Communication Lab

In this lab me and my partner, Ruby were pretty successful. We found that we succeeded in the types of communication we tried. On our first exercise, where we each described (through iChat) a drawing we had made (so the other person could draw it), we got really close to the target drawing. Ruby first drew a smiley face, it was a little complicated so mine wasn't exactly like hers but it was close, they both looked effectively like smiley faces. Then, I drew a capital E. Ruby's was pretty close it looked like an E. Next, Ruby had to silently communicate the code to unlock a lock through iChat. She very effectively held up the number of rotations, and what number to stop at on her hands. We opened the lock on our first try! We were very proud of our accomplishment, because we had heard many people talking about how hard that part had been. Next we had to use only written (chat) directions to create a sculpture out of toy connect things. We didn't exactly finish, but my start was exactly like hers. I think this lab was helpful for the mission because people going up in space need to be able to communicate really well in all different ways so they can be prepared when things may go wrong and they are in a dangerous position.

Powder Room Lab

In this lab I learned and used the methods that forensic scientists use to identify foreign substances such as powders (drugs).  The substances we tested were: Brogaine, Speclate, Rotaran, Barrop, Lixonin, and Table Salt.  We tested these powders by observing with a hand lens, adding acetic acid, observing on a hot plate, adding water, adding sodium carbonate, and adding Lugol's solution.  Throughout these tests we noticed and recorded the results and differences of the powders.  This lab could be helpful in preparing us for the mission if we find unknown substances, powders especially on the mission.  This lab also helped to develop our skills of observation, which is helpful to any scientific thing.

Urinalysis

First of all, when do you find urine at a crime scene?

Anyway, me and my partner thought it was pretty obvious from the beginning which pee sample matched the sample from the cellar.  You could tell from just looking at it.  Then the absolute gravities were way different.  Then one pH was way different from the other two.  And one was cloud after heating and the other two weren't.  So, this would be very useful evidence since it clearly shows differences between samples and there are so many different tests for differences.  This will be helpful for the mission if we come across mysterious pee on the mission.

Fiber Power Lab

In this lab we noticed differences of fibers of fabrics in microscopes.    You can use fiber evidence to identify a source.  We were able to identify an unknown fabric found on a crime scene and figure out a murderer by the clothing worn.  This lab will be helpful if, on a crime scene we find some fiber evidence.  This combined with other evidence will help us find a supposed murderer.

After Burning:

We found that it was hard to tell which was the match to the unknown fiber.  Our notes and sketches weren't very good and we were stuck between two.   The burning was confusing.  It was easier to tell by just using a microscope.  Couldn't notice any patterns of differences between man-made fibers and natural fibers.         Anyway, I think fiber evidence could be useful, but it was kind of hard to understand what we saw, and you would need a lot of other evidence to.

Blood Trajectory Lab

We learned that by using the length (hypotenuse) and width (opposite) of a blood splatter you can use Sine to find the angle of the trajectory, giving you information about the height of the wound, and where the victim and maybe perpetrator were standing.  This lab will contribute to my knowledge for the mission, because if there was foul play and blood was splattered, it can give me info about the crime, such as said above.  This lab enriched my knowledge of sine and taught me that blood can spin and sometimes point to the wrong direction.

Blood Splatter Lab

During this lab I was surprised to find that it seems to me that blood splatters cannot be used as evidence in a crime.  I came to this conclusion because in many of the graphs of blood splatters that I saw, there was not a clear trend of the relationship between the height of the drop of blood and the diameter of the the splatter.  I think you could see how long the blood had sat there, the general area of where the crime happened, and the DNA (which may lead you to a person).  However you can't tell much about the nature of the wound or weapon.  Another reason is not all wounds are the same size so you can't find height based on diameter of splatter if some splatters are from more blood or less.