Dirty tricks alleged in fight for Oxford post
The battle to become the next chancellor of Oxford University gets under way in earnest today when nominations close at 4pm. Among those seeking merely to have greatness thrust upon them is Sandi Toksvig, who announced yesterday that she will run on a "no tuition fees" platform. The contest to succeed Lord Jenkins of Hillhead marks the first time the election campaign has been waged on the internet. Mr Patten’s team launched its website yesterday, pitting www.chrispatten.co.uk against www.tombingham.com - the former Lord Chief Justice of England adopting a street-fighting nom de guerre. Lord Neill has yet to make his presence felt in cyberspace but said that his website would be available soon. Members of the Neill and Bingham camps are already exchanging allegations of dirty tricks. Lord Neill’s supporters are apparently upset by an email sent out by Lord Bingham's wife, Elizabeth, inviting barristers who are Oxford graduates to support her husband's candidacy.
(Times)
Medical hopes for tiny DNA computer
A computing machine composed solely of DNA molecules and enzymes has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the smallest biological computing device. Around 60 trillion of these devices could fit in a teardrop. In terms of speed and size, DNA computers may eventually surpass computers that use silicon microchips and could find uses in medicine. The research, conducted at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
(Daily Telegraph)
Historian Christopher Hill dies at 91
Christopher Hill, the Oxford historian whose Marxist interpretations of the 17th-century helped to revolutionise the way in which generations of scholars and students saw the English civil war and the era of Oliver Cromwell, has died.
(Guardian)
Oil on water
The government is subsidising the profits of the oil and gas industries by up to £40 million, through the public funding of research projects in UK universities, according to a report, Degrees of Capture , published last week by the New Economics Foundation, Corporate Watch and Platform.
(Guardian)
Premier league?
Report on the seven institutions poised to apply for university status as the government's white paper changes the criteria.
(Guardian)