07/10/08
Digital Forensics: A New Field
Posted July 10, 2008 in Exploring Majors & Careers, New Students
Are you interested in a science related field? Do you watch the Discovery Channel? If so, then you may want to take a look at a show on PBS called Nova: Science Now. Each show has between four and five segments. One Profile feature was about Hany Farid who is one of the leading scientists in a new field called Digital Forensics. Digital Forensics is a field in which computer scientists are seeking to determine whether pictures are real or altered. You can watch this segment as a podcast on your computer: Hany Farid. You might also find the description of how he became a computer scientist to be interesting. You can view podcasts of all of the prior segments at Nova Science Now.
The issue of real or altered photographs is being raised in today’s media with respect to a photograph of Iranian missiles. Here is a link to a New York Times Lede blog on this subject: In an Iranian Image, a Missile Too Many.
A couple of years ago there was an article on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) website discussing the use of altered images, as well as describing their own policy for trying to verify the authenticity of an image: BBC News - The Editors: Trusting Photos.
