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Annual Comdex Trade Show Gets Under Way; Technology Used by Weapons Inspectors; Britain Eases Up on Quarantine Stays for American Pets

Aired November 23, 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. It's the annual big bash of the IT industry, fall Comdex in Las Vegas. More than 100,000 people, more than 1,000 exhibitors. You will see the latest from some of the biggest names in technology.
We'll show you updated technology for inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This images shows three underground storage tanks, located underneath a foot of concrete.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Find out how things have changed since the last time U.N. inspectors went to Iraq.

And jet-setting animal lovers are celebrating. Britain is easing up on the six-month jail sentence for dogs and cats coming from America. All that and more on NEXT.

JAMES HATTORI, HOST: Hi, everybody. I am James Hattori. Welcome to NEXT@CNN and welcome to Comdex, the annual autumn trade show of the IT industry here in Las Vegas. We're going to be showing you some of the coolest gadgets and technologies being showcased here. But first, a look at some of what is going outside the convention hall.

United Nations inspectors are scheduled to begin work in Iraq next week, looking for weapons of mass destruction. It will be a far different scenario than the last time they visited Iraq in the 1990s, not only politically, but technologically. Here is CNN's David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Geologist Matthew Turner has a small company in Leesburg, Virginia using ground penetrating radar to find things beneath the surface, technology that is fast improving in the digital age that could be useful in Iraq.

MATTHEW TURNER, GEOLOGIST: This represents the very best technology that's out there. If the soil is very sandy, you could go as deep as 100 feet.

ENSOR: It works by reflecting electromagnetic waves off of an object underground.

TURNER: This image shows three underground storage tanks located underneath a foot of concrete.

ENSOR (on camera): The radar devices can also be used up against a wall to see what's inside a building and there are a number of other useful technologies, some of which have improved dramatically in the year since inspectors were last inside Iraq.

ENSOR (voice over): For example, these handheld devices should help the hunt for biological weapons. Available since last year, they can recognize a microbe by its DNA in about 20 minutes. And the cameras and other sensors they old UNSCOM inspector teams used to put in Iraqi labs to monitor them, all that will be digital now.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FORMER U.N. INSPECTOR: Processors that are a lot smaller, more powerful, so you can process more data, equipment that's just going to be more reliable in a harsh environment.

ENSOR: Then, too, U.N. inspectors have bought masses of newly- available commercial satellite photos of Iraq, searching for clues like suspicious reconstruction at previously bombed sites. There are also new tools like the Predator unmanned surveillance planes, which the U.S. could make available to the inspectors if it chooses to do so.

ALBRIGHT: If they do have a Predator, they could stand off miles from the place that's actually under surveillance and have a good chance the Iraqis won't know that they're being looked at.

ENSOR: All in all, a toolkit to envy says a former chief inspector.

RICHARD BUTLER, FMR. U.N. CHIEF INSPECTOR: I know they have much more modern equipment than what we had and I know that their ability to conduct surveillance from the sky will be improved on what we had.

ENSOR (on camera): But former arms inspectors will tell you that all the high-tech gadgets in the world are not as good as the human instincts of an arms inspector as he or she tries to gauge whether an Iraqi scientist is telling the truth or is lying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: Another search going on in the former Soviet Union. This one for missing radioactive materials that could be used in so- called dirty bombs. A search that could keep dangerous material out of the hands of terrorists, as Ryan Chilcote reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, emergency teams trained to locate and recover highly radioactive material that could be used to make a dirty bombs. Unlike nuclear bombs, that require hard-to-get components like plutonium or highly enriched uranium, dirty bombs can be made from radioactive sources that can be found virtually anywhere, in places like hospitals, oil fields, even agriculture.

Those teams are now searching for an unknown number of highly radioactive canisters the Soviets used to do tests on wheat. Officials want to find these radioactive materials before terrorists do.

PROF. LEONID BOLSHOV, RUSSIAN NUCLEAR SAFETY INSTITUTE: Some of them are lost and some of them are not supervised. Some of them are just thrown on the garbage site, and from time to time people are finding these sources.

CHILCOTE: In Russia's far north, two men are caught trying to sell six grams of the isotope California 252, stolen from an atomic powered ice breaker. In Moscow, a Russian officer caught with cesium that he smuggled off his base in a garbage truck. And in the war-torn republic of Chechnya, emergency officials recover cesium from a dump ground. All of these materials could be very useful in making a dirty bomb, anywhere in the world.

Professor Leonid Bolshov modeled the effects of a dirty bomb attack in an American city, using data gathered from Chernobyl's aftermath. He found that the contamination could cover several city blocks and as many as 10,000 people could get sick. Though probably no one would die, it would cause chaos.

BOLSHOV: People can see the danger from radiation, 1,000 or even more times more than (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CHILCOTE: Over the last year, search teams have found five of the canisters.

(on camera): Experts fear that Georgia may have many more, and even more worrisome that there may be hundreds more outside of Georgia in areas throughout the former Soviet Union where they haven't even started looking yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: An environmental disaster is in the making off the coast of Spain. An oil tanker named the Prestige split in two and sank Tuesday in the Atlantic Ocean 150 miles off the Spanish coast near Portugal. It had sprung a leak during a storm a week and a half ago. The ship carried 20 million gallons of fuel oil, more than twice the amount of crude oil spilled in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez in Alaska. Cleanup crews have been scouring beaches and shoveling off sludge from the initial release of about 1.6 million gallons. Spain's seafood farmers say their livelihood could be devastated.

Back in Las Vegas, no disasters, although many in the crowd here at Comdex may feel like they have been through one. Still, the mood is pretty upbeat, given the economic times. But there is a bit of a dark cloud hanging over the convention center. While Comdex has been going strong now for 23 years and it is expected to be around next fall, the company that puts on the show may not be.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI (voice-over): Comdex retains its Las Vegas charm even if it has lost almost half the crowd compared to two years ago. Fewer conventioneers, fewer exhibitors, fewer customers for companies that plan the displays.

ARLEN RUBIN, LIVE MARKETING: Probably 80 percent less, maybe a little bit more than that.

HATTORI: The company that owns Comdex, Key Three Media, says although the show is profitable, it's apparently not profitable enough. Debts may force Key Three to seek bankruptcy and sell Comdex to someone else.

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT COFOUNDER: Thank you.

HATTORI: Microsoft's Bill Gates was far from a gloomy Gus in his keynote remarks, though. "Soon we'll all be surfing the Net wirelessly," Microsoft hopes, with new smart displays coming in January.

GATES: And the magic of software are now spreading out to all different devices.

HATTORI: And if that doesn't lure new spending, the 1,100 other exhibitors at Comdex are equally hopeful with the cutting edge plasma and LCD displays, uber (ph) hip pocket computers with built in phones, even new generation 3D glasses with video games, to the decidedly low tech like CD repair kits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now what you're doing is you're filling in this graph.

HATTORI: And machines to start your own business refilling inkjet printer cartridges.

(on camera): What does it cost to refill?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The refill is $1.52.

HATTORI (voice-over): Exhibitors hope the 125,000 people expected here in Vegas are serious customers who can't afford to be distracted unless it's by their sales pitch, delivered in unusual and eye catching ways.

(on camera): Well, why'd you stop?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you ask?

HATTORI (voice-over): But there are no sure bets at Comdex except the spectacle of it all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, saving seahorses. Find out why they need protection.

And a little later in the show, how you can buy your very own Segway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN from the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas.

Not even modern technology can save the world's seahorses, but a new international treaty that regulates trade in wildlife may help. This month, member nations of CITES, the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species, met in Chile and voted to include seahorses on a list of species threatened by international trade. More from Gary Strieker.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're like mystical creatures, graceful and strange. Little known beyond experts who study them.

Unique in the animal kingdom, one of the few species where the males give birth, but seahorses are major exports in many countries. Their survival threatened by the pressures of international trade. The new decision by CITES, the main international body monitoring trade in endangered species in is not a complete trade ban, but it does put strict regulations on any international trade in seahorses, dead or alive.

TERESA TELECKY, HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE U.S.: This is the first time there has been any international regulation of this kind of trade. What has been happening up until now is that seahorses have been driven nearly to extinction by this unregulated trade, and so what we're going to have now is a regulated trade.

STRIEKER: The decision is a welcome victory for environmental groups who were disappointed by another CITES vote to allow limited trade in stockpiled elephant ivory.

Experts say that with India, the Philippines and other countries exporting millions of seahorses each year, doing nothing would have meant extinction for these animals.

TELECKY: Some stocks are depleted by as much as 75 percent. In all the major exporting countries, they have seen declines in seahorse populations.

STRIEKER: Live seahorses for the pet trade are exported to markets like the United States, Japan and Europe, where people buy them for fish tanks and home aquariums, and dried specimens, believed to have healing qualities in traditional medicine are sold in Asian markets for several hundred dollars a pound.

During the past decade, traditional medicine consumed an estimated 14 million seahorses every year. The CITES decision means that countries wishing to sell these animals will have to prove their harvesting is done sustainably, without endangering seahorse populations.

For those who care about preserving them, this new protection for seahorses comes just in time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: Science has gone to the dogs. We're talking about the scholarly journal "Science," which has three articles this week covering new research into our canine friends. Two studies looked at genetics, and determined that dogs all over the world are descended from a common ancestor. Scientists say dogs were first domesticated in East Asia and accompanied people to the new world 12,000 to 14,000 years ago when continents were still attached.

A third study looked at how dogs picked up on subtle cues from people. Researchers hid food in one of two containers, then touched or just looked at the container with the food. Dogs and even young puppies got the hint and found the treat, while wolves and chimps were clueless.

Dogs are also finding an easier way to enter the UK. As Robyn Curnow reports, now you can take Fido and Fluffy to Britain with you without having to worry about putting them in quarantine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The news was important enough for the U.S. ambassador to Britain to host a photo call in reception at his official residence, his wife holding the family pet.

The reason for all this...

(on camera): The maze of bureaucracy and the long periods of separation for pet owners in Britain and North America is now over. From December the 11th, pet owners and their pets will be able to travel more freely across the Atlantic.

(voice-over): Jet-set pets will no longer be forced by the British government to languish like this six months in kennel quarantine, to guarantee the animals are free of rabies. Britain has long been wary of importing the disease from the U.S. The British government, though, is still insistent on stringent rules for every animal.

ELLIOT MORLEY, BRITISH HEALTH MINISTRIES: They must be (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They must be vaccinated against rabies. It must have had a blood test six months before the animal is going to enter into the country.

CURNOW: But still, the American diplomats are delighted.

WILLIAM FARISH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.K.: Military, diplomatic people and they can, up to now, for the last 100 years, they haven't been able to bring their pets, and it has caused a lot of concern, it has caused a lot of sadness within families.

CURNOW: And it's not just pet-loving families who have been affected.

COL. DONALD LUSTIG, U.S. AIR FORCE: It also increases our operational capability. We had some issues with our explosive detection dogs and our drug detector dogs, and what happens with them, if they're in quarantine for six months, they lose their ability to do the job that they are required to do and have to be retrained.

CURNOW: Fred, the Bassett hound, is not required on operational duties; instead, is a member of the American diplomatic corps, he is now allowed to take regular trips between Washington and London without that six month stopover in airport kennels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Next up on NEXT, surfing the Web while speeding down the street.

Also ahead, a new but wet way to beat the commute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: Here at Comdex, it's all about technology and productivity. For example, if you're looking for a new and different office environment, strap yourself into this baby. It's called a personal computing environment. This is the masterpiece model. Here you have got your LCD displays, keyboards, stereo speakers, wireless mouse, comfy seat. All in an ergonomically correct package. This top-of the-line unit sells for $7,800. We'll even throw in a cup holder. This is great for working long hours in one place, but what if you're on the move, and I mean, really on the move? Well, Daniel Sieberg has got just the ticket for that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, imagine high speed Internet access wherever you go. Even if you're in an RV traveling at a high rate of speed, which is where we are right now at the Comdex computer trade show. And I am joined by Jon Hambidge from a company called IP Wireless. And that's the promise of the company to be able to have this high speed mobile access wherever you go. Tell me about this technology.

JON HAMBIDGE, IP WIRELESS: Well, it's pretty simple, really. If you're a user, you can use either a PCMIA (ph) card that goes into a laptop or a PDA, or you can use the desktop modem which can connect to either a desktop or a LAN, and really, once you use that, you get high speed Internet access, but it really goes anywhere you want it to go.

SIEBERG: Now, does it work on a similar type of cell phone technology? How does it get the signal when you're traveling around?

HAMBIDGE: It is. It's actually based on 3G cellular technology, so nearby we have a cell tower that is giving us coverage out here. From a typical cell site of our coverage, you'll get, say, three to seven miles radius coverage areas, about 500 times the size of a wireless LAN type coverage area.

SIEBERG: And is it available now everywhere? I mean, if I am in a big city somewhere, can I get this type of thing?

HAMBIDGE: Right now it is deployed in a number of smaller cities in the U.S. We'll be launching -- an operative (ph) we'll be launching the first major city here in the U.S. in January, and we expect a whole host of other cities to follow shortly thereafter.

SIEBERG: All right, let's go to the demonstration to see exactly how it works.

HAMBIDGE: OK. So here we're streaming a movie off of a Web server. This is "Independence Day." The movie, with typically if you're on a dial-up connection, would take, you know, minutes or half an hour to download, and here you can see the movie starts playing in a matter of seconds.

SIEBERG: So as it starts to roll out, people are going to want to know exactly how much this is going to cost them.

HAMBIDGE: Yeah, it's -- most of the operators who are offering this service are offering it it similar prices to DSL or even maybe a little cheaper. So you're getting a service that is similar in speed, but you can take it anywhere, and it is the same price or cheaper.

SIEBERG: Jon, thank you very much for joining us from IP Wireless here at Comdex.

HAMBIDGE: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: One of the really tough things about covering a convention like Comdex is tracking all the high-tech toys. Like this one, the Segway. Well, if you want one of these human transporters of your very own, well, you don't have to wait any longer. And you don't have to come to Las Vegas, because they're now on sale online. The Segway is being offered to the general public starting this week exclusively on Amazon.com. The price -- just under $5,000. Order by December 31, get delivery between March and July of next year.

The Segway was introduced about a year ago, but until now, only corporate and government organizations, like police departments and the Postal Service, could buy them.

Now, another transportation gadget. This one is not at Comdex, and this one will get you all wet. From Hong Kong, here's Andrew Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many people prefer to avoid raising sharks, but if you're thinking of spending time with them, it's helpful to have an underwater scooter. This one can drag a driver along at two miles, that's three kilometers per hour. An early version of the device was tested by a British scientist, and then put into mass production in Asia.

SAM RIBET: We took that research to Hong Kong and developed the product to be manufactured in our manufacturing facility in China.

BROWN: In less than six months, Hong Kong-based Dakka (ph) Development has sold 7,000 scooters, mainly in the U.S., marketing them under the brand SeaDue (ph).

RIBET: It's -- you could say it's a James Bond kind of toy.

BROWN: Filmmakers have featured underwater scooters for decades. In 1965, the producers of "Thunderball" launched a fleet of them to make this fight sequence. Self-propelled devices have always been exciting and glamorous, but this is supposed to be the first lightweight, moderately priced model. It weighs in at 11 pounds, about five kilograms, and costs 400 U.S.

Not everyone is sold on SeaDue (ph). Peter Chan, who retails diving equipment and stocks the SeaDue (ph) says customers need to be realistic about what they are buying.

PETER CHAN, SCUBAWORLD, HONG KONG: I tried it once in a pool, but I think it is not so powerful. If you've got a bit of weight, definitely going to stop you.

BROWN: Still, the makers of SeaDue (ph) are also eying wealthy boat owners who can use the scooter in the calm waters of a marina, commuting from their vessel to the keyside. And the device is being showcased as the perfect toy for affluent professionals.

(on camera): If you're a high-powered executive, this will give you the chance to meet some really big fish.

RIBET: Your suit and tie would get pretty wet.

BROWN (voice-over): But that's a small price to pay when you can impress your friends.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: OK, time for a different kind of a segue, to a commercial break. Back with more from Comdex after we pay some bills and take a check of the latest headlines from the CNN newsroom.

ANNOUNCER: Still to come, a Pentagon program evokes fears of Big Brother.

A former space tourist goes hip-hop.

And we'll show you the king of fast geeks. That and more when NEXT@CNN returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HATTORI: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN from Comdex in Las Vegas. Computers, of course, are perfect for sorting through mountains of data. The Pentagon is considering a plan to do just that in the search for terrorists, but as David Ensor reports, concerns linger about the privacy of law-abiding citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Everyone knows that computer databases are full of information about each of us. Credit card companies know what we buy, supermarkets know our eating habits, different parts of the government know how much money we make and our driving history.

The idea of the Defense Department is getting researched, is whether using super computers, the U.S. could develop a way to put all of that information together to look for patterns. Patterns that might help catch a terrorist before he attacks. To put it mildly, the idea is controversial.

PETER KORNBLUH, GEORGE WASHINGTON: This is a program that incorporates all of the big brother operations that the American public has feared from its government for all these years and that the Constitution has protected us from: spying, invasion of privacy, you name it. And Admiral Poindexter of all people, is now in charge of that program.

ENSOR: That's right, Admiral John Poindexter, who was President Reagan's national security adviser is in charge of the defense department research project.

RONALD W. REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And he was not only first in his class at the Naval Academy but...

ENSOR: With a reputation for brilliance, Poindexter is controversial, too. He was indicted and sentenced for giving false testimony to Congress about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, though his conviction was later overturned.

In a speech, Poindexter described what his office wants to go after this way: if terrorist organizations are going to plan and execute attacks against the United States, their people must engage in transactions and they will leave signatures in this information space.

REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We are not talking about spying on individual American citizens.

ENSOR: Congressman Curt Weldon says, though, that the ideas Poindexter is working on are needed in the war on terrorism, for use only overseas.

WELDON: That capability needs to be in place from an intelligence stand point especially with those that we're monitoring on foreign individuals, on bad guys around the world and bad groups to understand what might be in the planning stage or what might occur in America. ENSOR (on camera): Lest anyone worry that big brother's just about to be watching them, if the capability is ever created, if, officials stress that would be some years from now, and they stress it would only be used against targets overseas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: Boeing breathed a sigh of relief this week as its brand new unmanned Delta 4 rocket blasted off after months of delay, carrying an European intelligence communication satellite. The Defense Department has plans over the next few years for the Delta 4 to carry two dozen satellites crucial to the military and intelligence communities. Its predecessor, the Delta 3 rocket, had multiple failures before becoming a reliable launch vehicle. Boeing says the Delta 4 will be a cheaper, more reliable rocket.

Astronomers have spotted evidence of a coming collision in space that will send ripples throughout the universe. Two enormous black holes are circling each other, getting closer together, and it's only a matter of time until they meet.

It started with a collision between two galaxies, each with the black hole at its center. The galaxies merged into one, and scientists say the black holes are going to do the same. When they do, a violent wave of radiation and gravity waves will rush through the entire universe, shaking everything in its path, including Earth. But we don't have to worry about it; it isn't expected to happen for another few hundred million years.

The first African to travel in space is using his experience to inspire others. Mark Shuttleworth's Hip to Be Square campaign is barnstorming across South Africa, showing kids how education can help make their dreams come true. Cindy Strand has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CINDY STRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A hero's welcome for South African afro-naut Mark Shuttleworth.

MARK SHUTTLEWORTH, SPACE TOURIST: We're going to show you what it's like to train to fly there, to sit on top of a rocket...

STRAND: The millionaire space traveler's latest mission is very down to earth, helping to improve the quality of South African education. His road show has crisscrossed the country, including stops at some of the most rural and poorly equipped schools.

Minerva High School here in Alexandra is one of the only public schools with satellite television, so a few lucky ones were able to see Shuttleworth blast off for the International Space Station last April.

Now children all over the country are getting a feel for the ride.

The Shuttleworth rap has reached more than 100,000 students. Math and science are not just for nerds. Being a techno-geek is cool. It's hip to be square.

SHUTTLEWORTH: The idea is trying to make science and math sexy, groovy for kids.

STRAND: The Shuttleworth Foundation is running workshops, competitions and teacher training programs. In a country where most of the students are stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide, the foundation is helping with the gargantuan task of closing the gap.

Shuttleworth hopes to convince his audiences that they also have the right stuff.

SHUTTLEWORTH: What do you want to be?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lawyer.

SHUTTLEWORTH: We've got a lawyer. Give her a round of applause.

Reach for your dreams, because this world changes so fast, what's impossible today becomes possible in 10 year's time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a great honor, because that's what I dream of, to see someone who comes from space.

SHUTTLEWORTH: A lesson from a 29-year-old millionaire who started his company in his mother's garage. The sky is no longer the limit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Up next, the end result of cremation. Doesn't have to be just ashes. A sparkling alternative, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: You got to admit, a lot of Comdex is about boys and their toys, but when it comes to the fairer sex, you know the old cliche about diamonds being a girl's best friend? Well, now a girl can become her own best friend. Keith Oppenheim explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNNANN GAGE, CUSTOMER: I knew right away, the minute I heard about the LifeGem that this was something that I wanted to be.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): LynnAnn Gage is just 35, but she knows when she dies, she wants to be cremated, and wants some of those cremains turned into this, a bluish manmade diamond called the LifeGem.

GAGE: Just because it's a better thing to connect with the spirit.

OPPENHEIM: Here's how it works: Certain crematoriums separate carbon from cremains after a body is burned. LifeGem converts that carbon into chunks of graphite, then follows techniques used in Europe -- a high pressure process that converts a black rock into a manufactured blue diamond.

GREG HERRO, LIFEGEM CEO: It is a basic scientific principle. We're made out of carbon. Diamonds are made out of carbon. We're just combining the two.

OPPENHEIM: The cost: About 4,000 a quarter carat, and yes, customers usually have the option of getting several gems made. The question is, do these diamonds reflect a change in what people want?

(on camera): The LifeGem makers, for example, say more and more people are opting against burial in a cemetery and for cremation. The idea is people want something to carry with them to remember their loved ones.

FRED MCCAULEY, FUNERAL DIRECTOR: I think it might be a definite alternative for some families.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): As of now, about 90 funeral homes have the proper equipment to collect carbon for a LifeGem. The thinking being, a diamond made in death could be a diamond used in life. Something some people will pay for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: If you love your faithful diesel car but don't like depending on fossil fuels to get around, this story is for you. You can now buy diesel fuel that has nothing to do with petroleum products. As Lilian Kim reports, it's clean, but not cheap.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LILIAN KIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a simple recipe. Combine five parts used vegetable oil with one part methanol (ph) and a dash of lye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, here is the sump pump.

KIM: Mix for 60 minutes, then let it sit.

SCOTT DURKEE: And after about eight hours, this is a little sample jar, it looks like this.

KIM: It's called biodiesel. And for six months, Scott Durkee and Dan Little have been filling their diesel cars with it.

DURKEE: The only time I go to a gas station is to wash my windshield.

KIM (on camera): You don't have to make the vegetable oil fuel yourself. Biodiesel can be purchased at some filling stations, but it can be a little hard to find. This station here is nothing more than a tank on the side of the road.

(voice-over): The cost to customers, about $1 more per gallon than regular diesel. As for the fuel's environment benefits, the government says it burns up to 90 percent cleaner, but produces up to 6 percent more nitrous oxide. Either way, biodiesel is the fastest growing alternative fuel in the U.S. And those who use it say making the switch was worth it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel independent of the oil companies. I am not responsible for oil spills anywhere. That makes me feel really good.

KIM: And it's that philosophy that's driving motorists to biodiesel as their fuel of choice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, a handy way to print from your digital camera, no computer needed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: Back now at the Comdex computing and technology trade show, where all I can say is, so many gadgets, so little time. Take a look at this, the world's largest crystal display panel, 46 inches, made by Samsung. The company says it's lighter, easier to view from different angles, and has a longer life compared to similar size plasma screens. No date yet for when this will be available, but start saving now. Right now, the cost to produce LCD displays this size is about twice as much as a plasma screen.

Turning now to "Technofile" -- this week, we get some help from Janice Chen, editor-in-chief of CNET Reviews and "Computer Shopper" magazine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: One of the fastest growing segments in terms of printers is trying to get to the serious photographer who wants to print his own high quality prints at home, right?

JANICE CHEN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, CNET REVIEWS: That's right. This is the HP Photosmart 230, and the cool thing about it is that you can see it is really tiny. You can just take it with you. It only prints out 4x6, but the thing is, that's what most people want to print out. If you think about taking your film to, you know, Walgreens and printing out your photos, most people print out 4x6. And the really great thing about this is that you don't even need a PC. You can use a Mangor (ph) PC with it, but you don't need it.

And all you do is take your media cards out...

HATTORI: Regular digital camera.

CHEN: Regular digital camera. And the great thing is, there are four different types of media slots, so whether you have a Compaq Flash, an SD cart, Smartmedia and even the Sony memory sticks, doesn't matter what kind of camera you have, you can use this printer.

HATTORI: Little LCD screen there, you can look at what's on there. CHEN: Exactly. And the LCD screen is also where the menu is, so you can make some adjustments to the photograph right here on the printer. Let's find this photo I took of you, and we can zoom in, and then, I can move it up, because I want to get you centered in the print, and then just hit print. And it is not the fastest inkjet printer, but because it is miniaturized and really small, there are some -- there are some tradeoffs. So it prints less than -- it takes about less than three minutes to print one image.

HATTORI: It is almost like a new generation of Polaroid, but with more equipment.

CHEN: Exactly. Exactly. And the great thing is, like they're pitching it us you can take it to parties with you because it's so small. It's less than three pounds. And then just take pictures and print them out as you go.

The printer is actually available for about $249 on the street. And that's a pretty good price. It is not the cheapest inkjet printer out there, but it has got the small form back there and good quality prints, so it's not bad.

HATTORI: What about the cost of the prints?

CHEN: The paper? It can be pretty expensive. I mean, it depends on what packages you buy, but you roughly spend about 45 cents a print. The good thing is, you can save money because you can print out an index print, right? So for example, here, I had four images. I printed out an index print and I can say, OK, you know what, I only want to print that one. And that is something that you can't do with your film cameras. You send it off and you get all the prints regardless of whether it's a good, you know, picture or not.

HATTORI: Is the quality approaching that of what you would from like a photo finisher?

CHEN: Considering how small the product is and how quick it is, just, you know, stick in your card and print it out, it is actually pretty good quality.

HATTORI: And this paper is very similar to what you get from a regular photo lab.

CHEN: It is. It's photo paper. It's like as thick as photo paper, and it will last as long as a regular photograph as well.

HATTORI: Really? And here it comes.

CHEN: There you are.

HATTORI: I have taken better pictures than that. But I'm sure it wasn't the camera or the printer's fault.

CHEN: Or the photographer.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HATTORI: For more on that nifty photo printer and other stories from this week's program, check out our Web site, cnn.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, some of the fastest fingers in America. Well, at Comdex, at least. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: Finally this week, Comdex crowned its new leader, of sorts. If you measure intelligence and skill by the ability to assemble a digital brain from a box of parts, the guys who competed are superstars. Daniel Sieberg had a ring-side seat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome. This is America's Fastest Geek. And we are going to have our four finalists here who are going to come in and build systems for us right here. The fastest one will take home that beautiful system right over there. We have got four finalists. They were the fastest in our heats yesterday and today. And now we're ready to see which one can really build the fastest computer and take home the title of America's Fastest Geek.

SIEBERG (voice-over): Taking things apart is easy. Putting them back together requires some skill, and doing it quickly in front of a crowd at the Comdex computer show is even harder. Each contestant is given screw drivers, various parts and the outer case of the computer, but no instruction manual.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you get it in this way, it's wrong. If you get it in this way, it's wrong. If you get it in this way, but too far that way, it's wrong. There is eight different ways of doing it wrong and only way of doing it right, and that's what I'll find.

SIEBERG: The event has only happened one other time. Aside from bragging rights, the winner gets a souped-up PC worth about $3,000 -- and, no, they don't need to assemble it.

But what about being labeled a geek?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Geek today is actually not a bad term. I don't mind being a geek.

SIEBERG: Joshua Clark (ph) had some fans, but would he win?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now, gentlemen, start your screw drivers, let's hold those screw drivers high, we want to see them up high. May the best geek win.

One, two, three, go.

SIEBERG: Onlookers appeared to be impressed by the abilities of the competitors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen some speeds that are incredible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I have never seen anything like this.

SIEBERG (on camera): These are really the cyberathletes of this new millennium here.

(voice-over): After judges inspected the machines, Joshua was assessed a time penalty, since one part was assembled incorrectly. That meant Shawn Stanford was crowned the winner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations, you are America's Fastest Geek.

SHAWN STANFORD, WINNER: Besides getting married and being saved, yes, this is the third best thing that can happen to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: Fastest geek? Too bad we didn't have time to show you the pocket protector stuffing competition. Well, maybe it's better we didn't.

Before we go, here's a look at what is coming up next week. It's bad enough getting a traffic ticket, but then if you want to tell your side of the story, you have to spend time in court -- except in Yacama (ph), Washington. There, you can tell it to the judge by e-mail.

And could this be the next (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- beautiful graphics, interesting plot, challenging puzzles? Who says computer games have to be violent? That and a lot more next week.

Also coming up on NEXT, at the end of December, a look back at some of our favorite stories from 2002. OK, they're repeats, but we want to include some of your favorites too. So let us know which report from the past year you'd like to see again, or want us to update. Drop us an e-mail at next@cnn.com.

Thanks so much for joining us this week, and thanks to our friends here at Comdex. For all of us on the sci-tech beat, I'm 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

by Weapons Inspectors; Britain Eases Up on Quarantine Stays for American Pets>

Aired November 23, 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. It's the annual big bash of the IT industry, fall Comdex in Las Vegas. More than 100,000 people, more than 1,000 exhibitors. You will see the latest from some of the biggest names in technology.
We'll show you updated technology for inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This images shows three underground storage tanks, located underneath a foot of concrete.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Find out how things have changed since the last time U.N. inspectors went to Iraq.

And jet-setting animal lovers are celebrating. Britain is easing up on the six-month jail sentence for dogs and cats coming from America. All that and more on NEXT.

JAMES HATTORI, HOST: Hi, everybody. I am James Hattori. Welcome to NEXT@CNN and welcome to Comdex, the annual autumn trade show of the IT industry here in Las Vegas. We're going to be showing you some of the coolest gadgets and technologies being showcased here. But first, a look at some of what is going outside the convention hall.

United Nations inspectors are scheduled to begin work in Iraq next week, looking for weapons of mass destruction. It will be a far different scenario than the last time they visited Iraq in the 1990s, not only politically, but technologically. Here is CNN's David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Geologist Matthew Turner has a small company in Leesburg, Virginia using ground penetrating radar to find things beneath the surface, technology that is fast improving in the digital age that could be useful in Iraq.

MATTHEW TURNER, GEOLOGIST: This represents the very best technology that's out there. If the soil is very sandy, you could go as deep as 100 feet.

ENSOR: It works by reflecting electromagnetic waves off of an object underground.

TURNER: This image shows three underground storage tanks located underneath a foot of concrete.

ENSOR (on camera): The radar devices can also be used up against a wall to see what's inside a building and there are a number of other useful technologies, some of which have improved dramatically in the year since inspectors were last inside Iraq.

ENSOR (voice over): For example, these handheld devices should help the hunt for biological weapons. Available since last year, they can recognize a microbe by its DNA in about 20 minutes. And the cameras and other sensors they old UNSCOM inspector teams used to put in Iraqi labs to monitor them, all that will be digital now.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FORMER U.N. INSPECTOR: Processors that are a lot smaller, more powerful, so you can process more data, equipment that's just going to be more reliable in a harsh environment.

ENSOR: Then, too, U.N. inspectors have bought masses of newly- available commercial satellite photos of Iraq, searching for clues like suspicious reconstruction at previously bombed sites. There are also new tools like the Predator unmanned surveillance planes, which the U.S. could make available to the inspectors if it chooses to do so.

ALBRIGHT: If they do have a Predator, they could stand off miles from the place that's actually under surveillance and have a good chance the Iraqis won't know that they're being looked at.

ENSOR: All in all, a toolkit to envy says a former chief inspector.

RICHARD BUTLER, FMR. U.N. CHIEF INSPECTOR: I know they have much more modern equipment than what we had and I know that their ability to conduct surveillance from the sky will be improved on what we had.

ENSOR (on camera): But former arms inspectors will tell you that all the high-tech gadgets in the world are not as good as the human instincts of an arms inspector as he or she tries to gauge whether an Iraqi scientist is telling the truth or is lying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: Another search going on in the former Soviet Union. This one for missing radioactive materials that could be used in so- called dirty bombs. A search that could keep dangerous material out of the hands of terrorists, as Ryan Chilcote reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, emergency teams trained to locate and recover highly radioactive material that could be used to make a dirty bombs. Unlike nuclear bombs, that require hard-to-get components like plutonium or highly enriched uranium, dirty bombs can be made from radioactive sources that can be found virtually anywhere, in places like hospitals, oil fields, even agriculture.

Those teams are now searching for an unknown number of highly radioactive canisters the Soviets used to do tests on wheat. Officials want to find these radioactive materials before terrorists do.

PROF. LEONID BOLSHOV, RUSSIAN NUCLEAR SAFETY INSTITUTE: Some of them are lost and some of them are not supervised. Some of them are just thrown on the garbage site, and from time to time people are finding these sources.

CHILCOTE: In Russia's far north, two men are caught trying to sell six grams of the isotope California 252, stolen from an atomic powered ice breaker. In Moscow, a Russian officer caught with cesium that he smuggled off his base in a garbage truck. And in the war-torn republic of Chechnya, emergency officials recover cesium from a dump ground. All of these materials could be very useful in making a dirty bomb, anywhere in the world.

Professor Leonid Bolshov modeled the effects of a dirty bomb attack in an American city, using data gathered from Chernobyl's aftermath. He found that the contamination could cover several city blocks and as many as 10,000 people could get sick. Though probably no one would die, it would cause chaos.

BOLSHOV: People can see the danger from radiation, 1,000 or even more times more than (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CHILCOTE: Over the last year, search teams have found five of the canisters.

(on camera): Experts fear that Georgia may have many more, and even more worrisome that there may be hundreds more outside of Georgia in areas throughout the former Soviet Union where they haven't even started looking yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: An environmental disaster is in the making off the coast of Spain. An oil tanker named the Prestige split in two and sank Tuesday in the Atlantic Ocean 150 miles off the Spanish coast near Portugal. It had sprung a leak during a storm a week and a half ago. The ship carried 20 million gallons of fuel oil, more than twice the amount of crude oil spilled in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez in Alaska. Cleanup crews have been scouring beaches and shoveling off sludge from the initial release of about 1.6 million gallons. Spain's seafood farmers say their livelihood could be devastated.

Back in Las Vegas, no disasters, although many in the crowd here at Comdex may feel like they have been through one. Still, the mood is pretty upbeat, given the economic times. But there is a bit of a dark cloud hanging over the convention center. While Comdex has been going strong now for 23 years and it is expected to be around next fall, the company that puts on the show may not be.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI (voice-over): Comdex retains its Las Vegas charm even if it has lost almost half the crowd compared to two years ago. Fewer conventioneers, fewer exhibitors, fewer customers for companies that plan the displays.

ARLEN RUBIN, LIVE MARKETING: Probably 80 percent less, maybe a little bit more than that.

HATTORI: The company that owns Comdex, Key Three Media, says although the show is profitable, it's apparently not profitable enough. Debts may force Key Three to seek bankruptcy and sell Comdex to someone else.

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT COFOUNDER: Thank you.

HATTORI: Microsoft's Bill Gates was far from a gloomy Gus in his keynote remarks, though. "Soon we'll all be surfing the Net wirelessly," Microsoft hopes, with new smart displays coming in January.

GATES: And the magic of software are now spreading out to all different devices.

HATTORI: And if that doesn't lure new spending, the 1,100 other exhibitors at Comdex are equally hopeful with the cutting edge plasma and LCD displays, uber (ph) hip pocket computers with built in phones, even new generation 3D glasses with video games, to the decidedly low tech like CD repair kits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now what you're doing is you're filling in this graph.

HATTORI: And machines to start your own business refilling inkjet printer cartridges.

(on camera): What does it cost to refill?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The refill is $1.52.

HATTORI (voice-over): Exhibitors hope the 125,000 people expected here in Vegas are serious customers who can't afford to be distracted unless it's by their sales pitch, delivered in unusual and eye catching ways.

(on camera): Well, why'd you stop?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you ask?

HATTORI (voice-over): But there are no sure bets at Comdex except the spectacle of it all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, saving seahorses. Find out why they need protection.

And a little later in the show, how you can buy your very own Segway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN from the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas.

Not even modern technology can save the world's seahorses, but a new international treaty that regulates trade in wildlife may help. This month, member nations of CITES, the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species, met in Chile and voted to include seahorses on a list of species threatened by international trade. More from Gary Strieker.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're like mystical creatures, graceful and strange. Little known beyond experts who study them.

Unique in the animal kingdom, one of the few species where the males give birth, but seahorses are major exports in many countries. Their survival threatened by the pressures of international trade. The new decision by CITES, the main international body monitoring trade in endangered species in is not a complete trade ban, but it does put strict regulations on any international trade in seahorses, dead or alive.

TERESA TELECKY, HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE U.S.: This is the first time there has been any international regulation of this kind of trade. What has been happening up until now is that seahorses have been driven nearly to extinction by this unregulated trade, and so what we're going to have now is a regulated trade.

STRIEKER: The decision is a welcome victory for environmental groups who were disappointed by another CITES vote to allow limited trade in stockpiled elephant ivory.

Experts say that with India, the Philippines and other countries exporting millions of seahorses each year, doing nothing would have meant extinction for these animals.

TELECKY: Some stocks are depleted by as much as 75 percent. In all the major exporting countries, they have seen declines in seahorse populations.

STRIEKER: Live seahorses for the pet trade are exported to markets like the United States, Japan and Europe, where people buy them for fish tanks and home aquariums, and dried specimens, believed to have healing qualities in traditional medicine are sold in Asian markets for several hundred dollars a pound.

During the past decade, traditional medicine consumed an estimated 14 million seahorses every year. The CITES decision means that countries wishing to sell these animals will have to prove their harvesting is done sustainably, without endangering seahorse populations.

For those who care about preserving them, this new protection for seahorses comes just in time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: Science has gone to the dogs. We're talking about the scholarly journal "Science," which has three articles this week covering new research into our canine friends. Two studies looked at genetics, and determined that dogs all over the world are descended from a common ancestor. Scientists say dogs were first domesticated in East Asia and accompanied people to the new world 12,000 to 14,000 years ago when continents were still attached.

A third study looked at how dogs picked up on subtle cues from people. Researchers hid food in one of two containers, then touched or just looked at the container with the food. Dogs and even young puppies got the hint and found the treat, while wolves and chimps were clueless.

Dogs are also finding an easier way to enter the UK. As Robyn Curnow reports, now you can take Fido and Fluffy to Britain with you without having to worry about putting them in quarantine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The news was important enough for the U.S. ambassador to Britain to host a photo call in reception at his official residence, his wife holding the family pet.

The reason for all this...

(on camera): The maze of bureaucracy and the long periods of separation for pet owners in Britain and North America is now over. From December the 11th, pet owners and their pets will be able to travel more freely across the Atlantic.

(voice-over): Jet-set pets will no longer be forced by the British government to languish like this six months in kennel quarantine, to guarantee the animals are free of rabies. Britain has long been wary of importing the disease from the U.S. The British government, though, is still insistent on stringent rules for every animal.

ELLIOT MORLEY, BRITISH HEALTH MINISTRIES: They must be (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They must be vaccinated against rabies. It must have had a blood test six months before the animal is going to enter into the country.

CURNOW: But still, the American diplomats are delighted.

WILLIAM FARISH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.K.: Military, diplomatic people and they can, up to now, for the last 100 years, they haven't been able to bring their pets, and it has caused a lot of concern, it has caused a lot of sadness within families.

CURNOW: And it's not just pet-loving families who have been affected.

COL. DONALD LUSTIG, U.S. AIR FORCE: It also increases our operational capability. We had some issues with our explosive detection dogs and our drug detector dogs, and what happens with them, if they're in quarantine for six months, they lose their ability to do the job that they are required to do and have to be retrained.

CURNOW: Fred, the Bassett hound, is not required on operational duties; instead, is a member of the American diplomatic corps, he is now allowed to take regular trips between Washington and London without that six month stopover in airport kennels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Next up on NEXT, surfing the Web while speeding down the street.

Also ahead, a new but wet way to beat the commute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: Here at Comdex, it's all about technology and productivity. For example, if you're looking for a new and different office environment, strap yourself into this baby. It's called a personal computing environment. This is the masterpiece model. Here you have got your LCD displays, keyboards, stereo speakers, wireless mouse, comfy seat. All in an ergonomically correct package. This top-of the-line unit sells for $7,800. We'll even throw in a cup holder. This is great for working long hours in one place, but what if you're on the move, and I mean, really on the move? Well, Daniel Sieberg has got just the ticket for that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, imagine high speed Internet access wherever you go. Even if you're in an RV traveling at a high rate of speed, which is where we are right now at the Comdex computer trade show. And I am joined by Jon Hambidge from a company called IP Wireless. And that's the promise of the company to be able to have this high speed mobile access wherever you go. Tell me about this technology.

JON HAMBIDGE, IP WIRELESS: Well, it's pretty simple, really. If you're a user, you can use either a PCMIA (ph) card that goes into a laptop or a PDA, or you can use the desktop modem which can connect to either a desktop or a LAN, and really, once you use that, you get high speed Internet access, but it really goes anywhere you want it to go.

SIEBERG: Now, does it work on a similar type of cell phone technology? How does it get the signal when you're traveling around?

HAMBIDGE: It is. It's actually based on 3G cellular technology, so nearby we have a cell tower that is giving us coverage out here. From a typical cell site of our coverage, you'll get, say, three to seven miles radius coverage areas, about 500 times the size of a wireless LAN type coverage area.

SIEBERG: And is it available now everywhere? I mean, if I am in a big city somewhere, can I get this type of thing?

HAMBIDGE: Right now it is deployed in a number of smaller cities in the U.S. We'll be launching -- an operative (ph) we'll be launching the first major city here in the U.S. in January, and we expect a whole host of other cities to follow shortly thereafter.

SIEBERG: All right, let's go to the demonstration to see exactly how it works.

HAMBIDGE: OK. So here we're streaming a movie off of a Web server. This is "Independence Day." The movie, with typically if you're on a dial-up connection, would take, you know, minutes or half an hour to download, and here you can see the movie starts playing in a matter of seconds.

SIEBERG: So as it starts to roll out, people are going to want to know exactly how much this is going to cost them.

HAMBIDGE: Yeah, it's -- most of the operators who are offering this service are offering it it similar prices to DSL or even maybe a little cheaper. So you're getting a service that is similar in speed, but you can take it anywhere, and it is the same price or cheaper.

SIEBERG: Jon, thank you very much for joining us from IP Wireless here at Comdex.

HAMBIDGE: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: One of the really tough things about covering a convention like Comdex is tracking all the high-tech toys. Like this one, the Segway. Well, if you want one of these human transporters of your very own, well, you don't have to wait any longer. And you don't have to come to Las Vegas, because they're now on sale online. The Segway is being offered to the general public starting this week exclusively on Amazon.com. The price -- just under $5,000. Order by December 31, get delivery between March and July of next year.

The Segway was introduced about a year ago, but until now, only corporate and government organizations, like police departments and the Postal Service, could buy them.

Now, another transportation gadget. This one is not at Comdex, and this one will get you all wet. From Hong Kong, here's Andrew Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many people prefer to avoid raising sharks, but if you're thinking of spending time with them, it's helpful to have an underwater scooter. This one can drag a driver along at two miles, that's three kilometers per hour. An early version of the device was tested by a British scientist, and then put into mass production in Asia.

SAM RIBET: We took that research to Hong Kong and developed the product to be manufactured in our manufacturing facility in China.

BROWN: In less than six months, Hong Kong-based Dakka (ph) Development has sold 7,000 scooters, mainly in the U.S., marketing them under the brand SeaDue (ph).

RIBET: It's -- you could say it's a James Bond kind of toy.

BROWN: Filmmakers have featured underwater scooters for decades. In 1965, the producers of "Thunderball" launched a fleet of them to make this fight sequence. Self-propelled devices have always been exciting and glamorous, but this is supposed to be the first lightweight, moderately priced model. It weighs in at 11 pounds, about five kilograms, and costs 400 U.S.

Not everyone is sold on SeaDue (ph). Peter Chan, who retails diving equipment and stocks the SeaDue (ph) says customers need to be realistic about what they are buying.

PETER CHAN, SCUBAWORLD, HONG KONG: I tried it once in a pool, but I think it is not so powerful. If you've got a bit of weight, definitely going to stop you.

BROWN: Still, the makers of SeaDue (ph) are also eying wealthy boat owners who can use the scooter in the calm waters of a marina, commuting from their vessel to the keyside. And the device is being showcased as the perfect toy for affluent professionals.

(on camera): If you're a high-powered executive, this will give you the chance to meet some really big fish.

RIBET: Your suit and tie would get pretty wet.

BROWN (voice-over): But that's a small price to pay when you can impress your friends.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: OK, time for a different kind of a segue, to a commercial break. Back with more from Comdex after we pay some bills and take a check of the latest headlines from the CNN newsroom.

ANNOUNCER: Still to come, a Pentagon program evokes fears of Big Brother.

A former space tourist goes hip-hop.

And we'll show you the king of fast geeks. That and more when NEXT@CNN returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HATTORI: Welcome back to NEXT@CNN from Comdex in Las Vegas. Computers, of course, are perfect for sorting through mountains of data. The Pentagon is considering a plan to do just that in the search for terrorists, but as David Ensor reports, concerns linger about the privacy of law-abiding citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Everyone knows that computer databases are full of information about each of us. Credit card companies know what we buy, supermarkets know our eating habits, different parts of the government know how much money we make and our driving history.

The idea of the Defense Department is getting researched, is whether using super computers, the U.S. could develop a way to put all of that information together to look for patterns. Patterns that might help catch a terrorist before he attacks. To put it mildly, the idea is controversial.

PETER KORNBLUH, GEORGE WASHINGTON: This is a program that incorporates all of the big brother operations that the American public has feared from its government for all these years and that the Constitution has protected us from: spying, invasion of privacy, you name it. And Admiral Poindexter of all people, is now in charge of that program.

ENSOR: That's right, Admiral John Poindexter, who was President Reagan's national security adviser is in charge of the defense department research project.

RONALD W. REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And he was not only first in his class at the Naval Academy but...

ENSOR: With a reputation for brilliance, Poindexter is controversial, too. He was indicted and sentenced for giving false testimony to Congress about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, though his conviction was later overturned.

In a speech, Poindexter described what his office wants to go after this way: if terrorist organizations are going to plan and execute attacks against the United States, their people must engage in transactions and they will leave signatures in this information space.

REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We are not talking about spying on individual American citizens.

ENSOR: Congressman Curt Weldon says, though, that the ideas Poindexter is working on are needed in the war on terrorism, for use only overseas.

WELDON: That capability needs to be in place from an intelligence stand point especially with those that we're monitoring on foreign individuals, on bad guys around the world and bad groups to understand what might be in the planning stage or what might occur in America. ENSOR (on camera): Lest anyone worry that big brother's just about to be watching them, if the capability is ever created, if, officials stress that would be some years from now, and they stress it would only be used against targets overseas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: Boeing breathed a sigh of relief this week as its brand new unmanned Delta 4 rocket blasted off after months of delay, carrying an European intelligence communication satellite. The Defense Department has plans over the next few years for the Delta 4 to carry two dozen satellites crucial to the military and intelligence communities. Its predecessor, the Delta 3 rocket, had multiple failures before becoming a reliable launch vehicle. Boeing says the Delta 4 will be a cheaper, more reliable rocket.

Astronomers have spotted evidence of a coming collision in space that will send ripples throughout the universe. Two enormous black holes are circling each other, getting closer together, and it's only a matter of time until they meet.

It started with a collision between two galaxies, each with the black hole at its center. The galaxies merged into one, and scientists say the black holes are going to do the same. When they do, a violent wave of radiation and gravity waves will rush through the entire universe, shaking everything in its path, including Earth. But we don't have to worry about it; it isn't expected to happen for another few hundred million years.

The first African to travel in space is using his experience to inspire others. Mark Shuttleworth's Hip to Be Square campaign is barnstorming across South Africa, showing kids how education can help make their dreams come true. Cindy Strand has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CINDY STRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A hero's welcome for South African afro-naut Mark Shuttleworth.

MARK SHUTTLEWORTH, SPACE TOURIST: We're going to show you what it's like to train to fly there, to sit on top of a rocket...

STRAND: The millionaire space traveler's latest mission is very down to earth, helping to improve the quality of South African education. His road show has crisscrossed the country, including stops at some of the most rural and poorly equipped schools.

Minerva High School here in Alexandra is one of the only public schools with satellite television, so a few lucky ones were able to see Shuttleworth blast off for the International Space Station last April.

Now children all over the country are getting a feel for the ride.

The Shuttleworth rap has reached more than 100,000 students. Math and science are not just for nerds. Being a techno-geek is cool. It's hip to be square.

SHUTTLEWORTH: The idea is trying to make science and math sexy, groovy for kids.

STRAND: The Shuttleworth Foundation is running workshops, competitions and teacher training programs. In a country where most of the students are stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide, the foundation is helping with the gargantuan task of closing the gap.

Shuttleworth hopes to convince his audiences that they also have the right stuff.

SHUTTLEWORTH: What do you want to be?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lawyer.

SHUTTLEWORTH: We've got a lawyer. Give her a round of applause.

Reach for your dreams, because this world changes so fast, what's impossible today becomes possible in 10 year's time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a great honor, because that's what I dream of, to see someone who comes from space.

SHUTTLEWORTH: A lesson from a 29-year-old millionaire who started his company in his mother's garage. The sky is no longer the limit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Up next, the end result of cremation. Doesn't have to be just ashes. A sparkling alternative, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: You got to admit, a lot of Comdex is about boys and their toys, but when it comes to the fairer sex, you know the old cliche about diamonds being a girl's best friend? Well, now a girl can become her own best friend. Keith Oppenheim explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNNANN GAGE, CUSTOMER: I knew right away, the minute I heard about the LifeGem that this was something that I wanted to be.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): LynnAnn Gage is just 35, but she knows when she dies, she wants to be cremated, and wants some of those cremains turned into this, a bluish manmade diamond called the LifeGem.

GAGE: Just because it's a better thing to connect with the spirit.

OPPENHEIM: Here's how it works: Certain crematoriums separate carbon from cremains after a body is burned. LifeGem converts that carbon into chunks of graphite, then follows techniques used in Europe -- a high pressure process that converts a black rock into a manufactured blue diamond.

GREG HERRO, LIFEGEM CEO: It is a basic scientific principle. We're made out of carbon. Diamonds are made out of carbon. We're just combining the two.

OPPENHEIM: The cost: About 4,000 a quarter carat, and yes, customers usually have the option of getting several gems made. The question is, do these diamonds reflect a change in what people want?

(on camera): The LifeGem makers, for example, say more and more people are opting against burial in a cemetery and for cremation. The idea is people want something to carry with them to remember their loved ones.

FRED MCCAULEY, FUNERAL DIRECTOR: I think it might be a definite alternative for some families.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): As of now, about 90 funeral homes have the proper equipment to collect carbon for a LifeGem. The thinking being, a diamond made in death could be a diamond used in life. Something some people will pay for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: If you love your faithful diesel car but don't like depending on fossil fuels to get around, this story is for you. You can now buy diesel fuel that has nothing to do with petroleum products. As Lilian Kim reports, it's clean, but not cheap.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LILIAN KIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a simple recipe. Combine five parts used vegetable oil with one part methanol (ph) and a dash of lye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, here is the sump pump.

KIM: Mix for 60 minutes, then let it sit.

SCOTT DURKEE: And after about eight hours, this is a little sample jar, it looks like this.

KIM: It's called biodiesel. And for six months, Scott Durkee and Dan Little have been filling their diesel cars with it.

DURKEE: The only time I go to a gas station is to wash my windshield.

KIM (on camera): You don't have to make the vegetable oil fuel yourself. Biodiesel can be purchased at some filling stations, but it can be a little hard to find. This station here is nothing more than a tank on the side of the road.

(voice-over): The cost to customers, about $1 more per gallon than regular diesel. As for the fuel's environment benefits, the government says it burns up to 90 percent cleaner, but produces up to 6 percent more nitrous oxide. Either way, biodiesel is the fastest growing alternative fuel in the U.S. And those who use it say making the switch was worth it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel independent of the oil companies. I am not responsible for oil spills anywhere. That makes me feel really good.

KIM: And it's that philosophy that's driving motorists to biodiesel as their fuel of choice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Coming up, a handy way to print from your digital camera, no computer needed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: Back now at the Comdex computing and technology trade show, where all I can say is, so many gadgets, so little time. Take a look at this, the world's largest crystal display panel, 46 inches, made by Samsung. The company says it's lighter, easier to view from different angles, and has a longer life compared to similar size plasma screens. No date yet for when this will be available, but start saving now. Right now, the cost to produce LCD displays this size is about twice as much as a plasma screen.

Turning now to "Technofile" -- this week, we get some help from Janice Chen, editor-in-chief of CNET Reviews and "Computer Shopper" magazine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: One of the fastest growing segments in terms of printers is trying to get to the serious photographer who wants to print his own high quality prints at home, right?

JANICE CHEN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, CNET REVIEWS: That's right. This is the HP Photosmart 230, and the cool thing about it is that you can see it is really tiny. You can just take it with you. It only prints out 4x6, but the thing is, that's what most people want to print out. If you think about taking your film to, you know, Walgreens and printing out your photos, most people print out 4x6. And the really great thing about this is that you don't even need a PC. You can use a Mangor (ph) PC with it, but you don't need it.

And all you do is take your media cards out...

HATTORI: Regular digital camera.

CHEN: Regular digital camera. And the great thing is, there are four different types of media slots, so whether you have a Compaq Flash, an SD cart, Smartmedia and even the Sony memory sticks, doesn't matter what kind of camera you have, you can use this printer.

HATTORI: Little LCD screen there, you can look at what's on there. CHEN: Exactly. And the LCD screen is also where the menu is, so you can make some adjustments to the photograph right here on the printer. Let's find this photo I took of you, and we can zoom in, and then, I can move it up, because I want to get you centered in the print, and then just hit print. And it is not the fastest inkjet printer, but because it is miniaturized and really small, there are some -- there are some tradeoffs. So it prints less than -- it takes about less than three minutes to print one image.

HATTORI: It is almost like a new generation of Polaroid, but with more equipment.

CHEN: Exactly. Exactly. And the great thing is, like they're pitching it us you can take it to parties with you because it's so small. It's less than three pounds. And then just take pictures and print them out as you go.

The printer is actually available for about $249 on the street. And that's a pretty good price. It is not the cheapest inkjet printer out there, but it has got the small form back there and good quality prints, so it's not bad.

HATTORI: What about the cost of the prints?

CHEN: The paper? It can be pretty expensive. I mean, it depends on what packages you buy, but you roughly spend about 45 cents a print. The good thing is, you can save money because you can print out an index print, right? So for example, here, I had four images. I printed out an index print and I can say, OK, you know what, I only want to print that one. And that is something that you can't do with your film cameras. You send it off and you get all the prints regardless of whether it's a good, you know, picture or not.

HATTORI: Is the quality approaching that of what you would from like a photo finisher?

CHEN: Considering how small the product is and how quick it is, just, you know, stick in your card and print it out, it is actually pretty good quality.

HATTORI: And this paper is very similar to what you get from a regular photo lab.

CHEN: It is. It's photo paper. It's like as thick as photo paper, and it will last as long as a regular photograph as well.

HATTORI: Really? And here it comes.

CHEN: There you are.

HATTORI: I have taken better pictures than that. But I'm sure it wasn't the camera or the printer's fault.

CHEN: Or the photographer.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HATTORI: For more on that nifty photo printer and other stories from this week's program, check out our Web site, cnn.com/next.

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, some of the fastest fingers in America. Well, at Comdex, at least. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HATTORI: Finally this week, Comdex crowned its new leader, of sorts. If you measure intelligence and skill by the ability to assemble a digital brain from a box of parts, the guys who competed are superstars. Daniel Sieberg had a ring-side seat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome. This is America's Fastest Geek. And we are going to have our four finalists here who are going to come in and build systems for us right here. The fastest one will take home that beautiful system right over there. We have got four finalists. They were the fastest in our heats yesterday and today. And now we're ready to see which one can really build the fastest computer and take home the title of America's Fastest Geek.

SIEBERG (voice-over): Taking things apart is easy. Putting them back together requires some skill, and doing it quickly in front of a crowd at the Comdex computer show is even harder. Each contestant is given screw drivers, various parts and the outer case of the computer, but no instruction manual.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you get it in this way, it's wrong. If you get it in this way, it's wrong. If you get it in this way, but too far that way, it's wrong. There is eight different ways of doing it wrong and only way of doing it right, and that's what I'll find.

SIEBERG: The event has only happened one other time. Aside from bragging rights, the winner gets a souped-up PC worth about $3,000 -- and, no, they don't need to assemble it.

But what about being labeled a geek?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Geek today is actually not a bad term. I don't mind being a geek.

SIEBERG: Joshua Clark (ph) had some fans, but would he win?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now, gentlemen, start your screw drivers, let's hold those screw drivers high, we want to see them up high. May the best geek win.

One, two, three, go.

SIEBERG: Onlookers appeared to be impressed by the abilities of the competitors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen some speeds that are incredible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I have never seen anything like this.

SIEBERG (on camera): These are really the cyberathletes of this new millennium here.

(voice-over): After judges inspected the machines, Joshua was assessed a time penalty, since one part was assembled incorrectly. That meant Shawn Stanford was crowned the winner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations, you are America's Fastest Geek.

SHAWN STANFORD, WINNER: Besides getting married and being saved, yes, this is the third best thing that can happen to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HATTORI: Fastest geek? Too bad we didn't have time to show you the pocket protector stuffing competition. Well, maybe it's better we didn't.

Before we go, here's a look at what is coming up next week. It's bad enough getting a traffic ticket, but then if you want to tell your side of the story, you have to spend time in court -- except in Yacama (ph), Washington. There, you can tell it to the judge by e-mail.

And could this be the next (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- beautiful graphics, interesting plot, challenging puzzles? Who says computer games have to be violent? That and a lot more next week.

Also coming up on NEXT, at the end of December, a look back at some of our favorite stories from 2002. OK, they're repeats, but we want to include some of your favorites too. So let us know which report from the past year you'd like to see again, or want us to update. Drop us an e-mail at next@cnn.com.

Thanks so much for joining us this week, and thanks to our friends here at Comdex. For all of us on the sci-tech beat, I'm James Hattori. See you next time.

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