Teaching the Cloud to see the Earth | Steven Brumby | TEDxABQ

The threats of resource depletion and Global Climate Change are real and growing, and the consequences will be profound. To keep our families and ourselves safe we need answers to difficult questions: Is the forest near my house about to burn down? Is my city running out of water? Is the regional food supply at risk of failing? What we need is a living, breathing atlas of the world. Not just a map of the world as it is now, but a map with a memory that stretches back decades, allowing us to detect the early warning signs of change. For the first time in history, we have the right combination of satellite imaging, Cloud computing and machine learning technologies to enable us to make this living atlas. Soon, we will be able to track the patterns of use and misuse of natural resources all around the world, and better understand how climate change and resource depletion triggers famine, social upheaval and mass migrations of human populations, and local ecological extinction.

Growing up in Melbourne, Australia, Steven Brumby dreamed of taking part in the exploration of space. After studying theoretical physics for his PhD, Brumby was recruited by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to work on space-based astronomy and planetary exploration missions, including remote sensing of the Earth. At LANL he had the opportunity to invent machine-learning technology for satellite image analysis, and was involved in real-time analysis of catastrophic wildfires in New Mexico and in mapping the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. For the last 7 years Brumby led a team of researchers developing deep learning technology for exotic types of scientific imagery and video. As of December 2014, Brumby became the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Descartes Labs, a venture-backed start-up based in Los Alamos, New Mexico, applying machine learning and remote sensing technology to understanding the whole Earth from space.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

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