Bill Stone

Explorer, inventor, outer space dreamer
Engineer and daredevil cave explorer Bill Stone is obsessed with discovery — on Earth and beyond.

Why you should listen

Explorer Bill Stone has spent nine years of his life on exploratory and scientific expeditions. He has logged more time working from remote subterranean camps in the world's deepest caves than any other human being, including two years at depths of more than 1,000 meters beneath the surface. He is a serial inventor and holds 33 patents on applications ranging from lasers that can propel objects into orbit to methods of recovering autonomous vehicles from beneath Antarctic ice sheets. His company Stone Aerospace designed and built a series of robotic systems that will be used to search for life in a sub-surface ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa.

Stone's Shackleton Energy Company is planning to use raw materials that have been trapped for billions of years deep in craters on the Moon to create and sell derived products, including propellants and other consumables. In doing so, they hope to open up the inner solar system to human exploration and commerce. 

Stone is the author of Beyond the Deep: The Deadly Descent into the World's Most Treacherous Cave, a riveting tale of exploration of the Sistema Huautla cave system in southern Mexico, the deepest cave in the western hemishere.

Bill Stone’s TED talk

More news and ideas from Bill Stone

Psychology's final frontier: Staying sane in space

August 24, 2008

Astrobiology Magazine posts an intriguing report today: The American Psychological Association is looking seriously at the question of astronauts’ mental health. It’s an issue that has sometimes been swept under the rug, says the APA’s press release: Historically, astronauts have been reluctant to admit to mental or behavioral health problems for fear of being grounded. […]

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Archive: Bill Stone says, "I’m going to the moon — who’s with me?"

August 8, 2008

For the next two weeks, we’re presenting some of our favorite TEDTalks from among the 270+ talks and performances we’ve posted since June 2006. Look for brand-new TEDTalks starting August 18. Until then, enjoy these gems — and suggest your own by writing to contact@ted.com or joining the conversation on TED.com. Bill Stone, a maverick […]

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Science

The Lonely Interplanetary guide to scuba diving

August 1, 2008

Bored with Earthly beach destinations this summer? Does the word “Carribbean” not ring exactly, well, “exotic” these days? With this week’s news that (highly acidic) water has been tasted on Mars and an ethane lake has been discovered on Saturn’s moon Titan, perhaps it’s time to investigate otherworldly destinations for fun in the surf. Grab […]

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