MY NEXT GUEST IS THE 2016 TED PRIZE WINNER!
PLEASE WELCOME DR. SARAH PARCAK!
♪ (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
OKAY.
I AM FASCINATED BY YOUR SUBJECT.
FIRST OF ALL, CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING THE WINNER OF THE TED
PRIZE.
WHAT DO YOU GET WITH THE TED PRIZE?
>> A MILLION DOLLARS.
>> Stephen: WHAT!
HOLY COW!
YOU'VE GOT TO DO A TED TALK ABOUT GETTING A MILLION DOLLARS.
>> YES.
>> Stephen: OKAY, SO EXPLAIN TO THE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHAT A
SPACE ARCHEOLOGIST IS.
YOU DON'T DO ARCHEOLOGY IN SPACE, YOU USE SPACE FOR
ARCHEOLOGY, RIGHT?
>> SO THINK ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF INDIANA AND GOOGLE
EARTH HAD A LOVE CHILD, RIGHT.
>> Stephen: WELL, I'M THINKING ABOUT IT, I'M THINKING ABOUT IT.
>> I USE HIGH RESOLUTION AND N.A.S.A. SATELLITES AND LOOK FOR
SUMMIT DIFFERENCES ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH THAT LOCATE
BURIED ANCIENT PYRAMIDS, TOMBS AND IT ALLOWS US TO PINPOINT
WHERE TO GO FROM THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY.
>> Stephen: WHAT DO YOU HAVE HERE?
>> I THOUGHT YOU NEEDED AN INDIANA JONES HAT.
>> Stephen: OH, I SEE.
THAT'S NOT BAD.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) >> Stephen: THAT'S AWESOME.
AREN'T YOU PUTTING PEOPLE LIKE INDIANA JONES OUT OF BUSINESS?
THESE ARE THE GUYS WHO TRAIN WITH THE BULL WHIP AND MACHETE
TO NO THROUGH THE JUNGLE AND FIND THINGS BUT YOU'RE USING
SATELLITE IMAGERY.
>> IT'S LIKE A SPACE CAT SCAN.
THE SCALE SIN CREDIBLE.
WE HAVE FOUND THOUSANDS OF ANCIENT SITES IN EGYPT AND ALL
OVER THE WORLD.
>> Stephen: LET'S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE IMPRESSIVE THINGS
YOU'VE DONE.
YOU'VE HELPED LOCATE 17 POTENTIAL PYRAMIDS IN EGYPT
PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW WERE THERE, 31 FORGOTTEN SETTLEMENTS AND
1,000 LOST TOMBS AROUND THE WORLD.
SO WHAT IS THE ACTUAL MECHANISM OF WHAT YOU'RE SEEING?
LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOU'VE DONE.
HERE IS A FIELD OUTSIDE OF ROME.
>> THIS IS JUST TO THE SOUTH OF ROME AT AN AIRPORT.
>> Stephen: I SEE NOTHING BUT YOU SAY THERE IS SOMETHING
THERE.
>> THERE IS KNOTTING.
>> Reporter: HERE IS A SATELLITE ANALYZED PHOTOSFUL
WHAT IS THERE WE COULDN'T SEE BEFORE?
>> WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IS AN ANCIENT AMPHITHEATER, LIKE WHERE
WE ARE NOW.
PROCESSING THE SATELLITE DATA AND LOOKING FOR SUBTLE
DIFFERENCES IN VEGETATION HEALTH, WHICH YOU ARE NOT ABLE
TO SEE VISIBLY, WE'RE ABLE TO MAP ABOUT 150 ACROSS.
>> Stephen: IS THIS LIKE CHEMICAL SPECTRUM THAT WE CAN'T SEE.
>> WE'RE LOOKING FOR CHLOROPHYLL WHICH INDICATE VEGETATION
HEALTH.
THE STONES ARE LESS HEALTHY AND WE PICK UP THE DIFFERENCES AND
THE OUTLINE IS CLEAR.
>> Stephen: THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY THINGS YOU'VE
FOUND.
THIS IS IN EGYPT, I THINK.
SO THIS IS JUST A BIT OF DESERT.
THIS IS JUST A FIELD OF SAND, RIGHT?
>> YEP.
>> Stephen: BUT, IN FACT, WHAT DID YOU USE TO FIND THIS?
BECAUSE THIS IS THE SAME LOCALE, AND THOSE --
(APPLAUSE) YOU'RE FEELING PRETTY GOOD RIGHT
NOW, AREN'T YOU?
>> SO WHAT WE'RE SEEING HERE IS THE ANCIENT SITE OF TANIS, NORTH
OF CAIRO.
>> Stephen: FROM INDIANA, FROM RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
THIS IS WHERE THEY FIND THE THING THAT WAS LOST FOR A
THOUSAND YEARS WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH BY A VENGEFUL
GOD, YOU FOUND TANIS!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) HONEST TO GOD, THAT'S WHAT THIS
IS?
THIS IS THE TANIS RIGHT THERE?
>> WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS THE OUTLINE OF A 3,000-YEAR-OLD CITY
NO ONE HAS SEEN AND YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE THE OUTLINES OF
BUILDINGS AND CITY STREETS.
>> Stephen: NO ONE'S GONE TO DIG IT YET?
>> NO ONE'S EXCAVATED IT YET.
>> Stephen: WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING LIKE THE AMPHITHEATER,
YOU KNOW FOR A FACT IT'S THERE.
DO YOU CHECK?
>> I LOVE GETTING MY HANDS DIRTY, GOING INTO THE FIELD, AND
THAT'S THE MOST FUN.
FROM SPACE YOU THINK YOU'RE SEEING SOMETHING BUT WHEN YOU
GET TO DIG ON THE GROUND YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TYPES OF
OBJECTS YOU'RE GOING TO FIND.
>> Stephen: IN ARCHEOLOGY OR IN LOST CITIES OR CIVILIZATIONS
OR TOMBS OR ARTIFACTS, IS THERE A HOLY GRAIL -- I MEAN,
OBVIOUSLY OTHER THAN THE HOLY GRAIL, IS THERE A HOLY GRAIL OF
SOMETHING LIKE FINDING GENGHIS KHAN'S TOMB, OR EVERYBODY KEEPS
SAYING, PLEASE LOOK FOR THIS THING?
>> WHAT'S INCREDIBLE BY ARCHEOLOGIST, IS EVERY DAY
ARCHEOLOGISTS ARE MAKING NEW HEADLINES.
WE FOUND HUMAN ANCESTORS IN KENYA FROM MILLIONS OF YEARS
AGO.
>> Stephen: CAN YOU FIND THINGS THAT OLD FROM WHAT YOU'RE
DOING, FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES?
>> NOT FROM MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO NOT IN CAVES, BUT CERTAINLY
IN THE OLYMPIC SETTLEMENTS, FROM MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO AND
THERE ARE MILLIONS OF UNDISCOVERED ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES
AROUND THE WORLD.
>> Stephen: WHAT'S THE COOLEST THING YOU HAVE FOUND?
>> I WOULD SAY THAT LITERALLY EVERYWHERE I LOOK THERE ARE
THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF SITES, AND I CONSISTENTLY
SURPRISE MYSELF.
>> Stephen: SO THE THING THAT SURPRISES YOU IS THAT NO MATTER
WHERE YOU POINT IT, YOU SEE SOMETHING?
>> EVEN WHEN I'M SURE, I TELL MY TEAM, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE, LIKE,
WE'RE NOT GOING TO FIND SOMETHING IN THIS PLACE, I'M
ALWAYS WRONG, WE FIND THINGS EVERYWHERE.
>> Stephen: SO HUMANS PRETTY MUCH HAVE PUT UP A HUT
EVERYWHERE THEY HAVE BEEN.
THERE'S NOWHERE LEFT ON THE PLANET WHERE SOMEBODY HASN'T
BEEN, PROBABLY.
>> WHAT'S EXTRAORDINARY, WE HAVE SURVIVED AS A SPECIES FOR OVER
100,000 YEARS.
WHAT'S AMAZING TO ME AS AN ARCHEOLOGIST, THE MORE I STUDY,
THE MORE I REALIZE WE ARE RESILIENT, CREATIVE, BRILLIANT
AND THIS IS WHAT MAKES US HUMAN AND THAT HAS NOT CHANGED SINCE
WE HAVE BEEN HUMAN.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) >> Stephen: WELL, WHAT ARE YOU
GOING TO DO WITH YOUR MILLION BUCKS?
>> SO, I WILL GET TO ANNOUNCE MY WISH TO THE WORLD NEXT MONTH AT
TED.
I AM NOT A ALLOWED TO SHARE MY WISH, BUT I CAN SAY EVERY DAY
WE'RE SEEING HEADLINES WITH WHAT I.S.I.L IS DO I THINK IN THE
MIDDLE EAST BLOWING UP TEMPLES AND LOOTING ANCIENT SITES AND IF
WE DON'T PRESERVE AND PROTECT THESE SITES AROUND THE WORLD,
THEY WILL BE GONE WITHIN A GENERATION.
SO ULTIMATELY I WANT TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO GET THE WORLD
ENGAGED WITH DISCOVERY AND PROTECTING THESE ANCIENT SITES.
>> Stephen: DOCTOR, THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
>> THANK YOU.
>> Stephen: DR. SARAH PARCAK, SHE FOUND TANICY.