news 2012

Alleged adult rape victims are not disadvantaged in court if they choose to give evidence behind protective screens or via video links, according to new research. The study, jointly led by the University of Leeds and University of Nottingham, is the first of its kind in the UK to examine the impact of the use of technology and special measures in adult rape trials on juror decision-making.

Stanford Report, October 24, 2012 A national survey led by Stanford pollster Jon Krosnick finds that confusion reigns when it comes to the contents of the Affordable Care Act. But the more they know, the more people seem to like it. Even in the hermetic world of American health care, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 has a reputation for inscrutability.

AUSTIN, Texas — As many as 1 in 5 families who recently bought land on which to build their homes may have bought using an unrecorded "contract for deed"- one that does not confer formal title to their properties, according to a major report on the titling practices in Texas colonias and other informal settlements released today by researchers at The University of Texas School of Law and Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

At least when it comes to female politicians, perhaps you can judge a book by its cover, suggest two UCLA researchers who looked at facial features and political stances in the U.S. House of Representatives. "Female politicians with stereotypically feminine facial features are more likely to be Republican than Democrat, and the correlation increases the more conservative the lawmaker's voting record," said lead author Colleen M. Carpinella, a UCLA graduate student in psychology.

In the last decade a raft of legislation has attempted to bring about equality for people of all religions and beliefs within British society. A University of Derby-led research team who have been investigating what and how much has really changed over this decade will present their preliminary findings at a series of workshops around the UK this autumn.

The menopause evolved, in part, to prevent competition between a mother and her new daughter-in-law, according to research published today (23 August 2012) in the journal Ecology Letters. The study - by researchers from the University of Turku (Finland), University of Exeter (UK), University of Sheffield (UK) and Stanford University (US) - explains for the first time why the relationship women had with their daughter-in-laws could have played a key role.

Women whose claims for asylum includes allegations that they have been raped need greater assurance their cases are being taken seriously, a study states. Researchers found that several of the problems that can hamper the fair treatment of women's rape allegations within the criminal justice system may also be present, and sometimes amplified, when made as part of women's asylum claims.

Want to know who holds the power? Just listen carefully, preferably with a little help from a computer. Research at Cornell shows that people speaking to someone of perceived superior status often unconsciously echo the linguistic style of that person. The effect is usually not noticed by humans but shows up in a computer analysis of large amounts of text.

Almost 70 years after the end of the Second World War a groundbreaking forensic archaeological study by the University of Birmingham has unearthed evidence of hidden burial sites at a former death camp where more than 800,000 Jews perished during the Holocaust. It was widely believed that evidence of the extermination camp at Treblinka, in north-east Poland, was destroyed by the Nazis upon its abandonment in August 1943, however, these new findings suggest otherwise, revealing the location of deep pits - potential graves - and structural remains that witness accounts locate as gas chambers.