ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sonaar Luthra -
Sonaar Luthra is the creator of Water Canary, a water-testing device that collects real-time water-quality data from the field.

Why you should listen

Sonaar Luthra was a writer and educator when he enrolled in NYU's famed  Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) -- a breeding ground for cross-disciplinary thinking. He tells the TED Blog what happened next:

"I wanted to come up with some way of becoming what I was calling an 'urban planner for the global village.' And ... I fell in love with circuitry and with making tangible objects that had real functionality. Next thing I knew, I found myself in a class called Design for UNICEF, taught by Clay Shirky in association with UNICEF’s Innovations Lab.

"I wanted to see what was possible with water, and I was lucky to have an incredible team and the support of faculty that were willing to take on such a huge challenge. We started off as novices but we all became water experts in the process."

Read the TED Blog's full Q&A with Sonaar Luthra, "Waterwise" >>

More profile about the speaker
Sonaar Luthra | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Sonaar Luthra: Meet the Water Canary

Sonaar Luthra: 認識水質偵測器"水金絲雀"

Filmed:
440,253 views

一個危機後,我們怎能知道食水可以安全飲用呢?目前的測試速度不僅很慢過程又很複雜,判定上的時間耽誤可能是致命的。在2010年海地的地震後霍亂疫情。 TED研究員 Sonaar Luthra 預覽他設計的一個簡單工具,可以快速測試水的安全度 -- 水金絲雀。
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Sonaar Luthra is the creator of Water Canary, a water-testing device that collects real-time water-quality data from the field. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
Cholera霍亂 was reported報導 in Haiti海地
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去年十月, 在海地
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for the first time in over 50 years年份
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50多年來首次報導
00:19
last October十月.
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有霍亂。
00:21
There was no way to predict預測
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沒有辦法預測由供水系統中
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how far it would spread傳播 through通過 water supplies耗材
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它會傳播多遠,
00:26
and how bad the situation情況 would get.
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和情況會的嚴重程度。
00:29
And not knowing會心 where help was needed需要
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往往令在最需要支援的地區
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always ensured確保 that help was in short supply供應
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最缺乏支援及協助
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in the areas that needed需要 it most.
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原因在於無法即時得知最需要協助的地區
00:37
We've我們已經 gotten得到 good at predicting預測 and preparing準備 for storms風暴
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儘管我們已經得到了很好的預測風暴和準備,
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before they take innocent無辜 lives生活
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及時阻止無辜生命的犧牲,
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and cause原因 irreversible不可逆轉 damage損傷,
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以及防止無法彌補的損壞
00:44
but we still can't do that with water,
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但我們仍然不能預測水質的監測上
00:46
and here's這裡的 why.
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原因如下。
00:48
Right now, if you want to test測試 water in the field領域,
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現在,如果你想在現場測試水,
00:50
you need a trained熟練 technician技術員,
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你需要一個訓練有素的技術員,
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expensive昂貴 equipment設備 like this,
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這樣昂貴的設備,
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and you have to wait about a day
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你必須等待大約一天
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for chemical化學 reactions反應 to take place地點 and provide提供 results結果.
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才得到化學反應並提供結果。
00:59
It's too slow
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要偵測到
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to get a picture圖片 of conditions條件 on the ground地面
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地面水質被改變之前的狀態
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before they change更改,
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實在是太慢了
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too expensive昂貴 to implement實行
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而且要跑完全部的測試
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in all the places地方 that require要求 testing測試.
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成本實在是過於昂貴。
01:09
And it ignores忽略 the fact事實 that, in the meanwhile與此同時,
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它忽略了一個事實是
01:11
people still need to drink water.
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在測試的同時人們仍然需要喝水。
01:13
Most of the information信息 that we collected on the cholera霍亂 outbreak暴發
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我們的大多數收集霍亂疫情的信息,
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didn't come from testing測試 water;
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不是來自測試水;
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it came來了 from forms形式 like this,
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而是來自這樣的形式,
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which哪一個 documented記錄 all the people
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記錄了所有
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we failed失敗 to help.
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我們沒有幫助到的人。
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Countless無數 lives生活 have been saved保存
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煤礦中的金絲雀
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by canaries金絲雀 in coalmines煤礦 --
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已挽救了無數人的生命 --
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a simple簡單 and invaluable無價 way
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用一個簡單和寶貴的的方式
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for miners礦工 to know whether是否 they're safe安全.
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讓礦工們知道他們是否安全。
01:32
I've been inspired啟發 by that simplicity簡單 as I've been working加工 on this problem問題
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我一直被這種簡單啟發,並且我針對目前水質偵測器這個問題上\
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with some of the most hardworking用功 and brilliant輝煌 people I've ever known已知.
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與一些我所見過最勤勞和最傑出的人工作一起解決。
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We think there's a simpler簡單 solution to this problem問題 --
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我們認為有一個簡單的解決這個問題 --
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one that can be used
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一個可以讓常常面對
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by people who face面對 conditions條件 like this everyday每天.
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類似這樣問題的人使用的方法。
01:44
It's in its early stages階段,
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這是在其早期階段,
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but this is what it looks容貌 like right now.
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這是現在的樣子。
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We call it the Water Canary加納利.
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我們把它稱為水金絲雀。
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It's a fast快速, cheap低廉 device設備
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這是一個快速,廉價的設備,
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that answers答案 an important重要 question:
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可以回答一個重要的問題:
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Is this water contaminated污染?
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這水是否污染呢?
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It doesn't require要求 any special特別 training訓練.
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它不需要任何特殊的訓練。
02:01
And instead代替 of waiting等候 for chemical化學 reactions反應 to take place地點,
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亦不是等待化學反應發生,
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it uses使用 light.
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它使用光。
02:06
That means手段 there's no waiting等候
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這意味著不用等待
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for chemical化學 reactions反應 to take place地點,
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任何化學反應發生,
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no need to use reagents試劑 that can run out
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無需使用試劑便可以運作,
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and no need to be an expert專家
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不需要成為專家
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to get actionable information信息.
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便可獲得可用的訊息。
02:17
To test測試 water, you simply只是 insert a sample樣品
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要測試水,只需插入一個樣品,
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and, within seconds,
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在幾秒鐘內,
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it either displays顯示器 a red light, indicating說明 contaminated污染 water,
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它會顯示紅燈,表明水被污染,
02:24
or a green綠色 light, indicating說明 the sample樣品 is safe安全.
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或顯示綠燈,表明樣品是安全的。
02:26
This will make it possible可能
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這將有可能
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for anyone任何人 to collect蒐集 life-saving救生 information信息
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使任何人都可以收集拯救生命的訊息
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and to monitor監控 water quality質量 conditions條件 as they unfold展開.
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和監測水質條件,基於情況變化。
02:34
We're also, on top最佳 of that,
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最重要的是,我們還在
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integrating整合 wireless無線 networking聯網
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整合成一個負擔得起的
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into an affordable實惠 device設備
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用GPS和GSM
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with GPS全球定位系統 and GSMGSM.
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的無線網絡設備。
02:44
What that means手段 is that each reading can be automatically自動 transmitted發送 to servers服務器
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這也意味著每次的讀取可以自動實時傳輸到伺服器
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to be mapped映射 in real真實 time.
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進一步繪出一同步的地圖上。
02:49
With enough足夠 users用戶,
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有了足夠的用戶,
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maps地圖 like this will make it possible可能
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這樣的地圖
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to take preventive預防 action行動,
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能夠及時採取預防措施,
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containing hazards危害 before they turn into emergencies緊急情況
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不需要等到好幾年的時間才可復原的嚴重汙染發生
02:58
that take years年份 to recover恢復 from.
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就能夠先進一步的控制並防止其惡化
03:00
And then, instead代替 of taking服用 days
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然後,不是要等待數天
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to disseminate傳播 this information信息 to the people who need it most,
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才能將這個信息傳播到最需要的人民處,
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it can happen發生 automatically自動.
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它可以自動發生。
03:07
We've我們已經 seen看到 how distributed分散式 networks網絡,
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我們已經看到了分佈式的網絡,
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big data數據 and information信息
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很多的數據和訊息
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can transform轉變 society社會.
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可以改造社會。
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I think it's time for us to apply應用 them to water.
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我認為是時候我們將它們應用到水上。
03:16
Our goal目標 over the next下一個 year is to get Water Canary加納利 ready準備 for the field領域
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我們的目標是在明年讓水金絲雀準備實際被應用
03:18
and to open-source開源 the hardware硬件
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並且開放其硬體開發
03:20
so that anyone任何人 can contribute有助於 to the development發展 and the evaluation評測,
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使任何人都可以作出貢獻的發展和評價,
03:23
so we can tackle滑車 this problem問題 together一起.
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讓我們可以一起解決這個問題。
03:25
Thank you.
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謝謝。
03:27
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Ana Choi
Reviewed by Sean Chuang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sonaar Luthra -
Sonaar Luthra is the creator of Water Canary, a water-testing device that collects real-time water-quality data from the field.

Why you should listen

Sonaar Luthra was a writer and educator when he enrolled in NYU's famed  Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) -- a breeding ground for cross-disciplinary thinking. He tells the TED Blog what happened next:

"I wanted to come up with some way of becoming what I was calling an 'urban planner for the global village.' And ... I fell in love with circuitry and with making tangible objects that had real functionality. Next thing I knew, I found myself in a class called Design for UNICEF, taught by Clay Shirky in association with UNICEF’s Innovations Lab.

"I wanted to see what was possible with water, and I was lucky to have an incredible team and the support of faculty that were willing to take on such a huge challenge. We started off as novices but we all became water experts in the process."

Read the TED Blog's full Q&A with Sonaar Luthra, "Waterwise" >>

More profile about the speaker
Sonaar Luthra | Speaker | TED.com