Guglielmo Marconi carried out the first "intelligent" radio communications one hundred years ago. The Radio Astronomy Institute of the Bologna-based CNR is now developing VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometer), a new technique relying on electromagnetic waves. CNR is responsible for three aerials: Medicina's "Croce del Nord" (Northern Cross) and two VLBI aerials, the first one is located in Bologna's province while the second one is in Noto, in Siracusa's province (Sicily).
The Radio Telescope "Croce del Nord" covers 30,000 square kilometres of geometrical area, among the largest ones in the northern hemisphere. It is a great T-shaped aerial with two 600-metre long revolving arms. One is east-west oriented and the other is north-south oriented.