MIT Technology Review Weekend Reads

Weekend Reads Solving murders with technology 8.24.19

Hello, Weekend Readers!

Sure, it’s creepy to know Alexa could be eavesdropping on your private living room conversations. But, it’s a small comfort knowing she might have your back if you’re ever murdered in your own home. From catching killers to predicting violent behavior, technology is helping detectives look like Sherlock Holmes.

The citizen scientist who finds killers from her couch How CeCe Moore is using her genetic knowledge to expose murderers. Mathematicians reveal serial killer's pattern of murder A simple mathematical model of the brain explains the pattern of murders by a serial killer, say researchers. The neurological roots of aggression Recent findings shed light on the brain deficits that underlie aggression and could aid in the development of preventative treatments. A DNA mismatch raises fears The false arrest, say privacy and prisoner’s rights advocates, highlights ongoing problems with the proliferating criminal DNA databases. Mitochondria and the mob [Quick Read] An article in USA Today reports that new mitochondrial DNA testing techniques may help to identify the murderer of a number of Mob figures buried in swamps around the New York City metropolitan area. Should an Amazon Echo help solve a murder? Authorities have asked Amazon to turn over data from a suspect’s Echo, raising thorny privacy questions. Did DNA identify Jack the Ripper? Probably not, but old objects are ready to reveal their secrets Although the claim by a UK researcher that he identified Jack the Ripper from a semen stain on an 130-year-old shawl is drawing derision, new forms of DNA analysis mean old letters, pipes, and locks of hair may be ready to shed their secrets. Less than one month left until EmTech MIT EmTech MIT is our annual emerging technologies conference, and it’s three days of non-stop brain food on some of the biggest and thorniest questions facing humanity.  Join us in Cambridge on September 18 to celebrate 20 years of the technologies, trailblazers, and trendsetters shaping our global economy. Register now

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