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Criminals sometimes damage their mobile phones in an attempt to destroy evidence. They might smash, shoot, submerge or cook their phones, but forensics experts
In the palm of his hand, Thomas Brian Renegar held two small metal objects that had changed the course of history. Twisted pieces of copper and lead, they were
In an effort to make hair comparison a more useful technique for investigating crimes, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Today, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science
Scientists have demonstrated a way for police to quickly and safely test whether a baggie or other package contains illegal drugs without having to handle any
Science stinks.
So thought Megan Harries as she measured drops of putrescine and cadaverine — the chemicals that give decomposing corpses their distinctive
One of the nation’s leading crime laboratories, the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC), has announced that it will voluntarily adopt standards approved by
When crime lab chemists handle evidence that contains illegal drugs, trace amounts of those drugs are inevitably released into the laboratory environment. When
At forensic science labs, analysts literally weigh the evidence. They also measure it in other ways. They use microscopes, DNA profiling kits, chemical
One of the largest software libraries in the world just grew larger. The National Software Reference Library (NSRL), which archives copies of the world’s most
DNA is often considered the most reliable form of forensic evidence, and this reputation is based on the way DNA experts use statistics. When they compare
The drug overdose epidemic currently gripping the nation is so tenacious in part because it’s being driven by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that comes in many
Aerial drones might someday deliver online purchases to your home. But in some prisons, drone delivery is already a thing. Drones have been spotted flying drugs
Fentanyl, the synthetic drug that is driving a nationwide overdose epidemic, is not only a killer. It’s also a shape shifter. Illicit chemists are constantly
On February 14, 1929, gunmen working for Al Capone disguised themselves as police officers, entered the warehouse of a competing gang, and shot seven of their
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will undertake a study to assess the reliability of forensic methods for analyzing DNA evidence that
Sylvester James Gates, Jr. is a world-recognized researcher in theoretical physics. Formerly of the University of Maryland and now a professor at Brown
Jeremy Triplett has had a busy three years. Since the inception of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science ( OSAC) in 2014, Triplett
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a laboratory instrument that can measure how much of the carbon in many
When Continental flight 3407 crashed on approach to Buffalo Niagara airport on February 12, 2009, all 49 persons on board, and one on the ground, were killed
GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking public input on a potential new organizational
The first big case involving fingerprint evidence in the United States was the murder trial of Thomas Jennings in Chicago in 1911. Jennings had broken into a
The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) has approved the Standard Test Method for Forensic Comparison of Glass Using Micro X
Marijuana is now legal for recreational or medicinal use in at least 28 states and the District of Columbia. But driving under the influence of marijuana is
When scientists need to identify an unknown compound, they do what a police detective might do. They get fingerprints—in this case, the “molecular fingerprints”