UAVs

Texas Body Farm Researchers Use Corpses to Solve Crimes

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http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/25/texas-body-farm-research-uses-corpses-solve-crimes/

 

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SAN MARCOS — A drone flew over the sprawling hills of Freeman Ranch about two years ago, capturing a monochromatic photograph. The gray landscape was grass and dirt and the white spots denoted excessive vegetation. The black flecks were decomposing corpses.

It was exactly the picture that Daniel Wescott, a forensic anthropologist, and Gene Robinson, the owner of a search and rescue organization, were looking for to prove their suspicions that a plane equipped with the right technology could locate the dead.

“We just had one of those eureka moments,” said Robinson, who is based in Wimberley. “We can put these two things together and suddenly we have a forensic tool.”

The ranch is home to about 50 human corpses donated to the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University, which uses them to conduct research that can help medical examiners identify bodies, rescuers find missing persons and law enforcement solve crimes.

Dead bodies are peppered across Texas State’s gated 26 acres on Freeman Ranch. Some are completely decayed down to bones loosely covered by tan, leathery skin, while more recent arrivals resemble the living except for the swollen flesh and colonies of flies laying eggs in facial orifices.

Wescott is the director of the center, known informally as a “body farm.” He helps design many of the research projects in the hopes that by controlling the conditions the body decomposes in — and knowing the biological facts of the person who died — the studies can offer insight on murders or unexplained deaths when much less information is available.

The drone flights are part of an ongoing study using near infrared imaging to detect corpses above and below the ground that are often not visible to the naked eye. The technology can also spot locations where a corpse was previously buried for up to two years after it has been removed.

“The search for clandestine bodies is a very time-consuming ordeal,” Wescott said. “Even then, a lot of times you can walk right by them and not realize that they’re there.”

Near infrared imaging picks up reflectance; as a corpse decays it releases carbon and nitrogen into the soil, decreasing the amount of light the soil reflects. At first, the influx of chemicals kills plants, but as it disperses into the area around the body it turns into a fertilizer causing extra vegetation, which reflects a lot of light.

The two extremes show up as black and white on the mostly gray near infrared imaging, giving anyone looking for a body, Robinson said, double the chances of finding of it.

The Texas State labs, which opened in 2008, are constantly churning out research. The placement and conditions of the bodies are purposeful; many are protected by metal-pole cages, but those that aren’t resemble a collection of scattered bones, pillaged by vultures and raccoons. Corpses are above and below ground as well as in both the sun and shade to compare the decay of each. Some bodies are wrapped tightly in tarp, part of a new study that will look at the rate of decay for a common modus operandi of disposal for murders.

The center grabbed national attention recently when it collected the remains of 80 undocumented immigrants who died after crossing the border. Found in a mass grave in Brooks County, the bodies were buried haphazardly, some covered only by trash bags and shopping bags.

Kate Spradley, a researcher and associate professor of anthropology at Texas State, leads a team working to identify the immigrants and send their remains home. The work is slow, and so far the team has confirmed three identities.

3D-printed UAV takes flight in UK

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/3D-printed-UAV-takes-flight-in-UK/articleshow/48245485.cms

 

A 3D-printed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was successfully launched off the front of a Royal Navy warship and it landed safely on a Dorset beach after covering a distance of around 500 metres. Weighing 3kg and measuring 1.5m, the airframe was created on a 3D-printer using laser sintered nylon by the University of Southampton.

The SULSA UAV catapulted off HMS Mersey into the Wyke Regis Training Facility in Weymouth, before landing on Chesil Beach. The flight, which covered roughly 500 metres, lasted less than few minutes but demonstrated the potential use of small lightweight UAVs, which can be easily launched at sea, in a maritime environment, researchers said.

The aircraft carried a small video camera to record its flight and re searchers monitored the flight from their UAV control van with its on board video-cameras.

Known as Project Triangle the capability demonstration was led by Southampton researchers.

“The key to increased use of UAVs is the simple production of low cost and rugged airframes -we believe our pioneering use of 3D printed nylon has advanced design thinking in the UAV community world-wide,” said professor Andy Keane, from Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton.

In 2011, University of Southampton engineers initially designed, and flew project SULSA, the world’s first entirely `printed’ aircraft.

With a wingspan of nearly 1.5 metres, the UAV being trialled has a cruise speed of 93 kph but can fly almost silently. The aircraft is printed in four major parts and can be assembled without the use of any tools.

FAA: Washington, D.C. is a No Drone Zone”

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http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=83267

 

June 30– As the July 4 holiday approaches, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is reminding residents and visitors to Washington, D.C. that the city and surrounding communities are a “No Drone Zone.”

The prohibition against flying any type of unmanned aircraft, or “drone,” without specific approval includes the District of Columbia and cities and towns within a 15-mile radius of Ronald-Reagan Washington National Airport.

The FAA is conducting the “No Drone Zone” campaign so visitors and residents thoroughly understand that operating an unmanned aircraft in this area for any purpose is against the law.

The airspace around Washington, D.C. is more restricted than in any other part of the country. Rules put in place after the 9/11 attacks establish “national defense airspace” over the area and limit aircraft operations to those with an FAA and Transportation Security Administration authorization. Violators face stiff fines and criminal penalties.

So if you’re in the Washington, DC area for the Fourth, enjoy the holiday. But leave your drone at home.