By Peter Weiss
Presidencies have teetered because of information captured on audiotapes. Tape-recorded evidence of Richard Nixon’s Watergate misdeeds led to his 1974 resignation. More recently, information gathered secretly on tapes in the Monica Lewinsky scandal almost unseated President Clinton.
A device under development by government scientists in Colorado may soon help investigators both judge the authenticity of magnetically recorded evidence and glean information from magnetic media that have been damaged—intentionally or otherwise.