The investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks (dubbed "Amerithrax" by the FBI) is now closed. Yesterday, the Department of Justice released a 92-page summary [pdf] of their investigation. Their conclusion -- that USAMRIID scientist Bruce Ivins was the culprit -- was backed by an impressive amount of evidence, including microbiological detective work (p. 23 ff). But some of the investigation was downright bizarre.... [more inside]
posted by cgs06 on Feb 20, 2010 - 46 comments

Wednesday's Mythbusters episode had a known-quack "doctor" with a phony Ph. D? This guy says so about the beat-the-polygraph test's test-giver.
posted by floam on Dec 7, 2007 - 72 comments

"The only hope for peace is to teach people who are full of pep and unbound force to enjoy being bound... Only when the control of self by others is more pleasant than the unbound assertion of self in human relationships can we hope for stable, peaceful human society." William Moulton Marston, the quirky psychologist who created Wonder Woman, had a bondage thing. He also had a PhD from Harvard, lived in an openly polyamorous relationship -- with one wife, one mistress, and four kids -- and invented the precursor to the lie detector (more at /. and of course, youtube).
posted by jessamyn on Jan 3, 2007 - 13 comments

"What's the matter sweetie? Can't sleep?"
"No, no. I was just going over my answers to the polygraph test your dad just gave me."
posted by Rothko on Nov 7, 2005 - 17 comments

An encounter with the polygraph. A soldier and translator describes the consequences of failing an FBI polygraph examination. [Via TalkLeft.]
posted by homunculus on Feb 2, 2004 - 10 comments

Devices like these or these may be able to detect lying better than a polygraph and less intrusively. If this technology really really worked and everyone had access to it, say, in their cell phones, would life be any different? How would it change anything, if at all? Sex? Politics? Hip-hop?
posted by ewkpates on Jan 21, 2004 - 36 comments

Fake lie-detector reveals women's sex lies - "Women are more likely than men to lie about their sex lives, reveals a new study ... Women who thought their responses might be read said they had had an average of 2.6 sexual partners, compared with 3.4 partners for those who thought their answers were anonymous. But those who thought they would be caught out by the polygraph reported an average of 4.4 partners." I'm guessing a similar study done on men would reveal that as the likelihood of getting caught in a lie increases, the number of partners claimed would decrease...
posted by RylandDotNet on Jul 14, 2003 - 25 comments