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Articles on Forensics

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A Ukrainian war crimes investigator photographs the aftermath of a Russian missile attack in Zatoka, Ukraine, on July 26, 2022. Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Proving war crimes isn’t simple – a forensics expert explains what’s involved with documenting human rights violations during conflicts, from Afghanistan to Ukraine

Other recent conflicts that resulted in war crimes allegations help explain how complex it will be to gather evidence of war crimes in Ukraine – and provide answers for families of victims of the war.
Maggots are a major part of the puzzle when it comes to collecting forensic evidence. Shutterstock

Trust Me, I’m An Expert: forensic entomology, or what bugs can tell police about when someone died

Trust Me, I’m An Expert: forensic entomology, or what bugs can tell police about when someone died The Conversation, CC BY58.8 MB (download)
James Wallman is one of Australia's few forensic entomologists. It’s his job to unpack the tiny clues left behind by insects that can help police solve crimes.
Red Cross forensic specialist Stephen Fonseca, right, searches for bodies in a field of ruined maize in Magaru, Mozambique, after Cyclone Idai, April 4, 2019. AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

Humanitarian forensic scientists trace the missing, identify the dead and comfort the living

Meet the unsung aid workers who put their lives on the line during war and natural disaster to make sure the dead are treated with respect – and that their grieving families get closure.
Forensic anthropologists, who analyse skeletal remains, can give us clues to how someone lived and died. from www.shutterstock.com

How do we identify human remains?

While forensic scientists mostly use fingerprints, dental records and DNA to identify human remains, they have many other techniques in their forensic toolkit. How many have you heard of?
Research underway at the University of Technology, Sydney’s AFTER facility is yielding some surprising new findings about how bodies decompose in the Australian bush. Supplied by UTS

‘This is going to affect how we determine time since death’: how studying body donors in the bush is changing forensic science

‘This is going to affect how we determine time since death’: how studying body donors in the bush is changing forensic science The Conversation, CC BY77.2 MB (download)
On the outskirts of Sydney, in a secret bushland location, lies what's officially known as the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research. In books or movies, it'd be called a body farm.
Home DNA testing has made it easy and affordable for millions of people to learn about their ancestry. Now, police are using this genetic information to identify suspects in unsolved crimes. Shutterstock

Privacy concerns don’t stop people from putting their DNA on the internet to help solve crimes

Despite privacy concerns over police use of DNA uploaded to ancestry websites, many people are just excited that their genetic material could get a killer off the streets.

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