Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.   SUBSCRIBE
The Kid Should See This

How do you rescue good ideas from the Valley of Death?

Watch more with these video collections:

All new products must pass through the “valley of death” before they reach the market. Many never make it out, and sometimes that’s ok— if they don’t work, don’t fill a need, or for any number of reasons.

One of the fields where this problem is most pressing is zero-carbon technologies. Why is it vulnerable to this trap, and can we change it?

This TED-Ed, why good ideas get trapped in the valley of death— and how to rescue them, was created in partnership with Bill Gates, who has been funding and educating about climate challenges and solutions as a part of his philanthropic initiatives.

What challenges stall new zero-carbon and other innovative climate ideas that have been proven to work? High costs, long timelines, systemic changes to infrastructure, and consumer behavior. “Fortunately,” the video explains, “there’s a way to break this cycle…”

helping green good ideas

Governments can help close the gap, when private investors won’t fund technologies with such a high potential for social benefit.

The short, which shares examples from recent history, was directed by Lisa LaBracio, with animation and art direction by Luísa M H Copetti at Hype CG.

funding research and development

File under innovation, money, and government:
The powder that can turn sludge into clean drinking water
Poop Guy: A dad who is revolutionizing sanitation in India
• Using seawater and sunlight to grow food in the desert
• Geothermal energy in Iceland
• Wangari Maathai: “I will be a hummingbird”
• Milly Zantow: Recycling Revolutionary

This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.

Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.

🌈 Watch these videos next...

Why do we need biodiversity?

Rion Nakaya

Why do people fall for misinformation?

Rion Nakaya

Why are peatlands so important?

Rion Nakaya

Why are mangrove trees so important?

Rion Nakaya

Why are electric cars the future?

Rion Nakaya

What is the Circular Economy?

Rion Nakaya

What is systemic racism?

Rion Nakaya

What Is Rewilding?

Rion Nakaya

What is public life?

Rion Nakaya