Having viewed Nature's "Crime Scene Creatures" in class today, was there a particular segment that was new to you? If so, explain what you found surprising and why were you surprised by that sequence?
Did viewing this program make you more interested in a particular area of forensics? Describe the area you want to learn more about and discuss why you think you will find the study of that area of particular interest.
9 comments:
I found the movie interesting, although it was very hard to hear. I thought it was intriguing how a scent is not always lost when a perpetrator runs through water; the scent isnt always lost because sometimes the crossing or the river releases gas bubbles from the disturbed sediment. I am positive now that I would not want to go into the field of forensic entomology after seeing the images of the various insects... EW!
Having viewed Nature's "Crime Scene Creatures," I have taken particular interest in Forensic entomology. It seems that the crime-scene investigators rely a great deal on insects such as flies to determine the time of death from which a body has decomposed from. While viewing this video, I also noticed that entomologists run tests in the laboratory primarily using insects and meat. However, they experiment with different stages of the insects. For example, a decomposed body that has been dead for at least a day would show signs of either maggots or grubs feeding on the internal organs of the body. In addition, I found it surprising at the different experiments performed on a dead pig. For example, blowing up the pig with explosives, and making observations on the different insects that feed on the meat. I knew from prior knowledge that a pig has the closest body chemistry to humans, which would explain why the forensic scientists used a pig in the first place. But why blow up a pig? Are there people who actually get murdered using explosives? I suppose it makes sense, but is very extreme and unlikely to occur compared to a person being shot or drowned.
It amazed me just how much flies, maggots, etc. help investigators determind time of death. I knew they were a huge role in determining that but from watching the movie I was able to see a great deal more!
I thought it was interesting how they trained the dog that they showed to be able to detect exactly where the fire had started. I didnt realise how much animals actually do help in relation to a crime scene.
I also thought that it was interesting how much animals could be trained to do to help aid in detecting the workings of a crime scene. For instance, dogs can be used to track scent - even if the criminal has run through water due to the air bubbles left behind. Also, they can sniff out gasoline on burn sites, which is probably a really important factor in re-creating the crime scene and finding out when it happened. It's amazing how much dogs can do!
I was surprised by how fast the maggots were able to get to the pig even when it was in a car. I thought maybe the car would protect the dead pig a little bit longer.
The program really got me interested in to the photography unit of Forensics because the time lapse sequences were pretty awesome.
I found the parts about forensics entomology quite fascinating. It's unbelieveable how forensics scientists rely a lot on insects and maggots to help them determine the time of death and other info in regards to dead bodies.
After watching "Crime Scene Creatures," I was amazed at how much maggots and other insects could help aid in the investigation. I thought it was amazing how the maggots can give investigators the exact time of death (or something relatively close). The other thing that I found neat was the fact that the K-9 was able to keep tracing the scent of a criminal through water. I knew that they could track it on land, however I didn’t know that gas bubbles form when a suspect enters the water; and the fact that a dog could follow his/her scent is pretty amazing.
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