LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
We use math in calculating point of orgin of bloodstain patterns. The sin of the angle of impact equals the width over the length of the blood stain. When we have a group of bloodstains on a surface like a wall or floor we can use this to calculate the point of origin. Also the fingerprint database searching uses complicated algorithms to rank fingerprint matches in terms of similarity. Forensic chemists probably use math more than I do--for example, to calculate the amount of alcohol in a person's blood. I hope that helps!
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I'm afraid you'd have to ask a doctor. I'm not an expert in that area, but I could make a guess that it depends a great deal on what he lands on when he falls. Also, has anything in the loft changed recently? Maybe he rearranged the furniture so his bed is closer to the edge?
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You can't go wrong with science classes. When I was in college they didn't have courses specifically in forensic science, so that wasn't an option. Look especially for classes where you can do hands-on work in the lab or field. And different agencies will have different requirements, so you might want to go online and check out the different vacancies to get some idea of what requirements are out there.
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Unfortunately, I cannot answer any of these!1. No one has asked me about the new OJ knife, and in any event I don't know any more than anyone else who has read the papers. 2. That's impossible to say. It would depend on what kind of DNA evidence is there, what the soil was like around the object and how exposed it would be to elements like rain and heat. If it were simply buried in the yard I would think it highly unlikely that anything could be recovered after all this time, but we never say never. 3. I have no idea what the future holds. More technology might be able to detect ever tinier amounts of DNA, but it can't construct DNA where none exists. Sorry if that's not too enlightening!!
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Antiques Dealer
What do real antiques dealers think of the Antiques Roadshow reality show?
Casting Director
What do you look for when auditioning candidates for reality TV?
Bodybuilder
How prevalent is steroid use in pro bodybuilding?
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I'm sure you are, since most positions are civilian positions without those kinds of restrictions.
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I'm sorry but I have no idea. You'd have to ask a pathologist about wound appearance. Sorry I can't be more help.
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