A new way to “grow” islands and coastlines | Skylar Tibbits

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

What if we could harness the ocean's movement to protect coastal communities from rising sea levels? Designer and TED Fellow Skylar Tibbits shows how his lab is creating a dynamic, adaptable system of underwater structures that uses energy from ocean waves to accumulate sand and restore eroding shorelines — working with the forces of nature to build rather than destroy.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a Media Request here:

Follow TED on Twitter:
Like TED on Facebook:

Subscribe to our channel:

25 Comments on A new way to “grow” islands and coastlines | Skylar Tibbits

  1. In the year 4055, oceanic divers discovered the ancient remnants of submerged structures filled with canvas and sand. We believe our ancestors were trying to have a “Fyre Festival” underwater.

  2. Such methods have been used for a long time to fight erosion by building sand along rivers. They stick logs and such to direct the water in such a way that deposit soil.

    • What makes it drastically different and unsure of results is that rivers, by and large, are fairly standard in flow. Meaning that they go in a specific direction at a specific speeds with specific types of sediment being transferred. Ocean flows change. Storms disrupt things. Temperatures play with the ecosystem. Humans destroying the reefs (which are natural protectors)
      It’s interesting and good to see that they are adapting such techniques, but it will be interesting to see how well it performs.

  3. Instead of harvesting the Earth’s movement, they can harvest the movement of my astonishing weight to solve any issues.

  4. Finally a Ted Talk that is easy for even the most ignorant of us concerning environmental issues to understand. *looks at Boomers*

  5. loved it! Simple, ingenious, passive, self sustaining, movable and can be forgotten into the enviroment, and it will become part of it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


Shares
Share This