FOR ENTERTAINING SCIENCE, FIDDLE WITH THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND TINKER WITH THE
WEATHER

Electronic entertainment's jammed with ballistic Schwarzeneggers, aliens who
trade like Levantines, and robots who never heard of Asimov's laws. Sometimes
even video games, frenetic pace and all, go stale.

But science fact can kill silicon time just as easily as science fiction. To
prove the point, switch on your PC and take a tour of the solar system with ARC
Simulation Software's Dance of the Planets (IBM PC compatibles; to be honest,
the program all but requires a fast 386 PC and really does best on a 386
equipped with a math coprocessor). It may not be a game, but it's as big a
video kick as anything with a laser pistol.

Imagine your own super Voyager, a robotic explorer flashing through the solar
system snapping pictures from any place and any angle. Forget those stargazing
programs that display tiny dots, as if the sky were a pinpricked velvet screen.
Dance of the Planets sets worlds spinning on your screen, animated in enough
detail to let you watch Jupiter's Great Red Spot revolve, and see the seasons
change on Mars. More than 60 moons, 1,300 comets, and 4,600 asteroids populate
this electronic solar system, effectively offering nearly every known body and
pushing even 386 PCs to their processing limit in the bargain.

Stand anywhere on Earth, on any day from 4600 B.C. to A.D. 10000, and zoom in on
any planet or moon. Or see the sights from 270 astronomical units out. Magnify
the view up to 32,000 times and you can watch Saturn's rings turn, Jupiter's
moons flit across its surface on the screen, or even spot Pluto and Charon. For
a unique perspective, look at the solar system from far above or below the
ecliptic plane, a great grandstand for asteroid and comet watching.

It's easy to re-create historical comet flybys or see future close encounters
with asteroids. Watch the July 11 total solar eclipse or even slip on 3-D
glasses to plot Jupiter's flock of satellites. And when you've produced a
majestic trip through the system, record it to disk and play it back later like
a NASA video.

This is an outstanding simulation of orbital dynamics that not only holds your
attention but is as entertaining as anything that calls itself a game. For more
information contact ARC Simulation Software, Box 1974, Loveland, CO 80539; (303)
663-3223,

For a down-to-earth scientific diversion, Software Toolworks' Accu-Weather
Forecaster (Mac, IBM PC and compatibles) lets you tinker with the same
meteorological data that many television and radio stations use to predict
tomorrow's climate. A door to a sophisticated private meteorological database,
Forecaster may not put you on the six o'clock news, but it beats talking about
how cold it gets. And you don't have to know much more about the weather than a
TV meteorologist.

Select two ot the more than 900 available National Weather Service reporting
stations, decide how many other major stations Forecaster polls, and then pick
the information you want. The program dials the Accu-Weather database,
retrieves the data, and then builds charts, graphs, and maps-all automaticaily.

All this can make for information overload, but Forecaster's presentation also
makes it easy to understand which way the wind's blowing, or how the
temperature's failing. Similar to USA Today's graphs, color bar-style maps
illustrate current conditions. The nearly 150 TV-quality maps range from actual
satellite photos to color-enhanced radar images of storm cells sweeping across
the Plains. Some of the professional-quality maps and charts are updated in
real time, showing, for instance, lightning strikes as they happen.

You pay for the fun of watching the weather, though. Late-night calls to the
Accu-Weather database cost 10cts per minute, plus your long-distance charges.
The toll-free number costs more-19cts per minute. Add the $9.95 monthly minimum
and you can rack up some big bills fast. Even so, getting current conditions
and forecasting data takes only tour or five minutes in most cases, although
downloading the television-style maps takes a lot longer.

As fun as it is to play meteorologist, Accu-Weather can't model the weather.
You can't play with temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and tropical
winds, for instance, to create a hurricane and watch it surge across the coast.
Or observe the formation of a tornado. But Software Toolworks president Tom
Ligon finds such possibilities intriguing.

Dance of the Clouds? What stirring scientific fun that would be!