Omni - where are they now? (Sept 1992)

Previous entries in the series: [May 1985] [Jan 1989] [July 1992]

What really struck me with this issue of Omni was that the page count is now down to 88, and the glossy feel is less. For example, the Continuum column is no longer on silver paper, which is fine by me. I can now read it without eye strain.

• Gurgle Once if You Can Hear This: a Continuum article discussing a new breakthrough in trying to detect hearing problems with new born babies. Up until this point, such hearing tests were expensive and sometimes inaccurate. Now along comes the portable Algo 1-Plus Infant-Hearing Screener from Natus Medical in Foster City, California.

  The machine uses analog-to-digital conversion chips, a microprocessor and pattern recognition technology to detect changes in infants electrical brain waves. The device sends a series of whisper-like 35 decibel sounds through foam-cushioned headphones placed over newborn babies ears. "Their ear drums vibrate, the neurons fire, and most of them sleep right through it".

  What's happening with this now? I found a report from 1996 validating the use of the hearing screener. My next search found a Natus Algo 1-Plus at the Scientific Equipment Liquidators. Uh oh. That's not good. But it looks like Natus Medical Inc. is still around, and selling a newer generation of their product (which is even more portable).

• Mealtime for Microbes: another Continuum article discussing how to deal with oil spills at sea using a new way of helping oil-eating microbes to digest the oil. The problem in the past was that a vast oil slick tends to "smother such oxygen-breathing microbes, slowing their progress drastically or rendering them altogether useless".

  Scientists at Lockheed Missile and Space Marine Systems Division in Sunnyvale, California, think they've solved this.

  The process called Prestine Sea uses an oil eating microbe called Marine-D, a fertilizer to supply nutrients not found in the oil, and a clay called Petro-Lock. The clay causes the oil slicks to curdle into chunky cakes, allowing the microbes to get to the surface oxygen to breath.

  Oil slicks treated with Prestine Sea become a solid rather than a liquid, making cleanup much more managable.

  So, what's happening now. Searching for "Prestine Sea" found nothing, but looking for "Marine-D" turned up the original Lockheed press release from January 1992, and a company called Elastec AmericanMarine selling a Hydraulic Operated Pressure Washer (HOP) using Marine D-10 (perhaps a 10th generative derivative of the original microbe?). Searching for "Petro-Lock" turned up a product of that name from Safetec of America.

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