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Press release issued: 6 May 2014 There have been at least 13 potentially catastrophic cases of near-use of nuclear weapons worldwide since 1962, according to a new report which warns that the risk of nuclear weapons being detonated is higher than previously thought. A report by Chatham House , home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, found that the risks associated with nuclear weapons were not only a Cold War phenomena, but still exist today.

The Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) at the University of Sheffield yesterday led a call for the increased safety and protection of journalists across the world. The following statement was issued at the Safety of Journalists Symposium at BBC Broadcasting House in London, co-hosted by BBC Global News and CFOM in cooperation with the BBC College of Journalism.

Researchers have produced a mathematical model to describe how conflicting opinions are resolved over articles that appear on Wikipedia, the collaboratively-edited encyclopaedia. The study maps the evolution of opinion over time, showing that even widely diverging opinions eventually converge. The researchers say this pattern in collective human behaviour is reminiscent of the interaction of particles in physics, such as when wind-blown grains of sand eventually create sand dunes.

Study: Country of origin a 'massive disadvantage' for some immigrants, regardless of qualifications. For immigrants, the path to citizenship in many countries is filled with hurdles: finding a job, learning the language, passing exams. But for some people, the biggest obstacle of all may be one they cannot help: their country of origin.

News Release University of Minnesota research finds that changes made by the Wikipedia community to manage quality have crippled the growth they were designed to manage MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (01/23/2013) —University of Minnesota computer science researchers studying Wikipedia have found that several changes the community made to manage the quality and consistency of submissions to the popular online encyclopedia are causing its decline in contributors.

A study led by academics at the University of Bristol's Intelligent Systems Laboratory and the School of Journalism at Cardiff University has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to analyse 2.5 million articles from 498 different English-language online news outlets over ten months. The researchers found that: As expected, readability measures show that online tabloid newspapers are more readable than broadsheets and use more sentimental language.

From Wikipedia to relief efforts after natural disasters, crowdsourcing has become a powerful tool in today's connected world. Now an international team of researchers including a computer scientist at the University of California, San Diego, report they have found a way to make crowdsourcing more reliable.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-Texting while driving is a serious threat to public safety, but a new University of Michigan study suggests that we might not be aware of our actions. U-M researchers found that texting while driving is predicted by a person's level of "habit"-more so than how much someone texts. When people check their cell phones without thinking about it, the habit represents a type of automatic behavior, or automaticity, the researchers say.

University of Melbourne researchers will use the federal election to test the capacity of social media to increase civic engagement in the political process and enhance political journalism. The Citizens' Agenda project will be driven by the University's Centre for Advanced Journalism , in partnership with Fairfax Media and the social media group OurSay.

Americans' lives are still grounded in the communities where they live and require a set of basic information to navigate daily life, despite the proliferation of technology that seems to shrink the world by the hour.

Cutting-edge research focusing on the changing nature of journalism in the digital age is to be brought together in a new peer-reviewed journal launched by a Cardiff professor. Digital Journalism , founded and edited by Professor Bob Franklin of the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies will provide a critical forum for discussion, analysis and responses to the shifts in journalism brought about by digital technology.

The first report to systematically assess how online-only news websites across Western Europe are faring has found that new start-ups are struggling to find business models that can cover their operating costs. It suggests that the funding environment is more challenging for new start-ups than for traditional media outlets that also have online content, because the latters' operations can be subsidised by revenues from offline businesses.

Gender gap shows no sign of closing over the past five years MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/11/2011) —Computer science researchers in the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering are leading a team that has confirmed a substantial gender gap among editors of Wikipedia and a corresponding gender-oriented disparity in the content.

Study shows that low-information voters are most likely to be swayed by candidates' appearances. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The looks of political candidates are a key factor influencing voters, a phenomenon identified by a number of scholars in recent years. Now, a new study by MIT political scientists adds to this body of research by detailing which types of citizens are most influenced by candidate appearances, and why: The tendency is most prevalent among low-information voters who watch a lot of television.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Though pundits and candidates suggest there is too much anger in politics, the emotion does have a potential benefit—it significantly motivates citizens to vote, according to a University of Michigan study. "Anger in politics can play a particularly vital role, motivating some people to participate in ways they might ordinarily not," said Nicholas Valentino, the study's lead author and a professor of communication studies and political science.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. "One person, one vote" is often the rallying cry for democratic reform, suggesting everyone should get an equal say in their government. Yet in some of the oldest and largest democracies, some votes are worth far more than others by design. A Wyoming voter, for instance, is significantly over-represented compared with a California voter.

The difficulties and dangers faced by journalists reporting conflict will be explored by a panel of war correspondents in an event for the Centre for Advanced Journalism at the University of Melbourne tomorrow, Wednesday 11 May. In addition to the dangers posed to journalists, the nature of conflicts has changed, said Dr Fay Anderson, historian and author of a recent book about the Australian experience of conflict reporting.

For the first time, a study shows that the aerial bombing of Vietnamese civilians by U.S. and allied forces was an ineffective, wrongheaded strategy that drove neutral citizens into the arms of the Viet Cong. The study combines two sets of data to reconstruct the Vietnam War late in 1969 - a point at which U.S. forces appeared to have the upper hand in the conflict - to map where bombing occurred and then determine how territory was held or lost.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall/Who in the land is fairest of all?" But unlike Snow White's Queen, many people don't feel better after gazing at their wall mirror. Facebook walls, on the other hand, can have a positive influence on the self-esteem of college students, report social media researchers at Cornell.

Switzerland is not the democracy par excellence as thought, but only a mediocre one and ranks fourteenth when compared with twenty-nine established democracies.