Today’s physics news: Monday, 27 September 2010

‘Double whammy’ of cuts threatens Britain’s scientific reputation
Britain’s future as a major scientific nation is under threat from a “double whammy” of heavy spending cuts and a cap on immigrant numbers, research leaders said yesterday.
Times

Painless laser ‘can spot disease’
Portable devices with painless laser beams could soon replace X-rays as a non-invasive way to diagnose disease.
BBC 
 
Bill Bryson: ‘Have faith, science can solve our problems’
Bill Bryson will honour scientists in a lecture celebrating 350 years of the Royal Society. He tells Max Davidson why his favourite is an obscure 18th-century vicar
Telegraph 
 
Martin Rees: ‘We shouldn’t attach any weight to what Hawking says about god’
As Martin Rees steps down as head of the Royal Society, he tells Steve Connor why he would like to see ‘peaceful coexistence’ between science and religion
Independent 
 
Science and society: A Pacific divide
A global survey of the scientifically literate public reveals significant differences on key issues in science.
Nature