Diesel Zapping:
(sfx: cars)  
     DIESEL ENGINES NEVER CAUGHT ON TOO WELL WITH CARS, BUT TRUCKS, BUSES AND
SHIPS ALL USE DIESEL FUEL BECAUSE IT GETS MUCH BETTER MILEAGE.  BUT LIKE ALL ENGINES,
IT SENDS POLLUTION INTO THE AIR. FOR EXAMPLE, IT CREATES NITROUS OXIDE--WHICH ISN'T
DANGEROUS BY ITSELF BUT CAN SOMETIMES CONVERT INTO THE CHEMICAL NITRIC ACID
WHICH CAN CORRODE YOUR SKIN AND EYES.  NITROUS OXIDE IS ONE ATOM OF
NITROGEN BOUND UP WITH ONE ATOM OF OXYGEN.  BUT NITROGEN AND OXYGEN ARE 
PERFECTLY HARMLESS WHEN THEY'RE BY THEMSELVES, SAYS PHYSICIST MARTIN GUNDERSEN
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.  HE'S BEEN STUDYING HOW TO BREAK
DOWN THE NITROUS OXIDE INTO ITS COMPONENTS.  FIRST HE GOT HIMSLEF A USED
VOLKSWAGON GOLF.

     Gundersen: "we  found the cheapest car available that had a diesel engine in it, it
turned out to be really beneficial because the kind of chemistry that comes out of a
polluted engine is really hard to reproduce.

     THEN THEY BEGAN ZAPPING THE EXHAUST WITH HIGH VOLTAGE BURSTS OF
ELECTRONS. 

      "you inject electrons and they initiate a chemistry. . .w'ere currently trying to find
pathwasy for that sort of process to lead to breaking the NO into a nitrogen atom and
an oxygen atom.  and then finding ways for the oxygen atom to recombine to form
normal oxygen that we breathe and for the nitrovgen atoms to form the normal
nitrogen."

     THE EXTRA ELECTRSON GIVE THE ATOMS A BURST OF ENERGY--AS WELL AS ADDING
SOME RAW MATERIAL TO THE MIX.  IF GUNDERSON CAN DO IT RIGHT, THE ELECTRONS AND
PROTONS IN THE ATOMS WILL REARRANGE THEMSELVES FROM THE POLLUTING NITROUS
OXIDE INTO SOMETHING SAFER.  RIGHT NOW GUNDERSON HAD BUILT A MUFFLER-LIKE
SYSTEM THAT TREATS THE EXHAUST AS IT'S EXPELLED.  BUT EVENTUALLY HE'D LIKE TO SEE THIS
BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF A DIESEL ENGINE.