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Researchers Assess Damage To Thai Coral Reefs; 25 Years of Video Games; NASA Inches Closer To First Shuttle Launch Since Columbia

Aired April 9, 2005 - 15:00   ET

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

GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR, NEXT@CNN: Now in the news, the heir to the British throne and his new bride are now on their honeymoon, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowels were married earlier today in a civil ceremony. The princess' new wife will now be known as the Duchess of Corn Wall.
Two years after American troops took control of Baghdad, insurgents continue to threaten Iraq's road to democracy. Among the latest attacks, a car bombing today in the northern city of Mosul. Two Iraqi civilians were killed and more than a dozen other people were wounded. In the Middle East three Palestinian teenagers were shot and killed by Israeli troops earlier today. That word from Palestinian security sources. The Israeli military says nine mortar shells were fired at Gaza settlements after the shootings and reported no injuries.

And in Angola, the world Health Organization is investigating an outbreak of the mar burg hemorrhagic fever. The illness is similar to the Ebola virus and has already claimed at least 180 lives.

Turning now to the weekend weather. Let's check in with CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras for the latest forecast.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's looking a lot wetter and a lot windier and cooler across much of the west for today, our first storm system moving through the four corners region. This one will be having a huge impact on the Rockies late today and into tomorrow, Denver will be included. Today just looking for the rain but watch that to change over to some snow overnight. And a second system waiting in the wings off shore here for today. You're going to be in between systems throughout much of the Pacific Northwest but watch the rain return to Seattle for tomorrow.

In the meantime the nation's mid section will see the brunt of the worst of the weather across the country today with slight risk of severe thunderstorms from Sioux Falls extending down towards Salinas, Kansas. We will see plenty of sunshine into the Northeast; this high pressure here is dominating Psher (ph). And overall nice into the southeast, we got rid of this morning fog but now kind of dealing with a bit of a breeze. Temperature-wise looking great across the east with 60s and 70s for high. Near 20 degrees above normal in Minneapolis this afternoon, cooler behind that front. In the southwest it was 90's in Phoenix yesterday, today, only in the lower 70s.

A much greater risk of severe weather across the nations mid section for Sunday, large hail damaging winds and tornados will be possible.

WILLIS: I'm Gerri Willis at CNN Center in Atlanta. More news at bottom of the hour. NEXT@CNN begins right now. Keeping you informed, CNN the most trusted name in news.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN ANCHOR, NEXT@CNN: Hi, I'm Daniel Sieberg. Today on NEXT@CNN, NASA passes a major milestone as it inches closer to returning the shuttle fleet to space. We'll look at what's happened since the Columbine disaster and what lies ahead.

Also researchers assess the damage to Thailand's coral reefs from December's tsunami and what it will take to restore them.

And 25 years of video games. We have come a long way since Pacman. All of that and more on NEXT.

NASA this week took a giant leap toward resuming space shuttle flights. On Wednesday the shuttle discovery was moved to the launch pad in preparation for a launch that could come as early as mid May. Miles O'Brien has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two years, two months since the tragic loss of Columbine, the shuttle discovery is pointed in the right direction. Skyward and the space agency believe it is as well.

EILEEN COLLINS, DISCOVERY COMMANDER: It's time for us to go fly.

O'BRIEN: Discovery commander Eileen Collins and her crew are in the final stages of training.

COLLINS: I'm confident enough that what happened to the "Colombia" will not happen again in the space shuttle program.

O'BRIEN: They're the first to strap into orbiter since "Colombia" broke up reentering the earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003 killing the crew of seven.

PAUL HILL, FLIGHT DIRECTOR: It's been quite the emotional roller coaster. The initial aftermath from the accident was very intense. A lot of grieving. A lot of real intense work trying to figure out what caused the accident.

O'BRIEN: What happened to Colombia is now familiar to us all. Moments after launch, a two-pound piece of insulating foam broke off the external fuel tank and scored a bull's eye on the leading edge of Colombia's left wing. It was a mortal wound to Colombia's heat shield, which protects the aluminum structure from searing inferno of reentry. But of course the problem was much deeper than the foam strike.

O'BRIEN (on camera): The Independent board that investigated the "Colombia" accident found a shuttle program that was dangerously mismanaged. Poor communication, dissenting views discouraged, short cuts to try to meet a schedule. NASA says it's trying to do everything it can to change the way it does its business but no one would suggest this is an easy thing on fix.

HAL GEHMAN, ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION BOARD: There is more risk here than I think the average public realizes. I believe that the first couple will be as safe as they can possibly be made.

O'BRIEN (voice over): NASA has spent over $1 billion trying to ensure it. The shuttle's external tank redesigned and the foam application process improved. More ways to inspect the orbiter with the cameras on the ground at the end robotic arm, and from the space station where it will dock and the astronauts will also test some heat shield repair techniques in space.

HILL: We're all understanding, apprehensive. We all need to get past this and demonstrate to ourselves somewhere deep inside that yes, we still understand how to do this. We can still do this dangerous thing.

O'BRIEN: Commander Collins was assigned this flight four years ago. The mother of two young children she could have bowed out. Not her style.

COLLINS: For me to not fly this flight I -- I just probably couldn't live with myself afterwards.

O'BRIEN: NASA knows that it still has some work do. Some accident board prerequisites for launch. But if all goes well, "Discovery" could fly as soon as May 15th. It will be the beginning of the last chapter of the space shuttles story. The aging fleet will be retired after about two dozen flights over the next five years. Risky business, but NASA says it won't forget the lessons of "Colombia."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, staying with space news. NASA has once again extended a mission of its tough little Mars rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity." The rovers landed separately on the red plan in January 2004 and went to work exploring. The original mission was only planned for three months, if you can believe that, but the rovers showed no signs of slowing down. So was extended by 11 months. Now NASA is tacking on another 18 months.

Scientists say Spirit and Opportunity have already made important discoveries about ancient water on Mars. The project manager says the rovers may be around for a while or either mission could end tomorrow if a part fails.

Back here on Earth, all week officials in New Jersey and Connecticut dealt with devastating terrorist attacks. Fortunately, the attacks were make-believe. Part of a huge drill to help prepare in case the real thing ever happens. Jeanne Meserve shows us what happened on day one of the drill. As part of CNN's continuing "Security Watch" coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, SECURITY WATCH (voice over): There is a flash, a bang, and then 500 actors with latex wounds step on to the field to portray the dead and wounded. First responders arrive cautiously. Drill-related intelligence has informed them a chemical agent may have been dispersed.

LINDA KLEINSCHMIDT, TERROR DRILL PARTICIPANT: A lot of us watch television and we always see the fireman come rushing in, go over, triage somebody and then taking you out on stretchers. And that's not exactly what happened.

MESERVE: An estimated 10,000 people take part in top-off 3. The largest counter terrorism drill ever staged.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECY: The point is actually to drive at the areas where we think there are potential questions or weaknesses, and really push those areas to learn more lessons.

MESERVE: A control center near Washington is running the game, which involves an outbreak of disease in New Jersey as well as the explosion in Connecticut. Though parts of the scenarios are known in advance, unexpected twists and turns are injected into the game.

GOV. M JODI RELL, (R) CONNECTICUT: We've had many curveballs thrown at us today. They were planned curveballs but nonetheless, we keep finding that we have to stay on our toes even more.

MESERVE: Even the masters of the game are thrown off course by the weather.

RICHARD FALKENRATH, SECURITY ANALYST: From my understanding they had planned to did a live decount of the victims, the fake victims. That would involve stripping them down and getting them very wet. It's a cold day and so they decided for safety reasons not to do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well as the drill continued through the week officials dealt with thousands of mock deaths from the chemical and biological attacks and arrested five simulated terrorists. Then they moved on to a detail review of what went right and what went wrong to help prepare for a day they hope will never come.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just ahead, these are loons on a lake. Not canaries in a coal mine but scientists say these birds are sending an urgent warning about a critical threat to their health that also endangers people.

And later in the show, robots are getting more and more versatile. But would you let one baby-sit your kid?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: The loons of the northeastern United States are in trouble. And that's bad news not just for bird lovers but for other people who share the bird's environment. Gary Strieker has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The call of the loon evokes wilderness in its natural serenity. But now these birds are sending us a far different message. A warning of a critical threat to their health and to ours. In parts of northeastern North America, loon populations are shrinking. And researchers find high levels of mercury in their blood and feathers.

NINA SCHOCH, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: About 15 to 20 percent of the birds that we've sampled have had mercury levels high enough to potentially impact their reproductive success.

STRIEKER: In a regional study from Massachusetts to Newfoundland, water samples for more than a thousand locations have contained alarmingly high mercury levels. Every year, these birds return to the same breeding lakes that are now poisoned. Mercury causes neurological damage. Affecting how the birds incubate their eggs and then feed and defend their chicks. Fewer chicks survive and the loon population declines.

SCHOCH: Loons are an excellent indicator of toxins in the environment because they're along those species and very territorial and they're at the top of the food chain. So they concentrate toxins up the food chain.

STRIEKER: In the northeast, most of the mercury, experts believe, comes from the smokestacks of coal burning power plants in the Midwest and in central Canada; prevailing winds carry it for hundreds of miles, settling it on land and water. Fish and fish-eating birds and mammals have been the most studied victims of mercury pollution. But this new research also shows many other species of wildlife even forest songbirds now carry elevated levels of mercury.

These findings have serious implications for human health. Mercury can damage the nervous system and kidneys and cause birth defects. Scientists who released these studies say their findings shows much more needs to be done to monitor the changing levels of mercury in the environment. And that it should be a high national priority.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, more than a thousand scientists from 95 countries agree Earth is in trouble and desperately needs help. The scientists issued a report last week that says the world's supply of food and water can't keep pace with demand. Diana Muriel has more.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The harvest of the sea. Not nearly so plentiful as it was just a decade or two ago. Indeed the strains imposed by over fishing caused the collapse of the cod fisheries off of the Canadian coast in 1992. They have never recovered. The ocean is just one of the 24 eco systems vital for life on earth that has been severely degraded by man's demands. According to a new report by 1,300 scientists, 15 of these ecosystems are currently under serious threat, requiring a rethink of our attitude to our planet.

ANGELA COPPER, MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT: We don't begin to value, to put an economic value it many of the dimensions of -- or many of the benefits that we get from the natural systems. We tend to value only those that are being treated or that can easily be treated. But as we have seen in the assessment, there are many functions of the natural world that do not enter into market transaction.

MURIEL: The report claims the scale of the changes seen in the past five decades is unprecedented. More land has been converted to cropland since 1945 than in the whole of the 18th and 19th centuries combined. The amount of water taken from lakes and rivers for industry and agriculture has doubled since 1960. And more than half of all this synthetic nitrogen fertilizer ever used on the planet has been used since 1985.

Contributing to water pollution problems around the world. Particularly hard hit, the dry land regions, accounting for over 40 percent of the planet's surface. One-third of the world's six billion people inhabit them, most in developing countries. The report identified a series of potential tipping points that can suddenly destroy ecosystems. These include the proliferation of algae blooms following a build up of man made nutrients in the environment. The blooms deprive fish and other wildlife of oxygen. Algae, too has led to the widespread collapse in coral reefs. And the introduction of alien species in the great lakes of North America for example can lead to a rapid change in any ecosystem. So what can be done to redress the balance?

ROGER HIGMAN, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: Governments at all levels, local, national, internationally need to start factoring in ecological information on into their economical development so that we get the best out of nature, the services that was provided in the past. The serves it will continue to provide in the future. We need to start treating the world as a dustpan and start treating it as a real asset.

MURIEL: Without this level of cooperation, experts warn the United Nation's goals to harvest poverty and hunger by 2015 will not be met. And earth's life support systems will only deteriorate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: All right, water is important. Of course we all know that, but it's the focus of a new campaign by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. As part of its wonders of water project the AZA issued its first animal wild card. Highlighting at risk species that live in, on, or near the water. The list ranges from polar bears to sea horses, from bald eagles to corals. The association says the majority of water pollution is caused by individuals. And that means individuals can do something about it. The group also says the environmental threats to its poster critters can be reduced if people start caring more about wild animals. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we come back, a musical legend goes into the alternative fuel business and sings the praises of bio- diesel. And later, a hungry sea lion figures out how to get to where the salmon are.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: If you drive a car that runs on gasoline, it's not exactly a news flash that gas prices are soaring. Chris Huntington reports on some of the reasons and the outlook for the next few months in our "Getting There" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Prepared to pump up your wallet with more gas this summer. The Department of Energy now predicts nationwide gas prices will average $2.35 for a gallon of unleaded regular next month. Up 20 cents from the DOE's last forecast and up 40 cents from last year. For the entire summer driving season, April through September, the DOE predicts unleaded regular will average $2.28 a gallon, 38 cent more than a year ago.

Almost all of that rise is due to the sharply higher cost of crude oil, which the energy department figures is up 37 cents a gallon from last year, mostly due to strong demand from China and the United States. The DOE also says that American drivers are to blame for shrugging off the high prices and chugging more gas than ever in big and thirsty vehicles.

GUY CARUSO, EIA ADMINISTRATION: Every year the average vehicle's weight and horsepower have been increasing over the last five to ten years and that's contributing to it. The combination of heavier vehicles, more horsepower, and increased highway travel.

HUNTINGTON: Crude oil stockpiles are actually higher than they were a year ago but the Department of Energy says the nation's oil refineries are already producing as much gasoline as possible. It's the bottleneck problem that's the talk in the trading pits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fear is even though gasoline has showed some weakness and we have seen inventories not be too terribly low, the fear is a strong demand for gasoline will outpace what the refining capacity of this country is able to pump.

HUNTINGTON: While the cost of crude accounts for more than 50 percent of the price of gas at pumps, oil companies certainly play a role using so-called zone pricing to get the most out of each and every gas station. Finally there is the price momentum created by investors flooding into the highest market on Wall Street.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SIEBERG: Well, when gas prices go up, thoughts turn to alternative fuels. Eco friendly fuels have been around for decades but now a high profile country music legend is using star power to bring fuels to truck stops across the nation. Kathleen Hays has more.

((BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIE NELSON: On the road again

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Willie Nelson is on the road again. But these days it's not about a music tour like the one those famous lyrics celebrate. It's a new venture that's always on his mind these days. Bio diesel fuel. Willie's in the business of marketing this clean-burning fuel called bio-Willie.

NELSON: When I first heard about it, my wife told me, this is a couple of years ago, said I want to buy this car that runs on vegetable oil. I said OK. So I bought a Mercedes. And it's never had anything in it but vegetable oil.

HAYS: Yes bio diesel is made from vegetables, soybeans and even animal fats. Bio-Willie is a blend of pure bio-diesel and petroleum diesel known as b-20 but even bio-diesel blends reduce emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. Cleaner air is one big reason government agencies are using it. The U.S. navy recently ordered that all navy and marine non-tactical diesel vehicles operate on B-20 blend bio-diesel by June 1st of this year.

It is in all of Willie's tour buses, in fact any diesel-burning car or truck can run on it. Even school buses without make any special changes to the engine. Right now bio-diesel is sold at over 300 service stations across the country. Willie and his partners hope that by getting Bio-Willie distributed at more truck stops more people will start using it. It's still a niche product, though. The energy information agency estimates that 44 million barrels of pure bio- diesel will be sold this year. That compares with 44 billion barrels of petroleum diesel and 142 billion barrels of gasoline.

FRED MAYES, ENERGY INFORMATION ADMIN: It has a lot of promise for reducing pollution but it's still far too early to determine whether it will become viable in the marketplace.

HAYS: Willie says he's not in it for the money. He's hoping bio- diesel can help America's family farmers get back on their feet.

NELSON: I want to see millions of acres and millions of farmers, new farmers, old farmers back out there growing fuel for America.

HAYS: It's a cause that gives the words of Willie's famous song a whole new meaning.

NELSON: On the road again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Coming up in our next half hour, the December tsunami trashed some of Thailand's coral reeves, while others were almost untouched. Scientists worked to figure out why and to help the reefs recover.

And a system for hospital ICU patients let nurses do more with less. Those stories and a lot more coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN. People in Thailand marked a solemn anniversary this week. Monday of the 100th day since the December tsunami ravaged beaches and coastal towns in Thailand and other Asian countries leaving some 300,000 people dead or missing. Ceremonies were held across hardest hit region in Thailand. Survivors mourned their dead and shared their stories. The Thai government is continuing to rebuild communities and clean up beaches. And researchers aren't assessing the damage to Thailand's coral reefs. Doing what they can to restore them. Ian Williams of the British news service ITN has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN WILLIAMS, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): It's as if somebody's taken a sledgehammer to the coral. The remains of this once pristine reef litter the seabed.

KEVIN GARNER, REEF WATCH INTERNATIONAL: Only costagome (PH) or aquapora (PH), or very light corals. The light nature of them means they took some of the heavier amount of damage in most areas because they're easy to pick up and throw around and fragment.

WILLIAMS: We dived of with Kevin Garner as he tried to evaluate the damage done by the tsunami.

GARNER: Big bold of corals, the ones that make up the backbone of the reef, they've actually been smashed into fragments and this would have happened because of the medium-sized boulders, something about the size of a sofa being picked up and thrown into something the size of a car, and then everything fragmenting.

WILLIAMS: This reef to the north of the Phi Phi Islands was one of the worst hit. While the softer coral can regenerate quite quickly, the hard coral will take far, far longer. A process helped by turning over the fragments.

GARNER: They're upside down and they can't see the sun. They can't get as effective energy. That's actually contributing to them starving to death. So, by flipping them back over, you're increasing the chance that they will survive.

And people were saying that they saw the tsunami come in, the wave actually went quite a way up this. It was a -- hit it very hard.

WILLIAMS: For five years, Kevin Garner has been studying the reefs of Southern Thailand, regarded as among the finest in the region.

GARNER: And across the sites we've evaluated, the deeper sites seem to have less damage to them. At the moment, we really haven't got a theory to explain the damage pattern. There's sites out there that we thought were going be wrecked because they were right in the tsunami's path and they're hardly damaged at all. WILLIAMS: Just 200 meters from all of that damage, he showed us another deeper reef that's virtually untouched. Diving's a multimillion million pound industry here, so evaluating damage has become a highly political exercise. With estimates varying from as little as 13 percent reefs badly hit to as high as 40 percent.

Local dive operators launched a massive cleanup operation around the Phi Phi Islands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a big umbrella, here.

WILLIAMS: In the murky depths of the main bay, this group found the corrugated roof of a bungalow and a strip light, its bulb intact, at least for a while. It adds to the day's tally that included bicycles, a washing machine, and a fan. All swept out by the wave when it destroyed the island's main town, throwing the debris onto the reefs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

JOHN HEIKE, PHI PHI SCUBA: Anything from roofs, beds, bicycles, industrial equipment that's been washed into the water, people's possession, clothing, shoe, toys. Anything you could imagine that was in a bungalow or part of a bungalow or part of a resort, it's there in the water.

WILLIAMS (on camera): They are working hard to clean up the reefs here. And in time, most coral will regenerate if left alone. But in the medium term, the real determine factor won't so much be nature, but the way they rebuild the devastating tourism industry, here.

(voice-over): Onshore, they're also clearing up. Up to a thousand people may have died, here. Even before the wave hit, the Phi Phi's were under severe pressure from rampant, rickety, and mostly illegal development.

Boats, as well as untreated sewage were damaging the coral. On the reef, Kevin's looking for new species of fish, not seen in this area before. Which he suspects have been swept here by the tsunami from as far away as Sumatra. This is supposed to be a protected area, a marine park, policed by the Fisheries Department, though right boost reef, we came across one of their vessels. They were fishing, one reminder that good intentions don't always translate into practice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Just ahead, how video games got from Pacman and Space Invaders to the complexed games we play today.

And still on come, a fishing frenznenigeria in Nigeria, but you won't see any rods or reels, here. Stay tuned. (END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: So you may have heard that CNN is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, CNN and the sci-tech unit have looked back at top 25 technology breakthroughs of the past quarter century. For our "Technofiles" segment this week, we bring you one of my personal favorites on the list, video games.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice-over): Pacman ate its first dot at neighborhood arcade and kids took aim at Space Invaders from their home living rooms. The year was 1980 and the first wave of video game fever was in full swing. Fast forward to 1983...

DAVID SHU, "ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY": And they created, actually, a surplus of over 6 million E.T. cartridges and supposedly they're buried in some New Mexico landfill somewhere, because just no one bought these things. And so the industry went (NOISE).

SIEBERG: Some said video games had seen their day. Until 1985, the little Italian Plummer named Mario brought the industry back to life. It's been an upward rise ever since.

DR. RAY MUZYKA, JOINT CEO. BIOWARE CORP.: Every generation of video games they get better and better. The story lines are getting better, the art's getting better, the design and the content within them improve.

SIEBERG: Today, nearly 90 percent of America's school-aged kids have some kind of video game. A recent study found the average kid reportly plays video games for about 90 minutes per day. Total sales figures now peg video game sales at almost $10 billion a year, surpassing box office receipts.

These days, games look and feel like reality: First person shooters, wartime strategy, sports of all kinds, online role-playing fantasy worlds. But, critics say some games are too real, too violent, and our kids are playing too much.

CRAIG ANDERSON, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: Research experts have come to a solid conclusion, here, that these violent games, even the cartoonish violent ones, are not appropriate for children, that there are negative affects.

SIEBERG: Anderson's work was published in the "American Psychological Association." Concluding that laboratory exposure it graphically violent video game increased aggressive thoughts and behavior. Studies aside, many Americans speak with their wallets.

DOUG LOWENSTEIN, PRESIDENT ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE, ASSEN.: I think for the interactive generation, the digital generation, games are, I think, increasingly the entertainment of choice.

SIEBERG: Even college campuses are keeping up with the times. Dozens of universities are now offering degrees in game design.

TRACY FULLERTON, GAME DESIGN PROFESSOR, USC: Video games are a funny mixture of the dramatic, you know, they're really emotional experiences, but they're based in system accountings, a system where a player's faced with interestingane important choices.

SIEBERG: So what lies ahead?

DR. GREG ZESCHUK, JOINT CEO, BIO CORP: Our challenge is going to be to make great stories which you can interact and really joy as an entertainment forum and just to be considered like the best, most valuable thing you can be doing with your time.

SIEBERG: Whatever form they take, it's likely video games will keep making waves in technology, pop culture, and the news.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, wondering about the other items in our top 25 list including, No. 1, you can see the entire list a special, hosted by myself, it will air several times this weekend and next weekend, you can check our website at CNN.com/next for the show times for "CNN 25" top 25 technology breakthroughs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: When we come back, some robot designers are trying to make their creations as human as possible. You be the judge of how well they're succeeding.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: At a handful of U.S. hospitals patients in intensive care are getting some extra care from doctors or nurses who may be miles away. A hospital group in northern Virginia is one of those using the eICU technology. Jennifer Ryan, from our affiliate, WUSA, shows us how it works.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELANIE: Good morning, Mrs. Turner.

MRS. TURNER, PATIENT'S WIFE: Good morning.

MELANIE: Can you hear me now?

MELANIE: Ok, excellent. Excellent.

JENNIFER RYAN, WUSA REPORTER: During his 53 days in intensive care at Innova Fairfax, William Turner has never seen the person behind the voice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Camera's up in front of you, now look up.

RYAN: But she's always there just in case.

MELANIE: I'm the voice behind the camera. I am Melanie I'm from the eICU.

RYAN: Mounted above each of the 200 ICU beds in Innova's five hospitals, are cameras, ready to come to life if lives are suddenly put on the line.

TURNER: If nobody's in the room, the camera is. It's "boom," on there. And then it, I guess, it notifies the nufrsr nurses or the station or something.

PEG KULES, EICU NURSE: Are you having some trouble breathing?

I try to explain to them that it is OnStar for an ICU patient.

RYAN: Nurse Peg Kules is part of a foursome, here, monitoring the hospital's most critical patients 24/7.

KULES: We enter the room by camera and by voice to assist them in any way we can.

RYAN: A doorbell alerts patients that the camera is being turned on.

(on camera): If there is any change in the patient's monitor the eICU will automatically be summoned or the patient's family member can get help by pressing this red button.

(voice-over): Doctor Elizabeth Cowboy, director of the eICU, can authorize lifesaving treatment, often times, before the patient's doctor can be tracked down.

Mrs. Turner has seen the value of saving that precious time.

TURNER: They've done miracles with my man, yep. Got him back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Incidentally the, eICU system was developed by two intensive care doctors at Johns Hopkins University. Now, of course the electronic system isn't trying to take the place of the doctor or nurse at the patient's bedside, but are there jobs where machines really have for replaced people. Atika Shubert reports from a recent tradeshow in Japan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The robots at the 2005 World Expo in Japan have something to prove, that they can be human, too -- sort of. Toyota's brass band of swinging robots features human-like manual dexterity and an eerie coordinated dance step. So, what's the fascination of making robots more human?

(on camera): What better way to find out about robots, than to ask a robot? Hello.

KOKORO, ROBOT: Good afternoon. My job is to guide people around the site. Please ask me a question.

SHUBERT (voice-over): Meet the Kokoro, the expo's android receptionist. She speaks four different languages and is designed to look as human as possible. Visitors seem to like her even if she can't give a straight answer.

KOKORO: Sorry. I was dreaming about Keoshi.

SHUBERT: At the expo's robot station, there are dinosaur robot, and cleaning robots, robots to guard your home, and robots to make you feel warm and fuzzy. This little bot is the most popular, NEC's PaPeRo, short for personal robot. It is a child care robot that has a mobile phone and connects to the internet.

YOSHIHIRO FUJITA, NEC: Parents outside home or elementary school, can talk to PaPeRo and then they can watch how their children through the eyes of PaPeRo.

SHUBERT: PaPeRo recognizes individual voice and faces even in a crowd. It can take role call and quiz kids on their homework. It knows exactly which kid through the spitball and which kid answered correctly.

"Many moms have jobs these day," this mother says, "this robot is a good substitute to a pet or a friend to play with and it would be great if a robot can accompany child at home alone."

PaPeRo also responds to touch, giggling when stroked, telling jokes when padded to the delight of kids. Still, kids here agree, it's no replacement for mom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still to come, have you ever seen an octopus trying to pretend it's not an octopus? You will when we come back.

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SIEBERG: Now a couple of stories about animals with an amazing ability to run. And we're not taking about race houses, here. Consider the vampire bat. Scientists already knew the little blood suckers could walk, unlike most species of bats, then researchers at Cornell decided it so if vampire bats could run. So they put them on the treadmill. The bats used their wings to help them run, somewhat the way gorillas use their arms. The research was published in the journal, "Nature."

Now if that's not weird enough for you, how about octopuses that gallop on two arms while disguises themselves with the other six limbs. Yes, scientists from U.C. Berkeley spotted behavior in two different kinds of octopus. One type wrapped its arms around its body so it resembled a conut and sprinted away on the remaining two arms. Another wiggled six limbs above its head so it looked like a clump algae while tiptoeing away. The researchers think the point is to fool predators. And that study was published in the journal, "Science."

Well, the sharks off of the beaches of south Florida weren't walking or running. What makes them noteworthy was that there were so many of them, as you can see. Hundreds of sharks were cited off the coast, near West Palm Beach, on Tuesday. The beaches were closed to swimmers in several places, as you might imagine. Scientists say the sharks are filling up on bait fish during their northward migration, their version of spring break, I guess.

All right, if you think a fishing show has to involve guys in bass boats, let us broaden your horizons, here. One of the big events on the social calendar in Nigeria is a fishing contest like nothing you have ever seen. Jeff Koinange reports.

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JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A police line of defense stands between an army of eager fishermen and a much sought- after prize. Now in its 71st year, the annual Argungu Fishing Festival in northern Nigeria pits thousands of prospective fishermen and the chance to display their bare-handed skills in bagging the big fish.

It's an event that draws the crowds in there thousands, from presidents, to past presidents, and from religious leaders, to foreign dignitaries, including the president of neighboring Niger, all keyed to be part of an event that stood the test of time.

In keeping with tradition, a musket is fired, signaling the start of the event. A 100-meter dash, as competitors rush headlong into a muddy river in the pursuit of Nile perch and catfish. They carry the archaic tackles used by their ancestors: Giant butterfly nets and equally giant gords used for about both flotation and vessels to store their catches.

(on camera): Now, the basic principle behind this competition is pretty strait forward. You rush in, you cast your net, you look for the biggest fish, and the biggest fish wins. Oh there's one more thing, the water in the River Argungu, at its deepest point, about seven to eight feet.

(voice-over): There's no shortage of cheerleaders. These drummers are urging the fishermen not give up and the competitors who come from as far away as Moli and Niger are not about to. Thousands of bobbing heads dip into the muddy waters while other contestants just float about on their giant calabashes, and lifeguards patrol the river in canoes just in case someone needs help.

In the suddenly frothing waters of the Argungu, it's a picture of chaos and confusion as thousand of nets are tossed and tangled in a desperate attempt to beat the clock and claim the ultimate prize.

A half an hour later, a local villager lands what he hopes will be the catch of the day, but it's still early in the contest. Many of these fishermen will end up disappointed; a small fry like this won't cut it in the Argungu Fishing Festival. Exactly an hour after the starting gun, and it's all over. The prize catches are tagged and laid out for all to see and then the moment of truth. A whopping 165- pound Nile perch caught by a local hero, Timothy Olu. So large, two men struggled to hold it up. Nigeria's president says the Argungu Fishing Festival should rival any major completion around the world and wants to turn it into a tourist attraction. This couple, all the way from New York City, agrees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's something I've wanted to see for many years. It does not disappoint.

KOINANGE: To the winner? The spoils, with his shiny trochy and $1,000 in cash. Olu walk away, or rather drives away, in this brand new minibus, which is now also his. But, perhaps most importantly, he kaerps off bragging rights as Nigeria's No. 1 fisherman.

As for the Argungu River, it returns to its serene status, a no- go zone for fishermen at least until the same time next year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: You know, I think, you better keep an eye on that minivan. OK, one more fish story, actually this is really more of a sea lion story.

Lots of sea lions hang around the Bonneville dam on the Colombia River, between Oregon and Washington, looking for the salmon that use the fish ladders, but one sea lion has figured out how to climb the ladders right along with the fish and keep munching. He swims nonchalantly past the windows where visitors and wildlife workers watch the salmon make their way upstream. Smart sea lion for sure, but wildlife officials are not amused. They're afraid the high- climbing sea lion may scare the salmon away from the passage way the need for their migration. The sea lion was tagged a few years ago and is known for his frequent visits to the dam.

I think what makes him so smart is he as not shared the idea with his friends.

All right, that's all the time we have for now, but here's what's coming next week:

Rwanda's mountain gorillas managed to survive a civil war and even increase their numbers, but they're facing some new threats to their existence.

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 website, 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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