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In fictional television shows such as Dexter and CSI, patterns in blood splatters at the scene of the crime can be counted on to lead investigators to the killer. In real life, they’re a useful tool, but an imperfect one.

Scientists who have spent their careers studying the behaviours of liquids are putting forensic techniques to the test. They’re working to test the rigor of modern forensic science by improving our understanding of the secrets hidden in blood.

“There’s been a huge amount of basic research done on droplets and sprays,” said Professor Sanjeev Chandra (MIE), an engineer at the University of Toronto who helps General Motors develop better ways to spray paint its cars. “A lot of the physics is exactly the same for blood.”

In soon to be published research, Professor Chandra and his team have revisited the techniques and software packages that forensic experts have developed over the years to reconstruct the origin of blood splatters. By testing this software scientifically on splatters of pig blood in the lab, they’ve shown that there is significant room for improvement in the models, which typically use straight lines to trace the path of blood droplets a surface back to their point of origin.

“They aren’t very accurate,” said Professor Chandra. “They don’t consider the effects of gravity on blood droplets. They ignore air drag, which can be very significant.”

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