WirelessTech Taking a Toll on Earth Science and Astronomy

Interference from wireless devices make it difficult for scientists to gather signals used for radio astronomy and Earth environmental sensing, in some cases rendering these signals unusable, says the 175-page report, written in response to concerns that NASA, the Department of Commerce, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have raised about the increasing potential for new wireless technologies to interfere with radio observations that have become important to the missions of these agencies.

The National Research Council committee determined that passive remote sensing observations are essential for monitoring Earth's natural systems and are therefore critical to human safety, the day-to-day operations of the government and the private sector, and the policy-making processes governing many sectors of the United States economy. The committee also found that radio astronomy has great potential for further fundamental discoveries, including the origins and evolution of the universe, the nature of matter, and life in other solar systems, which will have "an enormous impact on our understanding of fundamental physics and the place of humanity in the Universe."