science wire

Jean Allard, first female vice president at UChicago, 1924-2012
Jean Allard, the first female vice president at the University of Chicago and a longtime Hyde Park resident, died Sunday, Jan.

Surveillance in everyday life
Topics to be covered in the Surveillance and/in Everyday Life: Monitoring Pasts, Presents and Futures international conference include surveillance in the home, opinion mining on the internet, privat

Over-regulation of cyberspace risks infringing on human rights
In our quest to shape and regulate cyberspace, we risk subverting the global commons of information we have created, and by extension, the prospects and potential for global democracy, said Universi

Board of Regents Chair Linda Cohen's Statement on Regent Sviggum's Employment
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/10/2012) —"As Regents are aware, on January 16, 2012 Regent Steve Sviggum announced that he had accepted employment as Director and Executive Assistant for the Minnesota Senate Majority Caucus.

Tougher laws to smash green smoke screens
Law reform and tougher legal sanctions to stop greenwashing are critical, according to a leading intellectual property expert from The Australian National University.

New book confronts homophobia
Research carried out by a sociologist at The University of Nottingham features in a new book which helps to explain how homophobia is defined and experienced across Europe. ‘Confronting Homophobia in Europe' illustrates the findings of a European wide research project -‘Citizens in Diversity: A four-nation study of homophobia and fundamental rights'- which looked at the homophobia and fundamental rights in the four member countries: Italy, Slovenia, Hungary and the UK.

Ever your affectionate Father, Charles Dickens
A letter written in 1868 by Charles Dickens, the bicentenary of whose birth falls today, to his son Henry, who had newly arrived at Cambridge, reveals a touching concern for Henry's welfare in matters physical, moral and spiritual.

Canadian police agencies suppressing data on race, says criminology study
While only 20 per cent of Canada's police forces have an explicit policy against reporting the race of victims and accused persons, criminologists from the University of Toronto and Nipissing show that the majority of police departments do not report race in practice.

Toulouse Space Show: call for papers
Toulouse Space Show: call for papers ESA is a partner in the Toulouse Space Show being held 25-28 June.

Is third party funding effectively regulated in the UK?
A study shows that the market for litigation funding, otherwise known as third party funding, is firmly established for commercial disputes in the UK and is extending into cases involving ordinary citizens, such as personal injury and group actions.

UCLA Law report urges California to take action to protect public from toxic consumer products
More than 2,000 chemicals are used in consumer or commercial products such as toys, clothing and electronics; many are now also in the bodies of men, women and children.

Stanford scholars reflect on Arab Spring
A year after the Egyptian uprising, five scholars talk about democracy in the Middle East, how lives have changed in the Arab world, and what the United States has learned from the Arab Spring.

Courts endangering religious freedom, academic claims
Religious freedom in Europe and North America is being endangered by the courts, an Oxford University academic has claimed in a new book.

More feel ’English’ than ’British’ in England
Voters living in England have become more assertively 'English' and place much greater emphasis on their English rather than their British identity, according to a joint University report.

Promoting legal capability in the UK
A new framework, produced by the Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) at the University of Bristol and Law for Life, aims to improve public legal education so that more people are aware of their legal rights when faced with law-related issues in everyday life, such as consumer complaints, discrimination at work or debt problems.

Law Prof. Nate Persily to Oversee Connecticut Redistricting Process
State Legislature Failed to Reach Agreement; State Supreme Court Has New Deadline of Feb. 15 Media : Public Affairs, 212-854-2650 or publicaffairs [a] law.columbia (p) edu New York, Jan.

Guantánamo ten years on - necessity or troublesome legacy?
Guantánamo ten years on - necessity or troublesome legacy? In 2002, the United States of America opened a detention camp at a military base on a part of Cuba.

Whaling activists face uncertain future
The three Australian environmental activists detained on a Japanese whaling ship could face a wide range of charges and may even have broken Australian law, according to an international law expert from The Australian National University.

Researchers Reach Out to Lawmakers With a Policy Brief: Scope of Sexual Assault
Following the Center for Disease Control's study designed to provide national estimates of sexual assault, a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice 's Ortner Center on Family Violence sent a policy brief to key lawmakers.

U of M experts weigh in on how to safely consume alcohol; spot and treat alcohol addiction; consequences of drinking and driving
As holiday parties continue to ramp up this season, so will the number of opportunities to consume alcohol.

New thesis studies conditions for bank aid in the EU
Because of the major importance of banks for the financial system, the European Commission’s application of the rules on state aid has become more flexible.

Durban climate deal needs IP decision
The United Nations conference on climate change in Durban should address outstanding issues about intellectual property or risk developing countries failing to meet mitigation targets, according to an IP expert from The Australian National University.

Professor Advocates for Tougher Laws Against Drunken Driving
It's not every day that a professor buys a breathalyzer. But Barron H. Lerner , whose latest book is a cultural history of drunken driving, wanted to know what a.08 blood alcohol concentration—the nation's legal limit for drivers—really means.

Known and unknown: great travellers of the Pacific
Islanders: The Pacific in the Age of Empire tells the story of the Pacific Islanders and their early interactions with Western travellers from the viewpoint of the Islanders themselves and sets the arrival of Westerners within a context of existing voyages within the region.

Michael Smith named executive director of U of M Law School's new Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/02/2011) —David Wippman, dean of the University of Minnesota Law School has appointed Michael E. Smith, Haight-Bascom Professor of Law at the University o

A SHARP New Microscope for the Next Generation of Microchips
Moore's Law, hardly a law but undeniably a persistent trend, says that every year and a half, the number of transistors that fit on a chip roughly doubles.

U of M Law School's Journal of Law and Inequality hosts symposium on death penalty reform
The University of Minnesota Law School's journal, "Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice," in association with the American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project, will h

New research project examines rights of suspects in police custody across Europe
A new €330,000 research project examining how the rights of suspects in police custody vary across Europe has been launched at the University of Warwick.

Understanding Welsh law
Leading Welsh lawyer Emyr Lewis has been appointed as a Senior Fellow in Welsh Law at Cardiff University's Wales Governance Centre.

Copyright – a conceptual battle in a digital age
What is it about copyright that doesn’t work in the digital society? Why do millions of people think it’s OK to break the law when it comes to file sharing in particular? Sociology of law researcher S

Diplomatic Immunity could be tested for war crimes: expert
Moves to bring war crimes charges in Australia against the Sri Lankan President and High Commissioner face the significant challenge of proving to an Australian Court that serious war crimes can overrule diplomatic immunity, according to an ANU International Law expert.

Road fatalities among young and old much improved, but still high
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Road deaths among young adults and seniors are down nearly 60 percent since 1968, but they still have the highest road fatality rates among all age groups, say University of Michigan researchers.

Q&A: Stanford’s Lina Khatib on killing of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi
The killing of Muammar Qaddafi marks an end to one of the most dramatic chapters of the Arab Spring. But what follows after the death of a dictator who has held power for 42 years?

Meet Jovan Kojicic
Meet Jovan Kojicic, newly appointed adviser to the Montenegrin Prime Minister. When you were ed in LUM just over a year ago, you said that your research on sexual minorities’ rights in the Balkans would have been dangerous and impossible to carry out at a Montenegrin university.

BBC radio programme focuses on the history of the University of Glasgow
BBC Radio Scotland's landmark radio series on Scottish Universities will this week focus on the University of Glasgow.

Constitutional referendum on the cards: experts examine the need to protect Indigenous Australians in the Constitution
6 Oct 2011 A University of Melbourne forum will consider the need to better represent Indigenous Australians in the Constitution ahead of a possible referendum next year.

LBJ School of Public Affairs and William Wayne Justice Center collaborate on ‘Contract for Deed’ Study in Colonias
Oct.

Public trust doctrine applies to state conservation of wolves and other wildlife, U of M and other researchers say
Experts call out states' responsibility to conserve wildlife removed from Endangered Species Act protection MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (10/04/2011) —When a species such as the gray wolf is

Campus crime report shows rise in sexual assaults, burglaries, and drop in bike thefts, alcohol arrests in 2010
Most of Stanford's 2011 Safety, Security & Fire Report is devoted to promoting personal safety, protecting personal property and preventing crime.

Future of the Internet live at ANU
The future of Internet use, Internet regulation and cyber security will be among the issues discussed at the Sixth Annual United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting this week, and The Aus

Social Ecology and Wild Law - rethinking our attitudes to nature
This week Sydney Ideas presents events at the University of Sydney on two major figures of the environmental movement whose thinking challenges us to reconsider our relationship to nature and to each other.

The role of law in fighting non-communicable disease
World leaders gathering at the United Nations in New York this week to discuss non-communicable disease (NCD) such as obesity and diabetes need to consider how law is an essential weapon in the fight against the problem, a University of Sydney legal expert said.

Wisconsin engineer, entrepreneur move ‘green’ diesel engine closer to market
A University of Wisconsin–Madison engineer is collaborating with a Wisconsin entrepreneur to produce a diesel engine that could be a quieter, more efficient power source for a variety of household and industrial applications, including lawn equipment and electric generators.

New patent law will benefit U-M inventors
Sept.

Compatibilism: Can free will and determinism co-exist?
Stanford philosophy professor takes the side of a beleaguered theory – that predetermination and free will are not mutually exclusive.

Researchers awarded highest number of newly inaugurated fellowships
Banting Fellowships recognize nine outstanding McGill post-doctoral students with major research awards McGill University's standing as a leading institution for post-doctoral research was reinforced today as the Canadian government announced the first 70 recipients of the Banting Fellowships.

Tobacco industry case up in smoke
The threatened litigation by the tobacco industry against proposed plain packaging laws is part of a larger strategy of seeking to frustrate the regulation of tobacco advertising and branding, according to a leading intellectual property expert.

U of M Law School to host Constitution Day program Sept. 16
The University of Minnesota Law School will present a program on Constitution Day, Friday, Sept. 16, commemorating the U.S. Constitution.

With streamlined regulations, in-law units could boost East Bay affordable housing stock and economy, study finds
Streamlined regulations are needed to pave the way for homeowners interested in building in-law/secondary units on their property around five Berkeley, Oakland and El Cerrito BART stations and in nearby flatlands, according to a University of California, Berkeley, feasibility study.

Offshore processing move faces challenges
The Gillard Government's move to amend legislation to allow offshore processing will require changes to both the Migration Act and the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act .

Ten years on from 9/11, research calls for counter-terrorist policing to be held accountable
A decade after the global tragedy of 9/11, a groundbreaking pan-European research project led by the University of Birmingham is calling for increased accountability and tougher legal restrictions on surveillance and detection technologies.

Trails issue may be nearing resolution
For more than a decade, Stanford has been working to fulfill its obligations to build two public hiking trails.

Deal No deal, says ANU law expert
The Federal Government's planned asylum seeker swap deal with Malaysia has been blocked by a High Court ruling.

UW anthropologist explores Seattle’s Dumpster diving community – with video
It's not for everyone – especially not those with strong gag reflexes or early bedtimes – but Dumpster diving for food has become a thriving, legal pastime for certain Seattleites hoping to save some money and rescue food from going to waste in landfills.

National project to hear Canberra’s voices
Canberrans can literally have their say in a new research project to record the Aussie accent.