Internet Broadcast of "Everest Education Expedition" Takes Science and Exploration Enthusiasts to World's Rooftop

Business Wire, May 17, 1999

MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 1999--

Videoconferences between Tomorrow's Scientists and Today's

Telemedicine Pioneers on Mount Everest Will Be

Simulcast on the Internet on May 17th and May 18th

Science and adventure aficionados across America can see and hear how medical research and field science is conducted in the world's most extreme environment on May 17th and 18th when special videoconferences linking the E3 99 Everest Extreme Expedition(TM) 1999 team with science students are simulcast on the Internet via broadcast.com.

The "Everest Education Expedition" live videoconferences can be viewed in at http://webevents.broadcast.com/olympus/everestextreme99. The web events, sponsored by OLYMPUS America Inc., begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The videoconferences will enable hundreds of Long Island, New Haven and Los Angeles students and teachers to interact in real time with E3 99 team members at Mount Everest Base Camp, 17,500 feet above sea level. The E3 99 expedition, which arrived at Everest Base Camp on May 8, is researching the human body's response to living and working in high-stress, low-oxygen extreme environments, supported by some of the most advanced medical devices and communications technology ever deployed.

The "real-time" videoconferences are a highlight of a comprehensive educational program and curriculum sponsored by Olympus America, Inc. and St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center of Port Jefferson, N.Y., with participation by Yale University/NASA Commercial Space Center for Medical Informatics and Technology Applications (CSC/MITA). E3 99 team members Dan Biondi, senior vice president of OLYMPUS America's Scientific Equipment Division, and Dr. Nick Craig of St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center are returning from Mount. Everest to host the educational videoconferences.

A Complete Educational Curriculum Linked to the World's Rooftop

The "Everest Education Expedition" sessions will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET with an overview of the scientific aspects of the expedition and the geographical and cultural aspects of Nepal and Mount Everest, presented by Biondi and Craig. Students will learn about the telemedicine applications and technologies enabling the link with Mount Everest from E3 99 technical director Brett Harnett of Yale University/NASA CSC/MITA and Dr. Peter Angood, a member of the E3 99 medical support team at Yale.

At 9:00 p.m. ET, the E3 99 team will be brought live from Everest Base Camp via state-of-the-art wireless satellite technology. Following a visual tour of the camp, E3 team members will give their perspectives on the mission's progress and answer questions posed directly by the students.

"As a leading sponsor of the E3 99 expedition, we at Olympus felt an obligation to add an educational component to inspire America's youth with the same kind of scientific inquisitiveness that is at the very heart of this expedition," said Biondi. "Today's students will soon benefit from - and carry on - the health-science research now being conducted by the E3 99 expedition, making it a living legacy."

The entire "Everest Education Expedition" proceedings will subsequently be available on demand through broadcast.com for 90 days. The sessions and educational curriculum will also be posted on the E3 99 Website, http://www.everestextreme99.org. by May 20. There, teachers will be able to download the curriculum, which was developed by Dowling College of Oakdale, N.Y., for classroom use. Students and the general public can also access the E3 99 Website daily to track the progress of the expedition and view medical data, global positioning status, team member journals and pictorial archives posted from Everest Base Camp.

About the (E3) Everest Extreme Expedition(TM)

Utilizing the world's most hostile and demanding environment as a laboratory and proving ground, E3 researches new medical protocols and technologies destined to accompany humanity during space exploration and enhance the quality of medical care delivered here on earth.

This year's team, which ranges in age from 23 to 60, embarked upon its six-week health-science expedition to Mount Everest on April 23. The E3 99 expedition is organized by the Yale/NASA Commercial Space Center for Medical Informatics and Technology Applications (CSC/MITA), Millennium Healthcare Solutions, Inc., and The Explorers Club, with participation by the National Institutes of Health. Financial and in-kind support for E3 99 is provided from a wide range of private and public partnerships.

In addition to sponsoring the educational videoconferences and curriculum, OLYMPUS America, Inc. is a leading sponsor of E3 99, providing both financial support and high-end precision microscopes for the expedition's cutting-edge research and for ongoing use by the Himalayan Health Organization. The company's E3 99 sponsorship is testament to its belief in utilizing telemedicine to deliver real-time information to preserve and improve lives. The E3 99 expedition is one of numerous research projects supported by OLYMPUS, including studies by the National Institutes of Health, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Scripps Institute of Research and the Long Island Cold Spring Harbor Labs.