Loading summary
Transcript8 lines
- [00:01]
A
This episode is brought to you by Ground News. In a world where the same story gets spun a hundred different ways, how do you know what's actually happening? That's the challenge. Ground News solves Ground News isn't a news publisher. It's an app and website that shows you how every story is being covered across the political spectrum and around the world. Take the recent Supreme Court hearing on social media Age verification. Many sources covered it, but the headlines tell vastly different stories on Ground News. You can swipe through each headline and see context about the source, such as its political bias, how reliable the reporting is, and who owns them. Ground News empowers you to figure out what's really going on. That's the kind of critical thinking TED champions, exploring multiple perspectives before drawing your own conclusions. Right now, ted listeners get 40% off the vantage subscription. For unlimited access, just go to groundnews.com talks that's groundnews.com talks code talks for 40% off. You can only get this limited time offer by using our link. See the full picture visit groundnews.com talks today. This episode is brought to you by Duck AI. AI can be incredibly useful, but sometimes it gives me pause to think that my chats might be saved somewhere forever between work stuff and embarrassing personal questions. A lot of us share more with AI chatbots than we realize, and information shouldn't come at the cost of your Privacy. That's why DuckDuckGo built Duck AI so you can chat privately with the same AIs you might already be using, like ChatGPT or Claude, and protect your data from hackers, scammers and data hungry companies. There's no account required, it's completely free. Plus it's from DuckDuckGo, known for protecting your data, not collecting it, so you can chat freely without worrying about your AI conversations getting stored or exploited. If you want to use AI without giving up your privacy, visit Duck AI Talk today. That's Duck AI Talk, a private way to chat with AI from DuckDuckGo, where AI is always optional and private. This episode is brought to you by Dell. Have you been waiting for the perfect time to upgrade your tech? Good news. The wait is over. Dell Tech Day's annual sales event is here and they're celebrating their best customers with fantastic deals on the latest PCs like the Dell 14 plus with Intel Core Ultra processors. They've also got incredible perks like Dell Rewards, Fast free shipping, Premium Support, Price Match guarantee, and more. And while you're upgrading your PC, you may as well go all out because they're also offering huge deals on their premium suite, suite of monitors and accessories. You know what that means? That's right. You can get a whole new setup with amazing savings. Clearly, this is a sale you don't want to miss. Visit Dell.com deals that's Dell.com deals. You're listening to TED Talks Daily where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. Hi, I'm your host, Elise Hu. For bioengineer Carsten Temi. It all starts with a simple jar of soil and the belief that the future of farming is already alive and well beneath our feet. In his talk, he shares how re engineering microbes could allow us to replace much of the world's synthetic fertilizer. It would open up the huge potential to cut down on costs and environmental harm, all while increasing yields. From large farms in the US And Brazil to the smallholder plots in Kenya and beyond,
- [03:37]
B
This jar contains a few ounces of soil. But what you can't see is that it's teeming with life. The microbes inside are poised to become farmers greatest tool and transform how we feed humanity. I'm Karsten temi, founder of PivotBio, and I have dedicated my career to studying these microbes. They can and will revolutionize agriculture. So from the plow to the grain combine, humans have invented tools to grow more on the same amount of land. Fertilizer is the greatest of these all those nutrients that a plant combines with sunlight to grow. Here's an example. In the 1950s, American farmers produced 2,600 kilos of corn per hectare. Today, there are yield competitions where the winners can generate more than 32,000 kilos on the same amount of land, in a large part because of the fertilizers they can use to fuel that crop. It's just amazing. But for all the good it does, fertilizer is an inelegant solution. Last year, farmers around the globe spent more than $200 billion on nitrogen fertilizers alone. They spray it on their fields and then pray that roots can find it before it's lost. Because if that fertilizer is lost, the crop can end up starved of its nutrients and stunted in its yields. Those losses also translate to unintended consequences. Some becomes nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that's 265 times more potent than CO2. Some seeps into our groundwater, and some runs into our rivers and oceans, creating more than 500 dead zones around the planet. So there's gotta be a better way. And I'm here today to tell you that there is. And it's rooted in biology. You see, 78% of the air around us is nitrogen gas. That's a form that plants can't use. And so they've partnered with microbes on a process called nitrogen fixation. The microbes can breathe in that nitrogen gas and turn it into a form that plants can metabolize. It's a symbiosis, a partnership that's worked for millions of years, right up until the point that humans started breeding crops to be more productive. Those bigger yields needed more nutrients, and fertilizer was invented to fill the gap. Well, microbes, in response, shut down that nitrogen fixing function, putting those genes into hibernation. What if we could wake them back up? What if we could use modern tools like gene editing to bring those microbes back to being specialized helpers for farmers? Then we could have a way for those microbes to live with the plant alongside the roots, sensing the crop's nutrient needs and responding in real time. Well, that's a challenge that I set out to pursue two decades ago. Along with my friend, lab mate and co founder Alvin, we made it our mission to get those genes working again. So here's how that went. We collected soil samples from from farms across the United States. We extracted the microbes, we reprogrammed their DNA, and we cranked that nitrogen fixing function to 11. Then one day in the lab, we saw there was a test tube with a tiny corn seed germinating. Our microbes were living along the roots of that plant, producing nitrogen and sharing it with that tiny plant. That test tube represented a breakthrough. We had shown that we could create microbes that could sense and respond to the plant's nutrient needs in real time. We thought we had just solved agriculture. Well, spoiler alert. Not quite. Across the last 15 years, we have been working to transform this breakthrough into a system that serves farmers on three continents. Today, I believe that across the next decade, we can help farmers reduce half of the fertilizer that they need. So what I wanted to do is take you on a quick little journey to meet three of the farmers that are using these microbes right now. So meet John. He's a corn farmer in Michigan who runs a 1,295 hectare farm. Now, it's a complex operation and he's got a lot of variables to manage, so he doesn't need any more. John's turned to pivot for the last five years to simplify his life. Each year we've sent him a little less than 4kg of freeze dried powdered microbes. And he's coated his seeds with the microbes, planted them as normal. Once in the ground, those microbes have gone to work. They eat sugars from the crop, they fix nitrogen and share it back with the plants. And then when the crop's harvested, those microbes die, ensuring they only do what we intend. Now they're operating at the cutting edge. Alongside satellite mapping and soil monitoring, slow release fertilizers and precision machinery. It means that yields at John's farm have boomed. His dad regularly applied more than 225 kilos of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare and generated about eight and a half thousand kilos of corn. Today, John's able to apply less than 140 kilos of fertilizer and yields have risen to 11,500 kilos on that same land. It's amazing. And what gives me the most pride is that our microbes are helping make his job easier while increasing his bottom line profitability. And John's not alone. Our microbes have been used on as much as 5% of the US corn crop. So if you'll zoom with me about 7,000km south, I'd like to introduce you to Charles. Now, Charles runs a large farm in Brazil. Brazil is an agricultural powerhouse. It's one of the world's top three corn producers. Yet yields average just about 6,000 kilos per hectare. So there's a lot of room for upside improvement. One of the biggest limiting factors is nitrogen fertilizer. Brazil imported more than 80% of its nitrogen fertilizers last year. And that's something it's looking to reverse through microbes, both with us and others. So Pivot's been working with the Ministry of Agriculture to test and adapt our products ahead of commercial sales. And I'd like to give you a little bit of a look into Charles farm, where he's counting on those microbes to supply about 30 kilos of nitrogen alongside the 120 kilos of nitrogen fertilizer he's applying every acre. That's about 25% less than he normally would use. Now the crop's a couple weeks away from harvest. What you'll see is the plants are larger, greener, they're healthier, they've got bigger root systems. All that sets up the crop to be more resilient in the face of an unpredictable climate. It also means that's a bigger factory for producing higher yields at better profitability. This is a boon for Charles operation. It's also an opportunity for Brazil to have strategic independence. Because these microbes can be brewed like beer close to the farm. That means no more reliance on foreign chemicals or global supply chains. We're also working in Kenya and I'd like to introduce you to Margaret. Every morning, Margaret wakes at 4am and as she walks 5km to reach her small plot of land for her fertilizer isn't just an expense, it's a significant investment. $36 for a 50 kilo bag. She applies it by hand and then prays that the rains don't wash it away. Because all it takes is one rainstorm and that investment is washed away. And with it, her family's security is upended. So this is where the limits of fertilizer are most apparent, where there's no margin for safety. So what Pivot's done is we've teamed up with MIT and local partners to adapt our product and supply chain to work for smallholders like Margaret. We've shrunk our packaging, we've built a just in time network where farmers can text the day they're ready to plant and we can motorbike them the freshest microbes possible. The results are astounding. Not only are the crops more resilient to those rainstorms, yields have improved 60%. You know, the biggest complaint we've received is farmers say, you haven't told me what the product is or where I can buy it. So I started with this jar of soil. The microbes inside have already transformed how fertilizer works across millions of hectares, making it smart, dynamic living. Since 2022, farmers have been able to prevent more than 1.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases. What's needed next is to be able to scale this system across hundreds of millions of hectares. And here's what that's going to require. It's going to require creating a global network for microbial manufacturing. But it's different than building fertilizer factories that cost billions of dollars. Biomanufacturing can scale at 1/200 the cost. It also gives us an opportunity to rethink supply chains to make them local and flexible. So in Michigan, that might mean FedEx is the best way to deliver those microbes. And a motorbike in Kenya might be the best last mile solution. And what excites me the most is that we can spread a web of agronomic knowledge to connect farmers like Margaret, Charles and John together, helping them share knowledge with each other on the best way to put these microbes to work, to not just increase yields, but to improve efficiency and profitability. You see, when we build infrastructure on top of these microbes, we're not just deploying a new type of product, we're building a better way of farming, one that works with nature and not against it. Helping farmers grow more with less soil is our oldest agricultural technology, and it's the next frontier. With the microbes in here, we can empower farmers to grow the future from the ground up. Thank you.
- [13:31]
A
That was Karsten Temi at the TED Countdown Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in 2025. If you're curious about Ted's curation, find out more@ted.com curationguidelines and that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This talk was fact checked by the TED Research team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Fried, Brian Greene, Lucy Little and Tansika Songmar Nivong. This episode was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Ballaraizo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.
- [14:17]
C
You have the vision for your business. You have the plan, and you just got handed a huge opportunity. But is your business connectivity reliable enough to make a move? Spectrum Business delivers fast, reliable Internet, phone, TV and mobile services, so you're always connected when it matters most. Get connectivity packages built for your business with savings that keep your budget in check. And with fast, reliable Internet and 100% US based customer support, you'll stay connected and ready to bring your vision to life. Learn more@spectrum.com business restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas hi,
- [14:54]
D
this is Hannah Berner, co host of Giggly Squad. Let's be honest, we've all done things in our lives that may have just followed the crowd. Like drinking Matcha. Even if you think it tastes like grass or pretending skinny jeans were actually comfortable. Have we been doing the same thing with Zero Sugar Cola? Last year, people across America took the Pepsi Challenge. No labels, no bias. Judged on taste alone, 66% of participants agreed. Pepsi Zero Sugar tastes better than Coke Zero Sug and Pepsi Zero Sugar won in every single market. Go out and try Pepsi Zero Sugar today. You deserve taste. You deserve Pepsi.
- [15:29]
C
My perfect day has sand, salt, water and friends. But my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis can take me out of the moment. Now I'm all in with clearer skin thanks to skyrizi risen Kizumab RZA a prescription only 150mg injection for adults who are candidates for systemic or phototherapy with Skyrizi. Most people saw 90% clearer skin and many were even 100% 100% plaque free at four months, Skyrizi is just four doses a year after two starter doses.
- [15:57]
A
Don't use if allergic to Skyrizi. Serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines.
- [16:09]
C
Thanks to Skyrizi, there's nothing on my skin and that means everything. Ask your doctor about Skyrizi, the number one dermatologist prescribed biologic in psoriasis. Visit skyrizi.com or call 1-866-Skyrizi to learn more.