> MODERN ALCHEMY is changing not base metals, but polymers into gold. The manufacture of polymer fibers is one of today's fastest-expanding industries. With increasing demands for fibers for clothing, tires, space applications and a variety of other needs, the consumption of both natural and man-made fibers has increased by leaps and bounds during the last few years. Not only polymer fibers, but fibers in general are under intensive research. High-temperature fibers, glass fibers, metal fibers, fibers for space, latex-impregnated fibers-all these and many more are keeping the fiber industry wide awake and busy with chemical companies competing with each other to see who will produce the next new fiber with better or more unusual characteristics. A new high-temperature fiber made from polybenzimidazole (PBI) has just been announced by the Celanese Corporation, Summit, N.J., and is being tested for use in "moonsuits" or parachutes to withstand the extreme heat of reentry from space. The Union Carbide Company, New York, recently produced a stronger-than-steel fiber made from graphite and the Carborundum Company, Latrobe, Pa., is actively engaged in research on boron nitride to produce a heat-resistant yarn.