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NathanMyhrvold_2007-_考古，动物摄影，烧烤_
So, I'm in Chile, in the Atacama Desert, sitting in a hotel lobby , because that's the only place that I can get a Wi-Fi connection, and I have this picture up on my screen, and a woman comes up behind me. 当时我在智利, 坐在阿塔卡马沙漠一家酒店的大厅里, 因为那是我能找到的唯一有无线网络的地方。 当时在我电脑屏幕上显示的是这张照片。 正好有一位女士从我的身后走过来,
lobby:n.大堂;门厅;民众接待厅;游说;v.游说(从政者或政府); Wi-Fi:abbr.无线保真技术(wirelessfidelity);无线上网技术;
She says, "Oh, that's beautiful. 她说:“哇,那真美！
What is it? Is that Jackson Pollock ?" 这是什么？是杰克逊·波洛克的作品么？“
Pollock:n.鳕鱼类;
And unfortunately , I can be a little too honest. 但不幸的是,我有点过于诚实了,
unfortunately:adv.不幸地;
I said, "No, it's -- it's penguin shit." 我对她说说:”不,那是企鹅大便。“
penguin:n.企鹅;
(Laughter) （观众笑）
And, you know, "Excuse me!" 呃,你们知道的,（她的反应是）”什么！“
And I could sense that she thought I was speaking synecdochically. 我能够感觉到 她以为我在开玩笑。
(Laughter) （观众笑）
So, I said, "No, no, really -- it's penguin shit." 所以我补充说:”不,不,是真的,那真的是企鹅大便。“
(Laughter) （观众笑）
Because I had just been in the Falkland Islands taking pictures of penguins . 因为我之前刚去了福克兰群岛 拍摄企鹅。
penguins:n.企鹅;(penguin的复数)
This is a Gentoo penguin. And she was still skeptical . 这是一只巴布亚企鹅。但她仍是将信将疑。
Gentoo:n.巴布亚企鹅; skeptical:adj.怀疑的;怀疑论的,不可知论的;
So literally , a few minutes before that, 大概在那几分钟之前,
literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地:
I downloaded this scientific paper about calculations on avian defecation . 我下载了这篇 关于计算鸟类排便的论文。
scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; avian:adj.鸟的;鸟类的;n.鸟; defecation:n.排便;澄清,净化;
Which is really quite interesting, because it turns out you can model this as something called "Poiseuille flow," 这真的很有趣,因为结论是 你可以用泊肃叶流来模拟它,
and you can learn an awful lot about the physics of the avian rectum . 而且你可以学到很多 关于鸟类直肠的物理知识。
rectum:n.直肠;
Actually, technically, it's not a rectum. It's called a cloaca . 不过实际上那不是直肠,而是叫做泄殖腔。
cloaca:n.泄殖腔;阴沟;下水沟;
At this point, she stops me, and she says, "Who are you?" 在这时,她打断了我, 她问道:”你是谁？“
'"Wha -- what do you do?" ”你是做什么的？“
And I was stuck, because I didn't have any way to describe what I do. 我愣住了, 因为我真不知道该怎么描述我的职业。
describe:v.描述;形容;把…称为;画出…图形;
And so, in some sense, this talk today is my answer to that. 从某种意义上讲, 今天的演讲 就是对那个问题的回答。
It's a selection of a random bunch of the stuff that I do. 今天的演讲收集了一些我所做的很随机的事情。
selection:n.选择;选拔;挑选;被挑选的人(或物); random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地; bunch:n.群;串;突出物;vi.隆起;打褶;形成一串;vt.使成一串;使打褶; stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
And it's very hard for me to make sense of it, so I'm not sure that you can. 很难去解释他们, 所以我也不敢确定你们可以。
make sense of:搞清…的意思;
It's the kind of thing that I sit up late at night thinking about, sometimes -- often at four in the morning. 我有时候会坐在那里思考这些事情直到深夜, 甚至一直到早上4点。
So, some people are afraid of what I do. 有些人对我所做的事感到害怕。
Some people think I am the nerd Tony Soprano , and in response , I have ordered a bulletproof pocket protector . 有些人认为我是那个怪人托尼·瑟普拉诺, 于是作为回应, 我特地订了一个防弹保护袋。
nerd:n.呆子;讨厌的人; Soprano:n.女高音;最高音部;女高音歌手;adj.女高音的;童声高音的; response:n.响应;反应;回答; bulletproof:adj.防弹的; protector:n.保护器;保护者;保护装置;防御者;
I'm not sure what these people think, because I don't speak Norsk. 我不知道这些人在想什么, 因为我不会说挪威语。
(Laughter) （观众笑）
But I'm not thinking 'monsteret' is a good thing. 但我可不觉得”怪兽“是个好东西。（挪威有一份杂志曾将梅尔沃德称为”专利怪兽“）
I don't know, you know? 我不知到,你们知道么？
So, one of the things that I love to do is travel around the world and look at archaeological sites . 环游世界和参观考古遗址 是我喜爱做的一件事。
archaeological:adj.[古]考古学的;[古]考古学上的; sites:n.网站(site的复数);遗址,举办地点;v.使...位于(site的单三形式);
Because archaeology gives us an opportunity to study past civilizations and see where they succeeded and where they failed. 因为考古使我们有机会 去研究以前的文明, 并去了解他们在哪些地方成功 或者失败了。
archaeology:n.考古学;考古学的; civilizations:n.文明(civilization的复数形式);
Use science to, you know, work backwards and say, "Well, really, what were they thinking?" 利用科学去倒推, 然后询问:”他们到底在想什么？“
And recently I was in Easter Island, which is an incredibly beautiful place, and an incredibly mysterious place, because no matter where you go in Easter Island, you're struck by these statues , called the moai. 最近我去了复活节岛, 那是个美得难以置信的地方, 也是个十分神秘的地方, 因为在复活节岛上,无论走到哪里, 你都能见到那些被称为摩艾的雕像。
recently:adv.最近;新近; incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地; mysterious:adj.神秘的;不可思议的;难解的; statues:n.[建]雕像(statue的复数);v.在…处装饰;用雕像装饰(statue的三单形式);
The place is 64 square miles. 岛的面积是64平方英里,
They made, so far as we can tell, 900 of them. 而据我所知,一共有900各这样的雕像。
so far as:只要;就…而言;在…范围内;
Why on Earth? And if you haven't read 这到底是为什？如果你还没有读过
Jared Diamond's book, " Collapse ," 賈德·戴蒙的《大崩壞》,
Collapse:vi.倒塌;瓦解;暴跌;vt.使倒塌,使崩溃;使萎陷;折叠;n.倒塌;失败;衰竭;
I totally recommend that you do. 我强烈推荐你去读一下。
recommend:v.推荐;介绍;劝告;建议;使受欢迎;
He's a got a great chapter about it. 他的书中有一个关于这些雕像的章节写得很好。
Basically , these people committed ecological suicide in order to make more of these. 基本上,这些人 用自杀式的生态破坏 来建造更多这样的雕像。
Basically:adv.主要地,基本上; committed:adj.坚信的; v.做出错事; (commit的过去分词和过去式) ecological:adj.生态的,生态学的; suicide:n.自杀;自杀行为;自杀者;adj.自杀的;v.自杀;vi.自杀;
And somewhere along the line, somebody said, "I know! Let's cut down the last tree and commit suicide, because we need more identical statues." 在这过程中有人说道: “我知道了！让我们来砍掉最后一棵树, 然后自杀, 因为我们需要更多的一模一样的雕像。“
identical:adj.同一的;完全相同的;n.完全相同的事物;
(Laughter) （观众笑）
And -- one thing that isn't a mystery, actually, was when I grew up, because when I was a little kid, I'd seen these pictures, and I thought, "Well, why that look on the face? 嗯... 有一件事其实并不那么神秘。 当还是小孩的时候,我看到了这些照片, 就想:”为什么是那样一副表情？
Why that brow ?" I mean, it's such a powerful thing. 为什么是那样的眉毛？” 我的意思是,那是多么刚强有力。
brow:n.额头;山脊;坡顶;
Where did they get that inspiration? 他们是从哪里得到的灵感？
And then I met Yoyo, who is the native Rapa Nuian guide, and if you look at Yoyo's face, you kind of figure out where they got it. 然后我遇到了尤尤 一个土著拉帕努伊人导游。 如果你们看一下尤尤的脸, 你们或许就能知道他们灵感的出处。
native:adj.本国的;土著的;天然的;与生俱来的;天赋的;n.本地人;土产;当地居民;
There's many mysteries, these statues. 关于这些雕像有很多秘密。
Everyone wants to know, how did they made them, how did they transport them? 每个人都想知道,他们是怎样建成这些雕像的, 又是怎样运输的？
transport:n.运输;输送;运送;运输机;v.输送;传播;使产生身临其境的感觉;(旧时)流放;
This woman in the foreground is Jo Anne Van Tilberg. 照片中在前面的这位女士是乔·安妮·范·提尔伯格,
foreground:n.前景;最显著的位置; Van:n.厢式货车;客货车;v.选矿;用车搬运;
She's the leading archaeologist working Easter Island today. 她是当今在复活节岛上工作的考古学家中的佼佼者。
archaeologist:n.考古学家;
And she has studied the statues for 20-some years, and she has detailed records of every single statue. 她研究这些雕像已有20多年, 她还有每个雕像的详细资料。
The one on the page here is the same that's up there. 册子上的那个雕像就是照片里那个。
One interesting problem, is the stone isn't very hard. 一个有趣的现象是,那些石头并不是很硬,
So this used to be completely smooth. 它们曾经是十分光滑的。
In fact, in many of the statues, when you excavate them, the backs are totally smooth -- almost glass smooth. 事实上,在他们被挖掘出来的时候, 狠多雕像的背后是完全平滑的,就像玻璃那样光滑。
excavate:vt.挖掘;开凿;vi.发掘;细查;
But after 1,000 years out in the weather, they look like this. 但是在经历几千年的风吹雨打之后 它们变成了现在这个样子。
Jo Anne and I have just embarked on a project to digitize them all, and we're going to do a very high-res digitization , first because it's a way of preserving them. 乔·安妮和我正着手把这些雕像数字化, 我们要做高分辨率的, 这首先是为了保存它们,
embarked:v.上船;装船;(embark的过去式和过去分词) digitize:vt.[计]数字化; high-res:(游戏用语)高解析度; digitization:n.[计]数字化,数位化,数码化; preserving:n.保留,保存;
Second, we have these ideas about how you can algorithmically , then, learn a few of the mysteries about them. 其次我们在想怎样可以通过算法 去研究它们的秘密。
algorithmically:[计]在算法上;
How long have they been standing in what positions? 它们在什么位置站立了多久？
And maybe, indirectly , get at some of the issues of what caused them to be the way they are. 也许还可以间接了解 是什么使它们变成现在这样。
indirectly:adv.间接地;不诚实;迂回地; issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数)
While I was in Easter Island, Comet McNaught was there also, so, you get a gratuitous picture of a moai with a comet. 当我在复活节岛时,麦克诺特彗星也在那里, 于是就有了这张无偿照片, 一个摩艾和一颗彗星。
Comet:n.[天]彗星; gratuitous:adj.无理由的,无端的;免费的;
I also have an archaeological project going on in Egypt. 我在埃及也有一个考古项目, 正在进行中。
'"Going on" is perhaps a little bit strong. “正在进行”这个词可能言过其实了。
We're trying to get all of the permissions to get everything all set, to get it going. 我们正在尝试得到各方面的批准, 做好各种准备,然后开始着手工作。
So, I'll talk about it at a future TED. 所以我将来会在TED谈一下这个。
But there's some amazing opportunities in Egypt as well. 但是在埃及有一些非常令人惊讶的机会。
Another thing I do is I invent stuff. 我还做一件事,就是搞发明。
In fact, I design nuclear reactors . 事实上我设计核反应堆。
nuclear:adj.原子能的;[细胞]细胞核的;中心的;原子核的; reactors:n.[化工]反应器(reactor的复数);反应者;
Not a joke. 不是开玩笑的。
This is the conventional nuclear fuel cycle. 这是一个常见的 核燃料循环。
conventional:adj.符合习俗的,传统的;常见的;惯例的; nuclear fuel:n.核燃料;
The red line is what is done in most nuclear reactors. It's called the open fuel cycle. 红线表示的是大部分核反应堆里的流程, 叫做开放式燃料循环。
The white lines are what's called an advance fuel cycle, where you reprocess . 白线部分被称为高级燃料循环, 在这里进行再处理。
reprocess:v.再加工;重新处理;使再生;回收(废料);
Now, this is the normal way it's done. 那么,这是通常的做法。
It's got the huge advantage that it does not create carbon pollution. 它有一个很大的优势, 就是不会产生二氧化碳污染。
advantage:n.有利条件:优势:优点: carbon:n.[化学]碳;碳棒;复写纸;adj.碳的;碳处理的;
It has a lot of disadvantages -- each one of these steps is extremely expensive, it's potentially dangerous and they have the interesting property that the step cannot be performed in anyone's back yard, which is a problem. 但它同时也有很多不足, 这里的每一个步骤都很昂贵, 也有安全隐患。 而且有趣的是, 任何步骤都不可能在家门口完成, 这是个麻烦。
disadvantages:n.不利因素;障碍;不便之处;(disadvantage的复数) extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地; potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地; performed:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好)(perform的过去分词和过去式)
So, our reactor eliminates these steps, which, if we can actually make it work, is a really cool thing. 而我们的反应堆省去了这些步骤。 如果我们真的能做到,那将会是件很棒的事。
eliminates:消除;排除;
Now, It's kind of nuts to work on a new nuclear reactor . 研究新的核反应堆听上去很疯狂。
nuclear reactor:na.(原子)核反应堆;
There's -- no reactor's been even built to an old design, much less a new one, in the United States for 25 years. 在美国,近25年内 没有建过一个反应堆,不管是老设计, 还是新设计了。
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式)
It's the kind of very high-risk , but potentially very high-return thing that we do. 我们所做的事是高风险的, 但也是高回报的。
high-risk:adj.高危险度的;
Changing into a totally different field, we do a lot of stuff in solid-state physics, particularly in an area called metamaterials . 在另一个完全不同的领域, 我们从事很多固体物理学, 尤其是超材料方面的研究。
solid-state:adj.固态的;固态电子学的;固态物理学的;使用电晶体的; particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; metamaterials:超材料(metamaterial的复数);
A metamaterial is an artificial material, which manipulates , in this case, electromagnetic radiation , in a way that you couldn't otherwise. 超材料是一种人造材料, 在这个例子中它可以操控电磁辐射, 这是天然材料做不到的。
artificial:adj.人造的;仿造的;虚伪的;非原产地的;武断的; manipulates:vt.操纵;操作;巧妙地处理;篡改; electromagnetic:adj.电磁的; radiation:n.辐射;放射线;放射疗法;
So this device here is an invisibility cloak . 这个装置是一个隐形斗篷。
device:n.装置;策略;图案; invisibility:n.看不见;看不见的东西;难看见; cloak:n.斗蓬;宽大外衣;托词;vt.遮掩;隐匿;
It may not seem that, but if you were a microwave , this is how you would view it. 看上去很难想象,但如果你是一束微波, 你将会看到这样的现象。
microwave:n.微波;
Rays of light -- in this case, microwave light -- come in, and they just squish around the cell, and they come back the other side. 光束,这里特指微波, 从一边进来,绕过这个装置, 然后从另一边出去。
squish:n.咯吱声;挤扁;vt.压扁;把...挤扁;vi.发出嘎吱声;
Now, you could do that with mirrors from one angle. 你可以利用镜子在特定角度做到同样的效果,
The cool thing is, this does it from all angles. 但神奇的是,用它,你可以在任何角度做到。
Metamaterials, unfortunately -- 可惜的是,超材料
A, it only works on microwave, and B, it doesn't work all that well yet. 第一,只对微波有效, 第二,还并不那么理想。
But metamaterials are an incredibly exciting field. 但是超材料是一个令人难以置信的领域,
It's -- you know, today I'd like to say it's a zero billion dollar business, but, in fact, it's negative . 它是,嗯,我想说, 在当今是没有效益的, 事实上是负产出的。
negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝;
But some day, some day, maybe it's going to work. 但是终有一天,那可能会实现。
We do a lot of work in biomedical fields. 我们在生物医药方面做很多工作。
biomedical:adj.生物医学的;
In this case, we're working with a major medical foundation to develop inexpensive ways of diagnosing diseases in developing countries. 具体说来,我们致力于一个医疗基金会, 来促进发展中国家中 便宜的医疗诊断。
foundation:n.基础;地基;基金会;根据;创立; inexpensive:adj.廉价的;不昂贵的; diagnosing:n.诊断;v.诊断(diagnose的现在分词); diseases:n.[医]病(disease的复数);[医]疾病;[植保]病害;疾病种类;
So they say the eyes are the windows of the soul -- turns out they're a window to a whole lot more stuff. 人们说眼睛是心灵的窗户, 实际上那是通向万物的窗户。
And -- these happen to be my eyes, by the way . 顺便提一下,那是我的眼睛。
by the way:顺便说一下;
Now, I'm also very interested in cooking. 我也很热衷于烹饪。
While I was at Microsoft, I took a leave of absence and went to a chef school in France. 当我还在微软的时候, 有一次我请假去法国一所厨师学校。
absence:n.没有;缺乏;缺席;不注意;
I used to work, also while at Microsoft, at a leading restaurant in Seattle , so I do a lot of cooking. 在微软工作时, 我也曾同时在西雅图一家知名餐馆工作, 所以我经常下厨。
Seattle:n.西雅图(美国一港市);
I've been on a team that won the world championship of barbecue . 我还曾和队友一起 赢得了烧烤比赛的世界冠军。
championship:n.锦标赛;冠军称号;冠军的地位; barbecue:n.烧烤;(户外烧烤用的)烤架;v.(在烤架上)烧烤;
But barbecue's interesting, because it's one of these cult foods like chili , or bouillabaisse . 烧烤很有趣,因为它是一种让一部分人狂热的食物, 就好像辣椒或者马赛鱼汤。
cult:n.崇拜; adj.受特定群体欢迎的; chili:n.红辣椒,辣椒; bouillabaisse:n.浓味鱼肉汤;法式海产什烩;
Various parts will have a cult food that people get enormously attached to. 很多地方都有 这样让人十分着迷的食物。
enormously:adv.巨大地,庞大地;非常地,在极大程度上; attached:adj.依恋;v.重视;把…固定;(attach的过去分词和过去式)
There's tremendous traditions, there's secrecy , and I'm trying to use a very scientific approach . 这里面有很多的传统和秘密, 而我尝试用一种 十分科学的方式来烹饪。
tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的; secrecy:n.保密;秘密;隐蔽; approach:n.方法;路径;v.接近;建议;着手处理;
So this is my latest cooker, and if this looks more complicated than the nuclear reactor, that's because it is. 这个是我最新的一个烤箱, 如果它看上去比核反应堆更复杂, 那是因为事实就是这样的。
complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式)
But if you get to play with all those knobs and dials -- and of course, really the controller over there does it all on software -- you can make some terrific ribs . 你要是很好地操作这些旋钮和拨盘, 当然这些控制都是通过电脑软件实现的, 你就可以制作出美味的排骨。
knobs:n.把手(knob的复数);凸岩; terrific:adj.极好的;极其的,非常的;可怕的; ribs:n.[解剖]肋骨;排骨(rib的复数);
(Laughter) （观众笑）
This is a high-speed centrifuge . 这是一个高速离心机。
centrifuge:vt.用离心机分离;使…受离心作用;n.离心机;[机][化工]离心分离机;
You should all have one in your kitchen beside your Turbochef. 你们都应该有一台, 就在厨房里快速烘烤箱边上。
This subjects food to a force about 50,000 times that of normal gravity, and oh boy, does it clarify chicken stock . 它对食物施加相当于5000倍重力 的力量。 哦孩子,它能过滤鸡汤？
clarify:v.澄清;阐明;得到澄清;得到净化; stock:n.股票; v.库存; adj.老一套的;
You would not believe it! 你是不会相信的！
I perform a series of ghoulish experiments on food -- in this case, trying to calibrate a mathematical model so that one can predict exactly what the internal cooking times are. 我对食物做过一系列 残酷的实验, 这一次是要校对一个数学模型, 是为了准确预测 内部烹调时间。
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; ghoulish:adj.食尸鬼似的;令人毛骨悚然的; calibrate:vt.校正;调整;测定口径; mathematical:adj.数学的,数学上的;精确的; predict:v.预报;预言;预告; internal:n.内脏;本质;adj.内部的;里面的;体内的;(机构)内部的;
It turns out, A, it's useful, and for a geek like me, it's fun. 这个实验很有用,而且对于我这样一个反常的人来说也很有趣。
geek:n.做低级滑稽表演的人,反常的人; n.(俚)极客,即智力超群,善于钻研但不懂与人交往的怪才;
Theory is red, black is experiment. 红色的是理论预测, 黑色的是实验结果。
So I'm either really good at faking it, or -- or this particular model seems to work. 所以说,要不就是我真的很善于作假, 不然的话就是这个模型很有效。
faking:v.伪造;冒充;假装,佯装,装出;(fake的现在分词)
So, another random thing I do is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence , or SETI. 我所做的另一件事 是寻找外星智慧, 或者说搜寻地外文明。
extraterrestrial:adj.地球外的;n.天外来客; intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报;
And you may be familiar with the movie " Contact ," 你可能熟悉《超时空接触》这部电影,
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友; Contact:n.接触,联系;v.使接触,联系;
which sort of popularized that. 正是这部电影使搜寻外星智慧流行起来。
popularized:vt.普及;使通俗化;vi.通俗化;
It turns out there are real people who go out and search for extraterrestrials in a very scientific way. 其实真的有人 用科学的方式去搜寻外星智慧。
extraterrestrials:外星人(extraterrestrial的复数);
In fact, almost everybody in the movie is based on a real character, a real person. 事实上,电影中几乎每个角色 都是根据真实人物改编的。
So, the Jodie Foster character here is actually this woman, Jill Tarter, and Jill has dedicated her life to this. 朱迪·福斯特扮演的角色 其实就是这位女士,吉尔·塔特。 吉尔将她的一生都奉献给这个事业。
Foster:vt.培养;养育,抚育;抱(希望等);adj.收养的,养育的; dedicated:adj.献身的; v.把…奉献给; (dedicate的过去分词和过去式)
You know, a lot of people risk their lives in a brief act of heroism , which is kind of cool, but Jill has what I call slow heroism. 嗯,很多人冒生命危险 去做英雄主义的行为, 这看起来很酷。 但是吉尔所做的, 我把它称为缓慢的英雄主义。
heroism:n.英勇,英雄气概;英雄行为;勇敢的事迹;
She is risking her professional life on something that her own calculations show may not work for a thousand years -- may not ever. 她为一些一千年后, 甚至永远都不会成功的事, 赌上了她的职业生涯。
professional:adj.专业的;职业的;职业性的;n.专业人员;职业运动员;
So I like to support people that are risking their lives. 我支持这样的人。
After the movie came out, of course, there was a lot of interest in SETI. 当电影上映之后,自然掀起了一股地外文明热。
My kids saw the movie, and afterwards they came to me and they said, "So, Dad, so -- so -- that character -- that's Jill, right?" 我的孩子们看了电影之后 就对我说: “爸爸, 那个角色就是吉尔,是不是？”
I said, "Oh, yeah, yeah -- absolutely ." 我说:“哦,是的,完全正确。”
absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地;
'"And that other person, that's someone -- " I said, "Yes." “而且其他角色也都是确有其人的,” 我说,“是的。”
They said, "Well, you know that creepy rich guy in the movie? 他们又说:“哦,那你认识电影里那个怪异的有钱人吗？
creepy:adj.令人毛骨悚然的;爬行的;
Is that you?" 那是你吗？“
I said, well, you know, It's just a movie! Come on. 我说,哦,那仅仅是部电影！别闹了。
(Laughter) （观众笑）
So, the SETI institute , with a little bit of help from me, and a lot of help from Paul Allen and a variety of other people, is building a dedicated radio telescope in Hat Creek , California, so they can do this SETI work. 恩,搜寻地外文明研究所, 它们得到了我的一点帮助,以及保罗·阿伦 和其他很多人的帮助, 正在位于加利福尼亚州的哈特克里克 建造一个专门的射电望远镜, 这样他们就能搜寻地外文明了。
institute:v.开始(调查);制定;创立;提起(诉讼);n.学会,协会;学院; variety:n.多样;种类;杂耍;变化,多样化; radio telescope:n.射电望远镜; Creek:n.小溪;小湾;
Now, I travel a lot, and I change cell phones a lot, and the one person who always gets updated on all my cell phones and pagers and everything else is Jill, because I really don't want to miss "the call." 最近我时常旅游,也经常换手机, 我总是把最新的 电话、呼机号码和其他一些信息告诉吉尔, 因为我可不想错过 她的来电。
updated:adj.更新的;现代化的;v.使现代化;更新;(update的过去分词和过去式) pagers:n.呼叫器,寻呼机(pager的复数形式);
(Laughter) （观众笑）
I mean, can you imagine? E.T.'s phoning home, and I'm not, like, there? You know, horrible ! 我的意思是,你能想象么？这就好像外星人在给家里打电话, 而我却不在。多么糟糕啊！
horrible:可怕的,极讨厌的,
So, I do a lot of work on dinosaurs. 我还研究恐龙。
I'm known to TEDsters as the guy that has sex with dinosaurs. 我被TED成员称为那个和恐龙做爱的人,
And I resemble that remark . 我就是这样的人。
resemble:v.看起来像;显得像;像; remark:v.评论;谈论;说起;n.评述;言论;谈论;引人注目;
I'm going to talk about a different aspect of dinosaurs, which is the finding of them. 我要讲述关于恐龙的不一样的一面, 关于寻找恐龙。
aspect:n.方面;层面;外观;方位;
Now, to find dinosaurs, you hike around in horrible conditions looking for a dinosaur. 要找到恐龙,你就得在很艰难的条件下 徒步寻找。
hike:v.做徒步旅行; n.徒步旅行; (价格、花费等的)大幅度提高;
It sounds really dumb , but that's what it is. 这听起来很愚蠢,但事实就是如此。
dumb:adj.哑的,无说话能力的;不说话的,无声音的;
It's horrible conditions because wherever you have nice weather, plants grow. 条件很艰难是因为 一但天气好了 植物就会生长。
And you don't get any erosion , and you don't see any dinosaurs. 如果没有地质腐蚀,你就找不到恐龙。
erosion:n.侵蚀,腐蚀;
So you always find dinosaurs in deserts or badlands -- areas that have very little plant growth and have flash floods in the spring. 所以你总是 在沙漠或者荒地, 那些很少有植物生长, 春天又会发大水的地方,才能找到恐龙。
badlands:n.荒地;崎岖不毛的地区; flash:n.闪光; v.闪光; adj.庞大的;
You know, skiers pray for snow? 滑雪者祈祷下雪,
skiers:n.滑雪的人;
Paleontologists pray for erosion. 古生物学家祈祷地址腐蚀。
Paleontologists:n.古生物学家;古生物学者;(paleontologist的复数)
So you hike around and -- this is after you dig them up -- they look like this. 你到四处远足, 嗯— 当你把它们从地下挖起来,它们就是这个样子。
You hike around, you see something like this. 你四处远足,然后就发现了这些东西。
Now, this is something I found, so look at it very closely here. 这个是我的发现,近一点看,
You've got this bentonite clay , which is -- sort of swells up and expands . 这是一块膨润土, 有点鼓起来了。
bentonite:n.膨润土;皂土; clay:n.黏土;陶土; swells:v.涌浪;胀罐(swell的第三人称单数形式);n.肿胀(swell的复数); expands:v.展开; (expand的第三人称单数)
And there's some stuff poking out. So you look at that, and you look up close, and you say, "Well, gee, that's kind of interesting -- what are all of these pieces?" 这里有东西突出来。你看, 近距离看,你就会说: ”哦,真有趣,这些碎片是什么？“
poking:v.捅;推;戳;探;露出;伸出;探出;(poke的现在分词)
Well, if you look closely, you can recognize , actually, from the shape that these are skull fragments . 要是近距离看你就能从它们的形状认出来, 其实那是头骨碎片。
recognize:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到; skull:n.头盖骨,脑壳; fragments:n.碎片(fragment的复数);片断;[计]分段;v.破碎(fragment的三单形式);打碎;
And then when you look at this, you say, "That's a tooth. 然后你看这个, 你会说:”那是牙齿,
It's a big tooth." 一颗很大的牙齿。”
It's about the size of a banana. 它有一只香蕉那么大,
It has a big serration on the edge. 边上还有很大的锯齿。
serration:n.(行扫描起点不一致引起屏幕上的)锯齿状;锯齿状突起(等于serrature);
This is what Tyrannosaurus rex looks like in the ground. 霸王龙埋在地下时就是这样子。
Tyrannosaurus:n.暴龙;
And this is what it's like to find a Tyrannosaurus rex, which I was lucky enough to do a few years ago. 找到霸王龙就是这样子的, 我在几年前有幸做到。
Now, this is what Tyrannosaurus rex looks like in my living room . 而这是霸王龙在我的起居室里的样子,
living room:n.客厅;起居室;
Not the same one, actually. This is a cast which I had bought. 实际上不是同一个。这个是我买的模型。
And then, after buying the cast, I found my own, and I don't have room for two. 在我买了这个模型之后,我找到了自己的霸王龙, 但是我没有足够的空间放两个。
You know. 你们明白的。
So the thing that's wonderful for me about finding dinosaurs is that it is both an intellectual thing, because you're trying to reconstruct the environment of millions of years ago. 找到恐龙对我来说很神奇是因为 这是一件需要智力的事, 因为你在试图重建 几百万年前的场景。
intellectual:n.知识分子;脑力劳动者;adj.智力的;脑力的;理智的;有才智的; reconstruct:vt.重建;改造;修复;重现;
It's something that can inform all sorts of science in unexpected ways. 这可以给科学带来各种 出乎意料的信息。
inform:v.通知;告诉;报告;告发;告密; unexpected:adj.意外的,想不到的;
The study of dinosaurs led to the realization that there's a problem with asteroid impact , for example. 举个例子,对于恐龙的研究 使我们认识到了小行星撞击 这个问题。
realization:n.实现;领悟; asteroid:n.[天]小行星;[无脊椎]海盘车;小游星;adj.星状的; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
The study of dinosaurs may, literally, one day save the planet. 对恐龙的研究也许某天 能够拯救地球。
Study of the ancient climate is very important. 对于古代气候的研究十分重要。
In fact, the Mesozoic, when dinosaurs lived, had much higher CO2 than today, was much warmer than today, and is one of the interesting proof points for the effects of CO2 on climate. 事实上,在恐龙生活的中生代, 地球上有比现在多得多的二氧化碳, 也比现在温暖很多,这是二氧化碳对气候影响的 一个有趣的论据。
But, besides being intellectually and scientifically interesting, it's also very different than the other things I do because you get to hike around in the badlands. 在智力上和科学上有趣的同时, 寻找恐龙也是与众不同的, 它和我所作的其他事不同,因为我会在不毛之地远足。
besides:adv.此外;而且;prep.除…之外; intellectually:adv.智力上;理智地;知性上; scientifically:adv.系统地;合乎科学地;学问上; different than:不同于;
This is actually what most dinosaur research looks like. 事实上大多数关于恐龙的研究就是这个样子的。
This is one of my papers: "A pygostyle from a non-avian Theropod ." 这是我的一片论文,叫“一根属于非禽类双足恐龙的尾综骨”。
Theropod:n.兽脚类的肉食恐龙;adj.兽脚亚目的;
It's not as gripping as dinosaur sex, so we're not going to go into it further. 这并没有恐龙性爱那么吸引人, 所以我们不会继续下去了。
gripping:adj.激动人心的; v.紧抓; (grip的现在分词)
Now, I'm also really big on photography . 另外,我还非常热衷于摄影。
photography:n.摄影;摄影术;
I travel all over the world taking pictures -- some of them good, most of them not. 我环球旅行并拍摄很多照片, 有一些还不错,大多数都不行。
These days bits are cheap. Unfortunately that means you've got to spend more time sorting through them. 如今比特已经很便宜了,但不幸的是, 这就意味着我们要花更多的时间去筛选它们。
Here's a picture I took in the Falkland Islands of King penguins on a beach. 这里有一张我在福克兰群岛拍的照片, 是一群在海滩上的帝企鹅。
Here's a picture I took in Alaska a few years ago, of Orcas . 这张虎鲸的照片几年前摄于阿拉斯加。
Orcas:n.逆戟鲸;兽人(orca的复数);
I'd gone up to photograph Orcas, and we had looked for a week and we hadn't seen a damn Orca. 我去拍虎鲸, 但是我们整整找了一星期 也没见到它的影子。
damn:v.谴责;该死;n.诅咒;adj.可恶的;
And the last day the sun comes out, the Orcas come, they're right by the boat. It's fantastic . 终于在最后一天,太阳出来了, 虎鲸也出现了,它们就在船边上。那真是太棒了。
fantastic:奇异的,空想的
And I get lots of pictures like this. 我拍了很多这样的照片。
Then, a little bit later, 然后,又过了一会儿,
I start getting some pictures like this. 我拍到了这样的照片。
Now, to a human audience I need to explain that if Penthouse magazine had a marine mammal edition, this would be the centerfold . 我需要对在座的各位解释一下, 如果阁楼杂志有海洋哺乳动物版, 这张照片一定会成为插页。
Penthouse:n.阁楼;顶层公寓,屋顶房间; marine:adj.海的;海产的;海生的;海船的;n.(尤指美国或英国皇家)海军陆战队士兵; mammal:n.哺乳动物; centerfold:n.(杂志的)裸体照片插页,中间插页;
It's true. 是真的。
So there's more and more activity near the boat, and all of a sudden somebody shouts, "What's that in the water?" 它们在船边的活动越来越频繁, 突然有人喊道: “那是什么？”
all of a sudden:突然地,出乎意料地;
I said, "Well, I think that's what you call a Free Willy." 我说:“哦,我想这就是你们所说的人鱼的童话吧。”
(Laughter) （观众笑）
There's a variety of things you can learn from watching whales have sex. 从观察鲸鱼性交能学到很多东西。
(Laughter) (观众笑)
The first thing you learn is the overwhelming importance of hands. 首先能了解到的 是双手的重要性。
overwhelming:adj.势不可挡的; v.压倒; (overwhelm的现在分词)
They don't have them. 它们没有。
(Laughter) （观众笑）
I think Paul Simon is in the audience, and he has -- he may not realize it, but he wrote a song all about whale sex: "Slip-slidin' away." 我想保罗·西蒙应该坐在观众席中, 他曾经, 他自己或许还没有意识到,他曾经写过一首关于鲸鱼性爱的歌: 《越滑越远》。
That's kind of what it's like. 就是那样的。
The other interesting thing that I learned about whale sex: they curl their toes too. 关于鲸鱼性爱我学会的另一件事是, 它们也会曲脚趾。
curl:v.卷;蜷缩;鬈曲;(使)成拳曲状;n.(一绺)鬈发;(头发)拳曲;卷状物;螺旋状物; toes:n.脚趾;足尖部;有…脚趾的;v.用脚尖走;(toe的第三人称单数和复数)
(Laughter) （观众笑）
So -- where do you go putting all of these disparate pieces together? 所以, 如果把这极端的碎片拼起来你将会得到什么？
disparate:adj.不同的;不相干的;全异的;n.无法相比的东西;
You know, there's a tremendous amount of wisdom in finding a great thing, passion in life, and focusing all your energy on it, and I've never been able to do that. 这里包含了许多智慧, 关于寻找生活的激情, 并且全心全意地投入进去。 我从未做到过。
wisdom:n.智慧;明智;才智;学问; passion:n.激情;热情;酷爱;盛怒;
I just -- you know, because yes, 至于我,嗯,是的,因为
I'll focus passion on something, but then there will be something else, and then there's something else again. 我会集中注意力在一件事上, 但又会有新的事物出现,然后又会有新的。
And for a long time I fought this, and I thought, "Well, gee, I really ought to buckle down." 在很长一段时间里,我尝试这样做,我想: “好吧,我真的应该认真起来了”
buckle:n.搭扣;(皮带等的)锁扣;v.(使)搭扣扣住;(被)压垮;双腿发软
And you know, when I was at Microsoft, that was so engrossing , and the whole industry was expanding so much that it did tend to crowd out most of the other things in my life. 当我在微软的时候, 那是令人着迷的, 整个产业都在迅速发展, 那时候我生活中的其他事物都被挤出去了。
engrossing:adj.引人入胜的;v.使全神贯注(engross的ing形式); expanding:v.扩大,增加,增强细谈;详述;(expand的现在分词)
But ultimately , 但是最终,
ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究;
I decided that what I really ought to do is not fight being who I am, but embrace it. 我还是决定, 我真正要做的不是努力做自己, 而是拥抱自己。
embrace:n.拥抱,怀抱;v.拥抱;乐意采纳(思想、建议等);信奉;包括;
And say, "Yeah, you know, I -- this whole talk has been a mile wide and an inch deep, but that's really what works for me." 然后说:“是的, 这个演讲博而不深, 但这真的适合我。“
And regardless of whether it's nuclear reactors or metamaterials or metamaterials or whale sex, the common -- or lowest common denominator -- is me. 而不管是核反应堆或者是超材料, 是超材料还是鲸鱼性爱, 它们的共同点,最基本的共同点,就是我。
regardless:adj.不管的; v.不顾后果地; denominator:n.[数]分母;命名者;共同特征或共同性质;平均水平或标准;
That's it, thank you. 就这些了,谢谢。
(Applause) （观众鼓掌）