Neil Gaiman www.NeilgaimanBoard.com www.NeilgaimanBoard.com The World's End The World's End Science lounge
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mutant hedgehog worm Member  |
It has been mentioned a couple of times, that it might be nice to have a thread devoted to disscusion about various sciency things, or where you can ask a random question and maybe you will get an answer.
And i'm bored, and my brain is stagnating  .*places comfortable chairs and sofa's around the room, starts unpacking books and placing them on the wooden shelves that stretch from floor to ceiling along the back wall* *starts unloading fossils into the storage tray cabinet over in the corner* |
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Administrator/Colporteur Member  |
Ooooo, fossils!
*starts sorting the trilobites by size and prettiness* Is medicine a valid topic for the lounge? Heard something interesting about syphilis this morning. __________ AJGraeme "You see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it." -Taylor Mali "I am a sexy, shoeless god of war." -Belkar |
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Fractal demiurge Member  |
I hope it wasn't "Jim, you have syphilis."
 **** “Chives?†“Yes, m’lud?†“Is that Ms Ephemera hovering over the croquet lawn?†“Indeed m’lud. She’s marshalled all the haggle-dans. Missy-twigs and vale-nymphs from Claypole Woods. Apparently she intends to tear this house down and dance on the ruins.†“Well, Chives, you’d better start the car, what? And pack my tennis things too†--- Joe 3Heads |
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Member |
CSI-type ballistics question: Can they match shot to a specific shotgun?
*builds a fort out of books, hides* |
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mutant hedgehog worm Member |
totally valid topic! i think anything scientific is good, covers a whole bunch of fun stuff, good grief i'm a geek
 I saw a really great documentary on syphilis a while ago. |
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Administrator/Colporteur Member |
Well, for a good long while, an increase in dangerous sexual practices was seen as being chiefly responsible for increases in reports of syphilis, but now it looks like just about every ten years, there's a spike, then a sharp decline, and then a spike. It seems that there's some sort of resistance or immunity that builds up, then fades away. Still sexually transmitted.
__________ AJGraeme "You see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it." -Taylor Mali "I am a sexy, shoeless god of war." -Belkar |
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Administrator/Colporteur Member |
quote: Shot, not so much. They can match it to brands, and in some cases to a specific shotgun, based on chemical compounds and the like, but since shot casings are pretty well destroyed in firing, they're hard to trace. Slugs are easier to trace, but still tricky. __________ AJGraeme "You see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it." -Taylor Mali "I am a sexy, shoeless god of war." -Belkar |
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Member |
Ten-year period? Maybe it's the sunspots. You could do a secret history conspiracy bit on that.
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mutant hedgehog worm Member |
quote: I'm not sure how accurate they can get with that, different guns do produce different shot patterns, and so they can to a certain extent, whether they can determine an individual shotgun i dunno. (one of my flatmates was a forensics major) Oh hang on do you mean an individual pellet? *looks blank* no idea on that one. |
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mutant hedgehog worm Member |
quote: Thats pretty funky, the american indians did have a natural strain of syphilis that was non contagious and non damaging, similar to the relationship between cow pox and small pox. |
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Member |
The science in CSI is better than in X Files, but there's still some goofy science and some straight urban legend in there. The meat bullet thing doesn't work. It's an old CIA legend, some sort of projectile that will melt or sublimate afterwards and not leave a trace. But anything frozen will either shatter or melt when the gunpowder ignites.
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mutant hedgehog worm Member |
must have missed that episode..
what always cracked me up was the speeds, DNA sequencing in one day... bwahahahaha good luck with that! |
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needs a blanket very badly. The better to "yahr" you. Member  |
that wouldn't be noticed here in italy, because the characters are american. and everyone in italy knows that the americans are super-fast-and-efficient.
"If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books." Roald Dahl "Even so, there is no excuse for putting pineapple on pizza." Terry Pratchett Have you fed your adorable, lovable and huggable lost girl lately? I obey the Alaura High Priestess in the Alaurian Movement      Add people, develop industrialization or improve transport at Alindaville! |
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Member |
Shotguns have a smooth barrel, they don't have lands&grooves (since they don't spin out a bullet), so even if the shell wasn't destroyed you wouldn't have any characteristic impressions unique to a particular shotgun. Firing pin impressions on spent casings are also used in forensic cases, but that wouldn't work here either.
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Yahr! Member  |
quote: Are you sure? The base of the shell is brass, so it wouldn't be destroyed upon firing. ~ Gal-El You don't have to be a basketball player, you can be the president of the United States. ~ LeBron James. |
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Member |
quote: That's what I was thinking. But some of the shot still makes contact with the barrel, so I wondered if they could get a match from that. Matching bullet striations to barrel rifling is an either/or, but I think matching shell casings to firing pins isn't as conclusive, it depends on whether there are identifiable features. |
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Composer-in-training Member  |
I hadn't heard that about syphilis before, Dweller. Interesting.
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Member |
re: firing pin impressions - I'm pretty sure they are used only in conjuction with other evidence, because (as Zoneseek points out) they aren't as conclusive.
I'm not sure whether or not the bases are recovered and useable, but I do know they aren't forensically significant because my professor gave the overall impression that in shotgun cases you are pretty much screwed unless you find blowback in the barrel or elsewhere on the gun (or suspect)....or well, if someone is being obliging and drops the shotgun at the scene. |
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and the Case of the Rotting Seafood Platter Member  |
quote: Lab lighting always cracks me up. I wish I eerie blue mood lighting at my workplace. ------ "Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying 'yes' begins things. Saying 'yes' is how things grow. Saying 'yes' leads to knowledge." ~Stephen Colbert |
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Yahr, fear the power of the elf-man! Member  |
*Wonders suspiciously*
Is Zoneseek planning something? ------------------------------ my cup runs over but I am so blind I just complain as it spills around me |
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