Science in service to the public good | Siddhartha Roy

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2017

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We give scientists and engineers great technical training, but we're not as good at teaching ethical decision-making or building character. Take, for example, the environmental crisis that recently unfolded in Flint, Michigan -- and the professionals there who did nothing to fix it. Siddhartha Roy helped prove that Flint's water was contaminated, and he tells a story of science in service to the public good, calling on the next generation of scientists and engineers to dedicate their work to protecting people and the planet.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features engineer Sadartha Roy recorded live at TEDx Virginia Tech, 2016.
0:17.8	Fresh out of college, I went to work for a consulting firm. During orientation, the leaders dished out advice.
0:26.4	Amongst them was one pithy council, I will never forget. He told us, be easy to manage.
0:33.7	Considering how naive I really was at the time, I took his advice to heart, I told myself,
0:40.3	yes, I will be the ultimate team player,
0:43.3	I will do everything I'm told, I will be easy to manage.
0:47.3	It wasn't until I arrived in graduate school
0:50.3	and witnessed firsthand the criminal actions of scientists and engineers
0:55.3	in the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, that I realized how dangerous and yet surprisingly common
1:02.8	this line of thinking really is. Make no mistake, the Flint water crisis is one of the most
1:09.3	egregious environmental injustices of our time.
1:12.6	For over 18 months, 100,000 residents, including thousands of young children,
1:18.4	were exposed to contaminated drinking water with high levels of lead.
1:23.0	Lead is a potent neurotoxin which causes cognitive and developmental disabilities,
1:28.5	and is especially harmful to growing fetuses and young children.
1:33.4	We've known about its dangers since the Roman Empire.
1:37.8	Amongst a whole host of health issues, 12 people died by contracting legionnaires disease.
1:44.6	Flint's water infrastructure,
1:46.4	the complex network of underground pipes,
1:49.3	has been severely damaged.
1:51.9	And while the water quality is slowly improving
1:55.1	and the pipes are being replaced now,
	...

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