These Extraordinarily Detailed Dioramas Help Solve Murders

These dioramas are amazing, if a little morbid, and the story behind them is even more interesting. Shared by Co.Design:

This is a fake crime scene used to train criminologists on how to examine evidence and form theories about homicides. But it’s not written in a textbook or even presented in pictures. Each painstaking detail has been captured in a miniature diorama. These models, called the Nutshells of Unexplained Death, were made during the 1940s and ’50s by Frances Glessner Lee, an heiress who was fascinated by forensics and had a talent for miniatures. Nineteen dioramas, each of which shows a different crime scene based on real cases, will be on display for the first time collectively in an exhibition called Frances Glessner Lee: Murder Is Her Hobby at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., starting October 20.

The story of the Nutshells is truly the story of Lee, who became interested in criminology at a young age. As the heir to the Harvester fortune, she was not permitted to study the topic because her parents felt it didn’t befit someone of her station. Instead, she took up needlework and miniature-making, for which she had a talent. But as she got older and her brother and parents passed away, Lee began to put her interest–and her money–to use. In her 50s, she began working with the local police department, which eventually gave her the honorary title of “Captain,” making her the first female police captain in the country. She helped found the first Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard and donated her extensive collection of medical and criminology texts to the university.

Read more!


Halloween season is here!
Halloween season is here! Check out all the posts, gift guides, and more!

Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — New Products 10/30/24 Adafruit LPS28 (LPS28DFW) Pressure Sensor – STEMMA QT / Qwiic

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: MicroPython v1.24.0 is here, a Halloween Wrap-up and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Halloween, WiLo, and more!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — First Solar’s $1.1 billion development of vertically integrated factory in the U.S.

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — Trigger happy oscilloscope?

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.