Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts

Gunshot Residue Identifies the Cartridge Used - Physics

New technology pins criminals to gun crimes.>
It is getting more difficult for criminals to get away with breaking the law. If a gun is used it is now possible to match the gunshot residue to specific bullet cartridges. A criminal will probably keep some unused cartridges at his/her home. The shooter will have residue on this body and the gun anyway.
Gun being fired
Each batch of bullets has a different chemical makeup. Differing amounts of glass fragments is the main difference. Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) and Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) provide extremely detailed analysis of gunshot residue.

When a gun is fired, residue to splattered everywhere, on the shooter, the victim and in the wound itself. There is no way of destroying the evidence. Residue can be matched with bullets at a certainty of 99 per cent. It is possible that some innocent people jailed for crimes will be shown to be not guilty with the used of the new technology.
 
physics, technology, shrimp, tof-sims, gun, crime, shooter, innocent, jail, bullet, cartridge articles news politics economics society anthropology historiography history sociology people nations country asia europe africa u.s. south america central Mediterranean eastern western interesting unique technology free news sex

Whale Culture in Japan

Japan plans to resume whaling in the Antarctic next year. It will modify its "scientific"research system to fit in to what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) wants, although the court stated that scientific whaling per se was illegal and would always be illegal.

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) says it will take the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) to the ICJ to stop it harassing Japanese whaling ships when they carry out future legal scientific whale hunting in the Antarctic, in short the resumption of killing of whales for food.

Just why Japan is so pig-headed about continuing to wastefully kill whales says something about Japanese culture - they are arrogant.  Japanese consumers want whaling despite not actually buying whale meat. This nation has tonnes of whale meat in storage because it doesn't sell, despite being highly subsidized.

I am about to get personal about this issue. Those readers easily offended should stop reading now..........

Cultures do not change suddenly. It takes centuries for societies to change. The way people think and what they believe in continue, even though rational circumstance prove that things cannot possibly be as people believe.

Because a war ended and countries apparently got back to normal didn't mean societies changed their ways. Japanese culture is the same today as it was in the 1930s. Arrogance prevails despite bowing to this, bowing to that. This bowing custom came about because Japanese were terrified of samurai - frightened of losing a head or half body.

The truth of the matter is that Japan will continue to hunt whales because of the silly custom of saving-face. They perceive a court order as a blemish on their character. People of other countries do not see it this way at all.
Conservation by Ty Buchanan
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     Australian Blog                         
ALL BLOG ARTICLES· ──► (BLOG HOME PAGE)

Brave New World of Criminal Investigation

We are entering a brave new world where DNA will be accurately read to predict eye color, distance between the eyes and nose shape. This will greatly improve police work in solving serious crime.

Even knowing whether a suspect is bald is helpful. Genes contain single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs).  These can now show whether someone is probably bald. We have some way to go because of the complex interaction of male and female chromosomes.

A rough composite picture will be soon be available. This can be used to screen out suspects. Facial metrics is advancing rapidly. Analysis of insulin-like growth hormone (IGF-1) and human growth hormone (HGH) can give a rough picture of build and height.

The importance of mitochondrial DNA which passes along the female line is well known. This can predict ancestry using Y chromosome (NRY) and autosomal markers. Patterns for Europeans, white Americans and East Asians have been identified.

In the future the crime rate could be significantly reduced and we could live in societies that are much safer than today's dangerous milieu where we are afraid to go out at night. A safe world - that is something hard to imagine.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conservation
Australian Blog                         
ALL BLOG ARTICLES· ──► (BLOG HOME PAGE)

Changes to Treatment of Young Offenders

The Queensland state government is making drastic changes to the way young people who commit crimes are treated. Young offenders are to be named and shamed. Those punished by being sent to institutions will be transferred to adult prisons when they reach the age of eighteen.

Many of the "young criminals" are victims of crime themselves. Difficult home life has pushed them into crime. Naming them would make their lives intolerable.

The government decision has been made on just one survey. It seems the decision was made before the survey began. Young people are not mature adults. They are growing and learning. Judging them at such a stage in their lives is marking them as bad citizens for life.

Other changes include making fixed penalties for some crimes committed by adults. Judges will not have the discretion to modify the sentences according to prevailing circumstances.

A change that just about everyone agrees on is courts knowing the case histories of adult defendants during a trial. Many offenders get away with crimes simply because their past behavior is not known.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conservation
Australian Blog                         
ALL BLOG ARTICLES· ──► (BLOG HOME PAGE)

What Are We to Do With Psychopaths If It Is Genetic?

Not all psychopaths are locked up in prison for committing crimes. Many are still out there in the community. Often one comes across a person who seems strange and does not respond to normal social cues. Psychopaths have no empathy with others, so one does nothing and can do nothing until a crime is committed.

The "disease" is now thought to be genetic. Psychopaths will soon be able to be identified by a DNA test. It is possible that in the future all criminals will be tested. What to do with them after they are identified will be a major problem for society. Are they to be locked up for a longer time, or will they go to an institution where they will be given medication and psychiatric treatment?

It could be some time before medical knowledge reaches the point where the "bad" genes can be silenced or eliminated. Furthermore, having some psychopaths in society may be an evolutionary imperative. Most of these people do not know if another person is angry or afraid. This is the basis of the odd behavior, but many are highly intelligent. Two per cent of the population are psychopaths and not all of them commit crimes. However, a genetic basis is proven with records of ancestors having problems fitting into society.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Society