RIGHT BRAIN: THE HOLISTIC HALF

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080040-0
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• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 5, 1998
• Sequence Number: 40
• Publication Date: April 3, 1976
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

Approved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080040-0
science
^news
APRIL 3, 1976
VOL. 109, NO. 14, 209-224
 Approved For Release 2001/03/26: CIA-RDP96-007878000200080040-9
S
BEYOND ECONOMIC MAN: A New Founda.- TEX i
tion for Microeconomics-Harvey Leiben- BASIC FOOD CHEMISTRY-Frank A. Lee---
stein-Harvard U Pr, 1976, 310 p., diagrams, AVI Pub. Co, 1975, 430 p., diagrams, tables,
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ADVANCES IN SLEEP RESEARCH, Vol.
2-Elliot D. Weitzman, M.D.-Spectrum
(Halsted Pr), 1976, 236 p., illus., $20. Critical
reviews of multidisciplinary research, ranging
from discussion of neurophysiological sub-
strates of the changes in respiration during
sleep, to "dream detector" and comparison of
laboratory and home dreams collected by
REMP-awakening technique.
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF NORTH
AMERICA-Dean Snow-Viking Pr, '1976,
272 p., color plates, 175 photographs by
Werner Forman, maps, chronologies, $18.95.
Explores the cultural traditions, artifacts and
sites of the various archaic and historical cul-
tures that once inhabited the country, from
Paleo-Indians of the Great Plains to Aleuts
and Eskimos in the Arctic.
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logical concepts to microtheory by using fndf- the field from discussion of photosynthesis,
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effort as the X factor providing the most sig- tati('n and specific food products.
nificant results.
GAMES FOR RAINS, PLANES AND
TRAINS-Gyles Brandeth-Greene, 1976,
126 p., illus., $7.95; paper, $4.25. Family
games and brainteasers to keep young minds
alert and occupied.
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS-Harriet
Wynter.and Anthony Turner-Scribner, 1976,
9x12, 240 p., 300 color and b&w photographs,
$27.50. Provides illustrations and brief de-
scriptions of antique instruments employed in
astronomy, navigation, surveying and optics.
THE STRESS OF LIFE-Hans Selye, M.D.-
McGraw, 1976, rev. ed., 542 p., illus., $8.95.
The author's original work on his research
findings of the body's nonspecific response to
stress, called general adaptation syndrome
(G.A.S.), expanded and updated with new re-
search findings, glossary and annotated ref-
erences.
ENZYMES: Basic Biology Course, Book 7-
Michael Tribe, Michael E. Eraut and Roger K.
Snook-Cambridge U Pr, 1976, 8x12, 112 p.,
diagrams, $15.95; paper, $5.95. Individ-
ual learning text on enzymes.
INTRODUCTION TO PHYSIOLOGICAL
PSYCHOLOGY-Francis Leukel-Mosby,
1970, 3rd ed., 526 p., diagrams, $14.75. Un-
dergraduate text for psychology majors, in-
tended to develop understanding of physio-
logical concepts in other specialized fields,
deals with the internal organization of life,
integrating and response systems, the senses,
will adaptive behavior.
THE MAMMALIAN ALIMENTARY SYSTEM:
A I unctional Approach-David S. Madge-
ArridId (Crane-Russak), 1976, 206 p., pho-
torlraphs, diagrams, $22.50; paper, $12.75.
Tf v( summarizes the process of extracellular
dirtfstion and outlines progress made in un-
dfristanding intracellular digestion and
transfer of food and water molecules in the
sni ill intestine.
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MATHEMATICS, THE MAN-MADE UNI-
VERSE: An Introduction to the Spirit of Math-
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111:0, 3rd ed., 588 p., illus., $12.50. Rewritten
alit modernized text includes new chapter on
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ORGANIC CHEMISTRY-Norman L. Allinger
ei' fl-Worth, 1976, 2nd ed., 1024 p., illus.,
$ i's.95. Tested and improved text, begins with
fill structure of the main kinds of organic
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PATTERNS IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: An
Introduction to Numerical Methods-David M.
Saliith--Crane-Russak Co, 1976, 373 p., dia-
gt:lms, tables, $12. Addressed to the intro-
(fLU3ory-level student and non-academic
rir.lder, demonstrates through illustration a
wife range of commonly used numerical
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PHOTOSYNTHESIS: Basic Biology Course,
tlriok 6-Michael A. Tribe, Michael R. Eraut
tend Roger K. Snook-Cambridge U Pr, 1976,
L.aa 12, 85 p., micrographs, diagrams, $13.95;
p;u>er, $4.95. Deals with the capture of light
criitorgy from the sun by green plants, and the
tr.-nsformation of this into chemical energy.
PI ANT CELL BIOLOGY: An Ultrastructural
Al) proach-Brian E. S. Gunning and Martin W.
faeer-Crane Russak, 1975, 8x12, 108 p.,
^n0 micrographs, diagrams, paper, $8.95. Ex-
ca jlent collection of fully captioned illustrations
depicting the ultrastructure of plant cells, use-
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S t"RESS TRANSIENTS IN SOLIDS--John S
fiinehart-HyperDynamics, 1975, 230 p., dia-
grams, paper, $8.95. Text introduces the prin-
ciriles of propagation and interaction of
stresses generated by impacts and explo
,;ions.
UNDERSTANDING GENETICS-Norman V
rgrlthwell-Williams & Wilkins, 1976, 500 p.,
photographs, drawings, diagrams, tables,
'I; ".4.95. Introductory text gives a solid foun-
t.ttion in the basics of molecular genetics.
pproved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080040-0
210 SCIENCE NEWS, VOL. 109
 Approved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080040-0
SCWN E rB ?
A Science Service Publication
Vol. 109/April 3, 1976/No. 14
Incorporating Science News Letter
OF THE WEEK
Brand X laser fusion 212
Soviet electron-beam fusion 212
Enzyme fly shrinker 213
Silent quake energy 213
Washington's new Metro 214
NSF gains in Congress 215
Criticizing the uncritical 215
Ergotism, ergo, witch hunts 215
RESEARCH NOTES
Technology 216
Space Sciences 217
ARTICLES
Brain hemisphere functions 218
DEPARTMENTS
Books 210
Letters 211
Off the Beat: Toxin panic 221
COVER: The right hemisphere of the human brain
is thought to play an important role in creativity,
intuition, art, music, spatial abilities and a number
of other things. These findings are supported by
various lines of research, including a study of the
nuit Eskimos and their art. See story p. 218. (Col-
lage: Dale Appleman)
Publisher E. G. Sherburne Jr.
Editor Kendrick Frazier
Senior Editor and
Physical Sciences Dietrick E. Thomsen
Senior Editor and
Behavioral Sciences Robert J. Trotter
Biomedical Sciences Joan Arehart-Treichel
Biology/Chemistry Janet L. Hopson
Science and Society John H. Douglas
Space Sciences Jonathan Eberhart
Contributing Editor/
Mathematics Lynn Arthur Steen
Copy Editor Michelle Galler Riegel
Art Director Dale Appleman
Assistant to the Editor Susan Strasburger
Books Margit Friedrich
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LEffERS
Moon rocks at school
I would like to add my comments to
Jonathan Fberharl's article "Moon Rocks
Go to School" (SN: 4/26/75, p. 276), since
I have just completed participation in this
program. I congratulate NASA on this pro-
gram to make available lunar materials for
study at the public level. The use of these
thin sections provided my students the op
portunity to compare lunar mineralogy with
that found in terrestrial rocks. The compari-
sons were striking, and the overall interest
generated in my students cannot be dupli-
cated by the best of color slides. By making
these specimens available for public study.
NASA has truly brought the moon home to
the people.
Paul P. Sipiera
Department of Geology
Aurora College
Aurora, Ill.
Acronymania
The term "Acronymania" (SN: 1/31/76,
p. 67) most appropriately describes the
affliction, common among management
oriented personnel in government, private
industry, and civic organizations, that is
responsible for the disturbing proliferation
of acronym production. Something ought to
be done to curb this distressing malady.
Perhaps thought should be given to forming
a National Association to Undertake the
Systematic taimination of Acronymania.
S. O. Nelson
I.ineoln, Neb.
Ongoing debate
John Douglas's articles on "'The Great
Nuclear Power Debate" will unquestionably
he recorded by history as one of the finest,
fairest attempts to gel at the l acts in this
emotionally warped technological issue.
The hysterical allegations condemning
nuclear energy cannot he borne out by care-
fully analyzed fact and stem from our basic
societal problem today fear of the un-
known coupled with a distorted distrust of
government and industry. The Riley and
Cohen comments of Feb. 14 are but an
example of this pervading problem.
This phenomenon of our times is triggered
by naive recognition of and childish disallu-
sionmcnt with organization, institution and
establishment containing elements of human
trailly. These frailties have always been
present and probably always will be. As
increasingly wider segments of the popula-
tion spectrum seek more than superficial
undcrstandii ' of the complexities of today's
society, of :,Inch technology is a significant
fraction, Ihc; grapple, like it teenager disco-
vering sex --vith the inescapable need for
perspective and wisdom necessary for the
logical and rational integration of their new
found knemr, dge.
But the h: man frailties that frighten our
intcllectuall .tdolesccnl observers are, un
fortunately omnipresent and can he found
both in the =mdemner and the condemnce.
This is evidenced by Riley's comments
where he a,kocates emotional outcry at the
expense of n iellectual integrity and C'ohern's
inference 11111 data are not important in cru
cial decision'..
These oh,,iously intelligent and well-
mcaning pc file cannot really mean what
they say. A- they not both victims of our
y
most ancient and prevalent human frailty
that the end iustifics the means- that distor-
tion and objectivity are "A-OK'' so
long as the , satisfy their personal set of
values? Shaurc, Shame!
This sort A fuzzy thinking on the part of
amateur cru.aders in the midst of extremely
complicated technology is the very reason
we must h.-? Douglas's "honestly dctined
and clearly I,resented" fact in the resolution
of any tech logically based issue.
I'_ I Grindrod, Ph.D., ('h.E., P.L.
Madison, Wis.
Copyright (c) 1976 by Science Service, Inc., 1719
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Left hand of life
The artich ''Physics and the Left Hand
of Life" (SI'l 11/29/75, p. 340) is somewhat
misleading lamely, a relationship between
the "left h.Id of life" and the "left-
han-dedness of weak interactions" has been
proposed :e. 'arty as 1957 by Vester and
Ulbricht. 'I't-ugh they obtained no unequiv-
ocal results to prove their hypothesis, quite
a few paper- have been published in the past
several year.. furnishing evidence that 13 I
and (3 pawrIclcs interact differently with 1,
and D mole- ales. In order to understand this
differential rntcraction, a model has been
proposed a,,.-ording to which the orbital
electrons in . ptically active molecules have
a non-zero :,pin-polarization with respect to
their velocit, The contribution of weak in
teractions 1 r the binding energy of 1. and
1) molecule has been calculated too ( If) 12
eV).
A. AS. Garay
C'yclolron Institute
'1'exus AA:M University
College Station, Tex.
Andres romrnunicotions to Editor.
Science ''Jews, 1719 N Street, N. W.
W, -,hington, 1).(' 2(X)_36
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APRIL 3, 1976 211
 Approved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080040-0
SCIENCE NBAS OF THE WEEK
In roughly three years, the idea of laser
fusion has grown from a germ of specula-
tion, discussed only by a few specialists,
to a heavy-weight contender of "big
science"-with a proposed budget of just
over $100 million for next year and a
small army of engineers talking about
"milestones" and "systems ap-
proaches." Both topics were widely dis-
cussed last week at a joint technical sym-
posium of the Society of Photo-Optical
Instrumentation Engineers and the Society
of Photographic Scientists and Engineers,
in Reston, Va. Perhaps more important
was analysis of the impact a new lasing
technique may have on producing a
workable fusion system.
The "milestones" of laser fusion were
set forth by John D. Hunsuck, project
director for the Energy Research and De-
velopment Administration (F ' RDA). He
predicts "scientific breakeven" (fusion
energy out equal to laser energy in) by
1981-82 and an operating test system by
the late 1980s. A demonstration plant may
he completed by the mid-1990s, he said,
but the final thrust to such a practical
system will be "a long, hard haul." At
that point, the main concern may he how
to find materials capable of withstanding
the intense neutron flux that results from
fusion.
Before any of the milestones beyond
scientific breakeven can be reached, how-
ever, a fundamental change must occur
away from present experimental sys-
tems-the combination of lasers and tar-
get pellets being used today cannot simply
be scaled up to higher power levels. This
realization has led some experts to specu-
late on the need for a high-powered
"Brand X" laser, probably radiating in
the visible spectrum rather than in the
infrared as in today's experimental de-
vices. This speculation was discussed at
the Reston conference by WE. Krupke
of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.
According to the Brand X theory, the
simple spherical target pellets now in
common use would have to be compressed
by some as yet undiscovered laser that
could achieve 10 percent energy effi-
ciency at around 0.5 microns (green
light). Krupke, however, points to an al-
ternative stratagem. He says more com-
plex targets might ease the restrictions to
allow use of an infrared laser (1.0 to 2.0
microns) with an efficiency as low as I
percent. (Long wavelength photons of in-
frared light are inherently less energetic
and capable of compressing a pellet than
the photons of visible light.)
Complex pellets, containing multiple
layers and heavy elements in addition to
f E.
L i t 1 1
RGH laser
)mirror
partial
mirror
Iodine laser 1 / oartia(
mirror /
IL
bea
An RGH laser pumps iodine laser: Similar eombinauons may lead to fusion system.
6/14/75, p. 384). Now, within the last few
months, a new type of laser has been
developed that may aid the search for
Brand X. It is the rare gas-halogen (RGH)
laser, which radiates in the ultraviolet and
can be used to pump other lasers to pro-
duce desired wavelengths in either the
visible or infrared spectrum. (Brand X
would almost certainly be a flowing gas
laser, to remove heat generated.)
So-called rare gases (krypton, argon,
etc.) do not ordinarily form any chemical
compounds, but when their atoms absorb
energy they can form loose molecules
with the very reactive atoms of the halo-
gen gases (fluorine, chlorine, etc.). To
create these energetically excited states,
the reactants are bombarded with an elec-
tron beam in the presence of a third gas,
which helps transfer the energy. Once
formed, the new molecules (say, KrF)
quickly dissociate again, releasing energy
(in this case, ultraviolet light of 0.25 mi-
crons).
The dissociation is so fast that not
enough energy can apparently be stored
by RG11 lasers for use directly in causing
fusion, so the ultraviolet light is used
instead to "pump" a laser of some other
material. One of the first materials that
appeared to have the right combination of
properties (to be pumped by an RGH laser
and in turn to lase at approximately the
right wavelength) was iodine, which emits
light in the "near" infrared (1.3 microns).
Several laboratories are now exploring
this laser combination, but an even more
promising set-up appears to be emerging.
Calculations show that if an RGH laser can
be used to pump the vaporized atoms of
certain "rare earth" elements (say, ter-
bium), they should lase right in the middle
of the visible spectrum (in this case,
green).
It is still too early to tell whether an
just no - in progress- -hut the new tech
nique is already opened several new
avenue of approach. In an interview,
Krupkt said of the RGH lasers: "It looks
like they will have a major impact on the
laser cismmunity, both in isotope separa-
tion and in fusion." He estimated that in
perhap,, as little as two years, a decision
can hF made on what combination of
target., and lasers to use in future power-
generating fusion reactors.
Meanwhile, in the corridors, talk turned
to what the Soviet Union is up to in this
field. /'=dministration of the Russian laser
fusion program has reportedly shifted
from ; pure research institute into the
USSR ,-quivalent of r:RuA, and communi-
cation in the subject- once quite open
- has uddenly grown quiet. Speculated
one knowledgeable scientist: "Either
they'v, found out how to do it, or they've
run inl,r trouble." I 1
Electron beam fusion:
Soviets claim advance
Alth.)ugh the Soviets are extremely
close mouthed (and close with their type-
writcrs too) about their progress in con-
trolled thermonuclear fusion research, oc-
casionally something surfaces that gives
a bit ;f an idea of what approaches they
are into
One ?.uch avenue that they have chosen
to tolhiw is a variant offshoot of the
laser fusion idea in which beams of ac-
celernt:d electrons instead of laser light
are used to implode the target pellets. '['his
idea was taken up because it seems it
might he able to get around some of the
difficulties that are beginning to appear in
the laser-fusion business. (It seems easier
to couple the electron energy into the
the fusion reactants, have already ap- RGH-pumped rare earth laser will turn out target,., and the targets can he larger.)
parently found increasing use (SN: to be Brand X--the first experiments are Both the United States and the Soviet
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212 SCIENCE NEWS, VOL. 109
Brand X
Laser Fusion: Toward ` '
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lion"and at' the samelt eubothnhaveStake l Miniaturizing flies with membrane leaks
up electron-beam work. Now, workers at
the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, where
Soviet fusion work of all kinds seems to
he concentrated, have claimed an impor-
tant advance in electron-beam fusion ex-
periments.
The report came not in a scientific jour-
nal, but in an article in the March 10
Pravda written in connection with the 25th
Communist Party Congress. The article
dealt mostly with other thermonuclear fu-
sion experiments underway at the Kur-
chatov Institute (notably tokamaks) but
devoted one paragraph to the electron-
beam work.
The paragraph claimed the achievement
of some fusions. It said electron beams
had compressed fuel pellets containing
deuterium to 100 times their original den-
sity. The crushing raised the temperature
of the fuel to nearly 11 million degrees
K. The reaction gave oil more than a
million neutrons, which the Russian
physicists claim as evidence that fusions
actually took place in the fuel.
The number of neutrons, if in fact they
do come from fusions, is still a long way
from what is necessary for a practical
device producing useful energy, but the
achievement is a significant step, in the
opinion of Gerold Yonas of Sandia La-
boratories in Albuquerque, who heads the
American program in electron beam
work. On receiving the Pravda report,
Yonas telephoned the leader of the Soviet
group, Leonid 1. Rudakov, to determine
whether the report was accurate, to offer
his congratulations if so, and to seek fur-
ther information. He was assured that the
report was correct, offered his congrat-
ulations and got no further information.
What Yonas was especially interested
in was the diagnostic methods used at the
Kurchatov Institute to determine what
happened in the imploded fuel pellets.
']'here are a number of possible sources
of neutrons in such events, and it takes
delicate methods to be sure that the neu-
trons seen are really those thrown oft as
excess when two nuclei fuse, and not the
result of sonic other process. Rudakov
would not describe the diagnostic
methods, but referred Yonas to a forth-
coming scientific publication in an unspe-
cified journal at an unspecified date.
The American program has so far suc-
ceeded in crushing dummy pellets but has
yet to experiment with targets filled with
fuel, which in this case will he a mixture
of deuterium and tritium. The American
effort, as described by Yonas's colleague
M. J. Clauser at a meeting last fall, uses
electrons of 100 million electron-volt en-
ergy and protons of 10 million electron-
volts to irradiate the targets. What the
energy of the Soviet electron beams may
be is not known, nor have they said
whether they are also trying protons or any
"Three California biologists have disco-
vered an enzyme from bee venom that can
cause fruit fly larvae to grow up tiny. The
miniaturizing effect is due to the enzyme's
action on cell membranes; it causes them
to leak. Although this fly "shrinking"
phenomenon can carry the imagination oil
to science fiction scenarios, the enzyme
will he mainly a tool for basic membrane
research. Sadly, for those inclined to
wonder about such applications, it won't
be at all useful for shrinking overweight
humans.
Cell biologists Peter 11. Lowy, Herschel
K. Mitchell and Ursula W. Tracy of Cali-
fornia Institute of Technology report the
leak phenomenon in the April issue of
'I'oxtcoN. Lowy and Mitchell discovered
the miniaturizing enzyme purely by acci-
dent five years ago. They were studying
a bee venom enzyme that causes biologi-
cal molecules to break down. They in-
jected a control group of fruit fly larvae
with a different venom enzyme. TO their
amazement, they found that the injected
larvae hatched into perfect, miniature
adults that produce a second generation
of normal-sized flies. The team has since
studied the action of this enzyme, which
is called phospholipase A-2, and can now
state that it causes permeability
changes--leaking.
In order to determine the mode of ac-
tion, the team immersed human cancer
cells (HeLa cells), red blood cells and
mitochondria (metabolic organelles) into
weak solutions of phospholipase A-2. The
enzyme has no apparent eflfect on the red
blood cells, but it attaches to HeLa and
initochondrial membranes and causes
them both to leak. Mitochondria have a
double membrane, and the inner layer
allows larger than normal molecules to
pass through in the presence of phos-
pholipase A-2. The HeLa cells accumulate
lipid droplets. This is due either to a
change in membrane permeability or to a
release of lipids within the cell, the team
suggests.
the miniaturizing effects on fruit fly
larvae are probably a result of membrane
permeability ch rages, too, Mitchell says.
Insect larvae are essentially eating ma-
chines, but fruit fly larvae injected with
phospholipase A-2 don't eat at all. When
they metamorphize, there is just too little
larval tissue to create full-sized adults.
The insects' lethargy is probably due to
muscle and nerve dysfunction resulting
from leaky membranes.
Phospholipase A-2 in bee venom and
its counterpart in cobra and rattlesnake
venom seems structurally similar to the
phospholipase present in normal cell
membranes. This similarity suggests,
Mitchell says, that normal cell phos-
pholipase may have a permeability regu-
lating function. The bee venom enzyme
normal membrane regulation.
As for miniaturizing overweight
humans, N1 ichelI replies to the somewhat
facetious restion, "the enzymes would
be useless in fact, worse than useless."
The enzyi~ ?s will arrest the growth of
insects at ='erlain stage of development,
but "if ii organism is already big, there
is no rcasa)I !o believe it will get smaller.''
Besides. ou just wouldn't want to do
this to a p, ,on. The change in his mem-
branes mi},t-t cause him to stop eating, but
he also n. it stop breathing. Breathing
is a mcml,~,ine function, too.?
The hidden energy
of silent quakes
It's aliu rst as though violent earth-
quakes, a -,It their rumblings and sudden
upheavals ire just diversionary tactics.
According to geophysicist Hiroo Kana-
mori of ih= California Institute of Tech-
nology, i :s'h of the real, large-scale
earth-nun=,r; along the faults and trenches
surroundi; the Pacific basin seems to
reveal itc: only in slow, ponderous ''si-
lent earth! makes,'' whose seismic waves
don't even ;how up in the measurements
used to r;,i~ quakes on the Richter scale.
Kanain is research was reported this
week at ,r? international symposium con-
ducted by - 'olumbia University at Arden
House in =?==ow York, in honor of the late
Maurice I'? ing, whose name is associated
with man- of the great discoveries in
marine g.4 physics in the last 30 years.
His finctrngs are based on it study of the
''repeat tin,t?"'--the time between periods
of heavy - hakes--for the various earth-
quake zones around the basin. His find-
ings, coo m d with plate-tectonic theory,
suggest it. it the major recorded quakes
have not I. i-it sufficient to account for all
or even mvst of the earth movement that
plate-moll-ii studies indicate has been
taking pla-
Off the --oast of Japan, for example,
where tin ('acific crustal plate is said to
be thrusti%,a under the Asiatic plate, the
repeat tins _ by Kanamori's calculations,
is about I f ,r 1 years. (The entire subduction
zone broh within the last 25 years, while
the previi is sequence of breaks was be-
tween 18 , --r and 190).) Lach major quake
sequence -re says, involved a relative slip
between rf,r plates of 6 to 9 feet, yet the
Pacific pl:Ere advances beneath the Asiatic
plate about 30 feet every 100 years. The
dillerencc Kanarnori concludes, must he
due to slippage without the accompanying
ground -sIc,king. In other words, the silent
quakes.
The scr mimic waves of the silent quakes
as Kananai}ri defines there are those with
-
periods - f 300 seconds or more
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and lower. The commonly monitored
waves of higher frequencies are usually
produced, according to plate tectonics
theorists, when the relative plate move-
ments somehow stick, releasing the ten-
sion in jerky spasms. The smoother
movements produce the low-frequency
waves.
Further evidence in Japan shows up in
measurements by Caltech geophysicist
Kunihiko Shimazaki, who has found that
crustal tilting and lifting in northern Japan
can account for only 20 percent of the
known plate slip. Somehow, he believes,
the Pacific plate is creeping under the
Asiatic one without deforming.
Oil' the Alaskan coast, the repeat time
is not definitely known, although I ,000
years has been suggested, during which
time plate subduction amounts to about
120 feet. The Alaskan quake of 1964
involved 30 to 60 feet of displacement,
only a fourth to a half of the total if the
I ,000-year repeat time is correct. The San
Andreas fault in California also shows
gradual, non-quake-related creep, but the
repeat time for quakes along the fault is
not known, says Kanamori, so the "silent
quake" theory cannot yet be evaluated.
One of the major implications of Kana-
inori's work is for predictions of tsunami,
or tidal waves. Sometimes, he says, a
quake can appear small on the Richter
scale, which incorporates only higher-
frequency measurements, yet have a total
energy that is very large. An 1896 quake
at Sanriku, Japan, for example, produced
only minor shaking, but it was accom-
panied by one of the most devastating
tsunami ever to strike the country. Reali-
zation of the danger of low-frequency,
"silent" quakes, Kanamori says, should
be incorporated into tsunami warning sys-
tems, which at present are based largely
on Richter-type measurements of earth-
quake magnitude. I~
closed a task that once took up to 40
minute. (Heavy loads apparently buckle
the c: i . just enough to jam the doors.)
'['he ,:is have carpeting, plush, two-
inch-thick padded seats (though some will
have I- he replaced because of potential
fire ha ard), year-round air conditioning
(whicl,i ilso needs to be tinkered with) and
steel vy heels well suspended for a smooth,
silent ide (though the brakes must be
adjust, I so they don't jam under heavy
loads) Most problems had been worked
out by Ire time the first paying passengers
rode ear Monday, in numbers twice as high
as cxp,cted.
Uud.'rground stations are built inside
long, ontinuous arches, indented like
wrap mound waffles for noise suppres-
sion. I'latforms are set away from walls
to prevent vandalism and have been
clearcrt of pillars and hiding places that
could invite muggers. The whole effect,
in the words of one architecture critic, is
"a scu ne kind of beauty."
Io pit down noise to surrounding areas,
Washington's era of Metro begins track long some segments are supported
o
ass
h b b th ib f n
r ra
I
t
Spacious stations, c?otnfortable rides greeted Washington Metro's first passengers.
When ground was broken in 1969 for suburbs and high transit ridership.
beginning construction on Washington, The initial line--less than five percent
D.C.'s, metropolitan rapid transit system, of the projected system will hardly make
Metro, then-President Nixon expressed a a dent in the life of the capital, but Metro
common hope of planners trying to stem officials hope that its very attractiveness
decay of the nation's capital: "More than and success will spur local governments
a subway will begin . .. a city will begin to raise the money needed to complete the
to renew itself, a metropolitan area to pull rest. Estimated costs have soared from
itself together." Thus, with the opening $2.5 billion at the start to $4.67 billion
this week of the first 4.6-mile segment of currently. Some suburban governments
Metro, one of the boldest urban renewal are considering pulling out of the cooper-
experiments ever attempted got underway. alive ellort, construction is limping along
The urgent need for something to halt on federal funds left over from highway
the spread of squalor has long been ap- projects, and overall progress has been
parent. A study of the Metro idea, con- held up by strikes, storms, management
ducted by Development Research Asso- problems and lawsuits.
ciates, concluded that Washington might Despite inevitable start-up problems,
benefit more from such a project than any opening day was generally a success, with
other metropolitan area in the United more than 50,0(X) people showing up for
States. The report showed the city to he free rides. They were treated to the fastest,
"ideally suited for rapid rail transit," with most comfortable journey in town-once
p
"
a so, c y
on pay .
a
ing tic~:ns. Tracks are also welded, so
there no "clickity-clack." In particu-
larly ?.4 usitive areas, the whole concrete
track l !atform is suspended to keep noise
from sh,turbing people in buildings above.
Inside The subway cars, sound levels are
about 'he same as in a good automobile,
except for moaning brakes.
Ali, Tdy one can begin to see improve-
ment in neighborhoods bordering on
prosp,,t Live Metro lines, and the system
is ev, lually expected to return $3 for
every S I invested, including increased
property taxes. (In Toronto, a 4.5-mile
systcru costing only $67 million sparked
a $1() billion building program.) But the
overall impact of Metro on the life of the
comninnity will depend on how much of
? the p posed system is eventually fin-
ished \t present, about half the planned
99.8 riule system is under construction or
compl,.-ied, including 42 of 87 proposed
stations.
Coir,muters can begin to take advantage
of th, new rapid transit-supposedly
about four times faster than a taxiby
drivirrp to the only above-ground station
along, the new line. 'T'here a parking lot
and "i.iss and ride" area (drop-oil point
for c,mimuters) have been provided; later
a complete rerouting of bus lines will
provi,ti an integrated system of area-wide
transly i Cation. The next section of line is
scheduled to open next year, which will
include service to National Airport.
Meanwhile, this summer's expected
flood 1A tourists may not find Metro too
helpful As they hoard at the Union Sta-
tion It centennial Center, the new line can
only rake them into a nondescript North-
east neighborhood or across to the bustling
cotnniE rcial district- bypassing the Mall
and popular monuments. Still, come July,
Metru may he one of the safest, most
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 Approved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080040-0
NSF faring better
in Congress
Congressional supporters of the Na-
tional Science Foundation were caught by
surprise last year by the onslaught of crit-
icism that first surfaced as charges of
sponsoring "silly" research (SN:
3/15/75, p. 165) and eventually led to
passage of the so-called ''Bauman
amendment," which would have required
prior Congressional approval of all NSF
grants (SN: 4/19/75, p. 253). After a
long, tedious summer of debate, the
amendment was finally defeated (SN:
8/9/75, p. 87), following elimination of
some controversial programs. This year,
the defenders were better prepared.
At the heart of the controversy is dis-
satisfaction among some conservatives
over the choice of specific projects for
funding-especially programs in the so-
cial sciences that appear to them to have
it liberal bias. Leading the opposition has
been Rep. John B. Conlan (R-Ariz.). Last
week Conlan offered an amendment cut-
ting all funds ($1.4 million) for pre-
college curriculum development, testing
and evaluation. (No funds had been pro-
posed for course implementation, pending
further NSF reorganization.)
Two ongoing projects would be af-
fected by the March 25 proposal: the
Individualized Science Instruction System
(isis), a set of minicourses on the physical
sciences; and the Human Sciences Pro-
gram (HSP), a social science series for
the middle grades. Conlan charged Isis
would give "unfair advantage in the
commercial marketplace" to the company
chosen to market it. As for HSP, he called
it "a sophisticated and lethal assault on
Judaic-Christian family values, privacy of
students and their families, and the mental
health and developments of young ado-
lescents." By instructing youngsters to
interview family and friends and discuss
their attitudes in class, HSP would "turn
classrooms into gigantic gossip mills
where everyone's personal attitudes and
behavior are recorded in school files for
open discussion and dissemination."
Supporters of the original authoriza-
tion argued Isis was being turned over to
a private company in accordance with
long-established procedure, through com-
petitive bidding. They responded to criti-
cism of HSP with a detailed analysis of
the course objectives and the favorable
report of a broadly based review commit-
tee. Apparently convinced, the House de-
feated Conlan's amendment, 232 to 160.
A new amendment by Rep. Robert E.
Bauman (R-Md.) was similarly
ispatched. Rather than again asking that
.very grant he subjected to prior congres-
;ional review, he proposed that individual
congressmen should have the authority to
demand documentation relating to all
tracts" of NSF. Opponents argued that
such authority already resides in the ap-
pointed oversight committees and that to
allow individuals to essentially conduct
private investigations of NSF not only
would disrupt its operation but also would
probably be unconstitutional. The amend-
ment was defeated, 257 to 136.
The House action left NSF with authori-
zation to spend $811 million in fiscal
1977 about $1 million less than the
President had requested but still up 11
percent over last year. Some $9 million
has been cut from the originally proposed
research budget and added to the science
education budget. Speaking for the
Science and Technology Committee,
Chairman Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.) and
Rep. James W. Symington (D-Mo.) said
the revised budget would still stem the
downward trend in support of basic re-
search (now some 20 percent below 1967
levels, in terms of purchasing power) and
demonstrate the committee's concern over
recent indications that Americans are be-
coming "illiterate" in technical matters.
In the Senate, however, Sen. Edward
M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) is proposing a
total NSF budget increase to $851.4 mil-
lion. His bill would provide funds for both
curriculum development and implementa-
tion, new aid to science students and in-
tensified efforts to increase women and
minorities in science. Thus, NSF has ap-
parently weathered its year-long congres-
sional crisis and may even be in line for
new support as a result of a perceived
decline in national science literacy. ^
Quote of the week
In the cour. of what may be his last
debate on an ^!t appropriations bill (see
accompanying article), Rep. Charles A.
Mosher (R-Oho)), the retiring ranking
minority meml'cr of the House Science
and Technoloi2 Committee, rose to reply
to media repon-, about "silly" research.
A reporter, editor and publisher for 34
years before entering politics, Mosher
spoke "an indictment of my own news
profession" a:. he condemned uncritical
publication of a list of funny sounding
grants.
"The fact that the news media, hun-
dreds of editor throughout the country,
picked up tha? list from a propaganda
source and pubished it without question-
ing the facts hct,ind it is, to me, a supreme
example of iiresponsibility and dema-
goguery on the ;cart of some lazy newspa-
per editors and lazy reporters. . . . Any
editor worth hr. salt would at least inves-
tigate the validity of that list before he
published it."
lie defendeo specifically two research
projects now .:eking a drubbing in the
press: a study I how men get distracted
by girl-watchin:? while driving and a proj-
ect involving it copulation, which has
already gone ern nine years. The first, he
noted, is only me small part of a large
study of human, aggression; the latter may
provide "the I,.isis for the eradication of
this scourge of its which has beset human
beings now feat centuries." L
Witchcraft in Salem: A fungus in the rye
The first arrests were made in February,
and by June the jails for miles around were
crowded with prisoners awaiting trial. By
September, 19 men and women had been
sent to the gallows, and one man had been
pressed to death. This grisly chain of
events, generally known as the Salem
Witch Trials, shook Massachusetts in
1692. But not until now has there been
a comprehensive explanation of what may
have caused the witch hunt. According to
Linnda R. Caporael of the University of
California at Santa Barbara, it was not
Satan but ergot, a fungus with t.sD-like
properties, that bewitched eight young
Salem girls.
In December 1691, the eight girls were
all afflicted with unknown "distempers."
Their behavior was characterized by dis-
orderly speech, odd postures and gestures
and convulsive fits. Local physicians
could find no explanation for the illness,
but in February, one doctor finally sug-
gested that the girls might be bewitched.
Shortly thereafter, explains Caporael in
the April 2 SCIENCE, the girls made accu-
sations of witchcraft against several
women in the village. A flood of accusa-
tions followed.
ghastly goings rn in Salem have failed.
Fraud, politic r. Freudian psychodyna-
mics, clinical r, steria and even the exist-
ence of witchcraft have all been proposed,
but no one explanation has been able to
account for all of the facts as well as
Caporacl's crpt hypothesis does.
Ergot grows. >n rye, a well-established
cereal crop in !th-century New England,
and ergotism (f )og-term ergot poisoning)
was once a c(unmon condition resulting
from eating coeitaminated rye bread. The
symptoms of .r~~otism include crawling
sensations of the skin, tingling in the
fingers, vertigt, buzzing in the ears, hal-
lucinations anel convulsions. All these
symptoms wcr- mentioned in the trials
and blamed on witchcraft. Caporael's re-
search points pmt that growing conditions
were favorable for ergot just prior to the
outbreak, and that the girls could easily
have eaten cot,taminated bread (with 10
percent the acts ity of tsD).
"The utmoc~t caution is necessary in
assessing the physical and mental states
of people dcao for hundreds of years,"
Caporacl warm but her physiological ex-
planation certamnly answers more ques-
tions than doe::. ither demonic possession
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215
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~~~GY at night and got its name he cause it was designed for installation
in the nose of a a plane. Initial trials demonstrated its importance
dramatically: A week aflc, major fires in the Angeles National
Forest, last November, a o- t.iRequipped helicopter discovered
several areas of glowing aerial that had crossed control lines,
From our reporter at the symposium of the Society of Photo- ready to kindle a new conflagration.
Optical Instrumentation Engineers and the Society of Pho- Shields says the use of NvG and FUR in land management
lographic Scientists and Engineers at Reston, Va. is just beginning. Research into the habits of nocturnal animals
is likely to be an early additional application. Already Nvc's
State of a burgeoning art have been used to catch people using the cover of darkness
Time was when some physics teachers steered their students to poach trees for Christi is.
away from optics "because nothing ever happens" in that Help for night blindness
venerable field. The coming of the laser began to change all P
that. Now there is hardly any field in which new discoveries At a price of over $ I 000, night vision goggles are still
follow each other more quickly or more swiftly move from the too expensive to help the timated 100,0(X) to 200,0(X) people
laboratory to the commercial production line. And among many in the United States that uffer from retinitis pigmentosa an
new subspecialties, none, perhaps, is changing faster than the inherited disease whose lust symptom is night blindness. A
field of fiber and integrated optics, which promises to revolu- number of companies ha,, tried to produce cheaper versions:
tionize communications (SN: 7/19/75, p. 44 and 7/26/75, p. the latest is a device announced at the Reston meeting by IT'I,
60). Flectro Optical Products I ivision. The so-called Night Vision
All the specific elements for integrated optical circuits have Aid was developed by .lai:ics H. Burbo of ITT in conjunction
now apparently been demonstrated individually. What remains with the National Retiniti? Pigmentosa Foundation. It sells for
is the difficult task of developing new techniques for growing around $3,5(X).
the complex "chips" to combine them all, and of finding Light amplification did i, a need to be as great as that required
reliable ways of' connecting them to fibers. Specifically, a in the military prototype thus the final product is extremely
thin-film laser has apparently been developed to the point that light weight, has a rechar; ,-able battery, fits in the palm of the
it is expected to he commercially available soon from a Japanese hand and has the light g ..f.u set at the factory according to the
firm. What will he perhaps the first demonstration of a complete doctor's prescription. A r, gall light-emitting diode is attached
optical circuit in the United States is expected in 1978-79, when to allow a patient to scat h for keys, and so forth, in total
the Navy finishes a billion-bit-per-second data network at its darkness.
Electronics Laboratory Center. Because of the relativel, low price, other users are expected
Simpler applications of existing optical communications sys- to quickly enter the mat f .et. The Forest Service and some
terns are rapidly gaining acceptance. In Japan, a power company security companies have rl=cady begun to show interest- Burbo
has reportedly installed two separate optical networks, with told Scrr:ncr News he hole-s the price can come down another
fibers that can be strung near high-voltage electrical lines without factor of two as produeti picks up.
suffering interference. This July the U.S. Navy is scheduled
to demonstrate an aircraft in which 1,890 feet of wire has been Finding fish by the glow
replaced by 224 feet of optical fibers weighing only one-four-
teenth as much, at a system cost of $60,(X)O less. An experi- One of the most unusu:-.I ipplications of image intensification
mental optical telephone system is operating in Atlanta. In devices was described by `, Gilliam Dyer of Baird-Atoinic, Inc.
Dorset, England, a police station has been outfitted with an His company was asked l:ti commercial fishermen to develop
optical communications system. an instrument that could ,,,,ot schools of fish at night, from an
In interviews with SCiENcL News several scientists expressed airplane, by detecting the faint glow of bioluminescent orga-
concern over a growing lag in American industry application nisms excited by the pass.i;cc of the fish.
of this new technology, which essentially originated in the The problem turned out to be not so much one of sensing
United States. As one put it: "Japan is pulling ahead of us the faint glow as discriminating it from extraneous Sources
in optical devices the same way they did in transistors." lights on boats, reflections -,u the water, and so forth. Eventually
the problems were solved rid the unique instrument was ap-
Fighting fire with FLIR parently functioning quite well until a pilot exhausted from
hours of flying around look utg for glows destroyed the device's
Two major obstacles to more effectively fighting wildfires housing by landing his trlme without remembering to lower
have been how to find "hot spots" where no flame is showing the wheels.
and how to use aircraft at night, when calmer wind, lower
temperature and higher humidity make the going much easier. Next, the mini-.laser
Herbert J. Shields of the U.S. Forest Service's Equipment
Development Center reported on a successful two-year experi- Solid-state lasers have. until now, presented engineers with
meet aimed at adapting sophisticated military avionics equip- a peculiar dilemma-the doped" kind have to he relatively
ment to solve the problem. large, to dissipate heat: It?,, semiconductor kind can only be
first came the recently declassified night vision goggle (NV(;), very tiny. What has heel, missing is a powerful inexpensive,
weighing less than two pounds and worn continuously by a "mini" sized laser. Talk mound the conference centered on
helicopter pilot to see well enough to fly with only partial a new breed the rare cat h-pentaphosphate laser-as a likely
moonlight. The first successful demonstration of night fire sup- candidate.
pression using the NVG occurred on August 28-29, 1974, in In so-called "glass" lases, a tiny amount of optically active
San Bernardino National Forest. The project became fully dopant, usually neodymium. is widely dispersed through a gLe,s
operational in Southern California in 1975. Several successful matrix, limiting the power tensity. if more than a few peree t
search and rescue operations at night were also made possible of neodymium is added, tie glass breaks from thermal sires: .
by the goggles. But in the new pentaphosohate medium up to 50 percent
I.ate last year, an infrared detector was added, whose output neodymium can apparent[v he used, so that for a given power
was displayed on a television screen inside the cockpit and level, the size is greatly Eeduced. So far the new lasers are
recorded for later reference. Called Fi.iR-forward looking in- relatively hard to fabricate tint one scientist speculated that they seeki Irared Approved as d Fore Release 2001/03/26: CIA-RDP96-00787R0002t00d'80040-b `leviees -the device
216 SCIENCE NEWS, VOL. 109
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SP collision. There would also I. a slight enrichment in crustal
elements such as calcium and aluminum relative to the earth-
The titanic tail of Jupiter
The Pioneer 10 spacecraft, which flew past Jupiter in De-
cember 1973, has apparently flown through the tail of the giant
planet's magnetic field 690 million kilometers further from the
sun than Jupiter itself, outside even the orbit of Saturn. It hap-
pened on March 19, when the spacecraft's solar wind detector
dropped to it zero reading for more than 24 hours. Such it reading
signifies that the tail's magnetic "envelope" may have shut out
the solar wind particles.
"1t is just barely con-
ceivable that the solar
wind could have died
completely for a whole
day without our being in
the tail," says Pioneer
project scientist John
Wolfe of NASA's Ames
Research Center, "and
we'll know more when
we have complete track-
ing data. But we believe
we've found that Jupiter has it very stretched-out magnetic
envelope, or tail." There was also some speculation that Pioneer
10 might merely he in a "magnetic bubble" broken off from
the tail, but Wolfe believes that the long duration of the
zero-solar-wind period means that the spacecraft crossed an
intact portion of the tail. If so, Jupiter's magnctotail is at least
10,(X)0 Jupiter radii in length, compared with about I ,000 earth
radii for earth's magnctotail. Saturn should enter Jupiter's mag-
nctotail every 20 years. When that happens-as it will next
in April 1981 Saturn's outer radiation belt should be disturbed.
Spacecraft may attempt to monitor evidence of that event.
In addition, when Pioneer 10 crossed the Jovian magnctotail,
it was 6 degrees-about 100 million kilometers at that distance
from the sun -above the plane of the ecliptic. Pioneers 10 and
I I have both detected enough solar wind turbulence at Jovian
distances and beyond to account for the wind's blowing the
magnctotail "upward" by that amount.
Another origin for the moon
No Lunar Science Conference, such as the one at NASA's
,Johnson Space Center in Houston two weeks ago (SN: 3/27/76,
p. 196), would be complete without a new theory of the origin
of' the moon. A key constraint on such theories, according to
A.G.W. Cameron and W.R. Ward of the Center of Astrophysics
in Cambridge, Mass., has to he the ' ' abnormally large" specific
angular momentum of the earth moon system compared with
the other planets in the solar system. At an early stage, when
the moon was close to the earth, most of the angular momentum
resided in the earth's spin, a spin, they suggest, presumably
imparted to the protoearth by a collision with a major secondary
body possibly as massive as Mars.
The protoearth and the secondary body, they theorize, both
had iron cores and silicate outer layers. The silicates would
have vaporized and blown off, while the iron would have
fragmented and collapsed hack to the earth (thus accounting
for the still-unexplained paucity of metallic iron on the moon),
leaving the silicates to condense into a disklike ring similar
to that proposed in the past by A.E. Ringwood of the Australian
National University. The disk would then condense into the
moon.
The resulting moon would be deficient in volatile elements
(as Apollo data indicate), because most of the fine grains into
which the volatiles condensed would have been driven com-
pletely out of the system by the rebound energy following the
Approved For Release 2001/03/26
APRIL 3, 1976
Cameron estimates about 2 tot which is not inconsistent with
recently revised lunar heatllov. measurements.
This theory, say the authors ipplies only to a planetary body
such as the earth, where the scape velocity is sufficient to
vaporize silicates. "If a similar large collision happened in the
late stages of' accumulation of '?enus," they report, "the orbit
of any satellite formed would have decayed into the planet long
ago.''
Safer facility sought for moonrocks
With interest in the Apollo Irutar samples still high and with
no return visits yet in sight, htnar researchers are seeking an
improved curatorial facility to t=rovide safer storage and more
workspace for the priceless t- ks. Participants at the Lunar
Science Conference in March NN -re signing petitions in support
of funding for the facility. Fluids were not approved by the
House of Representatives but hoe been endorsed by the Senate
space committee. The proposal facility, an addition to the
present one at Johnson Space enter, would he designed to
resist flooding and other advery environmental characteristics
of the area.
Five new satellites iii orbit
Five separate U.S. space satellites, representing both military
and civilian interests, have beci launched into orbit recently,
four of them aboard a single it), ket.
Two Naval Research Laboratory satellites, SOI.RAD (SOLar
RADiation) I I A and I I B, were cnt aloft March 14 to measure
the sun's X-ray, ultraviolet and proton emissions as well as
solar wind fluxes. Since sot.RAi, I was successfully orbited on
June 22, 1960, the ongoing pr,gram has provided reams of
data, including such milestone as the passage of SOI.RAD 8
through an eclipse shadow ovc, Greece in 1966. Part of the
solar-flare alert network, SOI.RAtt 10 was standing watch during
the Apollo lunar missions and Liter during Skylab. The fittest
satellites in the series will pros ,,le data to a system that uses
solar X-ray 11ux to help predict the duration and intensity of
fadeouts in shortwave radio con,ntunications.
The same Titan IIIC rocket fiat carried the SOLRAD probes
also lofted a pair of Lincoln Laboratory Experimental Satellites,
LES 8 and 9, built at the mrr I;t.-ility for the U.S. Air Force.
Powered by nuclear generators rather than conventional batteries
or solar cells, the devices are hE'lping to evaluate techniques
of ''satellite survival and depet.dability in a hostile environ-
ment," using such aids as signal processing circuits designed
to resist electronic jamming.
In the private sector, the secon;t of RCA Corp.'s commercial,
domestic communications satclbmc s, Satcom 11, was launched
March 26 to provide voice, teL vision and data relay for the
contiguous United States and Alaska. Satcom 1, launched Dec.
12, is now in synchronous or1.1 over the equator at about
119?W, due south of Los Angrlcs. Satcom II was aimed at
about 135?W, south of .Juneau, ,laska.
Last man on the moon to retire
Irony. It was on the first clay ,f this year's Lunar Science
Conference that NASA announced the July I retirement of veteran
astronaut Eugene A. Cernan -the last man on the moon. Cer-
nan, who walked in space during lemini 9 and flew the Apollo
10 lunar module to within 10 rides of the moon's surface,
followed astronaut Harrison II. :-hmitt up the I,M ladder as
they prepared to return to earth aboard Apollo 17 from the
moon's Sea of Serenity.
Of the 12 men who have walk 'd on the moon, only three,
after Cernan, will still he with N. ,SA: Alan Bean (Apollo 12),
David Scott (Apollo 15) and John Young (Apollo 16), and only
Bean and Young remain on flight .-sstatus.
CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080040-0
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ewgllliak
Wadding Galleries
,
,
Of all the frontiers science has yet to
conquer, of all the mysteries it has yet
to unravel, one of the most exciting and
possibly the most important is the still
uncharted human brain. Rising to meet
this challenge are thousands of researchers
in a number of diverse fields, each coming
at the brain from a slightly different angle.
Neuroscientists, brain anatomists, elec-
trophysiologists, biochemists and other
specialists in the physical sciences are all
probing the brain in attempts to under-
stand what it is and how it works. But
investigations of the brain itself do not
give the whole picture. Mapping the brain
from an entirely different but equally valid
perspective are the behavioral scientists
who hope to get a better understanding
of the human brain by examining not what
it is but what it produces human behav-
ior.
Along these lines, an investigation was
conducted last summer among the Inuit
or Eskimo people of Baffin Island in
northeastern Canada. The project,
directed by anthropologist Solomon H.
Katz of the University Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania, dealt specifi-
cally with one of the most fascinating and
fastest growing areas of brain research,
cerebral asymmetry or hemispheric dom-
inance. The researchers (including an-
The right h Hemisphere of the
human ht'ain has special quali-
ties. B I?ain specialists,
anthropologists and other
researchers pool their
evidence to delineate them.
Inuit soapsto,:'
carving: "Wrr=uan,
a psychiatrist) studied the environment, the k it hemisphere can impair speech or
lifestyle, socialization processes, art ob- produce aphasia. Damage exclusively to
jccts, eye movements and hand use of the the i ,ht hemisphere does not usually
Inuits and found what appear to be im- disrupt linguistic abilities but can lower
portant correlations between all of these pcrfo~mance in spatial tasks, simple inu-
and the activity of the brain's right hemi- sical bilitics, recognition of familiar oh-
sphere. jcct, nd faces and bodily self awareness.
To the naked eye, the halves of the Sitrce these discoveries were made,
human brain look almost like mirror and specially in the past 20 years, the
images of each other, but for more than whop- field of research into the differing
100 years it has been known that the right lunch Ins of the hemispheres has blos-
and left hemispheres function differently. somcd. It was in 1953 that Roger W.
In 1861, Pierre Paul Broca, physical an- Spenv began his far-reaching "split-
thropologist and a founder of modern brain research. Working with Ronald E.
brain surgery, localized the center of ar- Meycis at the California Institute of
ticulate speech in an area of the left frontal Technology, Sperry performed split-brain
cortex now known as Broca's area. In operci ons on cats. The corpus callosurn,
1874, Carl Wernicke discovered a sensory the handle of nerve fibers that connects
speech center in the left hemisphere. It the li cinispheres, was surgically severed,
is concerned with the comprehension of and the sensory inputs from the eyes were
language and is now known as Wernicke's rearranged so that each eye fed informa-
area. Lesions in these two portions of the tion tee only one hemisphere (instead of
left hemisphere were found to cause to N,ih as is normally the case). After
various types of aphasia, the loss or im- rcco':. ry from surgery, the animals were
pairment of the ability to use words as taught to solve various visual problems
symbols or ideas. with me eye (and hemisphere) or the
Speech is only one ability that the othe? With the left eye blindfolded, the
hemispheres do not have in common. cat learned with its right eye and hemi-
People who have suffered neural damage sphere only. When retested with the
to one or the other hemisphere show a blindfold switched to the other eye, the
number of behavioral differences that have cat ,howed no signs of having learned.
helped researchers delineate functional After the corpus callosurn was severed,
other anthropologist, a sycholo ist and r a am a t o v d now what the
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218 SCIENCE NEWS, VOL. 109
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cer. etbwafivm
Clinical and experimental evidence along with anthropological data are outlining the separate ,rr+nctions of the hem'
right was learning and vice versa. stance, is communicated to the opposite Because nn,,st people are ded (left
These split-brain experiments showed side of the brain (and then hack and forth brained), rod bec.nuse " .,ech centers
that the hemispheres of the brain can and hack and forth), making the seizure are almo::: always; iocL ted in the left
function independently when surgically much more severe. In some of the worst hemisphcss,, that hemisphere has usually
separated. Once this was demonstrated, it of these cases, the split-brain operation been con.rdcred "dominant" while the
became possible to use the split-brain has been used to contain the epileptic right hemio.phere has been called "minor"
technique to investigate various aspects of activity to only one hemisphere. or "quiet. (Approximately 10 percent of
cerebral organization. But cats don't talk, It is these split-brain patients who have all people ire left handed. About half of
and true cerebral asymmetry is not thought added greatly to our growing knowledge these arc Thought to he truly biologically
to exist in animals (though recent evidence of the specific functions of the hemi- left hande,i That is, their speech centers
suggests the possibility of hemispheric spheres. Sperry and others have reported are locat(kT in the right hemisphere.)
specialization in some monkeys and that the left hemisphere is involved in But the I, It hemisphere does not always
songbirds). It was not until the split-brain logical, analytical, linear and sequential control, arrd there appear to be degrees
procedure was used on humans that it (especially time-bound) thought processes of donin,rduce. The amount of right hemi-
became possible to be more exact in de- and specifically mathematical and Iinguis- sphere activation seems to vary from in-
scriptions of the differing functions of the tic abilities. The right hemisphere is in- dividual . individual. This is where lat-
right and left hemispheres of the human volved in spatial relations, musical (tonal oral eye m+wement (rt:M) comes in. When
brain. qualities), artistic, simultaneous (not con- asked a gw.?stion, people will often glance
In the intact brain, constant communi- strained by time) and holistic thought slightly t1: the right or to the left before
cation must be maintained between the processes. answeriw, The direction of this initial
hemispheres because each side controls Brain damage and surgical techniques gaze is u,rrught to he an indication of
only one half of the body, the opposite have been important in snapping the brain, hemisphenc activity. Investigators have
half. If the left hemisphere decides to take but there are more subtle approaches. found th,o right i.t:M's (left hemisphere)
it walk, this decision must be signaled not Handedness and eye movements have are usually associated with verbal and
only to the right side of the body but to been found to be fairly reliable signs of sequential processes while left i.i:M's
the right hemisphere-which in turn acti- hemispheric activation. Since the brain (right hemisphere) are usually related to
vates the left side of the body and pro- seems to have two "minds" that can spatial t,e ks. Recent research has also
duces coordinated walking. The connec- operate independently and differently, it linked ih, right hemisphere with emo-
tion between the hemispheres is made has been assumed that one hemisphere tional pro, cases (SN: 10/18/75, p. 244),
through the corpus callosum, but this ar- most be dominant. Depending on the ac- and there are indications that the right
rangement does not always work to the tivity involved, one hemisphere or the hemisphere may be involved in such
brain's advantage. An epileptic seizure other must take the lead and maintain things as -reativity and intuition. Medita-
originatingApproveins or F elease 2001/03/26~~ :eCIA-RDP9t6 tion, livimosis and drug (alcohol,
219
APRIL 3, 1976
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Katz uses vi- Iik, the Arctic, which demands a high
deotape to degree of visuospatial ability for survival.
record the eye In short, says Katz, it would appear that
movements thee:: right hemisphere functions would he
and hand use mule highly developed in Eskimos than
of Inuit in modern urban populations.
carvers at I Pre Eskimo language also reflects it
work. Left high degree of spatial, right hemispheric
hand (right orientation. Linguistic studies rate it as
hemisphere) being, the most synthetic of languages.
positions Ann-rican English is at the other end of
sculpture while the same scale and is rated as the most
detailed work analytic (left hemisphere).
is done with l lie Inuit people arc also known for
right hand. their soapstone and whalebone sculptures,
marijuana and cocaine) have also been
mentioned in association with right hemi-
sphere activity. It has been suggested, for
instance, that some types of drug use may
be related to attempts to temporarily free
the right hemisphere from the left's dom-
inance in order to produce states of
consciousness associated with the right
hemisphere. "Spaced out" is a term that
applies. And in typical right hemisphere
fashion, it offers an integrated impression
rather than an analytical description of a
state of mind.
It seems likely, says Katz, "that,
depending on the activity, normally the
brain selectively uses one or the other
hemisphere more or less during the per-
formance of various motor activities. In
a sense, while we are carrying out one
activity, we may be selectively screening
out another perhaps as a child who when
spoken to in the midst of daydreaming
hears the words but does not know what
has been said. Perhaps only in unusual
circumstances do we break through to use
both hemispherical modes in focused, co-
ordinated fashion, as in a flash of insight,
as when Archimedes said 'Eureka!' When
this occurs, there is certainly a great deal
of exhilaration, a new kind of high
point an `epiphany,' as James Joyce
once called it."
Another line of evidence (still some-
what circumstantial) has to do with pat-
terns of human cognition as seen in dif-
ferent societies. It may be possible, says
Katz, to carry out cross-cultural studies
of practices that reflect upon the theme of
asymmetries in cerebral function. All we
have to do, he explains, is determine if
various societies have information in their
belief systems about the kinds of behav-
iors expected to he associated with left and
right hemispheric functions. Katz has
drawn up a list of such behaviors based
on the anthropological literature (see
/,vcoN, vol. 10, no. 1, 1975, a publica-
tion of the University of Chicago). In
general, he found the left hand and side
of the body (right hemisphere) to he asso-
ciated with the symbolic, ritualistic, mys-
...11.11-1-1 ,,...... potent, tare- my he nighty aua nrvc in an environment c it f( on page 223
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wocab.I cuts, lithographs and tapestries.
'['fit!, artwork has been described as ''vo-
luptuous, symbiotic and timeless in char
acte1.'' Figures on tapestries and in lith-
ognrphs are often seen floating helter-
skelter without apparent linear or three
dimensional analytic orientation. 't'his art
(especially the sculpture) not only pro-
vide-" additional evidence for the limit's
spatial abilities but also affords re
searchers a unique opportunity to observe
people carrying out work that demands
tremendous spatial skills. "Hence," says
Kat . "by observing and recording Ivi-
dcotapingi how the stone carvers use their
hands and eyes in carrying out their work,
we,. rn determine if the special spatial and
syntactic abilities resident in the right
hem sphere are playing an important role
in the creativity expressed in their carv-
ingr, '
Vile the researchers have not finished
anatvcing all of their records, several clear
u. findings have emerged that are highly
sug;"-stive of a specific role for the right
scendcntal, supernatural, evil, profane, henu'.phere. Among the Inuit carvers (all
foreign and alien. The right hand is typi- of whom were right handed), the left hand
cally associated with social order, politics, cradles the work, moves it into new posi-
organization, social system, morality, tionr. and feels its progress while the right
goodness, sacred, explicitly verbal, math- hand lrrecisely carves the details and holds
erratical and ordered. the ..rrious carving tools. liven when a
Katz admits that such a Iist of behaviors tool ould he placed clown, the left hand
related to one hemisphere or the other is carried out the repositioning of the stone
only intuitive at present but suggests that in sp.rce. Also, as predicted, there was it
anthropological studies will at least pro- strik ug preponderance of holding the
duce hypotheses for testing by neuropsy- stoma in the left visual field (right hemi-
chologists. And with that as background, spher, ).
he and his colleagues set out to study "1'h, se observations suggest hemispheric
cerebral asymmetry among the Inuits in synrrrrctry or at least a high degree of
Frobisher Bay and Lake Harbor. (The cooperation between the hemispheres-
research was supported by William and Kati finds an "almost perfect relationship
Jane Hitchcock of New York.) bete:.,-it the right hand doing the detailed,
11' variations in cognitive style empha- anal tical kinds of activities and the left
sizing one kind of thinking over another hand doing all the spatial and touch activ-
are possible, says Katz, one of the most ides. The Inuit artists produce some
likely groups manifesting orientation to phcnamenal representations, he says, with
right hemispheric functions would he the the left hand doing some remarkable
Inuit Eskimos. They are known for their thinpr.
unusual gestalt (integrated) abilities, such Specific conclusions from these obser-
as drawing accurate maps of their tern- vatiorrs are hard to reach at present, but
torics. They seem to have a sort of sym- there, ire some interesting implications.
biotic feeling of oneness with their cnvi- The huuit environment, language and cer-
ronment and have traditionally depended taro ocial behaviors (such as their em-
on their well-documented ability to find phasic, on teaching by demonstration
their way out of the most incredible cir- rather than by verbal instruction) all
cumstances. Such abilities would proba- scannrgly combine to foster right hemi
220 SCIENCE NEWS, VOL. 109
 Approved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080040-0
Off TPE sEM
Don't Let Toxic
Chemicals Go
To Your Head
Day after day scientific labs churn out
more devastating information about the
toxic potential of the 50,000 drugs, 36,-
000 pesticides, 7,000 food additives and
hundreds of thousands of other chemicals
in the American environment. Vinyl
chloride, heptachlor, chlordane, DDT,
menopausal estrogens, Red No. 2 cause
cancer; sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide
and photooxidants trigger asthma and
heart attacks; birth control pills induce
stroke; cigarettes lead to emphysema and
lung cancer--ad nauseam. If you're con-
cerned about what all these chemicals are
doing to you, take heart; this disseminator
of the bad news worries, too. In fact, her
head is reeling from a toxic chemicals
overload!
If you think I'm kidding, consider some
of the anxieties that have run through my
head in the course of a day. First oil', I
crawl out of bed, my thoughts turning to
the aroma and taste of freshly ground and
brewed coffee. Yum. Then I think-uh,
oh-not more than two cups. Otherwise
I might be courting bladder cancer, peptic
ulcers and heart disease. As I make my
way to my little kitchenette, a cockroach
invariably greets me. I reach for my trusty
pesticide can and let him have it, wonder-
ing what chronic pesticide exposure is
doing to my brain and nervous system.
In the bathroom I down some vitamin
C pills to ward oil a cold I'm getting and
to counter the extra stress I expect that
day. Then I recall that I took some aspirin
earlier and that the vitamin C might keep
the aspirin from being eliminated from my
hody. Now it's oil to work. As I pass the
District of Columbia Lung Association
building, a sign in the window reminds
me that the air pollution index is dan-
gerously high. Now 1 wish I'd taken a
vitamin E pill to counter the smog.
Comes lunchtime-must make sure that
I cat enough protein, vitamins, minerals
and unsaturated fats to prime my liver
enzymes so that they rid my body of
dangerous foreign chemicals. And enough
raw vegetables and whole grain products
to expedite waste products through my
body and avoid rectal cancer. After work
I hold my breath as a bus expels toxic
fumes in my face. Back in my apartment
I reach for a cocktail. Too late I remember
that I just took an antihistamine, and that
it enhances the depressive effects of alco-
hol, causing drowsiness, mental dullness
'
t
that the Its.h contained dangerously high
levels of polychlorinated hiphenyls
(t'CR's). ?cry young and old persons do
not have lie same liverenzyme defenses
against I is chemicals that the general
population does. Some persons were horn
with ,enciically defective liver enzymes.
Improper diet can also impair the liver
enzymes 1 do advocate taking reasonable
precautions against toxic chemicals: eat-
ing a 'n. holesomc diet, e.g. natural,
whole giam cereals instead of those lar-
ded with sugar and additives; telling the
cigar smoker in the no-smoking section
of the Mcvroliner where to get oil; riding
a hike insicad of driving. (I once was the
only per