Blood, Sweat, Fingerprints and Tears: Forensic Science

What do blood, sweat, tears, and fingerprints have in common? They can all be used to solve crimes. In this episode of Midnight Facts for Insomniacs, Shane and Duncan explore the fascinating world of forensic science, and debunk some of the most ridiculous Hollywood myths. Crime doesn't pay, but it sure makes for a great episode…

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In this episode:  

• A short history of forensics
• Pre-forensics
• Trial by combat
• Cruentation
• Eureka! Archimedes and water displacement
• The Theory of Discernable Uniqueness
• Likelihood Ratios
• Fingerprints
• Dermal Ridge Skin
• Turing Patterns
• Whorls, Loops, and Arches
• The Henry Classification System
• Dermatoglyphs
• Adermatoglyphia
• Dactyloscopy
• Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer
• Jean Evangelista Purkyne
• Henry Faulds
• The Loupe
• The first success: Francisca Rojas
• Paul Jean Coulier and iodine fuming
• IAFIS: Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
• Blood Spatter
• Michael C. Hall and Dexter Morgan
• Herbert MacDonell
• The [Basement] Laboratory of Forensic Science
• The International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts
• Debunking: The 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences
• Splatter vs Spatter

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Episode Transcript