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Smart-1 Brings European Space Agency to Moon; Miss Digital World Seeks to Crown Virtual Beauty
Aired November 20, 2004 - 15:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DANIEL SIEBERG, HOST: A spacecraft called Smart-1 slipped into orbit around the moon on Tuesday after spending more than a year zooming around earth in bigger and bigger circles. It's a project of the European Space Agency. And ESA scientists are thrilled at his prospects.
Andrea Sanke has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA SANKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been over 30 years since the last mission to the moon was undertaken by the U.S. built Apollo spacecraft. Now in 2004, it's Europe's turn.
DAVID SOUTHWOOD, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY: Smart-1 is finally proved everything it needed to prove, and its capabilities have all worked out, and we are now in lunar orbit under the control of the gravity of the moon.
SANKE: Scientists at the European Space Agency launched Smart-1 in September of 2003. And they hope it will eventually provide image scans revealing whether or not water exists on the moon's surface. The presence of H2O could mean a supply of oxygen and drinking water for the inhabitants of a future moon base. But whatever it reveals, the first European mission to the machine has given ESA scientists a renewed sense of optimism in the race to space.
SOUTHWOOD: We're on our way to two asteroids and a comet with the Rosetta mission, and a year from now, we'll be on our way to Venus. And a few years after that, using the technologies we've proved here with Smart-1, we'll be on our way to Mercury.
SANKE: But before then, smart-1 has an appointment with its final position in lunar orbit, expected to be reached February 2005.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: Sticking with space news, NASA this week tested an experimental pilotless aircraft which flew at almost ten times the speed of sound. The X-43A aircraft road on the wing of a B-52 Tuesday up to 40,000 feet above the ocean off the coast of Southern California. Once released from the big airplane, X-43A used a conventional rocket to get to 110,000 feet and then reach hypersonic speed. Then it fired its scramjet engine for ten seconds which boosted to about 6,600 miles per hour, that's 9.6 times the speed of sound. The test ended as planned when the aircraft ran out of fuel and fell into the ocean.
All right. Do you ever wonder what makes some buildings survive earthquakes better than others? Well, that's the question be being examined a network of research centers, funded by the national science foundation. The network for Earthquake Engineering simulation was launched on Monday. It links 15 centers in 10 states, each with its own sophisticated equipment, everything from shake tables, to a tub that makes miniature tsunamis. Scientists can run experiments at any of the centers simultaneously. And the goal is to test design ideas for structures that will stand up to quakes.
OK, the Great Sand Dunes of Southern Colorado, became a national monument in 1932. But in September an expanded area, including the dunes was upgraded to national park status.
Gary Strieker explains how that benefits the wildlife and the people living near the park.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks like the Sahara Desert, but this is Colorado. These sand dunes are the tallest in North America. Rising to 750 feet and covering 30 square miles, they seem strangely out of place here. But they're a natural product of sand, wind and water.
PAUL ROBERTSON, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: The sand itself comes from the breakdown of the San Juan mountains and is carried out into the valley by the Rio Grande. And then the prevailing winds, which are out southwest, blow the sand to this side of the valley.
STRIEKER: And on the backside of the dunes, other streams do their part.
ROBERTSON: They take the sand that dumping into them and move it back into the front of the dunes. And then once again, then the winds blow those back onto the top of the dunes.
STRIEKER: A continuous process, constantly rebuilding these giant sculptures. They're the centerpiece of the new Great Sand Dunes National Park, officially upgraded from monument status in September after a long campaign by a coalition of state and local supporters.
BRIAN MCPEEK, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: It's been an extraordinary effort by this community over the last 10 years to agree on a vision for its future and then work hard to get there.
STRIEKER: The Nature Conservancy played a leading role, negotiating a complex series of real estate deals that acquired nearly 200,000 acres on adjacent ranches. That was enough additional land to assemble the large, unfragmented landscape needed for the park and a wildlife refuge next to it. Enough to preserve not only the dunes, but also surrounding grasslands, forests, and wetland, all of it critical wildlife habitat. And beyond that, this new protected area safeguards a vast underground resource in this valley. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the water. This is the creek, one of the creeks that are recharging the aquifer, and it is so important -- it is so important to the agricultural community and to the rest of the communities of the San Lewis Valley.
STRIEKER: The valley only gets about seven inches of rainfall each year. But the water flowing from surrounding mountains seeps into a closed underground basin. A replenishing source of water for thousands of farms and ranches, the back bone of this region's economy. Water development companies had big plans to pump water out of this valley to thirsty cities across the state. That was alarming to local residents here, and they eagerly supported buying the ranches and creating the national park as a way to block those plans and save their precious water reserves. So the great sand dunes is much more than breathtaking scenery and wildlife has been at the time. It's a testament to the connection between nature conservation and the well fare of local communities. In other places, that basic connection might not be so obvious. But here, people are reminded of it whenever they look across the valley and see the dunes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Later on NEXT@CNN, the lowdown on the vehicles that are most likely to protect you from whiplash in an accident.
Also ahead, if you think bigger is better, you'll love this cell phone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: Ever since cell phones became common, users have worried about whether radiation from the phones might cause cancer. Now, there's still no solid evidence of that, but there is a health threat from certain mobile phones. According to the consumer products safety commission.
Julie Vallese explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First a loud bang, then burning pain. While getting out of a New York City taxicab, Pari Dulac, suffered burns on her hand and arm from an exploding cell phone.
PARI DULAC: I thought I got shot in my hand. People around me, they saw it, then suddenly, the gathering became bigger and bigger, and everybody was surprised. Cell phone. Look at that cell phone explode.
VALLESE: It may sound like an isolated incident but is occurring more and more. The government knows of 77 incidents where cell phones caused burns or fires.
JOHN WALLS, CTIA, THE WIRELESS ASSN.: The chances of it happening on any given day, in any given situation are significantly remote. But the fact is that one event is one too many.
VALLESE: There have been three cell phone related recalls this year all because of possible counterfeit batteries, which the industry says lack certain safety devices that keep them from overheating or overcharging.
HAL STRATTON, CHAIRMAN, CPSC: Some of the batteries are just defective, so that's one problem, of course. And the other problem is getting an incompatible battery with a phone.
VALLESE: The Wireless Association and the Consumer Products Safety Commission are now working together to put voluntary industry standards in place for cell phones. In the meantime, consumers can do a few things to protect themselves.
(on camera): Buy accessories from the same vendor and company that sold the phone. Don't mix metal or coin with the phone battery. And if it gets wet, don't try and dry it out, recycle it and get a new one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: All right. You've, no doubt, noticed that mobile phones keep getting smaller and smaller. I can't even find mine now. Following the mantra of less is more. But recently at least one phone maker has decided that more is more.
Andrew Brown, reports from Hong Kong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looks like a regular phone that fits on your desk, but this handset is a mobile phone. You can take it anywhere, make calls, take calls, impress your friends, and complete strangers.
BEN SCHWALL, JABLOTRON: Anything that you can do with a cell phone you can do with this except maybe put it in your pocket.
BROWN: The device, made by a Czech firm, is meant to be easy to operate. The buttons are big. So is the display. And text messages can be typed on a traditional keyboard.
SCHWALL: This is not only large, but it's uncomplicated.
BROWN: That doesn't mean all consumers want this phone.
(on camera): It's a mobile phone.
(voice-over): But when it comes to the gadget giggles -- Hollywood's actually begun ridiculing small phones. And phones packed with high-performance chips are now competing against much simpler devices with just one or two functions. This mobile device developed in Hong Kong features a button elderly users can press to reach an emergency call center. DUNCAN CLARK, TELECOM ANALYST: There's an increasing desire by the handset vendors to find these pockets, untapped pockets of customers and to do that, we really need to understand the specific needs and demographics of those people.
BROWN: Jablotron's phone is already being sold to older consumers in Europe, and some seniors in Asia are giving it the thumbs up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. Not bad.
BROWN: Jablotron says a lot of people prefer to just use the phone at home. On the Hong Kong subway, which is full of mobile users, you won't find many commuters yapping away on a Jablotron.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not very practical.
BROWN (on camera): Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it's huge.
BROWN (voice-over): Huge enough not to lose. It's hard to imagine someone forgetting a phone this size or is it?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In our next half hour, controversy over workplace privacy and software that can help keep prying eyes out of your computer.
And later, a beauty contest in which you are the judge. Of course, there is a virtual catch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: Welcome back. You've probably heard about people being fired for using company computers for questionable activity such as surfing the web for pornography. Well what about using a company telephone to receive a happy Father's Day wish from your son? More and more employers are monitoring their workers to make sure company resources are not being used for personal reasons.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG (voice-over): Ever wonder if your boss is spying on you? Well, Bill Bartlett had more than a sneaking suspicion when a camera was installed literally over his shoulder at a cell phone retail shop.
BILL BARTLETT, FMR. KIOSK EMPLOYEE: I felt it was intrusive in nature. I thought I was being harassed, actually. I received a phone call from my son on Father's Day to wish me a happy Father's Day. And I saw the camera zoom in on me to see what it is I was doing.
SIEBERG (on camera): And do you have any sort of gut reaction at various times of the day? BARTLETT: It was so close to me that I actually find myself kind of running around the kiosk, hiding from it. And it was so close to me that I had to kind of restrain myself from actually knocking it off the attachment. When I approached the owners and management, by regard, I was told to deal with it or to leave. So I left.
SIEBERG (voice-over): When contacted by CNN, the kiosk owner stated that the camera was installed to protect both the company and its employees from theft and liability.
BARTLETT: I'm a proud worker and do my job to the best of my ability, but I think there should be guidelines.
SIEBERG (on camera): What would you tell your son when he grows up, about working in a situation like you were in?
BARTLETT: Well, do whatever you can to protect your civil liberties, you know. I felt it was intrusive.
SIEBERG: Bill's situation happened to take place here in this mall, but you could be watched while you're sitting at your cubicle, talking on the phone, surfing the web. And while some employees aren't quitting their job, they are fighting back, using technology. Even if it means they could get fired.
(voice-over): Computer programs like "Anonymizer" are now available. They claim to shield users from monitoring software, One called X-Cleaner even claims to anti-spy your boss.
DOUG ISENBERG, INTERNET LAWYER: You install it at your own risk.
SIEBERG: Doug Isenberg is an Internet lawyer and founder of Gigalaw.com.
(on camera): Are you familiar with some employees who have decided to fight back or decided to quit or are just really fed up with this amount of monitoring, be it necessary or not?
ISENBERG: The very act of installing that software might violate a company's Internet or computer usage policy.
SIEBERG: Because a lot of employees might be saying, you know, I spend a lot of overtime, working for the company, if they don't get paid for it. You know, I'm here early. I leave late. I've got kids to worry about. I've got bills to pay. I just don't have time to do all these things. I have to do them at work.
ISENBERG: And that's why a lot of employers will tolerate a reasonable amount of personal computer use. The employer may learn that its employees are using e-mail for personal reasons and choose to do nothing about it because it keeps the employees happy. And that should be tolerated.
SIEBERG (on camera): Although most employers do have a written monitoring policy in place, experts say many companies still do not do a good enough job of informing employees about those guidelines. NANCY FLYNN, EPOLICY INSTITUTE: Some employers will monitor telephone conversations. Some employers have installed cameras and other security devices, and other employers are monitoring computer activity. Let your employees know what you're doing when it comes to monitoring. And let them know why you're doing it.
SIEBERG: According to a recent American Management Association survey, 90 percent of employees say they use company resources for some personal use. Over 60 percent of employers monitor their workers' computer usage, and 25 percent of U.S. businesses have fired an employee for e-mail abuse alone.
FLYNN: Most employees tend to think, my e-mail is my business. My employer has no right to read my e-mail messages particularly if it's a message to a friend or family member. But in reality, here in the U.S. the federal government gives employers the right to monitor all employee e-mail, instant messaging, and Internet activity.
SIEBERG: Ultimately, experts say companies need to find a balance between clamping down too hard and lowering employee morale and mitigating any legal hot water.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: All right, shifting gears now. It seems there aren't a lot of cars that will do a good job preventing whiplash in an accident, that's according to the latest tests from the Auto Insurance Industry. Julie Vallese has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CONSUMER CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There is no dented bumper, no smashed front-end, but the newest test from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does simulate a crash, a rear- impact crash, and measures how well a vehicle's head restraint and seat protect the driver.
ADRIAN LUND, INSUR. INST. FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Only eight of the 73 head restraint combinations that we looked at did a good job. And we had 30 of the tested seats that we rated as doing a poor job.
VALLESE: The eight models earning a good rating, the highest mark, went to the Saab 92X and the 93, three Volvo models, the Jaguar S Type, the Subaru Impressa and certain Volkswagen Beetles.
LUND: Some manufacturers have paid attention to this problem. Volvo and Saab, it's not by chance that they're the stars of this release. You know, they account for five of the good rated head restraints.
VALLESE: You can even see the difference between a good performer and a marginal one. The Institute says a good restraint will catch a head early, so it will push your head along with your body. The marginal performer allows for some motion and forces on the neck.
LUND: Getting a rating of poor on this test doesn't mean that if you are in a rear-impact you're necessarily going to have a neck injury. But if you have a seat that's rated poor, your chances of being injured are much greater.
VALLESE: Drivers, Lund says, need to stop thinking of them as headrests and start adjusting head restraints to fit behind the head and not below it.
(on camera): Insurers pay out more than $7 billion each year for minor neck sprain injuries, and insurance premiums are higher because of it. So making a minor adjustment in your driving may make getting in a crash and paying for insurance a little less of a pain in the neck.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: For more on the rear impact crash tests and for information on other stories in our show, you can just click on our Web site, that's at cnn.com/next.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Coming up, the search for eternal youth is leading a lot of people to lasers. We'll show you the pro and cons of these anti aging treatments.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: If you're looking for a way to age gracefully and good old-fashioned healthy living isn't quite cutting it, doctors are offering something new: Laser light technology. The procedures aren't invasive, but they do carry potential risks as Adaora Udoji reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rapidly evolving technology may have just made that search for fountains of youth a little easier. The newest procedure like this Fraxel (ph) treatment need no scalpels or operating rooms, just a sophisticated laser.
GAIL PARKER, LASER TREATMENT PATIENT: It's not that people look at me and say, "what did you have done?" It's more, "gee, you look great."
UDOJI: The laser, says Dr. Roy Geronemus can improve wrinkles and skin tones in minutes with progress taking one session for some, five for others like Gail Parker, a middle school principal.
DR. ROY GERONEMUS, LASER & SKIN SURGERY CENTER: The key to these new devices is that they're non-invasive. There's no wounding of the skin, and there's no or limited downtime for the patients, in a sense that they can go back to normal activities without significant concern for how they look.
UDOJI: That's true, doctors say, of photomodulation, which can help skin cells act younger at $100 a pop. For tightening skin and removing brown spots, a treatment called Thermage (ph). But doctors warn they're not magic wands. The treatments do not work for everyone, and there are potential side effects.
DR. LAWRENCE BASS, MINIMALLY INVASIVE PLASTIC SURGERY PROGRAM, NYU: Risks of all laser treatments include infection, redness, hyperpigmentation. It's very important when you're having any kind of medical treatment that it be supervised by or performed by an M.D. or physician.
UDOJI: Gail Parker says Fraxel lasers worked for her, and she might even do it again.
(on camera): Do you see somebody a little different?
PARKER: Yes. I think I like what I see. It makes me feel like I can work one more year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: Well, like many of us, personally, I've always believed that beauty's only skin deep. But now there's a beauty contest where the competitors don't even have any skin, at least not any real skin. You see, hundreds of computer graphic experts and their 3D creations are vying for the crown of the first Miss Digital World Contest. Alessio Vinci reports from Naples, Italy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Call it virtual political correctness, but at least you don't have to turn up in a skimpy swimsuit to take part in this contest. As a matter of fact, you don't even have to show your whole body. Although Kaya's digital freckles are a favorite with the online jury.
And you don't necessarily need to dress fashionably either. Or have an attractive name. Meet "BloodRayne," another contestant raking in the votes. Then there are "Kathy," "Laelia," "Dalila," and "Stela" all finalists in the first worldwide digital beauty contest for pixel perfect Tomb Raider wannabes.
FRANZ CERAMI, CONTEST PROMOTER: I don't think beauty is just blue eyes, blonde hair, and a beautiful body. It can be also as strange as the, I mean these women can fly, can do everything. But what is important is we want to believe in it. We want to believe that this piece of art is real.
VINCI: Franz Cerami is the contest promoter. His idea, to find the world's most beautiful virtual woman through an online competition anyone can vote in.
CERAMI: I couldn't believe that in Iran there was a digital 3D artist. He made this wonderful, wonderful model in black and white that had -- it is a little covert. I can imagine why. But she's wonderful. VINCI: To former American model turned actress, Clarissa Burt, now living in Italy, the digital beauty pageant is a fun idea, also because she knows none of the digital girls will be as good as the real thing.
CLARISSA BURT, ACTRESS: There's nothing in the world that can replace the warmth and love that a human being can give you. So let's just remember that all of this computer-generated stuff is just fun. And there it is, and there it remains.
VINCI: But if three-dimensional virtual is still your love fantasy, get on line fast to cast your vote at wwwmissdigitalworld.com. The competition closes December 3.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Next up, a jewel in the jungle and how it could help save one of the last remaining patches of rainforest in Central America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: In the jungle of Guatemala's Mirador Basin lie the ruins of ancient Mayan cities. As Harris Whitbeck reports, they could be a key to win-win a situation that protected the rain forest and the people who live there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Mirador Basin in Guatemala's Peten Jungle, 2,500 square kilometers of lush, virgin, tropical rainforest hiding and protecting the ruins of ancient Mayan cities that date back thousands of years, cities build by sophisticated, advanced societies that were at their heyday hundreds of years before Christ.
Archaeologists have been working in El Mirador for decades. Dr. Richard Hansen says that it is a treasure trove of ancient history.
DR. RICHARD HANSEN, ARCHAEOLOGIST: This is -- a pre-classic city like this and 26 pre-classic cities around us, is like a modern-day Pompeii.
WHITBECK: The largest pyramid in the world, La Danta, a mass larger than the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, its base covering more than 10 city blocks, and immense causeways built to connect the structures, that remains clearly visible from the air.
Hansen says at the time El Mirador was the New York City of the Western hemisphere and studying it has been a life-long effort, an effort that recently has involved the latest in technology. Space imagery of the basin provided by NASA satellites and laser mapping of the ancient buildings that brings them to life in 3-dimensional images. (on camera): There is more than just digging going on here. While these excavations yield valuable scientific data, they are also opening a window into what could be a bright future for Guatemala, a future of responsible tourism, sustainable development, and conservation in one of the last remaining chunks of rainforest in Central America.
(voice-over): The rainforests surrounding El Mirador are under intense pressure. Settlers have burned huge swaths of forest to the ground to plant mepa (ph), subsistence level corn crops. Loggers have cut down tens of thousands of trees to sell precious woods abroad. Ranchers have turned the jungle into huge pastures for their cattle.
Hansen says the only way to prevent that from happening in El Mirador is to provide alternate sources of income to the Campasinos (ph), the people who inhabit it now, and the ruins could be the answer.
HANSEN: It's pretty tough to say to a Campasino (ph), Mr. Campasino (ph), leave this tree pretty and green because it's pretty and green, but in the meantime, starve to death. We have to provide an economic alternative and an economic justification in order to say that, and that's what this basin offers to the country, what this basin offers to the world.
WHITBECK: That alternative is tourism, attracting visitors to observe the wonders of archaeology in El Mirador.
HANSEN: We could put 10,000 tourists in the Mirador Basin and you wouldn't see anybody all day. There's enough sites out here, and 26 major sites, trails that go through all the 600,000 acres of forest.
WHITBECK: And the Guatemalan government agrees. It has made tourism a national priority and is looking at ways of developing tourism in El Mirador without destroying the fragile ecosystem that surrounds it.
Ana Smith is with Guatemala's Tourism Commission. She's spent decades exploring these jungles and says the key to success is in involving the local communities.
ANA SMITH, GUATEMALAN TOURISM COMMISSION: Our communities have no training in what tourism is all about, but now they're being involved in how to receive the tourists, how to take them to the different sites.
WHITBECK: Carmelita is the closest village to El Mirador, the last outpost of civilization before the jungle begins. Carmelita's mayor is excited about the prospects.
RUDY MARROQUIN, CARMELITA MAYOR (through translator): As a tourism guide, I can make double what I make growing maize or other crops. How could I turn my nose up at something that offers me more income?
WHITBECK: But there are challenges. Finding ways to bring in tourists without cutting in roads that would attract loggers and more settlers. The government and the archaeologists are developing hiking trails and are looking for noninvasive transit systems that can move people in without destroying the forest.
Tax incentives from the government will permit tourism operators to build eco-friendly tented camps and provide basic infrastructure like running water and electricity.
Hansen believes the greatest resource is in the inhabitants of the area itself.
HANSEN: We make this a wildlife wilderness preserve and then we train these people, we teach them, we help them understand how to teach people, how to participate as guides and restaurant owners and hotel owners and bicycle renters and equipment renters and mules and equipment providers and cooks, et cetera. Then they become part of the economic package. The money is distributed among the communities in a logical, economic way.
WHITBECK: Millions from tourism could substitute thousands from traditional agriculture, a gift from the past that is set to insure the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, Jeanne Moos comes up with a safe way to catch the flu
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIEBERG: What could be cuter than a fuzzy stuffed toy? Something like a teddy bear or a little lamb. Or the bacteria that causes Black Death. Yes, you can now buy stuffed toys depicting microbes. Jeanne moos explains, or at least tries to.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People usually try to avoid the flu. But these folks are cooing over the virus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wow.
MOOS (on camera): Well here, catch the flu.
ANDREW OLIVER, CEO, GIANT MICROBES: That's the Black Death. That's the sleeping sickness.
MOOS: Hepatitis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't you have anything good in there?
MOOS: Kissing disease. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gross.
MOOS (voice-over): Kissing disease is the only microbe with eyelashes.
(on camera): They're actually, though, anatomically correct except for the eyes.
(voice-over): Note the resemblance to the actual microbe. Here's the bacterium that causes earaches and this is the shigella bacterium. You probably know it as...
(on camera): Stomach ache.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh. I've had that last night.
MOOS (voice-over): The stuffed flesh eating disease microbe looks just like the real thing except for the knife and fork. The ulcer microbe is so cute it's fit for a kid. You can bombard them with the flu. Bounce hepatitis off them. Boom.
There are a total of 21 giant microbes.
OLIVER: Ebola does extremely well.
MOOS: Did he say...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ebola. Oh, my god.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no.
MOOS: The diabolical mind behind the giant microbes is an attorney and writer named Andrew Oliver.
(on camera): Do you imagine little kids going to bed with, you know, say, the sore throat?
OLIVER: No. It's not so much that as that if a child is sick the parent will get it for them.
MOOS (voice-over): That's Oliver's daughter transfixed by the bad breath microbe. What started as an educational item has become a novelty gift.
(on camera): Now, would you give this to your kid or your grandkid or anything?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, they're ugly.
MOOS (voice-over): But kids send in fan letters, always suggesting new microbes: Chicken pox, diarrhea, meningitis, acne. Adults were less specific.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cootie bug.
MOOS: Actually, the next microbes are likely to be... OLIVER: Things like syphilis and herpes.
(SNEEZE)
MOOS: Sort of makes the flu seem innocent.
(on camera): This is the Ebola
(SCREAMING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIEBERG: We can only hope, of course, that Jeanne washed her hands after that story.
That's all the time we have for now, but here's what's coming up next week:
Hurricane season is almost over. This year's was a doozie. Four hurricanes slamming into Florida in a six perform week period. So, what made this year so weird? And what are the prospects for next year?
That's coming up on NEXT. Until then, let's hear from you. You can send us an e-mail at next@cnn.com. And don't forget to check out our Web site, that's at cnn.com/next.
Thanks so much for joining us, for all of us, I'm Daniel Sieberg, we'll see you next time.
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