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Nithya Ramanathan: The problem of vaccine spoilage — and a smart sensor to help | TED

Refrigerators do much more than store your groceries — they’re also vital to preserving and distributing vaccines. Illustrating the realities of (and threats to) global vaccine supply chains, technologist and TED Fellow Nithya Ramanathan describes how smart sensors placed in fridges that store medical supplies can provide crucial, real-time data and ensure people get the…

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Refrigerators do much more than store your groceries — they’re also vital to preserving and distributing vaccines. Illustrating the realities of (and threats to) global vaccine supply chains, technologist and TED Fellow Nithya Ramanathan describes how smart sensors placed in fridges that store medical supplies can provide crucial, real-time data and ensure people get the life-saving care they need.

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57 Comments

57 Comments

  1. Roshan

    December 29, 2021 at 4:25 pm

    Cool!!

  2. Rxgue Planet

    December 29, 2021 at 4:29 pm

    You all have Trumps Vaccine inside of you 😇🍻

    • Harry Ballzonya

      December 29, 2021 at 5:22 pm

      🎤✋🤣😂

    • CMDR After Hours

      December 30, 2021 at 9:10 am

      They redefined the word vaccine so most that were told by the tv to get the “vaccine” gene therapy weren’t even aware it was gene therapy in the first place. Nevermind gr4phene.

  3. Avanish Sharma

    December 29, 2021 at 4:31 pm

    🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

  4. Houston Smith

    December 29, 2021 at 4:52 pm

    Why are we worried about vaccines spoiling? Aren’t there people around the world who still need to get vaccinated?

    • C G

      December 29, 2021 at 5:45 pm

      They don’t want to go give it to them. Because this isn’t about health, this is about money, greed, power, control.

    • Arkey

      December 29, 2021 at 6:45 pm

      Same reason why Africa is still “starving” even though the world has more than enough food to stop world hunger 3 times over. Its distribution, I guess. The manpower and profitability to get all that stuff into remote places.

    • Despize Perform

      December 30, 2021 at 12:38 pm

      I think you need to watch the video again

    • Houston Smith

      December 30, 2021 at 5:22 pm

      @Despize Perform total admission here, I didn’t actually watch the video. I just know how screwed up our Healthcare System is and our priorities are in the world, so vaccine spoilage is a problem we created for ourselves.

  5. Ismail Hossain

    December 29, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    Love from Bangladesh ❤️❤️

  6. Zenn Exile

    December 29, 2021 at 5:21 pm

    Planned Obsolescence isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. These compounds could be manufactured on site and delivered to patients without ever going through the preservation and transport phase which also happens to be the phase when these companies add their own proprietary ingredients and technologies to “proven” safe compounds. But that wouldn’t make giant pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars in guaranteed profit.

    • Grahamaan27

      December 29, 2021 at 8:12 pm

      Vaccines manufactured on site? What are you smoking?

    • Zenn Exile

      December 30, 2021 at 5:37 pm

      @Grahamaan27 The only reason they aren’t is to protect the pharmaceutical companies from competition.

  7. دكتور ٠

    December 29, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    How can I stand in her place to present a lecture.

    • Gato 008

      December 30, 2021 at 1:37 am

      stand in ur own place & talk…. 👁️👆👁️

  8. mk

    December 29, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    I would like to remind everyone here that there are other illnesses and only fraction of attention if any they get.

    • mk

      December 30, 2021 at 3:21 pm

      @Olivia O National Geographic isn’t right-winged.

    • Olivia O

      December 30, 2021 at 3:26 pm

      @mk Your language you were using has right-wing type ideologies. Sorry for any hurt feelings.

    • mk

      December 30, 2021 at 3:31 pm

      @Olivia O no problem. The article I tried to add to comments it’s been deleted few times now.

    • Olivia O

      December 30, 2021 at 3:34 pm

      @mk Ok!

    • mk

      December 30, 2021 at 3:44 pm

      @Olivia O they deleted it again. It is sad that, there isn’t any discussion nor pros and cons debate about new type of vaccine technology. I can’t find it anywhere. It looks like the vaccines are the solution to all our problems. They should cease sale of alcohol globally too.

  9. ghanditw

    December 29, 2021 at 7:29 pm

    bill gates killed more indians than general custer

  10. Grahamaan27

    December 29, 2021 at 8:14 pm

    What’s the difference between having that fancy internet connected device and a thermostat that the people administering the vaccines would look at?

    Seems like overkill just to know a fridge is not working.

    • robobrain10000

      December 29, 2021 at 9:15 pm

      You need someone monitoring that thermostat 24/7 without break. That is the issue. People are expensive and can’t be employed just to keep track of a thermometer. The people monitoring it need some kind of warning that the thermostat isn’t working, that is the point of this solution.

    • Grahamaan27

      December 30, 2021 at 12:29 am

      @robobrain10000 it’s a refrigerator, they last for several days in a broken state. The video even said they could send someone out to fix the refrigerator in time with the connected alarm. Vaccines would be administered every day, worst case scenario is 12 hours unmonitored. This is a case of over engineering

    • Grahamaan27

      December 30, 2021 at 12:31 am

      @robobrain10000 and it really doesn’t matter if the refrigerator is broken, it’s just about knowing it’s broken before you administer the vaccine 🤷‍♂️

    • Louis Murray

      January 1, 2022 at 5:43 am

      @Grahamaan27 I’d love to see the refrigerators you’re working with her can last several days, because most of the refrigerators I can think of reach room temperature in a few hours.

  11. Doluses

    December 30, 2021 at 12:43 am

    This is an of the shelf product that existed for decades for refrigerated truck trailes, ex Thermo king TempuTrak but their arw several other brands.

  12. mr.canada. ali

    December 30, 2021 at 12:52 am

    Tnx a lot

  13. Gato 008

    December 30, 2021 at 1:36 am

    btw i used 2 listen to ted talks all the time on pbs 📻🙏🙋💜🙏

    🤓🤓🤓

  14. Yin Ger

    December 30, 2021 at 1:50 am

    The subtitle is asynchronous. This phenomenon is often in recent videos.

  15. Lisa Love Ministry

    December 30, 2021 at 2:19 am

    Seek God’s will daily.
    1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

  16. Jan Klaas

    December 30, 2021 at 3:59 am

    🇺🇳4:37

  17. CMDR After Hours

    December 30, 2021 at 4:48 am

    They redefined the word “vaccine” four times.

  18. 學廢了。老師

    December 30, 2021 at 7:15 am

    subtitles had wrong Toggle timestamps

  19. Leonardo

    December 30, 2021 at 8:22 am

    Please fix subtitles, there is a delay

  20. mk

    December 30, 2021 at 9:29 am

    I don’t know if any of you people here remember announcements at the beginning of vaccine distribution and how important was to keep the right temperature (something between -70 and -80). I saw with my own eyes tents during hot summers +30 +35 sometimes even +40 degrees heat and ordinary travel coolers with vaccines in them, vaccines which required -70 -80 degrees temperature. These vaccines were sitting there for days if not weeks.

  21. jjyl kx

    December 30, 2021 at 9:31 am

    whats wrong with the subtitles ? one and the others

  22. Rudra

    December 30, 2021 at 10:14 am

    Y’know….you could just remove patents and let the world’s biggest manufacturers to just mass produce and offer the vaccines for cheap..
    Or here is a better idea, why to get out of a global pandemic, the entire vaccine isn’t manufacturered by any country for free and delivered. Oh wait, no profit to be made.

    One thing this pandemic has proved is this..being poor means sh**, even in a pandemic, the rich get life saving vaccines and poor countries are locked in patents and queues. It’s sad but so clear.

  23. Gold Barry

    December 30, 2021 at 11:18 am

    LIFE IS ALL ABOUT BEEN POSITIVE AND BELIEVING. SAD TRUTH IS SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL SCARED TO INVEST IN CRYPTO AND STOCK, OTHERS MAKE BIG MISTAKES BY TRYING TO TRADE THEMSELVES. I MAKE UP TO $45,500 MONTHLY AND THANKS TO MR. BRYAN ANTHONY DECKER. BEST BROKER EVER

    • Trevon Jackson

      December 30, 2021 at 11:19 am

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    • rub tyson

      December 30, 2021 at 11:20 am

      i am new to this type of investment and i really need help. but how well does a financial advisor improve your profit? What is the experience like using an advisor?

    • Jane Foster

      December 30, 2021 at 11:21 am

      @rub tyson A lot has changed and that’s on everything but the truth is i don’t even care much about bullish or bearish market because BRYAN ANTHONY DECKER got me cover as I am comfortably making enough monthly

    • rub tyson

      December 30, 2021 at 11:23 am

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    • Gold Barry

      December 30, 2021 at 11:24 am

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  24. 山林[기마이]巴拏巴

    December 30, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    👍

  25. Lisa Love Ministry

    December 31, 2021 at 2:05 am

    No Condemnation in Christ.
    Luke 10:27 💝

  26. KotyaTheTech

    December 31, 2021 at 8:05 am

    @TED english subtitle is broken 🙁

  27. Sekar Vedaraman

    December 31, 2021 at 8:31 am

    Sensors which can detect and predict.

    All equipment life saving, bridges, all human built need to be monitored for deterioration.

    So also life saving Vaccines.

    Portable Electricity Storage with High end Batteries can ensure effective Vaccines.

    Solve Electricity Storage problem.

    What about vaccination of the remaining 9 babies.

    Data never lies.

    Sensor data with distributed storage technologies and Centralised alerts from Consolidated Sensor data to service, fix , replace the wear and tear is worth Pondering about.

  28. محمد عبداللة علي

    December 31, 2021 at 10:02 am

    We need alot of vidoe abuot this tipic

  29. Charles Louis Rosario

    December 31, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    Great Work! I’ve seen sensors being introduced in the Disaster Recovery field at a huge level. To track inventory its a no brainer as well 🙂 Indeed it’s time for full adoption.

  30. Pooja Kaparthi

    January 2, 2022 at 9:36 am

    👌🎉That’s awesome

  31. j Think groove

    January 4, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    English subtitles are not synchronised 🙁

  32. bsbforever shi

    January 4, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    The subtitle is not sync

  33. sindhura kilaru

    January 4, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    good insight to use censor with tech! “Its a game changer”

  34. Chris L

    January 6, 2022 at 1:04 am

    Crazy how you guys went fron 10’s of millions of views to 10’s of thousands…

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