>> Hello World and Welcome to Microsoft Unboxed.
[MUSIC]
>> My name is Colleen O'Brien and this is
my friend and co-hosts, Sonia Dara.
>> Hello.
>> Every week we're sharing stories about
Microsoft technology and the people behind that technology.
Our theme for this episode is Earth Day.
>> But before we get any further,
please remember to subscribe to our channel.
We have new episode every Thursday.
So please remember to
subscribe so you don't miss out on any of it.
>> Did you ever celebrate Earth Day as a child?
>> Yes, absolutely.
I also had a nature club.
>> Did you go bug hunting?
>> It was just outside during recess in this little forested area.
So while the kids are on the monkey bars,
I was, "Cool, we're going to go play in the mud."
Got steal honey from home and bringing it into feed the deer.
We're like the birds of Atlanta like
there's still deer around, nature club.
>> Were you cataloging what you are finding?
>> Yes. I think the best attempt to
third grader can do. What about you?
>> I grew up in Woburn, Massachusetts.
>> That's a wildlife area, right?
>> A lot of suburb and wildlife there especially around
Horn Pond which was lovingly called [inaudible] pond.
We would go out as classrooms on a field trip or something,
and we would look for specific species of plants or specific bugs.
I was really getting into with nature as a child.
>> Then there is a gap and then you move to
Seattle where we can bring it back up.
>> Sort of. I do forest bathe every once in awhile.
>> Forest bathe?
>> Yes. That's the term for going out for a walk.
>> Like glamping version of?
>> I'm pretty sure it's a millennial term
for getting back in touch with nature.
Your mom doesn't text you,
"Have you forest bathe today?"
>> I can't [inaudible].
>> Forest bathing?
>> [inaudible] It's awesome.
>> I'm just trying to keep up so that the [inaudible] will listen to us.
>> If anything your mom is teaching us more.
>> My mom is all over the gram.
All right now, I feel like a fool for forest bathe. So?
>> So okay. Now, we're being serious.
>> We are because we're talking specific calendar dates.
>> Yes ma'am.
>> Earth Day is Monday,
April 22nd, which is
the Monday immediately following
when you're watching this episode.
So you have a few more days to figure
out how you're going to celebrate Earth Day.
>> Get some honey.
>> One of the things that I'm most excited about this Earth Day
is a recent blog posts that was published by
President Brad Smith about all of
our re-commitment to sustainability here at Microsoft.
Brad Smith announced that Microsoft is doubling down on
our sustainability commitment and that we're taking
a tech first approach to ensure a better future.
>> Yes.
>> I like it.
>> One of the ways that we're putting sustainability
at the core of our business is through
our internal carbon tax to
incentivize greater change within our organization.
>> Okay.
>> We're also raising our ambitions around renewable energy.
We've already hit this 60 percent renewable energy target.
>> l already know.
>> What does that look like to ramp it up?
>> Yes.
>> We're creating a new data-driven circular
Cloud Initiative aimed at our data center assets.
Data centers require a lot of energy so we're using
technology like IoT to identify where can we scale back,
where can we get more efficient?
>> We'll talk about data centers in another episode. Check it out.
>> Brad also outlines our commitment
to water and being more responsible
about our water usage with the same sensors and IoT devices.
We can start leveraging those on campus
and make sure we're being more sustainable as well.
>> Yes.
>> There's a huge campus refresh going on and a big
commitment there is around creating
a zero-carbon campus here in Puget Sound.
The second initiative that Brad Smith outlines is
empowerment of our customers and partners with new technologies.
So we're bringing them along for
this sustainability journey as well.
The third commitment here is around empowering researchers,
non-profits, and startups with
data science to accelerate their work.
Numerous non-profit organizations and researchers
are benefiting from our AI for Earth Program.
Through that, they're getting access to
grants and a ton of great data that
can help push this sustainability and
commitment to Earth forward even faster.
>> Yes. I love AI for.
>> Lastly, we're providing data to
customers to demonstrate to them that
economic growth and sustainability are not mutually exclusive.
You can grow your business and support the Earth at the same time.
>> We did both. Come on guys.
>> Let's go.
>> So we're talking about
some great winners of the AI for Earth initiatives.
So we're going to talk about two gentlemen,
Max Nova and Zack Parisa who are the co-founders of Silvia Terra.
>> Is there a drone in this story?
I feel the drone coming on.
>> No. Sorry. There could be.
Silvia Terra realized that we didn't have
a accurate reading essentially on our forests and our land usage.
So agriculture, big industry,
it is the world's largest industry.
Literally, one billion people generating
$1.3 trillion worth of food every year.
So big industry and there's a lot
of implications and impact onto our land, right?
We were just cutting into forests to create
farmland to help these growing populations, right?
So Silvia Terra will help us get an accurate read.
How dense the forests are?
What their current state of health is?
Are they actually healthier trees that are more robust?
So therefore, they can maybe
handle forest fires in the coming years.
Any of those implications that would
impact the health of a forest.
They're tapping into existing technologies which is great.
Like I said, maybe drones and satellites
in machine learning to basically have
this algorithm powered by AI that can
reduce also this amount of field work
required to understand the health of
the forest and the health of our ecosystem.
They are planning on mapping all of
the US forests and this will be
worked leveraged by other research teams.
So there is a group of AI for
Earth researchers at Columbia University,
Dr. Maria Uriarte and Dr. Tan Cheng,
who are studying the impact of extreme weather on forests.
Without understanding the baseline of what these forests are,
you're not able to understand then and help
plan for these undervalued forests for agriculture.
So it's all tied in together.
Silvia Terra is essentially creating the first forest census tool.
So actually getting down to the nitty-gritty
for each individual tree.
>> Are they going to do forest 20-20 and just
like we're doing census 20-20?
>> There's a lot of trees, right?
>> Yes. That's a lot.
>> If you're in need of
forest bathing and to get involved with nature,
the Nature Conservancy as well as Silvia Terra
have kicked off the Tree Potential Project.
Through the Tree Potential Project,
you can go onto their website,
put in your zip code,
and I'll tell you the health of the forest near you.
So you can donate and then the Tree Potential Team will
go and help plant trees
and increase the health of the forest area.
>> Healthier forest make for a better for us [inaudible].
>> 98052, that's [inaudible].
>> Don't tell people where we live.
>> It's Redmond.
>> So whether you're digging into
the data to figure out how to make your business more
sustainable or digging into the soil to plant a tree,
we hope you have a fantastic Earth Day.
But please don't go away yet,
we have one more segment here.
>> One more segment.
>> Outside the Box.
>> You're the first or me?
>> I'll ask you a question first.
>> Okay.
>> If you could choose your age forever,
which age would you choose?
>> I kind want to say now, 29.
>> Are you living your best life right now?
>> I don't know. It's like you're old
enough to know what you're doing.
Young enough that you're not dealing with body aches or anything.
>> You're paying your bills.
You're eating in restaurants.
You're living your life.
>> You're are eating in restaurants?
>> I think you meant to say nice restaurants.
>> Okay. I feel like I'm going to regret
everything in this episode.
>> I've been eating in restaurants before I was 29.
>> I just started eating in restaurants this year.
>> Was it okay? [inaudible].
>> It was great. Why wasn't I doing it before?
>> If you could redo this week,
what would you do differently?
>> I would have meal preps.
>> Of all things?
>> I would have slept 18 more hours.
>> It's so boring.
When you're busy and you're going to a different building and
you're shuffling between meetings,
I just eat such bad food.
>> You should try a restaurant.
>> Maybe.
>> They have them around sometimes. Yes.
>> If you have any questions that you'd
like to submit to you the box,
please e-mail the address below
or just comment right below the video.
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Click the "Subscribe" button.
Do it. Just do it right now.
Super easy.
>> Do it.
>> See you next week.
>> Click the button.
>> You have to do the thumbs up on.
>> Oh sorry.
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