Today’s physics news: Tuesday, 8 December

Obama legit to bypass opposition with climate-saving measures

The US’s Environmental Protection Agency has given President Obama legitimacy to bypass the Senate and Congress with emission-cutting measures. The announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency, asserting that climate change poses a threat to human health, comes at a key moment (as all have gathered, including Obama, in Copenhagen). 
BBC on the US’s Environmental Protection Agency

What price a degree?…..

….. and what’s it worth anyway?  Lord Browne’s review panel, established to review tuition fees, has issued its first call for evidence.  The call comes at the same time as the publication of a report which shows that the average graduate earns only £100 000 more than their counterparts with 2 A levels over their lifetimes.
THE on call for evidence
The Independent on graduate earnings

It’s nuclear fusion, stupid

Roger Highfield, editor of New Scientist, pens an exclusive column in today’s Daily Telegraph about the climate change muddle and the promise of nuclear fusion.
Daily Telegraph