly fast.

TETREAULT: Also amazingly fast, how long it takes to break it all down. In less than three weeks, the pool will be gone, only a parking lot left. The pool heads for permanent installation in the California town of Yucaipa. The modern day technology behind it could set the pace for the for your of swimming.

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HILL: While the rest of the world is focused on the Olympics in Greece. Some long-time Athenians are asking, "Who let the dogs in?" There's still some controversy about the hospitality the city's stray dogs are receiving. Michael Holmes unleashes this report.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the more curious Olympic stories in Athens isn't about medals and doping, it is about dogs -- stray dogs. There are thousands of strays, many of them mingling happily with the tourists. And they're not just tolerated by the locals, many Greeks say they're part of the city's character, even Greece's democratic heritage.

GEORGE PAPAIOANNOU, KENNEL OWNER: I think it's the spirit of democracy that we use to have since, I don't know, since ancient Greece. What's the meaning of democracy? We are -- we're going to kill them?

HOLMES: But, an Olympics changes things. Host cities are meant to be spruced up and packs of dogs don't help with the sprucing. Letting sleeping dogs lie wasn't really an option so a round-up began. (on camera): Dogs that are picked up off the streets and brought here are treated by veterinarians, made healthy, most importantly they are neutered. And then if they haven't been adopted within a couple of weeks, they're taken back to where they were picked up and let go again.

HOLMES: That's right, back to the streets. Part of a program that's been running for two years, but didn't have much impetus until the games came along. There are few shelters in Athens, something animal welfare activists say shows a lack of respect for a man's best friend.

ANGELA HARITAKIS, "CARING FOR ANIMAL': There's absolutely no infrastructure whatsoever.

HOLMES: Angela Harricarcas runs an independent welfare group and says there's been poisoning of strays in the past and wants Greeks to change what she says is an uncaring attitude to dogs.

HARITAKIS: We do not acquire one because we want it a as a gift to our little toddler, and don't throw it in the street as soon as the first problem arises.

HOLMES: Is that what happens?

HARITAKIS: That's what happens.

HOLMES: But other say Greeks are not crewel to the street dogs, far from it. George Papaioannou says the strays he receives are far from unhealthy.

PAPAIOANNOU: Most of the dogs are not -- are come in here and they are quite healthy, they are fat and that's because someone logically feed them.

HOLMES: It's something other cities around the world might not understand. Cities where strays often end up euphemized, not here. Athens city officials say two million euros will be spent this year on neutering and education, encouraging Athenians to adopt a strays and keep it inside. Others say after the Olympics, the strays of Athens will return to their dog's life and there's nothing wrong with that.

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ANNOUNCER: Just ahead, even though those aging documents are hundreds of years old. They could last for thousands more. We'll show you how.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: There is circumstantial evidence for a dramatic discovery in biblical arcology. A cave near Jerusalem could be the site where a fiery creature named John the Baptist met with his followers. Stan Grant has the story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John the Baptist in all his glory, you can see...

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SHIMON GIBSON, ARCHAEOLOGIST: John the Baptist, in all his glory. You can see...

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a crude cave drawing, but it could be proof John the Baptist existed.

GIBSON: ... the eyes, a very long nose, the mouth...

GRANT: To archaeologist, Shimon Gibson, this cave is a doorway into the time of Jesus, for centuries hidden near Jerusalem, close to where John was born, only now giving up its secrets, a place where the fiery New Testament preacher carried out his cleansing rituals.

GIBSON: The evidence we have dates back to the late 1st century B.C. and early 1st century A.D., to the time of John the Baptist himself. And this is quite astounding.

GRANT (on camera): According to archaeologists, this footprint represents an important part of the puzzle. It shows a break with Jewish tradition. It was here that followers would come and place their feet to be anointed with oil. They then undergo a new ritual: Baptism performed by John.

GIBSON: Following that, people will then have immersed themselves in the water at the back of the cave. Then they would have come out and put on new robes, and they would have been purified. And then, they would have set out from the cave.

GRANT (voice-over): Who was John? The Bible says a man who preached in the wilderness, depicted as a wild figure living on locusts, clad in camel skin with matted hair. He's believed to have been a cousin of Jesus and baptized him. Shimon Gibson imagines Jesus himself with John in this cave.

GIBSON: But this is speculation. But it's nice to think about it, the idea that, down these steps, Jesus himself walked and then performed baptism rites.

GRANT: But is all of this to be believed? There are no inscriptions, no written proof. The evidence, Gibson concedes, is circumstantial.

GIBSON: It would have been wonderful if John the Baptist had sort of inscribed in the wall, "I am John the Baptist, and this is the place where I baptize," but you know, that's the nature of archaeological discovery.

GRANT: Gibson is ready for the debate. For five years, he's kept his discovery a secret, since he was told about the cave by locals. The story of John, he says, is on the walls. Depictions of his decapitated head and severed arm, all pointing, he says, to one of the great archaeological finds of the gospels, the cave of John the Baptist.

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HILL: Some ancient relics in Korea could survive for many more generations, thanks to a complex engineering technique. Sohn Jie-Ae has more this cutting edge preservation process.

JIE-AE (voice-over): The Tripitaka Koreana, more than 80,000 wooden blocks containing the 25 million Chinese characters of the Buddhist canon. It survived 800 years through techniques like submerging the high-quality birch trees in water for three years, or painting the carving with poisonous lacquer. But to ensure it will survive well beyond the 800 years, modern science is stepping in.

Each character is being digitalized, painstakingly sculptured and then transferred onto a film. Using this film as a base, the characters are branded onto a special bronze plate. The bronze plate goes through a chemical process of imprinting and melting, and after a few final touches, it is turned into a duplicate of the wooden orginal.

But, instead of lasting hundreds of years, like the wooden originals, these are expected to last thousands of years.

LIM JEA-SUN, WOO YOUN METAI (through translator): We are confident no other company in the world can compete with us in making these bronze plates so precise and intricate.

JIE-AE: The confidence comes from the fact that the company in charge of the entire process, Woo Youn, has received international awards for what is called "super microparticle processing technology." In laymen's terms, the ability to make designs on copper plates by etching 26,000 microholes in a square centimeter.

(on camera): Now, the technology comes into play when you want to turn a faded photograph, like this into this, something that could last you thousands of years. Most of the demand for this process is preserving historical documents or making high value-added tourist products. But, it could soon see such etchings appear on elevator and other steel doors. Successfully completing the Buddhist canon, Woo Youn officials hope, will also open many other doors.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still to come, what did men do before the age of Viagra? Leave it to Jeanne moos to find out.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HILL: Long before Viagra, long before someone came up with the term E.D., there were plenty of positions and gizmos aimed at improving sex. And here's a surprise, most of them didn't work. Jeanne Moos reports on what's supposed to be a stimulating exhibit.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These days the come-ons come in e-mail, promising bigger, longer, stronger, but what's really long is the history of quackery.

DR. REINER ENGEL, AMERICAN UROLOGICAL MUSEUM: That's actually a spark...

MOOS: To spark up your sex life, there have been gizmos ranging from the vibrating chair for women...

ENGEL: Yeah, you can vibrate it here, too.

MOOS: ...to the unisex violet ray machine with attachment that go places best left to your imagination.

ENGEL: We haven't had any volunteer who is willing to have those sparks delivered.

MOOS: Here at the American Urological Association headquarters near Baltimore, even the flags are limp. The Urological Museum features head shakers like a kidney stone so big doctors had to take out the kidney.

At the just-opened quackery exhibit, you can find items like the Heidelberg belt. Guys, you can imagine where the loop goes. The belt delivers a small electrical charge that promises quick relief of all weaknesses.

MOOS (on camera): So, what is the most sort of blatant, dumbest piece of quackery you ever saw?

ENGEL: Probably a rectal dilator.

MOOS (voice-over): Yikes. Dr. Young's perfection comes in ever-larger sizes, guaranteed to cure ills ranging from insomnia to impotence.

ENGEL: You're not going to try one?

MOOS (on camera): Not on camera.

MOOS (voice-over): And here's a charmer, intended to discourage nighttime arousal.

ENGEL: The teeth would dig in there and (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MOOS (on camera): The Spermataria (ph) ring was sold in a Sears catalogue in 1903 for 25 cents. MOOS (voice-over): As for the violet ray machine that delivers a tiny charge, it came with attachments to improve your eyesight, grow hair, fix your thyroid.

And then there's the infamous device even Austin Powers disowned.

AUSTIN POWERS: That's not mine.

MOOS: The exhibit's curator says it might work, but only if you used it all the time risking tissue damage.

ENGEL: If I take your tongue and put a couple of weights on it, and if you do that for a year, you have a tongue that hangs down to here.

It's charged.

MOOS: Uh huh, I feel better already.

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HILL: On that note, I'd better bite my tongue. But, before we go, let's give you a sample of what's coming up next week.

Hurricane Charley devastated much of the Florida Gulf Coast. But, if a hurricane hit New Orleans, which lies below sea level, it could do untold damage and kill thousands. We'll tell you how the city that care forgot, is trying to keep it that way. That's coming up next week.

Until then, let us hear from you. Send us an e-mail to NEXT@CNN.com and be sure to visit our website, CNN.com/NEXT.

Thanks for being with us this week. For Daniel Sieberg, I'm Erica Hill. See you next time.

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