Edinburgh Science Festival Opens with Writer's Vision of Mars A

SCIENCE & HUMAN INTEREST

  Edinburgh, Scotland -- The same man who forecast satellite communication in
1945 and was mocked when he predicted man would land on the moon before the
year 2000 told those attending opening day of the world's largest science
festival that humans will one-day live on Mars.



  Speaking to the festival in Edinburgh over a telephone link in his home in
Sri Lanka, writer Arthur C. Clarke, renowned for his knack of predicting the
course of space technology, told his listeners "Science and technology are
the two main driving forces shaping our future. Far more so than politics or
ideology, important though these are."



  The science fact and fiction writer spent most of his 20-minute phone call
dealing with his newest vision -- the "greening" of the planet Mars so that
it could support life. "There is certainly no life on Mars at the moment,"
the British-born author said. "But there may have been and there certainly
could be in the future."



  All the elements were there, but the planet was horribly cold. Clarke
outlined possibilities for creating "a beneficial greenhouse effect" so that
life in the open would be possible. Giant satellite mirrors focused to
deflect the sun's rays onto selected parts of Mars was one option, he said.
"It could take a hundred years, it could take a thousand, but it will be
done."



  Clarke said he did not envisage mass migration from Earth, but there would
be scientific colonies and it was essential plans were made now to establish
them. Clarke, 76, whose script for Stanley Kubrick's film "2001 - A Space
Odyssey" won an Oscar in 1967, has been honored by the United Nations and
numerous learned bodies. When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon in
1969, the United States said Clarke "provided the essential intellectual
drive that led us to the moon."



  Up to a quarter of a million people are expected to visit the Science
Festival during its three-week run at nearly 40 venues in the Scottish
capital.



  The festival's lectures, family activities, tours and at least 20
conferences will touch on subjects including the design of the golf club of
the future, computer identification of bank robbers, and protection from
cancer.