NCJ Number
65982
Date Published
1975
Length
39 pages
Annotation
REPORTS ON PREVIOUS AND CURRENT INTERNATIONAL FORENSIC SCIENCE RESEARCH ARE PRESENTED AT THIS SYMPOSIUM, INCLUDING NEW SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT OR PROCESSES SUCH AS NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS.
Abstract
IN ADDRESSING NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS, THE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE EMPHASIZED THAT ALTHOUGH NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS WAS A SLOW, EXPENSIVE TECHNIQUE, (PARTICULARLY CONCERNING STAFF AND TRAINING), IT IS ALSO NONDESTRUCTIVE, SENSITIVE, AND CAN BE USED TO EXAMINE VERY SMALL SAMPLES. MOREOVER, THE PRESENCE OF MANY DIFFERENT ELEMENTS CAN BE SIMULTANEOUSLY DETECTED. IT IS FREQUENTLY USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF BULLET FRAGMENTS, HAIR, AND PAINT. ADVANCED ATOMIC ABSORPTION TECHNIQUES WERE ALSO DISCUSSED BY THE AMERICAN PARTICIPANT, AND QUESTIONS WERE RECEIVED AND ANSWERED. ADDITIONAL REPORTS FOCUSED ON MASS SPECTROMETRY, METHODS OF DETERMINING THE TIME WHEN A SHOT WAS FIRED BY STUDYING THE AGING OF GUNPOWDER STABILIZERS, RESEARCH INTO A MATHEMATICAL FORMULA FOR CALCULATING FIRING DISTANCE, AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF VOICE PRINTS. REPRESENTATIVES FROM SWITZERLAND AND FRANCE PRESENTED REPORTS ON THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TEXTILE FIBERS AND PROGRESS IN IDENTIFICATION FROM X-RAYS OF TEETH AND JAW STRUCTURES. TOPICS ADDRESSED INVOLVING PARTICULAR TYPES OF SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT OR PROCESSES INCLUDED METHODS USED TO PREPARE TEXTILE FIBERS FOR EXAMINATION AND A CROSS-SCREEN TECHNIQUE USED FOR EXAMINING COUNTERFEIT SIGNATURES. A RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR THE NEXT SYMPOSIUM WAS ESTABLISHED. (LWM)