Thursday, January 21, 2016

Time of death: Another myth of contemporary forensic science? New York times article "The Living Dead" by reporter Peter Andrey Smithjan: "Schmidt keeps a copy of a statistical opus on post-mortem intervals, in which Claus Henssge and his co-authors warn against extrapolating much beyond 48 hours, but he takes an even more pessimistic view. “Post-mortem interval is one of the most pseudoscientific bits of information out there that, and I hate to use this, will never die.” Must, Must Read. HL);


STORY: "The living Dead," by reporter  Peter Andrey Smithjan, published by the New York Times on January 18, 2016.

SUB-HEADING:  By studying the microscopic bacteria that bloom on our bodies after we die, scientists hope to unlock surprising mysteries of the departed.

"No problem in forensic science has been investigated more, and understood less, than the post-mortem interval. Medical investigators calculate the interval between death and the discovery of a body using three cardinal measurements: temperature (algor mortis), stiffness (rigor mortis) and the settling of blood (livor mortis). These factors vary depending on a person’s distribution of visceral fat, as well as their clothing, the ambient air temperature and other factors. After two days or so, though, these observations are no longer trustworthy. Schmidt keeps a copy of a statistical opus on post-mortem intervals, in which Claus Henssge and his co-authors warn against extrapolating much beyond 48 hours, but he takes an even more pessimistic view. “Post-mortem interval is one of the most pseudoscientific bits of information out there that, and I hate to use this, will never die.”