Of course, scientists can be a bit creative, too

Scientists create face for ancient Greek girl

She died of typhoid fever in Athens about 430 BCE, at about 11 years of age. Now scientists have reconstructed what she may have looked like. It's quite interesting.

I'm a history geek, too, of course

Copernicus reburied in Poland

The remains of Nicolaus Copernicus, the 16th century astronomer who first theorized that the earth revolved around the sun, were reburied on Saturday in the cathedral of Frombork in northern Poland.

Scientists have been examining Copernicus’s skull and leg bones since they were discovered by archaeologists three years ago in an unmarked grave in the cathedral. Testing revealed that the body was of a 70 year old man, and that he had a broken nose, which would have the same age and condition of the Polish scientist when he died. Furthermore, DNA taken from teeth and bones matched hairs that were found in one of his books, and they ultimately concluded that they had found Copernicus.

Putting a face on history

Face of Stirling Castle warrior reconstructed

A reconstruction has revealed the face of a medieval knight whose skeleton was discovered at Stirling Castle.

Experts are now attempting to discover the identity of the warrior, who is likely to have been killed in the 13th or 14th Century.

The skeleton is one of 10 excavated from the site of a lost royal chapel at the castle. The skeleton of a woman was found near the knight.

Face of a Medieval Knight revealed

Last year Historic Scotland released details about this individual, noting that while he was only in his mid-20s he appears to have suffered several serious wounds in earlier fights. He may have been living for some time with a large arrowhead in his chest. Bone re-growth around a dent in the front of the skull suggest he had recovered from a severe blow, possibly from an axe. The fatal wound, however, occurred when something, possibly a sword, sliced through his nose and jaw.

New evidence about this man, and a woman who was found buried nearby, will be revealed on the BBC program History Cold Case. A team led by Professor Sue Black, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist from Dundee University, wanted to find out how, why and when the man and woman met their violent ends. The programme website promises to show how the "forensic trail leads to a unique and extraordinary 600 year old document and the team is shocked to discover the skeleton's likely identity."

It is unknown if the man was Scottish, English, or French, as Stirling Castle changed hands back and forth. They hope to find out, though, and the information they already have is quite interesting:

I meant to blog about this earlier

Bacteria on Your Hands Could Become New Forensic Fingerprint

It has a huge margin of error, but the idea is certainly interesting, and it could be used as an inadmissible yet useful scientific process whose data could help finger (pun intended) criminals so that more reliable methods could be pursued, plus it yields details neither DNA nor fingerprints do.

Check out the article. It's certainly an interesting idea.