Today’s physics news: Monday, 22 November 2010

A round-up of today’s news including Penrose claims to have glimpsed universe before Big Bang and ‘Eavesdropper’ satellite rides huge rocket from Florida
Academics pledge to ‘fight alongside’ students over tuition fees and cuts
In a letter to the Guardian, almost 300 university staff express their support for planned protests taking place this week
Guardian 
 
GCSE exams ‘should be taken at 14′
GCSEs should be taken at the age of 14 – after which pupils could specialise in academic or vocational courses, says a report for an education charity
BBC
Telegraph
Independent 
 
‘Eavesdropper’ satellite rides huge rocket from Florida
The US National Reconnaissance Office has launched what is reputed to be the largest satellite ever sent into space
BBC 
 
How the universe evolved from a liquid
The universe was a super-hot liquid in the moments immediately after its birth, according to the first results from CERN
Telegraph 
 
Penrose claims to have glimpsed universe before Big Bang
Theoretical physicist Roger Penrose says that data collected by NASA’s WMAP satellite support his idea of “conformal cyclic cosmology”.
Physics World 
 
Peer relief: merged BIS post goes to Adrian Smith in wake of scientists’ protest to Downing Street
A row between scientists and the government has been avoided after the director general for science and research, Adrian Smith, was confirmed in an expanded Whitehall role that also includes higher education and innovation.
THE