http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081204133857.htm
Forensic researchers from the University of Santiago have made a discovery on a new way to calculate the time of death. Although livor mortis, rigor mortis, and algor mortis are three of the known ways in which forensic scientists calculate the time of death, this new discovery can help find the time of death with an easier technique. By observing the vitreous humour, located in the eye of a dead body, scientists can predict the approximate time of death in humans. Software is being developed to make it possible to get even more specific dates, called post mortem intervals (PMI). Conclusions made from this information will help police and others involved in a crime scene come to more accurate verdicts. José Ignacio Munoz Barús, one of the authors of the study, says that the math models created to make said software easier to use are “more flexible, useful and efficient”. He also adds that previous methods, such as deterioration of DNA or biochemistry of the citreous humour, were not as effective as the ones that science research has recently provided them with. Research has proved that models such as GAM (generalized additive models) are SVM (support vector machines) are much more useful. The researchers have stated that since the 19th century and the start of forensic studies, the exact time of death has been one of the milestones in which researchers have been trying to make, and with this new method many contributions are made into reaching this goal.
2 comments:
Nat’s review of the article pertaining to time of death was especially well presented. First, he pointed out that the new technique using the vitreous humor to estimate time of death was much more efficient that going by liver, rigor, or algor mortis, as we had learned in class. I though this was an important point to make because it was especially relevant to our course work. Also, it was important that he stated that using the vitreous humor to estimate time of death was not only more efficient but also more accurate that the known techniques for determining time of death in humans. In addition, it was important that Nat stated the exact software that researchers were developing; Support Vector machines, and the General additive models, and that the new software was already superior to existing methods.
I wish the review had spoken in detail about how researchers are manipulating the vitreous humor to determine time of death and how the new software works. Also, I would like to know if the new software will be used by forensic scientists soon or if it’s still in the experimental phase?
Overall I think Nat clearly summarized this article. I was extremely surprised to learn that determining exact time of death is still an arduous process since there seem to already be various methods to do so
I found this article to be extremely informative. I Think Nat did a good job of showing the reader how the new innovation on using the viterous humor to determine the exact time of death works, in comparison to the less accurate and broader method of evaluation rigor mortis or the rectal temperature. Also the article was very intresting and brought up some great points. For instance the amount of crimes solved where the right suspect is convicted will rise based on knowing when exactly the person died and just how long they have been dead. I also liked thee fact that the article had many scientist backing up the research of this new method. However one element I did not enjoy about the article was the fact that it didnt exactly explain how the new method works, it just stated that it did indee work. Another element of the article that i didnt enjoy was the fact that it didnt explain if this method would become the method accept to determine PMI. I would have like to have more of an explanation as to how the new method works.
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