Naked Scientists: Facial recognition rollout, climate-driven Black Death, and microbial bricks for Mars habitats

In this episode, The Naked Scientists discuss the UK government's plans to deploy facial recognition across policing, including potential civil liberties implications and data retention concerns. The program also investigates Russia's space-launch pad damage and the broader future of Russian human spaceflight alongside Chinese advancements. A historical segment links the Black Death in 14th-century Europe to a climate downturn caused by volcanic eruptions, supported by tree-ring and ice-core data. The show then explores a bold Mars habitat idea: using microbial communities to biocement Martian soil, potentially reducing energy costs and transport needs while considering planetary protection. The discussion features experts on policing technology, space history, climate-driven plague dynamics, and microbial construction techniques.

Facial Recognition in Policing

The episode opens with UK plans to roll out facial recognition technology across police work, highlighting the promise of more precise identification and the civil liberties concerns such systems raise. The discussion covers how the software creates a biometric "face print" from images, the potential for false positives, and questions about data retention and regulation. "There are civil liberties implications" is cited to underscore the ethical stakes involved.

"There are civil liberties implications" - John Silverman, Emeritus Professor of Media and Criminal Justice, University of Bedfordshire

Russia's Space Launch Pad Incident and Future of Cooperation

Next, the show reports Russia's admission of damage to its Baikonur-based launch infrastructure after a recent Space Station mission, explaining how the failure threatens crewed flights and supply chains. The discussion compares Russia's stagnating space program with China's rapid progress and questions whether Russia may emerge from spaceflight collaboration with new partners in the future.

"I think we're seeing the Russian space programme just dying" - Richard Hollingham, Space Boffins

Climate-Driven Black Death: A Medieval Detective Story

The program then travels to 14th-century Italy, where tree-ring data and ice-core evidence point to a sequence of volcanic eruptions that cooled Europe and disrupted harvests, aiding the spread of Yersinia pestis via trade networks. It highlights how climate downturns can catalyze famine, alter trade routes, and unintentionally transport plague to new regions. A key quote captures the excitement around this interdisciplinary reconstruction.

"an absolutely amazing detective story" - Olf Wengen, Cambridge

Biocementation for Mars Habitats

The final segment explores a novel approach to building on Mars using microbial communities to cement Martian soil into bricks, reducing transport energy and material costs. The researchers discuss practical considerations, including the need for oxygen-friendly microbes, potential collaboration among microbial consortia, and planetary protection concerns. A quote emphasizes the teamwork concept at the heart of the proposal.

"the teamwork of bacteria" - Shiva Hostinan, Polytechnic University of Milan