The hottest Forensics Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Science Topics

Dead Reckoning

Asimov Press • 264 implied HN points • 07 Mar 26
🔬 Science Forensics
  1. Complex bioarchaeology combines bone biology, isotope chemistry, radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, and forensic trauma analysis to identify people and reconstruct how they lived and died.
  2. Applying those methods, researchers confirmed a medieval skeleton as Duke Béla of Macsó by matching age, stature, diet, corrected radiocarbon dates, and genetic links to both Byzantine and Rurikid lineages, while trauma analysis showed multiple attackers and brutal perimortem wounds.
  3. Beyond single cases, this integrated approach can correct or fill gaps in written history and reveal hidden patterns of violence and migration, though it can’t fully recover ancient population counts lost to time.

A New Kind of Forensics

Culture Study • 3847 implied HN points • 29 Jan 25
🎭️ Culture Forensics
  1. Marty Goddard played a key role in creating the rape kit, which helped provide evidence of sexual assault. This changed how incidents were taken seriously in the legal system.
  2. The history of the rape kit shows that many women were not believed when they reported assaults. It highlights a culture that often dismissed survivors.
  3. This story also reveals how women's contributions can be overlooked in innovation. Even when they create important tools, men often get the credit.

Monthly Archaeology Round-Up: April

Grey Goose Chronicles • 727 implied HN points • 09 May 23
🔬 Science Forensics
  1. Native Americans were using horses over a hundred years before previously thought, shaping a new view of early Plains societies.
  2. Genetic analysis confirms migration and intermixing with Persians on Africa's Swahili coast, challenging long-held theories.
  3. Bronze Age Menorca revealed evidence of the use of powerful drugs, shedding light on ancient rituals and practices.

Under the Dowdy Ferry Bridge

Marlene’s Newsletter • 9 implied HN points • 02 Jan 26
📰 News Forensics
  1. Police found a genuine palo mayombe nganga with a human skull and ritual items near two murdered bodies, showing ritual or occult elements were involved and linking the scene to Afro-Cuban criminal practices.
  2. Luis Campos and Linoshka Torres were kidnapped, brutally tortured and killed in what investigators tied to drug-cartel violence, and subsequent prosecutions relied on plea deals, short sentences, parole, and a mistakenly deported suspect that left families frustrated about justice.
  3. The Dowdy Ferry Bridge has a long history as a dumping ground for murder victims, with multiple cases over the years—some unsolved or gang-related—giving the site a grim reputation and causing community fear.

Hunter Biden vs. the drive forensics

Cybersect • 137 implied HN points • 10 Jul 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Forensics
  1. To take a forensics image of Hunter Biden's laptop drive, a similar model MacBook Pro is needed with a non-standard hard-drive connector.
  2. Experts can provide inaccurate opinions when not directly involved or without thorough research.
  3. Asking techies to comment without detailed work can lead to biased conclusions and contribute to the spread of conspiracy theories.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

RapidHIT ID

ASeq Newsletter • 14 implied HN points • 05 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Forensics
  1. RapidHIT ID is a point-of-use forensic DNA profiling system that generates STR profiles for quick, on-site analysis.
  2. Forensic STR profiling typically looks at about 20 loci, and RapidHIT ID works as a sample-to-answer PCR device with capillary readout to produce those profiles.
  3. STRs remain the practical standard largely because of huge existing STR databases, lower costs, and institutional conservatism, and the technology has been simplified from complex lab rigs into much simpler cartridges.

Ralph Baric is Innocent

A Biologist's Guide to Life • 13 implied HN points • 18 Nov 25
🔬 Science Forensics
  1. It's important to avoid jumping to conclusions about people in news stories. Quick judgments can harm our understanding.
  2. Investigating complicated scientific issues, like the origin of viruses, needs careful and thorough analysis.
  3. Bad media reporting can lead us away from the truth and misunderstandings about important topics.

Thrunting Grounds

Rhythms of Research • 58 implied HN points • 17 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Forensics
  1. Not all observables listed in threat intel reporting should be labeled as 'IOCs', as many of them don't indicate compromise.
  2. The distinction between IOCs and non-IOCs in threat hunting can help make threat intel reports more actionable for organizations.
  3. Differentiating between internally-focused threat detection (IOCs) and externally-focused threat hunting (exothrunting) observables can enhance threat detection efforts.

Làm an toàn thông tin thì học gì?

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 139 implied HN points • 02 May 12
🕹 Technology Forensics
  1. Information security is a broad field with many areas of expertise, so it's important to choose a focus that interests you.
  2. Key roles in information security include product security, operations security, applied security, and threat analysis.
  3. To excel in information security, developing strong programming skills, mastering tools like IDA Pro, and understanding concepts in areas like cryptography and network security are essential.

Why I hate Pi Day

Logging the World • 1 HN point • 14 Mar 23
🔬 Science Forensics
  1. Pi Day can be annoying for some mathematicians due to the overemphasis on the beauty of the Pi formula and memorizing digits of Pi.
  2. The beauty in mathematics is not just about formulas like Pi, but also in the precise form of logical arguments and the way pieces fit together like a complex mechanism.
  3. Fourier analysis, involving Fourier transform and harmonics, is a powerful tool used in various scientific fields beyond Pi Day celebrations.

Vụ án Huyremy

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 19 implied HN points • 12 Nov 06
🕹 Technology Forensics
  1. The incident of Huyremy, known as 'hacker number 1 in Vietnam,' sparked a heated debate in the IT community regarding the evidence presented by C15 and Huyremy's denial.
  2. The legal aspect highlights the responsibility of the owner of the computer and internet connection used in the cyber crime incident, emphasizing the need to provide evidence to prove innocence.
  3. C15 demonstrated expertise in computer forensics, raising doubts about Huyremy's claim of being a top hacker due to the evidence left behind.

Nếu tôi là Huyremy

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 0 implied HN points • 12 Nov 06
🕹 Technology Forensics
  1. Prioritize encryption to protect your privacy and ensure security. Make use of tools like Tor to anonymize internet traffic and defend against network surveillance.
  2. Securely deleting data is critical. Traditional methods like formatting a hard drive or overwriting data may not be effective. Consider encryption to ensure data destruction without physically tampering with drives.
  3. Implement a layered approach to security, including encryption of various files and using different passwords for different websites. Be cautious and understand that true safety comes from avoiding illegal activities.

Keeping Company with the Alligators

Marlene’s Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 23 Jan 26
💾 History Forensics
  1. Many bodies were found along Alligator Alley and in the surrounding Everglades, often reduced to bones or badly burned. Some victims were identified later, but many remained unnamed and missing.
  2. Jurisdictional confusion and the remote, swampy terrain repeatedly slowed investigations and evidence recovery, which helped keep many cases cold and unsolved.
  3. Forensic advances like dental records and modern DNA have identified a few victims decades later, but most murders remain unresolved and some suspects are already deceased.