Science News for Writers

Credit: © Marek / Fotolia  For many decades fear has been put forth as a hallmark feature of psycho- pathy, the impairments in which would lead to bold risk-taking behavior. Psychopaths feel fear but see no danger Researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Radboud University Nijmegen found proof that psychopathic individuals can feel fear, but have trouble in the automatic detection and responsivity to threat. For many decades fear has been put forth as a hallmark feature of psychopathy, the impairments in which would lead to bold risk-taking behavior. Sylco Hoppenbrouwers (VU Amsterdam), Erik Bulten and Inti Brazil (Radboud University) reviewed theoretical and empirical brain and behavioral data pertaining to fear and psychopathy and found that psychopathic individuals have trouble detecting threats.  There was however little evidence that the conscious experience of fear was affected, indicating that the experience of fear may not be completely...

Dr Ciara Greene, University College Dublin This confirms the reason academics, scientists and reputable journalists don't print things without thoroughly confirming their sources. At least two sources for a piece of information before posting anything. When I see anything posted with only a single source, I discount it until I have a chance to confirm the story from other independent sources. I'm not alone in this, and this research clarifies why this is such an important practice. *  *  *  *  * The more we know, the easier we are to deceive Knowing a lot about a subject means you are more likely to have false memories about it. That is the paradoxical conclusion of research presented by Dr Ciara Greene from University College Dublin to the annual conference of the British Psychological Society's Cognitive Psychology Section in Barcelona. Dr Greene and Anthony O'Connell, then a Masters student at University College Cork, asked 489 participants to rank...

www.plsqld.com Why prisons continue to grow, even when crime declines Study finds more offenders have criminal records "I t is much harder for judges to not give prison sentences to repeat offenders, so we have more convicted people going to prison ." A new study may help explain why the number of people in prison in the United States continued to rise, even as the crime rate declined significantly. A sociologist found that the US criminal justice system continues to feel the reverberations from the increase in violent crime and imprisonment that occurred from the 1960s to the early 1990s. The U.S. prison population continued to rise even after the crime rate began declining in the mid-1990s because judges were faced with more repeat offenders, a new study suggests. Using data from Minnesota, an Ohio State University sociologist found that the U.S. criminal justice system felt the reverberations from the increase in violent crime and imprisonment that oc...

Nissin - Raoh Japanese Instant Ramen Noodles Soy Sauce Taste  Ramen noodles supplanting cigarettes as currency among prisoners Ramen noodles are supplanting the once popular cigarettes as a form of currency among state prisoners, but not in response to bans on tobacco products within prison systems, finds a new study.  Instead, study author Michael Gibson-Light, a doctoral candidate in the University of Arizona School of Sociology, found that inmates are trying to figure out ways to better feed themselves as certain prison services are being defunded. The rise of ramen as currency in prison signals "punitive frugality," indicating that the burden and cost of care is shifting away from prison systems and onto prisoners and their support networks, said Gibson-Light). "Punitive frugality is not a formal prison policy, but rather an observable trend in prison administration practice in institutions throughout the country," Gibson-Light said. "Throu...

Female forensic scientists more stressed than males Fueled by shows like "CSI" and "Bones," the field has surged in popularity, particularly among women, who greatly outnumber men in undergraduate and graduate forensic science programs. Females working in forensic science labs were almost two times more likely to report high stress levels than males, according to the study, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. Forensic scientists aid criminal investigations by collecting and analyzing evidence such as fingerprints, ballistics and DNA. "It's not clear why female scientists reported more stress than males," said Thomas J. Holt, MSU professor of criminal justice, "though it may stem from differences in the experiences of female scientists who are not sworn law-enforcement officers working in a quasi-military structure where more males are sworn officers, particularly in supervisory roles." Employment for forensic science technicia...

Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy; photographer Jason Richards Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Joe Giaquinto investigates chemical clues for trace-level radioactivity. Giaquinto leads ORNL’s Nuclear Analytical Chemistry and Isotopics Laboratory, which makes critical contributions to nuclear forensics and nonproliferation. Specialized team uses nuclear forensics to solve mysteries and safeguard materials A group of nuclear detectives at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory takes on tough challenges, from detecting illicit uranium using isotopic "fingerprints" to investigating Presidential assassination conspiracies. "A very big capability at Oak Ridge exists for nuclear analytics, all the way from helping commercial production of nuclear power to making sure the world's nuclear materials are properly accounted for," said ORNL's Joseph Giaquinto, leader of the Nuclear Analytical Chemi...

Eyewitness identification reforms  may have unintended consequences Research by a University of California, Riverside psychologist raises serious questions about eyewitness identification procedures that are being adopted by police departments across the United States.  These new procedures are designed to reduce the kinds of false identification errors that can lead to wrongful convictions of innocent people. While it has long been held that these changes reduce false identifications with little or no loss of correct identifications, UC Riverside psychology professor Steven E. Clark suggests that that is not the case. The loss of correct identifications can be significant, Clark says. Importantly, the new procedures may, under some circumstances, lead to identification evidence that is less accurate than the identification evidence from the procedures they are designed to replace. Policymakers need to look very carefully at the data from empirical studies as they c...

As a science geek, I do watch the many true-crime shows, especially those that rely on forensic science to identify and convict culprits.  But as this latest series of reports indicate, the science isn't perfect, in fact in some cases, the science is plainly flawed. Fortunately, researchers and defense attorneys are aware of the flaws and can use this information to help protect the truly innocent. Here's another report on a flaw in forensics with suggestions on how to correctly us eyewitness testimony.  The full report is available in the attribution line. *  *  *  *  * Using eyewitness identifications:  New report urges caution A new report from the National Research Council recommends best practices that law enforcement agencies and courts should follow to improve the likelihood that eyewitness identifications used in criminal cases will be accurate. Science has provided an increasingly clear picture of the inherent limits in human v...

www.pjstar.com At least 24 men convicted or charged with murder or rape based on bite marks on the flesh of victims have been exonerated since 2000, many after spending more than a decade in prison. Source : The Peoria Journal Star.   Bite-mark analysis can lead to false convictions Since 2000, at least 25 people convicted on bite-mark evidence  have been exonerated due to advances in DNA testing. Forensic science is a vital crime-fighting tool in today's criminal justice system. But it can also lead to false convictions, according to H. David Sheets, PhD. Landmark research by the Canisius College physics professor proves that bite-mark analysis is "far from an exact science." Bite-mark analysis compares the teeth of crime suspects to bite-mark patterns on victims. Historically, forensic odontologists (dentists who provide forensic dental identifications in criminal investigations and mass disasters) operate under two general guidelines when interpr...

Credit: Image courtesy of University of Huddersfield University of Huddersfield investigative psychology lecturer Dr Chris Street is making breakthroughs that are leading towards a clearer understanding of how humans tell lies and how their deceptions can be detected. The lying game Toward a clearer understanding of how humans behave when they bend the truth University of Huddersfield investigative psychology lecturer Dr Chris Street is making breakthroughs that are leading towards a clearer understanding of how humans tell lies and how their deceptions can be detected. For more than 30 years it has been said that we should trust our hunches and unconscious knowledge of body language. Yet his work, described in a new journal article, shows that we would be better off consciously relying on a single "cue," such as whether or not a person is plainly thinking hard. But gathering reliable research data is a tricky proposition. To begin with, a set of...

Credit: © X n' Y hate Z / Fotolia Increasingly important to criminal investigations, DNA analysis once required substantial samples of blood or other bodily fluids, but advances in the field now make it possible to produce a complete genetic profile of a suspect from just a few cells left behind -- so-called "touch DNA." There is a plot here.  Person A shakes hands with person B, then person A commits murder.  Whose DNA is found on the weapon?  According to this study, it can easily be the DNA of the completely innocent person B who now faces arrest and conviction for a crime they absolutely did not commit. Person A may have deliberately shaken the hand of person B to shift blame to them, framing them with what law enforcement, the courts, and most people feel is ultimate evidence of guilt. How does someone accused of such a crime overcome such evidence? Here's the story with a link to the full story in the attribution.  And let u...

Credit: CSIRO The new method can reveal fingerprints on metal, plastic and glass. By adding a drop of liquid containing crystals to surfaces,  investigators  using a UV light are able to see invisible finger- prints "glow" in about 30 seconds. Recent advances in identifying suspects is truly amazing.  There is, for example,  a new method for dating the age of a fingerprint allowing investigators to focus on current evidence rather than having to check out prints left prior to a crime.  There is  a new method of scanning fingerprints that shows not only the surface whorls and loops of a fingerprint, it shows underlying structures of the skin as well.  There is now  a method for taking fingerprints off ATM receipts and other paper documents.  And in some countries, babies are being fingerprinted at birth to build a database to be used to track medical care, but, has the potential to be used to identify people later in...

Credit: Egidijus Auksorius Institut Langevin These images were acquired with the fingerprint sensor based on full field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT). Internal fingerprint sensor peers inside fingertips for more surefire ID Quickly detecting 'internal fingerprints,' sweat pores could make fingerprint sensors more reliable and less likely to be tricked by fake fingerprints Most optical fingerprint sensors today produce images by reflecting light from areas where the skin does not come in contact with a glass plate, a technique that captures details from only the very top layer of skin. In contrast, a new device images the 'internal fingerprints,' which have the same pattern as external fingerprints, but are about half a millimeter below the skin's surface. In the 1971 film Diamonds are Forever, British secret agent James Bond uses fake fingerprints as part of a ploy to assume the identity of a diamond smuggler. At the time, sham pri...