ANNOUNCER: "THE CROWD AND THE CLOUD" IS MADE POSSIBLE BY NSF,
THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, WHERE DISCOVERIES BEGIN.
ABDALATI: THIS IS TODAY'S CITIZEN SCIENCE,
PEOPLE PURSUING THEIR PASSIONS AND AT THE SAME TIME
GENERATING DATA THAT'S USEFUL FOR RESEARCH.
MUMMA: I LOVE SURFING.
I LOVE SCIENCE, AND I GET TO GO SURFING FOR SCIENCE. HA HA HA!
TECHNOLOGY IS A WAY TO REALLY GET PEOPLE OUTSIDE
AND TO LOOK MORE CAREFULLY AT THE NATURAL WORLD.
ABDALATI: THERE ARE NOW MORE MOBILE PHONES ON EARTH
THAN PEOPLE ON OUR PLANET, AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
CAN HELP SOLVE MAJOR CHALLENGES.
EVERY SINGLE DATA POINT HAS A HUMAN STORY.
ABDALATI: NOW COMMUNITIES CAN USE SCIENCE
TO TACKLE LOCAL PROBLEMS.
THOMAS: THE STATE DOESN'T COME OUT AND SAY,
"YOU GOT TO CLEAN THIS UP,"
SO WE STARTED ON THE BUCKET BRIGADE.
ABDALATI: THEY'RE LINKING SENSORS AND CITIZENS
TO FIND SOLUTIONS.
MARTIN: I'M LEARNING ABOUT TOXINS.
I'M LEARNING HOW TO TEACH OTHER PEOPLE TO DO
WHAT I DO SO THEY CAN DO IT FOR THEMSELVES.
SIREK: ASTHMA'S A--A LONELY DISEASE.
THE PROPELLER SENSORS ARE GOING TO REVOLUTIONIZE
ASTHMA TREATMENT.
ABDALATI: COLLABORATING VIA THE CLOUD, THE CROWD CAN SAVE TIME,
SAVE MONEY, AND SAVE LIVES.
WE'RE SURELY SMARTER TOGETHER.
I'M WALEED ABDALATI, HOST OF "THE CROWD & THE CLOUD."
I'VE STUDIED EARTH'S ICE SHEETS FROM SATELLITES AND AIRCRAFT,
AND I WAS NASA CHIEF SCIENTIST AT THE TIME WHEN CURIOSITY
LANDED ON MARS, SO I KNOW BIG DATA AND BIG SCIENCE,
BUT I'M ALSO CONVINCED THAT CITIZEN-GENERATED DATA
HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE.
NO LONGER IS SCIENCE SOMETHING ONLY DONE
BY PROFESSIONALS IN LABS.
NO MORE IS DATA JUST THE PROPERTY
OF CORPORATIONS AND GOVERNMENT.
FOR YEARS, YOU'VE WATCHED SCIENCE ON PUBLIC TELEVISION.
NOW YOU'RE INVITED TO DO SCIENCE.
THE CROWD, THE CLOUD.
[WOMAN SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
[DIFFERENT WOMAN SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
DIFFERENT WOMAN: "THE CROWD & THE CLOUD."
[DIFFERENT WOMAN SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
MAN: "THE CROWD & THE CLOUD."
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: "EVEN BIG DATA STARTS SMALL."
SO WHO'S THE CROWD?
WELL, THAT'S YOU, ME, ALL OF US.
SOME ARE PASSIONATE SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN OUT IN NATURE
AND WORKING TO KEEP IT PRISTINE.
OTHERS ARE VOLUNTEERS ON THE JERSEY SHORE
SURVEYING HORSESHOE CRABS AND COLLECTING IMPORTANT DATA
THAT SHAPES CONSERVATION POLICIES.
WHAT'S THE CLOUD?
THAT'S SHORTHAND FOR OUR CONNECTED WORLD,
ALL THE DATA WE SHARE WHEN WE UPLOAD INFORMATION
AND THE DIGITAL TRACES WE LEAVE BEHIND
WHEN WE USE OUR MOBILE PHONES TO COMMUNICATE, CHECK TRAFFIC,
TAKE PHOTOS, OR PASS THE TIME WITH GAMES.
PUT THE CROWD TOGETHER WITH THE CLOUD,
AND YOU'RE LIVING IN A NEW WORLD
WITH SOME INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITIES.
THIS PROGRAM IS CALLED "EVEN BIG DATA STARTS SMALL."
WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW INDIVIDUALS, REGULAR PEOPLE,
CAN CONTRIBUTE TO SOME PRETTY IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES,
LIKE ALERTING NEIGHBORS TO FLASH FLOODS
OR HELPING PEOPLE FAR AWAY RECOVER FROM DISASTER.
WE CALL THIS CITIZEN SCIENCE, BUT THOSE TWO WORDS COVER
A VERY BROAD RANGE OF ACTIVITIES.
AUDUBON'S CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT STARTED IN 1900.
NOW TENS OF THOUSANDS PARTICIPATE EACH YEAR,
SHARING SPECIES NUMBERS VIA APPS AND THE WEB.
I SAW THIS FIRSTHAND IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES,
AND THAT BIRD-COUNT DATA REVEALS TRENDS IN CLIMATE OVER TIME.
IT'S DATA THAT HAS BEEN AVAILABLE
TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY WHICH HAS BEEN CONSISTENT
FOR--FOR MANY, MANY, MANY YEARS.
ABDALATI: SOME PROJECTS ARE RECENT STARTUPS.
SMARTFIN PUTS SENSORS ON SURFBOARDS TO CAPTURE
TEMPERATURE AND OCEAN ACIDIFICATION DATA
IN TURBULENT, NEAR-SHORE WAVES.
THE DATA WILL MOVE FROM THE FIN TO YOUR PHONE
AND THEN FROM THE PHONE TO OUR SERVERS,
AND THERE YOU HAVE A SURFER JUST HITTING A FEW BUTTONS
HAS DONE LEGITIMATE SCIENCE.
ABDALATI: THEN THERE'S CROWDSOURCING.
WE'LL SEE HOW THE CROWD CAN MAP CITIES AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE
AND MAP BLOOD VESSELS IN LIVING BRAINS,
SEARCHING FOR A CURE FOR ALZHEIMER'S.
THESE KINDS OF PROJECTS SPEED UP RESEARCH
BY PUTTING MORE EYES ON ISSUES,
CUTTING THE TIME TO MAKE DISCOVERIES.
LOOK FOR URLs INDICATING WHERE TO FIND MORE INFORMATION
ON OUR WEBSITE.
IN 1997, A TRAGIC FLOOD HIT HERE IN THE FOOTHILLS
OF THE COLORADO ROCKIES, AND NO ONE SAW IT COMING,
BUT ONE MAN HAD THE IDEA TO ENLIST CITIZEN SCIENTISTS
IN WHAT'S BECOME AN ARMY OF WEATHER WATCHERS
TO HELP REDUCE THE RISKS OF THIS EVER HAPPENING AGAIN.
DOESKEN: WHERE WE'RE SEATED HERE TODAY IS VERY CLOSE TO WHERE
A VERY, VERY, VERY HEAVY LOCALIZED STORM OCCURRED
BACK IN 1997.
UP TO 14 INCHES OF RAIN
IS WHAT WAS ABOUT TO MAKE A MAJOR DISASTER.
ABDALATI: SPRING CREEK, NORMALLY A PLACID STREAM,
BECAME A RAGING, DEADLY TORRENT.
DOESKEN: PEOPLE HERE WEREN'T AWARE
OF THIS HUGE SURGE OF WATER THAT WAS ABOUT TO ARRIVE.
WITHIN A MATTER OF MINUTES, A CULVERT UNPLUGGED.
WATER RUSHED THROUGH UNDERNEATH.
WATER FLOWED OVER THE TOP OF THE RAILROAD,
SWEPT A TRAIN, A FEW CARS OFF.
IT JUST WENT TO OUR DOORSTEP, NO WARNING, NO NOTHING.
I WAS ASLEEP.
I WOKE UP, AND EV--EVERYTHING WAS FLOATING AWAY.
ABDALATI: NEIGHBORS LIVING CLOSE BY WERE ASTONISHED.
ANNE: IT WAS ONLY ABOUT A HALF A MILE AWAY THAT THE 5 PEOPLE
WHO'D PERISHED IN THAT FLOOD, UM, WERE LIVING.
WE GOT VERY LITTLE RAIN.
WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE MUCH INDICATION
THAT THERE WAS LETHAL FLOODING GOING ON
VERY CLOSE TO OUR HOUSE.
ANNE: IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS JUST UNBELIEVABLY STARTLING,
TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE WERE DYING JUST RIGHT DOWN THE HILL
FROM ALL THIS WATER.
ABDALATI: THE 1997 FLOOD AND THE EXTREME VARIABILITY
OF LOCAL WEATHER ALSO SHOCKED PROFESSIONAL METEOROLOGISTS
LIKE NOLAN DOESKEN.
HE'D ASSUMED NOAA's NEWLY DEVELOPED WEATHER RADAR
WOULD PROVIDE SUFFICIENT WARNINGS,
SO HE'D CHOSEN NOT TO SOUND AN ALARM.
THERE WAS THIS GREAT SENSE THAT TECHNOLOGY
WAS GONNA ANSWER ALL OF OUR CHALLENGES
WHEN IT CAME TO FLOOD PREDICTION, FLOOD WARNING.
SEEING THE HELICOPTERS THE NEXT MORNING HOVERING OVER,
THE SOUND THAT ALWAYS TELLS YOU YOU'VE HAD A DISASTER,
AND KNOWING THAT I COULD'VE DONE SOMETHING,
AND THAT HAS STUCK WITH ME.
IT'S STILL DRIZZLING, ACTUALLY.
ABDALATI: WHAT NOLAN AND COLLEAGUES STARTED
IS NOW CALLED CoCoRaHS,
THE COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE RAIN, HAIL, AND SNOW NETWORK.
ANNE: HOW MUCH?
UH, IT LOOKS LIKE ABOUT A HUNDRED.
ABDALATI: TODAY CITIZEN SCIENTISTS
ALL ACROSS NORTH AMERICA MAKE DAILY MEASUREMENTS
OF PRECIPITATION JUST LIKE THE DESHON FAMILY.
BOB: WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR, GEE, 17 YEARS NOW,
AND IT'S BECOME SUCH A REGULAR PART OF OUR ROUTINE,
NO BURDEN OF-- OF HAVING TO DO THIS.
ZEROS MATTER. TRACES MATTER.
ABDALATI: CoCoRaHS INCLUDES MORE THAN 20,000 VOLUNTEERS,
EXTENDING NORTH TO CANADA'S SNOWY MARITIME PROVINCES
AND DOWN SOUTH THROUGH SOMETIMES DRY REGIONS LIKE TEXAS.
FLAKE: I'M ACTUALLY A SEVENTH-GENERATION, UH, RANCHER,
COME FROM A LONG, LONG LINE OF RANCHERS, UH,
BEEN AROUND RANCHES FROM THE TIME I WAS KNEE HIGH
TO A GRASSHOPPER TILL-- TILL NOW.
ABDALATI: CLOSE TO MIDLAND, WEST TEXAS, SKYLER FLAKE
HAS BEEN A CoCoRaHS OBSERVER FOR 6 YEARS.
FLAKE: AFTER WE GET DONE, YOU KNOW, FEEDING HORSES
AND CHECKING ON STUFF, YOU KNOW, AROUND HERE
THAT NEEDS TO BE TENDED TO IN THE MORNING,
WALKED OUT HERE EVERY MORNING AND CHECK THIS RAIN GAUGE
AND SEE IF WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO RECEIVE
ANY, YOU KNOW, PRECIPITATION THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT.
LOT OF ZEROS HERE, BUT WE DID HAVE 3 GOOD DAYS OF RAIN
BACK IN THE--YOU KNOW, THE MIDDLE OF MARCH.
ABDALATI: TO ENSURE UNIFORM MEASUREMENTS,
EACH OBSERVER PAYS $30 FOR A STANDARD RAIN GAUGE.
WITHOUT RAIN, WE'RE OUT OF BUSINESS.
OUR LIVELIHOOD IS DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY HOW MUCH--
HOW MUCH RAIN THE GOOD LORD BLESSES US WITH.
IT'S PRETTY EASY TO HAVE ONE RAINSTORM DUMP AN INCH
ON ONE END OF THIS RANCH AND NOT GET ANYTHING
ON THE--ON THE FAR WEST END OF THIS
JUST BECAUSE OF HOW THE RAINFALL CAME.
IF THERE'S MORE OF THESE CoCoRaHS GAUGES AROUND,
IT'S EASIER TO SEE THE WEATHER PATTERN
INSTEAD OF ONE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATION
THAT JUST COLLECTS THE RAINFALL THAT FALLS AT THAT STATION.
ABDALATI: TOO LITTLE RAIN OR TOO MUCH RAIN,
BOTH ARE PROBLEMS WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT'S COMING.
DOESKEN: WELL, ON THE NIGHT OF JULY 28 OF 1997,
THERE WAS ONLY ONE RAIN GAUGE IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN
AND A COUPLE ON THE EDGE OF TOWN.
NONE OF THEM WERE REPORTING REAL-TIME WEATHER CONDITIONS.
OUR GOAL WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT IF ANOTHER STORM
LIKE THAT HAPPENED THAT WE WOULD HAVE AN IMMEDIATE SENSE
OF WHERE THE RAIN WAS FALLING AND A WAY OF COMMUNICATING
THAT INFORMATION QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY.
THAT IS--THAT IS...
ABDALATI: IN ADDITION TO REGULAR,
DAILY PRECIPITATION REPORTS, CoCoRaHS OBSERVERS
ARE ALSO TRAINED TO MONITOR EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS
WHILE THEY'RE OCCURRING.
DOESKEN: NOT THOUSANDS, BUT...
ABDALATI: IN REAL TIME, THE REPORTS REACH
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SO THAT NOAA CAN ISSUE
TIMELY FLOOD WARNINGS.
ONE OF THE FIRST FORECASTERS TO SEE THE VALUE
OF THIS NEW SOURCE OF DATA WAS CHAD GIMMESTAD.
GIMMESTAD: WE'RE CONSTANTLY EVALUATING, YOU KNOW,
"DO I NEED TO ISSUE A WARNING FOR THIS STORM, OR NOT?"
ABDALATI: RIGHT.
IF WE THINK THE STORM'S GONNA BECOME SEVERE, UM,
WE WANT TO GET A WARNING OUT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
SURE.
ABDALATI: WHILE CoCoRaHS STARTED WITH MEASURING RAINFALL,
THE "H" IN ITS NAME STANDS FOR HAIL.
OBSERVERS MAKE STANDARDIZED HAIL PADS,
STYROFOAM COVERED WITH FOIL, TO RECORD THE NUMBER
AND SIZE OF HAILSTONES, FROM GRAINS OF RICE
UP TO GOLF BALLS AND EVEN BIGGER.
THEY'RE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT LARGE HAIL RIGHT AWAY.
FORECASTERS NOW PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THESE REPORTS
OF SIGNIFICANT WEATHER SINCE LARGE HAIL IS AN INDICATOR
OF TORNADOES AND STRONG STORMS WHICH ALSO SHOW UP ON RADAR.
GIMMESTAD: THE RADAR IS TELLING ME IS,
THERE'S THIS MUCH ENERGY RETURNED FROM THE RADAR,
BUT THAT'S NOT THE SAME AS HAVING THE HUMAN
WITH THE EYEBALLS AND THE RULER BECAUSE THAT HUMAN
KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO KNOW.
THE SAME RADAR PICTURE COULD BE HALF-INCH-DIAMETER HAIL,
OR IT CAN BE 1 1/2-INCH- DIAMETER HAIL, AND NOW--
SO I--I SEE THE ALARM.
YEP. NOW AN ALARM-- NOW AN ALARM GOES OFF,
UM, SO I CLICK ON THIS ALARM,
AND I SEE THE REPORT RIGHT HERE.
IT SAYS, UH, "MORGAN COUNTY, COLORADO, FORT MORGAN."
IT GIVES ME THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE, UM,
TELLS ME ITS LARGEST HAIL IS 1 1/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER.
MY CRITERIA FOR ISSUING A WARNING IS ONE INCH,
SO THAT MEANS I NEED TO HAVE A WARNING OUT,
AND IN JUST A FEW CLICKS OF THE BUTTON,
I CAN, UH, DRAW THIS BOX ON THE MAP
WHERE I WANT THE WARNING TO BE...
AND I'LL QUICKLY CLICK THE HAZARDS,
SO I CAN SAY, LIKE, "60-MILE-AN-HOUR WINDS,"
AND HERE'S THE 1 1/4-INCH-DIAMETER HAIL.
UM, HIT "CREATE TEXT," AND A WINDOW POPS UP
WITH TEXT OF THE WARNING RIGHT HERE,
AND AS SOON AS I PRESS THAT BUTTON,
IT GOES OUT TO THE NEWS MEDIA, TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO.
IF IT'S A FLASH FLOOD WARNING, UM, IT'LL INTERRUPT,
UH, THE PROGRAMMING ON MOST COMMERCIAL RADIO STATIONS
AND, UH, CABLE TV OUTLETS IN THE--IN THE WARNING AREA.
SO, IN EFFECT, ONE PERSON
CAN MAKE AN OBSERVATION,
AND WITHIN JUST A COUPLE MINUTES,
THAT CAN RESULT IN A BANNER ACROSS THE BOTTOM
OF A TELEVISION SCREEN WITH A--WITH A WARNING?
ABSOLUTELY.
THE WHOLE POINT OF THAT IS, THAT PERSON
IS HELPING OUT THEIR NEIGHBORS BY SHARING THAT INFORMATION.
RIGHT, RIGHT.
ABDALATI: CoCoRaHS STARTED WITH RAINFALL
AND A FOCUS ON COLORADO,
BUT THEN OBSERVERS SUGGESTED MORE.
DOESKEN: ONCE WE STARTED WITH RAIN, PEOPLE SAID,
"IF WE CAN MEASURE RAIN, WE CAN MEASURE SNOW,"
AND I KNEW ENOUGH ABOUT SNOW TO SAY, "THAT'S A LOT HARDER."
ABDALATI: IN CANADA'S MARITIME PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK,
OBSERVERS DAN MATTHEWS AND LESLIE GRATTON
HAVE DOCUMENTED SNOWFALL DURING A LONG, HARD WINTER.
MATTHEWS: IT'S CERTAINLY NOT BEEN A TYPICAL WINTER HERE.
CHRISTMAS, IT WAS PLUS-12 DEGREES...
RAINING.
AND RAINING, AND BY NEW YEAR'S DAY,
WE HAD 12 CENTIMETERS OF ICE ON THE POND
AND WERE ABLE TO HAVE OUR POLAR DIP.
THEN THE SNOW STARTED.
WITHOUT LESLIE, I'D HAVE A HARD JOB
KEEPING THE MEASUREMENTS GOING.
SHE'S, UH, GOT LOTS OF STAMINA,
LOVES USING THE SNOW BLOWER.
HA HA HA!
USUALLY WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE SNOW STOPS
BEFORE YOU START DIGGING BECAUSE
HE WHO SHOVELS EARLY SHOVELS TWICE. HA!
MATTHEWS: THE PROCESS IS A 365-DAY-A-YEAR PROGRAM,
AND YOU TRUDGE OUT IN THE MORNING,
AND THEN YOU'RE ALL BUNDLED UP BECAUSE IT'S MINUS-20.
THEN I DO MY SNOW CALCULATIONS,
READ THE READINGS OFF THE SNOW POSTS,
GET THE SNOW DEPTH.
THAT STICK OVER THERE IS 48 INCHES TALL,
AND THERE'S 3 INCHES STICKING OUT OF THE GROUND.
DOESKEN: SNOW IS A MORE COMPLICATED BEAST.
IT--IT VARIES IN ITS WATER CONTENT AND ITS DENSITY.
IT'S BLOWN AROUND BY WIND,
AND WE HAVE HAD VOLUNTEERS DILIGENTLY DIGGING
THROUGH DEEP LAYERS OF OLD, ICY SNOW OR FRESH SNOW
TO IDENTIFY NOT ONLY HOW DEEP IS IT,
BUT HOW MUCH WATER IS IN THAT SNOW.
THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO FEET OF FLUFF
AND TWO FEET OF AGED ICE.
MATTHEWS: I DIG DOWN, AND THE BOTTOM 10 INCHES OF THE SNOW
IS BIG SNOW CRYSTAL, SNOW GRAINS.
WELL, TO THE SCIENTIST, THAT MEANS SOMETHING.
THAT MEANS THAT THE SYSTEM OF THAW IS STARTING TO DEVELOP.
YOU KNOW, ALL THIS INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT,
AND IT'S NOT REPORTED BY A MACHINE.
WHEN YOU GET YOUR SAMPLE IN YOUR TUBE,
YOU TAKE IT IN, AND YOU PUT IT ON THE SCALE,
AND YOU WEIGH IT, AND YOU'RE DONE.
ABDALATI: JUST AS WITH HAIL AND RAIN,
INCREASING THE NUMBER OF DATA POINTS
DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES THE QUALITY OF FORECASTS.
MATTHEWS: UH, IT WON'T MAKE THE WORLD NEWS,
BUT THIS SORT OF THING, UH, ENHANCES THE WEATHER REPORTS.
YOU LOOK AT THE MAP, AND THERE'S THOUSANDS OF DOTS
ALL OVER, AND YOU'RE PART OF IT.
YOU'RE MAKING A CONTRIBUTION.
ABDALATI: ALL OF THOSE DOTS ARE INDIVIDUALS
SUBMITTING DAILY DATA, FILLING IN GAPS THROUGH WHICH
EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS MIGHT OTHERWISE FLOW UNNOTICED
UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE.
ADD TO THOSE CITIZEN SCIENCE OBSERVATIONS
BIG DATA FROM SATELLITES AND SUPERCOMPUTERS,
AND YOU'VE GOT A POWERFUL EARLY-WARNING SYSTEM.
IN 2013, ANOTHER DANGEROUS STORM HIT THE FOOTHILLS.
THIS TIME, EXTREME RAINFALL IMPACTED COMMUNITIES
ALL ALONG THE FRONT RANGE, INCLUDING BOULDER,
WHERE NOAA's FORECAST OFFICES ARE SITUATED.
FLOODWATERS WERE OUT OF CONTROL.
HALF A YEAR'S RAIN FELL IN JUST A COUPLE OF HOURS.
GIMMESTAD: IN THE 2013 FLOOD, WE HAD A LOT OF REPORTS
FROM CoCoRaHS OBSERVERS, UH, HERE AROUND BOULDER,
AND THEN SO WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, RAMP UP
WHAT WE WERE DOING QUICKLY.
DOESKEN: WE HAD CLOSE TO 1,300 VOLUNTEERS
SUBMITTING RAINFALL REPORTS.
WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE A MAP DAY BY DAY
AS THAT STORM WAS PROGRESSING.
WE WORKED WITH THE EMERGENCY MANAGERS
TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND HOW SERIOUS IT WAS.
THAT GOT THEM MOVING FASTER.
USING THE RADAR DATA AND THE CoCoRaHS DATA,
WE WERE ABLE TO HELP THEM PINPOINT,
"HERE'S WHERE IT'S THE WORST,"
AND THEY CAN GO EVACUATE THOSE AREAS FIRST,
AND IN THOSE CASES, SOMETIMES A FEW MINUTES DOES MATTER.
TIME IS REALLY CRITICAL...
YEAH.
AND WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS, YOU'RE GIVING TIME.
THAT IS-- THAT IS...
DOESKEN: ANY OBSERVATION FROM ANY OF OUR OBSERVERS
COULD, IN FACT, BE THE OBSERVATION OF THE BIG STORM,
AND MAYBE THOSE OF US WHO SUFFERED BACK IN 1997
FROM A FLOOD THAT WE WERE ILL-PREPARED FOR, UH,
MAYBE WE REALLY ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE,
AND THAT'S--THAT'S THE BIGGEST SATISFACTION FOR ME.
ABDALATI: UP THERE IS WHERE THE FLOODWATERS REACHED IN 1997.
TODAY SPRING CREEK IS ONCE AGAIN A PLACID, GENTLE STREAM,
AND, THANKS TO A NETWORK OF CITIZEN SCIENTISTS
USING INSTRUMENTS LIKE THESE, THERE'S A BETTER
EARLY-WARNING SYSTEM AGAINST FUTURE FLOODS,
BUT CROWDSOURCING CAN ALSO HELP PEOPLE RESPOND MORE QUICKLY
AFTER A DISASTER, WORKING TOGETHER ONLINE
WITH CRISIS MAPPING.
BUDHATHOKI: I COULD MANAGE TO ESCAPE WITH MY LITTLE SON...
ABDALATI: ON THE MORNING OF APRIL 25, 2015,
A 7.8-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HIT GORKHA, NEPAL,
NOT FAR FROM THE CAPITAL CITY OF KATHMANDU.
ANOTHER FOLLOWED ON MAY 12.
TOGETHER, THEY KILLED MORE THAN 8,600 PEOPLE
AND LEFT OVER 22,000 INJURED.
ABDALATI: WHEN THESE KINDS OF NATURAL DISASTERS HAPPEN,
FIRST RESPONDERS NEED TO KNOW WHERE TO GO
AND HOW TO GET THERE QUICKLY, BUT THAT'S NOT ALWAYS EASY.
ELI: THE GEOGRAPHY OF NEPAL REALLY CREATED
A LOT OF CHALLENGES FOR DISASTER RESPONDERS.
LOTS OF PEOPLE LIVE IN SMALL VILLAGES
THAT ARE ONLY ACCESSIBLE BY FOOT.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE FOOTPATH TO TAKE OR YOU DON'T KNOW
WHAT SIZE VEHICLE YOU CAN TAKE IN THERE, IT'S USELESS.
IN ORDER TO KNOW WHERE TO GET HELP TO PEOPLE IN NEED,
WE NEEDED TO FIRST PUT THOSE PEOPLE ON THE MAP
AND SEE WHERE THEY WERE LIVING, SO SOMETHING LIKE OPENSTREETMAP
WAS REALLY INVALUABLE TO DISASTER RESPONDERS
LIKE THE RED CROSS.
OPENSTREETMAP IS A FREE AND ACCESSIBLE MAP OF THE WORLD.
THINK OF IT LIKE WIKIPEDIA FOR MAPS.
YOU CAN EDIT IT.
I CAN EDIT IT, AND IT BASICALLY REFLECTS THE WORLD AROUND US.
THE MAPS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD IN OPENSTREETMAP
THESE DAYS IS A LIVING, BREATHING DOCUMENT.
KUNCE: SO HUMANITARIAN MAPPING REALLY DATES BACK TO 2004
WITH THE BOXING DAY TSUNAMI IN INDONESIAN OCEAN.
WHEN THAT, UH, EARTHQUAKE AND THEN LATER TSUNAMI HIT,
IT TOOK WEEKS FOR ACTUAL MAPS OF ANY VALUE TO BE MADE.
ABDALATI: BUT THE MAPPING DONE ON SITE BY TRAINED VOLUNTEERS
SHOWED THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS IF ONLINE PARTICIPANTS
COULD ALSO CONTRIBUTE.
FAST-FORWARD TO 2010 AND THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE,
THERE WAS NOW OPENSTREETMAP EXISTED,
AND THERE WAS A BUNCH OF PEOPLE THAT WERE IMPASSIONED
TO DO THEIR LITTLE BIT, AND SO THE EARTHQUAKE HAPPENED,
AND IMMEDIATELY, 600 VOLUNTEERS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD
STARTED MAPPING IN PORT-AU-PRINCE,
AND VERY QUICKLY IN-- IN PORT-AU-PRINCE,
THE MAP FILLED OUT.
IN LITTLE OVER A MONTH OR SO, THERE'S ABOUT A MILLION EDITS.
3 YEARS LATER, THE TYPHOON HAIYAN HIT THE PHILIPPINES.
THE STORM, THOUGH, IT WAS SO BIG AND WE COULD SORT OF
SEE IT COMING THAT HUMANITARIAN MAPPERS
STARTED MAPPING TWO DAYS BEFORE.
OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT TWO MONTHS,
1,800 PEOPLE CONTRIBUTED 4.5 MILLION EDITS,
SO YOU'RE SEEING THIS GROWTH 3 YEARS LATER
OF THE NUMBER OF EDITS.
ABDALATI: LOCAL RESIDENTS AND INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES,
LIKE THE WORLD BANK, KNEW A BIG QUAKE WAS SURELY COMING,
GIVEN THE GEOLOGY OF THE REGION.
KUNCE: FAST-FORWARD AGAIN TO 2015 AND THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE,
AND THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF EFFORT MAPPING IN--IN NEPAL,
UH, FOR MANY YEARS NOW.
ABDALATI: DURING THE FOLLOWING 5 WEEKS OF THE RESPONSE,
1.4 MILLION BUILDINGS WERE TRACED,
WITH VOLUNTEERS DOCUMENTING UP TO 75 BUILDINGS PER HOUR.
WE WERE DOING A MILLION EDITS A DAY.
WE BASICALLY MADE THE AMOUNT OF DATA THAT'S IN THE MAP OF NEPAL
15 TIMES BIGGER.
ABDALATI: I MET UP WITH MIKEL MARON,
ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE HUMANITARIAN
OPENSTREETMAP PROJECT IN WASHINGTON, DC.
THIS WAS JUST A FEW DAYS AFTER ANOTHER SERIOUS QUAKE,
THIS ONE IN ECUADOR.
HOW DOES SOMEBODY WHO'S NOT
ON THE GROUND CONTRIBUTE?
ANYONE ANYWHERE CAN--CAN CONTRIBUTE
AS PART OF THE OPENSTREETMAP COMMUNITY.
THIS IS THE OPENSTREETMAP WEBSITE.
IT'S PRETTY SIMPLE FOR ANYONE TO--
TO GET STARTED AND SIGN UP.
CAN WE GO NOW TO ECUADOR AND SHOW ME
THE MAPPING THAT'S GOING ON THERE?
SURE, SO I'M OPENING
THE HUMANITARIAN OPENSTREETMAP
TEAM TASKING MANAGER, SO LOTS OF PEOPLE AT ONE TIME
CAN GO INTO A PROJECT, CLICK IT,
ONE OF THESE GRID SQUARES, LOCK IT FOR THEMSELVES,
AND YOU CAN HAVE A LOT OF-- YOU KNOW, DOZENS OF PEOPLE
WORKING ON THE SAME AREA AT THE SAME TIME,
AND THEY'RE NOT STEPPING ON EACH OTHER'S TOES.
I'M GONNA SELECT A SQUARE MYSELF.
WHEN YOU'RE READY TO CONTRIBUTE,
YOU CLICK THE EDIT WITH I.D. EDITOR.
THIS BRINGS US BACK TO THE OPENSTREETMAP SITE.
OK.
I'M ZOOMING IN, CAN ADD A BUILDING RIGHT HERE.
I'LL ADD IN A ROAD STARTING FROM THIS POINT,
FOLLOW ALONG THE PATH OF THE ROAD,
AND THE IDEA IS TO WORK THROUGH THE ENTIRE AREA
IN THAT BOUNDARY OF THAT TILE.
YOU DO THAT FOR AN ENTIRE GRID SQUARE,
AND, UH, ONCE YOU'RE DONE, CLICK SAVE,
AND IT'S NOW PART OF OPENSTREETMAP.
SO COULD YOU SHOW US SOMEWHERE ON THE GROUND
IN ECUADOR WHERE THERE'S BEEN A SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE
DUE TO THESE EFFORTS?
JUST PICKED A PLACE CALLED LA PROVIDENCIA.
THIS IS WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE--
MM-HMM. UM, NOTHING AT ALL--
AND, UM, ALL OF THIS HAD BEEN ADDED.
SO IS IT POSSIBLE TO DO THIS WORK
WITHOUT THE HELP OF THE CROWD?
PEOPLE ARE ESSENTIAL, AND THE NETWORK IS ESSENTIAL.
WE NEED PEOPLE TO SPEND TIME AND EFFORT ON THIS.
IT TAKES A HUMAN EYE BOTH TO LOOK AT SATELLITE IMAGERY
AND ACCURATELY UNDERSTAND WHAT'S THERE
AND ESPECIALLY TO APPLY LOCAL KNOWLEDGE.
ABDALATI: TODAY THOUSANDS OF SO-CALLED ARMCHAIR MAPPERS
AROUND THE WORLD LOG ON AND CONTRIBUTE TO OPENSTREETMAP
BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER DISASTERS.
THIS GRAPHIC SHOWS SOME OF THE MILLIONS OF EDITS
MADE ONLINE IN 2013, BUT SOMETIMES MAPPING
HAPPENS ON SITE AND IN PERSON.
IN LATE 2015, BOTH NAMA AND DALE WERE IN WASHINGTON, DC,
FOR A MAPATHON, A MAPPING MARATHON.
KUNCE: WE'VE HAD EVENTS WHERE THERE'S 5 PEOPLE,
AND WE'VE HAD EVENTS WHERE THERE'S 250 PEOPLE.
WE'VE HAD EVENTS WHERE THERE'S 900 PEOPLE, ALL AT A MAPATHON.
ABDALATI: MAPATHONS FOR NEPAL WERE DONE IN SEATTLE, PORTLAND,
DENVER, LOS ANGELES, WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, AND SAN FRANCISCO.
INTERNATIONALLY, THESE CITIES AND MORE PARTICIPATED--BERLIN,
GRENOBLE, LONDON, VALENCIA, CALGARY, PUNJAB, INDIRANAGAR,
AND TROMSO, BUT FOR ALL THE INVALUABLE ONLINE
AND REMOTE WORK, MORE DETAILED DATA MUST BE ADDED.
THAT MEANS MAPPERS OUT ON THE STREETS.
KUNCE: THEN WE ACTUALLY GO OUT, AND WE DO THE MAPPING.
WE GO OUT TO THAT COMMUNITY, AND WE BLANKET THE COMMUNITY
WITH PEOPLE THAT ARE FROM THE COMMUNITY
OR FROM THE LOCAL RED CROSS BRANCH,
AND WE MAP THAT COMMUNITY.
WE CAN MAP A COMMUNITY OF AROUND 50,000 TO 60,000 PEOPLE
IN A WEEK, AND WHEN I SAY MAP, I MEAN THAT MEANS
EVERY BUILDING, EVERY SEWER DRAIN,
EVERY FIRE HYDRANT, EVERY TELEPHONE POLE,
EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT COMMUNITY THAT ALLOWS
THE RED CROSS TO BE ABLE TO DO OUR WORK.
AND WHAT I REALLY LOVE ABOUT MAPPING EFFORTS
AND THE MAPPING STORY IS THAT IT'S PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER,
UM, FROM A REALLY POSITIVE PLACE AND WORKING TOGETHER
TO HELP THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD, OR IT COULD BE
TO HELP SOMEBODY ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE WORLD.
ELI: OPENSTREETMAP REALLY HELPED US.
WE WERE ABLE TO SEE WHETHER THESE VILLAGES EXISTED,
WHETHER THERE WAS DAMAGED HOUSES,
AND WHETHER PEOPLE WERE EVEN STILL THERE.
PEOPLE CHECKED THESE MAPS EVERY DAY AND WERE ABLE TO GET
THE RIGHT AID TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE QUICKLY.
KUNCE: KNOWING THAT THAT MAP THAT SOMEBODY IN THE FIELD
IS GONNA LOOK AT THE MAP FOR ONE SECOND,
WILL MAKE A DECISION, AND MOVE ON,
THAT ONE SECOND MADE THEIR JOB 10 MINUTES EASIER.
THAT, FOR ME, IS AN EXCITING THING.
ABDALATI: WHEN THE EARTH SHAKES, THE CROWD CAN CONTRIBUTE.
WHAT ABOUT WHEN OUR MINDS BEGIN TO FAIL?
ONE IN 3 SENIORS DIES WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
OR ANOTHER KIND OF DEMENTIA.
IN ALZHEIMER'S, WE LOSE THE MEMORIES
THAT MAKE US WHO WE ARE.
WE LOSE THE CAPABILITIES TO LIVE INDEPENDENTLY,
AND AS OF YET, THERE'S NO CERTAIN CAUSE AND NO SURE CURE,
BUT, JUST AS THE CROWD CAN MAP CITIES AROUND THE WORLD,
CROWDSOURCING CAN SPEED UP ESSENTIAL RESEARCH,
THIS TIME, BY MAPPING THE BLOOD VESSELS IN THE BRAIN.
[BRAKES HISSING]
DEIDRE: SO IT'S LIKE WAITING FOR THE KIDS COMING HOME
FROM SCHOOL, YOU KNOW-- HA HA HA!--
LIKE, "HEY, MOM." HA HA HA!
WHEN MY MOTHER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER'S,
WE DIDN'T BELIEVE IT, REALLY.
IT'S LIKE, "HER? NEVER. IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN."
ABDALATI: FOR REASONS STILL NOT FULLY UNDERSTOOD,
ALZHEIMER'S IMPACTS AFRICAN AMERICANS MORE THAN CAUCASIANS
AND WOMEN MORE THAN MEN.
DEIDRE: SHE HAS BEEN IN CONTROL OF A LOT OF THINGS
FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
HER MIND IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING
THAT SHE'S NOT GOING TO LOSE CONTROL OVER.
SHE'S TOO STUBBORN. IT'S JUST NOT GONNA HAPPEN...
"WHERE ARE WE?"
YES. OH, I'M NOT...
DEIDRE: AND THEN ONE DAY, YOU NOTICE
SOMETHING IS REALLY NOT RIGHT.
I THINK IT'S AN EXPRESSION IN THE FACE WHERE--
WHERE THEY ARE OR WHAT IT WAS-- WHAT IT IS THAT THEY DO,
AND THEY--AND THEY--AND THEY KNOW THAT THEY DON'T KNOW.
UH, I WAS A CONSTRUCTION S--UH, UM...
JUDY: PROJECT.
PROJECT TRACK-- PROJECT, UM--
JUDY: THE DIAGNOSIS CAME EARLY OCTOBER 2011.
BY THE END OF OCTOBER, HE FINISHED UP WORK
AND LEFT HIS JOB.
AS YOU CAN SEE LOOKING AT STEVE, THE FACE OF ALZHEIMER'S
IS NOT JUST A 95-YEAR-OLD PERSON DROOLING IN A NURSING HOME.
IT'S THE FACE OF MANY PEOPLE.
WOMAN: HAVE A NICE TIME. WE'RE GOING TO SEE...
THERE YOU GO.
JUDY: IN 2016, THERE ARE 5.2 MILLION PEOPLE
IN THE UNITED STATES LIVING WITH ALZHEIMER'S.
THAT'S PROJECTED TO GO TO 13.6 MILLION BY 2050.
CURRENTLY, IT'S COSTING OUR COUNTRY $236 BILLION A YEAR
TO PROVIDE CARE FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH ALZHEIMER'S,
AND THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE WHAT IT'S COSTING
CAREGIVERS' OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS.
OUR COUNTRY IS GONNA GO BANKRUPT IF WE DO NOT DEAL
WITH THE COST OF ALZHEIMER'S.
IN OUR LAB, WE'RE FOCUSED ON TRYING TO UNDERSTAND
WHY BRAIN BLOOD FLOW IS REDUCED IN PATIENTS
WHO HAVE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, AND, ALTHOUGH PEOPLE
HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS BIG BLOOD FLOW REDUCTION IN THE BRAIN
FOR ABOUT 50 YEARS, THE MECHANISMS
THAT LEAD TO IT HAVE BEEN UNCLEAR.
AND THEN ALSO, WE'RE FINDING THAT
THE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE CAUSES THE CHANGES IN--
IN BLOOD FLOW, SO THAT MEANS THAT, UM, ONCE YOU GET
ANY OF THESE THINGS GOING, IT ACTUALLY FEEDS BACK
INTO ITSELF AND MAKES BOTH THE BLOOD FLOW WORSE
AND THE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.
ABDALATI: CHRIS SCHAFFER AND NOZOMI NISHIMURA RUN
ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST ADVANCED BIOENGINEERING LABS,
USING INNOVATIVE OPTICAL SYSTEMS
TO PROBE DEEPLY INTO LIVING BRAINS AND BODIES.
NISHIMURA: AND SO OUR HOPE, THEN, IS, IF WE CAN
IMPROVE THE BLOOD FLOW, IT'LL ACTUALLY SLOW DOWN
THIS WHOLE PROGRESSION AND PERHAPS HELP, UM--
HELP SLOW DOWN THE WHOLE DISEASE.
SCHAFFER: ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE LOOKS TO BE CAUSED BY A SMALL,
UH, MOLECULE IN THE BRAIN CALLED AMYLOID BETA.
NOW, INDIVIDUAL MOLECULE THAT'S OF AMYLOID BETA
DON'T CAUSE CELL INJURY OR--OR DEATH OR ANY PROBLEMS,
BUT AMYLOID BETA IS A MOLECULE THAT'S VERY SELF-STICKY,
AND IF SEVERAL OF THESE MOLECULES STICK TOGETHER,
THEY FORM THIS BIG, STICKY MASS THAT BINDS
TO ALL KINDS OF THINGS IN THE BRAIN
AND KIND OF MUCKS UP THE WORKS, AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS
LEAD TO LOSS OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION.
WE STUDY THESE, UH, DISEASES IN MICE THAT HAVE BEEN
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED TO GET ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE,
SO THEY DEVELOP THE AMYLOID PLAQUES,
THE NEURAL DEATH, AND THE LOSS OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION
ANALOGOUS TO THAT FOUND IN HUMANS WITH THE DISEASE,
SO IN THESE MICE, WE REMOVE A SECTION OF THEIR SKULL,
REPLACE IT WITH A THIN PIECE OF GLASS,
AND THEN USE, UH, ADVANCED MICROSCOPES THAT WE'VE DEVELOPED
THAT ALLOW US TO IMAGE DOWN DEEP INTO THE BRAIN,
AND THEN IT--IT TURNS OUT, THE IMAGING WE'RE DOING,
WE CAN SEE BLOOD VESSELS.
WE CAN SEE BLOOD CELLS INSIDE BLOOD VESSELS,
AND SO, UH, ACROSS SEVERAL IMAGES IN BLO--
IN VESSELS THAT ARE FLOWING,
WE'LL SEE THOSE BLOOD CELLS MOVE, UH, FROM FRAME TO FRAME,
WHILE IN A VESSEL THAT'S STALLED, THE--
THE BLOOD CELLS BASICALLY STAY IN PLACE.
NOW, WE WORKED HARD TO DEVELOP AUTOMATED
IMAGE-PROCESSING ROUTINES THAT COULD DISTINGUISH
THOSE FLOWING FROM STALLED BLOOD VESSELS BUT WEREN'T SUCCESSFUL.
WE WERE NEVER ABLE TO GET AN ACCURACY
THAT WAS HIGH ENOUGH TO ANSWER THE SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS.
NISHIMURA: SO IT TURNS OUT THAT THE HUMAN VISUAL SYSTEM
AND, I THINK, HUMAN INTUITION IS SOMETHING
THAT WE STILL HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO MIMIC, UM, IN--
IN SORT OF THE BEST COMPUTING ALGORITHMS THAT WE HAVE.
SCHAFFER: HUMANS ARE VERY GOOD AT PATTERN RECOGNITION, AT--
AT PICKING UP, UH, THINGS THAT ARE MOVING
VERSUS THINGS THAT ARE STAYING STILL INSIDE A--A--A--
A CYLINDRICAL BLOOD VESSEL LIKE THIS, UH, AND SO THE--
THE WAY THAT WE'VE HANDLED THIS ANALYSIS
IS BY HAVING LARGE NUMBERS OF UNDERGRADUATES
AND GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOC JUST GO THROUGH
AND MANUALLY SCORE INDIVIDUAL CAPILLARY SEGMENTS
AS FLOWING OR STALLED, AND AT THIS POINT,
WE'VE MANUALLY SCORED OVER 100,000 INDIVIDUAL
CAPILLARY SEGMENTS AS FLOWING OR STALLED.
IT TAKES MORE THAN A WEEK OF WORK TO ANALYZE THE DATA
ASSOCIATED WITH JUST ONE TWO-HOUR IMAGINING SESSION,
SO RIGHT NOW, FOR US TO A--ACQUIRE THE DATA
THAT COULD ANSWER ONE HYPOTHESIS,
IT WOULD TAKE US ABOUT A WEEK.
TO ANALYZE IT WOULD TAKE ALMOST A YEAR,
SO THIS DATA ANALYSIS IS THE PRIMARY BOTTLENECK
IN THE RESEARCH WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW.
ABDALATI: THIS WAS THE FIRST FACE-TO-FACE MEETING
OF THE EYESONALZ INITIATIVE.
PIETRO MICHELUCCI BROUGHT TOGETHER TEAMS FROM TWO
INNOVATIVE AND SUCCESSFUL CROWDSOURCING PROJECTS,
STARDUST@HOME AND EYEWIRE, TO SEE HOW THEIR APPROACHES
MIGHT HELP SPEED UP THE BRAIN RESEARCH.
WESTPHAL: WHEN THE STARDUST SPACECRAFT CAME BACK TO EARTH
IN 2006, IT BROUGHT BACK THE VERY FIRST SAMPLES
OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL MATERIAL EVER BROUGHT BACK
BY A SPACECRAFT FROM BEYOND THE MOON.
ABDALATI: RESEARCHERS FACED A DAUNTING TASK--
FINDING MICROSCOPIC TRACES OF INTERSTELLAR PARTICLES
IN THE AEROGEL DETECTORS OF NASA's STARDUST SPACECRAFT.
THEY TURNED TO THE CROWD FOR HELP.
WESTPHAL: PURELY OUT OF DESPERATION BECAUSE
WE REALLY DIDN'T KNOW HOW ELSE TO DO IT,
WE DECIDED TO RECRUIT THE HELP OF AMATEURS, OF VOLUNTEERS
WHO COULD HELP US TO SEARCH THESE IMAGES THAT WE COLLECTED
WITH AN AUTOMATED MICROSCOPE,
BUT WHEN WE WERE FIRST APPROACHED ABOUT THE IDEA
OF APPLYING THE STARDUST@HOME TECHNIQUE
TO ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH, WE WERE, FRANKLY, A BIT SKEPTICAL.
AS I LEARNED MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT,
UH, I REALIZED THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY THE PERFECT PLATFORM
BECAUSE THE IMAGERY LOOKING AT MOUSE BRAINS TURNS OUT TO BE
PERFECT FOR THE, UH, STARDUST@HOME INFRASTRUCTURE.
I IMMEDIATELY WENT BACK TO CHRIS, AND I SAID,
"YOU KNOW, I'VE GOT SOME GREAT NEWS.
LET'S GET STARTED," AND CHRIS SAID,
"WAIT. HEH. THERE'S ANOTHER PIECE TO THIS PUZZLE."
HE SAID, "ONCE WE UNDERSTAND WHICH BLOOD VESSELS ARE FLOWING
"OR STALLED, WE HAVE TO PLACE THAT IN THE CONTEXT
"BECAUSE TO ANSWER OUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS,
"WE NEED TO KNOW HOW THESE BLOOD VESSELS ARE CONNECTED
"TO EACH OTHER, WHAT THE IMPACT OF A STALL
"IN THIS ONE BLOOD VESSEL IS
ON THE REST OF THE BLOOD VESSELS,"
SO HE SHOWS ME THIS PICTURE OF ALL THESE BLOOD VESSELS
IN THE BRAIN, LIKE, THIS BIG, COMPLEX, SPAGHETTI NETWORK,
AND--AND I LOOKED AT IT, AND I SAID, YOU KNOW,
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. I THINK THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN SOLVED."
ABDALATI: EYEWIRE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR
AND WIDELY PLAYED PUZZLE GAMES
FOCUSED ON REAL SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS,
MAPPING THE BRAIN IN 3D.
STERLING: A BIG CHALLENGE IN NEUROSCIENCE IS ACTUALLY
MAPPING OUT THE STRUCTURE OF THESE CELLS.
IT TAKES US TENS OF HOURS TO MAP JUST ONE NEURON,
AND THERE'S 80 BILLION OF THEM IN JUST ONE BRAIN,
SO WE'VE TURNED THE DATA-ANALYSIS PROCESS
INTO THIS 3D PUZZLE GAME, AND NOW WE HAVE
A QUARTER-MILLION GAMERS, PUZZLE GAMERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD,
150 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, WHO SOLVE THESE 3D PUZZLES,
MAPPING OUT THE STRUCTURE OF NEURON BRANCHES,
WHICH ALLOWS US TO THEN MODEL THEIR FUNCTION,
IDENTIFY NEW CELL TYPES, AND PUTS US IN A BETTER POSITION
TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW THE BRAIN DOES WHAT IT DOES.
THE MOST EXCITING PART IS WHEN CHRIS AND I
SAT DOWN AND WE DID THE NAPKIN MATH,
AND--AND WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW,
JUST HOW MUCH IS THIS GONNA SPEED UP THE RESEARCH,
AND WHEN WE REALIZED THAT A YEAR'S WORTH OF RESEARCH
COULD BE COMPRESSED INTO TWO WEEKS AND JUST THE IMPACT
THAT WAS GONNA HAVE ON THE PROGRESSION OF THE WORK, UH,
YEAH, OBVIOUSLY, WE WERE-- WE WERE--WE WERE THRILLED.
WE WERE VERY EXCITED.
ABDALATI: IN LATE 2016, EYESONALZ RELEASED
IT'S "STALL CATCHERS" GAME BASED ON THE STARDUST INTERFACE.
THE PUBLIC WAS INVITED TO HELP CROWDSOURCE THE ANALYSIS
OF BLOCKED BLOOD VESSELS.
SOME OF THE FIRST PLAYERS WERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA.
THEY WERE RETIREES WHO'D CHOSEN THE WARM CLIMATE
AND A COMMUNITY WITH PLENTY TO DO.
HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE FAMILY, FRIENDS,
SOMEBODY CLOSE TO YOU THAT EITHER HAS
OR DID HAVE ALZHEIMER'S OR YOU HAVE IT?
JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY, HUH?
IF ONLY THE SCIENTISTS WORKED ON IT,
IT MIGHT TAKE AS MUCH AS 30 YEARS,
AND FOR MOST OF US, IT'S NOT GONNA BE A BIG BENEFIT.
THIS IS WHAT THE GAME LOOKS LIKE,
AND YOU CAN GET IT ON YOUR PHONE,
YOUR TABLET, YOUR LAPTOP.
DOES THE GAME CHANGE EVERY DAY?
YES. YES. THEY KEEP GOING.
THEY KEEP PUTTING THEM THROUGH.
THEY TAKE IT ALL...
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
MAN: OH, YEAH. YEP, YEP, YEP, YEP.
HOW MANY THINK THAT IT'S FLOWING?
I KIND OF THINK IT'S FLOWING.
HOW MANY THINK IT'S STALLED?
WOMAN: LET'S FIND ONE.
SHALL WE FIND OUT?
ALL: YES.
WE'LL TRY STALLED, THEN, OK?
CORRECT, AND I GOT 402 POINTS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[LAUGHTER]
THERE WE GO.
WE'RE FINDING IT. WE'RE FINDING IT.
EVERY TIME WE FIND A STALLED ONE
THAT IS REALLY STALLED, WE ARE HELPING BIG TIME.
VERGIELS: ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE--THIS RESEARCH
IS THAT WE CAN HELP MY MOTHER'S GENERATION, BUT I'M 64,
AND, YOU KNOW, WHILE I WANT TO HELP MY MOM,
THIS IS GONNA HELP, I CALL, KIDS MY AGE.
ABDALATI: EYESONALZ WILL KEEP ON REFINING
ITS GAME-PLAY INTERFACE, BUT ITS GREATEST IMPACT
ON ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH WILL COME
FROM THE LIMITLESS POWER OF THE CROWD.
WITH THIS PROJECT, PEOPLE CAN DONATE THEIR TIME,
THEIR EXPERTISE TO HELP US BE ABLE TO, UH, SOLVE
THIS REALLY CHALLENGING IMAGE-PROCESSING PROBLEM.
I THINK IN ORDER FOR IT TO REALLY BE SUCCESSFUL,
IT NEEDS TO BECOME A HOUSEHOLD NAME.
IT NEEDS TO BECOME AS FAMILIAR AS COCA-COLA OR ANGRY BIRDS,
RIGHT, AND--AND, TO ME, SUCCESS WILL BE IF YOU'RE RIDING
THE TRAIN TO WORK OR YOU'RE JUST STANDING AROUND IN LINE,
YOU LOOK OVER, AND SOMEONE IS ON THEIR PHONE PLAYING.
THAT'S WHAT I'LL CONSIDER SUCCESS.
MEMORIES.
DEIRDRE: THE HARDEST PART FOR ME
IS WATCHING HER HAVE TO GIVE IT UP.
YOU NEVER KNOW IF THEY'RE GONNA REMEMBER.
EVADENE: THOSE WERE TAKEN IN NEEDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA.
NO. THAT'S YOU AND DAD.
HUH?
THAT'S YOU AND DADDY.
NO, IT'S NOT. YEAH, IT IS.
NOW, YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE YOURSELF, EVADENE,
AS GORGEOUS AS YOU WERE THAT DAY?
THAT'S YOU, HONEY.
THAT IS YOU AND CALVIN.
JUDY: WE WANT TO SPEND THESE NEXT YEARS SURROUNDED
BY OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
AND LAUGHING AND SINGING AND HIKING
AND MAKING MEMORIES FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN.
ALL: ♪ FROM CALIFORNIA ♪
♪ TO THE NEW YORK ISLAND ♪
♪ FROM THE REDWOOD FOREST... ♪
JUDY: CREATING A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES FOR THEM
WITH THEIR GRAMPS IN THESE SHORT YEARS
IS REALLY IMPORTANT
BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE BEST GRAMPS IN THE WORLD.
MICHELUCCI: WHEN YOU GET TO THE END OF YOUR LIFE
AND YOU LOOK BACK, YOU KNOW, THE THINGS YOU REMEMBER ARE--
ARE THOSE SPECIAL MOMENTS THAT YOU HAVE
WITH THE PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT, AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
STARTS TO TAKE THOSE AWAY FROM US ONE AT A TIME.
UM, IT'S JUST NOT FAIR. I WANT--I WANT TO SEE THAT END.
IT REALLY ISN'T FAIR, BUT PERHAPS CROWDSOURCING
WILL SPEED UP THE DATA ANALYSIS AND THE SEARCH FOR A CURE.
WITH ALZHEIMER'S, THE CHALLENGE IS TACKLING THE VAST AMOUNTS
OF INFORMATION GENERATED BY RESEARCHERS' SOPHISTICATED,
NEW TOOLS, BUT SOMETIMES IT'S THE LACK OF INFORMATION
THAT'S THE PROBLEM.
TODAY INEXPENSIVE SENSORS DEVELOPED BY MAKERS AND HACKERS
ARE HELPING CITIZENS MONITOR THREATS TO THE ENVIRONMENT,
KEEPING CORPORATIONS AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE.
THIS IS HOW ONE SUCH GROUP GOT STARTED.
ON APRIL 20, 2010,
AN EXPLOSION ON BP's DEEPWATER HORIZON
OIL RIG IN THE GULF OF MEXICO
KILLED 11 WORKERS AND INJURED 17 OTHERS.
EUSTIS: A LOT OF THE EASY-TO-GET OIL IN THE GULF
HAS BEEN GOTTEN ALREADY, AND SO COMPANIES
LIKE THE SUPERMAJORS, THE PRESSURES OF PROFIT
PUSH THEM TO GO FURTHER AND FURTHER OFFSHORE
AND DRILL IN MORE AND MORE EXTREME SITUATIONS.
ABDALATI: LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSELL HONORE WAS A HERO
TO MANY AFTER HE BROUGHT ORDER TO NEW ORLEANS
IN THE AFTERMATH OF A NATURAL DISASTER--HURRICANE KATRINA.
MYSELF AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE, WE WERE SURPRISED
THAT THEY WERE DOING WHAT THEY WERE DOING AT SUCH DEPTHS,
BUT LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT SO MANY PEOPLE
WERE TAKING SO MUCH RISK WITH SO LITTLE RESPONSE CAPACITY.
EUSTIS: THAT IS THE STAGE THAT WAS SET
FOR BP's DRILLING DISASTER IN 2010.
ABDALATI: DEEP BENEATH THE SURFACE,
A BLOWOUT PREVENTER FAILED, SPEWING MASSIVE QUANTITIES
OF OIL INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO.
WHEN BP HAPPENED,
IT WAS LIKE WATCHING A BAD MOVIE.
STUPAK: THERE WAS A CULTURE THAT EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS
THAT SEEMED TO IGNORE RISK, TOLERATE NONCOMPLIANCE,
AND ACCEPTED INCOMPETENCE.
ABDALATI: BY THE TIME THE LEAK WAS SEALED,
ALMOST 4 MONTHS LATER, AN ESTIMATED 210 MILLION GALLONS
OF OIL HAD FLOWED INTO THE GULF.
IT WAS THE WORST SPILL IN U.S. HISTORY,
BUT WHILE THE OIL WAS SPREADING, INFORMATION WAS CONTAINED.
THEN THERE WAS ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION
AS IF THEY HAD SOME RIGHT TO PRIVACY
BECAUSE THEY WERE NOW WORRIED ABOUT LIABILITY.
DOSEMAGEN: ONE OF THE-- THE THINGS THAT WE NOTICED
WAS THAT INFORMATION SOURCES,
WHAT TO TRUST AND WHAT TO BELIEVE,
WAS VERY, UH, KIND OF SHADOWY, I GUESS.
ABDALATI: ALTHOUGH BP AND THE COAST GUARD CLAIMED
NO SUCH POLICY EXISTED, MULTIPLE NEWS OUTLETS
WERE INITIALLY TURNED BACK FROM DOCUMENTING THE SPILL.
COBIELLA: THIS VIDEO WAS SHOT BY
THE LOCAL PARISH GOVERNMENT IN SOUTH PASS.
WHEN WE TRIED TO REACH THE BEACH,
SEEN HERE AND COVERED IN OIL,
A BOAT OF BP CONTRACTORS WITH TWO COAST GUARD OFFICERS
ON BOARD TOLD US TO TURN AROUND UNDER THREAT OF ARREST.
WARREN: THEY WERE ACTUALLY CONTROLLING ACCESS TO THE SITE,
STOPPING JOURNALISTS FROM PHOTOGRAPHING AND INVESTIGATING.
THESE ARE PUBLIC BEACHES, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC LAND.
RIGHT AWAY, WE KNEW THERE WAS A DESPERATE NEED FOR,
UH, WATCHDOGS, A DESPERATE NEED TO ELEVATE
THE VOICES OF PEOPLE ON THE GROUND.
ABDALATI: WHILE THE AUTHORITIES SAID THAT EXCLUDING THE PRESS
AND THE PUBLIC WAS A MISTAKE THEY SOON CORRECTED,
SHANNON DOSEMAGEN, A MEMBER OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFIT
CALLED THE LOUISIANA BUCKET BRIGADE, SENT OUT A CALL
TO COLLECT DATA ON THE SPILL.
I STARTED WORKING WITH PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENTS
AT TULANE UNIVERSITY TO DO CRISIS MAPPING
OF THE--THE OIL SPILLS, YOU KNOW, ASKING PEOPLE
TO SUBMIT, UH, IF THEY WERE SMELLING CERTAIN THINGS,
IF THEY WERE SEEING THINGS WHEN THEY WERE OUT ON THEIR BOATS.
BUT A LOT OF THE REPORTS WOULD JUST BE, LIKE, A TEXT,
YOU KNOW, SORT OF, LIKE, A SHORT THING,
AND NOT NECESSARILY EVEN A PHOTOGRAPH, UH, HARD TO PAINT
A REALLY COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE BASED ON THAT.
ABDALATI: JEFF WARREN ALREADY HAD EXPERIENCE USING LOW-COST,
OFF-THE-SHELF CAMERAS FLOWN BENEATH BALLOONS AND KITES
TO DO WHAT HE CALLED GRASSROOTS MAPPING,
CAPTURING HIGH-RESOLUTION, CLOSE-UP IMAGERY.
WHEN HE HEARD ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE GULF,
HE SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP.
WARREN: I WAS LIKE, "HEY, WE HAVE THIS WAY
"OF TAKING AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS.
UM, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE USEFUL?"
DOSEMAGEN: DURING THE OIL SPILL, ONE OF THE RESTRICTIONS
THAT WE WERE WORKING AGAINST WAS THAT THERE WAS
A 3,000-FOOT FLIGHT CAP THAT WAS PUT OVER THE GULF.
ABDALATI: THE TEAM WANTED TO CAPTURE AERIAL IMAGES
TO DOCUMENT THE SPILL, BUT 3,000 FEET WAS TOO HIGH
TO GET QUALITY PHOTOGRAPHS.
THAT'S WHERE JEFF'S BALLOONS AND KITES CAME IN.
AND SO, IN ESSENCE, WE WERE-- WE WERE GOING FROM BELOW
AND KEEPING OUR, YOU KNOW, CAMERAS
AND BALLOONS AND KITES UNDER THAT FLIGHT CAP,
CAPTURING IMAGES OF THE GULF THAT SHOWED
A VERY STRIKING PICTURE OF HOW THE OIL
IS MOVING INTO DIFFERENT AREAS.
ABDALATI: SHANNON, JEFF, AND COLLEAGUES WANTED ANYONE
ANYWHERE TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS KIND OF MONITORING.
THAT MEANT SENSORS HAD TO BE SIMPLE
AND RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE.
POINT-AND-SHOOT CAMERAS ARE SUSPENDED FROM LARGE BALLOONS
WITH A MODIFIED SODA BOTTLE
SERVING AS BOTH HOUSING AND STABILIZER.
SET THE SHUTTER TO TAKE PHOTOS CONTINUOUSLY
AND THEN FLY THE BALLOON AT ABOUT 2,000 FEET
TO RECORD HIGH-QUALITY AERIAL IMAGES.
DOSEMAGEN: IT WAS JUST SO FAST-PACED, I MEAN,
WE WERE WORKING ALL DAY EVERY DAY.
ABDALATI: THEY COLLECTED THOUSANDS OF IMAGES
AND IMPORTED THEM INTO SOFTWARE DESIGNED BY JEFF.
THE PHOTOS CAN BE LOOKED AT INDIVIDUALLY
BUT ALSO STITCHED TOGETHER TO MAKE HIGH-RESOLUTION PICTURES.
THE RESULT IS EXTREMELY LOCAL DATA
SHOWING INDIVIDUAL PLANTS AND BIRDS,
SOMETHING EVEN THE BEST COMMERCIAL SATELLITE IMAGERY
DOESN'T DELIVER.
THERE'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT A BIG,
AERIAL PHOTO IN TERMS OF THE KIND OF EVIDENCE
AND THE SENSE OF AUTHORITATIVE EVIDENCE.
THE BALLOON PHOTOGRAPHY REALLY HELPED PUT THE DAMAGES
TO THE MARSH IN A BROADER PERSPECTIVE.
DOSEMAGEN: PEOPLE WOULD-- WOULD BE ON THE GROUND FOCUSED
ON AN INDIVIDUAL BIRD OR A--A NESTING POPULATION.
TAKING IMAGES FROM ABOVE, UM, SHOWED A--
A MUCH BROADER LANDSCAPE.
WARREN: THEY WERE WIDELY PUBLISHED.
THEY WERE PUBLISHED IN THE "NEW YORK TIMES,"
IN THE "BOSTON GLOBE."
VERY QUICKLY, THE WIKIPEDIA PAGE ABOUT THE BP OIL SPILL
FEATURED PROMINENTLY, UH, ONE--THE PHOTO THAT WE TOOK,
SO PEOPLE GOT TO SEE FIRSTHAND REALLY DRAMATIC,
CONCERNING PHOTOGRAPHS ABOUT WHAT WAS ACTUALLY HAPPENING,
WHICH, REMARKABLY, WERE NOT REALLY BEING PUBLISHED
BY ALMOST ANYONE ELSE.
ABDALATI: 6 YEARS AFTER THE BP SPILL,
I TOOK A RIDE WITH SCOTT EUSTIS OUT TO AN AREA OF THE GULF
WHERE HE IS CONTINUING TO USE PUBLIC LAB TOOLS
TO DOCUMENT WETLANDS RESTORATION.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHY THE NEED FOR WATCHDOGS?
EUSTIS: SOME OF THE WORK THAT I'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO
WITH A KITE THAT WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DO WITH AN AIRPLANE
INVOLVES SOME OF THESE COAL EXPORT TERMINALS.
WITH A KITE, WE WERE ABLE TO STAND ON PUBLIC PROPERTY
AND PUT A KITE IN THE AIR AND TAKE AN OBLIQUE SHOT
OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING UNDERNEATH THEIR DOCK.
THEY'RE SPILLING SO MUCH COAL AND PETROLEUM COKE
INTO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER THAT IT WAS FORMING A PILE,
YOU KNOW, BIGGER THAN THIS BOAT--HA HA!--
MM-HMM.
UH, AND THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE.
THAT IS A VIOLATION OF THE CLEAN WATER ACT
UNDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES,
SO WITH THAT PHOTOGRAPH, WE WERE ABLE
TO COMMUNICATE VERY WELL WITH THE GOVERNMENT AGENCY
AND PUSH THEM TO ACTION, AND OUR HOPE
WITH PUBLIC LAB IS THAT, AS A COMMUNITY,
WE CAN TALK AMONGST EACH OTHER AND DEVELOP
SOME LOW-COST ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING TOOLS
THAT CAN DO THE JOB THAT EVERYONE THINKS
THAT GOVERNMENT DOES AND GOVERNMENT PEOPLE
USUALLY THINK THE INDUSTRY SHOULD DO.
ABDALATI: EACH YEAR, PEOPLE INTERESTED IN PUBLIC LAB
GATHER FOR WHAT'S CALLED A BARNRAISING,
NAMED FOR THE PRACTICE OF NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS
BUILD SOMETHING TOO CHALLENGING FOR ONE FAMILY ALONE.
MEMBERS TEST OUT TOOLS, PRACTICE AERIAL MAPPING,
AND SHARE EXPERIENCES.
WHAT BEGAN WITH GRASSROOTS DATA COLLECTION IN THE GULF HAS GROWN
INTO SOMETHING MUCH LARGER AND LONGER LASTING.
PUBLIC LAB AFFILIATES HAVE DETECTED A SPILL
INTO NEW YORK'S GOWANUS CANAL
THAT WOULD OTHERWISE HAVE BEEN UNKNOWN TO THE EPA.
THEY'VE GROWN TO 13 STATES ACROSS THE U.S.
AND 12 OTHER COUNTRIES.
WARREN: SO WHAT PUBLIC LAB IS TRYING TO DO IS NOT ONLY
MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT POLLUTION
THAT'S AFFECTING YOU, BUT ALSO MAKE IT EASIER,
MAKE IT AN EVERYDAY SORT OF THING.
ABDALATI: PUBLIC LAB IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN NEW TOOLS.
ITS COMMUNITY-FOCUSED APPROACH AND COLLABORATIVE STRUCTURE
FOR MONITORING THE ENVIRONMENT IS A CHALLENGE
TO TRADITIONAL WAYS OF DOING SCIENCE.
DOSEMAGEN: THE STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC LAB IS HELPING
TO DEMOCRATIZE SCIENCE, MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE ABLE
TO UNDERSTAND, UM, ARE ABLE TO INTERPRET
WHAT THE DATA IS SAYING, AND BE ABLE TO USE IT.
ABDALATI: NOW RETIRED FROM THE U.S. MILITARY,
HONORE HAS SET UP WHAT HE CALLS A GREEN ARMY,
SHARING WAYS TO HELP COMMUNITIES FIGHT BACK.
I DO THINK ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
IS A PART OF OUR NATIONAL SECURITY.
THERE'S A PERCEPTION THAT WE CAN LOOK THE OTHER WAY.
WE CAN NO LONGER LOOK THE OTHER WAY BECAUSE
IT'S AFFECTING EVERYBODY, AND CITIZENS HAVE A BIG ROLE.
THE ULTIMATE DEFINITION OF PATRIOTISM
IS SERVICE IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
PATRIOTS TAKE CARE OF THEIR COMMUNITY.
THEY ACT WHERE THEY LIVE.
[GULLS SQUAWKING]
ABDALATI: INCREASINGLY, OUR CONNECTED BRAINS
AND NEW KINDS OF TOOLS ARE DELIVERING DISRUPTIVE CHANGE.
IN "THE CROWD & THE CLOUD," WE'VE SEEN HOW WE CAN TACKLE
DISASTERS BOTH SLOW AND SUDDEN, EXTREME WEATHER,
AND EVEN SPEED UP OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE BRAIN.
SCHAFFER: EVERYBODY WANTS TO CURE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.
HERE'S ANOTHER AVENUE WHERE PEOPLE CAN HELP,
CAN BECOME INVOLVED NOW BY CONTRIBUTING YOUR TIME
AND YOUR EXPERTISE TO HELPING US WITH THE DATA ANALYSIS.
MICHELUCCI: IT USED TO BE IN VILLAGES, IF YOU HAD A PROBLEM
THAT YOU COULDN'T SOLVE, THE VILLAGE WOULD GET TOGETHER.
EVERYONE WOULD PILE ON, AND WE'D SOLVE THE PROBLEM,
SO TODAY THE INTERNET HAS MADE THAT VILLAGE
A PLANETARY VILLAGE.
STERLING: THE POTENTIAL OF CROWDSOURCING IN CITIZEN SCIENCE
IS LIMITLESS, I MEAN, AS CREATIVE AS YOU CAN POSSIBLY BE
WITH SENSORS AND iPHONE CAMERAS AND ALL SORTS
OF DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS,
SOLVING PUZZLES TO FORMULATING NEW APPROACHES TO SCIENCE
TO CREATING ENTIRELY NEW HYPOTHESES
AND EVENTUALLY BEING ABLE TO TEST THEM.
REALLY, THE ONLY LIMIT IS OUR IMAGINATION.
EUSTIS: EVERYBODY HAS A SUPERCOMPUTER IN THEIR POCKET,
AND WE COULD USE IT TO DO FRIVOLOUS THINGS,
OR WE COULD USE IT TO DO REALLY MEANINGFUL AND POWERFUL THINGS.
THE DEVICE STAYS THE SAME.
UH, WHAT MATTERS IS REALLY THE ORGANIZING THAT GOES
INTO BUILDING COMMUNITIES OF CARE, UH,
SO WE CAN TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES,
ADVOCATE FOR OURSELVES,
AND LIVE IN A SAFE AND CLEAN ENVIRONMENT.
BUDHATOKI: A LOT OF PEOPLE IN OPEN MAPPING TALK ABOUT MAP,
YOU KNOW, THE PRODUCT.
THAT IS IMPORTANT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME,
THE PROCESS, PUTTING SOMETHING ON THE MAP,
IS ALSO AS IMPORTANT AS THE MAP ITSELF.
MANY INDIVIDUALS, YOUNG PEOPLE, THEY--THEY REALIZE
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIFE THAT,
"HEY, I DO HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MY COMMUNITY."
I'M FULLY CONVINCED THAT THIS PHENOMENON OF THIS OPEN MAPPING,
OPEN SOURCE OF CITIZEN SCIENCE, THE COLLECTIVE ACTIONS
ON PART OF CITIZENS WILL CONTINUE TO GROW.
THE ABILITY TO ACTUALLY MAKE AN IMPACT,
YOU KNOW, IT'S HUMAN NATURE.
WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING HAPPENING, SUFFERING,
YOU WANT TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION,
AND THIS IS A REAL WAY THAT YOU CAN DO SO.
ELI: IT'S THAT PEOPLE ARE COMING TOGETHER TO HELP ONE ANOTHER
AND TO ALSO, YOU KNOW, TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR OWN DATA.
FLAKE: IT'S SIMPLE TO SAY, I GUESS, BUT NOTHING GETS DONE
IN THIS WORLD UNLESS SOMEBODY DOES IT,
AND SO IF YOU LOOK AT SOMETHING AND SAY,
"WELL, SOMEBODY ELSE'LL DO THAT,"
YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT TO PICK UP THE AX AND GO CHOP THE WOOD
IF YOU WANT A WARM FIRE, OR TYPICALLY, THE BEST PERSON
TO DO IT IS LOOKING IN THE MIRROR RIGHT AT YOU.
THE CITIZEN-SCIENCE PART REALLY APPEALS
TO MY INHERENT NEED TO CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING,
TO BE DOING SOMETHING, SOMETHING THAT COUNTS.
JUST KNOWING YOU'RE A PART OF SOMETHING THAT MAYBE IS GOING
TO HELP PROTECT PEOPLE IN TERMS OF TORNADOES,
IN TERMS OF SEVERE HAIL DAMAGE, WHATEVER,
BUT JUST KNOWING THAT YOU'RE HELPING.
BUT CITIZEN SCIENCE, CROWDSOURCING,
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH--
CALL IT WHAT YOU WILL--CAN ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO PUBLIC HEALTH,
TRACK AIR AND WATER POLLUTION,
AND EVEN HELP PROTECT OUR PLANET.
THAT'S NEXT.
FOR "THE CROWD & THE CLOUD," I'M WALEED ABDALATI.
ANNOUNCER: TO LEARN MORE ABOUT "THE CROWD & THE CLOUD"
AND THE STORIES IN THIS SERIES, PLEASE VISIT CROWDANDCLOUD.ORG.
"THE CROWD AND THE CLOUD" IS MADE POSSIBLE BY NSF,
THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, WHERE DISCOVERIES BEGIN.