title: The Big Syphon
author: Lysucor, Leo
description: To the adult who questions: can humanity survive? Global warming, nuclear and toxic waste, religious genocides, ethnic cleansings, political corruption, drugs, solar flares: is there a way forward? This is a realistic action adventure which attempts to solve Earth's many problems. But will these gallant efforts instead pave the way to hell on earth? Must all these good intentions result in punishment? Is there room in today's world for altruistic endeavors, or must we all simply whimper as our environment collapses around us? Cynicism and greed pollute every effort, but what other alternative is there? Man must confront this quagmire of desolation and pour every neuron of passion into its possible resolution. Or is it the 'living Universe' that is against humankind; thumbing its nose at our feeble efforts? Is it laughing at our shallow, lustful lives? Understanding
  
  the growth and anguish of evolution, the wistful hope and frightening brutality of becoming civilized, our all-consuming passion for our family's future; will we allow apathy to simply snuff out our 'brief candle'? Are we 'but a sound and a fury signifying nothing'? We ponder these questions as we embark upon the scientific adventure of our millennium.
  