From today's UK papers

The Independent

Universities wanting to attract new students could start by ditching the dull and humourless acres of small print they dish out to applicants, says Felicity Oswald.

Go Higher. Part 4: why students are racing to northern universities and colleges.

Daily Telegraph

The first application to create a bank of human embryo cells, in the hope of developing new treatments for a wide range of diseases, has been submitted to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

Scientists at the State University of New York have shown that a shake-up strengthens bones. By standing on a vibrating plate that makes their toes tingle, elderly people may be able to counter the osteoporosis that makes their leg bones weaken with age.

Britain played an active role in encouraging America to "get rid of" Patrice Lumumba, the left-wing Congolese prime minister murdered in 1961, according to a book launched yesterday.

Financial Times

Among China's fast-growing exports, few are as welcome as Yang Fan, a 16-year-old Shanghai girl who is on her way to Britain to finish her schooling and expects to attend a UK university.

The Guardian

Forget names? Can't recall a face? Suddenly lost for words? Psychologists at the University of St Andrews have consoling news for older people with faltering memories. They are not forgetful, they have just lost the art of forgetting the right things.

Some readers could be forgiven for believing it to be the case already, but within a few years this newspaper could be written not by human journalists but by a piece of software trained to pluck text off the news wires and rearrange the words into punchy stories. (North Carolina State Unversity)

Scientists at the University of Tsukuba have the answer to a lurking menance of the highway - the maverick on the motorbike hidden from the van in front.

Miscellany

Grandmasters play chess using a part of the brain that lesser mortals would not use, drawing on a memory bank of moves instead of just analysing unusual new moves as the game proceeds, a study by the University of Konstanz has found. ( Independent , Daily Telegraph , Times: from Nature).

Results to be published next week of new AS-level courses will produce a distorted picture of teenagers' efforts, headteachers claimed yesterday. ( Times , Independent )