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RobertFull_2002-_生物进化启发工程设计_
Welcome. If I could have the first slide please? 欢迎大家！能调到第一张幻灯片吗？
Contrary to calculations made by some engineers, bees can fly, dolphins can swim, and geckos can even climb up the smoothest surfaces. Now what I want to do, in the short time I have, is to try to allow each of you to experience, sort of, the thrill of revealing natures design. 与工程师们所计算的正好相反:蜜蜂能飞 海豚能游泳,壁虎甚至可以 在最光滑的表面垂直爬行。我现在利用很短的一点时间 想让你们都体验一下 揭开大自然设计的奥秘有多么刺激
Contrary:adj.相反的;对立的;adv.相反地;n.相反;反面; geckos:n.壁虎(gecko的复数形式); short time:adj.短暂的;快速的(shorttime的变形); thrill:n.兴奋感;兴奋;激动;v.使非常兴奋;使非常激动; revealing:adj.暴露的;发人深省的;v.揭示;露出;显示;展示;(reveal的现在分词)
I get to do this all the time, and it's just incredible . 我每次都有机会做这个,真是难以置信
incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的;
I want to try to share just a little bit of that with you in this presentation . 现在要和你们一同分享
presentation:n.展示;描述,陈述;介绍;赠送;
The challenge of looking at nature's designs -- and I'll tell you the way that we perceive it, and the way we've used it. 窥探自然匠心的挑战 我们怎么去理解它、应用它
perceive:v.注意到;意识到;将…理解为;认为;
The challenge of course, is to answer this question: 其中的挑战自然是围绕着一个问题:
What permits this extraordinary performance of animals that allows them basically to go anywhere? 是什么使得动物拥有某些能力,让它们的分布 广泛得如此出乎意料,几乎无处不在
extraordinary:adj.非凡的;特别的;离奇的;临时的;特派的; performance:n.性能;表现;业绩;表演; basically:adv.主要地,基本上;
And if we could figure that out how can we implement those designs? 倘若我们能掌握这些设计的话会发生什么呢？
implement:v.实施;执行;贯彻;使生效;n.工具;
Well, many biologists will tell engineers and others, organisms have millions of years to get it right, they're spectacular , they can do everything wonderfully well. 好吧,许多生物学家都会跟工程师们说 生物们花了上百万年才把这些东西弄对 让人叹为观止,这些家伙没什么做不了的
biologists:n.生物学家(biologist的复数); organisms:n.[生物]生物体(organism的复数);[生物]有机体; spectacular:adj.壮观的;壮丽的;令人惊叹的;n.壮观的场面;精彩的表演; wonderfully:adv.精彩地;惊人地;极好地;
So the answer is biomimicry -- just copy nature directly . 所以它们的答案是:直接复制自然
biomimicry:仿生学;生物模拟;生物仿生; directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就;
We know from working on animals that the truth is it's exactly what you don't want to do. Because evolution works on the just-good-enough principle , not on a perfecting principle. 通过研究动物我们知道 其实这样根本不行。因为进化 遵循的是“见好就收”的原则,而不是“精益求精”
evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进; principle:n.原理,原则;主义,道义;本质,本义;根源,源泉;
And the constraints in building any organism when you look at it are really severe . Natural technologies have incredible constraints. 造化在“设计”任何一种生物时面临的障碍 都十分严峻。“自然科技”遇到的困难复杂得无可想象
constraints:n.[数]约束;限制;约束条件(constraint的复数形式); severe:adj.极为恶劣的;十分严重的;严厉的;苛刻的; technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数);
Think about it. If you were an engineer and I told you that you had to build an automobile but it had to start off to be this big, then it had to grow to be full size and had to work every step along the way. 试想你是一个工程师,我告诉你 你得造一辆汽车,一开始只能有这么点儿大 然后要渐渐长成,而且在每个阶段都能工作
automobile:n.汽车;v.开汽车;坐汽车;adj.自动的;
Think about the fact that if you build an automobile I'll tell you that you also inside it have to put a factory that allows you to make another automobile. 想象我要你造这么一辆汽车 符合要求的汽车里得藏着一个工厂来制造另一辆汽车
(Laughter) （笑）
And you can absolutely never, absolutely never, because of history and the inherited plan, start with a clean slate . 并且你绝对绝对没法从零开始,因为有进化史 和遗传编码的一大堆限制
absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; inherited:v.继承(金钱、财产等);接替(责任等);继任;(inherit的过去式和过去分词) clean slate:尽弃前嫌,重新开始;
So organisms have this important history. 所以生物的历史很重要
Really evolution works more like a tinkerer than an engineer. 进化的工作方式更像修理工而不是工程师,太过琐碎了
tinkerer:喜欢捣鼓小器具,小发明的人;
And this is really important when you begin to look at animals. 你看看动物体就知道这一点有多重要了
Instead we believe you need to be inspired by biology . 我觉得应该是从生物中得到灵感
inspired:adj.受到启发的; v.鼓舞; (inspire的过去分词和过去式) biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学;
You need to discover the general principles of nature, and then use these analogies when they're advantageous . 你得寻找自然的一般原理 然后在类比的广泛层面上让它们为我所用
principles:n.原则;主义;本质;政策;(principle的复数) analogies:n.类比;类推法; advantageous:adj.有利的;有益的;
This is a real challenge to do this because animals, when you start to really look inside them, how they work, appear hopelessly complex . There's no detailed history of the design plans, you can't go look it up anywhere. 做到这点真不容易,因为 当你真的去研究动物,它们的机理 看起来复杂得令人绝望。“设计方案” 没有详细的历史备案可以随时查阅
hopelessly:adv.绝望地;无望地;无可救药地; complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施;
They have way too many motions for their joints , too many muscles , even the simplest animal we think of, something like an insect, and they have more neurons and connections than you can imagine. 它们的关节能做太多种的运动,有太多块不同的肌肉 哪怕是最简单的动物,像昆虫 它们的神经元和其中的连接方式多到你想不到
joints:n.关节; v.接合,联合; (joint的第三人称单数和复数) muscles:n.肌肉(muscle的复数);
How can you make sense of this? Well, we believed -- and we hypothesized -- that one way animals could work simply, is if the control of their movements tended to be built into their bodies themselves. 你如何去理解这个？嗯..我们相信 也假设情况是这样:能让动物的机理简单些的办法 可能是将运动的控制 内置在身体的构造里
make sense of:搞清…的意思; hypothesized:v.假定,假设,猜测(hypothesize的过去式);
What we discovered was that two, four, six and eight legged animals all produce the same forces on the ground when they move. 我们发现两条腿、四条腿、六条、八条腿的动物 动起来时都对地面产生相似的力
They all work like this kangaroo , they bounce . 它们都跟这只袋鼠差不多,它们都在“弹跳”
kangaroo:袋鼠 bounce:v.反弹;反射;(使)弹起;n.弹跳;跳动;弹性;
And they can be modeled by a spring mass system that we call the spring mass system because we're bio mechanists, it's actually a pogo stick . 这些都可以用一个弹簧-质量系统来模拟,我们这么叫它 因为我们是生物机械学家,其实也就是个弹簧跳跳棒
mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集; pogo stick:n.蹦蹦跷;弹簧单高跷;
They all produce the pattern of a pogo stick. How is that true? 它们都产生这一类的运动。为什么这样呢？
Well, a human, one of your legs, works like two legs of a trotting dog, or works like three legs together as one of a trotting insect, or four legs as one as a trotting crab . 这个..一个人的一条腿腿走起来像一只疾跑的狗一侧的两条腿 或者像一只昆虫身上三只同时动作的腿 或是螃蟹体侧同时行动的四条腿
trotting:v.快步;疾走;小跑;骑马小跑;(trot的现在分词) crab:n.蟹;螃蟹;蟹肉;阴虱病;v.捕蟹;用爪抓;使侧航;使斜行;
And then they alternate in their propulsion, but the patterns are all the same . Almost every organism we've looked at this way 它们提供助推的顺序是交替的 但是规律是一样的。几乎所有的动物这样看来
alternate:vi.交替;轮流;vt.使交替;使轮流;adj.交替的;轮流的;n.替换物; all the same:仍然:依然:照样:
- you'll see next week -- I'll give you a hint , there'll be an article coming out that says that really big things like T. Rex probably couldn't do this, but you'll see that next week. -下周你就能看到--暂且先给个提示, 会有一篇文章登出来说 像霸王龙那样的大家伙可能不会这么动,你下周等着瞧吧
hint:n.提示;暗示;迹象;窍门;v.暗示;透露;示意;
Now what's interesting is the animals then we said bounce along the vertical plane this way, and in our collaborations with Pixar in "A Bug's Life," we discussed the bipedal nature of the characters of the ants. 有意思的是动物们就这么 在纵平面上“跳跃”,在我们和Pixar公司合作的 《一只虫子的生活》时,我们谈到 那里面蚂蚁角色们用双脚行走这一点
vertical:n.垂直线;垂直位置;adj.竖的;垂直的;直立的;纵向的; collaborations:n.协作(collaboration的复数); Pixar:n.皮克斯;皮克斯动画工作室; bipedal:adj.两足动物的;二足的;n.两足动物;
And we told them of course they move in another plane as well, and they asked us this question. They say, "Why model just in the sagittal plane or the vertical plane, when you're telling us these animals are moving in the horizontal plane?" This is a good question. 我们告诉他们蚂蚁当然还在另外一个平面里动 他们反问了我们一个问题,他们说,“为什么 只在径向平面或者纵向平面建模 你不是说这些动物 在横向平面里也动吗？”这是个好问题
sagittal:adj.[动]箭头形的;矢状的,弧矢的; horizontal:n.水平线;水平面;横线;水平位置;adj.水平的;与地面平行的;横的;
Nobody in biology ever modeled it this way. 生物学里还没有人这么建模过呢
We took their advice and we modeled the animals moving in the horizontal plane as well. We took their three legs, we collapsed them down as one, we got some of the best mathematicians in the world from Princeton to work on this problem. 我们就接受了建议,在横向平面里 也给动物运动建模了。拿蚂蚁的三条腿 当做是一条 借来世界上最好的数学家们-- 普林斯顿的人,来弄这个问题
collapsed:v.倒塌,坍塌;倒下,昏倒;坐下;(collapse的过去分词和过去式) mathematicians:n.[数]数学家(mathematician的复数形式); Princeton:n.普林斯顿(美国新泽西州中部的自治市镇);
And we were able to create a model where animals are not only bouncing up and down, but they're also bouncing side to side at the same time . 我们最后造了一个模型 不光模拟动物的上下“弹跳” 同时还左右运动
at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时;
And many organisms fit this kind of pattern. 许多动物都遵循这个规律
Now why is this important to have this model? 为什么这个模型很重要呢？
Because it's very interesting. When you take this model and you perturb it, you give it a push, as it bumps into something, it self-stabilizes, with no brain, or no reflexes , just by the structure alone. 因为很有意思,你拿这个模型 干扰它一下,给它一个推力 比如说当它撞在什么上面,它自动会趋向稳定,不需要大脑思考 不用条件反射,依靠这个结构本身的性质就行
perturb:vt.扰乱;使…混乱;使…心绪不宁; bumps:碰撞(bump的第三人称单数);碰撞(bump的复数); reflexes:n.反应;条件反射;扑救反应(守门员);放射(reflex的复数形式); structure:n.结构;构造;建筑物;vt.组织;构成;建造;
It's a beautiful model. Let's look at the mathematics . 很美妙的一个模型。我们来看看其中的数学原理
mathematics:n.数学;数学运算;
(Laughter) （笑）
That's enough. 够了。
(Laughter) （笑）
The animals, when you look at them running, appear to be self stabilizing like this, using basically springy legs. That is, the legs can do computations on their own, the control algorithms in a sense are embedded in the form of the animal itself. 当你看动物们跑的时候 他们看上去会这样进行稳定调整 用它们的“弹簧腿”。就是说那些腿 仿佛能自己做计算,控制这些东西的算法某种意义上 被嵌入了动物的形态本身
stabilizing:v.(使)稳定,稳固;(stabilize的现在分词) springy:adj.有弹力的; computations:n.[数]计算;计算指令(computation的复数形式); in a sense:在某种意义上; embedded:adj.嵌入式的;植入的;内含的;v.嵌入(embed的过去式和过去分词形式);
Why haven't we been more inspired by nature and these kinds of discoveries? 为什么我们没有能从这样的发现中得到更大的启示呢？
Well, I would argue that human technologies are really different from natural technologies, at least they have been so far. 我认为这是因为人类科技 和“自然科技”差别很大,至少迄今一直如此
Think about the typical kind of robot that you see. 想想你看到的典型的机器人
typical:adj.典型的;特有的;象征性的;
Human technologies have tended to be large, flat, with right angles, stiff , made of metal. They have rolling devices and axles . There are very few motors, very few sensors . 人类科技趋向于又大又笨 有棱有角,僵硬,金属构造。它们装备的是滚动装置 和轴。一部机械里马达和传感器数量都很少
stiff:adj.呆板的; v.僵硬地; n.死尸; v.诈骗; devices:n.[机][计]设备;[机]装置;[电子]器件(device的复数); axles:n.[机]轴(axle的复数);四轴; sensors:n.[自]传感器,感应器;感测器(sensor的复数);
Whereas nature tends to be small, and curved , and it bends and twists and has legs instead and appendages , and has many muscles and many, many sensors. 而自然造物趋向于小体积和曲线形 弯弯曲曲,带着腿和附加物 许多的肌肉和一大堆的感应器
Whereas:conj.然而;鉴于;反之; curved:adj.呈弯曲状的; v.(使)沿曲线运动; twists:n.[力]扭曲,一扭(twist的复数形式);v.[力]扭曲,拧(twist的三单形式); appendages:n.[船]附件(appendage的复数);船体附属体;
So it's a very different design. However, what's changing, what's really exciting -- and I'll show you some of that next -- is that as human technology takes on more of the characteristics of nature, then nature really can become a much more useful teacher. 所以设计思路很不同。然而,现在正在改变着的 真正刺激的东西--下面让你们看看这些-- 就是当人类科技越来越多地拥有 自然物的特征,自然就能更好地教导、启发我们
technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; characteristics:n.特征;特点;品质;(characteristic的复数)
And here's one example that's really exciting. 这儿有个真正带劲儿的例子
This is a collaboration we have with Stanford. 是我们和斯坦福大学合作的
And they developed this new technique called Shape Deposition Manufacturing . 他们发明了一种叫形状沉积制造的新技术
technique:n.技巧,技术;手法; Deposition:n.沉积(物);沉淀(物);罢免;证人陈述; Manufacturing:n.制造业;工业;v.制造;生产(manufacture的现在分词);
It's a technique where they can mix materials together and mold any shape that they like, and put in the material properties. 利用这种技术他们可以把材料混合起来,铸成任意形状 并把材料的性质加进去
mold:n.模具;模型;霉菌;类型;v.用可塑材料塑成;浇铸;发霉;
They can embed sensors and actuators right in the form itself. 可以把传感器和促动器直接植入形态本身
actuators:n.[电]致动器,制动器(actuator复数形式);
For example, here's a leg -- the clear part is stiff, the white part is compliant , and you don't need any axles there or anything. 比方说,这儿有一条腿--透明的这一块是固定的 白色的一块可以弯曲,你不需要装轴或是什么东西
compliant:adj.顺从的;服从的;应允的;
It just bends by itself beautifully. 它自己会很漂亮地弯下来
So you can put those properties in. It inspired them to show off this design by producing a little robot they named Sprawl . 所以你可以把那些性质加进来。这项技术给了他们可以卖弄的灵感 就创造出了这个叫Sprawl(“匍匐”)的机器人
Sprawl:vi.蔓延; vt.懒散地伸开; n.蔓生;
Our work has also inspired another robot, a biologically-inspired bouncing robot, from the University of Michigan and McGill named RHex, for robot hexapod , and this one's autonomous . 我们的研究还启发了另一个机器人,一个从生物学得到启发的弹跳机器人 出自密歇根大学和麦克吉尔大学 名叫RHex,“六足机器人”（robot hexapod） 的缩写,它是自动的
Michigan:n.密歇根;美国密歇根州; hexapod:n.昆虫;六脚的节足动物;adj.六脚的; autonomous:adj.自治的;自主的;自发的;
Let's go to the video and let me show you some of these animals moving. 让我们看一段录像,看看一些动物运动
And then some of the simple robots that have been inspired by our discoveries. 还有些简单的机器人 他们都是从对动物的研究发现中受启发的
Here's what some of you did this morning, although you did it outside not on a treadmill . 你们有些人早上会去干这个,只不过是在户外 不是在跑步机上
treadmill:n.踏车,跑步机;单调的工作;
Here's what we do. 而这个是我们做的
(Laughter) （笑）
This is a death's head cockroach -- this is an American cockroach you think you don't have in your kitchen. 这是一只骷髅蟑螂--美国品种 不过估计你厨房里没有
cockroach:n.蟑螂
This is an eight-legged scorpion , six-legged ant, forty-four-legged centipede . 一只八条腿的蝎子,六条腿的蚂蚁,四十四条腿的蜈蚣
scorpion:n.蝎子;蝎尾鞭;心黑的人; centipede:n.[无脊椎][中医]蜈蚣;
Now I said all these animals are sort of working like pogo sticks -- they're bouncing along as they move and you can see that in this ghost crab from the beaches of Panama and North Carolina . 我现在告诉你这些动物走起来都像弹簧跳跳棒 你看他们朝一个方向移动时也上下跳动 比如这只来自巴拿马或北卡罗来纳海岸的幽灵蟹
ghost:n.鬼,幽灵;v.作祟于;替…捉刀;为人代笔; Carolina:n.卡罗莱纳州(在美国东南部);
It goes up to four meters per second when it runs. 跑起来速度能高达四米每秒
It actually leaps into the air and has aerial phases when it does it, like a horse, and you'll see it's bouncing here. 其实它经常有脚不沾地的滞空时间 而当它这样做的时候--就像匹马似的--你能看见他这里的跳动
leaps:n.跳跃,剧增,急变(leap的复数);v.跳跃;急速进步(leap的三单形式); aerial:adj.从飞机上的;空中的;空气中的;地表以上的;n.天线; phases:n.阶段,时期(phase的复数形式);v.逐步实行(phase的三单形式);
What we discovered is whether you look at the leg of a human like Richard, or a cockroach, or a crab, or a kangaroo, the relative leg stiffness of that spring is the same for everything we've seen so far. 我们发现无论你观察人类的腿 比如说理查的,或者一只蟑螂、螃蟹或是袋鼠的 它们腿中那个“弹簧”的相对劲度都是相同的
relative:adj.相对的;有关系的;成比例的;n.亲戚;相关物;[语]关系词;亲缘植物; stiffness:n.僵硬;坚硬;不自然;顽固;
Now what good are springy legs then, what can they do? 那么弹簧腿有什么好处呢？能做些什么呢？
Well, we wanted to see if they allowed the animals to have greater stability and maneuverability . 我们想知道它们能否给动物的运动 更大的稳定性和可操控性
stability:n.稳定性;坚定,恒心; maneuverability:n.可操作性;[航][车辆][船]机动性;
So we built a terrain that had obstacles three times the hip height of the animals that we're looking at, and we were certain they couldn't do this. And here's what they did. 于是我们构建了一个 拥有三倍我们所研究的动物髋高度障碍物的地形 我们很确定它们翻不过去。可它们是如此反应的:
terrain:n.[地理]地形,地势;领域;地带; obstacles:n.障碍;障碍物;阻碍;(obstacle的复数形式) hip:n.臀部;蔷薇果;忧郁;adj.熟悉内情的;非常时尚的;
The animal ran over it and it didn't even slow down. 动物飞奔而过,甚至都没有减速
It didn't decrease its preferred speed at all. 它一点都不乐意牺牲自己习惯的速度
decrease:v.降低;减少;缩小;减弱;n.减少;减小量;所减少的总量;减缩位置; preferred:v.较喜欢;喜欢…多于…;(prefer的过去式和过去分词)
We couldn't believe that it could do this. It said to us that if you could build a robot with very simple springy legs, you could make it as maneuverable as any that's ever been built. 我们一开始根本不相信的。事实告诉我们 如果我们能用简易的弹簧腿造一个机器人 就可以使它的可控性出类拔萃
maneuverable:adj.有机动性的;容易操作的;可调动的;
Here's the first example of that, this is the Stanford 这儿是第一个例子,斯坦福大学的
Shape Deposition Manufactured robot named Sprawl. 形状沉积技术制造的机器人“匍匐”
Manufactured:adj.制造的,已制成的;v.制造,加工(manufacture的过去式);
It has six legs -- there are the tuned springy legs. 有着六条腿--协调好了的弹簧腿
tuned:v.(为乐器)调音,校音;调整,调节(发动机);调频道(tune的过去分词和过去式)
It moves in a gait that an insect uses and here it is going on the treadmill. Now what's important about this robot, compared to other robots, is that it can't see anything, 它采用昆虫的步调行走,这个就是它 在跑步机上飞奔呢。与其他机器人相比 它的关键就是它什么也看不见
gait:n.步法,步态;v.训练步法; compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词)
it can't feel anything, it doesn't have a brain, yet it can maneuver over these obstacles without any difficulty whatsoever . 也感觉不到,根本就没头脑,然而却能 娴熟地跨越障碍,毫不费力
whatsoever:pron.无论什么;
It's this technique of building the properties into the form. 正是这个把性质嵌入形态的技术造就了这一切。
This is a graduate student, this is what he's doing to his thesis project, very robust if a graduate student does that to his thesis project. 这是一名研究生的毕业设计内容 一个研究生的 毕业设计里能干这个可真是了不起
thesis:n.论文;论点; robust:adj.强健的;健康的;粗野的;粗鲁的;
(Laughter) （笑）
This is from McGill and University of Michigan, this is the RHex, making its first outing in a demo . 这是来自麦克吉尔和密歇根大学的RHex 演示它首次出去放风
demo:v.试用(尤指软件);演示;示范;n.试样唱片;录音样带;
(Laughter) （笑）
Same principle. It only has six moving parts. 一样的原理。它只有六处能动的部分
Six motors, but it has springy, tuned legs. It moves in the gait of the insect it has the middle leg moving in synchrony with the front and the hind leg on the other side . Sort of an alternating tripod , and they can negotiate obstacles just like the animal. 六个电机,可是它具有协调了的弹簧腿,昆虫的步法 中间的腿和前腿同步运动 后退则在另一边,交替地形成三角架形 它们能够像动物一样避开障碍物
synchrony:n.同步; hind:adj.后部的;n.雌鹿; on the other side:另一面;在另一边; alternating:adj.交替的;交互的;v.使交替;依次(alternate的ing形式); tripod:n.[摄]三脚架;三脚桌; negotiate:v.谈判,商议;转让;越过;
(Laughter) （笑）
Oh my God. 我的天哪
(Applause) （掌声）
It'll go on different surfaces, here's sand, although we haven't perfected the feet yet, but I'll talk about that later. 它现在要在不同的表面上走,这是沙子 尽管我们尚未把腿再完善一些,我等一会儿会谈到这个
Here's RHex entering the woods. RHex正在进入丛林
(Laughter) （笑）
Again this robot can't see anything, it can't feel anything, it has no brain. It's just working with a tuned mechanical system, with very simple parts. But inspired from the fundamental dynamics of the animal. 跟刚才一样,这个机器人也没有视力,没有知觉 没有头脑。只是凭借着一个协调的机械系统 和简单的各个部分。然而灵感都来源于动物的基本运动原理
mechanical:adj.机械的;力学的;呆板的;无意识的;手工操作的; fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的; dynamics:n.动力学,力学;
Ah, I love him Bob. Here's it going down a pathway . 啊,我喜欢它--鲍勃,他正在下坡
pathway:n.路,道;途径,路径;
I presented this to the jet propulsion lab at NASA, and they said that they had no ability to go down craters to look for ice, and life ultimately , on Mars . And he said -- especially with legged-robots because they're way too complicated . 我把这个展示给NASA的喷气动力实验室看,他们说 他们缺一个能走下撞击坑寻找冰 最终寻找生命的技术,是用于火星的。他说-- 他强调有腿的机器人不能胜任,因为造出来实在太复杂
jet propulsion:n.喷气推进; craters:n.[地质]火山口; v.形成坑; ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究; Mars:n.火星 especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分; complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式)
Nothing can do that. And I talk next. I showed them this video with the simple design of RHex here, and just to convince them we should go to Mars in 2011, I tinted the video orange just to give them the sense of being on Mars. 根本不现实。我接着发言。我给他们看了这个短片 和RHex的简单构造,为了使他们相信 我们2011年得上一趟火星,我把短片背景设成橘黄色 让他们感觉仿佛是在火星上
convince:v.使确信;使相信;说服,劝说; tinted:v.为…轻微染色; adj.(玻璃等)有色的; (tint的过去分词和过去式)
(Laughter) （笑）
(Applause) （掌声）
Another reason why animals have extraordinary performance and can go anywhere, is because they have an effective interaction with the environment. The animal I'm going to show you that we studied to look at this is the gecko. 动物们生存能力极强 分布极广的另一个原因,就是他们能够与环境 进行有效交流。我下面给你们看的 我们所研究的动物是壁虎
effective:adj.有效的,起作用的;实际的,实在的;给人深刻印象; interaction:n.[计]交互,相互作用;相互交流;干扰;
We have one here and notice its position. It's holding on. 这儿就有一只,注意看它的姿势,它紧抓着不放
Now I'm going to challenge you. I'm going show you a video. 我现在要给你们出个题目,给你们看一段短片
One of the animals is going to be running on the level , and the other one's going to be running up a wall. Which one's which? 其中一只动物将在平地上跑 另一只在爬上一堵墙。哪一只对应哪一只呢？
on the level:诚实的;可靠的;坦率地;老实说;
They're going at a meter a second. How many think the one on the left is running up the wall? 它们的速度都是一米每秒。有多少人认为左边的这只 正在爬墙？
(Applause) （掌声）
Okay. The point is it's really hard to tell, isn't it? It's incredible, we looked at students do this and they couldn't tell. 好的。看来是真的很难说,不是吗？难以置信啊 我们的学生们也很难分辨出来
They can run up a wall at a meter a second, 15 steps a second and they look like they're running on the level. How do they do this? 壁虎以每秒一米的速度爬墙,每秒迈出15步 看起来就像在平地上跑。怎么做到的呢？
It's just phenomenal . The one on the right was going up the hill. 实在是了不起。右边的那只正在上墙
phenomenal:adj.现象的;显著的;异常的;能知觉的;惊人的,非凡的;
How do they do this -- they have bizarre toes -- they have toes that uncurl like party favors when you blow them out, and then peel off the surface like tape. 是如何做的呢--它们的脚趾十分奇特-- 它们像被吹过的聚会小礼物一样翻开 如同带子一样从表面剥张开来
bizarre:adj.奇异的(指态度,容貌,款式等); 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) party favors:n.(聚会上赠给儿童的)小礼品;
Like if we had a piece of tape now we'd peel it this way. 比方说像我们这么剥开一条带子
They do this with their toes. It's bizarre. This peeling inspired iRobot that we work with, to build Mecho-Geckos. 它们的脚趾能做这个。真是出了奇了。这个翻开的动作启发了 与我们共事的iRobot,于是制造出了Mecho-Geckos （机械壁虎）
Here's a legged version and a tractor version, or a bulldozer version. 这里有带腿型的、拖拉机型的和推土机型的
bulldozer:n.推土机;欺凌者,威吓者;
Let's see some of the geckos move with some video, and then I'll show you a little bit of a clip of the robots. 我们先从短片里看看壁虎的运动 然后我再给你们看机器人
a little bit of a:一点点了; clip:v.剪辑;修剪;削减;固定;n.夹;夹子;速度;钳;
Here's the gecko running up a vertical surface, there it goes, in real time , there it goes again. Obviously we have to slow this down a little bit. 壁虎正在冲上一个垂直表面,一蹴而就 这是实时播放,再来一遍。显然我们得慢放一点点
real time:adj.实时的;接到指示立即执行的;
You can't use regular cameras. 不能用普通镜头
You have to take 1,000 pictures per second to see this. 你得每秒捕捉1000张图像才能看到这个
And here's some video at 1,000 frames per second. 这个短片是每秒1000帧的
frames:n.[计][电子][通信]帧,[电影]画面;[建][计]框架;眼镜架(frame的复数);
Now I want you to look at the animal's back. 现在我要你们注意看这只动物的背部
Do you see how much it's bending like that? We can't figure that out -- that's an unsolved mystery. We don't know how it works. 你能看出它弯曲了多少吗？我们搞不清楚-- 这还是个未解之谜。不知道它的工作原理是什么
unsolved:adj.未解决的;未解答的;
If you have a son or a daughter that wants to come to Berkeley, come to my lab and we'll figure this out. Okay, send them to Berkeley because that's the next thing I want to do. Here's the gecko mill. 如果你的儿子或者女儿想来伯克利念书 就来我的实验室我们把它弄清楚。是啊,送他们到伯克利来 因为我下面就想研究那个问题。这是壁虎跑步机
(Laughter) （笑）
It's a see through treadmill with a see through treadmill belt , so we can watch the animals feet, and video tape them through the treadmill belt , to see how they move. 是个透明的跑步机,透明的跑步带 我们能观察动物们的脚,给它们录像 透过这个跑步带,看它们如何运动
see through:adj.透明的;穿透的; belt:n.皮带;腰带;传动带;传送带;v.猛击;狠打;飞奔;飞驰;
Here's the animal that we have here, running on a vertical surface, pick a foot and try to watch a toe, and see if you can see what the animal's doing. 这是我们的动物正在垂直面上跑 选一只脚,试着观察一根脚趾,看你能否察觉动物在干嘛
See it uncurl and then peel these toes. 看看它翻开又剥张这些脚趾
It can do this in 14 milliseconds . It's unbelievable . 14毫秒之内就完成了,实在是难以置信
milliseconds:n.[计量]毫秒(millisecond的复数形式); unbelievable:adj.(非正式)难以置信的;不可信的
Here are the robots that they inspire, the Mecho-Geckos from iRobot. 这就是受它们启发的机器人,iRobot的机械壁虎
First we'll see the animals toes peeling -- look at that. 首先我们看到动物的脚趾剥开--看看这个
And here's the peeling action of the Mecho-Gecko it uses a pressure-sensitive adhesive to do it. 这就是机械壁虎的那个剥开的动作 它用一个对压强敏感的粘合物来完成这个动作
pressure-sensitive:adj.压敏; adhesive:n.粘合剂;胶黏剂;adj.粘着的;带粘性的;
Peeling in the animal, peeling in the Mecho-Gecko, that allows them climb autonomously can go on the flat surface transition to a wall, and then go on to a ceiling. 这是动物的剥开动作,这是机械壁虎的 都使他们能够自己攀爬,先走在平面上 移到墙上,再上天花板
autonomously:adv.自治地;独立自主地; transition:n.过渡;转变;变革;变迁;v.经历转变过程;过渡;
There's the bulldozer version. Now it doesn't use pressure-sensitive glue . 这是推土机版本的。这个用的可不是压强敏感性的粘胶
glue:n.胶;胶水;v.粘贴;
The animal does not use that. 动物可不用那个
But that's what we're limited to at the moment. 但是我们现在只有这个可用
limited:adj.有限的; n.高级快车; v.限制; (limit的过去分词和过去式)
What does the animal do? The animal has weird toes, and if you look at the toes they have these little leaves there, and if you blow them up and zoom in you'll see that's there's little striations in these leaves. 动物怎么做呢？它有怪异的脚趾 如果你看仔细点它们有这些细小的叶片 如果你把它们放大你会看见 这些叶片里面有小条纹
weird:adj.奇怪的;奇异的;离奇的;n.命运;宿命;命运女神; striations:n.[电子]辉纹;光条纹(striation);
And if you zoom in 270 times, you'll see it looks like a rug . 你要是放大270倍,你会看见它其实长得像条毯子
rug:n.小地毯;垫子;(盖腿的)厚毯子;v.用厚毯包;
And if you blow that up, and zoom in 900 times, you see there are hairs there, tiny hairs, and if you look carefully those tiny hairs have striations. And if you zoom in on those 30,000 times, you'll see each hair has split ends. 如果你再放大900倍 你看到有毛,细小的毛,再看仔细些 这些毛上又有条纹。如果你再把它们都放大三万倍 你看到每一根细毛头上都有分叉
split:v.分离;使分离;劈开;离开;分解;n.劈开;裂缝;adj.劈开的;
And if you blow those up they have these little structures on the end. 你要是再放大就会看到它们的头上都有一些小结构
structures:n.结构; v.建造(structure的第三人称单数形式);
The smallest branch of the hairs looks like a spatula and an animal like that has 1 billion of these nano-size split ends to get very close to the surface. In fact there's the diameter of your hair, a gecko has 2 million of these and each hair has 100 to 1,000 split ends. 毛最小的分枝看起来像小铲 这样一个小动物能用10亿根纳米级的分叉毛 贴近物体的表面。这是你头发的直径 一只壁虎有200万个这样的,每根毛有100到1000个分叉
spatula:n.(调和,涂抹用)抹刀,小铲;[医]压舌板; diameter:n.直径;对径;放大率;放大倍数;
Think of the contact of that that's possible. 想象一下它们能形成的接触
contact:n.接触,联系;v.使接触,联系;
We were fortunate to work with another group at Stanford that built us a special manned sensor that we were able to measure the force of an individual hair. 我们有幸和另外一个斯坦福的小组合作 造出了一个特殊控制的感应器 能够帮我们测量一根单个毛发受到的力
fortunate:adj.幸运的;交好运的;吉利的; individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的;
Here's an individual hair with a little split end there, when we measured the forces they were enormous , they were so large that a patch of hairs about this size, 这是一根带了点分叉的毛 当我们测量受力时发现大得惊人 大到像一片这样尺寸的毛
split end:n.分叉的发梢; measured:adj.缓慢谨慎的; v.测量; (measure的过去分词和过去式) enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的; patch:n.补丁;小片;眼罩;色斑;v.修补;打补丁;缝补;
the gecko's foot could support the weight of a small child -- about 40 pounds easily. Now how do they do it? 就壁虎脚这么大--能轻易撑起一个小孩的重量 大约40磅。它们怎么做到的呢？
We've recently discovered this. Do they do it by friction ? 我们最近发现了。是摩擦力吗?
recently:adv.最近;新近; friction:n.摩擦,[力]摩擦力;
No, force is too low. Do they do it by electrostatics ? 不是,摩擦力太小了。是静电吗？
electrostatics:n.[电磁]静电学;
No, you can change the charge, they still hold on. 不是,你改变一下电荷它们还是抓得牢牢地
Do they do it by interlocking ? That's kind of a like a Velcro like thing. 是通过形状的互相咬合吗？是像维可劳（尼龙剌粘搭链）那样的吗？
interlocking:adj.连锁的;n.连锁;咬合作用; Velcro:n.维可牢(一种尼龙搭扣的商标名称);
No, you can put them on molecular smooth surfaces -- they don't do it. 不是,你把它们放到分子级的光滑平面上--就不起作用了
molecular:adj.[化学]分子的;由分子组成的;
How about suction ? They stick on in a vacuum . 空气吸力吗？它们在真空里一样能贴着
suction:n.吸;吸力;抽吸; vacuum:n.真空; adj.真空的; v.用真空吸尘器清扫;
How about wet adhesion ? Or capillary adhesion ? 湿粘合呢？或者毛细管作用呢？
adhesion:n.粘附;支持;固守; capillary:adj.细长的;表面张力的;n.毛细管;毛细血管;
They don't have any glue and they even stick under water just fine. 它们可没有用胶,而且在水下抓得一样地紧
If you put their foot under water they grab on. 把脚放在水里也能抓住
grab:v.攫取;霸占;将…深深吸引;n.攫取;霸占;夺取之物;
How do they do it then? Believe it or not they grab on by intermolecular forces, by van der Waals forces. 怎么回事呢？信不信由你 它们用了分子间作用力,范德华力
intermolecular:adj.分子间的;作用于分子间的,存在于分子间的;
You know you probably had this a long time ago in chemistry where you had these two atoms , they're close together, and the electrons are moving around. That tiny force is sufficient 你可能还是很久以前在化学里学的这个 两个原子,靠得挺近 电子绕着它们动。这个小小的力足够
atoms:n.[物]原子(atom的复数); electrons:n.[物]电子(electron的复数形式); sufficient:adj.足够的;充分的;
to allow them to do that because it's added up so many times with these small structures. 完成这个因为它被加成了许多许多次 通过这些小小的结构
What we're doing is we're taking that inspiration of the hairs, and with another colleague at Berkeley, we're manufacturing them. 我们正在做的就是利用这些毛带来的灵感 和我在伯克利的另一位同事一起制造它们
colleague:n.同事,同僚;
And just recently we've made a breakthrough where we now believe we're going to be able to create the first synthetic , self cleaning, dry adhesive. Many companies are interested in this. 就是在最近我们有了一项突破,现在我们相信 我们就要制出第一种合成的,自我清洁 干性的粘合物。许多公司都很感兴趣
breakthrough:n.突破;开始取得成功之时;adj.突破性的; synthetic:adj.综合的;合成的,人造的;n.合成物;
(Laughter) （笑）
We also presented to Nike even. 我们甚至给耐克做了展示
(Laughter) （笑）
(Applause) （掌声）
We'll see where this goes. We were so excited about this that we realized that that small-size scale , and where everything gets sticky , and gravity doesn't matter anymore, we needed to look at ants and their feet, because 我们得看看它的前景了。真是让人兴奋呢 发现在极小的尺寸下 所有的东西都粘在一块儿,重力再也不重要了 我们需要看看蚂蚁和它们的脚,因为
scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢; sticky:adj.粘的;粘性的;
one of my other colleagues at Berkeley, has built a six-millimeter silicone robot with legs. But it gets stuck. It doesn't move very well. 伯克利的另一位同事,造了一个六毫米的 带腿的硅制机器人。但是它老卡住,动得不灵活
colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数); silicone:n.硅树脂;[口腔]硅酮;
But the ants do and we'll figure out why, so that ultimately we'll make this move. And imagine, you're going to be able to have swarms of these six-millimeter robots available to run around . 可是蚂蚁相当灵活,我们就要知道为什么,就可以 相应作出改变。想象一下,你很快就可以 让一大群的六毫米大小的机器人到处乱跑
swarms:n.(昆虫等)群;[蜂]蜂群(swarm的复数);v.蜂拥;云集(swarm的第三人称单数); run around:n.遁词;借口;
Where's this going? I think you can see it already. 这有什么前景呢？我觉得你现在已经想到了
Clearly the internet is already having eyes and ears, you have web cams and so forth. But it's going to also have legs and hands. 显然互联网已经拥有了眼睛和耳朵 有网络摄像头等等东西,但是以后它还会有腿与手
cams:n.凸轮(cam的复数);
You're going to be able to do programmable work through these kinds of robots, so that you can run, fly and swim anywhere. We saw David Kelly's at the beginning of that with his fish. 你就可以用这些机器人 完成可编程的工作,可以到处跑啊 飞啊游啊。我们开始的时候看到了David Kelly和他的鱼
programmable:adj.[计]可编程的;可设计的; at the beginning of:在…的开始;
So in conclusion , I think the message is clear. 所以综上所述,我觉得这个信息很清楚
in conclusion:总之;最后;
If you need a message, if nature's not enough, if you care about search and rescue , or mine clearance , or medicine, or the various things we're working on, we must preserve nature's designs, otherwise these secrets will be lost forever. 如果你需要一个信息,如果光是自然造物还不够,如果你关注 搜救工作、矿井清理、医药 还有我们在做的各种各样的事情,我们必须好好保管 大自然的精妙设计,不然这些秘密会永远消失
rescue:n.救援;抢救;营救;获救;v.抢救;营救;援救; clearance:n.清除;空隙; preserve:vt.保存;保护;维持;腌;禁猎;n.保护区;禁猎地;加工成的食品;
Thank you. 谢谢你们
(Applause) （掌声）