Researchers Investigate Why Children's Fingerprints Disappear Faster

Children's fingerprints disappear faster than those of adults because fingerprint staying power is based on the amount and types of oil in the skin.

Using a collection of latent fingerprints given by six father (ages 35-45) and son (ages 7-10) pairs, researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory watched for chemical changes over the course of four weeks. Twice a week, one fingerprint from each participant was dusted, lifted and analyzed based on the number of features visible. At the same time, a non-invasive synchrotron technique called Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy mapped the location and makeup of the skin and sebum in the prints.

At all points in time, the fathers' prints dusted darker than those from their sons. In fact, the fathers' prints remained virtually unchanged during the four-week study, while the fine features of their children became increasingly more difficult to see.

FTIRM showed that adults produce more sebum than children, which leads to darker prints, and the composition of the lipids, or fats, in sebum differ significantly between adults and children.

The results could pave the path toward more advanced fingerprint detection techniques.

South Korea Declares "War" on Sex Offenders

Elementary school children in Anyang City, Korea, will receive GPS-enabled beepers in a pilot program to protect themselves from sex offenders.

Each beeper is embedded with GPS technology that will activate nearby surveillance cameras to alert parents and police of their location via cell phone.

If the pilot is successful, authorities will consider adopting the system nationwide.