The details could be sufficient to identify a shooter, although in experiments, the bullets weren’t actually shot from a gun; they were heated in a furnace.<\/p>\n
Related: <\/b>Scientists Discover a Hidden Clue to Tell When a Frozen Corpse Died<\/b><\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n “The Holy Grail in forensic investigation has always been retrieving prints from fired ammunition casings,” claims<\/a> chemist Eithne Dempsey.<\/p>\n “Traditionally, the intense heat of firing destroys any biological residue. However, our technique has been able to reveal fingerprint ridges that would otherwise remain imperceptible.”<\/p>\n The new technique, devised by Dempsey and her former PhD student, chemist Colm McKeever, still needs further testing, but the proof-of-concept was successful. <\/p>\n Their results suggest that not all biological residue deteriorates on a bullet casing after it is fired. Like invisible ink, some of it may remain. <\/p>\n Using a special chemical brew and a small amount of voltage<\/a>, Dempsy and McKeever have now revealed that residue.<\/p>\n Their technique can even uncover fingerprints on bullet casings touched and heated, and stored more than a year before.<\/p>\n “Using the burnt material that remains on the surface of the casing as a stencil, we can deposit specific materials in between the gaps, allowing for the visualisation,” explains<\/a> McKeever, now at the Technological University of the Shannon in Ireland.<\/p>\n “With this method, we have turned the ammunition casing into an electrode, allowing us to drive chemical reactions at the surface of the casing.”<\/p>\n Further testing will be needed to demonstrate that the technique works on a bullet actually fired from a gun.<\/p>\n Some evidence, for instance, suggests that the ‘gaseous blowback’<\/a> produced by gunfire is what erases most evidence of fingerprints, not just the high temperatures.<\/p>\n McKeever’s and Dempsey’s new forensics tool is an exciting development, but the quest for a ‘holy grail’ continues.<\/p>\n![\"Brass](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2_49-642x394.jpg\")
Photograph (left and top right) and high contrast image (bottom right) of a latent finger-mark on a brass ammunition casing. (Maynooth University<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"'Holy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1_46-642x394.jpg\")
Fingerprint lifted from a brass surface with a microscopic view of the ridges and pores. (Maynooth University<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"Space](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Mid-Article-Promo-Astro-1-642x272.jpg\")
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