The basic infrastructure that controls plumbing, electricity and more is vital to your individual agency, says engineering professor Deb Chachra. She offers a crash course on how these systems connect to shape our lives — and suggests some key improvements for providing long-term, sustainable energy to everyone.
Countdown is TED’s global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at
Learn more about #TEDCountdown:
Twitter/X:
Instagram:
Facebook:
Website:
If you love watching TED Talks like this one, become a TED Member to support our mission of spreading ideas:
Follow TED!
X:
Instagram:
Facebook:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:
The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world’s leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Watch more:
TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at
#TED #TEDTalks #infrastructure
@ManjarenOfficial
August 29, 2024 at 7:04 am
First!
@R_T_Robin_vai_0_100
August 29, 2024 at 7:08 am
Alhamdulillah I’m ok😍
@LovellaVorsburghgh
August 29, 2024 at 7:08 am
I turned on this video to lift my spirits and now I can’t stop. Laughter is the best healer😘
@joaopetito1
August 29, 2024 at 7:09 am
Severus snapes
@pxpx3577
August 29, 2024 at 7:20 am
woke edition if they remake Harry Potter
@keithhoward6123
August 29, 2024 at 7:15 am
One day it will all come to an end . Cars won’t run no running water no electricity. GOD is coming soon and turning off all machines and you have to grow your own food.
@felixccaa
August 29, 2024 at 7:19 am
I didn’t buy any of her message – switched off the video at 7:25
@longshank59
August 29, 2024 at 7:25 am
Our Electric company is owned by Jeffrey Bezos. They are going with and building a Fracked Gas convertor because it’s cheaper. Even though we have Windmills and solar panels and Massive. Batteries already in place. They sell the renewable to other parts of TX at a profit. This is why I always say follow the money.
@mikeludwikowski7050
August 29, 2024 at 7:29 am
we are not in a closed loop. There is matter and energy that comes from the sun and universe every day that challenges your stance.
@MegaBaellchen
August 29, 2024 at 7:53 am
So why is anonymity and decentralization not baked into those networks? The level of abuse possible with such a digitalized and centralized global system, should heed warning instead of excitement. Sure, you can make yourself believe, that there are only benevolent people in power. Transitioning to more Authoritarianism, like it is happening in the west right now, compassion becomes a commodity and is exploited as such. You can’t just wave it away, and make THAT a problem of our children instead. There are ways to do it properly, but i heard none of them here.
@senbossya1330
August 30, 2024 at 12:26 pm
Wait what? Anonymity of communal infrstructure? What does it mean? Decentralization is cool – agree with that
@MegaBaellchen
August 30, 2024 at 4:17 pm
@@senbossya1330 anonymous usage of those networks. Yes, bills will have to be paid, there are models for that, without the need of making yourself naked, but what happened to innocent until proven guilty? Today we are assuming anyone else of being secretly a terrorist, hence it appears plausible to have full transperency over the usage of such networks. But that can be easily exploited and used against me, without anyone even knowing about it. The networks that are already here and how they act towards my personal data, how they basically blackmail me into compliance, isn’t really trustworthy to me. I want to use the networks without having the sword of Damocles hanging over my head.
@MegaBaellchen
August 30, 2024 at 9:28 pm
@@senbossya1330 seems like my comment about anonymous usage got removed, sorry.
@carmelbrain7399
August 29, 2024 at 8:13 am
flippy flimflam
@jackieb.7368
August 29, 2024 at 8:16 am
Great content. Thanks.
@mr.needmoremhz4148
August 29, 2024 at 8:32 am
A word salad, stating the obvious, or is she reinventing the wheel or is this comedy? It is common for people who think they are smart to “see things” differently, to then walk up against the same obstacles as those before them.
She’s more of a social engineer than a real engineer. By the lack of understanding the “physical aspect” and sees them as an invisible “service where 1000 of people work on” to keep them going.
Let’s keep it to with the power/ electricity network because that’s what she was mainly talking about and what drives the other networks. What do you think this network is today? It’s already decentralized and “globally” connected or a ”locally distributed” system, not a giant monolith (like some architectural projects associated with infrastructure). You want to attach those “renewables” energies you can 🤯. They take “maintenance” cause net congestion, aren’t efficient, reliable or infinite (the sun and wind potentially are, not the things they drive where the energy output comes from) you need to build, replace, repair and maintain them. When directly hit during a natural disaster, they are the first ones to be damaged, so they need to be connected to other sites.
The electricity transportation side of things remains the same and becomes more complex and causes more net congestion the more smaller systems you add with an unstable energy output.
So don’t reinvent the “physical reality” just to study it and approach it from a social perspective. Improve the physical part, make it more redundant, replace and improve the existing infrastructure🙄
@vondaberryman4477
August 29, 2024 at 9:11 am
This is bunch hunk of BS. She needs Jesus.
I pray everyone finds Him before the great tribulation starts and we are staring it right in the face. When millions of people disappear remember the aliens did not take us Jesus is going to remove all born again believers.
Tic tic tok time to get saved people not a game.
🙏💞😊👑
@ml3141
August 29, 2024 at 9:32 am
What did she just say??! 😊
I was able to follow the beginning were she came home, made dinner, and then washed the dishes…. Everything else was a word salad.
@Alex_Plante
August 29, 2024 at 1:50 pm
I’m a professional engineer whose been designing infrastructure for 30 years. I don’t get the rude comments here. The problem with infrastructure is that it’s invisible and most people take it for granted, until something goes wrong such as the water main that blew up in Calgary this summer. She may not be speaking in technical terms here, but you need people who can communicate the importance of infrastructure to non-technical people.
@quantumjourney1
September 2, 2024 at 11:57 am
A lot of incels in tech
@CollinRutherford
August 29, 2024 at 9:59 pm
Truly, Our daily actions really show how interconnected we all are across the globe.
@senbossya1330
August 30, 2024 at 12:39 pm
Design utilities to care for people needs – great thought. Totally agree with that. We dont need universal basic income if communal infrastructure is free
@brichard9485
August 30, 2024 at 2:41 pm
Ah yes the more severe weather that means no hurricanes this year during peak season historically – DEI NPC
@Krishnavayudham
August 30, 2024 at 2:48 pm
SAP EXCELLENCY
@generalenglish8116
September 2, 2024 at 10:22 am
Good discourse
@FoundationMerch
September 3, 2024 at 1:03 pm
Taylor Kimberly White Frank Anderson Deborah