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Killer Drought Grips U.S.; Where Is All-in-One Trend Headed?; What Do Elephants Talk About?

Aired June 15, 2002 - 13:00   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.
ANNOUNCER: Today on NEXT@CNN, a killer drought grips the United States, leaving blackened forests, parched fields and empty stream beds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in the midst of a 100-year drought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Is any relief in sight? Also, a PDA that plays media, takes pictures and tells time. Where is this all-in-one trend headed?

Plus, eloquent elephants. Meet a researcher who says she understands what they're saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does that mean, again?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: So, what do elephants talk about? We'll tell you. All that, and more, on NEXT.

ANN KELLAN, GUEST HOST: Hello, and welcome to NEXT@CNN. I'm Ann Kellan at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. James Hattori is on assignment.

It may not look like it here in this lush garden, but the United States is in the grip of one of the worst droughts in years. The drought has fueled wildfires out West and devastated crops in many areas. What's needed is rain. Will we get it? Natalie Pawelski reports on what government weather forecasters have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN ENVIRONMENTAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Where there is now a sandbar, there should be a river. After years of drought in Texas, the Rio Grande doesn't have enough water to make it all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

JO JO WHITE, IRRIGATION DISTRICT MANAGER FOR THE RIO GRANDE RIVER: Obviously we're very short on water and every drop of water going down that river belongs to somebody. It's been ordered by somebody, whether it's a farmer, a city, whatever.

PAWELSKI: As spring has turned toward summer, drought has spread across much of the U.S. and now affects about a third of the country, hardest hit the Four Corners area of the Southwest. Colorado records show the driest 12 months in history, or at least in the 107 years that records have been kept, and that's fueling a brutal fire season.

GOV. BILL OWENS (R), COLORADO: Well, it's a huge challenge. Colorado is, in fact, in a crisis right now.

PAWELSKI: Next door in New Mexico, water restrictions prompted one shopkeeper to put in freeze dried shrubs that don't require watering instead of thirsty flowers, and some parched lawns are getting spruced up with green paint.

For some New Mexicans, there's not even enough water to meet basic needs.

GOV. GARY JOHNSON (R), NEW MEXICO: Twenty communities statewide have got some real problems right now with water supply and that needs to be primary focus certainly is that we have water to be able to bathe and drink.

PAWELSKI (on camera): Other parts of the country are drier than normal too. Here in the Southeast, we're in the fourth year of a drought that stretches from Georgia to Virginia. And in the Northeast, despite spring rains that have eased things for some farmers, a lot more rain is needed.

PAWELSKI (voice over): But right now it's in the Southwest that the biggest worries lie.

JOHNSON: We are in the midst of 100-year drought.

PAWELSKI: The forests are tinder dry. The streams are running low, and it's looking like a long, hot summer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: We have two studies from opposite ends of the earth on melting ice. In Greenland, researchers say the ice is sliding faster toward the open ocean, thanks to melting water that provides a sort of lubricant, helping the ice move over the rocky surface of Greenland. They say that in summer these immense ice fields may move as much as 15 inches a day.

At the South Pole, scientists say warming ocean waters are quickening the melting of ice sheets at the edge of the continent. Land-locked ice is a big factor in ocean levels. Some climate scientists predict sea levels will rise by up to three feet over the next century. Both studies were recently published in the journal "Science."

What's next for the world's plant and animal species? According to a new report from the United Nations, for a quarter of them, it could be extinction. Gary Strieker has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): During the next 30 years, nearly a quarter of the world's mammals face extinction. Species like the black rhinoceros, the Siberian tiger and the Amur leopard may disappear forever. This according to a comprehensive new study from the United Nations.

MICHAEL NOVACEK, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: The U.N. data really focuses on birds and mammals and some of the more visible creatures, but, in reality, whole regional ecosystems are really at risk.

STRIEKER: More than 1,000 scientists worldwide contributed to the third global environmental outlook from the U.N. environment program. It reviews environmental changes over the past three decades and offers alternative forecasts for the next 30 years; alternatives, depending on political and economic decisions, that could mean the difference between a healthy and prosperous planet and widespread environmental disaster the report says would spread poverty and disease to millions.

NOVACEK: Humans may survive what's going on, this extinction, but the quality of life for human populations will be greatly lowered.

STRIEKER: The report describes a worst-case scenario, a future driven by reckless economic growth where 70 percent of the earth's land surface is consumed by cities, industries, mining and agriculture, where ocean fisheries are depleted, and most people face severe shortages of clean drinking water. The complex web of life on the planet would start to unravel, dropping countless species into extinction.

U.N. officials say the report is not meant to be a doomsday document. It concedes there is progress in some regions -- reducing chemical emissions, improving air and water quality and conserving forests, but that these success stories are too limited to counter global environmental destruction.

NOVACEK: This has got to be one of the most serious problems facing us in the world today. It's not being treated with the kind of attention it requires.

STRIEKER: The U.N. report says the planet is now at a crossroads, and that disaster can still be avoided if nations make critical decisions to balance economic development with environmental protection. That's the main agenda for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, starting in August in Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Later in the program, an abandoned lighthouse gets a new lease on life and light.

And up next, supporters and opponents of online gambling roll the dice. Want to bet who will win?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Right now, anyone with a credit card can get on the Internet and gamble in a cyber-casino, or bet on sporting events. Some in Congress want to clamp down on Internet gambling, and both sides have their lobbyists, including one with a very unusual request. Jonathan Aiken has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What are the odds that a British businessman would come to Washington and pay lobbyists $500,000 to achieve taxation without representation? Talk about a Boston tea party in reverse.

(on camera): You're asking the federal government essentially to tax you?

MARK BLANDFORD, SPORTINGBET.COM: Yes.

AIKEN: In exchange for what?

BLANDFORD: In exchange for giving clarity to this industry.

AIKEN (voice-over): Mark Blandford's industry is online gambling, and is asking on behalf of his firm, Sportingbet.com, an online casino and betting parlor where you can play the cyber tables, or drop $10 on a major league game.

You do that by using your credit card to open an online account in Britain. This is an account that you'll tap into with each bet you place. Blandford says about 360,000 Americans do that now, and he figures if state or federal governments tax what he's earning from these people, and actually lets him accept bets from U.S.-based accounts, then he can make a whole lot more.

Right now, you can drop a legal wager in 47 states, mostly through buying a lottery ticket. Eleven states license casinos, and so do some Indian reservations. And if you win, so do the states, who tax your winnings. But if you hit the jackpot online, it's all tax free. Everybody wins, except the government. Blandford says the IRS is missing out on a $1.4 billion windfall.

BLANDFORD: That's the amount of tax revenue we believe the United States lost in the last 12 months.

AIKEN: His numbers, though, don't impress everyone.

REP. BOB GOODLATTE (R), VIRGINIA: Clever, absolutely, and who doesn't want to collect taxes from the British?

AIKEN: Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte wants to update a 1961 law that makes it illegal to use telephone lines to place interstate bets.

GOODLATTE: In 1961, we didn't have the Internet. People didn't pick up their telephone and call someplace and say, "put $500 on red 21 and spin the wheel and tell me whether it comes up or not."

AIKEN: Goodlatte's law would prevent people in States, where gambling's illegal, to set up online accounts with cyber casinos operating offshore. And while he admits Sportingbet is legitimate, Goodlatte claims most Internet gambling sites aren't.

GOODLATTE: These are fly-by-night operators. They are operating on islands all over the world, and the likelihood of our ever being able to regulate and tax them is nil.

AIKEN: The American Gaming Association, which represents many of the major casinos, is opposed to Internet gaming, saying it lacks safeguards against underage gamblers and those who gamble where it's illegal to do so. But some casinos, like the MGM Mirage, would like to get into the business, one thought to be worth at least $5 billion, which, as any Englishman will tell you, can buy a lot of tea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: The Internet is a dream come true for scam artists, and we've all seen their work -- everything from sophisticated rip-offs, to stupid chain letters. Our Bruce Burkhardt got some advice on how to spot the scams and hoaxes, and how to avoid them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Marc, we're bombarded so much with just junk on the Internet. Mostly through e-mail.

(CROSSTALK)

BURKHARDT: There's all kinds of hoaxes and scams out there. How do we know?

MARC SALTZMAN, CONSUMER TECH GURU: OK, the first kind of hoax is what we call a give-away hoax. If you send this e-mail to nine or 12 other people, you're going to get a gift certificate to a store, The Gap, you know, Old Navy, Applebee's is the latest, restaurant, or you're going to get money. There are some popular ones out from AOL or Dell Computer that say if you forward this to all these people, you are going to get a check for $321.

BURKHARDT: So the second kind of hoax is what then?

SALTZMAN: It would be, it would be sort of like an urban legend. A piece e-mail that you received that gave you some sort of story, maybe a sob story, where, if you're gullible, you'll believe it and you'll perhaps forward it onto other people.

BURKHARDT: So, what's the motive this? I mean, what are they doing? Are they trying to get money out of it? SALTZMAN: No, I think the motives are for most of these hoaxes are just to see who can fall for it. You know, they get a kick out of knowing that, I mean, literally thousands if not millions of people are going to receive this in their e-mail inbox, and they want to see who's going to fall for it, and maybe even get media exposure. I mean, I know even CNN has covered some of the more well-known hoaxes to surface in cyber space. They're doing it for kicks.

BURKHARDT: So what's the gist of this hoax here, what are they doing?

SALTZMAN: They're preying on your emotions. It's like an urban legend, oh, did you hear about that girl that was taken from her home or wherever, you know, she was found through e-mail because people forwarded her picture.

BURKHARDT: OK, third type of hoax?

SALTZMAN: OK, the third type of hoax is the warning of the bad virus, and this one could be a little bit malicious because one of the most popular ones tells you to remove a file that's on your computer. So, OK, there's this virus that's going on out there, and if you've got this file on your computer, you're infected, so you must remove this file.

Well, turns out, that any Windows-based computer has this file.

And the fourth kind of hoax are sort of these e-mail chain letters, if you will. I mean, these were around long before the Net was born, but instead of using letters and envelopes, it's through e- mail. And they are told to send it around to as many people as you can.

BURKHARDT: OK, so then what can we do? What can we do to kind of protect ourselves?

SALTZMAN: Sure. There are a few things you can do to prevent falling for these. I mean, first and foremost, you know, don't be gullible. These are pranks. Don't believe everything you read. If it's too good to be true, it's probably the case.

Second thing is, there are a number of databases online that you can go to that will list all of the current and past hoaxes.

BURKHARDT: They track these hoaxes.

SALTZMAN: They track them. Type in "hoax" in your favorite search engine or search directory, or you can go to Web sites like Hoaxbusters, this one that was put up by the U.S. Department of Energy, and those are probably the two best pieces of advice -- don't be gullible and do some research. If you get something that seems a little odd, it probably is not true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: You can read about how to avoid Internet scams, and a lot more, on our Web site, cnn.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, we'll get a look at what it takes for a perfect space walk. And, find out what's unusual about a newly discovered Egyptian tomb.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: NASA is about to launch a spacecraft that will take a close look at some speeding comets. It's called Contour, short for Comet Nucleus Tour, and it's scheduled to lift off on a Delta rocket on July 1. During its four-year mission, Contour will get close to at least two comets, flying as close as 62 miles to each nucleus. It will take pictures and analyze the chemical makeup of the nuclei, as well as the surrounding gases and dust. The two comets on its itinerary are quite different from each other. One of them recently split into several pieces. If a new comet is discovered while Contour is out there, it could explore that one, too.

Scientists say they've found another new planet outside our Solar System, and the discovery brings them a step closer to finding a planetary system like our own. The planet is about the size of Jupiter, and about the same distance from its star that Jupiter is from our Sun. Its orbit is almost circular. Here's an artist's conception of what it might look like. Astronomers Geoffrey Marcy (ph) and Paul Butler (ph) haven't actually seen the new planet, but they know it's there because of subtle variations in the star's movement. The researchers announced 13 new planets on Thursday, bringing the total number of known planets outside our Solar System to more than 90.

Space-walking astronauts have performed some remarkable jobs, from building the International Space Station, to fixing the orbiting Hubble space telescope. Did you ever wonder how they do it? Our Miles O'Brien did, and he got some answers from an expert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: All right, it's time for a little bit of tool time with a space twist to it. And joining us to go over some of the equipment and tools and clothing used by space- walkers is Bob Curbeam, NASA astronaut, U.S. Naval commander, the three-time space walker outside the International Space Station Alpha.

Good to have you with me, Bob. Let's talk a little bit about what it's like to work in space. And I think we've got to bring up an important point: When you're out there in the EMU, the extravehicular mobility unit, which is what you and I would call a space suit, you're in the world's smallest spacecraft. And it is pressurized. And this gives a good demonstration. It's pressurized only to four pounds per square inch, which is a fraction, about a third of what we feel just here in this room, right now, which makes it a little bit easier. But nevertheless, you're working inside an inflated balloon.

What is that like?

BOB CURBEAM, NASA ASTRONAUT: You feel like you're the Michelin man. As you can imagine, you're fighting a little bit against the suit to make every moment. There are some things that are easier, because they have joints like this, but for the most part, any time you're moving your arms or your legs, you're fighting against the suit a little bit.

O'BRIEN: All right. So with that in mind, everything we see here really is designed with the thought that you have that gloved hand, you can't feel as well and you're fighting against it.

Let's first of all, talk about the pistol-grip tool, which is the cordless drill, which is used on any number of applications.

This is really the workhorse, isn't it?

CURBEAM: Oh, yes, just like you would in your own home. We don't do any drilling with it, but we do tightening and loosening of bolts. You'd use this literally tens of times during your space walk, and you'll notice it has a paddle here because of the glove, and that's what causes -- what causes it to go. But the great thing about this, it will count turns for you, it will measure torque, it does all that work for you.

O'BRIEN: And it is important. Some of these bolts, you know, the torque is very precise. You want 14 1/2 turns on some bolts, and it's not 14 or 15, it's 14 1/2.

CURBEAM: Exactly. And the torque tolerances are just as tight.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk about how you keep track of tools and how you -- because it is very important as you're working there without the benefit of gravity, when you go to lay a tool down, it is going to float away and become a piece of space junk. How do you avoid that? And that is a big problem, isn't it?

CURBEAM: Oh, yes. I mean, it's very, very easy to lose track of your tools, so instead of having a work bench where we set things, we have fish stringers, and this fish stringer right here has a bunch of different hooks, and all of our tools, as you'll see on this table, has tether loops on them. So what we would do is we would hook this fish stringer onto the outside.

O'BRIEN: I'll hold it...

(CROSSTALK)

CURBEAM: ... of the station, and then we'd just clip our tools in. So we have all our tools that are ready. And if that doesn't work, we also have the mini work station, which is our tool belt, and we can hook tools into that as well.

O'BRIEN: And just briefly, this is the one they don't want to use. If they have a little problem with the PGT, that pistol-griped tool, and they have to rip a bolt off -- that's just an off-the-shelf crowbar, slightly more upscale than you might have in your garage or your basement. This is the tool belt. It's really not a belt, of course, but it latches onto your lower abdomen right around your waste and gives you a lot of capability when you're in space. What can you attach to this? Just about anything, right?

CURBEAM: Just about anything that have a bayonet fitting. And bayonet fittings are fittings similar to this one right here. They would slide down into the receptacles here. So here's a trash bag, and you'll notice we have a little piece here that allows things in, but not out. And what you would do is if you were going to use this trash bag, you would take the bayonet fitting, put it down in there, slam it closed, and it is there for life now.

O'BRIEN: There for life, or so you hope. And you can carry a lot of your tools right there, so you would have them readily available, which is important. Then if you get into a tight spot and need to reach something, plain old forceps. Of course, one thing they do have is they have that tether hook because you want to be able to attach it at all times.

CURBEAM: Exactly. Everything has to be tethered. As one of our guys says, total tether consciousness is very, very important when you're doing a space walk.

O'BRIEN: Just briefly, what's the most difficult thing about doing this kind of work?

CURBEAM: I think it's probably the endurance, you know, going 7 1/2 hours in a very confined space and knowing that you have to do it right because nobody else can come out there and help you.

O'BRIEN: Bob Curbeam, NASA astronaut, commander in the U.S. Navy, we appreciate you joining us. And we look forward to your next mission to the International Space Station, which is coming up soon.

CURBEAM: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Archaeologists have dug up another surprise from the Egyptian desert. Six newly found tombs contain some artifacts that scientists didn't expect to see in that area. Gordon Robison has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GORDON ROBISON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Cairo's southwestern outskirts, Sakhara (ph) is one of the most ancient sites in Egypt. Its most famous feature, the world's oldest pyramid, built by the Pharaoh Zother (ph), around 2,630 BC, some 50 years before the construction of the great pyramid at nearby Giza.

Sakhara (ph) and Giza are both associated with the old kingdom, the earliest dynasties of Ancient Egypt. That's why it was so surprising to find new kingdom tombs at Sakhara (ph), tombs around 1,000 years younger than Zother's (ph) pyramid. ZAHI HAWASS: The tombs were in a good condition because they were built above the old kingdom level. And above the old kingdom level, we have this -- major -- this is the largest cemetery ever found in Egypt that's built above old kingdom tombs.

ROBISON: The tombs date from the 18th and 19th dynasties, when Egypt's seat of power had long since moved far to the south. They belonged to priests and other officials who ran the bureaucracy in the kingdom's north. Among the most impressive finds, a tomb capped by a pyramid-shaped stone. That's common in new kingdom tombs, but rare at a site like Sakhara (ph).

HAWASS: We never discovered a pyramidian (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in this area, and this capped stone is made of limestone, is about 37 centimeters high, and in one face we can see that the deceased standing, worshiping in a door, wearing this unique uniform, and behind him a hieroglyphic description is telling us the name of this man and his titles.

ROBISON: Archaeologists are still working to determine all the jobs of all the people buried in these tombs. Hawass says they are important because they give us more insight into the governmental structure of one of humanity's most ancient societies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead in our next half hour, the home of the world's largest colony of puffins. It's also home to some tasty puffin dishes. Find out why conservationists are not upset.

And we'll take you to a coming out party for a new device that does it all.

That and more, coming up on NEXT@CNN, after a break and a check of the latest headlines from the CNN newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN. We're here in the rainforest at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Vindication this week for two environmentalists accused of blowing up their own car and themselves. Twelve years ago in Oakland, California, Darryl Cherney and Judy Barry were injured when a bomb exploded in their car. The FBI and the Oakland Police Department accused the pair of planning to use the bomb for sabotage, and arrested them. Cherney and Barry, both members of the environmental group Earth First said they were framed, and they sued. This week, a jury awarded almost $4.5 million to Cherney and the estate of Barry, who died of cancer in 1997. Federal officials are reviewing the verdict.

In Iceland, millions of fat-beaked birds form the world's largest colony of Atlantic puffins. Sixty percent of the world's population breeds there; some end up on dinner plates. And local conservationists aren't upset. Natalie Pawelski explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAWELSKI (voice-over): On the bird world scale of cuteness, puffins rank pretty high up there. And in Iceland's Westman Islands, one of the biggest puffin colonies in the world, locals love these colorful, chubby birds -- on the wing or on the menu. It's weird to eat something that looks like a beanie baby.

(on camera): Oh, I was thinking that it was this cute little bird.

(voice-over): But in the interest of journalism...

(on camera): Tastes like chicken. It doesn't taste like chicken.

(voice-over): Actually, it tastes like liver. But more important, puffins are an example of what conservationists call "a sustainable hunt." While individual animals are killed, the species thrives.

(on camera): In the 1890s, puffin feathers became fashionable. Hunters here in the Westman Islands used big nets to catch hundreds of the birds at once. In just a few years, they almost wiped out the entire puffin population. Using big nets has been illegal ever since.

(voice-over): Since then, puffin hunters go after individual birds, with sort of overgrown lacrosse stick. They follow strict traditions. For example, if the puffin has fish in its beak, it's going home to feed its young, so you don't kill it. If the puffin looks you in the eye, you don't kill it. And if the puffin cries -- and yes, they tell me puffins really can cry -- you don't kill it.

So plenty of puffins escape to make more puffins.

GISLI OSKARSSON, BIOLOGY TEACHER: You look at them as good birds. They are kind and good, until they bite you.

PAWELSKI: Gisli Oskarsson is a biology teacher and cameraman, known as "the puffin man." He studied and filmed the birds for years.

OSKARSSON: Twenty-five percent of the Atlantic puffin is here, on these tiny islands you see here around you. And this is the only area where their population is growing. They're decreasing on both sides of the Atlantic.

PAWELSKI: Puffin parents dig nesting burrows into the cliffs, and spend their days fishing for their families.

OSKARSSON: They can dive down to 57 meters at least. And they stay under water for about 60 seconds.

PAWELSKI: Each year as Iceland's brief summer draws to a close, some young pufflings trying to make their way to the sea are confused by the lights of the Westman Island's only town. Children gather up the lost birds and set them free, so they can end up the next generation of puffin parents, or maybe as somebody's dinner.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, a fix for football fanatics who can't get enough of the World Cup. That and more still ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Much of the world is focusing on the World Cup right now, and co-host South Korea is taking advantage of the attention. Tim Lister reports the Koreans are using the games to put their technology front and center.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It likes to boast of itself as the world's most wired and wireless society. South Korea is investing heavily in building cutting edge wireless and broadband services, and the World Cup is a very convenient platform to advertise its great leap forward.

JUMI RHO, HUYNDAI SECURITIES: Many Korean companies can market their products and also establish the recognitions of their product image. And eventually, it will help to increase the export from Korea and also attract a lot of foreign investors.

LISTER: That's the plan. After the 1997 financial crisis, the South Korean government put IT investment and exports at the center of its recovery strategy. Korea Telekom, in the final throes of being privatized, is pursuing an aggressive marketing campaign. As a sponsor of the World Cup, it had the chance to promote its wireless technology at the opening ceremony, in front of a global television audience. Spectators could see their own and others' images on mobile hand sets; images that were then relayed to giant stadium screens.

This 3-G technology also provided World Cup information and profiles of the players. But the TV right holder blocked streaming video of games. KT also launched a wireless Internet service for laptops, but only in and around the stadiums.

It is all about rebranding Korea as a knowledge economy. The statistics are impressive. Nearly 28 of 47 million South Koreans are online, and since South Korea is highly urbanized, it's been easier to roll out a broadband network, with some 22,000 kilometers of optical fiber, which means high-speed Internet connections at a reasonable price.

There are nearly 30 million cell phone users in South Korea, and they're already paying bills, trading stocks, even gambling with their hand sets. KT is now developing 3-G technology that will allow users to perform domestic chores even if they're miles from home by using their mobiles.

The South Korean economy is buoyant, with growth of 6 percent expected this year, and the country's telecom companies are exposing a football showcase as a shop window to the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KELLAN: And if you can't make it to South Korea or Japan, the other site for the World Cup, you might want to take a virtual trip to the games. Gail O'Neill has tips in this week's "Nothin' but Net."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GAIL O'NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Defending champion France may be out of the World Cup, and although Le Bleus never scored a goal, soccer fans are scoring inside World Cup coverage with the help of sites like Fifaworldcup.com and football365.com. From the latest news and tournament schedules to complete team guides and features, these sites have just about everything the die-hard footballer could want.

Can't get to a television? F-365 lets fans follow every game minute by minute in the live action section. You can get real-time scores on the news tickers, check out the latest gossip, and if you want to play the game yourself, there are links to fantasy soccer -- I mean, football.

You can also play the odds in the site's extensive betting section, if you don't live in countries where gambling is illegal. If you ever get tired of watching men in short pants run around the field, you can click on the "football babes" section. It's dedicated to the wives and girlfriends of your favorite stars, or, as F-365 puts it, "the World Cup's hottest babes."

Another comprehensive site, Fifaworldcup.com, has many of the same features, but adds official match pictures, slide shows and for a fee, 15 hours of video. Fans can also visit the stadiums where soccer history is being made, thanks to 360 degree pictures of the venues.

Fans are flocking to these sites. Traffic at FIFA increased over 400 percent by the start of the first match. And online fans are certain to be entertained at either destination.

The only thing that's not certain after the sudden departures of heavy favorites Argentina and France, who will take home the prize?

I'm Gail O'Neill, and that's "Nothin' but Net."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: You can get to the World Cup Web sites and find more information on other stories in the show on our Web site, cnn.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: How many different jobs can one little PDA do? The number keeps going up. We'll show you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: One trend in electronics is gadgets. They pack a lot of functions into one package. So much so that you may wonder if at some point in the future, you'll own just one gadget that does everything. Well, while you're waiting for that day, check out the all-in-one gadget that our Kristie Lu Stout found in Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leggy models at the launch party, standard practice to woo the most coveted demographic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Single male, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

STOUT: Gadgeteers now have something else to drool for -- a handheld that bills itself as a portable multimedia system.

(on camera): The Clie (ph) is a PDA, a media player, a camera and a clock, another example of an all-in-one gadget that crams a variety of functions into a single device, all in a bid to boost performance and profits.

(voice-over): It is a theme shared by many electronic makers, like Handspring and Research in Motion. Both companies are pitching products that take calls, send e-mail and surf the Net. Goodies that would do any road warrior proud.

CAROLYN ONG, TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) geeks will buy anything on the market, but these corporate types, your fast- moving executives, that is very important with them, because e-mail, retrieving e-mail on the go is very important for them.

STOUT: And when there is a need, there is a premium to pay. The latest generation of be-all devices retail for around $500, a steep price for breaking in a brand new toy.

A single tool to take on every task is bound to have a few hiccups, especially when mobile networks are simply not up to speed. So many consumers are shying away from the all-in-one option.

MANNY LOPEZ, ANALYST: It is not really going happen in 2002 just because of the infrastructure. It's really not there. And the market is still extremely new.

STOUT: Which is precisely why the Clie (ph) has no Net access. Sony is emphasizing entertainment over e-mail, at least for now.

STEVE KITADAI, MANAGING DIRECTOR: We believe it's a beginning of a long trend. And we can say so because of the infrastructure also gearing up for this trend, in terms of faster transfer speeds, or higher resolutions, or faster processing speeds. So there will be more and more applications that will become possible on these gadgets.

STOUT: Even with promises of a better upgrade, the temptation of today's be-all technology can be hard to resist.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, elephant acoustics. What they're saying and why we can't even hear a lot of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Did you hear what one elephant said to the other? No. This is not a joke. It's the subject of scientific study. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on what researchers overheard while monitoring herds of elephants.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever wonder what elephants talk about? Neither did we, until we heard from acoustic biologist Katie Payne (ph). She speaks elephant.

(on camera): What does it mean again?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go.

MOOS (voice-over): Prepare for a close encounter with the animal mind. New York's Wildlife Conservation Society sponsored Payne's (ph) lecture, eavesdropping on giants."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This ear flopping means terribly exciting.

MOOS: The cause of the excitement, elephants mating. Payne (ph) and fellow researchers shot this footage in Africa from atop an observation post.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is interesting. When you see the male stand up like that, you realize that the exercise that they train elephants to do in circuses and zoos, to stand on their hand legs is not all that artificial.

MOOS: Acoustically speaking, what happens before and after mating is most interesting. The female announcing she's ready and willing. And afterward, elephants come to sniff the spot where the mating took place. The experts don't know what they're saying, though one audience member hazarded a guess.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's gossip.

MOOS: And listen in on a conversation between two females greeting one another after a long separation.

During the lecture, the audio malfunctioned, so Payne (ph) took over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll do it...

MOOS: Payne's (ph) claim to fame was a discovery that as much as two-thirds of what elephants communicate is infrasound, below the frequency of human hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is very low energy that we cannot hear down here.

RICHARD LATTIS, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOC.: If you're around them enough, you can feel these low vibrating sounds. MOOS: In a recording made at a zoo, the elephant seemed silent, but speeding up the tape 10 times raises the pitch 2 1/2 octaves, making the elephant sounds audible to the human ear. No wonder she called her book "Silent Thunder." Infrasound can travel for several miles. Here, we think our herd is so smart, communicating with our cell phones and e-mail. The mother of the animated elephant Dumbo sang to her child.

(SINGING)

MOOS: But listen to the cry of a real baby. An adult from another family was manhandling the infant. To the rescue, the infant's own family. The saddest elephant voices we heard came from elephant's attempting to resurrect an infant that had died. One young male was particularly upset.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he attempted to lift the body 57 different times.

MOOS: Payne (ph) doesn't think elephants string together sounds the way we do words, but researchers have identified 71 calls with specific meanings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: For years, the Morris Island lighthouse warned sailors away from danger near Charleston, South Carolina. Now, it is out of service and completely surrounded by water. But recently the lighthouse was back in the news, as Brian Cabell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Journey by boat just a few miles east of Charleston, and you'll see it. In the distance, just beyond the marshes, the Morris Island Lighthouse, still rising 158 feet from its base, but abandoned 40 years ago, almost forgotten. Ships don't need it anymore. They use GPS instead.

Kim Sooja, a Korean artist who works in various media, was commissioned by the Spoleto Arts Festival to somehow revive the 126- year-old lighthouse.

KIM SOOJA, ARTIST: The body of the lighthouse looked so lonely. That's what I first felt about. And so it seems like waiting for something all the time.

CABELL: She compares the lighthouse to a woman at the water's edge, waiting for her lover to return from the sea.

The lighthouse is now actually an island unto itself. Erosion has washed the rest of it away. At one time, Morris Island encompassed hundreds of acres.

It was the scene of a climactic Civil War battle, involving the African-American 54th Massachusetts Regiment, depicted in the movie "Glory." Now, decades later, the island's all but gone, leaving behind only a few seagulls and sand bars, along with the faded brick lighthouse that tilts slightly toward the sea.

Sooja came up with a plan for the lighthouse. She would light it with colors at night, and transform it into a work of art.

(on camera): On June 9, the art project here ends. The lights will be turned out; the lighthouse will go dark once again. But some citizens are hoping to turn them back on for good.

(voice-over): They're also hoping to prop up the foundation. But that's an engineering problem for the future.

For now, just wait until dusk to see Sooja's magic. The colors barely register at first, then brighten as the sky darkens. The lonely lighthouse comes alive.

SOOJA: It's not about the physical body of the lighthouse, but it's about the memory we keep. The lighthouse we keep in our minds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Well, this week's program is almost a memory. We're just about out of time. But before we go, take a peek at what's coming up next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut down the -- make sure you cut shallow, get underneath the muscle.

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KELLAN: Remember dissecting dead animals in school? Well, this Nevada girl didn't want to make the cut. Find out how she fought the system, and won.

And we'll show you ways to stop those ubiquitous pop-up ads on the Internet. Is it possible?

That's coming up on NEXT. Until then, we'd like to hear your comments on our show. You can e-mail us at next@cnn.com. Thanks so much for joining us this week. For all of us, I'm Ann Kellan. See you next time.

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