[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is a thrill to be here at a conference
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.00,0:00:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's devoted to "Inspired by Nature" -- you can imagine.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.00,0:00:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm also thrilled to be in the foreplay section.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.00,0:00:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Did you notice this section is foreplay?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.00,0:00:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because I get to talk about one of my favorite critters,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.00,0:00:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is the Western Grebe. You haven't lived
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.00,0:00:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until you've seen these guys do their courtship dance.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.00,0:00:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was on Bowman Lake in Glacier National Park,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.00,0:00:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is a long, skinny lake with sort of mountains upside down in it,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.00,0:00:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and my partner and I have a rowing shell.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.00,0:00:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so we were rowing, and one of these Western Grebes came along.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.00,0:00:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what they do for their courtship dance is, they go together,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.00,0:00:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the two of them, the two mates, and they begin to run underwater.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.00,0:00:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They paddle faster, and faster, and faster, until they're going so fast
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.00,0:00:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they literally lift up out of the water,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.00,0:01:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're standing upright, sort of paddling the top of the water.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.00,0:01:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one of these Grebes came along while we were rowing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.00,0:01:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so we're in a skull, and we're moving really, really quickly.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.00,0:01:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this Grebe, I think, sort of, mistaked us for a prospect,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.00,0:01:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and started to run along the water next to us,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.00,0:01:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a courtship dance -- for miles.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.00,0:01:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It would stop, and then start, and then stop, and then start.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.00,0:01:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now that is foreplay.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.00,0:01:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.00,0:01:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I came this close to changing species at that moment.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.00,0:01:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Obviously, life can teach us something
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.00,0:01:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the entertainment section. Life has a lot to teach us.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.00,0:01:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what I'd like to talk about today
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.00,0:01:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is what life might teach us in technology and in design.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.00,0:02:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What's happened since the book came out --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.00,0:02:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the book was mainly about research in biomimicry --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.00,0:02:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what's happened since then is architects, designers, engineers --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.00,0:02:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people who make our world -- have started to call and say,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.00,0:02:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we want a biologist to sit at the design table
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.00,0:02:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to help us, in real time, become inspired.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.00,0:02:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or -- and this is the fun part for me -- we want you to take us out
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.00,0:02:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into the natural world. We'll come with a design challenge
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.00,0:02:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we find the champion adapters in the natural world, who might inspire us.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.00,0:02:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this is a picture from a Galapagos trip that we took
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.00,0:02:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with some wastewater treatment engineers; they purify wastewater.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.00,0:02:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And some of them were very resistant, actually, to being there.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.00,0:02:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What they said to us at first was, you know, we already do biomimicry.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.00,0:02:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We use bacteria to clean our water. And we said,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.00,0:02:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,well, that's not exactly being inspired by nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.00,0:02:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's bioprocessing, you know; that's bio-assisted technology:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.00,0:03:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using an organism to do your wastewater treatment
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.00,0:03:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is an old, old technology called "domestication."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.00,0:03:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is learning something, learning an idea, from an organism and then applying it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.00,0:03:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so they still weren't getting it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.00,0:03:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we went for a walk on the beach and I said,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.00,0:03:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,well, give me one of your big problems. Give me a design challenge,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.00,0:03:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sustainability speed bump, that's keeping you from being sustainable.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.00,0:03:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they said scaling, which is the build-up of minerals inside of pipes.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.00,0:03:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they said, you know what happens is, mineral --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.00,0:03:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just like at your house -- mineral builds up.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.00,0:03:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then the aperture closes, and we have to flush the pipes with toxins,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.00,0:03:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or we have to dig them up.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.00,0:03:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So if we had some way to stop this scaling --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.00,0:03:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so I picked up some shells on the beach. And I asked them,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.00,0:03:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what is scaling? What's inside your pipes?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.00,0:03:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they said, calcium carbonate.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.00,0:03:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I said, that's what this is; this is calcium carbonate.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.00,0:04:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they didn't know that.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.00,0:04:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They didn't know that what a seashell is,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.00,0:04:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's templated by proteins, and then ions from the seawater
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.00,0:04:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,crystallize in place to create a shell.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.00,0:04:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the same sort of a process, without the proteins,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.00,0:04:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is happening on the inside of their pipes. They didn't know.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.00,0:04:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is not for lack of information; it's a lack of integration.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.00,0:04:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, it's a silo, people in silos. They didn't know
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.00,0:04:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the same thing was happening. So one of them thought about it
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.00,0:04:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and said, OK, well, if this is just crystallization
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.00,0:04:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that happens automatically out of seawater -- self-assembly --
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.00,0:04:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then why aren't shells infinite in size? What stops the scaling?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.00,0:04:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why don't they just keep on going?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.00,0:04:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I said, well, in the same way
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.00,0:04:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they exude a protein and it starts the crystallization --
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.00,0:04:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then they all sort of leaned in --
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.00,0:05:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they let go of a protein that stops the crystallization.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.00,0:05:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It literally adheres to the growing face of the crystal.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.00,0:05:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, in fact, there is a product called TPA
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.00,0:05:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's mimicked that protein -- that stop-protein --
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.00,0:05:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's an environmentally friendly way to stop scaling in pipes.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.00,0:05:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That changed everything. From then on,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.00,0:05:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you could not get these engineers back in the boat.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.00,0:05:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first day they would take a hike,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.00,0:05:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was, click, click, click, click. Five minutes later they were back in the boat.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.00,0:05:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're done. You know, I've seen that island.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.00,0:05:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After this,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.00,0:05:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they were crawling all over. They would snorkel
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.00,0:05:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for as long as we would let them snorkel.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.00,0:05:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What had happened was that they realized that there were organisms
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.00,0:05:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,out there that had already solved the problems
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.00,0:05:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they had spent their careers trying to solve.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.00,0:05:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Learning about the natural world is one thing;
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.00,0:06:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,learning from the natural world -- that's the switch.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.00,0:06:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the profound switch.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.00,0:06:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What they realized was that the answers to their questions are everywhere;
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.00,0:06:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they just needed to change the lenses with which they saw the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.00,0:06:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,3.8 billion years of field-testing.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.00,0:06:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,10 to 30 -- Craig Venter will probably tell you;
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.00,0:06:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think there's a lot more than 30 million -- well-adapted solutions.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.00,0:06:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The important thing for me is that these are solutions solved in context.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.00,0:06:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the context is the Earth --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.00,0:06:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the same context that we're trying to solve our problems in.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.00,0:06:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's the conscious emulation of life's genius.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.00,0:06:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not slavishly mimicking --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.00,0:06:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although Al is trying to get the hairdo going --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.00,0:06:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's not a slavish mimicry; it's taking the design principles,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.00,0:06:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the genius of the natural world, and learning something from it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.00,0:07:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, in a group with so many IT people, I do have to mention what
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.00,0:07:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not going to talk about, and that is that your field
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.00,0:07:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is one that has learned an enormous amount from living things,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.00,0:07:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the software side. So there's computers that protect themselves,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.00,0:07:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like an immune system, and we're learning from gene regulation
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.00,0:07:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and biological development. And we're learning from neural nets,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.00,0:07:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,genetic algorithms, evolutionary computing.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.00,0:07:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's on the software side. But what's interesting to me
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.00,0:07:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that we haven't looked at this, as much. I mean, these machines
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.00,0:07:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are really not very high tech in my estimation
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.00,0:07:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the sense that there's dozens and dozens of carcinogens
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.00,0:07:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the water in Silicon Valley.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.00,0:07:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the hardware
Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.00,0:07:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is not at all up to snuff in terms of what life would call a success.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.00,0:07:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So what can we learn about making -- not just computers, but everything?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.00,0:08:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The plane you came in, cars, the seats that you're sitting on.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.00,0:08:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How do we redesign the world that we make, the human-made world?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.00,0:08:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More importantly, what should we ask in the next 10 years?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.00,0:08:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there's a lot of cool technologies out there that life has.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.00,0:08:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What's the syllabus?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.00,0:08:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Three questions, for me, are key.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.00,0:08:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How does life make things?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.00,0:08:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the opposite; this is how we make things.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.00,0:08:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's called heat, beat and treat --
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.00,0:08:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's what material scientists call it.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.00,0:08:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's carving things down from the top, with 96 percent waste left over
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.00,0:08:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and only 4 percent product. You heat it up; you beat it with high pressures;
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.00,0:08:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you use chemicals. OK. Heat, beat and treat.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.00,0:08:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Life can't afford to do that. How does life make things?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.00,0:08:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How does life make the most of things?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.00,0:08:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a geranium pollen.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.00,0:08:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And its shape is what gives it the function of being able
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.00,0:09:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to tumble through air so easily. Look at that shape.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.00,0:09:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Life adds information to matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.00,0:09:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In other words: structure.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.00,0:09:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It gives it information. By adding information to matter,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.00,0:09:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it gives it a function that's different than without that structure.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.00,0:09:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And thirdly, how does life make things disappear into systems?
Dialogue: 0,0:09:24.00,0:09:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because life doesn't really deal in things;
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.00,0:09:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there are no things in the natural world divorced
Dialogue: 0,0:09:33.00,0:09:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from their systems.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.00,0:09:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Really quick syllabus.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.00,0:09:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As I'm reading more and more now, and following the story,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.00,0:09:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there are some amazing things coming up in the biological sciences.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.00,0:09:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at the same time, I'm listening to a lot of businesses
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.00,0:09:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and finding what their sort of grand challenges are.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.00,0:09:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The two groups are not talking to each other.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.00,0:10:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At all.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.00,0:10:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What in the world of biology might be helpful at this juncture,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.00,0:10:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to get us through this sort of evolutionary knothole that we're in?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.00,0:10:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm going to try to go through 12, really quickly.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.00,0:10:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One that's exciting to me is self-assembly.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.00,0:10:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, you've heard about this in terms of nanotechnology.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:19.00,0:10:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Back to that shell: the shell is a self-assembling material.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.00,0:10:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the lower left there is a picture of mother of pearl
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.00,0:10:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,forming out of seawater. It's a layered structure that's mineral
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.00,0:10:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then polymer, and it makes it very, very tough.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.00,0:10:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's twice as tough as our high-tech ceramics.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:37.00,0:10:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what's really interesting: unlike our ceramics that are in kilns,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.00,0:10:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it happens in seawater. It happens near, in and near, the organism's body.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.00,0:10:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is Sandia National Labs.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.00,0:10:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A guy named Jeff Brinker
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.00,0:10:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has found a way to have a self-assembling coding process.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.00,0:11:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine being able to make ceramics at room temperature
Dialogue: 0,0:11:01.00,0:11:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by simply dipping something into a liquid,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:05.00,0:11:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lifting it out of the liquid, and having evaporation
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.00,0:11:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,force the molecules in the liquid together,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:12.00,0:11:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they jigsaw together
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.00,0:11:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the same way as this crystallization works.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.00,0:11:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine making all of our hard materials that way.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.00,0:11:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine spraying the precursors to a PV cell, to a solar cell,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.00,0:11:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,onto a roof, and having it self-assemble into a layered structure that harvests light.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:32.00,0:11:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's an interesting one for the IT world:
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.00,0:11:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bio-silicon. This is a diatom, which is made of silicates.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.00,0:11:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so silicon, which we make right now --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:43.00,0:11:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's part of our carcinogenic problem in the manufacture of our chips --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.00,0:11:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is a bio-mineralization process that's now being mimicked.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:53.00,0:11:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is at UC Santa Barbara. Look at these diatoms.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.00,0:12:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is from Ernst Haeckel's work.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.00,0:12:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine being able to -- and, again, it's a templated process,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.00,0:12:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it solidifies out of a liquid process -- imagine being able to have that
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.00,0:12:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sort of structure coming out at room temperature.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.00,0:12:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine being able to make perfect lenses.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.00,0:12:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the left, this is a brittle star; it's covered with lenses
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.00,0:12:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the people at Lucent Technologies have found
Dialogue: 0,0:12:24.00,0:12:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have no distortion whatsoever.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.00,0:12:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's one of the most distortion-free lenses we know of.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:29.00,0:12:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there's many of them, all over its entire body.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:32.00,0:12:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What's interesting, again, is that it self-assembles.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:35.00,0:12:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A woman named Joanna Aizenberg, at Lucent,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.00,0:12:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is now learning to do this in a low-temperature process to create
Dialogue: 0,0:12:43.00,0:12:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these sort of lenses. She's also looking at fiber optics.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.00,0:12:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a sea sponge that has a fiber optic.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:50.00,0:12:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Down at the very base of it, there's fiber optics
Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.00,0:12:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that work better than ours, actually, to move light,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.00,0:13:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you can tie them in a knot; they're incredibly flexible.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:02.00,0:13:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's another big idea: CO2 as a feedstock.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:06.00,0:13:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A guy named Geoff Coates, at Cornell, said to himself,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.00,0:13:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, plants do not see CO2 as the biggest poison of our time.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:13.00,0:13:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see it that way. Plants are busy making long chains
Dialogue: 0,0:13:16.00,0:13:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of starches and glucose, right, out of CO2. He's found a way --
Dialogue: 0,0:13:22.00,0:13:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he's found a catalyst -- and he's found a way to take CO2
Dialogue: 0,0:13:25.00,0:13:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and make it into polycarbonates. Biodegradable plastics
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.00,0:13:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,out of CO2 -- how plant-like.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:31.00,0:13:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Solar transformations: the most exciting one.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:34.00,0:13:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are people who are mimicking the energy-harvesting device
Dialogue: 0,0:13:38.00,0:13:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inside of purple bacterium, the people at ASU. Even more interesting,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:42.00,0:13:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lately, in the last couple of weeks, people have seen
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.00,0:13:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there's an enzyme called hydrogenase that's able to evolve
Dialogue: 0,0:13:50.00,0:13:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hydrogen from proton and electrons, and is able to take hydrogen up --
Dialogue: 0,0:13:54.00,0:13:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,basically what's happening in a fuel cell, in the anode of a fuel cell
Dialogue: 0,0:13:59.00,0:14:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in a reversible fuel cell.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:01.00,0:14:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In our fuel cells, we do it with platinum;
Dialogue: 0,0:14:04.00,0:14:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,life does it with a very, very common iron.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:08.00,0:14:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And a team has now just been able to mimic
Dialogue: 0,0:14:12.00,0:14:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that hydrogen-juggling hydrogenase.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:17.00,0:14:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's very exciting for fuel cells --
Dialogue: 0,0:14:19.00,0:14:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be able to do that without platinum.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:22.00,0:14:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Power of shape: here's a whale. We've seen that the fins of this whale
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.00,0:14:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have tubercles on them. And those little bumps
Dialogue: 0,0:14:30.00,0:14:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually increase efficiency in, for instance,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:35.00,0:14:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the edge of an airplane -- increase efficiency by about 32 percent.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:40.00,0:14:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which is an amazing fossil fuel savings,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:42.00,0:14:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if we were to just put that on the edge of a wing.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:47.00,0:14:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Color without pigments: this peacock is creating color with shape.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:51.00,0:14:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Light comes through, it bounces back off the layers;
Dialogue: 0,0:14:54.00,0:14:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's called thin-film interference. Imagine being able
Dialogue: 0,0:14:57.00,0:15:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to self-assemble products with the last few layers
Dialogue: 0,0:15:00.00,0:15:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,playing with light to create color.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:04.00,0:15:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine being able to create a shape on the outside of a surface,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:09.00,0:15:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that it's self-cleaning with just water. That's what a leaf does.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:14.00,0:15:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See that up-close picture?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:16.00,0:15:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a ball of water, and those are dirt particles.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:19.00,0:15:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's an up-close picture of a lotus leaf.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:22.00,0:15:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a company making a product called Lotusan, which mimics --
Dialogue: 0,0:15:27.00,0:15:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the building facade paint dries, it mimics the bumps
Dialogue: 0,0:15:31.00,0:15:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a self-cleaning leaf, and rainwater cleans the building.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:36.00,0:15:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Water is going to be our big, grand challenge:
Dialogue: 0,0:15:42.00,0:15:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,quenching thirst.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:44.00,0:15:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here are two organisms that pull water.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:47.00,0:15:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The one on the left is the Namibian beetle pulling water out of fog.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:51.00,0:15:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The one on the right is a pill bug -- pulls water out of air,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:54.00,0:15:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,does not drink fresh water.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:57.00,0:16:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pulling water out of Monterey fog and out of the sweaty air in Atlanta,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:04.00,0:16:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before it gets into a building, are key technologies.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:08.00,0:16:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Separation technologies are going to be extremely important.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:12.00,0:16:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if we were to say, no more hard rock mining?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:16.00,0:16:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if we were to separate out metals from waste streams,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:22.00,0:16:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,small amounts of metals in water? That's what microbes do;
Dialogue: 0,0:16:26.00,0:16:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they chelate metals out of water.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:28.00,0:16:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a company here in San Francisco called MR3
Dialogue: 0,0:16:31.00,0:16:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is embedding mimics of the microbes' molecules on filters
Dialogue: 0,0:16:37.00,0:16:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to mine waste streams.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:40.00,0:16:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Green chemistry is chemistry in water.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:44.00,0:16:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We do chemistry in organic solvents.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:46.00,0:16:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a picture of the spinnerets coming out of a spider
Dialogue: 0,0:16:50.00,0:16:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the silk being formed from a spider. Isn't that beautiful?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:53.00,0:17:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Green chemistry is replacing our industrial chemistry with nature's recipe book.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:01.00,0:17:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not easy, because life uses
Dialogue: 0,0:17:06.00,0:17:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only a subset of the elements in the periodic table.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:10.00,0:17:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we use all of them, even the toxic ones.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:14.00,0:17:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To figure out the elegant recipes that would take the small subset
Dialogue: 0,0:17:19.00,0:17:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the periodic table, and create miracle materials like that cell,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:25.00,0:17:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the task of green chemistry.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:27.00,0:17:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Timed degradation: packaging that is good
Dialogue: 0,0:17:31.00,0:17:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until you don't want it to be good anymore, and dissolves on cue.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:35.00,0:17:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a mussel you can find in the waters out here,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:38.00,0:17:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the threads holding it to a rock are timed; at exactly two years,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:42.00,0:17:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they begin to dissolve.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:44.00,0:17:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Healing: this is a good one.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:47.00,0:17:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That little guy over there is a tardigrade.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:50.00,0:17:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a problem with vaccines around the world
Dialogue: 0,0:17:56.00,0:17:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not getting to patients. And the reason is
Dialogue: 0,0:17:59.00,0:18:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the refrigeration somehow gets broken;
Dialogue: 0,0:18:03.00,0:18:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what's called the "cold chain" gets broken.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:05.00,0:18:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A guy named Bruce Rosner looked at the tardigrade --
Dialogue: 0,0:18:08.00,0:18:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which dries out completely, and yet stays alive for months
Dialogue: 0,0:18:14.00,0:18:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and months and months, and is able to regenerate itself.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:17.00,0:18:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he found a way to dry out vaccines --
Dialogue: 0,0:18:20.00,0:18:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,encase them in the same sort of sugar capsules
Dialogue: 0,0:18:24.00,0:18:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the tardigrade has within its cells --
Dialogue: 0,0:18:27.00,0:18:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,meaning that vaccines no longer need to be refrigerated.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:32.00,0:18:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They can be put in a glove compartment, OK.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:36.00,0:18:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Learning from organisms. This is a session about water --
Dialogue: 0,0:18:41.00,0:18:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,learning about organisms that can do without water,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:44.00,0:18:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to create a vaccine that lasts and lasts and lasts without refrigeration.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:51.00,0:18:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not going to get to 12.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:54.00,0:18:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what I am going to do is tell you that the most important thing,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:58.00,0:19:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,besides all of these adaptations, is the fact that these organisms
Dialogue: 0,0:19:03.00,0:19:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have figured out a way to do the amazing things they do
Dialogue: 0,0:19:08.00,0:19:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while taking care of the place
Dialogue: 0,0:19:11.00,0:19:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's going to take care of their offspring.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:16.00,0:19:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When they're involved in foreplay,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:19.00,0:19:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're thinking about something very, very important --
Dialogue: 0,0:19:22.00,0:19:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's having their genetic material
Dialogue: 0,0:19:26.00,0:19:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,remain, 10,000 generations from now.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:31.00,0:19:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that means finding a way to do what they do
Dialogue: 0,0:19:33.00,0:19:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without destroying the place that'll take care of their offspring.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:37.00,0:19:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the biggest design challenge.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:40.00,0:19:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Luckily, there are millions and millions of geniuses
Dialogue: 0,0:19:46.00,0:19:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,willing to gift us with their best ideas.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:49.00,0:19:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Good luck having a conversation with them.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:52.00,0:19:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:53.00,0:20:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:20:07.00,0:20:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Chris Anderson: Talk about foreplay, I -- we need to get to 12, but really quickly.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:11.00,0:20:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Janine Benyus: Oh really?
Dialogue: 0,0:20:12.00,0:20:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CA: Yeah. Just like, you know, like the 10-second version
Dialogue: 0,0:20:15.00,0:20:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of 10, 11 and 12. Because we just -- your slides are so gorgeous,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:18.00,0:20:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the ideas are so big, I can't stand to let you go down
Dialogue: 0,0:20:20.00,0:20:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without seeing 10, 11 and 12.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:22.00,0:20:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,JB: OK, put this -- OK, I'll just hold this thing. OK, great.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:26.00,0:20:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,OK, so that's the healing one.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:29.00,0:20:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sensing and responding: feedback is a huge thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:32.00,0:20:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a locust. There can be 80 million of them in a square kilometer,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:36.00,0:20:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and yet they don't collide with one another.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:39.00,0:20:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet we have 3.6 million car collisions a year.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:44.00,0:20:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:20:46.00,0:20:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Right. There's a person at Newcastle
Dialogue: 0,0:20:50.00,0:20:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who has figured out that it's a very large neuron.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:53.00,0:20:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she's actually figuring out how to make
Dialogue: 0,0:20:56.00,0:20:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a collision-avoidance circuitry
Dialogue: 0,0:20:58.00,0:21:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,based on this very large neuron in the locust.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:02.00,0:21:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a huge and important one, number 11.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:04.00,0:21:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's the growing fertility.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:06.00,0:21:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That means, you know, net fertility farming.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:10.00,0:21:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We should be growing fertility. And, oh yes -- we get food, too.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:14.00,0:21:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because we have to grow the capacity of this planet
Dialogue: 0,0:21:19.00,0:21:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to create more and more opportunities for life.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:22.00,0:21:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And really, that's what other organisms do as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:24.00,0:21:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In ensemble, that's what whole ecosystems do:
Dialogue: 0,0:21:27.00,0:21:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they create more and more opportunities for life.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:30.00,0:21:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our farming has done the opposite.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:33.00,0:21:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, farming based on how a prairie builds soil,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:37.00,0:21:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ranching based on how a native ungulate herd
Dialogue: 0,0:21:41.00,0:21:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually increases the health of the range,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:43.00,0:21:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even wastewater treatment based on how a marsh
Dialogue: 0,0:21:48.00,0:21:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not only cleans the water,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:50.00,0:21:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but creates incredibly sparkling productivity.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:54.00,0:21:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the simple design brief. I mean, it looks simple
Dialogue: 0,0:21:58.00,0:22:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because the system, over 3.8 billion years, has worked this out.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:03.00,0:22:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is, those organisms that have not been able to figure out
Dialogue: 0,0:22:08.00,0:22:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how to enhance or sweeten their places,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:12.00,0:22:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are not around to tell us about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:15.00,0:22:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the twelfth one.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:18.00,0:22:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Life -- and this is the secret trick; this is the magic trick --
Dialogue: 0,0:22:22.00,0:22:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,life creates conditions conducive to life.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:26.00,0:22:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It builds soil; it cleans air; it cleans water;
Dialogue: 0,0:22:30.00,0:22:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it mixes the cocktail of gases that you and I need to live.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:33.00,0:22:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it does that in the middle of having great foreplay
Dialogue: 0,0:22:39.00,0:22:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and meeting their needs. So it's not mutually exclusive.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:45.00,0:22:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have to find a way to meet our needs,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:48.00,0:22:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while making of this place an Eden.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:54.00,0:22:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CA: Janine, thank you so much.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:55.00,0:22:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)