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Air Expo Showcases Anti-Hijacking Technology; Record Heat Threatens Wildlife; A Look at Community With Sky-High Ambitions

Aired July 27, 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.
ANN KELLAN, GUEST HOST: Today, on NEXT@CNN, a new kind of ship could dramatically cut the time it takes to get cargo across the ocean, and designers hope the military will get on board.

Also, new threats to wildlife this summer, caused by record heat and drought.

And a community with lofty ambitions. Find out what's so great about living next to a runway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sort of makes you feel like a kid in a candy store.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KELLAN: All that and more, on NEXT.

Hello, and welcome to NEXT@CNN, this week from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Ann Kellan. James Hattori is on assignment.

There's no doubt that war is hell, at least for those on the front lines, but war is also the source of a lot of inventions that later prove useful in civilian life. The current war on terrorism is no exception. Aaron Brown takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a tiny, second- floor set of offices tucked above the parade of summer tourists in Newport, Rhode Island, a small video company is about to join a very long line.

PETER MOTTUR, CEO, LIVEWAVE INC.: There are literally thousands of companies with great ideas that are flocking to Washington to try and demonstrate their technologies and how they can effectively help the government in combating terrorism.

BROWN: In this particular case, the company is called LiveWave Inc., already in business selling computer software that links far- flung robotic cameras. The CEO Peter Mottur has hundreds and hundreds of potential new customers, security services who want to keep an eye on anything and everything in the wake of 9/11.

MOTTUR: It's taking the existing technology and adapting it and applying it to what we see as a very large demand to help strengthen the nation's security for homeland defense.

ANNOUNCER: Our world has entered a new era of unrest, a world where economies and societies are threatened on a global scale.

BROWN: By one count, more than 12,000 applications have flooded into a small Washington agency that funds counter-terrorism research. There's sometimes a hard sell, but all of them are trying to tap into the billions of new dollars suddenly available for homeland security.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: So this is artificial blood that literally a soldier could carry in his backpack, so when one of his buddies, or he himself got hit and lost blood, you could immediately administer blood to that individual.

BROWN: Whether it's that artificial blood, new DNA technology for police, or ramped-up detection devices at airports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an X-ray source which shoots X-rays through the bag.

BROWN: The rush of new, old and sometimes-recycled inventions and technology is unprecedented.

HUNTER: I think that the idea that small companies have the ability or have more focus now in terms of being able to step forward and try to -- try to have a chance to show their technology to the Department of Defense, that's something that we should have in this nation, whether there's an emergency or not.

BROWN: One of those companies is Advanced Ceramics Research of Tucson. It sold the Navy on this small drone aircraft originally designed to spot whales to make sure they weren't around during sonar tests. But now the planes are being pitched to all branches of the military as cheap, unmanned spy planes.

Or, take LiveWave. It has a staff of 12. And, from a laptop in Rhode Island...

JAMIE ENGLER, LIVEWAVE: The camera's approximately two miles from Logan. Right now, I'm driving this camera from, I don't know, 100 miles from Logan Airport, and tracking it in real-time as this looks like a small commuter is taking off.

BROWN: Its software can control live cameras far, far away.

MOTTUR: And what we've done is we've put video and camera control on this for first responders, law enforcement and other military.

BROWN: All of these purchases, all of these products, have some people around Washington concerned. JILL LANCELOT, PRESIDENT, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: You have a new agency that's being created with $37 billion. That's with a B. This is pretty outrageous.

BROWN: But a government less than fully prepared to stop the terrorists last September is not likely to allow money to prevent the next set of terrorist attacks, should they come. Congress is in mood to spend, and taxpayers aren't complaining. After all, said one Customs Service inspector, there is a realization that people are trying to blow us up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Security was also on the agenda at a major air show in England this week. Aviation and military types from around the world gathered in Farnborough outside of London to check out what's new. As Sonia Sequeira reports, they saw technology designed to protect against accidents as well as terrorist attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SONIA SEQUEIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the airplanes that everyone associates with the Farnborough air show, but this year, the big question is, how to make them safer? The world's biggest plane maker, Boeing, is betting that technology will be the key.

PHIL CONDIT, CEO, BOEING: There is enormous room in the general area of air traffic management to use the technology we have, satellite-based navigation and communication, computers that understand what the flight plan is, and therefore drive where airplanes go. Half of all fatal accidents in aircraft are controlled flight into terrain, an aircraft hitting the ground. We can make that go away.

SEQUEIRA: But airlines and airports are also looking to modify safety systems in a more practical way.

MARK ELLIOTT, SMITHS: The Sentinel two is a walk-through explosive detector. The way it works is you have 40 air jets that fire air at the person from head to toe. What that does is dislodge particles and vapors from a person. We then suck all of those vapors into the instrument, where it's re-concentrated and then analyzed by the unit. In the end, what you get is a display that tells you pass or fail, and included in that are three pictures, so if we do get an alarm, we can identify the person who gave the alarm and track them down in the airport.

SEQUEIRA (on camera): How practical is something like this, do you think, in an real airport scenario, where people are coming through quickly, they just want to get on their plane?

ELLIOTT: Absolutely. We actually have several units installed already. At one location, we have three units that are processing 10,000 people a day. So it's very high throughput, and really doesn't interfere with the security. SEQUEIRA (voice-over): Safety inside the plane is just as crucial. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has already set a deadline of April next year for airlines to install stronger cockpit doors, and its European counterparts are expected to follow suit.

So it's not surprising ATR's terror-proof cockpit door has been getting a lot of attention.

ANTONIO ZIZOLFI, ATR: We have already sold this modification to many airlines, obviously in the United States. First customer in the United States, and we are developing it to make it standard on the aircraft, because the JAA is going to follow the FAA starting at the end of 2003. So, from that time, all the aircraft must be equipped with this kind of security door.

SEQUEIRA (on camera): Judging by the interest in safety exhibits at this year's air show, airports and airlines are looking for new ways to step up security in the wake of the September 11 attacks. It's going to take time and money, but the industry is all too aware that to keep customers traveling, it must be able to offer them peace of mind.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Another project getting attention at the Farnborough air show is a European Space Agency Mission to Mars. The Mars Express Mission is set for launch next June, and should arrive on Mars in December 2003. The spacecraft will release a lander called Beagle 2, named after Charles Darwin's ship. If this beagle survives the landing, it will sniff around the Martian surface, looking for chemicals that might be signs of life on the Red Planet. A robotic arm and grinder will help gather and prepare samples for analysis. Researchers are looking for water or organic chemicals, which could suggest the possibility of past or present life on Mars.

Samples collected on the Moon by Nasa's Apollo missions are safe again after being stolen from the Johnson Space Center. The FBI arrested three Space Center employees in Florida last weekend, and charged them with swiping a safe full of moon rocks. Police say the threesome, and another alleged conspirator, were trying to sell the lunar samples for $1,000 to $5,000 a gram. An e-mail tip in May alerted agents to a mineralogy Web site based in Belgium, where an ad offered moon rocks for sale. NASA officials say they are confident they got back all the precious pebbles.

Still to come on NEXT@CNN, an uncertain future for Southeast Asia's largest fresh water lake, and the people who depend upon it.

And later, cyber-athletes flex their mental muscle for fun and profit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: In the Western United States, authorities have been struggling with record drought and heat. Well, now, they're also confronting drought-related problems facing wildlife. Kimberly Osias has more from Frisco, Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sound of flowing water, one not often heard these days since the precious commodity is becoming more scarce...

JEFF BUTLER, COLORADO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE: If we keep up with no rain and the heat and what-not, there's going to be all sorts of problems.

OSIAS: Creating a trickle-down effect throughout the entire food chain.

BUTLER: Well, we are running into problems with our fish and wildlife, both.

OSIAS: No rain means grass can't grow, animals can't feed, sending some foraging for food any way they can.

BUTLER: They use their nose, and they can smell people food.

OSIAS: Elk, deer, and of course, bear are known to bulk-up in the summer, building a layer of fat to keep them alive throughout winter. But these days, scant food is sending some inland, threatening people.

BUTLER: Once we get a bear that's causing a problem and we ear tag him and move him, if he comes back, he is a dead bear.

OSIAS: And the heat is creating troubled waters for fish as well...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The big fish like to live in deep water, so, most of them, the pelicans are getting them, because they have to go up to shallow water.

OSIAS: Getting trapped there. The problem is so bad that for the first time, some wildlife officials now have full power to close lakes and streams to fishermen. In one extreme case, an entire reservoir full of trout will be drained to help supply a larger reservoir.

JAE TORNQUIST, FISHERMAN: I feel bad, I feel sad, and everybody I have talked to is upset. Everybody is upset about it, especially all the fishermen.

OSIAS: And the heat keeps coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we better do some praying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Prayers may also be in order for Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. The lake is a vital part of the nation's food supply, but it's threatened by over-fishing, illegal logging and rampant development, as Mike Chinoy reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Traveling on a rickety boat in the heart of Cambodia, on one of the natural wonders of the world, the Tonle Sap, the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia, so plentiful a source of fish it feeds half the country's population, a waterway as unique as it is important.

(on camera): At certain times of the year, during the rainy season, the Tonle Sap can cover almost a third of Cambodia, but, now, this lifeline for millions is in danger. Economic development, lubricated by rampant corruption, is threatening the Tonle Sap with catastrophe.

(voice-over): We reach Anlong Raing (ph), a floating village, whose 90 families have lived off the Tonle Sap for generations. Vo Eck (ph) supports five children from her daily catch. She's finding that harder and harder to do.

"There are big fishing companies who destroy the nets of small fisher folk like us," she says. "We can't do anything about it."

"Before, stocks were plentiful," says 43-year-old So Al (ph). "There aren't as many fish these days, and they're smaller."

So Al's (ph) wife, Son Chay (ph), cooks what he's caught for a mid-day meal on the floating shack they call home. The rampant over- fishing, often in violation of Cambodia's own loosely enforced laws, is a constant topic of discussion, along with the complicity of the local authorities.

MAO VANNA, VILLAGE CHIEF (through translator): The military, police and fishing inspectors are all involved, bribes are paid, they're all profiting from it.

CHINOY: But it's not just illegal fishing that's threatening both the livelihood of people like So Al (ph) and the future of the Tonle Sap. Rampant illegal logging has stripped the forests along the lake's edge, producing a dangerous build-up of silt, and destroying breeding grounds for numerous species of fish.

MAK SITHIRITH, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: With the current siltation (ph) rate, you know, like in 2023, like that, you know, the lake will disappear.

CHINOY: Now, population growth is spawning new settlements along the lake, just as the government has given a crony of the prime minister permission to build a pulp paper factory, and another company the right to drill for oil -- moves that will increase pollution and further disrupt a delicate natural balance.

Environmental activists are trying to organize villagers in places like Anlong Raing (ph) to fight back, but often it seems like a losing battle. SITHIRITH: The Tonle Sap Lake is the heart of Cambodia. And this represents the culture, you know, the social, the traditions, all that. If it disappeared, then, you know, Cambodia will be gone.

CHINOY: And a way of life dating back hundreds of years could disappear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Coming up, visit a town where wireless computing has a cloudy future, and that's a good thing. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Five or 10 years ago, it was cool to be wired. Well, now, the trend is wireless. How does a wireless area network get set up, and what are some of the pitfalls that can lead to crossed wires? We took a road trip to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): In Athens, Georgia, they're calling it "the wireless cloud."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, this is a cloud.

KELLAN: Not a rain cloud, even though there was a downpour during our visit, but a wireless network that covers a three-block area of this college town, set up by the University of Georgia to get people thinking about ways wireless technology can be used by students, businesses, residents and tourists. Anyone in this three- block area can sit at a sidewalk cafe, with laptop or PDA, and surf the Internet, conduct a teleconference, or send out a video or live broadcast to someone across the country.

(on camera): What do I need on my laptop to wire in?

KARIM DELGADO, BUENA VISTA WIRELESS: All you need is an 802.11b card.

KELLAN: So I need one of these cards?

DELGADO: Sure.

KELLAN: So I go where, to Radio Shack?

DELGADO: Radio Shack, or anybody.

KELLAN: OK. And this is what, $150, $100?

DELGADO: About $100.

KELLAN: About $100, OK.

DELGADO: It goes into this part here. Sets it up, and it's on.

KELLAN: And now I'm wireless.

DELGADO: You're completely wireless.

KELLAN (voice-over): Money for this comes from state and local government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are small boxes that we call 3-G boxes...

KELLAN: Signals from laptops and PDAs are relayed to these boxes on light poles to servers at the university, then onto the Internet. Wireless networks use a different radio frequency than cell phones. Already, students have used this equipment to provide instant replays during a college baseball game.

PROF. SCOTT SHAMP, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: A lot of people think that technology is what's holding back wireless communication. It's not. It's compelling uses that's really holding back wireless.

KELLAN: These guys have some uses in mind. For example, instead of long concession lines, they hope one day fans will be able to order a hot dog and soft drink right from their seats, even get it delivered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rather than having to get up and miss parts of the game.

JARROD CARLSON, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA STUDENT: I could talk to the guy over there or down the street, or across the city, and it's not going to cost me anything to use this network.

KELLAN: Well, at least while they're experimenting with wireless.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also, we're working on electronic money.

KELLAN (on camera): Should people do their banking over this wireless network?

SHAMP: If I were going to tell anybody whether they should use this to send credit card information, or to send those lurid e-mail that might go to people that they shouldn't be sending e-mails to, this wouldn't be the place that you should do it, but if you want to find out about restaurants in Athens, if you want to find out about entertainment opportunities, then this kind of network would be good for that.

KELLAN (voice-over): The technology side of this is the fun part. Making it work in the business world is the hard part. Next semester, students have the tough assignment to figure ways that wireless will help businesses make money.

(on camera): So what are you going to do with something like this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't need it. KELLAN: Don't need it?

(voice-over): Marvin is an example of what they're up against. Fixes shoes, done so for 60 years, sees no use for the network. The local coffee hang-out, Blue Sky, would need extra equipment to get a clear wireless signal inside the cafe. The manager is not sure it's worth it.

JIMMY JOHNSON, BLUE SKY COFFEE: I could pay somebody to wire my cafe tomorrow, but I'm just not sure how much money I'd make out of that, and really every $1,000 to me is pretty precious.

KELLAN: Local music merchant Jeff Montgomery says bars can promote local bands using the so-called wireless cloud.

JEFFREY MONTGOMERY, ATHENSMUSICNET: People can use the cloud to get an idea of what a band sounds like before they go in.

KELLAN: So, for the next year, students will think up ways to convince skeptics who are...

CHRIS GARCHOW: Not exactly sure what marketing opportunities there would be with a wireless cloud.

KELLAN: And to help businesses and consumers discover the silver lining in this wireless cloud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all experimentation. We don't really know what we're going to find at the end of it.

KELLAN (on camera): Good luck. Can you make it stop raining now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Forty-two hundred athletes met this week in Dallas for five days of lively competition. But in this championship, you weren't likely to see bulging pecs or biceps, though you might have seen a few overdeveloped thumbs. Renay San Miguel reports from the summer cyber-athlete professional league championships.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat. And all of it taking place in cyberspace. Forty-two hundred computer gamers gathered in Dallas to take part in the cyber-athlete professional league championships. They come from 63 countries for a round-robin tournament that tests their silicon skills in strategy and teamwork.

ANGEL MUNOZ, PRESIDENT, CYBERATHLETE CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE: And when I went to talk to people and said, "yeah, we're starting a league, and it's a cyberathlete professional league," and, you know, there was a lot of snickering. SAN MIGUEL: Angel Munoz started the CPL five years ago with 300 competitors and a $300 grand prize. Since that time, computer and video gaming has grown into a $9 billion-a-year industry. Now, he's watching as five-person teams, mostly young males, 17 to 24 years old, play each other on the PC game Half-Life: Counterstrike for a total of $100,000 in cash, with the winner getting $25,000.

There are now big tech companies sponsoring these tournaments, and in many cases, they're sponsoring teams.

MUNOZ: More and more people are playing computers. More and more people are interested in the league. More and more people are interested in gamers and what happens at an event like this, so this is our best year, ever so far.

SAN MIGUEL (on camera): Now, I know what you're thinking. You probably consider an athlete to be somebody who actually breaks a sweat, gets up, moves around, maybe pulls a muscle every now and then. How can anybody who sits in front of a computer actually be considered an athlete?

ANDRES THORSTENSSON, SWEDISH GAMER: I have a sporting background from my childhood, and -- but now I don't have time to play as much. I played basketball for nine years, but I don't have time. And I have been playing games -- it's just another alternative to real sports, and having this is excellent.

TIM MARCHANT, THE DOMAIN OF PAIN: But there is also the other side of the athlete, not just the physical part, but there is the mental strength, the mental skill, the reflexes, the reaction, the dedication.

SAN MIGUEL (voice-over): Tim Marchant plays for one of the top ten-ranked CPL teams, the Domain of Pain. He's played for three years, long enough to see differences in the styles of American and European cyber-athletes. Europeans take advantage of faster Internet connections to stress teamwork.

MARCHANT: The Americans, we rely on skill, like true raw skill. We play the pick-off game. We sit and wait for somebody to make a mistake, and pick them off.

SAN MIGUEL: But what about worries that playing computer games all day breeds isolation?

MUNOZ: We're happy to see that the industry is waking up to the realization that people do want to socialize. I mean, gamers are humans, and humans are social.

SAN MIGUEL: And even though these humans send their virtual counterparts out to play for them, they still get tired enough to need an occasional time out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Coming up in our next half hour, two kinds of pest control. If it's spam you're worried about, we'll show you a new way to keep it out of your mailbox. And if it's crop-eating rats, we'll tell you who to call. They're not quite the pied piper, but they get the job done.

First, we'll take a quick break, and then get the latest headlines from the CNN newsroom. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(INTERRUPTED FOR CNN COVERAGE OF BREAKING NEWS)

KELLAN: Researchers have unveiled the next generation of wearable gadgets, and they have figured out how to get rid of the unsightly wires and cables. Munich-based chip maker Infinium Technology has held a fashion show in Tokyo recently to show off sweaters, jackets and coats fitted with MP3 players. The chips and sensors are woven right into the fabric, with buttons and sleeves or chest pockets to control the devices. The only wire needed is for the ear plug. Infinium says this high-tech attire could hit the market within a couple of years.

If you've got e-mail, you've got spam. And if you're like most of us, you're looking for ways to get rid of it. Our consumer tech expert Marc Saltzman talked with Natalie Pawelski about one of his favorite ways to nuke unwanted e-mail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you boot up your computer, you've got mail, and it's all get rich quick schemes, porno, chain letters. How do you get rid of that?

MARC SALTZMAN, CONSUMER TECH EXPERT: Yeah, we call that spam. There's a new first line of defense that is actually free. It's a program called Mail Washer.

This runs on top of your e-mail program. You need what we call a POP 3 e-mail account, so that could be your Outlook or Outlook Express, for example. What this does, you can see here, this is the Mail Washer program. It tells you what's coming into your inbox before it even gets to your computer. This is at the server level. It will show you what the subject line is and who it's from, and then it gives you its prediction on the status of it. It could be possible spam, a chain letter or if it thinks that it's fine, it will just say normal.

What you can do is here on the left hand side is click to bounce back that e-mail. And I really like this, because what it does is that it tricks the sender's computer into believing that your e-mail address is now invalid. So, theoretically, your name should be removed from lists over time.

PAWELSKI: Now, what's this -- you said that over time, it will get you off lists, but I don't think -- I don't really understand how that works. Is it like mailing lists in the regular world? SALTZMAN: If you get spam, if you get unsolicited bulk e-mail, and you write back, saying leave me alone, or I'm not interested, you have just validated that your e-mail address is good.

So what they're going to do is take that list, and you know, they sell it, you know, by hundreds or thousands or even millions of accounts at a time from one company to another.

PAWELSKI: So this isn't just a delete?

SALTZMAN: That's right. You can do one of three things: Bounce it back, delete it or download it. Right? You can delete it at this level. For example, you may see that it is an e-mail that has a very large attachment. And you don't want that, you know, if you're on a dial-up modem, for example, and it takes a long time to download.

PAWELSKI: I wonder how they classify it, too. How do they know it's possible spam or probably spam?

SALTZMAN: Right. Well, they're just guessing. And they are hoping that by you taking a look at the subject line and the sender that you can guess if it is or not. You can certainly download it and then flag that e-mail account for future reference.

PAWELSKI: Now, can you use this with Web-based sites like Yahoo! or Hotmail?

SALTZMAN: Good question. No, not yet. Both Hotmail and Yahoo! are what we call Web-based e-mail accounts, not POP 3 accounts, which are the ones where you subscribe to an ISP, or Internet service provider. But they say, the folks at Mail Washer, say that Web-based e-mail accounts are next, and by the end of the summer, we should be able to have support.

PAWELSKI: Where do you buy your Mail Washer?

SALTZMAN: OK. Actually, you don't buy it. It's completely free.

PAWELSKI: Oh, I like that.

SALTZMAN: ... which is a nice change. You go to www.mailwasher.net. You download this program; it's not very big at all, and then you do install it, and you will have a little icon on your desktop.

PAWELSKI: So any downside to the Mail Washer?

SALTZMAN: I have to admit that as great as this program is, you have to be a little bit computer savvy in order to set it up. You have to know what your incoming and outgoing mail server settings are, which you can find by either calling your ISP or looking under your options menu. So there is a little bit of work. It's not 100 percent foolproof. There will be some spam that gets through, but at least you are in control and you get to choose what gets filtered down to your computer. PAWELSKI: That's what makes mail call a little bit easier.

SALTZMAN: Yes, it should.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: You can find a link to the Mail Washer Web site and information on other stories on our show. Come visit our Web site, at cnn.com/next.

Up next, a giant squid that wasn't what it seemed. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: The U.S. is moving to ban importation of the snakehead, a fish with a veracious appetite and an unsettling ability to move across land and live out of water for three days. A breeding population of the snakehead recently was discovered in a Maryland pond. The fish has also been found in the wild in six additional states. The snakehead will eat almost any small animal it comes across, leaving the Interior Department to propose banning the importation and interstate shipment of this fish. The snakehead is currently sold by some sea food markets and aquarium fish retailers.

Scientists are celebrating the discovery of a type of centipede they have never seen before. The find was made not in some remote rainforest, but get this, in New York Central Park. The 82-leg centipede is just under a half-inch long, much smaller than more familiar centipedes. It turned up in leaf litter on the ground in one of the park's wooded areas when researchers did a survey of the area. Scientists say the lesson here is that biodiversity is everywhere.

Researchers in Australia thought for a while they had discovered a new species. A giant squid that washed up on a beach last weekend seemed to have unusual muscle growth that marked it as an unknown animal, but more study revealed that the squid was just a damaged specimen. Experts say the membranes had pulled away from its arms, causing its unusual appearance. Scientists say the dead squid was a female that had just released its eggs, and they're hoping to catch one of the offspring for further study.

A turkey-size bird that lived more than 100 million years ago is now giving paleontologists some important clues about how animals lived and evolved. The fossil found last year in China shows what the bird ate. More than 50 seeds are clearly visible in its stomach. This is the first direct evidence of seed eating in a bird. And scientists say that makes this creature a pioneer in an era when birds normally ate meat, fish or insects. The findings were published in the journal "Nature."

How can farmers get rid of pests without using chemicals? There are a lot of possibilities, depending on the type of vermin and the type of crops. But few match the drama of one pest control project in India. Gary Strieker has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're fast and professional. And if you're an Indian rice farmer, they might solve your biggest problem. So who do you call to get rid of your rats?

RON WHITAKER: Here is a tribe with very, very special skills. A tribe with technology which is really unrivalled. Their ability to catch hundreds of rats in a day is just so startling.

STRIEKER: Irulas (ph) are among the poorest people in India. A tribe of nomadic hunters who developed their skills centuries ago when southern India was covered with forests. Now they have no land. Some don't even have homes. And many still survive by hunting, no longer in forests, but in farmer's fields.

These Irulas (ph) are members of a cooperative society. They sell rats to a local crocodile farm, with thousands of hungry mouths to feed. They're also hired by farmers and anyone else who has a problem with rats. A safer and cheaper alternative to toxic pesticides.

(on camera): For the farmer, there is an especially good reason to hire the rat catchers. If he uses a pesticide, he never really knows how well it's going to work. The Irulas (ph) will show him exactly how many rats they take off his land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the track from here to there. They rats get the grain and take it (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

STRIEKER (voice-over): With so much food in these rice fields, rats multiply fast. Some studies estimate almost half of India's grain harvest is destroyed by rats.

This young man says he's proud to be a rat catcher, eradicating a pest. He says they have learned how to hunt rats from their forefathers, but it's not hard, and he could teach anyone to do it.

For the children, life could be worse than roaming the fields with your family catching rats. And there's always excitement.

And the job has bonuses. Grain from the rats' burrows will be taken home and cooked for dinner.

And speaking of food, it's time for a break from the rat race. Time for a quick barbecue lunch, high in protein, low in cholesterol. Many Irulas (ph) will have no other meat but rat.

With their bags full, the rat patrol moves on. For the Irulas (ph), more grain fields always lie ahead and always many more rats.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Still to come on NEXT@CNN, you visit a fly-by-night and fly-by-day community, a place where you can hang your hat as well as park your plane. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: If you're a pilot who just can't stand to be away from your plane, have we got a neighborhood for you. As Miles O'Brien reports, in this community, home is where your plane is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carlos Bravo likes to keep his toys close at hand. So, when he's done flying his biplane, he taxies it right to his doorstep. To his hangar, attached to his house, just like a garage.

CARLOS BRAVO, PILOT: This, we call it Disneyland for adults.

O'BRIEN: Welcome to Spruce Creek, Florida. It's the grand daddy of fly-in communities. The homes surround a runway, and pilots can slip the surly bonds with the greatest of ease.

BRAVO: It sort of makes you feel like a kid in a candy store, that might be true. It's more a matter of people being able to live the way they wanted to live and achieving that.

O'BRIEN: Carlos made a dot-com fortune, sold out in the nick of time, and moved his family here from Illinois. He is among 1,100 home owners at Spruce Creek, about half of whom sit smack dab on a taxiway, minutes away from the wild blue yonder, where precisely where real estate values are headed here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all hangar.

O'BRIEN (on camera): Did he build this place?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

O'BRIEN: That's hangar?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all hangar.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Real estate broker Lenny Ohlsson is on top of the world these days. Sandwiched between joy rides in his biplane, he hustles some pricey listings.

LENNY OHLSSON, FLYING REALTOR: Let's see. In 1995, you could buy a lot, a taxiway lot for about $75,000, $80,000. Same lot now is going for $225,000.

O'BRIEN (on camera): On a taxiway?

OHLSSON: On a taxiway.

O'BRIEN: Just a lot?

(voice-over): If you think that's a lot for a lot, this two-acre tract owned by John Travolta is fetching $1.25 million. Out of your league? How about a condo, with a plane port? $300,000.

(on camera): If the American dream is home ownership, is this the American dream on steroids?

OHLSSON: Well, no more than the fellow that owns a house on the river to put his boat in the backyard. So this is pretty nice, because you have your own airport. It's the ultimate for anyone that has a plane.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): The military built the runway here. When it abandoned the field, it fell into disrepair until the mid-'70s, when some investors with deep pockets and a deep passion for planes hatched the idea.

(on camera): Sure, the prospect of taxiing your own plane to your own house -- that's enough to make a pilot's mouth water. But this place is about a lot more than just the convenience of it all. Otherwise, hangar after hangar wouldn't be filled up with World War II vintage biplanes, like this one. Now, this is about a place where people come together to share a passion, and that makes for a very unusual community.

If you're anxious about keeping up with the Joneses, this is not the place to come. This is where the big dogs run.

BRAVO: Yeah, you're either a Mr. Jones.

O'BRIEN: You've got to be Mr. Jones.

BRAVO: Yeah, you are Mr. Jones.

O'BRIEN: Everybody's Mr. Jones.

BRAVO: We are Mr. Jones. That's what I always tell my wife. We're Mr. Jones, we're the Joneses.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): I guess you could call it the high life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Thanks, Miles. Looks like you're having too much fun.

Well, it's just about time for us to take wing. But before we go, here is a peak at what's coming up next week. Some day, a jellyfish may make your cell phone display clearer, or help you get more out of the game of Spider-Man. Move over, LCDs, Oled (ph), organic light-emitting dios (ph), could be the next big thing in screen displays.

And what's old is new again for this Florida river. After spending years straightening the waterways for flood control, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is putting it back the way it was. We'll tell you why.

That's coming up on NEXT. Until then, let's hear from you. 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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