Category Archives: Future Forensics
Forensics at the cutting edge and beyond
Future Forensics: Smart Bullet Finds Target at Over a Mile Away!
Here is an interesting story and video about a revolutionary bullet being designed like a cruise missile. When the cartridge is fired the bullet sprouts fins which control it’s flight path to the target. I doubt police will have to deal with this technology anytime soon but it opens up some interesting ideas for a science fiction crime story. The current technology is cool enough but what if your bullet actually “scented” the target like a bloodhound? I’ve written about the amazing capacity of bloodhounds in tracking human scent here and here. But what if a bullet could “scoop up” and analyze scent as a means of finding a target? Bloodhounds do it and scientists have used instruments for high volume air sample screening in atmospheric and environmental studies for years. By analyzing scent could a bullet be programmed to follow a person’s scnet or DNA which is constantly being shed in the form of skin cells. Could you literally pick a person out of a crowd?
Taking it one step further (and this is way out there but we’re talking science fiction) what if a bullet could be programmed to ignore “friendly” targets? That population of “friendlies” may be as small as family members or as large as a military division. Of course, a bullet can’t stop in mid air (or can it) and course corrections at 1100 ft/sec become increasingly difficult if not impossible as the range to target decreases but again, we’re talking fiction. This technology might be something to consider using in your science fiction novel under certain circumstances where you wouldn’t run into certain problems like crowds of people.
Another consideration is the purpose of the projectile. Maybe in your story it is designed for “tagging” or less-lethal incapacitation than it is for killing. In any event, I thought it was interesting and it got my mental gears engaged.
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Future Forensics: ADAPTIV Camouflage & Bad Guys
This is really cool technology that has great potential for our military and police, but it also has the potential to one day aid the criminal. The ADAPTIV technology employs interlocking “plates” that use surrounding imaging to project a false “picture” to everyone around it. For example, the camera sensors may take a picture of the environment behind the vehicle and project that image on the opposite side thereby rendering the vehicle ”invisible” even to the naked eye. Right now these imaging plates are pretty distinctive and look like large reptilian scales but as the imaging improves and the scales get smaller it may be indistinguishable from other materials. The great news for fiction writers (especially sci-fi or futuristic mystery) is that you don’t have to wait for the technology to catch up.
Imagine a team of bank robbers who flee the scene in an adaptive camouflage vehicle. The police take chase and are looking for a red colored sedan. With the push of a button the sedan could literally disappear, change shape, or change color. If you really wanted to push the technology envelope imagine if the windows of the vehicle projected the image of an elderly couple or a soccer mom instead of the four heavily armed robbers to any passer-by.
The technology wouldn’t be limited to just vehicles either. You could hide a safe house, room in a warehouse, or even certain items. Imagine the cops busting down the door to a drug house and the bad guys being able to hide their drugs in plain sight. They could also hide weapons, computers, doorways, or any number of incriminating items. The only way a CSI could detect the items would be to disrupt the imaging device. That might be through the use of a low-yield electromagnetic pulse or similar instrument (which I’m not sure even exist but that’s why they call it fiction right?) Play around with some ideas and see where they take you!
Can An iPhone App Help Find a Body?
The Apple iPhone
Apparently the answer is YES! Following a recent military plane crash in Chile, authorities used Apple’s Find My iPhone App to locate the position of the crash and the bodies of the victims after their plane plunged in the ocean. Amazingly, the phone components survived what the Chilean Military classified as a high fragmentation impact off the coast. None of the recovered plane fragments found so far are over 50cm in size! GPS based hardware and software are becoming more popular by the day. Everything from phones, cars, wrist watches, even pet trackers utilize this advanced technology.
This brings up some interesting issues for your novel. Your characters may be tracked depending on the gadgets they are carrying. This may be something you want or need to consider (depending on whether or not you want them found). I have never conducted any studies on the survivability (time and function) of a buried electronic device (but now I plan to). My guess is that devices buried (with people) in generally arid environments will survive longer than wet areas but the above case example seems to challenge even that assumption. As a writer I think you’d be safe to assume that a signal could be detected for at least several days if not longer.
Devices like these can also be used to locate suspects. Not only can they provide real-time location data they can also tell you where a suspect has been. Here are two examples of how you might use that information in your novel. Say you suspect’s cell phone is pinging off a cell tower in a remote area at midnight. If they have no reason for being there then it may indicate the location of a body dump, burial, or some other interesting activity. People don’t generally go anywhere without their cell phones and criminals are no different. In the heat of the moment the idea of leaving their cell phone behind would likely not occur to them. Another scenario would be tracking the movement of a device. If your suspect’s alibi is that he was attending a business conference in an adjoining state while his wife was murdered it would look awfully suspicious if his cell phone is hitting towers along the highway in the middle of the night going home and then returning to the conference.
However you choose to work these devices into your storyline you should always remember that they are present. As you are writing your scene ask yourself how that device might be used by the police to track it. Alternatively, could your suspect use the same technology to lead the police on a wild goose chase (like leaving it on a subway car while they get off to commit a crime and then get back on the train and retrieve it)? Just some things to think about.
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Detecting Patched Bullet Holes in Painted Drywall
Some of you know that I continue to conduct research in the forensic sciences so I thought it might be fun to share my latest paper on detecting patched bullet holes with portable x-ray units. I hope you enjoy!
Future Forensics: Reproducing Evidence
A colleague of mine sent me a link to this video which really got me thinking about the future. Criminalists have been making “copies” or reproductions of evidence for over a century. Whether it’s impression evidence (like tool marks, shoe/tire impressions, or casts of gun barrels), casts of skeletal remains, even death masks; making a reproduction of an original that otherwise can’t be preserved is huge.
But what if you could someday make a realistic looking reproduction of anything you might want to preserve as evidence? How about a human body at autopsy? Imagine being able to wheel it into a courtroom for the pathologist to use in his/her testimony? What about the murder weapon complete with color accurate staining to represent blood? Currently, if a jury were even allowed to handle an item like this it would be inside a heavy plastic bag. Some jurors wouldn’t even want to handle it no matter what it’s packaged in. But if they knew it was merely a facsimile then they might be more likely to study it in detail.
One could make copies at will for the defense experts, jurors, and others to examine or experiment on those items without fear of damaging the original. This is a critical advantage that could revolutionize how we deal with evidence. If you really wanted to take it to an extreme in a novel you could create an ability to reproduce an entire crime scene that jurors and investigators could walk through. Analysts might even be able to add sounds and lighting based on evidence developed during the investigation. And I thought the advent of digital cameras was a big deal!
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Chemically Tagging Criminals
Chemical Tagging on Subject's Face
Ever since Edmond Locard’s seminal work on the Analysis of Dust Traces in 1930 police have recognized the value of linking a suspect to a crime scene through the analysis of trace evidence such as hairs, fibers, soils, etc. At some point, police discovered that they could introduce special powders at certain locations at a potential crime scene that the suspect would carry away. Such was the birth of Theft Detection Powder. These fine powders were similar to fingerprint powder but were only visible under ultra-violet light. This way, the suspect could not see the powder on their hands, face, or clothing. Think of it as criminal tagging.
Police would coat the surfaces of areas that only the suspect would have access to (such as a dummy cash box, certain door handles, blank checks, etc.). When a suspect was developed or an individual was caught fleeing the scene, the police could use a simple black-light to check for the powder. If the susepct wasn’t developed for a few days or weeks the powders may have been washed from the sking but the police could still check areas like jacket pockets, ball caps, and vehicles, that aren’t cleaned often.
Soon after, another nifty invention came along. We called it Pilfa-powder but it has gone by a number of names. Like fluorescent powders, Pilfa-powder was invisible to the naked eye (although purple in large quantities) but when it comes in contact with water it turns a deep purple color. This purple staining can not be washed off and will stay on the suspects skin for weeks. Obvioulsy this makes it difficult for the offender to hide the staining from friends, family, and co-workers.
Now, researchers have developed the latest version of introduced trace evidence. This new technology uses an invisible, non-toxic chemical spray containing a unique chemical signature. A dispenser can be installed above the entry/exit door to a business and can be tripped by an employee as the suspect flees. This chemical can stay on the skin for up to six weeks and even longer on clothing. Studies in Europe show an 85% reduction in theft and a 100% conviction rate in court.
This spray could be a powerful clue in your novel. You might even consider finding it on a victim, or a ch9ild, and then have your characters trying to discern how they got it on them. There is no evidence to show that the chemical can be cross-contaminated or “rubbed off” onto a third party.
