Law and Science : #2 The Chicken Little Mentality


Fiat Justicia, Ruat Caelum


Fiat justicia ruat caelum is often expressed as: 'let justice triumph or else the sky will fall'.  It may be more literally translated as 'let justice triumph: let the sky fall'.  More loosely, it expresses the notion that justice must be done even if that is counter to the desires of people with power or vested interests.  It is an ideal which is only rarely achieved.  It is far more common for the judiciary to favour the cause of continuity of method over and above the cause of justice.

Law And Science : The Injustice Of Confessions


Confession may be good for the soul, but it is, I submit, positively harmful to the establishment of scientific truth in any legal venue.  It is a notorious fact that some people will confess to crimes which they never committed, or which never happened.  It is another notorious fact that confessions extracted under torture are extremely likely to be false.  A plea of 'guilty' in court amounts to a confession, but may be a result of plea bargaining by an innocent person.

Random Noise #17 : They Sure Fooled Me!


Well, they sure fooled me!

I like to think that I know a thing or two about science and engineering.  Quite apart from that, I have read enough court transcripts to know when someone is telling porkies¹.  Or so I thought.

Steaming To Success

A hundred year old steam car speed record has just been broken by a British team. 

Edward’s Air Force Base, California: Tuesday August 25th:

Today at 8.19am (California time) Charles Burnett III successfully broke the land speed record for a steam powered car - which has stood for more than 100 years - achieving an average speed of 139.843mph on two runs over a measured mile.