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all states or situations. In

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a world increasingly reliant

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on data, we rarely

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stop to consider In

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a world increasingly reliant on data,

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we rarely stop to consider

0:38

It all that information actually

0:40

resides. centers, It turns out

0:42

massive data centers, humming

0:44

with energy hungry servers, are

0:46

the hidden backbone of our digital

0:48

lives. There have

0:51

been many headlines about their environmental

0:53

impact and how they can contribute

0:55

to the ongoing climate crisis. to the

0:57

But what if there was a more

0:59

sustainable way, if a greener way, to store

1:01

our data a also reconnected us to

1:03

the natural world? reconnected us to the

1:05

natural is This is Ted a

1:07

podcast from from the Collective.

1:10

I'm your host, Cheryl Dorsey.

1:13

Today, we we have two

1:15

extraordinary individuals who are proposing

1:17

a radical solution to

1:19

the data storage crisis. storage crisis.

1:22

genome scientists Kayolu Fox

1:24

and Cliff Cliff Copano, a professional

1:26

surfer and scientist, are are

1:28

merging cutting -edge technology with

1:30

indigenous knowledge to create

1:32

an alternative route. route. They

1:34

envision a future where data

1:36

centers are no longer

1:38

a burden on our planet,

1:40

but a part of

1:42

the the ecosystem. But before

1:44

we dive in, a quick break

1:46

to hear from our sponsors. a quick break

1:49

to hear from

1:52

our sponsors. And

2:00

now, Kayolu Fox and Cliff Capano

2:02

take the TED stage. So people

2:05

are pretty surprised, and I tell

2:07

them I know the world's first

2:09

native Hawaiian genome scientists, not because

2:12

of all the text he sends

2:14

me about genome editing and DNA

2:16

research, but mostly because they're dominated

2:19

by cat memes. Oh, brother, you

2:21

know there's plenty of surfing in

2:24

there, too. That's true. Those take

2:26

of their own folder. There's

2:29

something you should know about Cliff and

2:32

I. We've known each other forever, and

2:34

we spend way too much time staring

2:36

at our phones, looking at surf videos.

2:38

He's one of those screen-time people, you

2:41

know, face-time only, won't answer the phone

2:43

unless he's giving us face-to-face. And if

2:45

he is texting me, he's asking me

2:47

to send him updates on what the

2:50

waves look like or how the waves

2:52

were. That's true. I love face-time, but

2:54

that's because Cliff here is unique. as

2:58

the only professional surfer to have

3:00

a PhD in analytical chemistry, no

3:02

less, he gets to spend his

3:04

time exploring and surfing some of

3:06

the most incredible waves on the

3:08

planet. And now that we have

3:11

the capacity to share that information

3:13

from anywhere in the world, why

3:15

wouldn't we? Probably because it's using

3:17

up all my monthly data sending

3:19

him images of what the waves

3:21

look like whenever I'm on a

3:24

surf trip. That brings up a

3:26

good point. We do share and

3:28

interact with terabytes of data almost

3:30

every day, some more than others.

3:32

Through text, emails, and now this

3:34

thing, I don't know if you

3:37

guys heard about AI, we're entering

3:39

a new phase of data production,

3:41

consumption, and probably one of the

3:43

most challenging issues of our generation,

3:45

data storage. But we think we

3:47

have a solution, and the answer

3:50

is an indigenous one. We believe

3:52

we can package text, images, and

3:54

even surf videos in the genomes

3:56

of living organisms and access them

3:58

at a later time. Because as

4:00

Kilda likes to remind me, what's

4:03

a genome if not a giant

4:05

hard drive? Our difference is we...

4:07

want to put this information into

4:09

local plants, sequestering atmospheric CO2 and

4:11

also reducing the energy required in

4:13

a rapidly changing climate. You see,

4:16

the climate crisis has a new

4:18

problem. Data centers are rapidly contributing

4:20

to this climate crisis. And data

4:22

forecasters estimate that by next year

4:24

there will be over 50 billion

4:26

IOT devices connected to one other,

4:29

generating over 80. billion terabytes of

4:31

information. And to put things into

4:33

context, that new iPhone in your

4:35

pocket, that can hold a total

4:37

of around one terabyte of information.

4:39

But we're not just storing information

4:42

on our phones anymore. We're uploading

4:44

them onto that cloud wherever it

4:46

is. And heat is a byproduct

4:48

of cloud storage. It's estimated between

4:50

three to seven kilowatt hours of

4:52

energy are needed for every gigabyte

4:55

of information transferred and stored. To

4:57

put that into context, watching about

4:59

two minutes of 4K video is

5:01

the same amount of energy that's

5:03

required to power your phone for

5:05

one year. And if

5:08

we are continually to ask

5:10

to back up this information,

5:12

as we are encouraged to

5:14

do, the heat expenditure could

5:17

increase exponentially moving into the

5:19

future. Now, data centers combat

5:21

these thermodynamic challenges by relying

5:23

on cooling mechanisms, kind of

5:26

like air conditioners. But they

5:28

take up around 40 percent

5:30

of their energy demands. And

5:32

because of this, their energy

5:35

footprint, is greater than the

5:37

airline industries as a whole.

5:39

Imagine how much energy was

5:41

required by the entire US

5:44

alone. Funny you should ask,

5:46

Clifford. The data industry requires

5:48

approximately 200 terawatt hours annually,

5:50

and with the combination of

5:52

smart devices like phones, watches,

5:55

and personal computers, it accounts

5:57

for 2 percent of global

5:59

energy. CO2 emissions. But

6:02

here's the kicker. With the

6:04

introduction of GPUs and large

6:07

language models and deep learning,

6:09

keyed emissions from data centers

6:12

are poised to surpass the

6:14

fossil fuel industry as the

6:17

number one contributor to the

6:19

climate crisis in our lifetimes.

6:22

but there's a better way.

6:25

DNA. After all, life has

6:27

been storing information in the

6:29

organisms, genomes, for billions of

6:31

years. And storing text, images

6:33

and videos is nothing new.

6:35

Working off the research by

6:37

Daniel Gibson, a monumental study

6:39

in 2017 led by Seth

6:41

Shipman and Joe Davis, showed

6:43

the world that we can

6:45

put a video into the

6:47

genome of a bacteria. They

6:49

showed us that every image

6:51

pixel can be represented by

6:53

a unique RGB color code.

6:55

And that color code can

6:57

be ciphered into the genetic

6:59

code, and those sequences can

7:01

be inserted into the noncoding

7:04

portion of an organism's genome

7:06

using genome editing techniques that

7:08

many of you are familiar

7:10

with. And all

7:12

we need to do to

7:14

access this information at a

7:16

later time is to sequence

7:18

the genes that hold that

7:20

information and cipher it back

7:22

into the pixel image. And

7:24

we see the potential of

7:26

this research, and we want

7:28

to expand beyond just single

7:30

cellular organisms like bacteria and

7:32

move into multicellular organisms like

7:34

sugar cane. What once was

7:36

a symbol of colonialism across

7:38

our islands can now be

7:40

viewed as a symbol for

7:42

a more sustainable future. If

7:44

you're not catching the colonial

7:46

reference there, let us remind

7:48

you of some of the

7:50

history. In 1893, a group

7:52

of American sugarcane plantation owners

7:54

illegally overthrew the Hawaiian kingdom

7:56

in part to avoid tax

7:58

import on sugar production, leaving

8:00

behind 113. years of illegal

8:02

occupation and systemic oppression across

8:04

our islands. And for many

8:06

of us, science, sugar has

8:08

left a bitter taste in

8:10

our mouths. But we want

8:12

to reshape this narrative and

8:14

take back agency by putting

8:16

data into the very thing

8:18

that nearly wiped out our

8:20

people. Additionally, we see sugar

8:22

as something that is beyond

8:24

just a way to decolonize

8:26

the data industry, but also

8:28

a way to show something

8:31

practical. Its genome is enormous

8:33

and has multiple genes within

8:35

it. Which theoretically is great

8:37

for data storage, duplication and

8:39

integrity. Imagine storing over 200,000

8:41

terabytes of information in a

8:43

single gram of DNA. And

8:45

you would think with this

8:47

sort of technology, we'd be

8:49

out there planting acres and

8:51

acres of these sugar drives

8:53

like those greedy fuckers of

8:55

the past. But

8:58

we think we have something

9:00

different. We want to do

9:02

it differently. We believe that

9:05

sugar drives are just a

9:07

small part of the solution.

9:10

We're also exploring other indigenous

9:12

varieties of breadfruit, coconut and

9:15

other microbiota. We have an

9:17

ambitious dream of revitalizing indigenous

9:19

land systems that double as

9:22

biological data centers. And

9:24

we hope everyone remembers that indigenate

9:27

is just not about being native

9:29

peoples. It's about understanding the unique

9:31

roles that multiple species have within

9:33

our ecosystem. All of us come

9:35

from unique places with a tremendous

9:37

amount of native species. Collectively, all

9:39

of those species help those systems

9:41

to function better. All of us

9:43

indigenous beings have to reckon with

9:45

the fact that we all must

9:47

return to the earth, and the

9:49

mega land is a place where

9:51

we hope our data can go.

9:54

resting on the banks of our town's largest living

9:57

estuary. This two-acre of land a

9:59

beacon of hope for for

10:01

people around the world. around the

10:03

world. What was destined to

10:05

be another hotel, another or marina

10:08

is now becoming a thriving

10:10

a thriving indigenous land use center. Here

10:12

there exists a tremendous amount

10:14

of information that can be

10:16

digitized and stored locally, just

10:18

like our communities, oral histories,

10:20

hula, and and chants. Biodiversity

10:22

metrics can be taken alongside

10:24

environmental observations by the people

10:27

who depend on this area on

10:29

this put into organisms that

10:31

potentially hold the key to

10:33

environmental resilience. Data

10:35

no longer need taken away from

10:37

these places and stored in

10:39

hot, dark, noisy rooms miles away.

10:42

can it can remain connected to the land.

10:44

the like the stories of the the

10:46

indigenous peoples of today. today. We're

10:50

talking about doing something new

10:52

that we know to be

10:54

very, very old. old. And

10:56

this might This might not

10:58

solve the global data storage

11:00

crisis. but as But as

11:03

we move into a future

11:05

where there's digital species and

11:07

AI AI influencers. that We hope

11:09

that some of the solutions that

11:11

we so desperately seek aren't

11:13

only found in a deep algorithm

11:16

in some supercomputer, but

11:18

they might be in a community that's

11:20

standing in front of you today. in a Thank

11:23

you. front

11:25

of you today.

11:27

But probably the

11:30

biggest you guys

11:32

are for me at least,

11:34

of this whole experiment. Is the

11:36

one biggest hope,

11:38

for me at

11:40

least, of this

11:42

whole experiment. Ha Is

11:44

the one day be able to

11:46

It's to one day

11:49

be able to respond to

11:51

Kielu's annoying text? How are

11:53

the are the waves? We'll

11:55

take a hike at the Megaland, sequence some

11:57

some DNA, see it and see it

12:00

for you. Thank you. That

12:02

was Kayolu Fox

12:04

and Cliff Copano

12:06

at TED 2024.

12:08

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a powerful glimpse into a

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future where data storage not

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only coexist with nature, but

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actually becomes a part of

14:46

it. This vision is not

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as far fetched as it

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might seem. In fact, there

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are already initiatives underway exploring

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centers. Even though companies like

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Google and Metas investments in

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renewable energy and innovative cooling

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tech look a lot different

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than Kaolu and Cliff's suggestions.

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There's a growing movement towards

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edge computing as one solution.

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This involves distributing data storage

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and processing closer to the

15:15

users, reducing the need for

15:17

large centralized data centers. This

15:19

approach not only reduces energy

15:21

consumption, but also improves data

15:23

security and privacy. A

15:26

silver lining to consider too

15:28

is that pivoting to a more

15:30

environmentally conscious approach also has

15:32

the potential to create jobs and

15:34

lead us into a highly

15:36

computational future. This is

15:38

a paradigm shift that can help

15:40

us consider our future and our planet's

15:42

future as one. And that is

15:44

an invaluable kind of idea. And

15:50

that's it for today. TED

15:52

Tech is part of the TED

15:54

Audio Collective. This episode was

15:57

produced by Nina Bird Lawrence, edited

15:59

by Alejandra Salazar. In fact,

16:01

Check by Julia Dickerson. Special thanks

16:03

to Maria Latias, Ferde Grange,

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Daniela Belarazzo, and Roxanne Highlash. I'm

16:10

Cheryl Dorsey, thanks for listening.

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