WFS - May-June 2002 FUTURIST Tibs

A magazine of forecasts, trends, and ideas about the future
May-June 2002 Vol. 36, No. 3

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Author Index M-Z
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Top 10 Forecasts From Outlook 2002 Report

Tomorrow in Brief

Search for Life Focuses on Jupiter Moon
A possible NASA mission to Europa, a moon of the planet Jupiter, could yield humanity's first evidence of extraterrestrial life. The enormous force of Jupiter's gravity on Europa's surface keeps tides churning, warming the waters and creating settings that are hospitable to life, according to University of Arizona planetary scientist Richard Greenberg, a member of the imaging team for NASA's Galileo Jupiter-orbiter spacecraft. The tides have created cracks and ridges on Europa's surface, creating an environment with enough change and enough stability to encourage life and drive evolution. Europan life would likely resemble simple sea-dwelling organisms of Earth or ice-dwelling microbes such as those discovered in the Antarctic, according to Greenberg. A Europa Orbiter spacecraft might be launched in 2008 and arrive in 2010.
Source: University of Arizona, Office of Public Information, 888 North Euclid, Tucson, Arizona 85721. Web site www.uanews.org.

Fire Ants Threaten California
Invading fire ants, the vicious stinging insects that have devastated the U.S. South, are now moving into California. If they become established, they could cost Californians close to a billion dollars in medical expenses, veterinary treatments for pets, professional extermination, and repairs of damaged electrical and other equipment. Vineyards and orchards dependent on hand labor would be the most affected by the ants, which could also disrupt ecosystems, feeding on everything from insect larvae to reptiles. The red imported fire ants, invaders from South America, first appeared in California in 1997 and were discovered in Sacramento last year. The ants could establish themselves in 10 years, according to University of California, Davis, researcher Karen Jetter, who recommends a "quick and full response" to the threat.
Source: University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 1111 Franklin, Oakland, California 94607.

Cocoa Farming Empowers Women
Cocoa farming in Ghana is empowering women, reducing poverty, and benefiting the environment, according to a recent study of the Washington, D.C., based International Food Policy Research Institute. Ghanaian women traditionally cannot inherit property, but "gifting" of land--exchanging property rights for labor--is taking hold in cocoa farming, the report notes. As women attain property rights, their status and security will increase, as will their ability to meet their families' basic needs. Small-scale cocoa farming also uses intercropping and hillside cultivation, techniques that help sustain the environment and prevent soil erosion.
Source: International Food Policy Research Institute, 2033 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. Web site www.ifpri.cgiar.org.

Teaching Ethics via Sports
Participating in sports with the wrong kind of coaching could have devastating lifelong impacts on a child's moral development, argues Darren Treasure, a sports psychology specialist at Arizona State University. Good coaching defines success as mastering and improving personal skills rather than winning, and it holds the key to building good character, says Treasure. In a study of young Norwegian soccer players, Treasure found a clear link among mastery-oriented coaching, good sportsmanship, and a well-developed set of morals; kids with mastery-oriented coaching were more likely to do what is fair, less likely to intimidate opponents, and less likely to risk injuring others. Treasure is using these findings to help implement Arizona's "Pursuing Victory with Honor" program to improve high-school coaching.
Source: Arizona Interscholastic Association, 7007 North 18th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85020. Web site www.aiaonline.org.

The Bionic Man Cometh?
Bionic arms and legs will more closely resemble human body parts in the near future, predicts artificial-hand inventor William Craelius of Rutgers University. The key to humanlike bionics lies in the rapid improvements in human-machine communications, he says. Craelius is the biomedical engineer whose Dextra artificial hand was the first to allow a user's own nerve pathways to control the mechanical fingers. Miniaturization of transistors and other components is accelerating, offering hope that, "within the decade, the processing for complex bionic activity will be implantable in the brain or elsewhere in the body," says Craelius.
Source: Rutgers University, Department of University Relations, 83 Somerset Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901. Web site http://ur.rutgers.edu.

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