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If you have any questions about forensics, the crime or law world, or want to state some interesting facts, do it here. If you have questions, we will try to answer them..

The most common process is called carbon dating, in which the scientist will measure the amount of carbon left in the bones and using a formula deduce how old the bones are by determining the half-life of carbon-12.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_Dating

I know! blaugh What happens if that .1% screws up somehow? And what can be done about it?

Carbon dating...
Interesting, I must read up on that immediately.
Lol.
GRACIAS.

I am reading this book called Corpse, and have found out some REALLY interesting tidbits:
(BTW I am reading this because I want to become a forensic anthropologist and am trying to get ahead of the game at age thirteen)
There are three biological clocks that can help pinpoint time of death in the human body:
Rigor mortis: The post-mortem stiffening of the body which lasts only up to two days.
Algor Mortis: The post-mortem temperature changes
Livor Mortis: the coloration change post-mortem which can go from a bluish purple to a purplish red.

The word Forensic comes from the phrase "Before the forum" which originated from a gentleman by the name of Antistius who happened to be in charge of discovering which of the twenty-three stab wounds Ceasar suffered was the most fatal. There were multiple murderers, and with the help of Antistius going "before the forum" they were all brought to justice.
The term cornoner came from a long title that was bestowed upon a certain person by a king. I do believe, If I remember correctly, that it was Charles V. Anyway, his long title was shortened to crowner and eventually coroner. Another interesting tidbit is that even though we may think that our bodies go cold after we die, they don't always. A gentleman had a thermometer, one of the first of Farenheit's, and put the thermometer inside of the body of a dead British soldier on the battlefield (we are still not sure where, possibly in the mouth or in some wound or other place) and came up with different temperatures from two different men:
108 and 113 degrees Farenheit. Also...Another one off of the top of my head:The average american has from 3 to 4 gallons of preservatives in them after they die!
Those are only a few, but this book is excellent
Anywho...buy it!

Well I have a binder with sleeves with tons of papers with diagrams of the muscle system, the skeletal system, and the nervous system and also a list of undergrad courses necessary for any forensic anthropologist. It's about..er..three pages long. I also have notes that I have taken from that book called Corpse: Nature, Forensics, And The Challenge of Pinpointing Time of Death.
At least that's what I recall it being called. I just call it corpse. sweatdrop
Anywho...
Already looking at collegest. GREATLY considering University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Kathy Reichs is a proffessor there, and Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania. That one I am kinda so-so on but another famed F.A. is there, and in my mind, the courses must be good to get such renowned F.A.s. I could be wrong though. I must do more research...

I know! The body farm would be neat...I might consider that one too...
With all of these colleges I want to go to so badly I should be able to be a F.A. by time I'm 80! xd Too....many....awesome...colleges...!
*faints*

Yeah, I also have one of those binder filled with diagrams and things like that. I also got to go to The Body exhibit in New York, and it was so great, I mean just wow. I also enjoy looking up colleges that have Forensic Anthropology, and seeing witch one I would like to go to most ^^. So yeah, that’s pretty great. Also I was at Barns and Noble the other day, and sol this really interesting looking book of Forensics, and using bugs to pin point time of death.