Saturday, January 26, 2013

Unraveled Cover is Revealed

Add to Technorati FavoritesForensic Friday is being replaced with Freak-Out Friday.

Unraveled now has a cover and is on the front page of www.evernightteen.com

It's a milestone as a writer to see your book cover. I wish this feeling on all the writers out there.


Friday, January 18, 2013

Forensic Entomology


Add to Technorati FavoritesForensic Entomology is the study of insects found in and/ around a dead body. Think of Grissom on CSI: Las Vegas. He loved his bugs and used them to solve crimes.






• Necrophagous are the insects that are found on corpses.

• Insects can disturb and affect the crime scene. They can walk through blood and leave tracks. They can ingest blood, and then leave deposits elsewhere.

• Insects found on a body may point to a specific location based on the natural habitat of the insect and the material they eat.

• You can determine time of death based on insect activity and life cycle stage

• Forensic entomology can be used in helping to solve criminal, civil, food contamination, and abuse cases.

• The use of forensic entomology was started in the 14th century in China

• In the novel, Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris, the rare moths were one of the ways the FBI was able to find the serial killer

• Child killer, Kevin Neal, was convicted using forensic entomology

• Dr. Neal Haskell is one of the most renowned forensic entomologists and has participated in hundreds of trials.

• If you are a forensic entomologist, you can join NAFEA (North American Forensic Entomology Association.


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Resources:

http://www.forensic-entomology.com/

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/forensics/kevin_neal/13.html

http://www.saintjoe.edu/academics/biology/haskell.html

http://www.nafea.net/



Friday, January 11, 2013

All About the Digits

1. The study of fingerprints is called Dactylography

2. Fingerprints are identified using three patterns: whorls, loops, and arches.

3. No two fingerprints are alike even on identical twins.

4. Most commonly used forensic evidence worldwide

5. The AIST (Academy of Investigation Services & Training) offers a fingerprint identification course.

6. IAFIS (Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System) database is used by more than 20,000 agencies worldwide for the identification of fingerprints

7. Fingerprints are produced by the sweat and oil in your fingers

8. Normally, when you injure a finger, the same fingerprint pattern appears on the new skin. If you damage the inner skin layer, you may have a new fingerprint pattern.

9. Gangster John Dillinger tried removing his fingerprints but dipping his fingers in acid. It didn’t work

10. Fingerprints are the “pegs” that connect your outer skin to the inner skin layer


Resources:

http://www.forensicsciencecentre.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40&Itemid=48

 http://odyb.net/forensics/5-facts-about-the-fingerprint/

http://fingerprintcourse.com/

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