is for an experiment involving the creation of a radical piece of film footage. It runs as follows. A state-of-the-art film camera is attached to a Space Shuttle or Space Rocket and is taken up into space, say 30 miles above the surface of the Earth. This camera must be able to transmit live footage of the finest quality and grain, as close to glorious widescreen Cinemascope as is possible. Thus, to make the experiment effective, the camera would have to run as many frames per second as is feasible at the current time.

The next step is to release the camera from the shuttle in a way that ensures that the lens faces down towards the Earth's surface. This could be achieved by weighting the camera such that as it gets pulled towards the Earth its lens will be face down. The camera would also have to have protection against the heat generated by its friction with the Earth's atmosphere as it falls.

Next, as the camera hurtles towards the Earth, its high-class film will be transmitted live to a receiving device somewhere. Thus, live footage will be recorded of the camera's descent. Now, let us say that the camera falls for 15 minutes (the actual times and speeds are essentially irrelevant). Two eventualities become apparent. Firstly, the camera might hit solid ground in which case it will be smashed to pieces. The other alternative is that the camera splashes down upon a body of water. Whatever the case, it is essential that the film footage is transmitted up until the very last moment and that the fall is not broken artificially.

What is the result? The result is, say, a 15 minute film of what its like to approach the Earth from a great distance away. As the film progresses, more and more detail of the Earth's surface will become apparent. In this sense, the footage will bear a distinctly fractal-like quality since the more detail that is approached, the more detail will be revealed (we've all seen photographs of the Earth's surface from great altitudes so its fairly easy to begin imagining a descent into an ever- unfolding landscape).

Now, imagine we speed the film up, compress it so that it lasts but a single minute. In my opinion, watching such a film would be remarkable and could possibly induce a feeling of great exhilaration even greater than watching the film in real time. Certainly, it would be a most intense film. It could even be looped and sped up even faster. Or reversed. As long as the footage was of the finest grain, then the experience of watching the film, of feeling as though one were partaking in such a rapid descent/ascent, would be astounding, even life-enriching.

And if the camera had landed in water, I should imagine that perceiving this impact at rapid speed would be phenomenal, even dangerous to the faint of heart. Looped and played even at normal speed, the footage would be extraordinary to behold and psychological studies could be carried out to assess people's reaction to such a piece of film.

And if, say, the camera did hit solid ground, then at the last frame if the film were reversed and slowed slightly, then it would be conceivable to make it appear as the viewer had bounced off the Earth. In fact, the creative possibilities are endless.

This is the sort of experiment we need from our scientists. Such artefactual forms of innervation which draw us towards the sheer magnificence of our immense planet and which make us wonder at the great scale of things, can only be good. Life is amazing (if we look with an open mind free of the usual associations) and we have the science and technology to reveal it in new ways. This, in fact, is a natural progression from the use of high-tech filming techniques in revealing things like the slowly moving activity of plants. In David Attenborough's recent BBC series The Secret Life Of Plants, new filming techniques allowed us to see an aspect of the natural world normally hidden to us. The timelapse footage (of creeping plants etc) shown in the series was certainly extraordinary and it is in this sense that our technology can enrich our perceptions about life on Earth, surely a worthy and noble endeavour.

This kind of enterprise was undreamed of a century ago. The world seen then was according to the standard limits of human perception. With the advent of new recording devices and information-conveying media, the doors of perception are opened. In this sense, as we glimpse aspects of the world normally occluded to us, reality comes to be more real, even if only briefly. And let us remember that science is obliged to convey to us the rich details and intricacies of life as revealed by scientific research. So, if such a film as I have outlined is indeed possible and if it be agreed that this film would enhance our appreciation of the Earth in all its glorious detail, then I hereby propose that such a film be made. Start lobbying your nearest astronautical centre now!

Joe Chip