ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ashton Cofer - Youth inventor
Ashton Cofer and his FIRST Robotics team won the Google Science Fair for developing a process to convert Styrofoam waste into activated carbon for purifying water.

Why you should listen

Ashton Cofer has several patents pending, including a method to convert polystyrene foam waste into activated carbon for purifying water. He and his teammates recently won the 2016 Google Science Fair’s Scientific American Innovator Award. Ashton has a passion for science and technology, and in addition to inventing, he also competed in FIRST LEGO League robotics and teaches robotics workshops to local area youth in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

More profile about the speaker
Ashton Cofer | Speaker | TED.com
TED-Ed Weekend

Ashton Cofer: A plan to recycle the unrecyclable

Ashton Cofer: O plano de um jovem inventor para reciclar isopor

Filmed:
1,379,778 views

De embalagens de amendoim a copos de café descartáveis, a cada ano os EUA produzem sozinhos aproximadamente 100 toneladas de isopor, e nada disso pode ser reciclado. Frustrado com esse desperdício de recursos e de espaço nos aterros sanitários, Ashton Cofer e seus colegas de classe desenvolveram um tratamento por aquecimento que transforma isopor usado em algo útil. Confira o projeto original, que ganhou o FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award e o Scientific American Innovator Award do Google Science Fair.
- Youth inventor
Ashton Cofer and his FIRST Robotics team won the Google Science Fair for developing a process to convert Styrofoam waste into activated carbon for purifying water. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
It was just an ordinary Saturday.
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Era mais um sábado comum.
00:15
My dad was outside mowing the lawn,
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Meu pai estava cortando a grama,
00:17
my mom was upstairs folding laundry,
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minha mãe dobrando roupa,
no andar de cima,
00:19
my sister was in her room doing homework
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minha irmã, no quarto,
fazendo dever de casa.
00:22
and I was in the basement
playing video games.
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Eu estava no porão jogando vídeo games.
00:25
And as I came upstairs
to get something to drink,
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Quando subi as escadas
pra pegar uma bebida,
00:27
I looked out the window
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eu olhei pela janela
00:28
and realized that there was something
that I was supposed to be doing,
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e percebi que tinha alguma coisa
que eu deveria estar fazendo,
00:32
and this is what I saw.
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e foi isso o que eu vi.
00:35
No, this wasn't
my family's dinner on fire.
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Não, esse não era o jantar
da minha família pegando fogo.
00:39
This was my science project.
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Era meu projeto de ciências.
00:42
Flames were pouring out,
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As chamas estavam subindo,
00:43
smoke was in the air
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tinha fumaça no ar
00:44
and it looked like our wooden deck
was about to catch fire.
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e parecia que o deque de madeira
estava a ponto de pegar fogo.
00:48
I immediately started yelling.
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Imediatamente, comecei a gritar.
00:50
My mom was freaking out,
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Minha mãe estava pirando,
00:51
my dad ran around to put out the fire
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meu pai correu para apagar o fogo
00:53
and of course my sister
started recording a Snapchat video.
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e, é claro, minha irmã começou
a gravar um vídeo no Snapchat.
00:57
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
00:59
This was just the beginning
of my team's science project.
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Esse era só o começo
do meu projeto de ciências em grupo.
01:03
My team is composed of me
and three other students
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Meu grupo é composto
por mim e outros três estudantes
01:06
who are here in the audience today.
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que estão aqui, na plateia, hoje.
Nós competimos na FIRST LEGO League
01:08
We competed in FIRST LEGO League
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2016
01:10
which is an international
LEGO robotics competition for kids,
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que é uma competição internacional
de robótica LEGO, para crianças,
01:13
and in addition to a robotics game,
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e, junto a jogos de robótica,
01:15
we also worked
on a separate science project,
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também trabalhamos
em projetos de ciência separados
01:18
and this was the project
that we were working on.
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e esse era o projeto
em que estávamos trabalhando.
01:20
So the idea for this project all started
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A ideia para esse projeto começou quando,
01:22
when a few months earlier,
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alguns meses atrás,
01:24
a couple of my teammates
took a trip to Central America
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alguns de meus colegas
viajaram para a América Central
01:27
and saw beaches littered with Styrofoam,
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e viram praias cheias de isopor,
01:29
or expanded polystyrene foam.
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ou espuma de poliestireno expandido.
E quando eles voltaram
e nos contaram isso,
01:32
And when they came back
and told us about it,
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01:34
we really started thinking about the ways
in which we see Styrofoam every day.
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nós realmente começamos a pensar
em como vemos isopor todos os dias.
01:37
Get a new flat-screen TV?
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Compre uma nova TV tela plana?
01:39
You end up with a block of Styrofoam
bigger than the TV itself.
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Você acaba com um bloco de isopor
maior do que a própria TV.
01:43
Drink a cup of coffee?
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Beba um copo de café?
01:44
Well, those Styrofoam coffee cups
are sure going to add up.
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Bem, aqueles copos de isopor
com certeza vão se somar.
01:47
And where do all these items go
after their one-time use?
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E pra onde todos esses itens vão
depois de serem usados uma vez?
01:51
Since there aren't any good
existing solutions for used Styrofoam,
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Já que não há nenhuma solução boa
para o isopor usado,
01:54
almost all of them
end up right in the landfill,
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quase tudo que é usado
acaba indo parar em aterros,
01:57
or the oceans and beaches,
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ou nos oceanos e praias,
01:58
taking over 500 years to degrade.
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levando mais de 500 anos
pra se desintegrar.
02:01
And in fact, every year, the US alone
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E na verdade, os EUA produzem, sozinhos,
02:03
produces over two billion
pounds of Styrofoam,
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cerca de 100 toneladas de isopor,
02:06
filling up a staggering
25 percent of landfills.
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enchendo um total assombroso
de 25% dos aterros.
02:09
So why do we have these ghost
accumulations of Styrofoam waste?
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Por que temos esse acúmulo
fantasma de isopor desperdiçado?
Por que não podemos
reciclá-lo, como muitos plásticos?
02:13
Why can't we just recycle them
like many plastics?
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02:16
Well, simply put, recycled
polystyrene is too expensive
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Bem, simplificando, reciclar
poliestireno é muito caro
02:19
and potentially contaminated,
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e potencialmente contaminante,
02:21
so there is very little market demand
for Styrofoam that has to be recycled.
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então, há pouquíssimo mercado
para a demanda de reciclagem de isopor.
02:25
And as a result, Styrofoam
is considered a nonrenewable material,
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E como resultado, o isopor é considerado
um material não-renovável,
02:29
because it is neither feasible
nor viable to recycle polystyrene.
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porque não é nem praticável
nem viável reciclar poliestireno.
E de fato, muitas cidades dos EUA
02:33
And in fact, many cities across the US
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02:36
have even passed ordinances
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até mesmo impuseram leis
02:37
that simply ban the production
of many products containing polystyrene,
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que simplesmente banem a produção
de muitos produtos que contêm isopor,
02:41
which includes disposable utensils,
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o que inclui utensílios descartáveis,
02:43
packing peanuts, takeout containers
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flocos de isopor e embalagem pra viagem,
02:45
and even plastic beach toys,
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até mesmo brinquedos de praia,
02:47
all products that are very useful
in today's society.
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todos produtos que são
muito úteis na sociedade atual.
02:50
And now France
has become the first country
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E agora a França se tornou o primeiro país
02:52
to completely ban all plastic utensils,
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a banir totalmente o uso de utensílios,
copos e pratos de plástico.
02:55
cups and plates.
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Mas, e se pudéssemos
continuar usando o isopor
02:57
But what if we could keep using Styrofoam
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02:59
and keep benefiting
from its cheap, lightweight, insulating
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e nos beneficiando do fato
de ser barato, leve, isolante
03:03
and excellent packing ability,
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além de sua capacidade de embalar,
03:05
while not having to suffer
from the repercussions
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enquanto não sofremos com as repercussões
03:07
of having to dispose of it?
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de ter que descartá-lo?
03:09
What if we could turn it into
something else that's actually useful?
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E se pudéssemos transformá-lo
em alguma coisa realmente útil?
03:12
What if we could make
the impossible possible?
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E se pudéssemos fazer
o impossível possível?
03:16
My team hypothesized that we could use
the carbon that's already in Styrofoam
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Meu grupo pensou que poderíamos
usar o carbono, já presente no isopor
03:21
to create activated carbon,
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para criar carbono ativado,
03:22
which is used in almost
every water filter today.
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que, hoje, é usado em quase
todo filtro de água.
E carbono ativado trabalha
usando microporos bem pequenos
03:25
And activated carbon works
by using very small micropores
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03:29
to filter out contaminants
from water or even air.
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para filtrar contaminantes
da água, ou mesmo do ar.
03:32
So we started out
by doing a variety of heating tests,
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Então, nós começamos fazendo
vários testes de aquecimento,
03:36
and unfortunately, we had many failures.
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e, infelizmente, tivemos muitas falhas.
03:39
Literally, nothing worked.
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Literalmente, nada funcionava.
03:42
Besides my dad's grill catching on fire,
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Além da churrasqueira
do meu pai em chamas,
03:44
most of our samples
vaporized into nothing,
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a maioria das nossas amostras
vaporizavam em nada,
03:47
or exploded inside expensive furnaces,
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ou explodiam dentro de fornos caros,
03:49
leaving a horribly sticky mess.
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deixando uma bagunça pegajosa horrível.
De fato, estávamos tão desanimados
pelas nossas falhas que quase desistimos.
03:52
In fact, we were so saddened
by our failures that we almost gave up.
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03:57
So why did we keep trying
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Por que continuamos tentando
03:58
when all the adults
said it was impossible?
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quando todos os adultos
disseram ser impossível?
04:01
Well, maybe it's because we're kids.
We don't know any better.
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Bem, talvez porque somos crianças.
Não sabemos de outro jeito.
04:04
But the truth is, we kept trying
because we thought it was still possible.
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Na verdade, continuamos tentando
porque achávamos que ainda era possível.
04:08
We knew that if we were successful,
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Sabíamos que se nos saíssemos bem,
04:10
we would be helping the environment
and making the world a better place.
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estaríamos ajudando o meio ambiente
e fazendo do mundo um lugar melhor.
04:13
So we kept trying
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Então continuamos tentando
04:15
and failing
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e falhando
04:16
and trying
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e tentando
04:18
and failing.
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e falhando.
04:20
We were so ready to give up.
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Estávamos prontos pra desistir.
04:22
But then it happened.
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Mas então aconteceu.
04:24
With the right temperatures,
times and chemicals,
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Com a temperatura, tempo,
e produtos certos,
04:26
we finally got that successful test result
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finalmente, obtivemos um bom resultado
04:29
showing us that we had created
activated carbon from Styrofoam waste.
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mostrando que tínhamos criado
carbono ativado dos restos de isopor.
04:33
And at that moment,
the thing that had been impossible
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E naquele momento,
a coisa que tinha sido impossível,
04:35
all of a sudden wasn't.
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de repente, não era mais.
Isso nos mostrou que apesar
das muitas falhas que tivemos,
04:37
It showed us that although we had
many failures at the beginning,
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04:40
we were able to persevere through them
to get the test results that we wanted.
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fomos capazes de perseverar
e chegar aos resultados que queríamos.
04:44
And moreover, not only were we able
to create activated carbon
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E, além disso, não fomos capazes
só de criar carbono ativado
04:47
for purifying water,
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para purificar a água,
04:48
but we were also able
to reduce Styrofoam waste,
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mas também reduzimos
o desperdício de isopor,
04:51
solving two global problems
with just one solution.
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resolvendo dois problemas
globais de uma só vez.
04:54
So from then on, we were inspired
to take our project further,
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Desde então, estamos inspirados
a levar nosso projeto adiante,
04:57
performing more tests
to make it more effective
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fazendo mais testes
para torná-lo mais efetivo
04:59
and testing it in real world situations.
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e testando em situações reais.
05:01
We then proceeded to receive funding
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Passamos a receber financiamento
05:03
from the NSTA's eCYBERMISSION
STEM-in-Action program
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do programa NSTA's
eCYBERMISSION STEM-in-Action,
05:06
sponsored by the US Army,
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patrocinado pelo Exército dos EUA,
05:08
as well as FIRST Global Innovation Awards
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assim como pelo
FIRST Global Innovation Awards
05:10
sponsored by XPRIZE.
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patrocinado pelo XPRIZE.
E também fomos honrados
05:12
And we were also honored
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05:13
with the Scientific American
Innovator Award
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com o Scientific American Innovator Award
05:16
from Google Science Fair.
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do Google Science Fair.
E usando esses fundos, planejamos
requerer uma patente de nosso processo
05:18
And using these funds, we plan
to file a full patent on our process
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05:21
and to continue to work on our project.
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e continuar a trabalhar no projeto.
05:24
So yes, although we started
with catching my dad's grill on fire
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Então sim, mesmo que o começo tenha sido
com a churrasqueira do meu pai em chamas
05:28
and failing so many times
that we almost quit,
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e tenhamos falhado tantas vezes
que quase desistimos,
05:31
it was well worth it
when we look back at it now.
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valeu muito a pena
quando olhamos pra trás agora.
05:33
We took a problem
that many people said was impossible
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Pegamos um problema
que muitos disseram ser impossível
05:36
and we made it possible,
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e o tornamos possível,
05:38
and we persevered when it looked
like nothing that we did would work.
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e perseveramos quando parecia
que nada que fizéssemos iria funcionar.
05:41
We learned that you can't have success
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Aprendemos que você não pode ter sucesso
05:43
without a little,
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sem algumas,
05:45
or a lot, of failure.
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ou muitas, falhas.
05:47
So in the future, don't be afraid
if your grill goes up in flames,
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No futuro, não fique com medo
se a churrasqueira pegar fogo,
05:51
because you never know
when your idea might just catch fire.
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porque você nunca sabe
quando a sua ideia pode brilhar.
05:55
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
05:57
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Arantxa La Volpe
Reviewed by Maricene Crus

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ashton Cofer - Youth inventor
Ashton Cofer and his FIRST Robotics team won the Google Science Fair for developing a process to convert Styrofoam waste into activated carbon for purifying water.

Why you should listen

Ashton Cofer has several patents pending, including a method to convert polystyrene foam waste into activated carbon for purifying water. He and his teammates recently won the 2016 Google Science Fair’s Scientific American Innovator Award. Ashton has a passion for science and technology, and in addition to inventing, he also competed in FIRST LEGO League robotics and teaches robotics workshops to local area youth in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

More profile about the speaker
Ashton Cofer | Speaker | TED.com