New Technology Locates Dead Bodies
Posted Sun, Apr 18, 2010 by Maria Shendel Alc...
Murders are tricky to solve because aside from proving that the charged is guilty beyond reasonable doubt, elements should be established such as the murder weapon, the suspect’s motive as well as the body of a victim. And sometimes, without a body to work on, some murderers go scot free because of lack of evidence and it becomes a cold case, often forgotten behind closed doors. But thanks to a new technology and devices developed by a dedicated team of scientists and researchers, the police and other law enforcement agencies can now detect bodies buried in unmarked graves.
Naturally intended to pinpoint the grave of an elephant for educational purposes, the hyperspectral imaging system was developed and now works impressively and showing signs of promise as a valuable true for forensic pathologists. Andre Costopolous and Margaret Kalacska, professors of McGill University, developed the hyperspectral imaging system which collects and processes light from across the electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light, as well as ultraviolet and infrared light unseen by the naked eye. They found out that plants growing near graves reflect back some light instead of absorbing it as opposed to vegetation planted away from a dead body. Although invisible to the naked eye, hyperspectral imaging makes it all clear as day when mounted on a plane and they located numerous graves of different animals in different places on a single flight.
The group of scientists is hoping to test their newly developed surveillance technique as they try to spot a rumored mass grave in the northern part of Canada. They hope that they can make groundbreaking discoveries that might help the police solve crimes by locating missing bodies as well as shed light on speculations about mass braves in Bosnia, Rwanda and other countries torn by ethnic cleansing and history of violence.
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