Today's news

Oxford under pressure after rejecting deaf girl
Pressure has been mounting on Oxford University over its decision to reject a deaf pupil who scored six top grades in her A levels. Disability campaigners questioned whether dons who interviewed Anastasia Fedotova made appropriate allowances for her handicap.
( Daily Mail , Guardian , Times , Independent )

Britain’s cleverest children sent to ‘brain camp’
101 children aged 11 to 16 are attending the government’s first “brain camp” at Warwick University. The aim of the three-week course is to enrich the young people’s learning experience.
( Daily Mail )

Cyber heroine set to push science for girls
Digital entertainment company XPT has won £90,000 to create a “funky cyber heroine” studying physics at university to get more girls interested in science. The National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts funded the online project as part of the government’s science year.
( Guardian )

Harvard retains ‘most selective’ title
Harvard has retained its place as the most selective of the Ivy League institutions in the US this year. It took only 10.5 per cent of applicants for its four-year undergraduate courses starting in September, the lowest amount in its history.
( Times )

Celebrity chairs
Is the title of professor as prestigious as it was, or are universities awarding it inappropriately to big names in order to attract students?
( Guardian )

Degree reprieve
The decision to review the independent studies course at Lancaster University has been withdrawn after heated protests. It was the third attempt to axe the degree since its birth in 1972.
( Guardian )

GP shortage despite high number in training
Thousands of GPs are refusing to take on new patients because of the shortage of family doctors and the growing workload, despite government claims that there are more GPs in the National Health Service and in training than ever before.
( Daily Telegraph )

Aids vaccine claim
Researchers at Maryland University’s Institute of Virology claim to have a vaccine against Aids that has produced encouraging results in tests on monkeys.
(Guardian)

Honey is bee’s knees for your heart
Honey may be as good at fighting heart disease as some fruits and vegetables, researchers from the University of Illinois have found.
( Daily Telegraph , Times , Independent )

Mushrooms may fight cancer
Exotic fungi such as shiitake and oyster mushrooms could provide a powerful new weapon in the fight against cancer, according to analysis of research in the Far East.
( Daily Telegraph , Guardian )

Pioneering historian dies
Professor John Fage, a pioneering historian of the African continent, has died age 81.
( Independent )