Latest research news

Mixed reception for S. African plans
The South African government's plan to reform higher education is meeting vigorous opposition from surprising quarters. (The Guardian)

St Andrews rows about all-male student club
Officials at St Andrews University are refusing to take part in a parade organised by an all-male student club after complaints from other students about its anti-women bias. (The Guardian)

Pfizer attacks cheap imports
The head of the world’s largest pharmaceuticals group has admitted for the first time the extent to which cheap imports of top-selling drugs are undermining the industry. (The Times)

Distant e-dreams
Economic downturn is not the only problem facing e-learning programmes: potential students seem quite underwhelmed. (The Guardian)

Japanese branch outrages WWF with whaling plea
The Japanese branch of WWF has come out in favour of limited commercial whaling, a decision certain to cause an upheaval in the worldwide conservation group, which has been implacably opposed to whaling since its foundation. (The Guardian)

Art forum started by ex-ICA chief
Ivan Massor, former chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, who was fired for suggesting the art establishment had "disappeared up its own arse", has launched his own forum for artists, the Institute of Contemporary Culture. (The Guardian)

Stansted work halted for rare newts
Of all the considerations that have stopped important work at Stansted airport, the welfare of newts must be among the most unlikely. But the discovery of a number of endangered great crested newts has brought the repair of an electricity substation at London's third airport to a standstill. (The Independent)

Welsh fight wind farm plan for mountains
The Council for Protection of Rural Wales says the suggestion that the Cambrians should be used for two of the biggest wind farms built in Britain, one of the largest in Europe, is "a declaration of war" on the mountains. (The Independent)

Drug use linked to ancestors' habits
People's predilection for narcotics is usually seen as a biological accident, but it may reflect a survival strategy of our forebears. (New Scientist)