Today's news

Sally Hunt wins UCU election
Sally Hunt has been elected the first general secretary of the University and College Union, it was announced today. Ms Hunt was the former head of the Association of University Lecturers, which represented staff in the old universities. She beat her nearest rival Natfhe official Roger Kline. The third candidate, who was seen as an outsider, was Peter Jones - a lecturer from Deeside College. The ballot result is a defining moment for the UCU, which was created last June by the merger of the two lecturer unions.
The Guardian

Geological knowledge to go online
British scientists are leading an international effort to bring together all the known geological information about every country in the world. By making the data freely available and allowing researchers to track geological features across national boundaries, the project will make it easier to plan international projects, predict earthquakes and locate natural resources such as oil and gas. Once the project, called OneGeology, is up and running the data will be searchable via the internet.
The Guardian

There's nothing stranger than non-fiction
They are not the kind of titles that are likely to top the books bestseller charts. But half a dozen bizarre tomes may win their 15 minutes of fame as contenders for the Oddest Book Title of the Year, a competition run by The Bookseller magazine. The 2006 candidates start with How Green Were the Nazis , edited by Franz-Josef Brugge-meier, Mark Cioc and Thomas Zeller, which claims to be the first study of the Third Reich's environmental policies. It offers "an in-depth exploration of the intersections between brown ideologies and green practices".
The Independent

Subliminal messages do reach your brain - but you won't know it
People are able subconsciously to register an image even when they cannot see it, according to a study into the power of subliminal messages. Scientists have demonstrated that subliminal images can still attract the brain's attention, even when the person is apparently unaware of the visual stimulation caused by the image. The findings may explain many everyday phenomena, such as being conscious of the messages contained in flashing adverts on a webpage.
The Independent , The Times

Baudrillard, French intellectual critic of 9/11 and Iraq war, dies
Jean Baudrillard, the French philosopher and intellectual, famous for his controversial theories about the artificial nature of reality and his fierce criticism of consumer culture, has died in Paris. He was 77. Baudrillard, one of Europe’s leading postmodernist thinkers, was perhaps best known for espousing the concept of “hyperreality” and “simulation” – that things do not happen if they are not seen to happen, and that spectacle is crucial in creating our perception of the world.
The Times , The Independent