Student film-makers spark huge police alert

Three media-studies undergraduates apologised yesterday for a coursework project which mobilised armed detectives, seven squad cars and a police helicopter, reports Martin Wainwright.

Learning through the built environment

Now is the time for more structured and sustained initiatives that constructively consider young people's perspectives and experiences of their built environment to be taken into account, not only on a educational level but also on a political one, writes Teresa Dillon.

What revolution?

Michel Faber finds that Peter Cowie's Revolution! is more of a memoir than a detailed study of 60s cinema

Science journal publishers defend profits

The biggest publishers of scientific journals last night defended their huge profits, in front of MPs, against the rising challenge of new 'open access' internet publishing. By David Hencke.

Celluloid brutality

Geza Vermes: Mel Gibson's film about Christ is horribly gory, historically wrong - and it will inspire judeophobia.

Plastic helps create super battery

A method for growing forests of miniature carbon pillars could lead to a new generation of lithium batteries, to power everything from mobile phones to laptop computers.

French intellectuals attack ‘war on intelligence’

More than 20,000 French artists, thinkers, film-makers, scientists, lawyers, doctors and academics have signed a petition accusing the centre-right government of 'waging war on intelligence' and instituting 'a new state anti-intellectualism'.

Call this English lit?

When Mark Jones and Gerry Carlin showed their students video porn all hell broke loose. Here they explain why their coursework features hardcore sex alongside Burroughs, Blyton and Joyce.