0:00:00.312,0:00:02.450 I collaborate with bacteria. 0:00:02.450,0:00:03.332 And I'm about to show you 0:00:03.332,0:00:05.512 some stop-motion footage that I made recently 0:00:05.512,0:00:07.746 where you'll see bacteria accumulating minerals 0:00:07.746,0:00:09.296 from their environment 0:00:09.296,0:00:11.230 over the period of an hour. 0:00:11.230,0:00:12.595 So what you're seeing here 0:00:12.595,0:00:14.813 is the bacteria metabolizing, 0:00:14.813,0:00:16.012 and as they do so 0:00:16.012,0:00:17.618 they create an electrical charge. 0:00:17.618,0:00:19.951 And this attracts metals 0:00:19.951,0:00:22.118 from their local environment. 0:00:22.118,0:00:25.035 And these metals accumulate as minerals 0:00:25.035,0:00:26.952 on the surface of the bacteria. 0:00:26.952,0:00:29.119 One of the most pervasive problems 0:00:29.119,0:00:30.868 in the world today for people 0:00:30.868,0:00:32.285 is inadequate access 0:00:32.285,0:00:34.036 to clean drinking water. 0:00:34.036,0:00:35.702 And the desalination process 0:00:35.702,0:00:37.486 is one where we take out salts. 0:00:37.486,0:00:40.001 We can use it for drinking and agriculture. 0:00:40.001,0:00:42.086 Removing the salts from water -- 0:00:42.086,0:00:43.347 particularly seawater -- 0:00:43.347,0:00:44.951 through reverse osmosis 0:00:44.951,0:00:46.269 is a critical technique 0:00:46.269,0:00:49.501 for countries who do not have access to clean drinking water 0:00:49.501,0:00:50.620 around the globe. 0:00:50.620,0:00:52.084 So seawater reverse osmosis 0:00:52.084,0:00:54.251 is a membrane-filtration technology. 0:00:54.251,0:00:56.821 We take the water from the sea 0:00:56.821,0:00:58.352 and we apply pressure. 0:00:58.352,0:01:01.276 And this pressure forces the seawater 0:01:01.276,0:01:02.576 through a membrane. 0:01:02.576,0:01:04.011 This takes energy, 0:01:04.011,0:01:06.543 producing clean water. 0:01:06.543,0:01:10.244 But we're also left with a concentrated salt solution, or brine. 0:01:10.244,0:01:11.657 But the process is very expensive 0:01:11.657,0:01:14.291 and it's cost-prohibitive for many countries around the globe. 0:01:14.291,0:01:16.073 And also, the brine that's produced 0:01:16.073,0:01:18.957 is oftentimes just pumped back out into the sea. 0:01:18.957,0:01:21.505 And this is detrimental to the local ecology 0:01:21.505,0:01:23.940 of the sea area that it's pumped back out into. 0:01:23.940,0:01:25.956 So I work in Singapore at the moment, 0:01:25.956,0:01:28.723 and this is a place that's really a leading place 0:01:28.723,0:01:30.724 for desalination technology. 0:01:30.724,0:01:33.274 And Singapore proposes by 2060 0:01:33.274,0:01:36.373 to produce [900] million liters per day 0:01:36.373,0:01:38.206 of desalinated water. 0:01:38.206,0:01:41.556 But this will produce an equally massive amount 0:01:41.556,0:01:43.309 of desalination brine. 0:01:43.309,0:01:46.507 And this is where my collaboration with bacteria comes into play. 0:01:46.507,0:01:48.456 So what we're doing at the moment 0:01:48.456,0:01:51.122 is we're accumulating metals 0:01:51.122,0:01:53.106 like calcium, potassium and magnesium 0:01:53.106,0:01:55.340 from out of desalination brine. 0:01:55.340,0:01:57.622 And this, in terms of magnesium 0:01:57.622,0:02:00.172 and the amount of water that I just mentioned, 0:02:00.172,0:02:03.122 equates to a $4.5 billion 0:02:03.122,0:02:05.521 mining industry for Singapore -- 0:02:05.537,0:02:08.071 a place that doesn't have any natural resources. 0:02:08.071,0:02:10.721 So I'd like you to image a mining industry 0:02:10.721,0:02:12.810 in a way that one hasn't existed before; 0:02:12.810,0:02:14.976 imagine a mining industry 0:02:14.976,0:02:17.243 that doesn't mean defiling the Earth; 0:02:17.243,0:02:19.354 imagine bacteria helping us do this 0:02:19.354,0:02:22.826 by accumulating and precipitating 0:02:22.826,0:02:25.243 and sedimenting minerals 0:02:25.243,0:02:27.092 out of desalination brine. 0:02:27.092,0:02:28.510 And what you can see here 0:02:28.510,0:02:30.992 is the beginning of an industry in a test tube, 0:02:30.992,0:02:34.342 a mining industry that is in harmony with nature. 0:02:34.342,0:02:35.693 Thank you. 0:02:35.693,0:02:39.325 (Applause)