n team of scientists is developing an electronic device that could locate corpses by "smelling" the chemical fingerprint of decomposing bodies. The device will even help determine the exact time of death.
Currently, to find the murder victim or bodies buried in rubble after an earthquake or tornado, security forces use trained dogs to locate the bodies and help rescue them. "They are very effective, but it takes a lot of time, expense and effort to train them," explains Dan Sykes, adding that the new electronic device avoids all the inconveniences of canine equipment.
To make the device work, Sykes and his colleagues must identify the gases that a corpse releases under different environmental conditions, and also how their chemical composition evolves over time. So far they have already worked with 30 substances, including putrescine and cadaverine , the first to appear in a decomposing body. Using special sensors similar to those used to analyze air pollution, they have produced a "chemical chronology" of a corpse from 6 hours after death to a week later. Their conclusions have been presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society , which is being held these days in Washington.
