Isotope analysis
A recent development in forensic science is the isotopic analysis of hair strands. Hair has a recognisable growth rate of 9-11mm per month or 15 cm per year. Human hair growth is primarily a function of diet, especially drinking water intake. The stable isotopic ratios of drinking water are a function of location, and the geology that the water percolates through. Sr, Sr and oxygen isotope variations are different all over the world. These differences in isotopic ratio are then biologically 'set' in our hair as it grows and it has therefore become possible to identify recent geographic histories by the analysis of hair strands. For example, it could be possible to identify whether a terrorist suspect had recently been to a particular location from hair analysis. This hair analysis is a non-invasive method which is becoming very popular in cases that DNA or other traditional means are bringing no answers.
Human evolutionary developmental biology
Jeremy De Silva and Julie Lesnik examined chimpanzee neonatal brain size to identify implications for brain growth in "Homo erectus". This changed the understanding of differences and similarities of post-natal brain growth in humans and chimpanzees. The study found that there was a distinction necessary between growth time and growth rate.The times of growth were strikingly similar, but the rates were not. The paper further advocates the use of fossils to assess brain size in general and in relation to cranial capacity.