The probe will release a half ton lump of pure copper to cause a huge crater in the comet so that its composition can be studied from Earth.The threat posed by the Mir Russian space station as it falls to Earth next week has also highlighted the real risks from impacts of objects from space.Harry Atkinson, the chairman of the Government task force on “near-Earth objects,” said: “We hope all our recommendations will be taken up but the telescope is the important one We need to know where the objects are coming from That is the high priority. It needs to be dedicated, working all the time.”Dr Atkinson said his three-man team began as sceptics but became more convinced of the need for action as they investigated the threat.A telescope to hunt for objects in outer space on a path to Earth could be established in co-operation with European partners in the inter-governmental European southern observatory in Chile, which Britain has recently joined.While the chances of a direct hit on Britain are remote, an object only 50 yards across hitting the mid-Atlantic would set up a shock wave which would cause devastation on the shores of the Continent, Britain and the eastern seaboard of the US.Lembit Opik, the Liberal Democrat MP who led the successful Parliamentary campaign to persuade the Government to take the outer-space threat seriously, said a “sheath in space” or “cosmic condom” could be the best way of deflecting asteroids or comets comprising rocks and gas.”You could have a big plastic cosmic condom or space sheath to collect near-Earth objects and tow them away to safety,” he said.. The British film industry has brought forward its annual honours ceremony to make the Bafta awards part of the build-up to the American Oscars. The British film industry has brought forward its annual honours ceremony to make the Bafta awards part of the build-up to the American Oscars.
The decision to switch the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards from April to February is intended to boost their profile, because at present they can be seen as a belated afterthought to the Academy Awards.The British Academy has even extended the qualifying dates so movies not on general release in the UK by February can qualify.

The American film industry has responded by pouring far more cash and effort into wooing the 3,800 members of the British Academy entitled to vote.Film stars and producers including Michael Douglas, Geoffrey Rush, the star of Shine whose latest movie is Quills, and Joel Schumacher, director of the Robert de Niro movie Flawless, have attended recent screenings at the Bafta headquarters in Piccadilly, London. Tom Hanks is promot-ing his new film, Castaway, there next month.Richard Napper, managing director of Columbia TriStar UK, told Variety, the industry’s newspaper: “We have a larger budget and more leverage to get the talent over.” Andrew Cripps, president of United International Pictures, which represents Universal and Paramount, added: “Everyone is looking at it as a stepping stone.”A spokesman for Orange, the mobile phone company sponsoring the ceremony for the fourth time, said the industry hype had died after the Oscars in March.”We think making the Baftas pre-Oscars is a very good decision,” he added. “It really sets the tone in the buildup to the Oscars and it’s a great opportunity to shout about what the British film industry is doing.”The ceremony, which will be televised live from Leicester Square on Sky One on 25 February, will follow the Golden Globes, which are voted for by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association next month, but before the Oscars.High on the list of contenders will be the acclaimed British film Billy Elliot, directed by Stephen Daldry, which is among a record five British pictures to have taken more than £10m at the box office last year out of 18 which exceeded that volume.. For numerological pedants, tonight sees the passing of the old millennium and the dawning of the new. For them, the events of last New Year’s Eve were a distraction – this is the Big One. But even for the rest of us, the bongs of Big Ben will at least offer an opportunity for resolutions (soon broken) to pack in the fags, booze or other vices.

But our promises should be matched by loftier ones from those occupying the country’s – and the planet’s – prime positions of responsibility. These men (yes, they all still are) have it within their grasp to make 2001 memorable as more than the title of the Arthur C Clarke book and Stanley Kubrick film. So we offer our list of New Year’s resolutions: more in hope than in expectation that they will be acted upon. For numerological pedants, tonight sees the passing of the old millennium and the dawning of the new. For them, the events of last New Year’s Eve were a distraction – this is the Big One. But even for the rest of us, the bongs of Big Ben will at least offer an opportunity for resolutions (soon broken) to pack in the fags, booze or other vices.

But our promises should be matched by loftier ones from those occupying the country’s – and the planet’s – prime positions of responsibility. These men (yes, they all still are) have it within their grasp to make 2001 memorable as more than the title of the Arthur C Clarke book and Stanley Kubrick film. So we offer our list of New Year’s resolutions: more in hope than in expectation that they will be acted upon.
The Prime Minister enters 2001 in an unprecedented position Never before has a Labour prime minister won two full terms. Unless the polls are confounded, Tony Blair will win the chance to do so on 3 May. His majority may be cut, but is likely to be more than a workable one.