Articles Published by NIJ

The importance of non-targeted testing to keep pace with a rapidly evolving synthetic opioid market.

New systems allow high-definition scans of bullets and cartridge cases to be shared and compared virtually.

The reliability, interpretability, and cost-benefit of three-dimensional laser-scanned images for crime scene documentation is assessed.

Development of blowflies on a body is a standard forensic measure of time since death, but temperature variations can alter that development and mislead investigators.

Researchers believe a bacterium that causes food poisoning and other diseases may underlie some SIDS cases.

Criminal investigators use physiological changes and insect development to determine how long a body has been dead, but scientists are using the trillions of microbes involved in human decomposition to find more accurate postmortem intervals.

A new postmortem image database will be a resource for research in forensic anthropology, pathology, and radiology.

Researchers created an open-access computer program for estimating the age of skeletal remains that outperforms current methods. The algorithm is based on 20 age-related skeletal changes identified by experienced forensic anthropologists.

“Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him.” Edmond Locard (1877-1966), forensic science pioneer

Researchers improve molecular autopsy accuracy by identifying more genetic variants that could lead to sudden unexplained deaths. These genetic clues may better inform criminal investigations and help prevent deaths in surviving family members.