Today’s physics news: Monday, 6 September 2010

Graduate tax would prompt top graduates to leave Britain, CBI warns
Business leaders believe tens of thousands would emigrate to avoid being charged for degree according to salary
Guardian
 
Michael Gove wants baccalaureate qualification for England
Pupils with five GCSEs – including one science – would gain the proposed certificate as ‘special recognition’, says education secretary
Guardian 
 
The stormy history of weather forecasting

It is 150 years since The Times published the first reports of the weather from around Britain based on a national weather service, the forerunner of today’s Met Office
Times 
 
Hubble re-shoots 1987 star blast
The Hubble space telescope returns to view one of its favourite subjects – a giant stellar explosion first seen from Earth in 1987.
BBC 

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Now launched: the physics.org 2010 web awards!

Now launched: the physics.org 2010 web awards! lectures events

It’s difficult to find data on how many websites there are online now, but just over two years ago, Google announced that it has indexed a trillion different URLs.

In the face of this growing mountain of information, people’s online habits have changed. Relatively few people aimlessly ‘browse’ the web, but instead rely increasingly on their peers to unearth the most interesting content and share it using sites like digg, facebook or twitter.

IOP’s physics.org strives to tell people about the best physics online, and to be the first port of call for anyone with a budding interest in physics. So this year we’re launching the first ever physics.org web awards, to find and reward the best physics-related sites and content out there.

Over the past nine years we’ve scoured the web and amassed over 4000 great physics links in our searchable Explore database. But there are still plenty which we don’t know about – and that’s why we need your help!

Nominations for the physics.org web awards open today, and you have 5 weeks (until 10th October) to tell us about your favourite physics sites and give them a chance of scooping up an award.

You can do this by sending us a link on twitter (message @dotrythisathome or just use the hashtag #pwa10), facebook or by email (editor@physics.org).

Please specify which category your nominee is for – the options we have are:

Best blog
Best news site / online magazine
Best podcast
Best Q&A / ask the expert site
Best revision site
Best kids’ site
President’s prize (any site or content which doesn’t fall under any of the categories above)

Once the nominees are in, we’ll shortlist our favourite five for each category. The winners will then be chosen by our panel of judges, but also by the users of physics.org (more info on that closer to the time).

Visit physics.org to find out more about the 2010 web awards.

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Today’s physics news: Friday, 3 September

Hawking: Archbishop leads religious response
Religious leaders united yesterday in a fightback against Stephen Hawking’s assertion that science leaves no role for God in the creation of the Universe.
Times
Guardian
Telegraph 
 
Changes spotted in fundamental constant
Quasars suggest fine-structure constant differed billions of years ago at opposite ends of universe
Physics World 
 
‘Lost years’ end for backyard supernova
Data from repaired Hubble telescope uncover new secrets about our nearest supernova.
Nature

Physicists divided over life extension for US collider
A panel of physicists recommends keeping Fermilab’s Tevatron collider alive for an extra three years, but others worry about collateral damage
New Scientist

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Young prizewinners visit top science facilities

Young prizewinners visit top science facilities physics around the uk
A group of budding science students visited two of the UK’s leading science facilities last week as part of their prize for projects ranging from wave energy predictions to calculating the accuracy of GPS signals.

The students all took part in the finals of the National Science & Engineering Competition at this year’s Big Bang Fair in Manchester, where they were judged to be the winners and runners-up for the Institute of Physics (IOP) prize, awarded for the best physics project.  The prize included a visit to two of the UK’s leading science facilities – Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source – hosted by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in Oxfordshire.

Erik Bews (17) and Keith Alexander (18) from Kirkwall Grammar School in Orkney were joint winners.  Erik and Keith, who are preparing to go to university in September to study physics, worked with renewable energy company Scotrenewables Ltd to improve the predictability and accuracy of the company’s wave test facility.

Erik said, “Hopefully research like this could one day lead to improvements in the efficiency of renewable energy production. I’ve learnt so much whilst doing my project. This kind of work shows that physics is an exciting science relevant to our everyday lives – not all to do with sitting in a room crunching numbers! The visit to RAL today also confirmed this.  I’d love to work here when I’m older.”
Erik and Andrew Smith (19) from King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth, Lincolnshire worked during his summer holidays on a project looking at GPS systems. The study, led by Nottingham University, investigated inaccuracies in GPS signals.

Andrew is keen to encourage younger students to get involved in science. “I want to show to others that science is fun, interesting and exciting”, said Andrew.  “Winning the competition has opened so many doors for me. I’m really excited about studying physics further at university.”

The youngest prizewinner was Seamus Curtin (12) from Lathallan School, Montrose.  Seamus was a runner-up in the junior (under 14) category of the National Science and Engineering Competition for his 3D model of local galaxies. He was just 11 when he completed the project, and is a keen astronomer.

The students spent a science-filled day at RAL meeting scientists and touring the ISIS accelerator and experimental halls, and the Diamond Light Source synchrotron.

Dr Beth Taylor, Director of Communications at the IOP presented the students with their certificates. Dr Taylor said ”All four students really enjoyed their day at RAL, and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to share their enthusiasm.  It’s very encouraging to see the next generation of physicists coming through.  I’m very grateful to the staff at ISIS and Diamond who made it such an exciting day, and to the British Science Association who organised the competition”.

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IOP, Oxford Instruments and Sharp Labs fighting for physics funds in today’s Telegraph

The Institute of Physics teamed up with Oxford Instruments and Sharp Laboratories to highlight the business case for sustained physics funding, featured in today’s Daily Telegraph.

IOP, Oxford Instruments and Sharp Labs fighting for physics funds in todays Telegraph news

The article highlights the Institute’s letter to George Osborne and explains why damage to the physics pipeline is not in the UK’s best economic interest.

See the full Telegraph article here and visit www.iop.org to read our letter to the Chancellor.

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