Think Tank

Ginseng power

If there has been a quest more prolonged than man's search for the Fountain of Youth, it is his quest for a proved sexual stimulant.

Many things has he drunk, chewed, sniffed and injected along the way, ranging in effectiveness from useless to fatal. Rumors have arisen about discoveries of the ultimate substance, only to be disproved by the failure of the substance to make the slightest bit of difference either in prolonging life or in increasing sexual drive.

But among the rumors and fads and gadgets that have passed through the screening process of history, one modest plant has maintained its mystery, its credentials, its rep.

Ginseng. Strange and wonderful herb of the Orient.

The legendary voodoo queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau, is said to have chewed the gnarled brown root to heighten her sexual and occult powers. Generations of Chinese swore by it as a prolonger of life and a preventer of illness. An ancient Hindu treatise claims that it helps bring forth "the seed that is poured into the female . . . the strength of the bull it bestows on him" who ingests it.

Now, after centuries of hearsay, modern science may have proved, once again, that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool ancient Chinese wise men.

According to a report recently issued by the Pharmacological Committee of the U.S.S.R. Ministry of Health, ginseng may conceivably be classified as both a sexual stimulant and a life prolonger.

Soviet scientists say Siberian ginseng meets all the requirements for what they call an adaptogen--a nontoxic substance that will increase the all-round resistance of an organism to disease and stress. But perhaps of greater interest to millions of fun-loving Americans is the fact that ginseng also stimulates hormonal production.

In tests on animals fed ginseng, compared with control groups that received none, the results clearly indicated that something was happening: Bees gave more honey; cows gave more milk; chickens laid more eggs; mice were able to withstand higher and lower surrounding temperatures; and rats lived 20 percent longer. In elaborate tests of fatigue levels in mice, those given ginseng performed an average of 70 percent longer before collapse than those not given ginseng.

The Soviet researchers then decided to test ginseng on humans and selected a group of telegraph operators, whose jobs require a considerable capacity for concentration, coordination and physical endurance. Those taking ginseng showed a measurably improved performance, displaying finer coordination, better physical and mental reflexes and increased stamina.

The next guinea pigs were Soviet athletes, who reported increased vitality and endurance, as well as improved reflexes. Ginseng is now part of the Soviet cosmonauts' diet.

The theory about how ginseng works as a hormone stimulant leads back to 1924, when Russian scientist Alexander Gurwitch discovered a peculiar type of ultraviolet radiation that caused cell division in plants and animals. Those rays were called mitogenetic radiation, or M rays.

Some years later, a Russian-born biologist living in Paris discovered that ginseng emits a kind of M ray that has a marked effect on the endocrine glands, stimulating them and, through them, the entire glandular system. Since ginseng, before its transplantation to other parts of the world, originally grew in radioactive soil in remote mountain forests throughout Asia, it was postulated that the herb absorbs radioactivity from the soil.

As for its properties as a longevity elixir, the answer is not quite so simple and requires a little knowledge about the cause of aging.

Science has discovered that each cell contains a genetic code used to reproduce identical new cells and maintain youth. Research suggests that aging is partly due to changes in the cells' reproductive capabilities, caused by oxidation in the blood that forms what are called free radicals.

A free radical is a fragment of a molecule that has been torn from its source and joins other molecules that it can damage, or among which it can even cause a chain reaction of molecular disintegration, reducing antibodies, killing cells and creating hormonal imbalance.

In various experiments, Russian scientists have successfully used ginseng as an antioxidant to reduce free radicals and prolong life in animals.

Since 1961, it has been illegal to import ginseng into the U.S. in any form other than a tea. However, the rule never has been vigorously enforced and ginseng has always been available in health-food stores in tablets, encapsulated powder, liquid extract and as the root itself. But within the past two years, the health-food industry has been the object of increased policing by the FDA. Among substances on which it is expected to crack down is ginseng, most of which comes from South Korea and the Soviet Union.

If so, the fabled root that has become popular with many Americans will be in short supply, shooting up its price and possibly creating a black market. Since ginseng already costs between five dollars and $13 in various quantities and forms, it may soon join coffee in the category of unaffordable pleasures. --Walter L. Lowe, Jr.

Assembly-Line Laser

Wyn Kelly Swainson set out to design a device that would make perfect copies of sculptures and other objects d'art. He succeeded so well that his computer-controlled, laser-operated copier will duplicate or manufacture in plastic any object he wants. In doing so, he may have revolutionized industrial production all over the world. He may even have opened the gateway to the teleportation of objects. That is because Swainson's invention, for which patents were issued by the Government in May, allows for the duplication of three-dimensional shapes without the need for human hands to carve, build or turn on a lathe any piece of material. Two laser beams are made to intersect at points within a plastic substance. When they meet, they cause the plastic to harden. If the computer tells the lasers to intersect at every point that describes, say, Michelangelo's David, the hardened plastic will be a perfect copy, enlarged or reduced, if you wish. All you have to do is wash away the softer surrounding plastic to get your copy of David. Or, better yet, cut the soft part open and use it as a mold to make as many Davids as you want.

It's easy to see how copies or molds of complex gears or other machine parts could be produced as well, and that is what Swainson sees as the primary role for his invention. As for teleportation, try to think of the laser copier as the three-dimensional analog of television (which transmits information having two dimensions--height and width). Once you have a device that can accurately replicate a three-dimensional object (height, width and depth) anywhere in the world, it becomes simply a matter of combining elements more complex than plastic. The next step could be to aim the lasers into metal-salt solutions that are made to "crystallize" into actual metal products. Theoretically, anything is possible, as long as you can describe it accurately in terms of shape and composition.

But even without going that far, Swainson's invention represents an enormous improvement over present methods of producing parts for industry. Skilled operators now must use complex and costly lathes and machine tools to turn out complex dies and molds. The laser copier would give total control over the design and finished shape of a product to the designer rather than to the machine that translates the design into finished materials. And you don't need a skilled labor force or sprawling factories to turn out tractor parts or airplane engines. The social and political implications are obvious, especially for the less developed nations of the Third World, which are usually rich in raw materials but poor in high-investment industry (such as machine shops and a skilled labor force). Swainson, a Berkeley-based English-lit graduate, is well aware of these social ramifications. "Trying to invent novel social uses is as difficult as inventing the technology," he says. "Can I stop the Army from using it to make fragmentation grenades? I don't know."

Among Swainson's advisors are E. F. Schumacher, author of Small Is Beautiful, and Sally Goodman, the widow of social critic Paul Goodman. The inventor is also discussing his plans for the copier with Battelle-Columbus Laboratories of Ohio. Battelle is a large nonprofit research lab that does advanced work in, among other things, laser optics and computer/machine interfaces. The people there are enthusiastic about Swainson's work and hope to find funding to allow development to start as soon as possible. Other large firms are rumored to be interested as well.

The basic outline for Swainson's laser copier was made in 1963 by Arthur C. Clarke, whose astoundingly prescient essay Profiles of the Future describes a "general purpose production line, capable of producing anything merely from a change in instructions." He foresaw the day when a machine would spin out solid objects by organizing simple elements the way a loom spins beautiful and complex designs in fabrics from simple threads. Perhaps the day is fast approaching when a likeness of a Playmate will flash instantly around the globe in all her three-dimensional glory.

Vitamin Bee

Pollen, which is the male sperm cells of flowering plants, is collected by female bees and fed to male bees that need to get it up for the queen of the hive. These days, it is also being eaten by athletes who want to get it up for the 60-yard dash or the 10,000-meter run and who see pollen as a source of quick energy and increased endurance. Naturally, once the news of Olympic Gold Medal winners' and professional basketball players' using bee pollen began to get around, health-food stores' sales soared. True believers claim that the substance cures colds and makes their sex life better, and so, not surprisingly, a tempest in a beehive is raging as scientists and athletes debate the merits of pollen.

One thing on which they do agree is that it is not harmful in any known way. While bee pollen has been eaten for centuries and is generally conceded to be an excellent source of protein, little notice of its other supposed virtues was taken until after the 1972 Olympic games. The Finish team, including its star runner, Lasse Viren (who won two Golds in 1976), swore that pollen gave it the racer's edge. U.S. track teams began picking up on the fad and, in 1975, swimmers at Louisiana State University were used in a rigorous study of the effects of pollen. When they were measured against two control groups, no improvements in metabolism, training or performance times were found. Still, no one denies the important psychological effects that can derive from an athlete's believing he is stronger or faster than his opponents, and no amount of scientific naysaying will keep sales of bee pollen from zooming once the public is convinced of its benefits.

Pollen is not inexpensive. Tablets containing 200 to 500 milligrams sell for about five dollars per 100, with five to ten tablets a day being taken by some athletes. Pollen also comes in the form of pellets, made of half a million or so grains of pure pollen, but consumers seem to shy away from their unpleasant, slightly rank taste.

Some claim it does more than improve health and endurance. Dr. Charles Turner, athletic trainer at Long Island University, says that since 1975 he has treated 189 swollen knees and ankles by applying hot towels soaked in pollen to the areas. In only two cases, he says, did the swelling fail to go down, and positive results usually appeared within 20 minutes.

Given this kind of success (or hype, depending on your point of view), it's no wonder that Bee Power T-shirts are appearing on sprinters and health-food freaks are willing to pay the equivalent of $45 a pound for little grains gathered from the hind legs of female bees. For them, it's the bees' knees.

Big Hit--No Runs

Having conquered malaria and smallpox, scientists may now be on their way toward curing another dreaded tourist ailment. It's known as Montezuma's revenge, the Aztec two-step or just plain turista. By any name, the diarrhea that strikes travelers in foreign countries is often more than an inconvenience--the accompanying nausea and cramps can ruin a vacation or a business trip. But help may be on the way in the form of a thick pink liquid that's been around since 1904--Pepto-Bismol.

After a series of lab and field tests, scientists at the University of Texas have concluded that the over-the-counter medicine "emerges as a quite reasonable treatment" for turista when given to stricken travelers, and they intend to find out if it can prevent the illness altogether if taken regularly as soon as a trip begins. The "field" of the field tests was Mexico, a common battleground for bouts with the malady; and when victims--29 U. S. students--were given an ounce of the pink potion every 30 minutes for four hours, "a significant reduction" in the illness occurred within 24 hours.

Drs. Herbert Du Pont and Charles Ericsson of the university's medical school in Houston singled out Pepto-Bismol by name as an effective treatment for turista because its active ingredient, bismuth subsalicylate, alone does not have the same beneficial effects.

Norwich Pharmacal Corporation, Pepto-Bismol's maker, wouldn't reveal any specific plans to advertise it as a cure for turista, noting merely that its product "has been marketed as an antidiarrheal for years." Just the same, you might keep your eyes open for a billboard campaign along the Rio Grande.

Cia Weathermen

Although the harsh winter of 1976-1977 caught a lot of people unprepared, our Central Intelligence Agency was not among them. The only problem was that nobody was listening in May of 1976, when it declassified a 36-page report titled "A Study of Climatological Research as It Pertains to Intelligence Problems." Not only did the report warn that climatic changes were taking place and that severe economic problems could result from a cold winter but it also pointed out that many nations, including the U. S., would be victims of their shortsighted, head-in-the-sand perspectives as food and energy resources dwindled. "With global climatic-induced agricultural failures in the early Seventies, the stability of many governments has been seriously threatened," the CIA said. Not only do Americans fail to perceive the danger, the study continued, but no method exists to bring such matters to the attention of policy makers in Washington.

That the CIA should be preparing weather reports might come as a surprise to a lot of people, but it is just one example of its far-flung interests. Other CIA reports that have been declassified and are available to the public include such nifty titles as "Appearances of Soviet Leaders," "National Basic Intelligence Factbook," "China City Briefs" and a wall chart: "Socialist Republic of Vietnam Party and Government Structure." Although these reports are prepared for Government officials, they can be obtained from the Library of Congress. The good folks at the CIA will send you a list if you write to them. Go ahead--we dare you.

The Hole Truth

When Joe Mellen and Amanda Fielding, proprietors of a London art gallery called the Pigeonhole, decided to open their minds to some new experiences, they went about it literally. They had holes drilled in their heads. The operation, known as trepanning, is done to relieve pressure on the skull and to let more oxygen reach the brain. The results, according to what they told a Women's Wear Daily reporter, were significant. "A permanent high," said Amanda, as guests mingled at the Pigeonhole's openingnight party. "It gives me a permanent level of childhood in terms of consciousness," added Joe. As a way of sharing their boring experience, Joe and Amanda were exhibiting silk-screen prints taken from a film of their operations, along with some unrelated works by Andy Warhol. Bet Andy wishes he'd thought of that.

"Many nations would be victims of their shortsighted, head-in-the-sand perspectives as food and energy resources dwindled."