R2D2 fingered the perp? Well, perhaps "fingered" isn't the word...

While some people question whether "forensic science" is an oxymoron, practitioners continue to use a variety of forensic tools, including DNA. The problem, however, is that criminals keep on committing crimes, which means that there are more crimes to be processed. If the systems can't keep up, a backlog occurs.

Enter Twiggy and Kilroy to save the day. Forensic Magazine links to a KCTV news story about two robots that were purchased by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) to streamline the processing of DNA samples.

The KBI was backlogged by about 38,000 samples as of Sept. 2009, meaning some criminals were still at large....

The Legislature recently approved more funds for improvements...including the robots. The goal is to catch up on the cases by winter, and to make sure the backup doesn't happen again. So far officials said they've cut through 70 percent of the backlog.

And no, I don't expect to see robot fingerprint examiners any time soon...