Science (forensic style)

I don't like summer. Around here, once we get into July and August, it can get up to (and above) 100 F. It's the downside to living in a desert. You may remember my saying I hate winter too. I don't like the cold. My favorite seasons are spring and fall. We didn't get much of a spring here. We got two weeks of consistent spring temperatures, then we spiked up into the 80s. Since then, we've gotten down to the 60s and back up to 90. Our weather is very weird this year.

I've heard from friends that their weather is weird as well. It makes me wonder if finally people will recognize global warming as a real problem. It certainly is showing itself in a rather spectacular way.

Don't worry, I'm not going on a nature tear like I did on Monday. My concern today is the science behind things. There's a lot of scientific evidence behind global warming, evolution, and many other things. There are people in this world who don't believe in it and they are the most vocal.

But the one thing I discovered that doesn't have as much “science” behind it is forensic science. I've always loved forensic science. Not what you see in the CSI programs, though the technology behind that is fascinating. But the real forensic science. I got introduced to real forensics watching TV. There were a handful of shows that showed how forensics worked to convict criminals.

Well, Netflix has a show that talks about how forensics is on trial itself. A lot of forensic “science” is perception and in some cases guess work. Crime scenes can be contaminated to the point where proper evidence can't be gathered. Theories can be created and the wrong people convicted based on badly interpreted evidence.

There are some new developments that will bring science back to forensic science though. In Sweden they're using CT scans and MRIs to take a complete view of a victim's body. They can look at fine slices of the body without ever cutting into it, getting a more detailed view of what happened and how the victim died.

In North Carolina, they're working on a device that allows them to take pictures of a crime scene using lasers to create a complete view of the area. Even if evidence gets disturbed, they still have the original crime scene to work with. They're using the video game creation classes at the university to render the information from the scenes into the 3D images.

Another lab here in the States (I no longer remember which one) is working on getting more accurate fingerprints. Fingerprints on a non-porous substance are hard to get. Right now the common method is evaporating super glue to get the print. But that has problems and can lead to the conviction of the wrong person. This lab is using a new technology and an alternate substance that allows them to take a 3D image of the fingerprint.

Science is an amazing thing and perhaps one day we will be able to use science to pinpoint exactly who committed a crime. I don't think we'll ever get to the point where we can figure out who will commit a crime before they commit it (yes, I saw Minority Report and no I don't think we'll ever get there even if we don't have psychics). But I'd be interested to see how much more we'll advance in the next few years.

Z is for Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist – intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought that typifies and influences the culture of a period of time.

Zeitgeist comes from the German words “Zeit” meaning time and “Geist” meaning spirit. Zeitgeist is considered the “spirit of the age” or “spirit of the time.”

What is the most recent form of zeitgeist in our age? I would say it's the advent of the advanced level of technology that we depend on today. Computers with 1 TB or more of hard drive space, miniature computers called smart phones, the advances in medicine and science that have come because of the level of technology we have today. All of these things have formed the backbone of our lives and the spirit of our time these days.

You have to admit that for the most part, you don't see people without some kind of technology these days. Children may be exempt from the technology craze, though they aren't completely free of it because of the use of computers in their education. Not many adults exist without some form of the advanced technology in their possession.

We are beginning to become more dependent on our technology. If we don't know something, instead of looking it up in an encyclopedia, a book, or a dictionary, we rely on Google or other search engines to give us the answers. Where once we sent paper letters to each other, and had to wait days for a response, now we send emails that can be answered within minutes of the other person receiving them. Communication around the world which was so hard before is now as easy as connecting through social media or using virtual software to hold meetings across time zones.

Scientists use a higher level of technology to make discoveries. The most recent one I can remember reading about off hand was how a 3D printed cast was used in conjunction with ultrasound to help heal a bone (here's the article from IFLS). Stem cells have been created using an adult's tissues. Organs are being created in a lab from cells taken from the patient to help minimize rejection during transplants. More and more medical and scientific discoveries are being made every day. Look at the technology that sent a rover to Mars and allows us to make sense of its discoveries.

There are so many things that technology does for us, that it has created for us, that I believe it will become the “spirit of the time” for us in the late 20^th century and the early 21^st century. What do you think the zeitgeist of our time is? Do you know what the zeitgeists of other times have been?

Monday Maundering - Religion vs. Science

I got into a couple interesting conversations this past week and it got me thinking. I am not a religious person by inclination. I believe that spirituality comes from within, not without. I believe that people choose their own paths in life, not that they were predestined to do anything. I believe people have free choice and those choices are inspired only by their own minds, not by any outward influence save that of their environment, upbringing, and mental state.

One of the conversations I got into was regarding Adam and Eve. If you think about it, Adam and Eve were the first humans. They had at least two sons. We all know the story of Cain and Abel. So...who was Cain copulating with when he produced his children? Adam and Eve were the only people on the planet, other than their sons. But Genesis tells us Cain found other people. So were there other Gardens of Eden? Other people like Adam and Eve? Where did these other people come from? Adam and Eve had other children. Who did those children marry to produce their children which ultimately led to the population of the world?

What about when the flood wiped out humanity, except for Noah and his family? How did we avoid inbreeding irregularities when the children of his children only had each other to marry? How did humanity get to the point it is today without the host of problems you see in families too closely related? How did we end up with so many varyingly different peoples if we're all descended from the same stock?

I found no answers to my questions.

My second question revolved around how science has shown that we did evolve and change as we spread out over the world. It has also tried to prove how the universe was created, and has done a good job of it. Where is god in all of this? If he created the world in seven days, where did the dinosaurs come in? Where did the neanderthal and the other primitive lives that were found to exist prior to us come from?

No one can answer these questions for me. I find myself questioning a lot of the beliefs I grew up with lately, and would love to hear some insight from others.