Change. Join me for a deep dive into the green transformation for me, for you, for the plant. Ah, ah, the essence to solving crimes is evidence. And she didnt even the perfect medicine that you always take something wiki. Will you leave something behind you and its new forensic methods and making the invisible, visible . Most trace evidence comes from nature. This amount to soil in the palm of my hand, contains more interstitial organisms than the are the number of people that live on this whole planet. But there remains much to discover open questions to answer technologies to develop click his to met the question is, how long has these trace lean here on . Did you only when i know that can i link it to the fact that your time is also relevant in other investigations . My office im hoping that we can say for instance, this pew perry. Im is 2 to 2 and a half years old or this pu perry. Im is 8 weeks old while from out will the perfect crime soon. Be a thing of the past. Ah ah, every flowering plant produces it. It wafts through the air, often invisibly, attaching itself to everything that moves. Poland leaves its mark everywhere and can even help solve crimes. The cell wolves surrounding each individual grain is so stable that poland can survive millions of years. Vienna, the austrian capital is home to thee expert in the field of forensic pollen analysis. Martina vega heads the department of structural and functional botany at the university of vienna. Shes one of a few scientists world wide working in the field of forensic pollen analysis. On a sunny day in may in low austria road workers working in the hill and tal. A popular Tourist Destination near vienna made a discovery that starkly contrasted with aerodynamic surroundings. They found a corpse lying in a roadside ditch the criminal Investigation Department of the state of low austria launched immediate investigations dealership. I think the body was wrapped in a blanket that i did was mediately clear that there had been a violence a crime. So we took up the investigation for long as the crime scene and homicide teams from the states criminal Investigation Department drove out to her and talked. And we were quite certain that the location where the body was found was not where the crime had been committed. Of mister todd of law, the investigators soon turned to martina vba. Is a blueprint of im in them. Think if the dead man was wrapped in a blanket on the, it most likely came from the primary crime scene, or at least from the perpetrators for this. And thats why we examined this blanket thoroughly did come with it, of course, because you cant wash the whole thing. But you cant small pieces out as where there is no to go clumping away. You suspect them might be Something Interesting underneath it of the think that is, that is that of the forget after washing the sample, its centrifuge to separate it into its component parts. Paula knology is the scientific term for poland. Analysis, the study of scattered dust. The 1st person world wide to solve a murder case with the help of forensic pathology was vill him klaus martina webers mentor. Here at the university of vienna, at the time, the suspect had the whole of vienna on tenterhooks, because the murder victim could not be found in love with fostering over the course of a year. He hath named a wide variety of places in the vienna region. 11th, but nothing was discovered until professor Wilhelm Klaus showed up out. This here is a police botanist here at the university of vienna voc biologist by training data. If you can have the brilliant idea of testing the suspects, jesus and clear thing, thats all pollen of point, noticeable flu among the thousands of pollen samples, professor klaus found was fossilized hickory pollen from alone, extinct species. That once grew near what is now the village of spill in in lo, austria. Confronted with these, finding the suspect confessed, and revealed the bodies exact location today many know about dna traces and how to avoid leaving them. The criminals too. But poland traces i everywhere and are extremely persistent. Ah, martina vba is working on a case that dates back almost 2000 years. Its not a crime case, but rather the scene of a natural disaster. Shes attempting to correct a possible historical era. When the volcano vesuvius erupted, it completely buried the ancient city of pompei, the ash preserved the city, and many of its inhabitants in the last seconds of their lines. The eruption date of august 2479, c. E derives from the letters of pliny, but other writings and findings suggest that the eruption did not occur until october. To investigate this discrepancy samples were taken from the nostrils of some of the victims. Martina vega is now examining them to determine from the inhaled pullin. What season the samples are from free flying, poland gets caught in the estimated bone, the bone at the end of the nasal cavity. It usually stays there for about 40 minutes before it is exhaled back out through the nose. By examining residual poland on a corpses, f moines bone, conclusions can be drawn about the last 40 minutes of that persons life. There are 4 samples to examine the poland from the nostrils, a centrifuge, and then boiled in a mixture of acetic acid and high dried. And so few rec acid. This process removes everything but the pollen wool, martina they, but then begins the counting process under the light microscope. Gradually, she determines which pollen grains are represented in the sample and in what frequency they occur. Based on the microscope count, a so called pullin diagram is created was be here said, is that what we have here is a sample from a child has gone that i specifically from the nasal. Based on we examined the material to discover the diverse array of plants, if lance lance, which indeed grew in pompei like, combine or out of the l. If trees, then artemisia done, and there was also a hater, a helix pollen grain. He rather loads of them with a so if he let the fans ivy is ivy pollen. If i have a tendency to flour later in the year, ah oh, this worked and that of course was relevant to our Research Question of whether we can ascertain if the volcano really erupted on august 24th. Oh, much nature in the yes, its no cost. Ill skip through, is there a big debates on the matter gross, his console and should the eruption date of Mount Vesuvius on the 24th of august 79. C. E. Be moved to the flowering period of ivy in the autumn. It would be a sensation if the date of this world historical event would it be changed on the basis of a pollen examination . The whole entire case has not yet been solved either. The tests for pullin on the woollen blanket, a still in progress, barely visible to the naked eye and yet so rich in information. The pollen grains swelling from flower to flower have breezed into the ranks of forensic methods. But they are not alone with its unique profile, the soil in which the plants grow is also valued in investigations. Aah, luna dawson is one of the worlds leading experts in the field of soil forensics. Shes consulted by Police Departments from all over the world. Ah. This, the mind to soil in the palm of my hand contains more individual organisms living together. Then there are the number of people that live on this whole planet. So just imagine how many that really is this is teeming with life. And that information can tell us so much about the soil, that is the home for these multiple organisms. The micro organisms in the soil are responsible for its structure and fertility. They break down toxins, help plants absorb nutrients and contribute to their resilience. But can soil also bear witness to a crime . Galloway forest park in southwest scotland is the largest contiguous forest in the united kingdom. Tourists and hike as are attracted by the unspoiled Natural Environment with its diverse animal and plant populations. But on june 12 2019 walk has encountered more than pristine nature. Hidden beneath some branches in a hollow in the earth, they discovered a corpse investigate as quickly established that it was a woman who had been missing for weeks, and that the cause of death was unnatural. They soon had a suspect. Police sent several soil samples to lorna dawson for analysis. The scientist compared the soil samples from where the body was found with samples collected from the suspect surroundings. Theres a whole range of different methods that can be used to can ties the sole biology and the still a lot of the search to be done to make sure that and when youre competing ah, unknown sample with a known sample. And that the same procedure is carried out, cuz thats absolutely vitally important, that the any analysis is carried out on a, on no one a question sample. You have to use the same procedure for any reference sample, its going to be compared to it. What about the soil samples in the current Murder Investigation . Could lorna dawson helped to solve the case . In the investigation . The disappearance of emma folds. The police sent us a suspect pair of timberland books, and i was asked to examine them and to determine from the examination what type of soil that was and any vegetation within it. What clues that could give us to where that person had stood or had walked wearing those those shoes or boots, in this case, ah, technologies, an analytical methods are constantly evolving, ever smaller samples, suffice for investigations. Microscopic soil residue on shoes can betray where a person has been even tiny organisms can provide Important Information at Frankfurt Institute of forensic medicine, entomologist yes. Amens works with some of them. The wilsons in forensics, we use insects and especially flies, to clarify questions about the victims time of death because the traditional forensic procedures only work well one to 2 days after dat and yet, so in that window you can estimate quite well when exactly the person died storm is, but after that, there are no reliable forensic methods give to. However, if insects have developed on the corpses, usually fly maggot license, then we can use these to figure out the minimal amount of time. The person has been dead form inch munitions from towards the 1st step is to determine the species on the corpse. Then the developmental stage of each species is examined. Flies live on average about 3 weeks. And within that time lay several 100 eggs. The maggots hatch off to 12 to 25 hours. The lovell and pupil stages each last about 10 days of i is the phone from the formally forensic entomology works relatively well to the exact day in the 1st 3 to 4 weeks after colonization of all. Thats how long it takes for the adult fly to hatch. Having passed through the egg, maggot and pupil stages of 3 to 4 weeks approximately this week. And after that accuracy is pretty much impossible. I mean, it wasnt like and so were hoping that the analysis, the chemical analysis of these empty view area will allow us to narrow down the time period beyond that point. By now several weeks, several months, maybe even several years mayor, im worn out, the flight forgot me. Of a yog, the pupil casing the so called p peria canal for 30 clues one in them, 5 in context physical and our forensic work. Were trying to determine if the weathering of the pew peria is the shells that remain indefinitely intact at the site where the corpse was found. If the weathering can be quantified or even glad of defer video, thats where the cute secular hydrocarbons come and if theyre worn by social for the shells, contain specific hydrocarbon chains. These are hornblast off. We believe that over the course of time they break down 3 lay decompose from long chains and 2 increasingly shorter chains separation. So follow him of course. So the analysis helps determine what hydrocarbon structures are actually still present in the cuticle, if it, on a loser. Inefficient busing doesnt i hits for we can reconstruct temporal processes. That is we can work out how long has this pu perry m actually been lying here at the site where the corpse was found. I need him lie confirmed on the surface of all insects. There are organic chemical compounds composed of carbon and hydrogen traces of these so called q tequila. Hydrocarbons can also be found in the p peria and are analyzed in the gas chromatograph his law with. I believe that with the help of these to carry out, we can narrow down time periods that lie in the range of months or years on this lesson. Im hoping that we can say, for instance, this pu perry, im is 2 to 2 and a half years old or this to perry. Im is 8 weeks old. Of the research is still in the developmental phase. But yes, im in his confident that theyll be able to apply the new analyses soon as was ongoing minor. But whats special about my work as a forensic entomologist is that i gets a link basic research to its immediate implementations. Make sure of us as a squish or so i can start an experiment to answer a fundamental question and again, and that answer in turn helps my work on case is at the institute ish mint on and provides the answers the police and prosecution, neil trudy poets high for me, thats the biggest incentive from and the fun of it that our goal is to hit my glasses pasta by noon. Its exactly the spirit of innovation, curiosity and broad scientific interest that so indispensable in the forensic disciplines. Because often there is more than one way to solve a problem. To get results, you have to use your imagination, be open for new perspectives and always have one eye on the latest research developments. And what about the investigations into the eruption of Mount Vesuvius . Worthy ivy flowers martina vega found the evidence for a later eruption date damn says in fact kinda she found it in the teen sheltering scholars. Enough off, but not in the ant out islip was the single pollen grain there i think. And not in the reference sample either nika, it was significantly less bad than in the childrens noses. Yeah. Then you have to think it was missing. What do i do with it . Now the me with these resolve this month, bye was hes i, there are 2 problem is even this is 1. 1 is just that, that it was early found in the children of skulls exist that you for the 2nd dis, that hater a helix. The ivy is an insect pollinated clamp for him. Its pollen doesnt just lie around it on its own beside which means that the pole and must have somehow actively entered the nostril. Seattle, bashful sadly dismal, took the explanation in the end. It was that income paste time in. The flower buds were preserved in oil o wines. Youngster and a medicine was produced from it, which was stripped into the nose as if children with respiratory problems seen outside them within kinda my abs. Bishop, we hadnt, and not only apple and spectrum was making a lot of sandwich. Spectrum guns facing there was pollen in the childrens skulls and not in the adults square and also significantly less in the reference sample if it cant vedic and that if its proven so for the time being the eruption of vesuvius in 79, c, e remains dated to august the 24th, its not enough to find the traces. They must also be considered in an interdisciplinary way. Because without the knowledge that at that time, the pullin was also processed. In other substances, the avi trace would have led to false interpretations for martina vba. This was an interesting excursion into history, but its time to return to the present. The clarification of the whole entire case in austria is making slow progress. Tomantino. Mm hm. Mm hm. And weve worked with martin of a about on a number of cases in the past. And in this case to where we didnt know where the crime was committed. We started by doing a pollen examination on the items found with the body point, the blanket, for example, and the victim shoes authorization, the idea being to determine which regional, where these items could have come from a viva samba and Martina Verba from the university of vienna, has already helped us with some cases in the passcode based on the pollen structure and she could tell the broad region the individual came from always staying in one and what distinctive flowers plans trees would be found. Growing in that area was, these are before here. Come to levels in new york go. Mm. What will the poland trace analysis from the road side bodies blanket reveal. Another tool for revealing and understanding evidence is bloodstain pattern analysis. Its used in investigations, especially when blood stains found at crime scenes do not match the suspects version of events which punish itself causing crime scenes where theres a lot of blood we will focus on the blood stain very often in the perpetrators will often say, so i only hit one sort in the heat of the moment or whatever a crime of passion it was. And the bloodstained patton shows a completely different story, a different picture and others. It means that we can disprove that. It was one blow that fell in the heat of the moment is large because in reality there were 15 blows and they were not from the from to but from behind on. So blood stain analysis can tell us a lot about the nature of the crimes, but by that logic stain patton wouldnt tell. The rule of all southern the french mediterranean metropolis of marseilles is the location of a Forensic Laboratory run by one of the most innovative experts in blood stains, Felipe Esperanza, people from all over france and other countries to call on his expertise the analysis of blood stain patterns can provide Important Information for crime reconstruction by examining and interpreting distribution patterns. Forensic scientists can estimate the location type and intensity of violent actions than the one that is, it has the ssl. So the, the analysis of the bloodstain is, is based on the description of what you see in this case. And that is primarily the shape of the size and the dispersion of the blood stains. That is where they have found their location, who has the Different Services they have found on will again, and their distribution is leave you. How are they arranged in relation to one another lease, or they convergence as can. So who are they distributed in a linear pattern . When these are the fold principal aspects that you know, identifying bloodstain patton, the dont she dean waddell because thisll mm. Theyre aluminum based chemical agents that can detect traces of blood that have been wiped away when applied to surfaces that have had blood on them. The ion in the blood acts as a catalyst for the oxidation reaction. In the dark, the bloodstained glows blue and can be photographically documented. Conventional agents however destroyed the dna. In the stains leap, esperanza has developed a recipe to preserve the bloods dna. His re, agent bluestar, is applie