Forensic Art Forensic art is a law enforcement artistic technique used in the identification, apprehension, or conviction of wanted persons. Forensic art encompasses several disciplines including composite art, image modification, age progression, post-mortem reconstruction and demonstrative evidence. However, composite art is traditionally the most commonly known discipline of forensic art. The art of composite drawing has been used by police agencies throughout history. When one recalls the Old West, the classic wanted poster with a drawing of a "Bad Guy" comes to mind. These drawings were composites. Composite Art is an unusual marriage of two unlikely disciplines, police investigative work and art. In the past twenty years, the discipline of composite art has evolved into forensic art. The Police Composite Sketch by Stephen Mancusi Click icon for more information
Addressing Threats to the Nation’s Cybersecurity As the primary investigative agency of the federal government for more than a hundred years, the responsibilities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have kept pace with ever-emerging threats and crime trends affecting the United States. From the notorious gangsters of the early 20th century, to espionage and sabotage during World War II, through the Cold War years and the global war on terrorism, the FBI has protected our nation. The 21st century brings with it entirely new challenges, in which criminal and national security threats strike from afar through computer networks, with potentially devastating consequences. While the FBI must adapt to meet these challenges, addressing the broad range of threats to the nation’s cybersecurity is squarely within its mandate. Why the FBI? It’s our job. The FBI’s unified mission brings all lawful investigative techniques and legal tools together in combating these threats. Domestic Coordination within the U.S. As a member of the U.S.
Human Diseases and Conditions The eyes have it (2/5/2008) Researchers can now determine when a human was born by looking into the eyes of the dead Using the radiocarbon dating method and special proteins in the lens of the eye, researchers at the University of Copenhagen and University of Aarhus can now establish, with relatively high precision, when a person was born. This provides a useful tool for forensic scientists who can use it to establish the date of birth of an unidentified body and could also have further consequences for health science research. The lens of the eye is made up of transparent proteins called crystallins. A minute quantity of Carbon (C-12) in the carbon-dioxide content of the atmosphere contains two extra neutrons and is therefore called Carbon-14 (C-14). At the same time, carbon is one of the principal organic elements, and constantly moves in and out of the food chain. Read the full article Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Copenhagen Post Comments:
Computer Crime Research Center - Daily news about computer crime, internet fraud and cyber terrorism Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders Forensic Blood Spatter from Sneezing When working on a crime scene where blood spatter is in evidence, many things have to be done beginning from recording the scene, taking photographs, determining where the blood came from, from whom and how. One specific point that needs to be considered when doing so is to determine and separate bloodstains that may be caused by high velocity force such as that caused by sneezing. At the same time, if there is not a body present or if the body does not show evidence of blood in the nasal area, a history needs to be taken about the victim and how often or forcibly they may have had a nosebleed. A basic understanding of blood spatter analysis allows those collecting and preserving blood evidence at the scene knows what to look for. When a person sneezes, the air expelled is a spray of mist made up of moisture, mucus, and foreign particles. The projectile force of this respiratory air plus anything trapped with it can reach forty miles per hour. Sources: Projectile Force Of A Sneeze
How Unlocking Your Phone May Now Be A Crime: $500,000 Fines And 5 Years In Prison For First Offense Last week, we warned about the impending deadline if you wanted to unlock your phone "legally." That's because the Librarian of Congress took away the DMCA anti-circumvention exemption that allowed phone unlocking. If you're wondering why we even have the Librarian of Congress deciding such things, that's a much longer discussion. However, given how we've seen prosecutorial overreach on a variety of cases lately, including in the copyright realm, Khanna presents compelling evidence that unlocking a phone could trigger criminal charges. Any person who violates section 1201 or 1202 willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain... In case you don't know, 1201 is the anti-circumvention part of the DMCA/Copyright Act. Now, I can already hear people complaining that unlocking your phone for personal use isn't "willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain." Oh, so given all that, what kind of punishment could you get?
Biology Reference Body burners: The forensics of fire - science-in-society - 22 May 2009 THE fire started with a match held under a cotton blanket close to the man's waist. Within 2 minutes, the flames had spread across the single bed he was lying on and were consuming his cotton sweatshirt and trousers. Around a dozen onlookers were at the scene - including police, fire investigators and death investigators - yet all they did was watch. His body had reached a unique team led by Elayne Pope, a forensic scientist at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. Case Studies. We've discussed in the past a favorite talking point of the RIAA, claiming a 40% decline in employment for musicians over the past decade or so, which simply isn't supported by the numbers. We've been seeing a lot of people claiming this again lately, so we decided to take a look at what the numbers actually showed, and can't seem to figure out where that decline is coming from, because the numbers show a very different story -- one that suggests things are actually much better for independent musicians than in the past, just as we would expect. In fact, there's been an astounding 510% increase in independent musicians making their full time living from music in just the past decade. It's important to note, of course, that very, very, very few people get to make a living as a professional musician. From May 2003: From May 2012: But the top line numbers aren't that interesting, really. And From May 2012:
Science Clarified Protect yourself from COFEE with some DECAF (Updated) In response to Microsoft's Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE), which helps law enforcement officials grab data from password-protected or encrypted sources, two developers have created "Detect and Eliminate Computer Assisted Forensics" (DECAF), a counter intelligence tool designed to thwart the Microsoft forensic toolkit. DECAF monitors the computer it's running on for any signs that COFEE is operating on the machine and does everything it can to stop it. More specifically, the program deletes COFEE's temporary files, kills its processes, erases all COFEE logs, disables USB drives, and even contaminates or spoofs a variety of MAC addresses to muddy forensic tracks. It can be told to disable almost every piece of hardware on a machine and delete pre-defined files in the background. The 181KB DECAF program even has a 'Spill the cofee' mode in which it simulates COFEE's presence to give the user an opportunity to test his or her configuration before actually using it.