Today’s physics news: Thursday, 18 February

Scientists create hottest temperature since Big Bang
US scientists as at the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider have slammed together gold ions, travelling at nearly the speed of light, to create matter at around 4 trillion degrees Celsius in a ‘quark soup’ similar to what scientists believe existed at the universe’s birth.

Daily Mail
Daily Telegraph

Observing the tiny effects of gravitational redshift
By measuring a spectacularly small difference in the ticks of two quantum clocks, physicists have proven a pillar of Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity to be on firmer footing than ever before. The result is important in the search for a theory of quantum gravity and could have significant practical implications, such as improving the accuracy of global positioning systems.

Nature
Physics World 
New Scientist 

University funding chief says he’s baffled by uni cuts
Sir Alan Langlands, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, speaking at the Lord Dearing Memorial Conference in Nottingham, said, “I spent a whole day trying to figure out what it means and I still don’t know. We’re not going to know for some time to come…….At some point we’re going to have to discuss the £600 million. I for one am not willing to concede that Hefce funding suffers disproportionate pain.”

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