In the light of the success of the Mars mission Congress may find

In the light of the success of the Mars mission, Congress may find itself under public pressure to reassess that decision, but for now Seti is a privately funded project run by astronomers equipped with highly sophisticated technology, much of it developed orginally by Nasa to probe on a continuous basis for radio signals in outer space.A visit to the Seti Institute Home Page on the Internet revealed that, as the Nasa spokesman suggested, they had devised some guidelines in the event of an encounter with an alien life form. And then? "Then," the spokesman replied, with cosmic understatement, "we would probably call a news briefing."So, outside Hollywood and the wacky UFO community, was anybody thinking what mankind's practical response might be to a development that would reshape the history of human civilisation? "Yes," the Nasa spokesman said. An official Nasa document describes the mission to Mars as an attempt "to begin answering fundamental questions about the origin of life", the biggest of which is whether "we are alone in the universe". But a Nasa spokesman, when asked last week what the procedure would be if we discovered we were not alone, replied that the President would immediately be notified. Many arequietly investing the lion's share of their bonuses in bonds and property portfolios mindful that in London the boom must one day come to an end.. What happens if the Pathfinder mission to Mars stumbles across evidence of intelligent life? Have any contingency plans been made? Has anyone in authority laid down any guidelines to be followed in the event of mankind making contact with creatures from another planet? Curiously, these are questions that the famously thorough boffins at Nasa have failed entirely to anticipate It is not as if such notions have escaped their minds. Significantly, however, few are willing to talk openly about their embarrassment of riches or to give their names for fear of being dubbed yuppies. Or even the recent report that a businessman who spent pounds 1,777.25p on a meal for 20 at Quaglino's received a letter saying he hadn't left a big enough tip.

According to a study by Business Strategies, consumer spending in London is set to reach pounds 54.5bn this year, an increase of pounds 2.4bn over 1996. The London economy is set to expand by 4.2 per cent, nearly equalling the 4.6 per cent growth rate of the 1980s boom.To grasp the scale of the boom you have to turn to the City. According to a report by Acquisitions Monthly, London bankers can command salary packages 25 per cent higher than their Wall Street counterparts. Just count the empty champagne bottles outside London's Oxo Tower restaurant, which has sold 3,500 cases since last September, and expects to sell 4,000 more by the end of the year. Or consider the fact that London hotels are enjoying the highest occupancy rates in Europe, and that the Imperial suite at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge will set you back a cool pounds 1,500 a night.

During breaks, there was more footage of the Union Jack, the Queen Mother and mournful music. Elgar was a particular favourite.These details come from a script for the rehearsal for the death of the elderly lady and they show how the BBC will treat it as an event of global significance. Working closely with Buckingham Palace, the BBC has laid the foundations for mourning on a scale never experienced on British television. This is a stronger, more solid and safer recovery and it has a more solid basis," he says. "And people are more savvy, they are comparison shopping, and trying to be careful."But there is no escape from one basic truth. If New York is rising on the Dow Jones tide, so it must fall when the stock market bubble bursts.