January 26, 1999

Astronomers are now convinced that superclusters--agglomerations of galaxies and galaxy clusters that stretch across millions of light-years of space--are real, not illusory patterns on the sky; new observations reported at American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Tex, give astronomers revealing glimpses into mysteries of how universe, which presumably began smooth and featureless, evolved its currrent rich textures thorugh time and gravity acting on immense scales; drawings (M)

New York City's porn industry is on the defensive but still very much alive, six months after Mayor Rudolph Giuliani began aggressive crackdown; scene at Ten's World Class Cabaret in Manhattan described; X-rated landscape is crazy quilt shaped largely by court rulings that have exposed loopholes in new zoning law, which is intended to confine such businesses to remote city-sanctioned zones; many larger clubs have litigated and remained open, many in Manhatan; city has closed down number of places in residential areas of Queens and Brooklyn; smaller places have closed or try to survive with dancers in lingerie; photo of fully-dressed dancers on slow afternoon at Riverhead Inn in Long Island City (M)

Supreme Court overturns Federal Communications Commission rule that has forced Baby Bells and other local phone giants to sell access to almost all parts of their networks, such as copper wires and switching computers, to competitors; ruling could delay efforts to open $10 billion local telephone business to competition; Court also rules, however, that Telecommunications Act of 1996 gives FTC, not states, general authority to set rules meant to enhance competition; Court also upholds handful of FCC's other regulations aimed at stimulating competition; latest rulings wrap up three-year legal battle among Bell companies, FCC and states over jurisdiction and substance of local-telephone regulation; commission must now develop new set of rules to determine which parts of their networks local phone giants must resell to competitors (M)

Clyde Haberman NYC column scores new form of subway graffiti called scratchiti, etching of nicknames into subway car windows and walls, usually by teenagers armed with keys, coins, razor blades or super-sharp rocks formed by lava (M)

Colin Davis leads London Symphony Orchestra in program of Elgar and Beethoven at Avery Fisher Hall; photo; Bernard Holland review (M)