European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 14, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday september 14. 198b the stars and stripes Page 9 inventors Hope show will Zap Weirdo image Pasadena. Calif. A the craziest new gadgets May get the most attention Al he second annual invention convention this weekend but organizers Hope the show dispels the notion thai inventors Are Wacky. We re trying to stress High tech this year spokeswoman Suzy mu1lcry_ said monday a seems everybody pictures inventors As some kind of Long haired weirdos. And we re trying to change  we be got some High tech stuff that will blow your mind Mallory snid. A magnetic car that travels 200 Runph a lying boat an automatic squeeze handle screwdriver and a sound emitting chair that is supposed to provide inc equivalent of eight hours of sleep in 20 minutes Are among the 300 inventions that will be on exhibit. Another thing organizers Hope to change with the displays is the relatively Small number of americans marketing their creations said Stev Gnass a to Vurly Mills marketing consultant who runs inc convention. We think the convention is rekindling Amer Ica s creative spirit Gnass said. Inventors Are the underpinning of our economic future. Poli tics have never really done anything revolution Ary for people. It s been technology that s always put us ahead advanced  half he . Patents issued last year went to foreigners Gnass said. Simc 20,000 people Are expected to attend the four Day affair at the Pasadena cell or mall cry said. The convention starts with seminars and pan Els thursday and Chibi Lions arc open to the Public saturday and sunday. Also on tap arc More than 50 seminars for would be inventors. Panel speakers will include Yoshiro Naka Mals. Inventor of inc computer floppy disc and Jack Ryan who dreamed up the Barbie doll. Epa chief urges All Homes be tested for radon Gas Washington a contamination by residential radon appears to be More widespread than previously believed and serious enough to warrant test ing in every Home nationwide the head of the environmental Protection Agency said Lucsay. New surveys show particularly High Levels of the deadly odourless Gas in Minnesota North Dakota and Pennsylvania. The average Home in those slates contains radon above the Epa s guidelines according to figures released monday by the Epa and inc Public health service. On Abc to s Good morning America Epa administrator Lee m. Thomas said the Agency had believed radon was a major problem for several Yean but what this information shows us is that it is a problem in Many slates More states than we had thought. In addition the estimates of concentrations arc a Little higher than we had  the Epa has estimated radon caused lung cancers could be killing 20,000 people out of the nation s an Nual toll of 30,000 lung cancer deaths. And although the Epa has t changed its estimate that 10 percent of about 80 million Homes have radon above the guidelines the new surveys in seven states and on Indian lands in three states showed More than 29 percent of All Homes above the guidelines. Combined with the results of 10 slates surveyed Las year that Means one Home in four of the 12 million in the iwo surveys was above the Agency s guideline of 4 Piccou pics per liter said Rich Guimond head of the Epa radiation office. A Pico is on trillion la of a unit we think we be documented the problem enough to recommend that every Home be tested Thomas said at a news conference. Even if we Are off by a Factor of 0. Inc problem is severe enough so that we ought to do something about it said Mcmon Houk assistant surgeon Gener Al Houk said the health toll from radon probably exceeds by 10 times outdoor air pollution and physicians should learn about in to advise their patients. Radon is a radioactive Gas produced in inc decay of uranium found in All soil and Rock in at least Trace amounts. It is present in inc outdoor atmosphere nor Mally at a concentration about 0.5 percent of the Epa s 4-Picocuric action  Homes tend to concentrate radon indoors. Radon kills by leaving its own radioactive decay products in the lung irradiating the tissues for a life time. Smoking itself the major cause of lung cancer increases the effect of radon by 15 limes Houk said. Thomas said the Agency is studying the adoption of using outdoor background Levels As a goal for indoor programs. We have not Charcle Riard 4 Pic curies As Safe he said. At 4 Pic curies Epa officials think a lifetime Resi Dent increases his or her Chance of lung cancer by about i percent a risk level larger than any the Agency tolerates in its other programs. This extra risk is about equivalent to smoking half a pack of cigarettes per Day Guimond said. The Epa has certified that about 1,000 companies Are qualified to test far radon and the test can be done for As Little As s10, Thomas said. If action is needed a majority of Homes probably can be fixed for less than a ,000, Thomas said. What can be done depends on the House. Some Homes i ment Walls. _ to draw air from beneath basement slabs and discharge it outdoors. Still others might be helped by better ventilation stepping up the Exchange of indoor and out door air. Below is a list of the Stales surveyed after each stale is the percentage of Homes above 4 Picoc urics per liter and then the average concentration in that Siatt. Sur Veys were designed to be statistically sound and the Agency said there was a 95 percent Chance the True percentages would be within 3 percentage Points of the percentages Given. Alliona. 7 percent it it acutes pm Lam Indiana 56 pm can. 36. Massachusetts 24 percent 3.4. Minnesota. 46 percent 4 b. Missouri. To Nettra  panncyfvan4a, 3? percent i 2 North Dykeu. 63 percent. 7.0 Indian reservations i mlmoto1ft.wiiconun and Michigan. So per cant. 2,9. Slates. Burva Yukl task year Ira Alabama Colorado Connecticut. , Michigan Flode Island. Twin Natwa. Wisconsin and Wyoming sur Veys Ore planned rent year in Alaska. Iowa main. Nov Milco. Oho. Ver mom. Wait Guanla Aru Indian lands in a Milco. Cow ado. Norin Dakota. South Dakota and Low. Ca e on Epen ouse might Roqu ire a simple scaling of cracks i n base los. Others might require complicated systems Ai Sierra Nevada fire Levels nearly 100 Homes Lake Wildwood Calif. A an out of control wildfire zeroed in on hundreds of Rural dwellings in the rugged Sierra Nevada monday after leveling nearly 100 Homes and forcing the evacuation of at least 8.000 people. The warm dry winds that drove the tire across 35 Square Miles of terrain Cov ered Wilh Timber and Brush continued through monday night As sleep starved firefighters struggled to hold their own against the 70-foot-High Lames. At least 142 structures including 92 Homes were destroyed in an area about 60 Miles Northeast of Sacramento authorities said. Some of the Homes were valued at 11  preliminary estimate by the . Forest service put the loss in structures alone at More than $9 million. The figure was expected to climb much higher. Jim owner a state forestry spokes Man said continued stiff winds and Low humidity hampered firefighting "1 would say the fire will Burn actively overnight he said monday the Bate began Early sunday when a transient set fire to toilet paper. The Man was cited for burning without a permit and released authorities said. About 4,500 residents of the affluent Lake Wildwood area were forced from their Homes sunday and monday Aser Ratic winds shifted inc Blaze. At least 3,500 people have been evacuated fro the nearby communities of Smartville rough and ready and Penn Valley since sunday. The fire jumped Highway 20 an headed Southwest on monday threaten ing hundreds of scattered Rural dwellings and forcing the latest round of Evacula  arc hundreds Here and they a Forest service employee Walls past a buried Oul Hull of a ear near a levelled House in late Wildwood Calif., monday arc pouring in said red Cross worker Elizabeth quirk at the Nevada Union High school evacuation Center. The school buses arc bringing in senior Citi Zens and there Are campers and motor Homes in the parking  most schools were closed in the re Gion. Thick smoke made it unsafe to operate school buses and the red Cross convened at least three schools into temporary evacuation centers. By Early monday the fire had burned More than 20,000 acres or 35 Square Miles of Western Nevada county flames threatened the High technology crass Valley croup the county s largest employer with 1,000 workers. The fire reached three sides of the company s sprawling grounds and destroyed a Stor age shed. The company produces video equipment used at television stations and nukes special effects software for National television broadcasts. The Yuba county Board of supervisors met late monday in emergency ses Sion to declare the zone a local disaster area and expressed concern that the fire May threaten Beale fab near Marysville Home base for inc sr-71 Blackbird Long Range reconnaissance plane