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989 Questions

Last Answer on July 21, 2022

Does the pericardium fill with blood upon expiration or after expiration, or at all after death

Asked by g.hill over 10 years ago

I'm sorry but I would have no idea. You'd have to ask a pathologist.

my ex husband put tramadol to his Sprite drink and personally sent the specimen to the forensic lab on Aug 24; which was as dated as Received by the lab but the label in the specimen bottle was Aug 19.
My question is what was the time lapse? help

Asked by Clarity over 10 years ago

I'm sorry but I have no idea. You'll have to ask the lab. I'd love to know myself--I'd also love to know why your ex drugged his own drink and then paid to have a lab analyze it.

978 Votes

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what technologies do they use for fingerprinting identification

Asked by nikki almost 11 years ago

There are numerous techniques for obtaining fingerprints from surfaces--black powders, colored powders, alternate light, superglue, dye staining. Once you can visualize the print, comparing one to another is done by noting all the information (where ridges end, divide, form a dot, have a scar, etc.) in one pattern and comparing it to another print's pattern. This can be done by a computer so that thousands to millions of prints can be searched quickly, all day, every day, all over the world, but is always confirmed by human beings. Despite what you see on TV!

977 Votes

Can an angry woman use an old pair of underwear to smear dna before doing a rape kit?

Asked by Janet about 11 years ago

See next question.

976 Votes

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What is the first thing you look for at a crime scene?

Asked by Lilly123 over 10 years ago

It depends on the crime, but in general I guess you look for how the perpetrator got in, how they got out, and what they disturbed while they were there. Then I look for what we could get information from (such as surfaces that they had to touch that are smooth and glossy and might have prints, whether they left blood or bodily fluids behind that could be tested, whether they wrote something or used something that could point to their identity, etc.).

975 Votes

Hey, I'm very interested in becoming a forensic scientist myself. May I ask, what kind education is necessary to become a forensic scientist. Also where did you apply for your job? Did you go through private training after you were hired?

Asked by Zachary Assante almost 10 years ago

If you look through previous answers you'll find a number pertaining to this. Each agency and position may have different requirements so the only way to know is to call the places you are interested in working at and ask them. For my current job I only need a high school diploma but we all have at least a Bachelor's degree. If you want to do DNA analysis they may require a PhD. I applied to the police department that posted the vacancy. Most have online postings now so it's pretty easy. Yes, I've had a lot of continuing education through other police departments and forensic organizations.

975 Votes

Writing a novel: How long could dead bodies go undetected in an air conditioned storage unit? Assuming the people who leased it paid in cash and were unattached to their location (so basically no one is looking for them).

Asked by WriterGal almost 10 years ago

I'm sorry I can't give you any concrete timelines (a pathologist would know better than I) but I would think at least a couple of days. Air conditioning would definitely make the smell more tolerable than no air conditioning, but still storage units usually have just enough A/C to keep high heat and humidity from causing mold or causing problems with electronics. That's not the same thing as refrigeration. It might also depend on how close the bodies are to the door. People walking by might catch a whiff of something bad but assume that an errant mouse or cat somehow died inside. Thinking that, passers-by might be reluctant to open the door to someone else's property. The storage unit owners, even seeing it unlocked, might try to at least contact the client first, maybe calling the home and the guy's cell which of course he's not answering. Honestly you could probably make it anything you wanted--if you want it discovered quickly, put the unit at the front of the property or give it a fussy neighbor client who visits that same week. If you want it to be a long time, put it at the rear of the property where no other clients visited their units and all units lead to an outer door that didn't show any signs of damage (because both victims and husband entered with their assigned passkey) so the storage unit employees never had a reason to enter to notice either a smell or an unlocked unit. Good luck!

975 Votes

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Forensic Scientist

Ask me anything!

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Does the pericardium fill with blood upon expiration or after expiration, or at all after death

my ex husband put tramadol to his Sprite drink and personally sent the specimen to the forensic lab on Aug 24; which was as dated as Received by the lab but the label in the specimen bottle was Aug 19.
My question is what was the time lapse? help

So you wanna be a Forensic Scientist?

what technologies do they use for fingerprinting identification

Can an angry woman use an old pair of underwear to smear dna before doing a rape kit?

Also on Jobstr...

What is the first thing you look for at a crime scene?

Hey, I'm very interested in becoming a forensic scientist myself. May I ask, what kind education is necessary to become a forensic scientist. Also where did you apply for your job? Did you go through private training after you were hired?

Writing a novel: How long could dead bodies go undetected in an air conditioned storage unit? Assuming the people who leased it paid in cash and were unattached to their location (so basically no one is looking for them).

Forensic Scientist

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Does the pericardium fill with blood upon expiration or after expiration, or at all after death

my ex husband put tramadol to his Sprite drink and personally sent the specimen to the forensic lab on Aug 24; which was as dated as Received by the lab but the label in the specimen bottle was Aug 19. My question is what was the time lapse? help

So you wanna be a Forensic Scientist?

what technologies do they use for fingerprinting identification

Can an angry woman use an old pair of underwear to smear dna before doing a rape kit?

Also on Jobstr...

What is the first thing you look for at a crime scene?

Hey, I'm very interested in becoming a forensic scientist myself. May I ask, what kind education is necessary to become a forensic scientist. Also where did you apply for your job? Did you go through private training after you were hired?

Writing a novel: How long could dead bodies go undetected in an air conditioned storage unit? Assuming the people who leased it paid in cash and were unattached to their location (so basically no one is looking for them).

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my ex husband put tramadol to his Sprite drink and personally sent the specimen to the forensic lab on Aug 24; which was as dated as Received by the lab but the label in the specimen bottle was Aug 19.
My question is what was the time lapse? help