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I'm a PhD student researching the role of the archaeological dead in contemporary British society. Think of this as a scrapbook of all the interesting links, snippets of information and random bits and bobs I come across pertaining to death, dying and the dead. Enjoy?!

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    Blog: fuckyeahforensics.tumblr.com

    Fields Discussed: Forensics, biology, anatomy, physiology, genetics, medicine, crime scene investigation, pathology, toxicology, forensic techniques, entomology, DNA, criminology and more!

    Extra Information: I try to post daily and I sometimes have contests and giveaways. If you don’t like blood, death, or insects, I don’t recommend you follow. If you do, then feel free to follow

    (via dead-men-talking)

    Women defy biology to avoid giving birth on Halloween

    So, it’s October and Halloween is just a few weeks away! You’re thinking about costume ideas, maybe planning a party and, oh yeah, you’re doing your darndest not to give birth on the creepiest day of the year, a holiday that some say celebrates paganism.

    “But wait, what does Halloween Day have to do with giving birth? Or any day, for that matter? Don’t women just have babies when the time comes?” Well, apparently not, because, according to researchers at Yale, women can and do choose to avoid bringing their babies into the world concurrently with the “Festival of the Dead.”

    I’m not just talking C-sections — the phenomenon inexplicably holds true for C-sectionsand spontaneous births. And Halloween isn’t the only holiday that has women strongly influencing their birth timing, either. This research ultimately leaves me with more questions than answers, but sometimes that’s the best kind of science.

    Strange, but apparently true! Click the link to read the rest…

    Prions and the “science” of zombies When I say that prions are one of the coolest biological phenomena in existence, I mean to say that they are one of the most sci-fi and potentially frightening things you could encounter. They are the causative agent behind mad cow disease, which you’ve probably heard of, and which might not seem too terrifying. But the way prions work, and the fact that there is a “human form” of mad cow disease, will be enough to give you the creeps. Did I mention that prion infection is the closest thing there is to real-life zombie-ism? Okay, okay, what IS a prion? You’ll have to click the picture to find out! Via Try Nerdy

    Prions and the “science” of zombies

    When I say that prions are one of the coolest biological phenomena in existence, I mean to say that they are one of the most sci-fi and potentially frightening things you could encounter. They are the causative agent behind mad cow disease, which you’ve probably heard of, and which might not seem too terrifying. But the way prions work, and the fact that there is a “human form” of mad cow disease, will be enough to give you the creeps.

    Did I mention that prion infection is the closest thing there is to real-life zombie-ism? Okay, okay, what IS a prion?

    You’ll have to click the picture to find out!

    Via Try Nerdy

    skepttv:

    Laetoli Footprints

    The Laetoli footprints were formed and preserved by a chance combination of events — a volcanic eruption, a rainstorm, and another ashfall. When they were found in 1976, these hominid tracks, at least 3.6 million years old, were some of the oldest evidence then known for upright bipedal walking, a major milestone in human evolution. Paleoanthropologist and consultant forensic scientist Owen Lovejoy compares the ancient biped prints with those of modern humans and chimpanzees.

    Thank goodness for the irrepressible urge of humans (and other animals) to joke and play around in nearly any situation. Sometimes, it pays big dividends. It certainly did in 1976, when paleoanthropologist Andrew Hill and a colleague were tossing elephant dung at each other in Laetoli, a hominid archeological site in Tanzania. As Hill dived out of the way, he stumbled on what turned out to be one of the wonders of prehistoric finds: a trail of hominid footprints about 3.6 million years old.

    The majority of the Laetoli footprint site was excavated in 1978. Until then, the oldest known footprints of human ancestors were tens of thousands of years old. But this trail, some 80 feet long and preserved in cementlike volcanic ash, had been made by some of the first upright-walking hominids. An almost unimaginable sequence of events preserved what paleontologist Ian Tattersall calls a fossil of human behavior — prehistoric walking.

    Initially, a nearby volcano called Sadiman erupted a cloud of fine ash, like beach sand, that left a layer on the landscape. Then a light rain fell onto the ash to create something like wet cement — an ideal material for trapping footprints. Birds and mammals left a great number of prints, but, spectacularly, so did a pair of hominids, one large and one small, trekking across the ash. (Some analysts conclude that it is possible to detect the trail of a third, smaller individual whose tracks overlap the footprints left by one of the others.) A subsequent eruption from Sadiman dropped more ash, sealing the footprints like a laminated driver’s license. Finally, erosion over millions of years unveiled the prints for Hill and other researchers in Mary Leakey’s group to discover.

    The prints, say experts on hominid body structure, are strikingly different from those of a chimpanzee, and in fact are hardly distinguishable from those of modern humans. The only known hominid fossils of that age in that location are those of Lucy and her kind, the small-brained but upright-walking hominids classified as Australopithecus afarensis. Some analysts have noted that the smaller of the two clearest trails bears telltale signs that suggest whoever left the prints was burdened on one side — perhaps a female carrying an infant on her hip. While the detailed interpretation of the prints remains a matter of debate, they remain an extraordinary and fascinating fossil find, preserving a moment in prehistoric time.

    (Source: youtube.com, via alphacaeli)