From today's UK papers

Universities 'not birth right of the middle class'
Many universities are still seen as ivory towers and should work more closely with their local schools to convince working-class children of the benefits of a degree, Estelle Morris, the education and skills secretary, said yesterday. (Times, Guardian. Independent, Daily Telegraph)

Missing students
It looks as if the government's target of getting 50% of young people into higher education will not be met, as demand for university places slows. (Guardian)

Confusion over BSE brain-test 'mistake'
The furore of the BSE brains-test mix-up descended into farce yesterday when the government admitted that scientists might not after all have mistaken cattle tissue for sheep brains. (Financial Times, Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent)    

Universities may win funds for 'good teaching'
Universities could win public funding for excellent teaching - in the same way they do for research - under radical plans floated yesterday by Estelle Morris, education secretary. (Financial Times)

Student says elitism cost him a Cambridge place
A school leaver believed to be among the most highly qualified in Scotland, yesterday blamed elitism at the heart of Britain's grandest universities for depriving him of a place at Cambridge.  (Independent)

Stem cell scientists seek 'safe' embryos
Scientists in the United States are seeking to create human embryos incapable of developing into children, as a source of stem cells that can be used in medical treatments. (Times)

Rivals vie to run teenage academy
Oxford and Cambridge are among universities vying to run a government-sponsored academy for Britain's brightest teenagers, which is due to open next summer. (Times)

Childhood obesity levels rise sharply in the East
The problem of obesity in children has spread beyond the West, with Russia and China experiencing an alarming increase in the number of overweight youngsters, a University of Illinois study reveals today. (Independent)

Canada may have given birth to Scottish Highlands
Scientists at the University of St Andrews are studying Highland rocks to establish whether parts of Scotland originated from Canada, Greenland or Scandinavia. (Independent)

Taking a tilt at bed rest
Nasa is offering volunteers about £8 an hour to go to bed for a month. There is a catch: successful candidates must spend the time with their heads tilted downwards at a six-degree angle to simulate conditions of long-duration space flight. (Times)

Eclipse of Silver Moon
Britain's only women's bookshop is closing after 17 years. (Guardian)

There, there now...
Huddersfield University has a new approach to the old problem of student stress: therapeutic massage on campus. (Guardian)

Tongue tied
A new study shows why languages are languishing and why our students are not going abroad.  (Guardian)