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A new way to “grow” islands and coastlines | Skylar Tibbits

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. What if we could harness the ocean’s movement to protect coastal communities from rising sea levels? Designer and TED Fellow Skylar Tibbits shows how his lab is creating a dynamic, adaptable system of underwater structures that uses energy from…

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What if we could harness the ocean’s movement to protect coastal communities from rising sea levels? Designer and TED Fellow Skylar Tibbits shows how his lab is creating a dynamic, adaptable system of underwater structures that uses energy from ocean waves to accumulate sand and restore eroding shorelines — working with the forces of nature to build rather than destroy.

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59 Comments

  1. Palatine of facts

    May 22, 2020 at 5:22 am

    what that do the the turtles? sea walls are not near beaches and do not hurt them but this thing might trap turtle babies. This is why sea walles are built near the coast between land and sand.

  2. Elsaid Bushara

    May 22, 2020 at 5:34 am

    It’s absolutely amazing development that could lead to the end of the world.

    • Chase Waterman

      May 22, 2020 at 6:37 am

      It won’t be the end of the world. We might not be here to see it, but our planets done these cycles before.

  3. Bearly Listening

    May 22, 2020 at 5:58 am

    This clown dropped a bag of sand in the ocean and we’re supposed to be impressed?

    • Alexander Christopher

      May 22, 2020 at 8:26 am

      It’s not about the method, but rather the end results. He’s showing a new way to create islands and restore coastlines without harming marine ecosystem (which is the point of restoring coastlines anyway).

  4. Bearly Listening

    May 22, 2020 at 6:42 am

    Skylar’s Mom was very kind to donate her sweater for this presentation. I’m sure she’s watching proudly in a room full of his participation trophies.

  5. Christoff Havenga

    May 22, 2020 at 6:52 am

    The same concepts should be applied to create fresh water from seawater all along the coasts… Natural spillover from waves into pools that in turn flow into lower pools further inland through canals and are constantly flowing through natural filtration processes. In this way minimum desalination methods/systems can be applied to make sea water usable for consumption throughout the world. Especially in dry and desert areas.

  6. attapun anivat

    May 22, 2020 at 7:11 am

    I really love the idea but, comparing this to groynes, the sediment that is being built up might be heading somewhere and by building up the sediment in one place there is less sediment available in other places which could increase the rate of erosion there.

  7. Ben de Vette

    May 22, 2020 at 7:35 am

    You might want to check this dutch experiment doing a simular thing. It’s work in progress for many years now.

  8. Omkar Dhulap

    May 22, 2020 at 8:35 am

    Excellent finding. Many people can benefit from this.

  9. ニャラ男番長

    May 22, 2020 at 8:52 am

    We have to know that we are destroying this world just by living normally and someone is taking that responsibility somewhere with enormous effort. I’m so impressed by this talk👏👏👏

  10. Pilbaran00b

    May 22, 2020 at 9:20 am

    Wow, what an awesome, innovative and interesting way to help solve a problem. Fantastic work.

  11. Martijn

    May 22, 2020 at 9:52 am

    Doing this in the Netherlands for years…

  12. Mohammod Sabbir

    May 22, 2020 at 10:08 am

    That’s interesting speech

  13. Event Hʘriךּon

    May 22, 2020 at 10:19 am

    loved it! Simple, ingenious, passive, self sustaining, movable and can be forgotten into the enviroment, and it will become part of it.

  14. Khyrid

    May 22, 2020 at 10:50 am

    Cool, when do we begin invading and killing each other on them?

  15. joe.public

    May 22, 2020 at 12:03 pm

    Why does this gut actually believe that the sea level is rising lol
    Why is it that some smart people are so fucking stupid.
    I would have thought that evidence would be able to fix this problem but no it does not. People still insist that because all really old volcanic Islands sink back under the waves eventually that this means that the sea level is actually rising!

  16. MrGustave1er

    May 22, 2020 at 12:09 pm

    should have a look at the mayhem of the laguna of Venice. They have a lot of data concerning evolution of the depth and structures of the bottom of the laguna

  17. rkvlogs

    May 22, 2020 at 1:08 pm

    Amazing 👍… #rkvlogs #VisualChordz

  18. Nora Hyman

    May 22, 2020 at 1:10 pm

    1) where is this guy’s email, and 2) thinking on a broader scale…if a community were to decide to implement this in, say, northern Alaska (where rising sea levels and erosion are of major concern to permafrost), it would have to be with larger amounts of sandbags (or other objects). How does this resonate within an ecosystem? Isn’t that really intrusive and kind of destructive? Isn’t that just humans playing god again? Important questions to consider going forward…again, where is this guy’s email…

  19. Sina S.

    May 22, 2020 at 1:15 pm

    I would be more impressed if I’d seen some actual results. What about some shots after day 3?

  20. John Lamee

    May 22, 2020 at 2:07 pm

    Self assembling machines. These essentially outline how life came into being..

  21. Claire W

    May 22, 2020 at 2:30 pm

    Stop f&cking with and ‘battling’ the Earth and oceans silly techies! Haven’t we learned yet? Reduce the freaking word population..entrain your ‘breeding’ and begin to build portable homes ‘we can move inland with’..as humans always have..is it all biodegradable at least? What is ‘textiles’ in the component? Can’t we all see the problem is us and more and more ‘wanting to be so clever’..and ‘succeed’ with ‘progress? Construction is our issue..leave it all be! Why not go back to mobility and communities and seasons..with light moveble portable homes that protect us well and sun panels that last permanently and live in/with nature as it should be? Eating only what we need as nature provides it? Oh..we’ve ‘progressed’ from that!?

    • อรทัย ลาภยืนยง

      May 24, 2020 at 6:43 am

      thank you

  22. MANETIT Naj

    May 22, 2020 at 4:30 pm

    The maldivian president will invite him to become minister of education for his precious help, then the maldives will rule the waves.

  23. Rick Harold

    May 22, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    Awesome !

  24. Matthew Jay

    May 22, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    You can grow sandbars using sunken geometrical shapes? Get it! 👍🏻

  25. DiscoChixify

    May 22, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    Beautiful. Great video. I love when science & simplicity work together to solve problems.

  26. Malcolm Jones

    May 23, 2020 at 6:27 am

    Based on false climate change religion not science. The sea levels are not rising.

    • Kashish mathukiya

      May 25, 2020 at 8:31 am

      I am guessing you must be a politician then. Go and check those facts boy

  27. Champions play

    May 23, 2020 at 7:36 am

    me going to interview..
    interviewer: what are your hobbies, and how will u save the earth?
    me: I make islands….

  28. Northern85Star

    May 23, 2020 at 7:43 am

    Yes, lets terraform more to accomodate overpopulation, while acting like the root cause of climate change, pollution, animal extinctions isn’t overpopulation.

    People are slow, but sooner or later the masses will realize this simple truth. The question is how long will we try to treat the symptoms before we attack the sickness.

  29. Lieve Leysen

    May 23, 2020 at 9:08 am

    Fantastic! 😍

    #discoverenjoyfeelgood2

  30. Lewis Maker

    May 23, 2020 at 12:36 pm

    Really interesting and the simple solution to rising sea levels. Create more land by removing mass from the ocean floor. A deeper swimming pool always holds a lot more water. But will we be able to win the race?

  31. Invox

    May 23, 2020 at 2:46 pm

    Deserved WAY more than 7minutes.

  32. TANUJ ADITYA

    May 23, 2020 at 4:06 pm

    I hope you would care to look my personal post on facebook, recently and care for removal and respect

  33. XnaugahydeX

    May 24, 2020 at 12:45 am

    Skylar Tibbits

  34. Gordon Deans

    May 24, 2020 at 5:11 am

    A house built upon a foundation of sand is NOT a house for very long and neither is an island. The ocean giveth and the ocean taketh.

  35. อรทัย ลาภยืนยง

    May 24, 2020 at 6:36 am

    do it clear now me not flow by account my wife

  36. อรทัย ลาภยืนยง

    May 24, 2020 at 6:38 am

    thank team good sir

  37. อรทัย ลาภยืนยง

    May 24, 2020 at 6:40 am

    I think so about it do everything นาenmybad to busy every product นาenforme be leader it sit access from bad it cross new computer andit share Wi-Fi my number is this my wife

  38. ma0 martinez

    May 24, 2020 at 5:47 pm

    A new way to take London real ted talk down

  39. Use2Earn Make Money Online Platform

    May 24, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    hello friend

  40. WSlabb

    May 24, 2020 at 10:07 pm

    So basically a Sand Engine as has existed for years in The Netherlands already. The only difference is that this solution will always have these foreign objects in the sea, whilst the Sand Engine is made of sand and sand alone. Now he said the material is biodegradable, but wouldn’t that mean they would still need regular replacement to keep the solution functional?

  41. rylar717

    May 25, 2020 at 12:16 am

    Return Brian Rose’s TED talk by orders of the London Real Army

  42. Abd All

    May 25, 2020 at 2:19 am

    المترجم والمدقق تواصلوا معي فورا وحالا

  43. adam mm

    May 25, 2020 at 6:25 am

    How disappointing TED!! Instead of burning books your engaging in internet censorship. This will be remembered in the years to come. Put back Brains vid its an idea worth sharing. It had over a million views…

  44. Tony Todd

    May 25, 2020 at 6:27 am

    Man will screw it up to think how long we have had to change.

  45. Tony Todd

    May 25, 2020 at 6:28 am

    We still useing fosel fuel.

  46. Tony Todd

    May 25, 2020 at 6:29 am

    Why.

  47. Dick Darstardly

    May 25, 2020 at 9:33 am

    So in the future, we can book a desert island holiday and wait for the island to grow.

  48. Việt Hoàng Đào

    May 25, 2020 at 2:42 pm

    0:13

  49. Stephanie Díaz Lloréns

    May 25, 2020 at 3:29 pm

    Its a good and interesting idea but correct me if I’m wrong, would it be the same efect to the cost if natural coral reef is there. Maybe a solution to preserve and mantain them could be integrated to this idea.

  50. Sheesh

    May 26, 2020 at 2:00 am

    Wow was that just a TED talk not just some sociologists diary entry?

  51. Sheesh

    May 26, 2020 at 2:06 am

    5:33 total fraud lol wtf

  52. zztop3000

    May 26, 2020 at 2:39 am

    CONstruction

  53. 777Yangster777

    May 26, 2020 at 10:23 am

    oooh dis is very genius

  54. HATIM BOOTWALA

    May 26, 2020 at 12:54 pm

    A simple and interesting talk loved it.

  55. T M

    May 27, 2020 at 12:14 am

    he’s so young and smart, very good

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