by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
I try to learn something new each day, even though some days that amounts to tidbits as useless as the brand of cigarettes that my dentally-challenged neighbors smoke based on the butts they throw onto my yard as they roar past in their rusty deathtraps. During the last couple of days I have put the cigarette butts aside and am focused on a field of scientific endeavor called "biometrics."
For someone unfamiliar with the word - such as I was just a few days ago - it would appear to be some combination of "life" (bio) and "measurement" (metrics), and that would get you into the right ballpark. The dictionary people at Merriam-Webster define "biometrics" as:
Or, in a little less labored phrasing, biometrics is the analysis of individual traits that set one individual apart for the billions of other individuals who occupy the planet. Fingerprints and DNA leap to mind.
I had a close encounter of my own with biometrics this last week when I presented my aging and highly un-photogenic body at the local Walgreens for a passport photo. The Walgreens' doyenne who ran the photo counter had me stand on a particular mark as she snapped two photos with what appeared to be an off-the-counter small camera. Then, while I watched over her shoulder, she entered those two photos into a program on the photo department's computer. She used that program to scoot my gray and washed-out face around among some lines until she had it exactly where she wanted it.
But the computer rejected my pretty face based on what the clerk said were "biometrics." We tried again with new photos. The doyenne told me to smile more - but not show any teeth. After the second set of photos were scooted around on the screen for awhile, the computer finally approved. The U.S. Department of State will soon have a photo of me that would allow for positive identification in a crowd shot taken from a satellite two hundred miles above the earth. Praise Jesus!
And if they can do that just based on physical characteristics, just think of the exacting level of identification that could be obtained through DNA.
I mentioned in this space a few days ago that I had bought the new National Geographic publication entitled: "Your Genes: 100 Things You Never Knew." Last night, while reading the section on the use of biometrics in crime-fighting, I learned several things that I did not know. Take for instance the attacker who slits his victim's throat and her blood gushes all over the crime scene. If that poor woman manages to connect her fist with his nose before she dies, and he develops a nose bleed which leaves a few drops of his blood among the gallons that spewed from her, crime scene specialists have ways to separate his blood out - and that can provide a DNA sample.
That was a surprise to me.
But even more surprising was this. Scientists can take that DNA and track down its source - even if the killer does not have his DNA in anyone's database. The DNA found at a crime scene in blood, saliva, or semen, can now be used to create a 3-D image of the killer - an image that is highly accurate. A visual image of the killer generated from his DNA! Before long rapists and killers are going to have to do their thing dressed like astronauts!
For those who have traditionally feared their government, all of this should offer no comfort whatsoever. And meanwhile Pa Rock is building a nice DNA collection through the cigarette butts that land in his yard. Gotcha, MAGAts!
Citizen Journalist
I try to learn something new each day, even though some days that amounts to tidbits as useless as the brand of cigarettes that my dentally-challenged neighbors smoke based on the butts they throw onto my yard as they roar past in their rusty deathtraps. During the last couple of days I have put the cigarette butts aside and am focused on a field of scientific endeavor called "biometrics."
For someone unfamiliar with the word - such as I was just a few days ago - it would appear to be some combination of "life" (bio) and "measurement" (metrics), and that would get you into the right ballpark. The dictionary people at Merriam-Webster define "biometrics" as:
"The measurement and analysis of unique physical or behavioral characteristics (such as fingerprint or voice patterns) especially as a means of verifying personal identity."
Or, in a little less labored phrasing, biometrics is the analysis of individual traits that set one individual apart for the billions of other individuals who occupy the planet. Fingerprints and DNA leap to mind.
I had a close encounter of my own with biometrics this last week when I presented my aging and highly un-photogenic body at the local Walgreens for a passport photo. The Walgreens' doyenne who ran the photo counter had me stand on a particular mark as she snapped two photos with what appeared to be an off-the-counter small camera. Then, while I watched over her shoulder, she entered those two photos into a program on the photo department's computer. She used that program to scoot my gray and washed-out face around among some lines until she had it exactly where she wanted it.
But the computer rejected my pretty face based on what the clerk said were "biometrics." We tried again with new photos. The doyenne told me to smile more - but not show any teeth. After the second set of photos were scooted around on the screen for awhile, the computer finally approved. The U.S. Department of State will soon have a photo of me that would allow for positive identification in a crowd shot taken from a satellite two hundred miles above the earth. Praise Jesus!
And if they can do that just based on physical characteristics, just think of the exacting level of identification that could be obtained through DNA.
I mentioned in this space a few days ago that I had bought the new National Geographic publication entitled: "Your Genes: 100 Things You Never Knew." Last night, while reading the section on the use of biometrics in crime-fighting, I learned several things that I did not know. Take for instance the attacker who slits his victim's throat and her blood gushes all over the crime scene. If that poor woman manages to connect her fist with his nose before she dies, and he develops a nose bleed which leaves a few drops of his blood among the gallons that spewed from her, crime scene specialists have ways to separate his blood out - and that can provide a DNA sample.
That was a surprise to me.
But even more surprising was this. Scientists can take that DNA and track down its source - even if the killer does not have his DNA in anyone's database. The DNA found at a crime scene in blood, saliva, or semen, can now be used to create a 3-D image of the killer - an image that is highly accurate. A visual image of the killer generated from his DNA! Before long rapists and killers are going to have to do their thing dressed like astronauts!
For those who have traditionally feared their government, all of this should offer no comfort whatsoever. And meanwhile Pa Rock is building a nice DNA collection through the cigarette butts that land in his yard. Gotcha, MAGAts!
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