I am feeling very proud of myself because I have apparently just won ScienceTeller 2011′s Best Science Story Competition! I am very excited. I have never won anything before. Entry was open to submissions with a science, wildlife, natural history, health, travel or culture focus, the entries must have been completed on or after 1 (read more)
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Challenging forensic science independence
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Probably one of the worst decisions made by the British government was to shut down the Forensic Science Service (FSS) – in my opinion. Not only has a raft of experience been lost, a world-leading research organisation has been shut down. This is not news. What is news is that the Metropolitan Police is now (read more)
Why it pays to check the work of the prosecution: the freeing of Amanda Knox
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
In one of the world’s most high-profile cases, Amanda Knox was today acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher. I don’t have personal knowledge of the case but if the media reports are to be believed, inappropriate collection techniques and poor laboratory standards were contributory to the DNA results being deemed unreliable. An extract from (read more)
Is there room for emotion in science?
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
Last night, I looked at Auckland city from a new perspective: the top floor of Auckland Museum. Fantastic views of the 360-degree variety. Aside from that, I was there for the Auckland SCANZ panel discussion. All the speakers were excellent but, being a geologist by training (and secretly still am, in my head), I was (read more)
Child abuse cases – the role of the expert
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
Given the current inquest into the deaths of the Kahui twins and the storm about the book to be published by Ian Wishart and the twins’ mother, Macsyna King, this may be of interest – it is a link to a Frontline programme (about half an hour) that seems to have been shown in the (read more)
Incendiary – “junk science” in fire investigation
Sunday, June 26th, 2011
The case of Cameron Todd Willingham has had a huge impact on the state of Texas. It should also be yet another case that justice systems around the world take a good, hard look at to make sure that such issues do not occur in their jurisdictions. Cameron Todd Willingham was accused of setting a (read more)
Sleep drink-driving
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Just a link to a case where a doctor has been found guilty of sleep drink-driving. It’s the sort of question that arises from time to time and may be of interest to those in jurisdictions where there is a conclusive presumption regarding any breath/blood alcohol result such as New Zealand (which means that the (read more)
Perverting the course of justice – Facebook misuse
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
A juror on a drugs trial in Manchester, England, last year now faces jail time after she allagedly contacted and had a Facebook conversation with a Defendant. The full article is here so I don’t intend to repeat it in full. Just in brief though, the juror is alleged to have contacted the Defendant and (read more)