It’s like an episode of “True Detective.”
How do you find human remains in a vast natural ecosystem like the Amazon rainforest? According to a new paper published in the journal Trends in Plant Science, A tree and shrub canopy will guide search and rescue teams to find human remains CNN Reports.
As they disintegrate, human remains form “cadaver rotten islands”, the researchers write, changing the surrounding soil, roots and leaves. These changes can also be “detected remotely.”
Senior author Neil Stewart Jr. explains, “In the small, patrolling open landscapes footsteps to get someone missing may prove effective, but in more jungle or deceptive parts of the world like the Amazon it has not been possible.” Plant Science at the University of Tennessee, in a statement. “This allows us to locate plants as indicators of human decomposition, which can lead to the recovery of a faster and more likely. Safer body.”
Researchers are considering testing their new cadaver discovery technique at the University of Tennessee’s “Body Farm”, formally known as the Ethnographic Research Facility, where they will make changes to these hard disassembly islands, including minute changes of colored and fluorescent signatures. Individual leaves.
“The most obvious consequence of the islands is that there will be a large release of nitrogen into the soil, especially during the summer when decomposition is happening so fast,” Stewart said. “Depending on how quickly the plant reacts to the flow of nitrogen, it can change the color and reflection of the leaves.”
There is a major problem: humans in the woods are not just monotonous mammals. This means that the team will have to find a specific human way to detect these metabolic processes. That is to say, from a dead deer.
“One idea is that if we have a specific person who is missing, we say, a heavy smoker, they may have a chemical profile that could trigger some specific responses to find the plant,” Stewart said. Suggested. “Yet at this stage the idea is still ahead.”
Stuart and his team hope their research will help make human forests – and possibly nearby nearby survivors – more efficient in large forested ideas.
“When you start thinking about deploying drones to see specific emissions, we can now think more about signals like check engine lights,” he explained. “If we can fly quickly where someone is missing and collect data in tens or even hundreds of square kilometers, then we will know the best places to send the search team.”
read more: The plants will be able to help authorities in Woodland find dead human corpses [CNN]
More on Forensics: Horrible study: throwing away a corpse for a year after death
.