Answered by: Dr Colin Dark, Major Crime Consultant, Forensic Science Services
Asked by Kate Jenkins, Edinburgh
Analysing DNA
DNA is individual, person-specific; a blueprint for life, carrying all the genes we are made up of. What forensic scientists have done is to identify parts that we can analyse and use in comparisons for identifying criminals. We can't analyse [...]
A crackdown on illegal immigration in Arizona was thrown into a state of limbo yesterday, as a judge at the State Capitol in Phoenix put almost every one of its most controversial measures on hold, just 14 hours before they had been due to take effect.
The temporary injunction issued by Judge Susan Bolton shortly after [...]
IN 2000 four Americans were charged with importing lobster tails in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes, in violation of a Honduran regulation that Honduras no longer enforces. They had fallen foul of the Lacey Act, which bars Americans from breaking foreign rules when hunting or fishing. The original intent was to prevent Americans from, [...]
Today's AfPak news roundup:
Watchdog: U.S. wasting money on development projects Afghans can't maintain. Washington came under heavy fire from Arnold Fields, the U.S. special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, for building a $45 million compound for Afghan security forces that is too complex and costly for the Afghan government to use. Fields called the [...]
(July 21) -- One group of people not contributing to the erosion of paid newspaper subscriptions: our duly elected representatives and their staffs.
The hundreds of line items for old-media purchases are among the many clues to Congress' news habits that AOL News spotted in its close reading of the House's last three Statement of [...]
WASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee's treasurer has accused chairman Michael Steele of hiding more than $7 million in debt to inflate the party's finances and mislead donors.
Two lawyers working for the committee insisted the RNC never had that kind of debt and has been honest in reporting its finances.
The accusations, made in a memo [...]
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) said on the House floor Monday that Republicans are blocking a reauthorization of unemployment benefits in order to resurrect the America of the 1930s.
"There was no unemployment insurance back then," Grayson said, in one of the more colorful speeches on the issue. "There was no State benefits back then. [...]
BP may have lobbied for the release of a known terrorist to secure an oil contract with the Libyan government. They may finally plug the leak this week. And Tony Hayward may go on another sailing race. Top hats and booms. Cleanup crews and lawsuits. Over the last few months of this disaster, we’ve heard [...]
Red Bull, Rock Star, Jolt, Monster, Amp -- heard of these beverages? As the summer sun blazes, and late night parties abound, there are a lot of sleepy folks out there reaching for energy boosting drinks to get through the day. And if that was not enough caffeine for you, when it's time to hit [...]
Says sociologist Larry Bumpass of the University of Wisconsin. Today, unexpected numbers of young adults are living with their parents. "There is a major shift in the middle class," declares sociologist Allan Schnaiberg of Northwestern University, whose son, 19, moved hack in after an absence of eight months.
Analysts cite a variety of reasons for this [...]