Analyzing a crime scene, detectives attempt to determine the velocity and distance of a weapon used to create a violent blood wound. What are the factors? Recognizing that a given fabric could affect how blood spreads, thus giving clues of timing, velocity, and distance, researchers recently studied the wicking properties of various fabric surfaces, which can help investigators refine theories of weapon, attack angles, and force of impact. Experimenting with both pig blood and artificial blood—and using a digital camera to record the wicking process—researchers found results inconclusive, observing that even slight variations in fabric content would change the behavior of the blood.
