Forensic Science Trivia

1. Where in America was the first body farm located?

From Quiz Body Farms

Answer: Knoxville, Tennessee

Forensic anthropologist Dr. William Bass developed the first body farm at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He was frequently consulted by police forces for information about decomposed human remains that were a result of crimes. Dr. Bass opened the first body farm in the world. It was called the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, and was located behind the University of Tennessee Medical Centre. This facility sits on a 2.5-acre (10,000 square metre) wooded plot. There are a variety of settings on the plot that allow decomposition to be studied under different conditions such as sun, shade, under water, and locked in vehicles. The plot is surrounded by a security fence, and it not open to the public.

From Quiz Forensic Science under the Microscope

Answer: Locard's Exchange Principle.

Edmond Locard (1877-1966) set up the first laboratory to apply current scientific methods to criminal investigations in Lyons during 1910. At that time, his equipment was limited to a microscope and a simple spectrometer. His idea that a perpetrator could be tied to the crime scene through cross-transfer of often microscopic evidence (e.g. threads from clothes) during contact soon led to great international interest in the fledgling forensic sciences. One famous case involved identifying suspects in a lucrative coin counterfeiting ring through minute metal particles in their clothing. Over the next two decades, police laboratories were established in many cities throughout Europe. In 1932, FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover ordered the establishment of a national forensic laboratory to support police activities across the USA. However, credit for the theory underpinning forensic science should at least be shared with the Austrian judge and prosecutor, Hans Gross (1847-1915) who in 1893 wrote the first treatise outlining how the scientific method might be applied to criminal cases.

From Quiz Forensic Scientists

Answer: Hans Gross

Hans Gross was a professor of criminal law at the University of Graz, Austria in 1891. He was also a prosecutor and judge.

From Quiz Forensic Entomology - Busted By Bugs

Answer: Song Ci

Song Ci worked as a forensic expert and a presiding judge in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). His book, "Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified" has been translated from Chinese into many languages including German, English and French.

From Quiz Forensic Science Part I: Fingerprints

Answer: the Chinese

The Chinese mainly used a thumbprint in place of a signature in on legal conveyances and criminal confessions. The reason for this was simple. Many people were illiterate at that time and were incapable of signing their name. This recognition of the uniqueness of prints may have lead to the wide-spread use of them later on.

From Quiz Forensic Dentistry

Answer: forensic odontology

Odontology is the study of teeth. Forensic dentistry or odontology involves the identification of bodies by the teeth, jaws and bones of the skull and face, as well as the investigation of bite-marks and other trauma to the mouth and face.

From Quiz The World of Forensic Science

Answer: Latin

According to Dictionary. com- "Origin: 1650-60; L foréns(is) of, belonging to the forum, public (see forum, -ensis) + ic". History records indicate that the first known use of forensic science was in 44 B.C. A Roman physician named Antistius was summoned to examine the corpse of the would-be emperor, Gaius Julius Caesar. In the end, history tells us, the senators who murdered the Roman heir to the throne all paid with their lives. Anstistius gave his verdict in the forum, giving us the modern usage.

From Quiz Basic Forensic Science 3

Answer: insects

Insects are an extremely accurate indicator of post-mortem interval (the estimate of time since death). They can also help establish whether a body was killed in a different location from where it was found.

From Quiz Basic Forensic Science 2

Answer: Bite marks

Although he denied being the killer, Bundy made the mistake of biting one of his victims on the buttocks. So although he lied through his teeth, his teeth marks didn't lie!

From Quiz Basic Forensic Science 1

Answer: pertaining to the law

From the Latin 'forensis' meaning 'of the forum, or public' because the law is a matter of public interest. In Ancient Rome, the Forum was where the law courts were located. The modern meaning of the word "forensic" is "pertaining to the law or justice system".

From Quiz Forensic Science under the Microscope

Answer: Forensic Entomology.

Forensic entomology is the use of insect and arthropod evidence in criminal investigations. It has three main subfields: i) In Medico-legal entomology the focus is on violent crime and death investigations; ii) Urban entomology deals with the damage done to urban structures by insects; and iii) Storage entomology is concerned with the presence of insects in foodstuffs. The first documented case using forensic entomology occurred in China in 1235 and can be found in the book 'The Washing Away of Wrongs' by Sung Tz'u (also known as Song Ci). He tells the story of a village where a badly cut inhabitant had been found murdered. The presiding magistrate first tested different types of knives on an animal carcass to determine which type of weapon had been used. After concluding that it was a sickle, he had all the villagers gather in the village square where their sickles were laid on the ground in the hot sun. After a while, a group of blow-flies all gathered on one particular sickle. The owner of the sickle broke down and confessed to the murder. Upon investigation, it was found that the blow-flies had been attracted to some blood and tissue matter which had remained on that sickle.

From Quiz Forensics For Instance

Answer: Related to law

The modern interpretation has come to mean related to court{s} or law. As forensics is based on science, and has successfully revealed the facts in many cases, it has come to be regarded by many as positive proof. It is not, however, infallible, just as those who practice it are not. The simple accepted method of identification by fingerprints has been called into question. The original theory was that there are no two identical fingerprints (or footprints or other markings), but there is no absolute proof of this. Just as with no two identical snowflakes, how high a number determines the breakdown of this concept? How many infinite number of snowflakes have fallen on our planet, and how can we be sure there are no two alike? We just haven't found them.

From Quiz Abra-Cadaver

Answer: Algor mortis

After death, a body's temperature will drop 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.83 degrees Celsius each hour after the moment of death until it reaches room temperature. By taking into account any environmental factors and the temperature of a deceased, a qualified doctor will be able to determine an accurate time of death.

From Quiz Forensic Scientists

Answer: Albert Osborn

Albert Osborn was an influential document examiner and in 1910 published a book on questioned documents.

From Quiz Forensic Science Part I: Fingerprints

Answer: Johannes Purkinje

Purkinje published a thesis, in which he described different print patterns and gave them names. Purkinje never actually dreamed that they would be used for identifying people. That would come later.

From Quiz Forensic Dentistry

Answer: 32

Human beings usually have two sets of teeth during their lifetime. The first set are known as deciduous teeth (also known as baby, milk or primary teeth). There are 20 deciduous teeth which normally begin to appear about the age of 6 months to 6 years. The second set are known as permanent or secondary teeth. There are 32 permanent teeth and they normally begin to appear between the ages of 6 to 18 years. They do not appear all at once but erupt in specific stages, so scientists can often make an accurate estimate of the age of a skeleton by the number and type of teeth present and the amount of wear and tear.

From Quiz Fingerprints

Answer: They enable us to grasp objects.

Fingerprints are impressions made by the ridges on the ends of the fingers and thumbs. These ridges provide friction, or traction, when we grasp objects so that those objects do not slip through our fingers. Scientists also believe that they may enhance our sense of touch.

From Quiz The World of Forensic Science

Answer: Automated Fingerprint Identification System

Although AFIS has many fingerprints on file, it only has prints of people convicted of felonious crimes. People who have not committed crimes before will not be on AFIS.

From Quiz Basic Forensic Science 3

Answer: 1892 in Argentina

Many forensic science sources cite the 1902 case of Henry Jackson (Great Britain) as being the first case in which an individual was convicted of a crime based on fingerprint evidence. Jackson was a burglar who placed his hands in wet paint during a robbery, thus leaving behind his fingerprints. However, a decade previously, Juan Vucetich, a police researcher in Argentina, used fingerprints to prove that Francesca Rojas murdered her two children by taking her thumb print and matching it to a bloody thumbprint left behind on a door. When confronted with the evidence, the mother broke down and admitted killing her children because they stood in the way of her marriage to a young lover. She was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

From Quiz Forensics

Answer: Law

From Quiz Basic Forensic Science 1

Answer: Locard's Principle

Dr Edmond Locard opened the world's first police crime laboratory in 1910 in Lyon, France. Locard was a student of Bertillon, also a pioneer of forensic science.

From Quiz Forensic Science under the Microscope

Answer: Forensic Odontology.

Forensic Odontology is the evaluation of dental evidence that can establish the age, race, sex, dental history and perhaps the occupation of the deceased, as well as providing insight into their status in life. Additionally, a forensic dentist evaluates bite marks on the victim (or other evidentiary objects) and compares the bite pattern to that of the accused (if there is one). Bite mark evidence on victims was used to convict Rev. George Burroughs during the Witch Trials in Salem, MA, in 1692. He was subsequently hanged. However in 1870, despite evidence that suspect Ansil Robinson's teeth matched the five bites on his murdered mistress, Robinson was allowed to go free. By 1890, bite evidence was finally regarded as a legitimate scientific discipline. One of the first murder convictions based on bite marks was in the 'Gorringe Case' in 1948 when bites on a breast were matched to the dentition of the suspect. In 1975, in the case of California vs Marx, evidentiary standards were set for forensic dentistry. Those standards were used as part of the successful 1978 conviction of serial killer, Ted Bundy.

From Quiz Forensics For Instance

Answer: Arthur Conan Doyle

Doyle had Holmes study tobacco ash, fingerprints and other clues that would be considered forensic evidence many years later, and are still in use. Holmes' forte was his vast knowledge of many subjects and his powers of observation. His logical statement, 'when you have eliminated the impossible, what is left is the answer' does not hold water any longer. Things happen and crimes are committed now for illogical reasons that were not considered applicable in his time. Serial killers, said to be 'out there' in the hundreds at any given time, are profiled and may even be known, but many are never caught.

From Quiz Abra-Cadaver

Answer: Rigor mortis

Rigor mortis is caused by a chemical reaction that occurs in the muscles once someone dies. It can begin as soon as 3 hours after death and last for up to 72 hours causing the person to seem stiff and fixed in the position that they died in. This temporary condition can be relieved through manual manipulation of the body similar to that of a massage.

From Quiz Forensic Scientists

Answer: Mathieu Orfila

Orfila helped establish toxicology as a scientific discipline. He is also credited as the first person to attempt to use the microscope to assess blood and semen stains.

From Quiz Forensic Entomology - Busted By Bugs

Answer: Medicolegal, urban, and stored product pests

The medicolegal area focuses on corpse-feeding insects. The urban area looks at insects affecting men (both living and dead) as well as man's environment. Stored product pests are those varmints found in food, and the entomologist can be called as a witness in criminal cases dealing with this issue.

From Quiz Fingerprints

Answer: the natural oils in the skin

The skin's sebaceous glands produce natural oils which, together with the salts produced by our sweat glands, leave a fingerprint residue when we touch most objects.

From Quiz The World of Forensic Science

Answer: A sniffer

An accelerant is used to get a fire going. E.g: gasoline, kerosene, and other flammable liquids. A sniffer takes examples of fumes and tests them to see what they are.

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