But research has found that breast cancer can begin to spread early, even when tumors are small, leaving microscopic traces of the disease after surgery.
Mr. Lodge said his research found eDNA — microscopic traces of genetic material — that indicated live Asian carp had swum past the corps' $10 million electric barrier.
The liquid that remains is buttermilk: naturally defatted milk, with microscopic traces of butter that leave a haunting, rich flavor and a creamy mouth feel.
Plastered onto the shrapnel shard, investigators said, were microscopic traces of glass of the type used by Boeing on its airliner cockpits, indicating clearly that it had passed through the plane's windshield before lodging in the pilot's body.
Not one body has been found intact, and a wood chipper and Mr. Pickton's pigs are believed to have devoured much of the evidence, leaving behind mostly microscopic traces of DNA.
The prosecution's case relied heavily on DNA evidence, specifically using a relatively new technique known as low copy number analysis, involving microscopic traces far smaller than those previously used in criminal forensics.
In the Lawrence case, it was microscopic traces of clothing fiber, hair and blood found on the clothing of Mr. Lawrence and the two men convicted on Tuesday, made possible by advances in laboratory techniques.
Correction: September 8, 2004, Wednesday An article on Aug. 30 about new security portals that can detect microscopic traces of explosives as people pass through included an erroneous price from General Electric, the manufacturer, for the model at the Statue of Liberty, known as EntryScan 3. It costs $132,000, not $40,000.
Today, Melville's copy of Thomas Beale's "Natural History of the Sperm Whale," which he read while composing "Moby-Dick," is laid out like the Shroud of Turin in the conservation laboratory of the Fogg Art Museum under an infrared camera capable of discerning microscopic traces of graphite left behind by the wielder of the eraser -- who, some think, may have been Melville himself.
One of the other boys wakes up thirsty in the middle of the night, and Wyeth fetches him a glass of milk that turns out to be tainted with microscopic traces of peanut oil -- just enough to send the pillow-headed little fellow, who is allergic to nuts, into anaphylactic shock.
