Video Podcast - Identifying Skeletal Remains

Video Podcast - Human Skeleton Overview

Video Podcast - Physical Evidence

Video Podcast - Collection and Preservation of Crime Scene Evidence

Video Podcast Crime Scene Investigation - Searching for Physical Evidence and Documentation

Video Podcast - Forensic Pathology Part 2: Stages of Decomposition

Video Podcast - Forensic Pathology Part 1: Autopsy and Estimating the Time of Death

Video Podcast - Forensic Entomology Part II - Crime Scene Insects

Video Podcast - Forensic Entomology Part I: Insect Development

Video Podcast - Short History of Forensics and Crime Labs

Video Podcast - "Introduction to Forensic Science"

Coating Clears Up Fingerprints

          Over the past few months scientists at Penn State University have been working on developing a coat that would clear up fingerprints. Sometimes scientists are not always able to retrieve fingerprints from certain objects. A group of scientists at Penn State have recently developed a “conformal coating process” that can reveal hard-to-develop fingerprints on nonporous surfaces without altering the chemistry of the print. Scientists Shaler and Ahklesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder “used a form of physical vapor deposition a method that uses a vacuum and allows vaporized materials to condense on a surface creating a thin film” This new process is very beneficial because it gives forensics scientists the ability to collect fingerprints from fragments of incendiary or explosive devices and still be able to analyze the chemicals that were used in the device. The coating material is heated in a vacuum, while the artifact to be coated is rotated fairly quickly to allow deposition over the entire surface. This process is very quick and efficient. It takes 15 minutes to produce the coating. These scientists are currently trying to develop “a portable device that could be brought to a crime scene and produce readable fingerprints on site.”

          This article is very important to society because it gives forensics scientists the ability to identify and collect fingerprints that they wouldn’t be able to do before. This process should be used because it will make the process of collecting hard to obtain fingerprint samples much easier.

          I chose this article because I was unaware of this new method. I was very interested in the advances forensic scientists have made in their field. This new method could be greatly beneficial for the law enforcement. I thought this article was pretty well written, but I thought it could have included more details regarding the topic.

White, James. "Coating Clears Up Fingerprints." Forensic Magazine. Web. 22 May 2011. <http://www.forensicmag.com/news/coating-clears-fingerprints>.

Posted for R.Minetti

Forensic Student Displays Artistic Talent

          To emphasize the need to develop our students' talents across the WHOLE curriculum, here are examples of our science students, who have also spent significant time pursuing and developing their artistic talent. In these hard economic times too often cuts are made in the arts. These works are strong evidence for educators and communities to insist on maintaining a full and meaningful curriculum!!

    Kyrie chose for her AP Art portfolio to produce digital renderings of the story behind foxes in Japanese folklore. Currently, Kyrie is a student in the Forensics course. She has taken four years of science in Bronxville, the "Core", our half year Freshman and Sophomore science courses (Core Chemistry Honors, Core Physics Honors, Core Biology Honors and Core Earth Science), and Biology II Honors. Kyrie has also taken AP courses in AP English Literature.

Forensic Scientists Improve DNA Analysis With Mummy-inspired Bone-baking

Original Text:
February 1, 2008 — Forensic scientists analyzing bones found in the Gobi desert discovered that the DNA within them could be surprisingly easily extracted. In an experiment designed to mimic the conditions that affected those bones, baking a particularly difficult sample made the DNA much more easily extracted, probably because it makes it easier to break open more cells and expose more of the DNA molecules. Mummies have always held secrets, but now one of them has led to a new DNA technique.
Our fascination with mummies has sold millions at the box office. Now these preserved people -- mummies more than 800 years old -- are helping scientists reveal the mysteries of the past.
University of New Haven forensic scientist Dr. Heather Coyle is experimenting with a new technique by going back in time.
These are skeletal remains recently gathered from a Gobi desert cave. Surprisingly, Dr. Coyle was able to extract DNA from these mummies, but when she tried the same method on a body found in the USA, she was not as successful. "We realized that the bone we were trying to process was not yielding DNA from the case we were working on," Dr. Coyle said.
Standard DNA procedure for bones is to freeze them. When Coyle and her team re-examined the mummy remains they realized the Gobi desert created a natural bone baking process.
"It makes the bone more brittle so it makes it easier to grind and break open more cells, so we think we are accessing more DNA to begin with," Dr. Coyle said. Dr. Coyle decided to mimic nature by baking the cold case bones for 72 hours. Liquid nitrogen was then poured into a pulverizer. The bone was placed inside, ready to be crushed. After a short cycle the bone was turned to powder and ready for DNA extraction.
Coyle hopes her new technique will someday help close the book on several cold case files.

Summary:
When I was in sixth grade, I learned about Egyptian mummies in history class. Six years later, I found this article about forensic scientists in Egypt and how they could easily extract DNA from mummies! Even though the mummies had been dead for thousands of years, their DNA was still present. This article made me curious. How does a person’s DNA last for thousands of years? I thought the DNA had decomposed long ago. Not only did I find this article interesting myself; my parents were also amazed when I told them about it. Lastly, I would like to point out that this article reminded me of the King Tut exhibit at my favorite museum.
However, this article could have been done better in two ways. First of all, I think the original text was too long. Second, I think the author’s writing style was a little too opinionated. This is a news article, not an editorial!
Lastly, I think this article should not only be used in schools, I also think people outside of school (friends, family, penpals, etc.) might find this as interesting as I did. Hope you liked my summary, and don’t forget to comment. That is all.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0201-baking_out_dna.htm

A study on the effect of storage duration and fabric type on DNA quantity extracted from dried seminal stains.

http://www.forensicmag.com/article/storing-dna-fabric?page=0,0

          Sexual violence occurs in every culture, in all levels of society, and in every country of the world. In cases of sexual assault, especially in rape, examinations often involve searching items such as clothing and bedding for seminal stains.¹² The seminal stains recovered on fabrics in the form of stained clothing, undergarments, and swabs on fabric material taken from the vagina and surrounding regions are submitted to DNA fingerprinting tests to compare them with the blood sample of the accused person. Isolation of DNA from such stains, particularly when the stains are old, is usually not possible. The causes could be degradation or decomposition of the biological material,which depends mainly upon the environmental conditions. Extraction was performed by using a genomic DNA purification kit (QIA amp DNA investigator kit for isolation of total genomic DNA from material stained with semen) on the first day as well as after 14 and 30 days. The results from the first day were used as reference samples. DNA quantity in dried seminal stains decreases with increased storage duration, and DNA recovery from natural fabrics (cotton and silk) is much higher than from artificial fabric (polyester), with the maximum yield from cotton followed by silk and polyester. Therefore, in the medicolegal practice, it is recommended that cotton fabric be used for swabs for collection of seminal stains.

 

          This article affects all of humanity because rape is a serious problem around the whole world. With the help of DNA being extracted from clothing, many victims can be helped by the catching of the perpetrator.

 

          The article was long and structured. It broke down everything that was needed to be known and was well written. All key points were addressed and everything was explained properly.

Forensic Breakthrough: Recovering Fingerprints on Fabrics Could Turn Clothes Into Silent Witnesses

          Recently, Forensic experts at the University of Abertay Dundee and the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) are creating new forensic techniques within the field of fingerprints. The new research seeks to recover fingerprint ridge detail and impressions from fabrics. This usually is considered a difficult task.
This new technique is known as vacuum metal deposition (VMD). This new technique uses gold and zinc to recover the fingerprint mark that is being investigated as part of the research project. VMD is a highly sensitive technique already used to detect fingerprint marks on smooth surfaces such as carrier bags, plastics and glass.

          Joanna Fraser, a forensic sciences researcher at the University of Abertay Dundee, said: "The research uses fine layers of metals to display fingerprints people may have left on fabrics, something which is far harder to do with soft surfaces. The technique has been around since the 1970s and is used on many surfaces but was never widely used on fabrics.”
         
          The process begins when they place the fabrics in a vacuum chamber. Then they heat up the gold to evaporate, and spread a film over the fabric. Then they heat up the zinc, which attaches to the gold where there are no fingerprint residues. This helps see the fingerprints and is shown on the original fabric.
I thought that this article was very interesting. It is fascinating about the new techniques of fingerprinting and how this new development can prove that the suspect committed the crime or not.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110131073141.htm

On the Scene: Improvised Tools of the Trade

Sometimes the forensics techniques taught in classes and workshops, or the tools or equipment at an examiner’s disposal simply won’t work given the specifics of the crime scene. In such cases crime scene officers must try to think outside the box. This is how improvised forensics tools are developed. One example of an improvised tool is the Blue Light Special which was developed in 1994. At that time the only lights available to view semen, urine, and saliva samples at the crime scene were too large and too expensive to be used on field work. The blue light special fits on the head of a flashlight and has an amber viewing shield with a 455 nm blue filter included with the unit allows you to see semen, urine, and saliva stains right at the scene. Without such a portable light, you would have to collect everything at a scene that might possibly contain evidence. By identifying the evidence at the scene, you have the advantage of knowing what needs to be packaged and processed right away. Another improvised tool was developed when a crime scene officer needed to take pictures of a crime scene from a bird’s eye view but too far in overgrown woods to call in a truck. So he rigged a camera to the end of a pvc pipe. This is now called the Eagle-eye pole. A recent improvised tool is used to look for dust footprints on the floor. Normally a crime scene officer would have to hold a flashlight near the floor but this can be very uncomfortable. So one person attached a small light to the end of a broomstick on a 45 degree angle therefor the officer does not need to get so close to the floor to look for footprints.

This article relates to forensics scientist because the improvised tools mentioned in the article can be used by any crime scene officer. These tools are developed to try to make it easier for crime scene officers to find evidence at a crime scene.

This article was well written but the article just jumped from tool to tool. The tools were not connected at all except for the fact that they all where improvised.

http://www.forensicmag.com/article/scene-improvised-tools-trade?page=0,1

Cinderella Robbery

          On October 6th, a woman walking home was set upon by two men. One of which held a pistol to her. They walked her home in the attempt to rob her house. Upon arriving at the Woman's house, the lady's mother answered the door and was immediately knocked out by the robbers. The woman's husband heard the commotion and came running. After a scuffle and the lady hitting one of the robbers over the head with a lamp. The thieves decided life was too short and made a break for it. Unfortunately for one of these robbers, he left his sneaker at the scene of the crime. Forensic scientists were able to uncover the identity of the perpetrator by taking a DNA swab from his sneaker. After a few months of DNA research, scientists found a match to the sneaker. The robber had a prison record and an identifiable tattoo. Soon after the man was caught and put in prison.

          I thought this article was very interesting because it showed me that scientists can extract DNA from almost anything. They were able to capture a man purely by having his shoe. Another thing I thought was interesting was the fact that the man lost his shoe, I mean they are supposed to be tied to your feet. But I digress... I guess this man will tie up his laces before he committs his next crime.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/nyregion/queens-robbery-case-hinges-on-a-sneaker.html?ref=forensicscience

Osama bin Laden's DNA: How sure is 99.9 percent sure?

          Osama Bin Laden is dead, or so we think. After the shooting of Bin Laden, he was photographed and identified by his wife. John Brennan, assistant of homeland security, said “we can say with 99.9% confidence that this was Bin Laden.” A huge controversy rose. People wondered why they can’t be 100% positive, if they are so sure. His DNA analysis took less than 24 hours and in order to identify him, they compared his DNA to his relatives. The DNA test looks at short tandem repeat sequences and there are more shared repeating patterns in close relatives. However, Bin Laden’s DNA was considered a 99.9% confident, but his DNA was compared to his half sister! Since Bin Laden has no full siblings, his DNA results may be misleading.

          This article relates to the United States in particular. It touches on insecurities society has on the confidence of Bin Laden’s death. There is a possibility, very unlikely, that the body does not belong to Bin Laden, however, there is a high probability that that is not the case. Also, it is important for society to understand that DNA testing is never 100% accurate/confident and that there is always room for error.

          This article was well written and informative, however I would have liked to see the author put a positive perspective on Bin Laden’s death, rather than the concerning/no hope comment at the end. The article’s mood seemed pretty hopeless in terms of ever being confident in the body’s identification.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/forensics/osama-bin-ladens-dna-how-sure-is-ninety-nine-point-nine-percent-sure-5680593

Forensics: Overweight People Really Are Big-boned.

            My article was about the bone structure of overweight people. Forensic Anthropologists often have trouble determining what a person looked like based on their bones because they can’t tell how heavy that person was in life. A new study at the University of North Caroline shows that you can determine a person’s weight based on the size and shape of their femur and thighbone. Researchers found that the heavier an individual was, the wider the shaft of that person's femur. They think that this is because over weight people have to support more weight and because they walk differently. The study included only white males so only weight could affect the results.

           

            I choose this article because in my statistics class we learned about blocking and only using on portion of the population in a study and this was an actually study where they did that. The article is important to the world because now dry remains can be identified more easily and therefore more killers can be caught.

 The article was good but it could have been longer. Also the researchers were not named and I would have liked to see a case in which this was used.

"Forensics: Overweight People Really Are Big-boned." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 03 May 2011.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110322105300.htm
posted for J. Weir

Kevin Bisconti

There now is a new way to conduct autopsies without using any type surgery. This method can be used for natural and violent deaths alike also for individual deaths and mass fatalities. This new method is also friendly towards certain religions that have certain ceremonies for the deceased.

This new method came about from the University of Leicester under professor Rutty. The new autopsy starts off with an injection to the neck with contrast and take a full body CT (Computed Tomography) Scan by using this method forensic pathologist are able to determine up to 80% of deaths. This technique looks at the vessels of the heart of the deceased. This method also is very inexpensive and easy to use in all cases whether they are natural or unnatural death.. This still is in the works but the university plans to run many more test with many different scenarios.

I think that this was a very interesting article. However I don’t not think they went into that much detail about how the operation is done. I would have liked them to go into further detail about how the operation is preformed.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110301111253.htm

New Technique to Help Catch Sexual Offenders: Scientists Detect Condom Lubricant on Fingermarks for the First Time

Kyrie Abiko

While some sexual offenders think that they can get away with their crime by using a condom, a new technique being developed at Sheffield Hallam University puts them out of luck, for this new method can detect condom lubricant on fingerprints left by a suspect at a crime scene. This proves that the offender has had contact with a condom. This would enable forensic scientists to provide further support to the evidence in alleged cases of sexual assault.
Condoms have been used more often by sexual offenders for the reason of preventing the risk of STDs and the transfer of potential DNA evidence, thinking this would also lower the chance of them getting caught. However, this new method can link a suspect, identified by their fingermark, to the crime in one analysis and can aid police in proving that an offence has taken place. And it is hoped the technique might be used to match lubricant found on a fingermark with residues from vaginal swabs collected from the victim.
Researchers have even proved that this technique was successful even on fingermarks left several weeks before analysis. They also hope this technique can eventually be used to identify specific lubricants that can possibly indicate a specific condom manufacturer or even the particular brand. Researchers hope to find that breakthrough soon enough to further support evidence in cases of sexual assault in even a stronger way.
I thought this article was particularly interesting not just for the fact that this newly developed method can determine a suspect to be placed at the scene of a sexual assault, but also for the fact that the fingermarks in contact with lubricant can be carefully examined using advanced imaging equipment to map ridge patterns and therefore identify a specific individual as the suspect. It is also interesting that researchers might possibly find a way to identify the type of condom lubricant and/or identify the specific condom brand from the fingermarks.

Criminal Investigation - Forensic Sculptor

          Frank Bender, a world famous forensic sculptor has been working in the field or years. His career began as a fluke when he entered a medical examiner’s office for a quick anatomy lesson during his time working as a photographer and artist on the side. Growing up in Phili, has made a name for himself because of his natural talent to recreate a badly damaged face in various circumstances out of clay.
        
          Some of his two most memorable career achievements have been: John List was a wealthy, religious man who in 1971 killed his whole family. When Bender got the case, List had been at large for 18 years. Frank constructed the bust of List from old photos aging the man by 18 years. List was apprehended eleven days after the sculpted bust was aired on America's Most Wanted.  As well as Rossella Atkins, who in the late 1987, The Philadelphia Police Department asked Frank Bender for help with an unidentified body found in a field behind a high school. He imagined this young woman as someone looking for something better in life. When he created a bust of her head, he had her looking up with her head tilted back. After two years of canvassing the neighborhood with the bust, the police had got no leads so they handed the bust back to Bender who donated it to the Philadelphia College of Physicians where they put it on display. Three weeks later a woman felt drawn to the display – the clay bust turned out to be her grand niece, Rosella Atkins. He has also assisted in the capture of six of America’s Most Wanted including including Alphonse Perisco, the Colombo crime family boss; Robert Nauss, convicted murderer and former head of the Warlocks motorcycle gang; and Hans Vorhauer, a convicted methamphetamine manufacturer and burglar.
  
          Bender’s work was fascinating to me because of his ability. The story mentioned in the article took me by surprise because of the incredible skills he has, and his capability to construct a person’s facial features when he has so little talent and when the person has become nearly unrecognizable. I was also intrigued because of his talents because I think it is exciting to know there are people in the world who have this ability to identify criminals when in many cases, those connected to the victim might give up hope on a case until Frank Bender changes everything.

http://www.suite101.com/content/forensic-sculptor-a37550

posted for A. Sher

Forensic Anthropology Study Correlates Weight with Bone Shape

           In the past, forensics scientists in North Carolina have discovered that weight correlates with bone shape. Before this research, one of the main flaws of identifying unknown skeletal remains was that forensic scientists were unable to determine how much an individual weighed based on his or her skeleton. This new research, however, give experts in the field of anthropology the ability to what the shape of a femur can tell us about the weight of an individual. Although the research does not give scientists the ability to provide individuals exact weight based on their skeletal remains, it does allow for them to determine whether an individual was over or under weight. Professor Ross of NC State said, “Researchers found that the heavier an individual was, the wider the shaft of that person’s femur. Our researchers have hypothesized that the femur of an overweight person is more robust because it bears more weight, but also because overweight individuals move and walk differently to compensate for their greater mass.” Ross believes that this discover will be only the start over more breakthroughs in forensics skeletal evaluation. He is very optimistic that in the near future forensics scientists will be able to determine the exact weight of individual’s skeletal remains.

          This article is very important to society because it can potentially revolutionize forensics anthropology. Determining the weight of individual’s skeletal remains has been something forensics scientists have never been able to do. However, with this recent breakthrough it shows that scientists are getting very close and will be able to determine the weight of individual’s skeletal remains in the near future.  

          I chose this article because I was unaware of this new discovery. I was very interested in the advances forensic scientists have made in the field of anthropology. This new method could be immensely beneficial for the law enforcement. I thought this article was pretty well written, but I thought it could have included more details regarding the topic. 

Bibliography: Mills, James. "Forensic Anthropology Study Correlates Weight with Bone Shape." Forensic Magazine. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. 

posted for R. Minetti

SPACE FORENSICS MIGHT POINT TO A MARTIAN ANCESTRY

Researchers are attempting to apply the field of forensic science to space exploration recently. This task would be able to do DNA and RNA sequencing on Martian microbes (if they potentially exist) to either debunk the myth that humans are descended from some alien race from Mars or to prove it. The theory is called panspermia and such testing to also see if Martian microbes could potentially pose a risk to humans should they colonize Mars in the distant future. Landers would have to be sent to Mars in order to acquire these genomes. The idea does not claim that Martians landed on Earth millions of years ago but claims that microbes latched onto meteorites from Mars and were blasted to Earth, mutating over time to become humans. The article was well presented and thoroughly interesting because of how unique it was from other forensic articles in the news. Applying forensic science to science one would find in NASA is extremely far fetched and science fiction sounding—all in all this article does not relate in any way to anyone’s immediate life or directly to the field of criminal forensic science but to forensic science in general and almost a new take on it. 

http://news.discovery.com/space/space-forensics-might-point-to-a-martian-ancestry-110326.html posted for J. O'Neill

NEWS FLASH! Search continues as 3 bodies prove not to be those of missing woman

Original text: New York (CNN) — The remains of three women found on a remote stretch of beach in Long Island, New York, do not include those of Shannan Gilbert, whose search led to the investigation of a possible serial killer. Gilbert, 24, of Jersey City, New Jersey, has been missing since May and was last seen alive in the Gilgo Beach area. As authorities searched for clues concerning her disappearance last year, they uncovered a total of eight corpses found in various stages of decomposition. A woman's body was found March 29 off Ocean Parkway, west of Cedar Beach, police said. When medical examination determined they were not Gilbert's remains, the police continued to search. On Monday, they found the remains of three additional people. They have also since been determined not to be those of Gilbert, police said in a statement Tuesday. Gilbert's sister, Sheree Gilbert, told HLN's Nancy Grace Tuesday night she was surprised none of the victims were her sibling. "When we at first found out in December the first body initially they had found could have been hers, we had already prepared ourselves, and we were just hoping the search would come to an end," Sheree Gilbert said. "We just don't know where she is at this point and we don't want her to suffer. We don't want her to be lost somewhere, not ever found." Police say the hunt for a potential serial killer continues, as does the search for Gilbert, who, like the women whose bodies have been found, advertised for prostitution services on such sites as Craigslist. The first four bodies were discovered stuffed into bushes on a quarter-mile stretch of waterfront property on Oak Beach, indicating "they were dumped there by the same person or persons," said Richard Dormer, Suffolk County Police commissioner, in December. "It's too coincidental that there were four bodies in the same location." The remains of the fifth body were found about a mile from where the other corpses were discovered, he said, refusing to disclose exactly where the three additional remains were found on Monday. Summary of the article: When I searched for a current event article on the CNN website, this article was the first one that caught my eye in the “JUSTICE” section. Not only did it capture my attention; I read the article and it left me in awe. “But how could four dead bodies be convienently located in the same spot?” I wondered. That was very interesting to me, so I decided to read on. At first, I thought the four victims were a group of friends who just happened to meet a serial killer during their walk – and (alas) they were all shot and killed. (You know how serial killers are.) However, the article says that none of them were related to each other. On a lighter note, I found this article to be very consise; instead of boring me with unnecessary details, the author got right to the point. Despite this fascinating topic, I found some potential errors with this article. First of all, this article is very brief (perhaps a little TOO brief). I would appreciate it if this article were a bit longer. Second, there must be a legitimate, scientifically-accurate reason for all four victims to die in the same location. It just doesn’t make sense. Lastly, I would like to mention that this article really provoked my curiousity. Who is responsible for such a dastardly crime such as this? And did he/she commit suicide after murdering four people, or is he/she still on the lam? I don’t know who it is, but hopefully, the criminal will be arrested as soon as possible. Keep your fingers crossed! Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/04/05/new.york.bodies/index.html

Crime Scene 101: Locating and Documenting Evidence

http://www.forensicmag.com/article/crime-scene-101-locating-and-documenting-evidence?page=0,1

          This article is a summary of how you should locate and document evidence at a crime scene. How do you find the evidence and how do you properly document it once you find it? If you locate every piece of evidence but fail to document each item carefully, the evidence may end up being worthless in court. One of the keys to locating evidence at a crime scene is proper lighting. While lighting is especially important at night, you may also need additional lighting during the day. A flashlight is needed, but just using a flashlight isn’t enough. CSOs have many options for lighting. Most important, you want the scene as bright as day. If you have an outdoor scene at night, you’ll need large lights. Waiting until daytime may compromise your evidence. If the weather changes, for example, you could lose evidence or have trouble finding it. Also, if you wait to process the scene, an officer has to stay at the scene to secure it. When you photograph the scene, first, take enough photographs. It’s not unusual to take 200-400 photos of a major crime scene, and with digital cameras there’s no reason not to take as many photos as you need. Once you’ve photographed the evidence, collect the evidence and prepare the Evidence Custody Sheet, a report which documents all of your evidence.

 

          This article does not really affect my life in particular. Its more of a how-to guide for a crime scene. I suppose, however, a victim of a crime would want his crime scene officials to locate and document evidence as efficiently as possible to have a chance in catching the perpetrator.

 

          This was a well written article. It was very straightforward. It spoke to the reader using the word "you". It described just how important each step in crime scene evidence really is.

Research Will Help ID Bodies Left Behind by Chilean Earthquake, Pinochet Regime

          Recently, new research from North Carolina State University determined that medical examiners and others will help to identify human remains of those killed during the recent earthquake in Chile. Dr. Ann Ross stated: “We have developed population-specific identification criteria for the Chilean population, which will help us determine the stature and biological sex of skeletal remains…” For the past ten years, forensic scientists have developed a population – specific identification criteria that account for different height, built and many other characteristics. This is important because populations can differ from different areas of the country and world. The researchers evaluated remains from a 20th century Chilean cemetery in order to accurately characterize Chilean skeletal features. They were then able to develop stature criteria that can help researchers arrive at an accurate height for an individual based on an analysis of his or her long bones, including the femur and tibia.

          This research affects humanity because now with this new sort of technology, identification of victims in other types of tragedies can be found earlier in the process and can even result in an earlier day for an autopsy.

          I thought that this article was an interesting article because the research according to the chart of different heights and other characteristics can help determine the identification of the victims in the Chilean earthquake.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100914095936.htm

Study Examines Why Innocent Suspects May Confess to a Crime

          Since 1989 there have been 25% of 266 people convicted due to false confession. Iowa State University (ISU) did a study to see why innocent suspects may confess to a crime. They found that people will confess to illegal activities in order to relieve proximal (short term) consequence while not considering the distal (long term) consequence. ISU performed two experiments on ISU psychology undergraduates and both found that the students would admit to doing some unethical or criminal behavior just in order to get out of short term consequences. In the first experiment, the proximal consequence was the students would be asked to answer a long set of repetitive questions while the distal consequence was having to meet with a police officer a few weeks later to discuss the answers in detail. After this experiment, they found most students shifted their admissions to avoid the repetitive questions. In the second experiment, the proximal consequence was to meet with a police officer immediately after the interview and the distal consequence was to return to the lab in a few weeks to be asked a long set of repetitive questions. Once again, the students tried to veer away from the proximal consequence (meeting with the police officer). These two experiments validate why some people may confess to a crime they didn’t do, just to avoid being interrogated by the police.

          This article relates to human behavior. Forensic science is more than just uncovering what happened at a crime scene, it’s also to understand why it occurred. This is a similar idea, understanding why people may falsely confess is important because we can then find an alternate way of questioning people in a way so they don’t need to lie. Understanding this and hopefully changing the approach to questioning will allow innocent suspects to be free and help determine who the real suspect is.

         This article was very interesting; however I wish the article provided statistics of how many people avoided the proximal consequences in the two experiments. I think it would have validated the article’s point more.

http://www.forensicmag.com/news/study-examines-why-innocent-suspects-may-confess-crime

Forensic Breakthrough: Recovering Fingerprints on Fabrics Could Turn Clothes Into Silent Witnesses

Currently a new technique in fingerprinting is being researched by forensic scientist in Scotland. This new Technique would allow the fingerprint of a suspect to be lifted from an article of clothing, something that has not been done before. For the past thirty years a team located at the University of Abertay has studied fingerprints and this new method seems to be successful.

The process in which this is done requires the use of the elements Zinc and Gold. This is know as VMD or Vacuum Metal Deposition, however this process has been around for some time. Joanna Fraser, a forensic scientist currently studying this method explains. "The research uses fine layers of metals to display fingerprints people may have left on fabrics, something which is far harder to do with soft surfaces. The technique has been around since the 1970s and is used on many surface but was never widely used on fabrics.”

I think that this new technique of fingerprinting can greatly help in the field of forensic science as well as law enforcement when it come to catching criminals.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110131073141.htm

Solving Cases with Technology: Voice Stress Analysis

Voice stress analysis more commonly known as VSA is a very effective way to determine if someone is lying. It is designed to measure the changes caused by how the body reacts to stressful situations. The foundation of VSA technology is that a person’s voice emits detectable fluctuation in both AM, amplitude modulation, and FM, frequency modulation, frequencies called microtremors. When you listen to a person speaking, you hear the AM which rides atop the FM, which is undetectable to the human ear. Under the stress created from a deceptive response there is a reduction in the FM frequencies causing the microtremors to increase. It is an involuntary autonomic response detectable with a microphone and a computer running the proper software. The skilled examiner then analyzes the person’s voice patterns looking for these frequency discrepancies. Since this the change in frequencies is an involuntary response there are no known counter measures. A person cannot manipulate his voice frequencies the way he may be able to manipulate blood pressure, breathing, and skin response. 

When compared with a polygraph, the VSA technology is easier to use, faster to administer, less stressful, cheaper, and 98% accurate. VSA works in any language whether the subject is face to face or on the phone. Drugs, alcohol, and medical conditions do not affect the tests. Voice recordings that are years old can be used to solve cold cases. This test is less stressful for the subject than a polygraph test which makes VSA more accurate. When compared with a polygraph, the VSA technology is easier to use, faster to administer, less stressful, cheaper, and 98% accurate. A VSA test is more effective than a polygraph test because polygraph tests can’t analyze a recording while a VSA test can. Each test has the same admissibility in court.

http://www.forensicmag.com/article/solving-cases-technology-voice-stress-analysis?page=0,2

Forensic Breakthrough: Recovering Fingerprints on Fabrics Could Turn Clothes Into Silent Witnesses

          Recently, new research has been done on new methods of techniques of recovering fingerprints from different surfaces, the most challenging being from fabrics such as clothing recovered from a crime scene. Now it is the first time in about 30 years that recovering fingerprints from fabrics has become a major focus in research. As part of the research project, VMD, a technique known as vacuum metal deposition, uses gold and zinc to recover the fingerprint mark that is supposedly on the fabric. VMD is a highly sensitive method to easily detect fingerprints is already used on materials such as plastics and glass. When supposed fingerprints on fabrics are dusted with a combination of gold and zinc, the fabric is laced in a vacuum chamber, where the gold is heated up which results it to evaporate and spread a fine film over the fabric. Then when the zinc is heated up, it attached to the gold where there are no fingerprint residues. This helps reveal the fingerprint, where contact has been made you see the original fabric, and where there is no contact we're left with the gray color of the metal film. One way of explaining it is like a photographic negative, where colors show up as their opposites. Here the fingerprint ridges show through as clear fabric, but where there are no ridges we see the distinctive grey colour of the metal.

          The University of Abertay Dundee and forensic experts are currently studying its use in the examination of clothing and see if this evidence could act as a "silent witness" and bring value to an investigation. As research continues, recovering fingerprints have been successful on a number of other fabrics besides cotton, such as silk, nylon, and polyester. In the past, it was proved difficult to distinguish a clear fingerprint on fabric, but it is shown that it is now possible. Further research on this method will further improve the method itself and prove its effectiveness.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110131073141.htm

Touch DNA

http://www.forensicmag.com/article/touch-dna?page=0,0

Touch DNA

Touch DNA is used to process an item someone has touched. We are always shedding skin cells when we touch something. We leave skin cells behind. Scientists can use skin cells left by criminals to develop a DNA profile. Scientists can take a small sample of skin cells and make as many copies of the DNA as they need to perform their analysis. This process provides a highly specific genetic portrait of the person profiled. The whole process takes only takes a few days . This is much less time than is needed for traditional DNA processing. The right samples of DNA must be collected. This method can be used on samples taken from guns, steering wheels, cell phones, glass, plastic, wood, cloth, fabric, etc.

This article is important because it can impact the world of crime in a positive light. With touch DNA, we can now more accurately identify suspects of a crime scene based on the skin cells they have shed. Not only can we identify skin cells but also materials such as guns, cell phones, and clothing. This way, all suspects of a crime can be identified.

The only criticism I have about the article is that many aspects should be explained more thoroughly. It is a bit brief on the methods of examination.

To much TV is Harmful for your Heart Health

Spending to much time in front of a TV or a computer screen can increase the risk of heart disease and premature death. Data shows that people who spend less then 2 hours a day looking a t a screen and those who use more then 4 hours are likely to have a major cardiac event that involves hospitalization, death or both. Those spending less than two hours a day staring at a screen, there was a 48% increased risk of death in those spending four or more hours a day. Data shows that one fourth of the organization between screen time and cardiovascular events was explained collectively by C-reactive protein, body mass index, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol suggesting that irritation and of lipids may be one pathway through which extended sitting increases the risk for cardiovascular events. CRP, a well-established marker of low-grade irritation, was two times higher in people spending more than four hours of screen time per day compared to those spending less than two hours a day. A present study showed that 4,512 adults who were affected. From a survey a total of 325 all-cause deaths and 215 cardiac events occurred during an average of 4.3 years of follow up.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110110164736.htm

Posted for X. Lessane