Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Daedalus suggests a solution to the radio noise from telecommunication satellite systems, and the problem they create for radioastronomers. For example, the 66 satellites of the Iridium system now entering service could collectively form a ‘very long baseline interferometer’ which could be made wonderfully directional — transmitting to and receiving from just few square metres around a specific ground station. Radiotelescopes elsewhere would detect nothing.
Japan has included a generous 8.1 per cent boost in funds for science and technology for the 1999 fiscal year, beginning on 1 April, with a strong emphasis on basic research.
Israeli government officials have condemned a French-led effort to stop Israel from participating in the European Union's Fifth Framework R&D programme unless it implements the ‘Wye Plantation’ agreement reached with the Palestinian Authority last October.