Questions answered | The Forensic Group

Unanswered questions for Brent and David Tong

I apologise – I have neglected to answer questions about my book, Expert Witness, which was recently given away by Sciblogs and that Grant Jacobs reviewed. Some more questions are as follows: Does forensic science only refer to science used for court cases, or are there other forms of investigation to which it pertains? Brent …

Freaking people out with tales of gore

In the third of the series, the next questions to be answered from the blogpost a-forensic-scientist-tells-it-like-it-is-free-book-to-give-away, these ones from EvilTwit: Do you find yourself getting excited about facets of the case that would normally freak other people out (and editing these sentiments out of conversations)? Short answer: yes. Long answer: In the spirit of the …

Mouth alcohol 2/interfering substances

OK, so alcohol can get lodged in dental plates but is there anything else that can adversely affect an evidential breath alcohol reading? I’ve had another two queries about this, so I thought I’d add a bit more information. Some sprays, such as nitrolingual sprays used to assist with certain heart conditions, and some asthma …

Forensic Hair Analysis – how to

Forensic hair analysis crops up mostly commonly in cases involving Drug Facilitated Sexual Assualt (DFSA, or date rape cases) and Family Court matters where parents or guardians want access to their children. In any case where hair analysis is required, FSRL can make that analysis happen. We consider the circumstances of the case and determine …

Justification for the existence of vampires

Given that it’s Friday, I think a bit of light scientific relief is in order. As anyone who has anything to do with teenagers (particularly girls) will know, Vampires are the new Black. As teenagers are wont to do, they spend much time frightening themselves with the idea that vampires are indeed real and are …

Active oxygen washing powder and pollen

It seems there has been some concern in forensic science circles about the effect of active oxygen washing powder, particularly in relation to removal of blood. Apparently, use of such washing powder can cause a negative result to presumptive blood testing such as Luminol. The question was asked about whether the washing powder will have …