Declan Li: Why Deploying Good Science Isn't Always Right

Declan Li has spent two years researching hydroponic biofertilizers at Caltech, hunting for a sustainable alternative to the chemical fertilizers currently degrading soil worldwide. But along the way, he ran into a problem no lab experiment could solve: even perfect science fails when the systems deploying it never stop to ask whether they should. In this episode, Declan unpacks the gap between whether a technology works and whether it's right to release it, using everything from a century-old fertilizer process to a recent AI model shutdown as examples, and makes the case for treating ethics as a required step, not an afterthought. He also opens up about the fear of failure, why he'd rather try and fall short than never try at all, and his advice for other teens looking to break into research: reach out, cast a wide net, and don't wait for permission.