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High-Tech Tools U.S. Might Use in War With Iraq; Ham Radio Operators Help Rescue Efforts; Researchers Try to Develop Fabric of Future

Aired November 16, 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, reports from an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf and research labs back home on high-tech tools the U.S. could use in a possible war against Iraq.
Also, when killer tornadoes knock out phone lines, a community turns to some tried-and-true technology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a very scary thing, and they helped us to get the word out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: And the fabric of the future. It has nothing to do with fashion, and everything to do with saving lives. All that and more on NEXT.

ANN KELLAN, GUEST HOST: Hello, everyone, welcome to NEXT@CNN. I'm Ann Kellan. James Hattori is on vacation, and we are at the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.

Even though Iraq says it will let in U.N. weapons inspectors, U.S. forces are still preparing for a possible war with Iraq, and they rely on technology that's constantly advancing. B-29 bombers like this were state-of-the-art when they began flying in World War II. Well, today, the state-of-the-art ranges from smart bombs to 3-D animation. Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has our first example.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LANG CRAIGHILL, HOMELAND SECURITY INITIATIVES: We're coming up on the memorial.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Baghdad.

CRAIGHILL: This is the Republican Guard headquarters.

MCINTYRE: This is not a videogame. It's a 3-D animation of the real streets and real buildings of the Iraqi capital, complete with the GPS coordinates created by Harris Corporation from satellite images taken in August. CRAIGHILL: It puts you into that spot, so if you are in that location, this is exactly what you would see.

MCINTYRE: The idea is to give U.S. forces a very realistic preview of the ground they may be fighting for in a few months and help avoid the kind of deadly firefight that pinned down U.S. troops in Somalia in 1993.

CRAIGHILL: If you saw "Blackhawk Down," in that urban combat situation, there was a little command and control for the group to understand how to exit the scene. And this type of tool would have given them comfort with the environments and acknowledgement how to leave.

COL. RANDY GANGLE, U.S. MARINES (RET): One of the great difficulties of this battle is going to be -- is locating the enemy because he can hide a very large Army in a city of five million people very successfully. He can't defend the entire city. We can't clear the entire city. So it's going to be a game of cat and mouse, where urban patrolling is going to be one of the -- I believe, one of the keys to success.

CRAIGHILL: If you've been in a large city, it's extremely difficult and you lose your orientation and bearing very quickly. But as long as you've seen the environment before you've moved in and you're able to go through this and rehearse it any number of times before you actually land in the city.

MCINTYRE: The software can all be used as U.S. troops are engaged in urban warfare. For instance, calculating where a sniper may be firing from, so a smart bomb can take him out.

(on camera): For years, the U.S. military's rule of thumb when it came to urban combat was to avoid it. That may not be possible this time, but if U.S troops do fight in the streets of Baghdad, they will have every advantage U.S. technology can provide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: If the U.S. goes to war in Iraq again, precision bombs will play a large role, both laser-guided bombs to hit moving targets and satellite-guided bombs for all weather. The next generation of smart bombs is already on the drawing board. As Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports, the next big thing is small.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If U.S. troops fight in the streets of Baghdad, the air force may wish it already had a new generation of small precision bombs, bombs being developed for cities where avoiding civilian casualties is vital, a crucial lesson learned in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

MAJ. GEN. DAN LEAF, U.S. AIR FORCE: It could be as simple as a facility that's right next to a key bridge, and we don't want to damage the bridge, because we're going to use it with our friendly forces.

STARR: Within two years, warplanes will be carrying a new Boeing-made 500-pound JDAM, Joint Attack Munition, one fourth the size used in Afghanistan. A single B-2 will be able to carry 80 of the 500 pound bombs. Today, one B-2 carried 16 of the 2,000 pound version, each guided to a target with the aid of satellites.

Being able to carry so many bombs on one mission reduces the risk to U.S. pilots flying over enemy territory, when an enemy like Iraq has hundreds of antiaircraft guns and missiles.

LEAF: It's like going somewhere in a tough neighborhood. You got to go to the store there, but you don't want to have to go back because you forgot something.

STARR: And an even smaller precision bomb is on the drawing boards at Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Just 250 pounds. The Air Force hopes it can eventually be used in a follow-on to the Predator drone. That means these small bombs could, for the first time, strike mobile targets such as SCUD missile launches.

(on camera): Eighty bombs on one airplane gives the Air Force a tremendous advantage on the battlefield. But even the generals warn they're going to need much better intelligence in order to find 80 targets they can reliably strike in one swoop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: The next generation of bombs may not be quite ready, but some of the troops that would take part in an attack on Iraq are already in the region and ready to roll. CNN's Kyra Phillips got an exclusive look at preparations onboard the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, and in the skies above it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunrise over the Persian Gulf. From a distance, life on the USS Abraham Lincoln seems so peaceful. But within this battle group's boundary line sounds of freedom rock its flight line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got you on, clear.

PHILLIPS: The mission here is twofold -- supporting Operation Southern Watch, making sure Saddam Hussein is respecting international laws and preparing for a potential war if he doesn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, straight up. Straight up. That's good. That's it.

PHILLIPS: The 5,500 men and women on this carrier say the world cannot forget September 11.

COMMANDER PAUL HAAS, VF-31 TOMCATTERS: We took one on our home turf. We can never forget that. And we need to do our damdnest to make sure that it never happens again. PHILLIPS: Commander Paul Haas leads VF-31, the F-14 Tomcatters, one of nine squadrons in an air wing training around the clock for a potential war against Iraq.

(on camera): Yes, it's going to be good.

(voice-over): Today I'm going along to observe air combat training. In air to air missions, Lieutenant Commander Scott Snow, call sign Flake. But don't let the name fool you. He flew 25 combat missions over Afghanistan, helping to bring down the Taliban and send al Qaeda on the run. Now Scott's making sure he and his squadron are ready for Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is 31, up and ready, 54K (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

And here it comes.

LT. CMDR. SCOTT SNOW, VF-31 TOMCATTERS: There's a good (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right there. We're taking tension right now. And them others are coming up. They look good. And I'm giving them a hand salute. And we're are just about to go. And here it comes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

SNOW: Yes, it gets kind of addicting, doesn't it?

PHILLIPS: We're airborne over the Persian Gulf and in combat theater.

(on camera): Explain to me why this practical training is so important right now.

SNOW: To keep your skills honed, you need to practice all the time, much like an Indy car race driver, you just can't take three months off and then pop in and fly, and drive around in the Indy 500. It's not a win or lose kind of race. It's actually more life and death.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Combat efficiency comes from tactical wingmanship. Pilots on each side providing protection from hostile aircraft and the surface to air threat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I got the lead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got the lead.

PHILLIPS: Snow is practicing visual bombing, rolling in upside down on the enemy target and simulating dropping the ordinance perfectly.

SNOW: And we roll over 135 degrees, pull down on top of them, roll out, set our whip up and pop, there'd be the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right there. PHILLIPS (on camera): And you've got it in your sights and then you drop the ordinance?

SNOW: Absolutely. The big thing about keeping that finely held edge of a combat aviator that'll reduce things like civilian casualties and missed bombs, missed hits, things like that.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): We're up 25,000 feet, going 725 miles per hour and pulling six and a half Gs.

SNOW: Six and a half Gs, nice work.

PHILLIPS: Witnessing firsthand how this Tomcat squadron is mission focused.

(on camera): Why do you have to monitor Iraq and Saddam Hussein 24-7 right now?

SNOW: I think right now he's starting to get a little desperate and he's not getting any results. So he's pretty much willing to try anything.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): The Hussein wildcard that keeps Snow sharp, determined to make it home. His son, Logan Scott Snow, is due in three months.

SNOW: I look at doing it for my wife and also for my son. I want him to live in a world where he's, you know, not worried about, hey, can I go to Disneyland and not have a bomb threat where I have to scurry back to the hotel? I'd much rather do the job now to make a better future for him and for everyone in America than to sit back and just let this threat build till the next terror act that we have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, we'll tell you where and when to catch a falling star, either on the Web or in your backyard.

And later in the show, DVD players with a difference. They do more than just show you movies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: When severe storms and tornadoes ravaged communities across the South and Great Lake states last weekend, radio played a big part in saving lives. Just minutes before a twister wrecked this theater in Van Wort (ph), Ohio, 60 people had been watching a movie, but a weather alert radio sounded a warning in time for them to take shelter in bathrooms and hallways. And as rescue workers in other hard-hit areas searched for the missing, ham radio operators were instrumental, as John Vause reports from Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger. KY4L (ph) standing by in Red Camp (ph). JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They've been at it now for days, a network of amateur radio operators like Jerry, Lou and Jim. When the phone lines in Morgan County went down and the radio frequencies were jammed, they went to work, relaying information among rescue crews, police, fire and ambulance. At Roane Medical Center, ham operators alerted medical staff about the condition of incoming patients, relaying information from the field to the emergency room.

KAREN MARTIN, ROANE MEDICAL CENTER: They were invaluable, getting information to the patient's families, folks who don't know where their people are. It's a very scary thing, and they helped us to get the word out.

VAUSE: In the frantic hours after the twisters hit, the amateur radio network was one of the only reliable ways authorities in Morgan County could reach the outside world -- all coordinated from the upstairs bedroom at Sheila Tallent's house in the nearby town of Farragut.

SHEILA TALLENT, AMATEUR RADIO COORDINATOR: We have any number of digital Morse code, voice and probably somewhere on the order of 12 or 15 different bands that we can use to communicate.

VAUSE: They are a well-organized network of volunteers, more than 100 across Tennessee, working on Sunday night. They're called the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, an extraordinary backup, say authorities, which certainly saved lives.

(on camera): In the chaos after the twister touchdown, local radio reported as many as 260 people here in Morgan County were unaccounted for. Mostly they couldn't be reached because the phone lines were down. Then, the ham operators went to work, and in just a few hours all but 40 had been found.

KERRY OSBORNE, INCIDENT COMMANDER: Made it a hell of a lot easier on the rescue workers, because then you know that, you know, how many people you're looking for.

VAUSE (voice-over): In fact, the amateur network went into action in seven states which had been hit by tornadoes, but nowhere was their work more critical than Morgan County and Mossy Grove (ph). To the people of Morgan County, they're the faces they'll never see, but voices over the airwaves which came to the rescue when their need was greatest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: While the United States weathers tornadoes, northern China suffered a severe dust storm. A mixture of snow and sand blanketed several cities Monday. Many people covered their faces to help them breathe. Visibility dropped to 300 feet or 100 meters in some places. The huge brownish cloud was even visible to satellites. Weather experts say the storm was caused by a cold air movement carrying sand from the Gobi Desert in northwestern China.

OK, mark your calendar and get ready for a shower -- not rain, but meteors. The yearly Leonid meteor shower will reach its peak for viewers in North America in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday morning. Now, if the weather is clear where you are, it could be quite a sight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Ever wish upon a shooting star? Well, actually you were wishing upon a meteor. Meteors, some of which are dust from a comet's tail, can be seen year-round streaking across the sky as they enter the Earth's atmosphere at over 158,000 miles per hour and burn up.

Perhaps the most famous meteors, the Leonids, from the comet Temple-Tuttle. Got their name because they seem to be falling from the consolation of stars called Leo. These shooting stars, which are usually the size of a grain of sand, can be seen in great numbers every November 17 through 19, if the weather cooperates.

And now, thanks to the Internet, scientists and stargazers alike can see them all-year round online. Sights like this one from the American Meteor Society keep a pictorial record of past meteors, as well as an up-to-date list of current sightings.

Experts say the 2002 showers should be one of the best in years, but they admit that predicting the Leonids has proven to be a difficult task.

JAMES R. SOWELL, PH.D., ASTRONOMER, GEORGIA TECH: The predictions are that there are two large clumps that we will hit, and the first one is at about 11:00 p.m. on the night of November 18, 19, but it's best suited for Europe. The second peak is predicted to be from about 5:15 to 5:45 Eastern standard time. So the United States has the best shot at the second peak.

KELLAN: Predictions vary, but most experts agree the best thing you can do if you want to see a sky full of shooting meteors is to avoid light pollution from cities.

NASA's Leonids site has detailed archival information on Leonids. It also has a near-live Leonid viewing page, where amateur astronomers can participate online in the Leonid watch. And if you see something special this year, astronomy sites encourage you to send in your pictures and observations.

SOWELL: Because, after all, if you make a great observation, you want the world to know about it, and the professional needs to be able to use it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: You can find links to those astronomy sites and more information on other stories in our show on our Web site, cnn.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up next, a ban on trading in elephant ivory has dramatically reduced elephant poaching. So why have wildlife authorities approved a new ivory sale? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Conservationists are predicting an increase in elephant poaching. Now that three nations in Southern Africa have the go-ahead to sell their stock piles of ivory, despite a ban on ivory sales. The approval came this week in Santiago, Chile at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species, or CITES. Charlayne Hunter-Gault has more on this controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what the critics are afraid of, a resurgence of elephant poaching that saw some 2,000 elephants killed every week across Africa in the 1980s, reducing the elephant population from 1.3 million to 600,000. Though some poaching still goes on, international trade in ivory has been illegal since the 1989 U.N. ban. South Africa's elephant population is now growing at some 7 percent a year, officials say.

Countries like Kenya, which lost 80 percent of its elephants to poaching, don't want the ban lifted.

ABDUL BASHIR, KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE: I can tell you for sure that elephants are going to get killed here in Kenya, and in the African (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and we're going to start spending more money which we need for other things, and that will be very sad.

HUNTER-GAULT (on camera): But countries in favor of lifting the ban, like South Africa, say there are adequate controls in place to prevent poaching, and, in fact proceeds from the ivory sales would be used to promote anti-poaching efforts.

(voice-over): South Africa's sales would come from its 30-ton stockpile, collected mostly from elephants that died of natural causes. The five Southern African countries wanting to lift the ban stand to net the equivalent of some $8 million U.S. from a one-time ivory sale.

Meanwhile, in Kenya, the search for (UNINTELLIGIBLE), taken from this latest poaching victim, goes on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Composting might bring to mind a big pile of leaves in the backyard or maybe a plastic bin for loan cuttings and table scraps, but in the future, entire cities could be composting leftover food, if San Francisco is any indication. Rusty Dornin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me have a look at that. Wow.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No matter how pretty he presents it, chef Bernd Leibergesell knows not every customer cleans his plate. So back in the kitchen, a lot of food goes straight into the compost pile. The San Francis Hotel, along with 1,500 other food businesses in San Francisco, now separates the edible from all the other garbage. In return, a 25 percent discount on the trash bill.

BERND LEIBERGESELL, ST. FRANCIS HOTEL: Anything that we don't really use for a customer, whatever comes back on the customers from the plate gets all recycled.

DORNIN: San Francisco is the first major city in the nation to recycle what you don't eat, out on the town or right in your own kitchen.

KAREN BERARDI, SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENT: All this food we get, we never eat.

DORNIN: Karen and Greg Berardi say it is a heck of a lot easier to turn on the garbage disposal, but...

BERARDI: I feel better about composting it than just flushing it away.

DORNIN: Every day, truckloads of recycled scraps go to a new composting facility near Sacramento to be turned into fertilizer.

(on camera): How much is this program reducing the amount of what would have gone to a landfill?

MIKE SANGIACOMO, COMPOSTING FACILITY: Well, 300 times of day from San Francisco is about 15 percent.

DORNIN (voice-over): Here, the garbage is put into bags. Microbes break down the scraps, heating it to nearly 135 degrees. Then it is screened, and voila, three months later a big pile of dark compost.

SANGIACOMO: And you see it, it's still warm.

DORNIN (on camera): Really is warm.

SANGIACOMO: Nice hand warmer there.

This is going to add microbes to your soil at home or in your farm or in your vineyard.

NIGEL WALKER, ORGANIC FARMER: It's a lot cheaper.

DORNIN (voice-over): Organic farmer Nigel Walker uses it on his 65 acres.

WALKER: We grow a lot of different fruits, peaches, nectarines, and apples, and pears, and apricots.

DORNIN: Walker says table scraps from the city are making richer soil out on the farm.

WALKER: Why isn't every city doing it? I mean, why is New York chalking their recyclables away? It just does not make sense. There are farmers all around in upstate New York, all around that area that should be doing exactly the same thing.

DORNIN (on camera): For example, this red cabbage on Walker's farm will be sold to a produce market in San Francisco, which will in turn be bought by restaurants and folks in the city who will end up putting the leaves in a compost bean that will be taken to the compost facility and could end up back in the soil on Walker's farm.

(voice-over): Something Walker feels pretty good about.

WALKER: Makes sense, doesn't it? It makes perfect sense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Up next, tough textiles. Researchers try to create fabrics that protect against a variety of dangers. And would you trust your car to a robot? Those stories and much more are coming up in our next half-hour. First, we'll take a quick break and then get the latest news from the CNN newsroom. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN. We're at the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, and as you can see, there is quite a variety here. This is a modern-day fighter jet, an F-15, and this takes you back a few years to World War II and what bomber pilots were wearing back there. Their protective gear included an old-fashioned black jacket, a bulletproof vest. Now, today, troops and civilian first responders have much better protective gear, and researchers are trying to make it even better.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Emergency crews combing a building for anthrax wear very different protective gear, from crews attempting daring rescues in fires. Matt Moseley knows firsthand how important that protective clothing can be. In 1999, his jacket shielded his body from the intense heat as he dangled from a helicopter to rescue Ivor Simms (ph) from a cotton mill fire in Atlanta.

Even though Moseley is grateful for the gear, he knows there is room for improvement.

MATT MOSELEY, ATLANTA FIREFIGHTER: If we have to pull somebody out of a building or something, it gets to be difficult when you have that much and that bulky a gear on and you try to get a hold of somebody.

KELLAN: And following September 11, the need became obvious for multipurpose gear to protect against both fire and bio and chemical hazards.

ROGER BARKER: They need to put those first responders in clothing that's able to protect against not a single threat, but many threats. KELLAN: Not easy. Since firefighters often need to wear their protective gear for hours at a time fighting fires, while crews dealing with deadly chemicals and gases in the sealed garment, can only last about as long as a tank of oxygen, about 20 minutes at a time.

ASST. FIRE CHIEF JOE TOLBERT, ATLANTA FIRE DEPARTMENT: It's difficult to move around in. It's like being in a gigantic plastic bag.

KELLAN: To create better gear, North Carolina State University, for one, is developing new fabrics and running them through a battery of test.

This mannequin, for example, with 122 senses measure how long a fabric will shield someone in a fire, and the parts of the body that burn first.

(on camera): So we have a lot of second degree burns, even third degree burns on the arm and the back.

(voice-over): This equipment measures how much pressure it takes for blood that could carry diseases to penetrate a fabric.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're able to measure the amount of pressure that it takes to force that synthetic blood through the material.

KELLAN (on camera): So that failed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was a fail, yes.

KELLAN (voice-over): Equipment also measures whether a fabric will shield against aerosol sprayed in the air, one way terrorists might try to spread anthrax.

(on camera): So little aerosols can get through the tiny holes in this weave.

(voice-over): Compared to this plastic membrane.

(on camera): Aerosol would have a tougher time penetrating this.

MARIAN MCCORD, NC STATE COLLEGE OF TEXTILES: You can wrap yourself in saran wrap, would be a pretty effective protective device, but nobody could work or function in that type of physical stress.

KELLAN (voice-over): The problem is fabric needs to be porous enough to allow our skin to breathe and to sweat, yet keep poisons out. This special sweat mannequin measures that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This mannequin has a very sophisticated skin, and the water is delivered to 187 simulating sweat glands at a very controlled rate, so we know precisely how much sweat is coming in and we know precisely how much sweat leaves the mannequin. KELLAN: Right now, there is no one miracle fabric. Layers work best. One for fire protection, a different layer that's water- resistant, and maybe one day a layer to shield chemicals and poisons -- that you spray on, perhaps? That's what this researcher is working on.

TUSHAR GHOSH, NC STATE COLLEGE OF TEXTILES: I'm using the robot, we can control the fiber fineness. We could control how you would lay in the fibers on the robot.

KELLAN (on camera): Imagine spray-on clothes. Fibers as thin or thinner than a human hair.

It's a plastic feeling. So it's hard to imagine wearing this.

(voice-over): Researcher Tushar Ghosh hopes a few years from now, this spray can offer a thin layer of protection by creating a fabric with tiny pores, enough to let air in yet keep many of the dangerous hazards out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, how new eye-scanning technology could determine the future of some Afghan refugees. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: New technology for screening and recognizing people is turning up at airports around the world. It's also playing an important role in some refugee camps in Pakistan. Basma Quraishi has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASMA QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Han Agan (ph) and his family are ready to go home. They are among the last of a long stream of refugees crossing back into Afghanistan before winter sets in.

But before they go back, refugees must stop at centers like this one, set up by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, where each person is screened before receiving $5 and $30 in aid.

For the family of 20-year-old Han Agan (ph), who earns $20 a month selling scrap metal, this adds up to a small fortune. Officials say the lure of aid has made a difficult job even harder, with some refugees returning over and over.

So the high commission is turning to high technology to process thousands of refugees a week.

This machine being tested by UNHCR is used to scan the human iris, more accurate and less messy than fingerprinting. The image is stored in a database, and each refugee is assigned an I.D. number.

(on camera): Since March of this year, UNHCR has turned away over 43,000 families from this center alone. This new technology could be most helpful in trying to control recyclers, refugees who have already been rejected or those who return to Pakistan to get a second helping of aid.

RICHARD NDAULA, UNHCR REPATRIATION OFFICER: Before the machines, we had -- we were using what's called same-day recyclers. If someone comes in the morning, tries to get registered, they're recognized and rejected. They would go out, hire (ph) another (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and come back.

QURAISHI (voice-over): Previously, verifiers had to rely on memory, and tens of thousands of photographs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all books filled up with photographs of recyclers.

QURAISHI: On this board, some of the more notorious aid seekers.

The number of recyclers has dropped dramatically since word of the new machines has gotten around. Han Agan (ph) and his family make it through the scanning process, but the U.N. team feels their intentions to repatriate are not genuine. Han Agan (ph) probably won't come here again to try to get assistance. He knows that with this new technology, there aren't any second chances.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: The U.S. is no longer the undisputed world leader in information technology, and that concerns "Fortune" magazine's senior editor David Kirkpatrick. In this week's "Fast Forward" commentary, he has some thoughts on how to stay competitive in the fast-changing IT field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID KIRKPATRICK, SENIOR EDITOR, FORTUNE: It is really surprising to me that just in the last month or so, all of a sudden a lot of the biggest companies in the United States IT industry have started to say they're really concerned that the U.S. may be losing its competitiveness in information technology. Sophisticated technology is being developed in Korea, Taiwan, India, Malaysia and elsewhere.

A country that is of greatest concern to everyone who worries about U.S. IT competitiveness, though, is China. China already produces roughly three to four times as many electrical and computer engineers as the United States does.

The solution is several fold. One is, more of a national commitment to engineering education, because that's happening in other countries; it's not happening here.

Also, I think these companies really want a just plain increase in government dollars going toward high end R&D, for what can be done with technology. Third, I think all these companies really want to see a better national commitment to broadband, because the belief that broadband Internet access is the platform on which almost all of the key applications of the future are going to be developed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Just ahead on NEXT, if you want to sing karaoke, you might want to buy a DVD player. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: DVD players are becoming more and more popular and not just because they play DVDs. In this week's "Technofile," consumer tech guru Marc Saltzman says you can find DVD players that will play MP3s, record TV shows, and even help you sing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): DVD players. Might be something to consider this holiday season because there are a lot new features on players this year; with me to explain is Marc. How are you doing?

MARC SALTZMAN, CONSUMER TECH EXPERT: Good. Thanks. You're absolutely right. A lot of the DVD players that are sold now have what we call bells and whistles. They go above and beyond just playing music or movies, of course.

KELLAN: OK. So what's the first one?

SALTZMAN: The first player we're going to look at today is from Apex, and it plays DVD karaoke discs.

KELLAN: So that's why I have this microphone right here. OK.

SALTZMAN: There you go. We will have some fun singing a little bit later.

But as you can see on this player, there is two slots for microphones, they are sold separately. You plug them in, and you can adjust the volume and the echo level, which is what I like, because, you know, I don't have a good voice, so you can add some extra special effects there, and you sing along with the DVDs that you buy at retail, usually at specialty stores or maybe online you can buy these karaoke DVDs.

So that's a lot of fun. And I should mention that this player is also a three-disc carousel, so you can fit three different DVDs or CDs in here, and this player also supports Kodak video -- sorry, picture CDs. What that means is you can take your favorite photos from your digital camera and burn them onto one of these on your computer, and you'll play them in the player.

Also, some Kodak stores will also take your regular film and burn it onto a CD for you for a price as well.

KELLAN: How much is this one?

SALTZMAN: It's only 170, which I think is pretty reasonable, because it also plays MP3 CDs. The value there is that if you have a computer with a CD burner, you can now store up to 200 songs on one CD instead of the regular 80 minutes on a regular music CD.

KELLAN: OK. Show me that machine. What does that one do?

SALTZMAN: OK, the second DVD player we're looking at today is from Sampo (ph), and what I like about it is that it's got a compact flash reader at the front of the machine. What that means is that you take your compact flash card, which I happen to have in my pocket right here from your digital camera, typically stores photos on it, and you just snap this into the front of the player, and it will start, again, another slide show of your favorite photos on your TV.

You can also store music on compact flash cards. A lot of PDAs, or personal digital assistants, allow you now to listen to MP3 music on these compact flash cards.

So this player will read those, too, and you can maybe make a party mix for the next time you have guests over.

KELLAN: So would you find that memory card in all digital cameras?

SALTZMAN: Actually, no, and that's a good question. A lot of digital cameras -- there is about four or five different technologies -- one is called a memory stick from Sony, another one is called SD (ph), but a lot of cameras, probably the majority of them, still use compact flash. Yeah, it is a little bit bigger than a postage stamp, and it is pretty much the most common format right now.

KELLAN: Then we move up a level, don't we, here?

SALTZMAN: Yes, well, that player, the sample player is $150, which is pretty reasonable, because it also plays MP3s as well.

The next player we've got is from Panasonic. We're jumping up in price a little bit, to $700, but because it is not just a DVD player, it is also a DVD recorder. Most of our viewers know that most DVD players out there don't act as a VCR. You can't, say, tape your favorite shows, but when you buy blank DVD discs, this player will record them. So you can maybe take your VCR onto another TV, and it's great, because they're both in one.

KELLAN: And that technology has come down in price since last year.

SALTZMAN: Yes, it has. They have come down a few hundred dollars, and so has the media itself.

KELLAN: So how much can you record on a CD?

SALTZMAN: About two hours of high quality video. So it will be as good looking as the TV show you taped it off of. Now, the last player we've got is a Toshiba DVD player. That's portable. It's got its own screen; in fact, it's an 8.9 inch screen, which is a nice wide-screen angle for this kind of DVD player. Let me just pull it forward a little bit.

KELLAN: Look how portable it is.

SALTZMAN: Yeah, it is very lightweight. Now, keep in mind, this is without the docking station, so without the battery we have this plugged into the wall, so it adds a little bit more bulk at the bottom if you do want the battery, which lasts about three hours, by the way. So it is perfect for people who fly a lot. You don't have to watch the movie that they're showing on the plane.

It also supports a number of formats. So it will read DVD movies, right, it will music CDs, MP3 CDs, so you can bring your favorite music with you to go and fit -- you know, you can have up to 200 songs on one blank CD, and DVD audio. Now, this is relatively new and up-and-coming audio format that they believe may replace music CDs. This is a multi-channel DVD video.

You only get two channels on this player, but again, it will support, at least read those discs. So multiple formats, it's $1,000, and it does have a 8.9-inch screen. Very lightweight and portable, and beautiful picture quality.

KELLAN: So all of these do a lot more than just play movies?

SALTZMAN: That's right. And again, this is the trend that we're all seeing. You know, we've heard this buzzword "convergence" for a while, all these technologies coming together into one gadget, and you know, DVD players are relatively inexpensive now, and they're throwing in all these bells and whistles. The consumer wins in the end.

KELLAN: I like the karaoke, can we go back to that? Let's go back to that and sing a song.

SALTZMAN: OK. How about Elvis?

KELLAN: OK. Let's do Elvis.

SALTZMAN: How about a little bit of Elvis?

KELLAN: All right. "Hound dog?" Let's do "Hound Dog."

(singing): You ain't nothing but a hound dog.

SALTZMAN: Thank you very much.

Add a little Elvis.

KELLAN: Where's your wiggling?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Don't worry, we're not going to quit our day jobs. Now, you can find out more about the DVD players and other stories in the show on our Web site. CNN.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, a parking garage where the cars are packed in like sardines, but never touched by human hands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: If you're very protective of your car, most parking lots leave a lot to be desired. There is nothing to stop some bozo from dinging your door. There is a ding right here. Or banging your bumper. And if you hand the car over to valet parking, who knows what happens to it there.

There is a solution, though, that's already popular in Japan and Europe, and our Jeanne Moos found it in New Jersey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It puts a whole new spin on parking. It could put to rest a car owner's worst parking garage nightmare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could get wrecked, stolen, scratched, breathed on wrong.

MOOS: Or taken on a joy ride. But what if there were no parking lot attendants?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's your car making that noise now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Exactly. Yes, it's coming down from one of, whatever shelf they put it on.

MOOS: At this garage, there's no one in the driver's seat.

GERHARD HAAG, PRESIDENT, ROBOTIC PARKING: Absolutely robotic.

MOOS: Gerhard Haag is president of Robotic Parking. His company's first fully automated garage is now open in Hoboken, New Jersey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll go without food before I go without this garage.

MOOS: As you drive up, your access card is electronically read and a door opens. You pull onto a platform, following instructions. The driver exits and this is the car's eye view as it's pulled, raised and maneuvered into a space. There are seven levels.

HAAG: So we can have 14 movements at any time, which is very fast.

MOOS (on camera): A kind of ballet.

HAAG: Exactly. It's like a ballet.

MOOS (voice-over): Or maybe a waltz. (on camera): Do you wonder?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm curious. I'm curious. I have to explain it to my 3-year-old.

MOOS (voice-over): To pick up your car, you punch in your PIN. In a minute or two, you're told in which bay it will appear.

(on camera): Oh, Harris card.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Harris.

MOOS: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

MOOS (voice-over): You get in and drive off. Three times as many cars fit into the same amount of space because there's no need for ramps or space to open doors between cars. A single operator can handle the 312 car lot. As vehicles move they're tracked on the computer like a video game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're just moving stuff around. It's not like Pac Man, because we don't gobble them up, but.

MOOS: Since no one goes inside...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have to worry about the typical kind of case of where you're walking around alone in a dark garage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I leave the key in the car. I don't, I leave the doors unlocked. I don't worry about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And nobody touches your car. I say to people, I can leave hundred dollar bills on the floor of my car but nobody's in it.

MOOS: True, an automated fabric door clobbered our cameraman. But that's because he parked himself in the wrong place. Perhaps best of all...

HAAG: You don't need to tip.

MOOS: Music to a motorist's ears, a blue Sedan waltzing to the "Blue Danube."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: And that is our last waltz for today. Here's what's up next week. We'll be coming to you from the show that tech industry has been waiting for all year -- comdex (ph) in Las Vegas. Check out the latest from the biggest names in IT.

And we'll tell you how you could be a real gem, literally. The only catch: You have to die first.

So that's coming up on NEXT. Until then, we'd like to hear from you. You can e-mail us at next@cnn.com.

Thanks for joining us this week, and thanks to the Museum of Aviation. For all of us on the sci-tech beat, I'm Ann Kellan in for James Hattori. See you next time.

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





Operators Help Rescue Efforts; Researchers Try to Develop Fabric of Future>


Aired November 16, 2002 - 13:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Today on NEXT@CNN, reports from an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf and research labs back home on high-tech tools the U.S. could use in a possible war against Iraq.
Also, when killer tornadoes knock out phone lines, a community turns to some tried-and-true technology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a very scary thing, and they helped us to get the word out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: And the fabric of the future. It has nothing to do with fashion, and everything to do with saving lives. All that and more on NEXT.

ANN KELLAN, GUEST HOST: Hello, everyone, welcome to NEXT@CNN. I'm Ann Kellan. James Hattori is on vacation, and we are at the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.

Even though Iraq says it will let in U.N. weapons inspectors, U.S. forces are still preparing for a possible war with Iraq, and they rely on technology that's constantly advancing. B-29 bombers like this were state-of-the-art when they began flying in World War II. Well, today, the state-of-the-art ranges from smart bombs to 3-D animation. Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has our first example.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LANG CRAIGHILL, HOMELAND SECURITY INITIATIVES: We're coming up on the memorial.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Baghdad.

CRAIGHILL: This is the Republican Guard headquarters.

MCINTYRE: This is not a videogame. It's a 3-D animation of the real streets and real buildings of the Iraqi capital, complete with the GPS coordinates created by Harris Corporation from satellite images taken in August. CRAIGHILL: It puts you into that spot, so if you are in that location, this is exactly what you would see.

MCINTYRE: The idea is to give U.S. forces a very realistic preview of the ground they may be fighting for in a few months and help avoid the kind of deadly firefight that pinned down U.S. troops in Somalia in 1993.

CRAIGHILL: If you saw "Blackhawk Down," in that urban combat situation, there was a little command and control for the group to understand how to exit the scene. And this type of tool would have given them comfort with the environments and acknowledgement how to leave.

COL. RANDY GANGLE, U.S. MARINES (RET): One of the great difficulties of this battle is going to be -- is locating the enemy because he can hide a very large Army in a city of five million people very successfully. He can't defend the entire city. We can't clear the entire city. So it's going to be a game of cat and mouse, where urban patrolling is going to be one of the -- I believe, one of the keys to success.

CRAIGHILL: If you've been in a large city, it's extremely difficult and you lose your orientation and bearing very quickly. But as long as you've seen the environment before you've moved in and you're able to go through this and rehearse it any number of times before you actually land in the city.

MCINTYRE: The software can all be used as U.S. troops are engaged in urban warfare. For instance, calculating where a sniper may be firing from, so a smart bomb can take him out.

(on camera): For years, the U.S. military's rule of thumb when it came to urban combat was to avoid it. That may not be possible this time, but if U.S troops do fight in the streets of Baghdad, they will have every advantage U.S. technology can provide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: If the U.S. goes to war in Iraq again, precision bombs will play a large role, both laser-guided bombs to hit moving targets and satellite-guided bombs for all weather. The next generation of smart bombs is already on the drawing board. As Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports, the next big thing is small.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If U.S. troops fight in the streets of Baghdad, the air force may wish it already had a new generation of small precision bombs, bombs being developed for cities where avoiding civilian casualties is vital, a crucial lesson learned in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

MAJ. GEN. DAN LEAF, U.S. AIR FORCE: It could be as simple as a facility that's right next to a key bridge, and we don't want to damage the bridge, because we're going to use it with our friendly forces.

STARR: Within two years, warplanes will be carrying a new Boeing-made 500-pound JDAM, Joint Attack Munition, one fourth the size used in Afghanistan. A single B-2 will be able to carry 80 of the 500 pound bombs. Today, one B-2 carried 16 of the 2,000 pound version, each guided to a target with the aid of satellites.

Being able to carry so many bombs on one mission reduces the risk to U.S. pilots flying over enemy territory, when an enemy like Iraq has hundreds of antiaircraft guns and missiles.

LEAF: It's like going somewhere in a tough neighborhood. You got to go to the store there, but you don't want to have to go back because you forgot something.

STARR: And an even smaller precision bomb is on the drawing boards at Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Just 250 pounds. The Air Force hopes it can eventually be used in a follow-on to the Predator drone. That means these small bombs could, for the first time, strike mobile targets such as SCUD missile launches.

(on camera): Eighty bombs on one airplane gives the Air Force a tremendous advantage on the battlefield. But even the generals warn they're going to need much better intelligence in order to find 80 targets they can reliably strike in one swoop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: The next generation of bombs may not be quite ready, but some of the troops that would take part in an attack on Iraq are already in the region and ready to roll. CNN's Kyra Phillips got an exclusive look at preparations onboard the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, and in the skies above it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunrise over the Persian Gulf. From a distance, life on the USS Abraham Lincoln seems so peaceful. But within this battle group's boundary line sounds of freedom rock its flight line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got you on, clear.

PHILLIPS: The mission here is twofold -- supporting Operation Southern Watch, making sure Saddam Hussein is respecting international laws and preparing for a potential war if he doesn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, straight up. Straight up. That's good. That's it.

PHILLIPS: The 5,500 men and women on this carrier say the world cannot forget September 11.

COMMANDER PAUL HAAS, VF-31 TOMCATTERS: We took one on our home turf. We can never forget that. And we need to do our damdnest to make sure that it never happens again. PHILLIPS: Commander Paul Haas leads VF-31, the F-14 Tomcatters, one of nine squadrons in an air wing training around the clock for a potential war against Iraq.

(on camera): Yes, it's going to be good.

(voice-over): Today I'm going along to observe air combat training. In air to air missions, Lieutenant Commander Scott Snow, call sign Flake. But don't let the name fool you. He flew 25 combat missions over Afghanistan, helping to bring down the Taliban and send al Qaeda on the run. Now Scott's making sure he and his squadron are ready for Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is 31, up and ready, 54K (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

And here it comes.

LT. CMDR. SCOTT SNOW, VF-31 TOMCATTERS: There's a good (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right there. We're taking tension right now. And them others are coming up. They look good. And I'm giving them a hand salute. And we're are just about to go. And here it comes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

SNOW: Yes, it gets kind of addicting, doesn't it?

PHILLIPS: We're airborne over the Persian Gulf and in combat theater.

(on camera): Explain to me why this practical training is so important right now.

SNOW: To keep your skills honed, you need to practice all the time, much like an Indy car race driver, you just can't take three months off and then pop in and fly, and drive around in the Indy 500. It's not a win or lose kind of race. It's actually more life and death.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Combat efficiency comes from tactical wingmanship. Pilots on each side providing protection from hostile aircraft and the surface to air threat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I got the lead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got the lead.

PHILLIPS: Snow is practicing visual bombing, rolling in upside down on the enemy target and simulating dropping the ordinance perfectly.

SNOW: And we roll over 135 degrees, pull down on top of them, roll out, set our whip up and pop, there'd be the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right there. PHILLIPS (on camera): And you've got it in your sights and then you drop the ordinance?

SNOW: Absolutely. The big thing about keeping that finely held edge of a combat aviator that'll reduce things like civilian casualties and missed bombs, missed hits, things like that.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): We're up 25,000 feet, going 725 miles per hour and pulling six and a half Gs.

SNOW: Six and a half Gs, nice work.

PHILLIPS: Witnessing firsthand how this Tomcat squadron is mission focused.

(on camera): Why do you have to monitor Iraq and Saddam Hussein 24-7 right now?

SNOW: I think right now he's starting to get a little desperate and he's not getting any results. So he's pretty much willing to try anything.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): The Hussein wildcard that keeps Snow sharp, determined to make it home. His son, Logan Scott Snow, is due in three months.

SNOW: I look at doing it for my wife and also for my son. I want him to live in a world where he's, you know, not worried about, hey, can I go to Disneyland and not have a bomb threat where I have to scurry back to the hotel? I'd much rather do the job now to make a better future for him and for everyone in America than to sit back and just let this threat build till the next terror act that we have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, we'll tell you where and when to catch a falling star, either on the Web or in your backyard.

And later in the show, DVD players with a difference. They do more than just show you movies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: When severe storms and tornadoes ravaged communities across the South and Great Lake states last weekend, radio played a big part in saving lives. Just minutes before a twister wrecked this theater in Van Wort (ph), Ohio, 60 people had been watching a movie, but a weather alert radio sounded a warning in time for them to take shelter in bathrooms and hallways. And as rescue workers in other hard-hit areas searched for the missing, ham radio operators were instrumental, as John Vause reports from Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger. KY4L (ph) standing by in Red Camp (ph). JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They've been at it now for days, a network of amateur radio operators like Jerry, Lou and Jim. When the phone lines in Morgan County went down and the radio frequencies were jammed, they went to work, relaying information among rescue crews, police, fire and ambulance. At Roane Medical Center, ham operators alerted medical staff about the condition of incoming patients, relaying information from the field to the emergency room.

KAREN MARTIN, ROANE MEDICAL CENTER: They were invaluable, getting information to the patient's families, folks who don't know where their people are. It's a very scary thing, and they helped us to get the word out.

VAUSE: In the frantic hours after the twisters hit, the amateur radio network was one of the only reliable ways authorities in Morgan County could reach the outside world -- all coordinated from the upstairs bedroom at Sheila Tallent's house in the nearby town of Farragut.

SHEILA TALLENT, AMATEUR RADIO COORDINATOR: We have any number of digital Morse code, voice and probably somewhere on the order of 12 or 15 different bands that we can use to communicate.

VAUSE: They are a well-organized network of volunteers, more than 100 across Tennessee, working on Sunday night. They're called the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, an extraordinary backup, say authorities, which certainly saved lives.

(on camera): In the chaos after the twister touchdown, local radio reported as many as 260 people here in Morgan County were unaccounted for. Mostly they couldn't be reached because the phone lines were down. Then, the ham operators went to work, and in just a few hours all but 40 had been found.

KERRY OSBORNE, INCIDENT COMMANDER: Made it a hell of a lot easier on the rescue workers, because then you know that, you know, how many people you're looking for.

VAUSE (voice-over): In fact, the amateur network went into action in seven states which had been hit by tornadoes, but nowhere was their work more critical than Morgan County and Mossy Grove (ph). To the people of Morgan County, they're the faces they'll never see, but voices over the airwaves which came to the rescue when their need was greatest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: While the United States weathers tornadoes, northern China suffered a severe dust storm. A mixture of snow and sand blanketed several cities Monday. Many people covered their faces to help them breathe. Visibility dropped to 300 feet or 100 meters in some places. The huge brownish cloud was even visible to satellites. Weather experts say the storm was caused by a cold air movement carrying sand from the Gobi Desert in northwestern China.

OK, mark your calendar and get ready for a shower -- not rain, but meteors. The yearly Leonid meteor shower will reach its peak for viewers in North America in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday morning. Now, if the weather is clear where you are, it could be quite a sight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Ever wish upon a shooting star? Well, actually you were wishing upon a meteor. Meteors, some of which are dust from a comet's tail, can be seen year-round streaking across the sky as they enter the Earth's atmosphere at over 158,000 miles per hour and burn up.

Perhaps the most famous meteors, the Leonids, from the comet Temple-Tuttle. Got their name because they seem to be falling from the consolation of stars called Leo. These shooting stars, which are usually the size of a grain of sand, can be seen in great numbers every November 17 through 19, if the weather cooperates.

And now, thanks to the Internet, scientists and stargazers alike can see them all-year round online. Sights like this one from the American Meteor Society keep a pictorial record of past meteors, as well as an up-to-date list of current sightings.

Experts say the 2002 showers should be one of the best in years, but they admit that predicting the Leonids has proven to be a difficult task.

JAMES R. SOWELL, PH.D., ASTRONOMER, GEORGIA TECH: The predictions are that there are two large clumps that we will hit, and the first one is at about 11:00 p.m. on the night of November 18, 19, but it's best suited for Europe. The second peak is predicted to be from about 5:15 to 5:45 Eastern standard time. So the United States has the best shot at the second peak.

KELLAN: Predictions vary, but most experts agree the best thing you can do if you want to see a sky full of shooting meteors is to avoid light pollution from cities.

NASA's Leonids site has detailed archival information on Leonids. It also has a near-live Leonid viewing page, where amateur astronomers can participate online in the Leonid watch. And if you see something special this year, astronomy sites encourage you to send in your pictures and observations.

SOWELL: Because, after all, if you make a great observation, you want the world to know about it, and the professional needs to be able to use it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: You can find links to those astronomy sites and more information on other stories in our show on our Web site, cnn.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up next, a ban on trading in elephant ivory has dramatically reduced elephant poaching. So why have wildlife authorities approved a new ivory sale? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Conservationists are predicting an increase in elephant poaching. Now that three nations in Southern Africa have the go-ahead to sell their stock piles of ivory, despite a ban on ivory sales. The approval came this week in Santiago, Chile at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species, or CITES. Charlayne Hunter-Gault has more on this controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what the critics are afraid of, a resurgence of elephant poaching that saw some 2,000 elephants killed every week across Africa in the 1980s, reducing the elephant population from 1.3 million to 600,000. Though some poaching still goes on, international trade in ivory has been illegal since the 1989 U.N. ban. South Africa's elephant population is now growing at some 7 percent a year, officials say.

Countries like Kenya, which lost 80 percent of its elephants to poaching, don't want the ban lifted.

ABDUL BASHIR, KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE: I can tell you for sure that elephants are going to get killed here in Kenya, and in the African (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and we're going to start spending more money which we need for other things, and that will be very sad.

HUNTER-GAULT (on camera): But countries in favor of lifting the ban, like South Africa, say there are adequate controls in place to prevent poaching, and, in fact proceeds from the ivory sales would be used to promote anti-poaching efforts.

(voice-over): South Africa's sales would come from its 30-ton stockpile, collected mostly from elephants that died of natural causes. The five Southern African countries wanting to lift the ban stand to net the equivalent of some $8 million U.S. from a one-time ivory sale.

Meanwhile, in Kenya, the search for (UNINTELLIGIBLE), taken from this latest poaching victim, goes on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Composting might bring to mind a big pile of leaves in the backyard or maybe a plastic bin for loan cuttings and table scraps, but in the future, entire cities could be composting leftover food, if San Francisco is any indication. Rusty Dornin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me have a look at that. Wow.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No matter how pretty he presents it, chef Bernd Leibergesell knows not every customer cleans his plate. So back in the kitchen, a lot of food goes straight into the compost pile. The San Francis Hotel, along with 1,500 other food businesses in San Francisco, now separates the edible from all the other garbage. In return, a 25 percent discount on the trash bill.

BERND LEIBERGESELL, ST. FRANCIS HOTEL: Anything that we don't really use for a customer, whatever comes back on the customers from the plate gets all recycled.

DORNIN: San Francisco is the first major city in the nation to recycle what you don't eat, out on the town or right in your own kitchen.

KAREN BERARDI, SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENT: All this food we get, we never eat.

DORNIN: Karen and Greg Berardi say it is a heck of a lot easier to turn on the garbage disposal, but...

BERARDI: I feel better about composting it than just flushing it away.

DORNIN: Every day, truckloads of recycled scraps go to a new composting facility near Sacramento to be turned into fertilizer.

(on camera): How much is this program reducing the amount of what would have gone to a landfill?

MIKE SANGIACOMO, COMPOSTING FACILITY: Well, 300 times of day from San Francisco is about 15 percent.

DORNIN (voice-over): Here, the garbage is put into bags. Microbes break down the scraps, heating it to nearly 135 degrees. Then it is screened, and voila, three months later a big pile of dark compost.

SANGIACOMO: And you see it, it's still warm.

DORNIN (on camera): Really is warm.

SANGIACOMO: Nice hand warmer there.

This is going to add microbes to your soil at home or in your farm or in your vineyard.

NIGEL WALKER, ORGANIC FARMER: It's a lot cheaper.

DORNIN (voice-over): Organic farmer Nigel Walker uses it on his 65 acres.

WALKER: We grow a lot of different fruits, peaches, nectarines, and apples, and pears, and apricots.

DORNIN: Walker says table scraps from the city are making richer soil out on the farm.

WALKER: Why isn't every city doing it? I mean, why is New York chalking their recyclables away? It just does not make sense. There are farmers all around in upstate New York, all around that area that should be doing exactly the same thing.

DORNIN (on camera): For example, this red cabbage on Walker's farm will be sold to a produce market in San Francisco, which will in turn be bought by restaurants and folks in the city who will end up putting the leaves in a compost bean that will be taken to the compost facility and could end up back in the soil on Walker's farm.

(voice-over): Something Walker feels pretty good about.

WALKER: Makes sense, doesn't it? It makes perfect sense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Up next, tough textiles. Researchers try to create fabrics that protect against a variety of dangers. And would you trust your car to a robot? Those stories and much more are coming up in our next half-hour. First, we'll take a quick break and then get the latest news from the CNN newsroom. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN. We're at the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, and as you can see, there is quite a variety here. This is a modern-day fighter jet, an F-15, and this takes you back a few years to World War II and what bomber pilots were wearing back there. Their protective gear included an old-fashioned black jacket, a bulletproof vest. Now, today, troops and civilian first responders have much better protective gear, and researchers are trying to make it even better.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Emergency crews combing a building for anthrax wear very different protective gear, from crews attempting daring rescues in fires. Matt Moseley knows firsthand how important that protective clothing can be. In 1999, his jacket shielded his body from the intense heat as he dangled from a helicopter to rescue Ivor Simms (ph) from a cotton mill fire in Atlanta.

Even though Moseley is grateful for the gear, he knows there is room for improvement.

MATT MOSELEY, ATLANTA FIREFIGHTER: If we have to pull somebody out of a building or something, it gets to be difficult when you have that much and that bulky a gear on and you try to get a hold of somebody.

KELLAN: And following September 11, the need became obvious for multipurpose gear to protect against both fire and bio and chemical hazards.

ROGER BARKER: They need to put those first responders in clothing that's able to protect against not a single threat, but many threats. KELLAN: Not easy. Since firefighters often need to wear their protective gear for hours at a time fighting fires, while crews dealing with deadly chemicals and gases in the sealed garment, can only last about as long as a tank of oxygen, about 20 minutes at a time.

ASST. FIRE CHIEF JOE TOLBERT, ATLANTA FIRE DEPARTMENT: It's difficult to move around in. It's like being in a gigantic plastic bag.

KELLAN: To create better gear, North Carolina State University, for one, is developing new fabrics and running them through a battery of test.

This mannequin, for example, with 122 senses measure how long a fabric will shield someone in a fire, and the parts of the body that burn first.

(on camera): So we have a lot of second degree burns, even third degree burns on the arm and the back.

(voice-over): This equipment measures how much pressure it takes for blood that could carry diseases to penetrate a fabric.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're able to measure the amount of pressure that it takes to force that synthetic blood through the material.

KELLAN (on camera): So that failed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was a fail, yes.

KELLAN (voice-over): Equipment also measures whether a fabric will shield against aerosol sprayed in the air, one way terrorists might try to spread anthrax.

(on camera): So little aerosols can get through the tiny holes in this weave.

(voice-over): Compared to this plastic membrane.

(on camera): Aerosol would have a tougher time penetrating this.

MARIAN MCCORD, NC STATE COLLEGE OF TEXTILES: You can wrap yourself in saran wrap, would be a pretty effective protective device, but nobody could work or function in that type of physical stress.

KELLAN (voice-over): The problem is fabric needs to be porous enough to allow our skin to breathe and to sweat, yet keep poisons out. This special sweat mannequin measures that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This mannequin has a very sophisticated skin, and the water is delivered to 187 simulating sweat glands at a very controlled rate, so we know precisely how much sweat is coming in and we know precisely how much sweat leaves the mannequin. KELLAN: Right now, there is no one miracle fabric. Layers work best. One for fire protection, a different layer that's water- resistant, and maybe one day a layer to shield chemicals and poisons -- that you spray on, perhaps? That's what this researcher is working on.

TUSHAR GHOSH, NC STATE COLLEGE OF TEXTILES: I'm using the robot, we can control the fiber fineness. We could control how you would lay in the fibers on the robot.

KELLAN (on camera): Imagine spray-on clothes. Fibers as thin or thinner than a human hair.

It's a plastic feeling. So it's hard to imagine wearing this.

(voice-over): Researcher Tushar Ghosh hopes a few years from now, this spray can offer a thin layer of protection by creating a fabric with tiny pores, enough to let air in yet keep many of the dangerous hazards out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, how new eye-scanning technology could determine the future of some Afghan refugees. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: New technology for screening and recognizing people is turning up at airports around the world. It's also playing an important role in some refugee camps in Pakistan. Basma Quraishi has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASMA QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Han Agan (ph) and his family are ready to go home. They are among the last of a long stream of refugees crossing back into Afghanistan before winter sets in.

But before they go back, refugees must stop at centers like this one, set up by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, where each person is screened before receiving $5 and $30 in aid.

For the family of 20-year-old Han Agan (ph), who earns $20 a month selling scrap metal, this adds up to a small fortune. Officials say the lure of aid has made a difficult job even harder, with some refugees returning over and over.

So the high commission is turning to high technology to process thousands of refugees a week.

This machine being tested by UNHCR is used to scan the human iris, more accurate and less messy than fingerprinting. The image is stored in a database, and each refugee is assigned an I.D. number.

(on camera): Since March of this year, UNHCR has turned away over 43,000 families from this center alone. This new technology could be most helpful in trying to control recyclers, refugees who have already been rejected or those who return to Pakistan to get a second helping of aid.

RICHARD NDAULA, UNHCR REPATRIATION OFFICER: Before the machines, we had -- we were using what's called same-day recyclers. If someone comes in the morning, tries to get registered, they're recognized and rejected. They would go out, hire (ph) another (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and come back.

QURAISHI (voice-over): Previously, verifiers had to rely on memory, and tens of thousands of photographs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all books filled up with photographs of recyclers.

QURAISHI: On this board, some of the more notorious aid seekers.

The number of recyclers has dropped dramatically since word of the new machines has gotten around. Han Agan (ph) and his family make it through the scanning process, but the U.N. team feels their intentions to repatriate are not genuine. Han Agan (ph) probably won't come here again to try to get assistance. He knows that with this new technology, there aren't any second chances.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: The U.S. is no longer the undisputed world leader in information technology, and that concerns "Fortune" magazine's senior editor David Kirkpatrick. In this week's "Fast Forward" commentary, he has some thoughts on how to stay competitive in the fast-changing IT field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID KIRKPATRICK, SENIOR EDITOR, FORTUNE: It is really surprising to me that just in the last month or so, all of a sudden a lot of the biggest companies in the United States IT industry have started to say they're really concerned that the U.S. may be losing its competitiveness in information technology. Sophisticated technology is being developed in Korea, Taiwan, India, Malaysia and elsewhere.

A country that is of greatest concern to everyone who worries about U.S. IT competitiveness, though, is China. China already produces roughly three to four times as many electrical and computer engineers as the United States does.

The solution is several fold. One is, more of a national commitment to engineering education, because that's happening in other countries; it's not happening here.

Also, I think these companies really want a just plain increase in government dollars going toward high end R&D, for what can be done with technology. Third, I think all these companies really want to see a better national commitment to broadband, because the belief that broadband Internet access is the platform on which almost all of the key applications of the future are going to be developed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Just ahead on NEXT, if you want to sing karaoke, you might want to buy a DVD player. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: DVD players are becoming more and more popular and not just because they play DVDs. In this week's "Technofile," consumer tech guru Marc Saltzman says you can find DVD players that will play MP3s, record TV shows, and even help you sing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): DVD players. Might be something to consider this holiday season because there are a lot new features on players this year; with me to explain is Marc. How are you doing?

MARC SALTZMAN, CONSUMER TECH EXPERT: Good. Thanks. You're absolutely right. A lot of the DVD players that are sold now have what we call bells and whistles. They go above and beyond just playing music or movies, of course.

KELLAN: OK. So what's the first one?

SALTZMAN: The first player we're going to look at today is from Apex, and it plays DVD karaoke discs.

KELLAN: So that's why I have this microphone right here. OK.

SALTZMAN: There you go. We will have some fun singing a little bit later.

But as you can see on this player, there is two slots for microphones, they are sold separately. You plug them in, and you can adjust the volume and the echo level, which is what I like, because, you know, I don't have a good voice, so you can add some extra special effects there, and you sing along with the DVDs that you buy at retail, usually at specialty stores or maybe online you can buy these karaoke DVDs.

So that's a lot of fun. And I should mention that this player is also a three-disc carousel, so you can fit three different DVDs or CDs in here, and this player also supports Kodak video -- sorry, picture CDs. What that means is you can take your favorite photos from your digital camera and burn them onto one of these on your computer, and you'll play them in the player.

Also, some Kodak stores will also take your regular film and burn it onto a CD for you for a price as well.

KELLAN: How much is this one?

SALTZMAN: It's only 170, which I think is pretty reasonable, because it also plays MP3 CDs. The value there is that if you have a computer with a CD burner, you can now store up to 200 songs on one CD instead of the regular 80 minutes on a regular music CD.

KELLAN: OK. Show me that machine. What does that one do?

SALTZMAN: OK, the second DVD player we're looking at today is from Sampo (ph), and what I like about it is that it's got a compact flash reader at the front of the machine. What that means is that you take your compact flash card, which I happen to have in my pocket right here from your digital camera, typically stores photos on it, and you just snap this into the front of the player, and it will start, again, another slide show of your favorite photos on your TV.

You can also store music on compact flash cards. A lot of PDAs, or personal digital assistants, allow you now to listen to MP3 music on these compact flash cards.

So this player will read those, too, and you can maybe make a party mix for the next time you have guests over.

KELLAN: So would you find that memory card in all digital cameras?

SALTZMAN: Actually, no, and that's a good question. A lot of digital cameras -- there is about four or five different technologies -- one is called a memory stick from Sony, another one is called SD (ph), but a lot of cameras, probably the majority of them, still use compact flash. Yeah, it is a little bit bigger than a postage stamp, and it is pretty much the most common format right now.

KELLAN: Then we move up a level, don't we, here?

SALTZMAN: Yes, well, that player, the sample player is $150, which is pretty reasonable, because it also plays MP3s as well.

The next player we've got is from Panasonic. We're jumping up in price a little bit, to $700, but because it is not just a DVD player, it is also a DVD recorder. Most of our viewers know that most DVD players out there don't act as a VCR. You can't, say, tape your favorite shows, but when you buy blank DVD discs, this player will record them. So you can maybe take your VCR onto another TV, and it's great, because they're both in one.

KELLAN: And that technology has come down in price since last year.

SALTZMAN: Yes, it has. They have come down a few hundred dollars, and so has the media itself.

KELLAN: So how much can you record on a CD?

SALTZMAN: About two hours of high quality video. So it will be as good looking as the TV show you taped it off of. Now, the last player we've got is a Toshiba DVD player. That's portable. It's got its own screen; in fact, it's an 8.9 inch screen, which is a nice wide-screen angle for this kind of DVD player. Let me just pull it forward a little bit.

KELLAN: Look how portable it is.

SALTZMAN: Yeah, it is very lightweight. Now, keep in mind, this is without the docking station, so without the battery we have this plugged into the wall, so it adds a little bit more bulk at the bottom if you do want the battery, which lasts about three hours, by the way. So it is perfect for people who fly a lot. You don't have to watch the movie that they're showing on the plane.

It also supports a number of formats. So it will read DVD movies, right, it will music CDs, MP3 CDs, so you can bring your favorite music with you to go and fit -- you know, you can have up to 200 songs on one blank CD, and DVD audio. Now, this is relatively new and up-and-coming audio format that they believe may replace music CDs. This is a multi-channel DVD video.

You only get two channels on this player, but again, it will support, at least read those discs. So multiple formats, it's $1,000, and it does have a 8.9-inch screen. Very lightweight and portable, and beautiful picture quality.

KELLAN: So all of these do a lot more than just play movies?

SALTZMAN: That's right. And again, this is the trend that we're all seeing. You know, we've heard this buzzword "convergence" for a while, all these technologies coming together into one gadget, and you know, DVD players are relatively inexpensive now, and they're throwing in all these bells and whistles. The consumer wins in the end.

KELLAN: I like the karaoke, can we go back to that? Let's go back to that and sing a song.

SALTZMAN: OK. How about Elvis?

KELLAN: OK. Let's do Elvis.

SALTZMAN: How about a little bit of Elvis?

KELLAN: All right. "Hound dog?" Let's do "Hound Dog."

(singing): You ain't nothing but a hound dog.

SALTZMAN: Thank you very much.

Add a little Elvis.

KELLAN: Where's your wiggling?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: Don't worry, we're not going to quit our day jobs. Now, you can find out more about the DVD players and other stories in the show on our Web site. CNN.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, a parking garage where the cars are packed in like sardines, but never touched by human hands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KELLAN: If you're very protective of your car, most parking lots leave a lot to be desired. There is nothing to stop some bozo from dinging your door. There is a ding right here. Or banging your bumper. And if you hand the car over to valet parking, who knows what happens to it there.

There is a solution, though, that's already popular in Japan and Europe, and our Jeanne Moos found it in New Jersey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It puts a whole new spin on parking. It could put to rest a car owner's worst parking garage nightmare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could get wrecked, stolen, scratched, breathed on wrong.

MOOS: Or taken on a joy ride. But what if there were no parking lot attendants?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's your car making that noise now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Exactly. Yes, it's coming down from one of, whatever shelf they put it on.

MOOS: At this garage, there's no one in the driver's seat.

GERHARD HAAG, PRESIDENT, ROBOTIC PARKING: Absolutely robotic.

MOOS: Gerhard Haag is president of Robotic Parking. His company's first fully automated garage is now open in Hoboken, New Jersey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll go without food before I go without this garage.

MOOS: As you drive up, your access card is electronically read and a door opens. You pull onto a platform, following instructions. The driver exits and this is the car's eye view as it's pulled, raised and maneuvered into a space. There are seven levels.

HAAG: So we can have 14 movements at any time, which is very fast.

MOOS (on camera): A kind of ballet.

HAAG: Exactly. It's like a ballet.

MOOS (voice-over): Or maybe a waltz. (on camera): Do you wonder?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm curious. I'm curious. I have to explain it to my 3-year-old.

MOOS (voice-over): To pick up your car, you punch in your PIN. In a minute or two, you're told in which bay it will appear.

(on camera): Oh, Harris card.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Harris.

MOOS: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

MOOS (voice-over): You get in and drive off. Three times as many cars fit into the same amount of space because there's no need for ramps or space to open doors between cars. A single operator can handle the 312 car lot. As vehicles move they're tracked on the computer like a video game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're just moving stuff around. It's not like Pac Man, because we don't gobble them up, but.

MOOS: Since no one goes inside...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have to worry about the typical kind of case of where you're walking around alone in a dark garage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I leave the key in the car. I don't, I leave the doors unlocked. I don't worry about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And nobody touches your car. I say to people, I can leave hundred dollar bills on the floor of my car but nobody's in it.

MOOS: True, an automated fabric door clobbered our cameraman. But that's because he parked himself in the wrong place. Perhaps best of all...

HAAG: You don't need to tip.

MOOS: Music to a motorist's ears, a blue Sedan waltzing to the "Blue Danube."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLAN: And that is our last waltz for today. Here's what's up next week. We'll be coming to you from the show that tech industry has been waiting for all year -- comdex (ph) in Las Vegas. Check out the latest from the biggest names in IT.

And we'll tell you how you could be a real gem, literally. The only catch: You have to die first.

So that's coming up on NEXT. Until then, we'd like to hear from you. You can e-mail us at next@cnn.com.

Thanks for joining us this week, and thanks to the Museum of Aviation. For all of us on the sci-tech beat, I'm Ann Kellan in for James Hattori. See you next time.

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





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