1 00:00:01,150 --> 00:00:04,285 So, I love making tools and sharing them with people. 2 00:00:05,118 --> 00:00:06,508 I remember as a child, 3 00:00:06,532 --> 00:00:09,825 my first tool I built was actually a microscope 4 00:00:09,849 --> 00:00:13,521 that I built by stealing lenses from my brother's eyeglasses. 5 00:00:14,289 --> 00:00:16,076 He wasn't that thrilled. 6 00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:18,270 But, you know, maybe because of that moment, 7 00:00:18,294 --> 00:00:19,447 30 years later, 8 00:00:19,471 --> 00:00:21,359 I'm still making microscopes. 9 00:00:22,359 --> 00:00:25,658 And the reason I built these tools is for moments like this. 10 00:00:27,559 --> 00:00:29,979 (Video) Girl: I have black things in my hair -- 11 00:00:30,003 --> 00:00:32,278 Manu Prakash: This is a school in the Bay Area. 12 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:37,304 (Video) MP: The living world far supersedes our imagination 13 00:00:37,328 --> 00:00:39,295 of how things actually work. 14 00:00:39,319 --> 00:00:41,770 (Video) Boy: Oh my God! 15 00:00:43,773 --> 00:00:46,125 MP: Right -- oh my God! 16 00:00:46,621 --> 00:00:49,622 I hadn't realized this would be such a universal phrase. 17 00:00:51,123 --> 00:00:52,923 Over the last two years, 18 00:00:52,947 --> 00:00:54,114 in my lab, 19 00:00:54,138 --> 00:00:56,213 we built 50,000 Foldscopes 20 00:00:56,237 --> 00:00:59,147 and shipped them to 130 countries in the world, 21 00:00:59,171 --> 00:01:01,757 at no cost to the kids we sent them to. 22 00:01:02,238 --> 00:01:03,481 This year alone, 23 00:01:03,505 --> 00:01:05,637 with the support of our community, 24 00:01:05,661 --> 00:01:08,141 we are planning to ship a million microscopes 25 00:01:08,165 --> 00:01:09,527 to kids around the world. 26 00:01:10,034 --> 00:01:11,604 What does that do? 27 00:01:11,628 --> 00:01:15,384 It creates an inspiring community of people around the world, 28 00:01:15,408 --> 00:01:17,080 learning and teaching each other, 29 00:01:17,104 --> 00:01:21,194 from Kenya to Kampala to Kathmandu to Kansas. 30 00:01:21,218 --> 00:01:23,863 And one of the phenomenal things that I love about this 31 00:01:23,887 --> 00:01:25,443 is the sense of community. 32 00:01:25,871 --> 00:01:27,263 There's a kid in Nicaragua 33 00:01:27,287 --> 00:01:31,481 teaching others how to identify mosquito species that carry dengue 34 00:01:31,505 --> 00:01:33,923 by looking at the larva under a microscope. 35 00:01:33,947 --> 00:01:36,495 There's a pharmacologist who came up with a new way 36 00:01:36,519 --> 00:01:38,762 to detect fake drugs anywhere. 37 00:01:39,402 --> 00:01:41,461 There is a girl who wondered: 38 00:01:41,485 --> 00:01:43,183 "How does glitter actually work?" 39 00:01:43,207 --> 00:01:46,926 and discovered the physics of crystalline formation in glitter. 40 00:01:47,713 --> 00:01:49,318 There is an Argentinian doctor 41 00:01:49,342 --> 00:01:53,604 who's trying to do field cervical cancer screening with this tool. 42 00:01:53,628 --> 00:01:57,366 And yours very truly found a species of flea 43 00:01:57,390 --> 00:02:02,166 that was dug inside my heel in my foot one centimeter deep. 44 00:02:03,321 --> 00:02:07,578 Now, you might think of these as anomalies. 45 00:02:07,975 --> 00:02:09,995 But there is a method to this madness. 46 00:02:10,617 --> 00:02:12,847 I call this "frugal science" -- 47 00:02:12,871 --> 00:02:16,723 the idea of sharing the experience of science, 48 00:02:16,747 --> 00:02:18,462 and not just the information. 49 00:02:19,011 --> 00:02:20,226 To remind you: 50 00:02:20,250 --> 00:02:22,334 there are a billion people on this planet 51 00:02:22,358 --> 00:02:24,873 who live with absolutely no infrastructure: 52 00:02:24,897 --> 00:02:26,511 no roads, 53 00:02:26,535 --> 00:02:27,917 no electricity 54 00:02:27,941 --> 00:02:29,727 and thus, no health care. 55 00:02:30,967 --> 00:02:35,203 Also, there a billion kids on this planet that live in poverty. 56 00:02:35,700 --> 00:02:37,368 How are we supposed to inspire them 57 00:02:37,392 --> 00:02:39,714 for the next generation of solution makers? 58 00:02:40,264 --> 00:02:43,012 There are health care workers that we put on the line 59 00:02:43,036 --> 00:02:44,954 to fight infectious diseases, 60 00:02:44,978 --> 00:02:49,435 to protect us with absolutely bare-minimum tools and resources. 61 00:02:50,584 --> 00:02:52,178 So as a lab at Stanford, 62 00:02:52,202 --> 00:02:56,139 I think of this from a context of frugal science 63 00:02:56,163 --> 00:02:58,748 and building solutions for these communities. 64 00:02:58,772 --> 00:03:03,354 Often we think about being able to do diagnosis under a tree, off-grid. 65 00:03:03,816 --> 00:03:06,545 I'll tell you two examples today of new tools. 66 00:03:06,569 --> 00:03:08,374 One of them starts in Uganda. 67 00:03:08,751 --> 00:03:10,280 In 2013, 68 00:03:10,304 --> 00:03:14,350 on a field trip to detect schistosomiasis with Foldscopes, 69 00:03:14,374 --> 00:03:16,932 I made a minor observation. 70 00:03:16,956 --> 00:03:18,533 In a clinic, 71 00:03:18,557 --> 00:03:19,896 in a far, remote area, 72 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:23,508 I saw a centrifuge being used as a doorstop. 73 00:03:24,192 --> 00:03:26,583 I mean -- quite literally, the doorstop. 74 00:03:26,607 --> 00:03:28,333 And I asked them and they said, 75 00:03:28,357 --> 00:03:30,384 "Oh, we don't actually have electricity, 76 00:03:30,408 --> 00:03:33,937 so this piece of junk is good as a doorstop." 77 00:03:34,624 --> 00:03:37,326 Centrifuges, for some of you who don't know, 78 00:03:37,350 --> 00:03:40,574 are the pinnacle tool to be able to do sample processing. 79 00:03:40,598 --> 00:03:43,340 You separate components of blood or body fluids 80 00:03:43,364 --> 00:03:45,824 to be able to detect and identify pathogens. 81 00:03:46,419 --> 00:03:49,253 But centrifuges are bulky, expensive -- 82 00:03:49,277 --> 00:03:51,471 cost around 1,000 dollars -- 83 00:03:51,495 --> 00:03:53,501 and really hard to carry out in the field. 84 00:03:53,525 --> 00:03:54,682 And of course, 85 00:03:54,706 --> 00:03:56,140 they don't work without power. 86 00:03:56,164 --> 00:03:57,556 Sound familiar? 87 00:03:57,580 --> 00:04:00,128 So we started thinking about solving this problem, 88 00:04:00,152 --> 00:04:01,702 and I came back -- 89 00:04:01,726 --> 00:04:03,392 kept thinking about toys. 90 00:04:03,818 --> 00:04:04,982 Now ... 91 00:04:06,030 --> 00:04:07,788 I have a few with me here. 92 00:04:07,812 --> 00:04:09,919 I first started with yo-yos ... 93 00:04:09,943 --> 00:04:12,574 and I'm a terrible yo-yo thrower. 94 00:04:12,923 --> 00:04:14,604 Because these objects spin, 95 00:04:14,628 --> 00:04:15,790 we wondered, 96 00:04:15,814 --> 00:04:18,171 could we actually use the physics of these objects 97 00:04:18,195 --> 00:04:19,904 to be able to build centrifuges? 98 00:04:21,257 --> 00:04:23,747 This was possibly the worst throw I could make. 99 00:04:24,436 --> 00:04:25,929 But you might start realizing, 100 00:04:25,953 --> 00:04:28,792 if you start exploring the safe space of toys -- 101 00:04:28,816 --> 00:04:31,421 we tried these spinning tops, 102 00:04:31,445 --> 00:04:33,327 and then in the lab, 103 00:04:33,351 --> 00:04:35,433 we stumbled upon this wonder. 104 00:04:35,770 --> 00:04:39,256 It's the whirligig, or a buzzer, or a rundle. 105 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:41,697 A couple of strings and a little disk, 106 00:04:41,721 --> 00:04:43,928 and if I push, it spins. 107 00:04:44,350 --> 00:04:46,694 How many of you have played with this as a kid? 108 00:04:46,718 --> 00:04:48,566 This is called a button-on-a-string. 109 00:04:48,590 --> 00:04:50,226 OK, maybe 50 percent of you. 110 00:04:50,250 --> 00:04:51,808 What you didn't realize -- 111 00:04:51,832 --> 00:04:54,145 that this little object 112 00:04:54,169 --> 00:04:58,532 is the oldest toy in the history of mankind ... 113 00:04:59,007 --> 00:05:00,652 5,000 years ago. 114 00:05:00,676 --> 00:05:04,375 We have found relics of this object hidden around on our planet. 115 00:05:05,104 --> 00:05:07,045 Now the irony is, 116 00:05:07,069 --> 00:05:10,804 we actually don't understand how this little thing works. 117 00:05:10,828 --> 00:05:12,231 That's when I get excited. 118 00:05:12,797 --> 00:05:14,878 So we got back to work, 119 00:05:14,902 --> 00:05:16,692 wrote down a couple of equations. 120 00:05:17,056 --> 00:05:20,369 If you take the input torque that you put in, 121 00:05:20,393 --> 00:05:22,497 you take the drag on this disc, 122 00:05:22,521 --> 00:05:24,426 and the twist drag on these strings, 123 00:05:24,450 --> 00:05:26,939 you should be able to mathematically solve this. 124 00:05:26,963 --> 00:05:29,771 This is not the only equation in my talk. 125 00:05:29,795 --> 00:05:31,627 Ten pages of math later, 126 00:05:31,651 --> 00:05:34,510 we could actually write down the complete analytical solution 127 00:05:34,534 --> 00:05:35,808 for this dynamic system. 128 00:05:36,388 --> 00:05:39,999 And out comes what we call "Paperfuge." 129 00:05:40,023 --> 00:05:42,567 That's my postdoc Saad Bhamla, 130 00:05:42,591 --> 00:05:44,258 who's the co-inventor of Paperfuge. 131 00:05:44,282 --> 00:05:46,527 And to the left, you see all the centrifuges 132 00:05:46,551 --> 00:05:47,978 that we're trying to replace. 133 00:05:48,002 --> 00:05:51,709 This little object that you see right here 134 00:05:52,939 --> 00:05:56,184 is a disc, a couple of strings and a handle. 135 00:05:56,208 --> 00:05:57,382 And when I spin 136 00:05:57,940 --> 00:05:59,093 and I push, 137 00:05:59,117 --> 00:06:00,269 it starts to spin. 138 00:06:00,293 --> 00:06:02,378 Now, when you realize, 139 00:06:02,950 --> 00:06:04,345 when you do the math, 140 00:06:05,579 --> 00:06:08,069 when we calculate the rpm for this object, 141 00:06:08,093 --> 00:06:12,825 mathematically, we should be able to go all the way to a million rpm. 142 00:06:12,849 --> 00:06:15,042 Now, there is a little twist in human anatomy, 143 00:06:15,066 --> 00:06:18,141 because the resonant frequency of this object is about 10 hertz, 144 00:06:18,165 --> 00:06:19,969 and if you've ever played the piano, 145 00:06:19,993 --> 00:06:22,087 you can't go higher than two or three hertz. 146 00:06:22,111 --> 00:06:25,375 The maximum speed we've been able to achieve with this object 147 00:06:25,399 --> 00:06:27,328 is not 10,000 rpm, 148 00:06:27,352 --> 00:06:28,956 not 50,000 rpm -- 149 00:06:28,980 --> 00:06:30,905 120,000 rpm. 150 00:06:30,929 --> 00:06:33,733 That's equal to 30,000 g-forces. 151 00:06:33,757 --> 00:06:36,964 If I was to stick you right here and have it spin, 152 00:06:36,988 --> 00:06:40,417 you would think about the types of forces you would experience. 153 00:06:40,441 --> 00:06:42,679 One of the factors of a tool like this 154 00:06:42,703 --> 00:06:45,697 is to be able to do diagnosis with this. 155 00:06:45,721 --> 00:06:50,001 So, I'm going to do a quick demo here, where -- 156 00:06:50,442 --> 00:06:54,037 this is a moment where I'm going to make a little finger prick, 157 00:06:54,061 --> 00:06:56,336 and a tiny drop of blood is going to come out. 158 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,981 If you don't like blood, you don't have to look at it. 159 00:06:59,005 --> 00:07:00,344 Here is a little lancet. 160 00:07:00,368 --> 00:07:02,238 These lancets are available everywhere, 161 00:07:02,262 --> 00:07:03,785 completely passive. 162 00:07:03,809 --> 00:07:07,395 And if I've had breakfast today ... 163 00:07:10,047 --> 00:07:11,534 That didn't hurt at all. 164 00:07:11,558 --> 00:07:15,542 OK, I take a little capillary with a drop of blood -- 165 00:07:15,566 --> 00:07:17,825 now this drop of blood has answers, 166 00:07:17,849 --> 00:07:19,528 that's why I'm interested in it. 167 00:07:19,910 --> 00:07:23,377 It might actually tell me whether I have malaria right now or not. 168 00:07:23,401 --> 00:07:25,233 I take a little capillary, 169 00:07:25,257 --> 00:07:27,382 and you see it starts wicking in. 170 00:07:27,888 --> 00:07:30,156 I'm going to draw a little more blood. 171 00:07:32,782 --> 00:07:35,025 And that's good enough for right now. 172 00:07:35,519 --> 00:07:39,649 Now, I just seal this capillary by putting it in clay. 173 00:07:43,492 --> 00:07:45,772 And now that's sealed the sample. 174 00:07:45,796 --> 00:07:47,925 We're going to take the sample, 175 00:07:47,949 --> 00:07:49,913 mount it on Paperfuge. 176 00:07:57,092 --> 00:08:00,480 A little piece of tape to make a sealed cavity. 177 00:08:00,975 --> 00:08:03,870 So now the sample is completely enclosed. 178 00:08:07,107 --> 00:08:09,400 And we are ready for a spin. 179 00:08:11,019 --> 00:08:13,060 I'm pushing and pulling with this object. 180 00:08:13,084 --> 00:08:14,783 I'm going to load this up ... 181 00:08:16,277 --> 00:08:18,560 And you see the object starts spinning. 182 00:08:18,584 --> 00:08:20,598 Unlike a regular centrifuge, 183 00:08:20,622 --> 00:08:24,401 this is a counter-rotating centrifuge. 184 00:08:24,425 --> 00:08:26,761 It goes back and forth, back and forth ... 185 00:08:27,221 --> 00:08:29,349 And now I'm charging it up, 186 00:08:29,373 --> 00:08:31,201 and you see it builds momentum. 187 00:08:32,185 --> 00:08:34,797 And now -- I don't know if you can hear this -- 188 00:08:34,821 --> 00:08:36,360 30 seconds of this, 189 00:08:36,989 --> 00:08:41,314 and I should be able to separate all the blood cells with the plasma. 190 00:08:41,938 --> 00:08:44,751 And the ratio of those blood cells to plasma -- 191 00:08:44,775 --> 00:08:46,789 (Applause) 192 00:08:48,439 --> 00:08:50,774 Already, if you see right here, 193 00:08:52,206 --> 00:08:53,830 if you focus on this, 194 00:08:53,854 --> 00:08:56,399 you should be able to see a separated volume 195 00:08:57,272 --> 00:08:59,130 of blood and plasma. 196 00:08:59,154 --> 00:09:03,077 And the ratio of that actually tells me whether I might be anemic. 197 00:09:03,101 --> 00:09:07,138 One the of aspects of this is, we build many types of Paperfuges. 198 00:09:07,162 --> 00:09:11,628 This one allows us to identify malaria parasites 199 00:09:11,652 --> 00:09:13,469 by running them for a little longer, 200 00:09:13,493 --> 00:09:17,059 and we can identify malaria parasites that are in the blood 201 00:09:17,083 --> 00:09:20,657 that we can separate out and detect with something like a centrifuge. 202 00:09:20,681 --> 00:09:25,161 Another version of this allows me to separate nucleic acids 203 00:09:25,185 --> 00:09:28,742 to be able to do nucleic acid tests out in the field itself. 204 00:09:29,573 --> 00:09:33,917 Here is another version that allows me to separate bulk samples, 205 00:09:33,941 --> 00:09:35,511 and then, finally, 206 00:09:35,535 --> 00:09:37,535 something new that we've been working on 207 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:42,354 to be able to implement the entire multiplex test on an object like this. 208 00:09:42,378 --> 00:09:46,715 So where you do the sample preparation and the chemistry in the same object. 209 00:09:47,540 --> 00:09:48,826 Now ... 210 00:09:48,850 --> 00:09:50,120 this is all good, 211 00:09:50,144 --> 00:09:52,051 but when you start thinking about this, 212 00:09:52,075 --> 00:09:54,164 you have to share these tools with people. 213 00:09:54,188 --> 00:09:57,570 And one of the things we did is -- we just got back from Madagascar; 214 00:09:57,594 --> 00:10:00,172 this is what clinical trials for malaria look like -- 215 00:10:00,196 --> 00:10:01,199 (Laughter) 216 00:10:01,223 --> 00:10:03,580 You can do this while having coffee. 217 00:10:03,604 --> 00:10:05,477 But most importantly, 218 00:10:05,501 --> 00:10:09,563 this is a village six hours from any road. 219 00:10:10,036 --> 00:10:14,599 We are in a room with one of the senior members of the community 220 00:10:14,623 --> 00:10:16,136 and a health care worker. 221 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,657 It really is this portion of the work that excites me the most -- 222 00:10:19,681 --> 00:10:20,839 that smile, 223 00:10:20,863 --> 00:10:24,737 to be able to share simple but powerful tools with people around the world. 224 00:10:25,479 --> 00:10:27,781 Now, I forgot to tell you this, 225 00:10:27,805 --> 00:10:30,208 that all of that cost me 20 cents to make. 226 00:10:31,510 --> 00:10:34,392 OK, in the negative time I have left, 227 00:10:34,416 --> 00:10:36,482 I'll tell you about the most recent -- 228 00:10:36,506 --> 00:10:37,626 (Laughter) 229 00:10:37,650 --> 00:10:39,520 invention from our lab. 230 00:10:39,544 --> 00:10:40,897 It's called Abuzz -- 231 00:10:41,618 --> 00:10:45,752 the idea that all of you could help us fight mosquitoes; 232 00:10:45,776 --> 00:10:48,043 you could all help us track our enemies. 233 00:10:48,067 --> 00:10:52,055 These are enemies because they cause malaria, Zika, chikungunya, dengue. 234 00:10:52,079 --> 00:10:56,863 But the challenge is that we actually don't know where our enemies are. 235 00:10:56,887 --> 00:10:59,866 The world map for where mosquitoes are is missing. 236 00:11:00,303 --> 00:11:02,046 So we started thinking about this. 237 00:11:02,070 --> 00:11:04,105 There are 3,500 species of mosquitoes, 238 00:11:04,129 --> 00:11:05,532 and they're all very similar. 239 00:11:05,556 --> 00:11:06,995 Some of them are so identical 240 00:11:07,019 --> 00:11:10,407 that even an entomologist cannot identify them under a microscope. 241 00:11:11,096 --> 00:11:12,881 But they have an Achilles' heel. 242 00:11:12,905 --> 00:11:16,105 This is what mosquitoes flirting with each other looks like. 243 00:11:16,129 --> 00:11:18,358 That's a male chasing a female. 244 00:11:18,382 --> 00:11:22,203 They're actually talking to each other with their wingbeat frequencies. 245 00:11:22,227 --> 00:11:23,267 (Buzzing sound) 246 00:11:23,291 --> 00:11:25,648 And thus, they have a signature. 247 00:11:26,652 --> 00:11:30,016 We realized that using a regular phone, 248 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,581 a $5-10 flip phone -- 249 00:11:32,605 --> 00:11:34,707 how many remember what this object is? 250 00:11:34,731 --> 00:11:35,791 (Laughter) 251 00:11:35,815 --> 00:11:39,976 We can record these acoustic signatures from mosquitoes. 252 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:41,936 I'll tell you exactly how to do this. 253 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:43,651 I caught some mosquitoes outside. 254 00:11:43,675 --> 00:11:46,063 Unlike Bill [Gates], I'm not going to release them. 255 00:11:46,087 --> 00:11:47,127 (Laughter) 256 00:11:47,151 --> 00:11:49,726 But I will tell you how to record from this. 257 00:11:49,750 --> 00:11:52,192 All you do is tap them and they fly. 258 00:11:52,216 --> 00:11:53,557 You can first test -- 259 00:11:53,581 --> 00:11:55,333 I can actually hear that. 260 00:11:55,357 --> 00:11:57,811 And you bring your phone, which has microphones -- 261 00:11:57,835 --> 00:12:00,201 it turns out the mics are so damn good already, 262 00:12:00,225 --> 00:12:01,465 even on regular phones, 263 00:12:01,489 --> 00:12:03,922 that you can pick up this near-field signature. 264 00:12:03,946 --> 00:12:06,084 And since I'm out of time, 265 00:12:06,108 --> 00:12:09,800 let me just play the recording that I made a day ago. 266 00:12:09,824 --> 00:12:12,364 (Mosquitoes buzz) 267 00:12:12,388 --> 00:12:15,316 This is all the charming sound that you heard before 268 00:12:15,340 --> 00:12:16,524 that you all love. 269 00:12:18,786 --> 00:12:20,207 One of the contexts of this 270 00:12:20,231 --> 00:12:23,445 is that being able to do this with a regular cell phone 271 00:12:23,469 --> 00:12:26,629 allows us to map mosquito species. 272 00:12:27,657 --> 00:12:29,349 Using a flip phone, 273 00:12:29,373 --> 00:12:32,351 we mapped one of the largest acoustic databases 274 00:12:32,375 --> 00:12:37,603 with 25 to 20 species of mosquitoes that carry human pathogens. 275 00:12:37,627 --> 00:12:39,306 And from this and machine learning, 276 00:12:39,330 --> 00:12:41,114 anybody who uploads this data, 277 00:12:41,138 --> 00:12:43,126 we can identify and tell the probability 278 00:12:43,150 --> 00:12:45,984 of what species of mosquitoes you're actually working with. 279 00:12:46,008 --> 00:12:48,823 We call this Abuzz, and if any of you want to sign up, 280 00:12:48,847 --> 00:12:50,065 just go to the website. 281 00:12:50,523 --> 00:12:52,165 Let me close with something 282 00:12:52,189 --> 00:12:54,490 that's very important and dear to my heart. 283 00:12:55,504 --> 00:12:59,451 One of the challenges of today is we have terrible problems. 284 00:12:59,475 --> 00:13:02,373 We have a billion people with absolutely no health care, 285 00:13:02,397 --> 00:13:04,522 climate change, biodiversity loss, 286 00:13:04,546 --> 00:13:05,731 on and on and on. 287 00:13:06,226 --> 00:13:09,176 And we hope that science is going to provide the answer. 288 00:13:09,590 --> 00:13:11,738 But before you leave this theatre today, 289 00:13:11,762 --> 00:13:13,516 I want you to promise one thing. 290 00:13:13,925 --> 00:13:16,303 We're going to make science accessible -- 291 00:13:17,066 --> 00:13:19,205 not just to the people who can afford it, 292 00:13:19,229 --> 00:13:21,111 but a billion others who can't. 293 00:13:21,761 --> 00:13:25,777 Let's make science and scientific literacy a human right. 294 00:13:27,564 --> 00:13:32,239 The moment that you pass the tingling feeling of making a discovery 295 00:13:32,263 --> 00:13:33,774 to another child, 296 00:13:34,443 --> 00:13:38,235 you're enabling them to be the next group of people 297 00:13:38,259 --> 00:13:40,367 who will actually solve these problems. 298 00:13:40,391 --> 00:13:41,566 Thank you. 299 00:13:41,590 --> 00:13:44,968 (Applause)