Jack the Ripper Caught: 8 Mysteries Tech Should Solve
If technology can help us go back in time and solve cold cases, what other mysteries could it solve? Here are a few suggestions.
Mysteries are fun. That's one reason many of us got into technology -- so we can apply our knowledge to solve mysteries and fix problems. One of the biggest mysteries in the world was solved recently using technology.
Recently, an author and a scientist claimed they were able to use DNA evidence to prove the identity of Jack the Ripper, solving one of the world's most famous cold cases. Spawning countless movies, TV shows, and books, the Ripper case continues to capture the imagination 126 years later. (Don't see Johnny Depp's From Hell. Instead, watch Christopher Plummer's Murder by Decree.)
The case is often seen as the beginning of modern police investigation -- not because of the excellent work done on the case, but because of the lessons learned around how badly the case was handled. Evidence was badly mishandled. In fact, the big break for solving the crime came when a shawl owned by one of the victims was sold at an auction in 2007. One of the investigating police officers of the original case took the bloodstained shawl from the crime scene and, ever the romantic, gave it to his wife as a gift. Fortunately for history, she was as grossed out by it as you'd probably imagine, and she put it away in a box, where it has remained -- supposedly unwashed -- for more than a century.
DNA from both the victim and one of the original suspects in the case, Aaron Kosminski, was found on a shawl. If the evidence holds up under scrutiny (and there is quite a lot of scrutiny), we're talking about a major shift in the way technology can be used on cold cases. Technology has always been at the forefront of crime fighting -- just check out an episode of CSI. But we're talking about a 126-year-old mystery.
If technology can help us go back in time to solve extremely old cases, what other mysteries can it solve? And what kinds of technology can we use to solve them? Here's a list of the cases I'd like science to turn to next, along with some of the technologies that might be useful in solving them. They represent some of the greatest mysteries currently facing humanity, some real and others a little less so.
Check out the slideshow and let us know which mysteries you'd like to see solved.
We all know the story: Union leader Jimmy Hoffa potentially makes the wrong mob boss unhappy and ends up "wearing cement shoes." Instead of being thrown to the fishes, he's mixed into the concrete at the new football stadium at the Meadowlands. Years ago, a mob "hit man" claimed it was true, but the FBI refused to investigate. The only people to put any serious investigation into it were the Mythbusters, who used ground-penetrating radar on the stadium site in 2004. However, ground-penetrating radar has improved significantly since then, in terms of both penetration (average GPR gets through only two feet of concrete) and sensitivity.
A series of three Mars rovers slated to launch in 2016, 2018, and 2020 will carry equipment specifically designed to seek out signs of former life on Mars. The equipment includes 1-cm sensitive ground-penetrating radar and sensors to seek out organic materials. I would love to see NASA test the rovers by looking for organic material in the concrete housing of the Meadowlands. Plus, how much fun would it be to watch the little guys driving around the stands? Of course, it got a lot harder to find Hoffa when the old Meadowlands stadium was demolished in 2010 to make way for a new one. Now Hoffa is buried even deeper.
(Source: Over9000Desu, DeviantArt)
Yes, I know Jon Snow isn't real, but his maternity (and possibly paternity) is one of the biggest questions in Game of Thrones. If you're not a Game of Thrones fan (if such a thing is possible), this probably makes no sense, so this video will clear it up. For readers in the know, though, many speculate that Jon is the key to the entire story of the Song of Ice and Fire, and that he is actually the son of Ned Stark's sister and a Rhaegar Targaryen. That would make him the heir to Iron Throne. The key problem with this theory is that, even if it's true, and even if he found out, Jon is unlikely to be able to prove it. But can you guess how modern technology could prove it?
Well, there's an awful lot of Stark and Targaryen blood lying around. Even if you couldn't get a sample from the only living Targaryen (Dany), there are all sorts of swords and artifacts lying around, including the Iron Throne itself, which is made up of more than 1,000 swords owned by the enemies of the Targaryens. The thing is known to cut the people who sit on it, who were all -- you guessed it -- Starks and Targaryens (with an occasional Lannister and Bartheon). The Stark family crypt is intact beneath the rubble of Winterfell, so Stark bones are easy to find. With modern technology, a spot of blood on cloth is all we'd need, and there's got to be one somewhere. One problem: Targaryens always cremate their dead. But chances are we can find something with Targaryen DNA, especially coursing through the veins of one very annoying Mother of Dragons.
Everyone knows the story of Amelia Earhart, the renowned pilot who attempted to become the first woman to fly around the world. She disappeared over the Pacific, and when various items -- such as shoes and face cream -- were found on Pacific shores, rumors started circulating that she crash landed and lived as a castaway. Aerial pictures taken the year after the crash show signs of what might have been Earhart's plane, and more recent sonar findings indicate a large object on the ocean floor that is consistent with the size and shape of the aircraft. As I write this, a group from the International Group of Historic Aircraft Recovery is using submarines, aerial photography, and other sophisticated techniques to try to locate a crash site.
(Source: Dave S., Flickr)
It's one of the most controversial endings in the history of television: Tony Soprano is having a pointless conversation with his family over dinner as a strange man seems to be eyeing him up. Just as the man goes to the bathroom (to retrieve a weapon?), the music stops, and the screen goes black. What happened? Did Tony die? Did the story just end? Are we to assume they go on like this forever? Is this a statement about the show's cancellation?
The show's creator, David Chase, was recently quoted as saying Soprano is not dead, but he quickly recanted that. So how do we know if the strange man in the Members Only jacket had a gun -- or if there was one in the bathroom?
MIT has a device that sees through walls. It is intended to enable soldiers to discern weapons behind walls. Though the technology's resolution is not yet up to that task, the US Army is working on ways to improve it. It won't be too long until we can aim the device at the scene and see exactly who's packing.
Depending on your feelings about conspiracy theories, the Aluminum Wedge of Aiud is an interesting curiosity or proof of alien life. A 1974 archeological dig outside the Romanian city of Aiud unearthed the wedge -- a block of nearly pure aluminum that was clearly worked by hand -- among mastodon bones. Most items unearthed at this level are about 20,000 years old -- which was long before humans knew how to work metal; the Bronze Age started about 4,000 or 5,000 years ago. In fact, humans didn't really start working on aluminum until the 1800s, and pure aluminum doesn't occur in nature.
So is it simply a modern artifact buried deeply? A 1994 study showed a layer of oxidation consistent with the object being 400 years old -- still well before humans began using aluminum. Some theories say it must be part of an alien spacecraft that visited Earth 20,000 (or 400) years ago. I'm more inclined to think some very smart blacksmith was way ahead of his time and invented aluminum in the 1500s.
Either way, the mystery is fascinating. Did aliens land? Or did some blacksmith come up with what would have been a history-changing invention but never got the chance to share his knowledge? Interestingly, little formal study has been made of the object. I think it's worth some investigation. Doctoral thesis, anyone?
(Source: Gizmodo)
OK, I know it's just a story -- there's no real briefcase. But the Pulp Fiction briefcase is one of the great McGuffins in all of movie history. It glows. It changes hands violently. Everyone wants it, and though some people in the movie know what is in it, we never find out. When Vincent opens the case to check it, you almost expect his face to melt, like in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Theories abound on what's in the case. The most intriguing one is that it is actually Marcellus's repurchased soul. (If you haven't seen the movie, here's a full description of the theory.) The most humorous theory: it contains the Oscar director Quentin Tarantino hoped to win. Personally, I think it holds Travolta's suit from Saturday Night Fever.
Obviously, the quickest way to solve this mystery is simply to open the case or X-ray it. But since we can't do that, I suggest we get a little more out there. According to Dr. Robert Lanza, whom The New York Times calls the "third-most-important scientist alive," quantum mechanics is starting to prove the existence of the soul. Assuming he's not crazy, I'd like to invite him over to look for Marcellus's soul in that briefcase.
It is one of the great enduring mysteries of England, mostly because people want it to be. In the 15th century, King Edward IV died, leaving two young sons: Edward V and Richard, Duke of York. Edward V was to take the throne, with his uncle, Richard III, as Lord Protector. The young princes lodged in the Tower of London, as is customary for kings about to take the crown. However, through a series of political maneuverings, Richard took the throne, and the boys were never heard from again. Many, including William Shakespeare himself, accuse Richard of killing his nephews.
Almost 200 years later, workmen found the bodies of two children in the tower, and it was immediately assumed that they were the young princes. Not until 1933 was any investigation done to prove this, and the poorly done study basically confirmed the myth through circumstantial evidence, such as the age of teeth. The mystery lay until the long-lost body of Richard III was found under a parking deck in 2012, providing the opportunity to use modern DNA techniques to match DNA with the bones believed to be the young princes of the tower. However, Westminster Abbey refuses to unearth the bones for testing, arguing that it wants to avoid setting a precedent that allows royal bones to be exhumed repeatedly to test historical theories. So although we could easily learn if the two bodies are in fact those of the young princes, we may never know.
(Source: Commons Wikimedia)
Of course, not all mysteries need solving. I, for one, would be sad to see science find a Yeti and put him in a zoo, or debunk the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. But those examples are more myth than mystery. In a way, finding Bigfoot or Nessie would be more like understanding the end of The Sopranos than learning what happened to Amelia Earhart.
What do you think? Which mysteries -- fictional or real -- should technology set its sights on next? Which ones should be left alone? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
(Source: Commons Wikimedia)
Of course, not all mysteries need solving. I, for one, would be sad to see science find a Yeti and put him in a zoo, or debunk the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. But those examples are more myth than mystery. In a way, finding Bigfoot or Nessie would be more like understanding the end of The Sopranos than learning what happened to Amelia Earhart.
What do you think? Which mysteries -- fictional or real -- should technology set its sights on next? Which ones should be left alone? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
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