NEW SCIENTIST PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1997
ORDER #1: THE ONE TO WATCH A visit to the video rental store may never be the same again. The Virginia-based Digital Video Express consortium wants to replace familiar video tapes with limited-life two-day Digital Video Discs that don't have to be returned. Page 7
ORDER #2: MEMORY MAN HITS OUT Two nobel prizewinners are being sued for libel by Jacques Benveniste, the controversial French scientist whose research on the "memory of water" appeared to provide a scientific basis for homeopathic medicine. Page 12
ORDER #3: FEAR OF FLYING
Computerised cockpits leave German airline pilots feeling alienated and intimidated. More than half of the pilots questioned in a survey say they feel "inadequately informed" about their aircraft. Page 22
ORDER #4: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING Bacteria that learn to fend off an antibiotic can become permanently resistant, say American researchers. The finding suggests that temporarily halting the use of an antibiotic will not eliminate resistant strains of bacteria, contrary to what many doctors believe. Page 18
ORDER #5: FOLLOW THE BEAT American electrophysiologists are developing a technique that times the heart's electrical fluttering. It could one day help identify those people who are at risk of suffering a fatal heart attack. Page 17
ORDER #6: TAKE HER OUT FOR A SPIN Now even speed demons can go green. Rosen Motors is putting a hybrid gas turbine and flywheel engine through its paces in California. The company claims the engine can halve fuel emissions, meet the State's tough "nearly zero emissions" laws and even deliver the acceleration of a sports car. Page 6
ORDER #7: DON'T DUMP HERE The coral atolls of the pacific are some of the worst places in which to leave radioactive material, say marine biologists in Australia and France. Some of the islands were for decades used for nuclear weapons tests, and several countries would now like to store nuclear waste on others. The biologists say that dissolved radioisotopes enter the food chain in the waters surrounding the atolls five times faster than anywhere else. Page 4
ORDER #8: DON'T FORGET YOUR KITE A brush with death has prompted New Zealand adventurer Vernon Pascoe to invent a multipurpose kite designed to catch the attention of rescuers. Since an accident in the French Alps eight years ago in which he narrowly escaped being buried under tons of snow, Pascoe has been working on an effective marker that would help the victim being found. He believes a specially designed inflatable kite would do the job. Page 6
ORDER #9: TAKE A DEEP BREATH
Since the 1970's, thousands of people have been diagnosed with hyperventilation syndrome (HVS). But now it turns out that the disease may not even exist. It's a sorry tale of hidden cameras, dubious science and a ruined reputation. Pages 38-41
ORDER #10: POWER VIEWING Take the penetrating power of X-rays, add the intensity of a laser beam, and what do you have? A machine that could reveal the innermost workings of life. Now, finally, the X-ray laser is about to become a reality. New Scientist pages 24-29
ORDER #11: CARE FOR A COSMIC PRETZEL? Forget about quarks and neutrinos. The Universe could be teeming with far stranger things, such as superheavy knots and unimaginably long, wiggly strings. The newest mathematical theories of physics are churning up some bewildering beasts. New Scientist pages 30-33
ORDER #12: FOAM SWEET FOAM Scientists are turning ordinary lumps of metal into masses of bubbles. And they're finding that it makes the ideal material for building safer cars and lighter planes. New Scientist pages 34-37
- ENDS -
September 23, 1997
Issue cover date: September 27, 1997
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