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.
