The oil boom in Equatorial Guinea

In less than a decade, Equatorial Guinea has transformed itselffrom an African backwater into one of the world’s fastestgrowing economies and a sought-after political partner in theGulf of Guinea. The sole reason for this transformation hasbeen the discovery of oil and gas. This article outlines therise of Equatorial Guinea as one of Africa’s leading oilproducingcountries and investigates the political, economic and socialeffects of becoming a petro-state. The article is based on theauthor’s field research in Equatorial Guinea in the autumnof 2003 and interviews with senior oil company staff, governmentofficials and staff of international organizations as well assecondary sources. This research demonstrates how reliance onoil and gas exports can lead to profound changes in a country’spolitical economy.     

Exploratory study on classification and individualisation of earprints

The FearID research project is aimed at the individualisation of earprints for the purpose of forensic research. The study presented here was carried out within the framework of this project. It intends to combine a review of what is known from literature on the classification and individualisation of earprints with results from a preliminary study of earprints. Possibilities for, and limitations to, the use of earprints in forensic investigation are addressed. Differences between eliminating a suspect, placing a suspect at a crime scene, and linking crimes by prints left at different scenes are considered.     

To clone alone: the United Nations' Human Cloning Declaration.

The United Nations labored for almost four years to create a treaty governing human cloning. In 2005 that effort was abandoned, and instead the United Nations' General Assembly adopted a "Declaration on Human Cloning".