No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door!
A Behind the Scenes Look at an MSP Forensic Lab (ABC 10 – 12/22/2016)
Lawmakers Try to Fix a Side Effect of Reducing Drug and Theft Crimes: Not Enough DNA Samples for Cold Cases (Los Angeles Times – 12/22/2016)
California lawmakers are once again trying to expand the collection of DNA evidence in criminal cases, something they say has declined under Proposition 47, hurting cold rape and murder investigations.
DNA Testing Limits Overturned by Ohio Supreme Court (Governing – 12/22/2016)
Inside the DEA: A Chemist’s Quest to Identify Mystery Drugs (Forensic Magazine – 12/22/2016)
Why We’re Closer Than Ever to a Timeline for Human Evolution (The Guardian – 12/22/2016)
For Science! World’s Oldest Mummies Get a DNA Scan (Sputnik News – 12/26/2016)
In Texas, A Database of Exhumed Objects Aims to ID Migrants Who Perished (NPR – 12/26/2016)
Researchers Estimate Time Since Death Using Necrobiome (Forensic Magazine – 12/27/2016)
Currently, when a deceased human is discovered, the forensic techniques for estimating time elapsed since death is not very precise. However, in a new study appearing in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers have turned to analyzing the human microbiome, the bacteria and other microbes that live on and in our bodies, for clues about the postmortem interval of a cadaver.
Making Sense of Disasters: Forensic Engineering Certificate First in Canada (Forensic Magazine – 12/27/2016)
Forensic engineers are trained to find and analyse data from disasters, accidents and failures, and present an unbiased assessment of what the underlying cause may have been.
Carnegie Mellon Scientists Use Brain Scan Data to Study Facial Recognition (Forensic Magazine – 12/27/2016)
84 Dublin Taxi Drivers Being Asked for DNA Samples After Alleged Rape (Irish Examiner – 12/27/2016)
Eighty-four taxi drivers in Dublin are being asked for DNA samples after an alleged rape.
The men have been chosen because their cars match the make and model of the suspect’s vehicle.
The Irish Times says today that the attack was reported by a woman after a night out on December 11 last year.
State Audit Shows Nearly Half of Rape Kits Not Tested (Idaho Press-Tribune – 12/27/2016)
Nearly half of Idaho’s alleged sexual assault victims who underwent a forensic exam after reporting their case to authorities never had those results submitted to a lab for testing.
2017: Ideas Whose Time Has Come and Gone (Forensic Magazine – 12/28/2016)
We here in the NIST public affairs office thought it might be fun to list some of the NIST-relevant scientific ideas that we think are on their way in and out in 2017. While the items on the list below may not be as monumental as the discoveries that led to this year’s Nobel Prizes, MacArthur Foundation “genius” grants or Breakthrough Prizes, we still think they’re pretty important and could contribute to a better future.
Look Inside the World’s Only Forensic Lab that Investigates Wildlife Crimes (Metro – 12/28/2016)
The lab, which is based in Ashland in the US state of Oregon, was set up in 1988 by the US Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement (USFWS) to to scientifically analyse violations of federal wildlife protection laws.
Will DNA Test Solve Habsburg Imperial Mystery? (BBC – 12/29/2016)
A Czech DNA expert is carrying out tests on clothes belonging to the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk.
The tests should provide a definitive answer to an explosive claim that has fascinated readers and troubled historians for almost a century. Was Masaryk – champion of Slav rights and father of the Czechoslovak state – the illegitimate son of the Austro-Hungarian emperor?
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS? SUBSCRIBE TO THE ISHI BLOG BELOW!
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
