Experts prepare for murder in SPACE with new ‘astroforensic’ blood test

THE things people do on Earth won’t stop while living in a spacecraft in orbit, or even off planet.

With the dawn of space tourism and plans for colonies on the moon and Mars, experts prepare to investigate a murder in space.

Crime scene investigators (CSI) know how to track down a murder on Earth.

But catching a killer in space is a whole different story – and that’s why a new field of ‘astroforensics’ is beginning to unfold.

Bloodstain patterns will look different in a microgravity environment, so traditional formulas used to analyze them are less accurate, a researcher said. new study.

“As humanity evolves into a space-faring species, the risk of injury from multiple means and intentions will follow,” the report explains.

“Expanding the understanding of how forensic science adapts to extraterrestrial environments is a new and inevitable extension to the next forensic frontier.”

Experts used a parabolic research aircraft – also known as the ‘vomit comet’ – to see how blood splatters can appear in short periods of microgravity in a unique study.

In a glove box, researchers pressed a syringe of blood-like fluid next to a sheet of white paper during free fall, so see how it would land.

In addition to violent crimes, experts believe blood spatter will be useful in investigating space accidents.

In a sequel report Writing in The Conversation, Professor Graham Williams and PhD student Zack Kowalske noted that this action, while “bearing little resemblance to real-world criminal scenarios”, yielded important findings regarding blood patterns in microgravity.

“We found that microgravity does indeed change the behavior of the blood droplets and the stains they create,” the pair explained.

‘On Earth, blood tends to fall parabolically, with gravity pulling on it until it hits a surface.

‘But in this case the blood continued to flow in a straight line until it hit the surface.

“The second important observation was the dispersive action of the blood upon hitting the surface.”

Without gravity, a blood splatter has a smaller spot shape and size than on Earth.

“In Earth’s typical gravitational environment, liquid blood droplets will undergo a series of stages in the staining process,” Williams and Kowalske said.

“This involves the collapse of the droplet, the formation of a small wave and its propagation into a final spot shape.

“However, when gravity is eliminated from this action, the spreading action is inhibited by the dominant force of surface tension and cohesion, resulting in a spot shape and size smaller than its terrestrial twin.”