Today’s physics news: Thursday, 21 January

Mapping the dark universe, probing the sun or seeking distant planets? It’s Europe’s choice

Now that the European Space Agency has received recommendations from an advisory panel for its science programme, it looks likely that one of these three projects will be pursued in the next few years: a satellite to map the “dark Universe” (called Euclid), a probe to study the Sun up-close (Solar Orbiter), or a telescope to find distant planets (Plato).
BBC

Asian giants invest in HE

Times Higher Education reports this week that while we in the UK and the US are making cuts to investment in Higher Education, China and much of Asia are investing. The conflicting trends emerged at the World Universities Forum in Davos.
THE

Tube map of the Milky Way

A Harvard scientist has created a map of the Milky Way based on the format of London’s Tube Map. From Oxford Circus to the Orion Nebula with your Oyster.
Daily Mail

Berners-Lee helps launch Government data site

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, physicist and internet-inventor, is helping the Government launch a new website – data.gov.uk – which will contain vast amounts of public-sector related information. The site, which should make access to non-personal information much easier and help Government departments work more closely together, has been in the pipeline since a Guardian campaign kicked of in 2006.
Guardian
Guardian  

Bright-colour changing skins

Researchers at Philips, the Dutch electronics company, have designed a novel type of electronic paper that can change colour at the flick of a switch and does not require backlights. Physics World