ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Thomas Thwaites - Designer
Thomas Thwaites is a designer "of a more speculative sort," he says.

Why you should listen

Thomas Thwaites calls himself "a designer (of a more speculative sort)." His thoughtful projects look deeply at the science behind technology, as in the Toaster Project, which sent spiralling him into the history and techniques of metallurgy and plastics production, and Policing Genes, a thought experiment around amateur genetics. We will not mention Honeytrap, an attempt to explore modern criminality through a bicycle theft gone horribly wrong. He's currently working on a project investigating counterfactual histories in science, supported by the Wellcome Trust.

More profile about the speaker
Thomas Thwaites | Speaker | TED.com
TEDSalon London 2010

Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster -- from scratch

Thomas Thawaites: 我怎样从头开始做烤面包机

Filmed:
1,456,254 views

设计师Thomas Thwaite通过一台烤面包机的制作经历了整个文明的发展过程,他历经周折, 尝试由画稿开始制造一台完整的烤面包机。他采矿炼铁,炼油成塑,令人吃惊地完成了他现在取得的成果。他的故事为设计师和消费者揭示了我们这个社会是如何紧密相连的。
- Designer
Thomas Thwaites is a designer "of a more speculative sort," he says. Full bio

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

00:15
If we look around us,
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如果我们环顾四周
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much of what surrounds围绕着 us
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很多我们身边的东西
00:20
started开始 life as various各个 rocks岩石 and sludge污泥
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都是从石块泥污里开始它们的生命的
00:23
buried隐藏 in the ground地面 in various各个 places地方 in the world世界.
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它们被埋在世界上各个角落的地下
00:27
But, of course课程, they don't look like rocks岩石 and sludge污泥 now.
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当然,现在你已经看不出他跟石头和泥污有什么相似的
00:29
They look like TV电视 cameras相机, monitors显示器,
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它们看上去就是摄像机、电脑屏幕
00:32
annoying恼人的 radio无线电 mics话筒.
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让人讨厌的无线话筒
00:34
And so this magical神奇 transformation转型
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而我的这个项目想尝试着要接触的
00:36
is what I was trying to get at with my project项目,
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就是这个神奇的转变
00:39
which哪一个 became成为 known已知 as the Toaster烤面包机 Project项目.
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这就是大家都知道的烤面包机项目
00:41
And it was also inspired启发 by this quote引用
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它也是受Douglas Adams的
00:43
from Douglas道格拉斯 Adams亚当斯,
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这句名言的启发
00:45
and the situation情况 is from "The Hitchhiker's旅行者的 Guide指南 to the Galaxy星系."
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故事发生在“银河系漫游指南”中
00:48
And the situation情况 it describes介绍
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这个故事所讲述的
00:50
is the hero英雄 of the book -- he's a 20th-centuryTH-世纪 man --
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是一个活在20世纪的人
00:53
finds认定 himself他自己 alone单独 on a strange奇怪 planet行星
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发现自己活在一个奇怪的星球上
00:56
populated人口稠密 only by a technologically技术 primitive原始 people.
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这个星球上人都只会最原始的技术活
00:59
And he kind of assumes假设 that, yes,
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于是他就想,是的,
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he'll地狱 become成为 -- these villagers村民 --
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他将成为 -- 这些村民的--
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he'll地狱 become成为 their emperor皇帝
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他将成为他们的国王
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and transform转变 their society社会
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并且帮他们完成社会转型
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with his wonderful精彩 command命令 of technology技术
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凭借他极好的对技术
01:09
and science科学 and the elements分子,
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科学和原理的掌握,
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but, of course课程, realizes实现
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但是,他也认识到
01:13
that without the rest休息 of human人的 society社会,
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在没有其他社会资源的条件下,
01:15
he can barely仅仅 make a sandwich三明治,
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他很难做出一个三明治,
01:18
let alone单独 a toaster烤面包机.
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更不用说一台烤面包机了。
01:20
But he didn't have Wikipedia维基百科.
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因为这个人不能查阅维基百科。
01:22
So I thought, okay,
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所以我就想,那好,
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I'll try and make an electric电动 toaster烤面包机 from scratch.
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我要试着从头开始做出一台能通电的烤面包机。
01:26
And, working加工 on the idea理念
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而且,因为我认为
01:28
that the cheapest最便宜 electric电动 toaster烤面包机
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最便宜的电烤面包机
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would also be the simplest简单 to reverse-engineer反向工程,
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也应该是最容易让我逆向制造的,
01:32
I went and bought the cheapest最便宜 toaster烤面包机 I could find,
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所以我去买了台我能找到的最便宜的烤面包机,
01:35
took it home
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把它带回家
01:37
and was kind of dismayed沮丧 to discover发现
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但是我还是失望的发现
01:39
that, inside this object目的,
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这个东西
01:41
which哪一个 I'd bought for just 3.49 pounds英镑,
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这个我只花了3.94磅买的东西
01:44
there were 400 different不同 bits
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居然有400个不同的部件
01:47
made制作 out of a hundred-plus百加 different不同 materials物料.
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而且这些部件是由100个以上不同材料构成的。
01:51
I didn't have the rest休息 of my life to do this project项目.
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我不想把我余下的生命全部花在这个项目上;
01:54
I had maybe nine months个月.
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我只有大概9个月的时间。
01:56
So I thought, okay, I'll start开始 with five.
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所以我就想,那好,我就从5个东西开始入手。
01:58
And these were steel, mica云母,
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这5个东西分别是钢,云母
02:00
plastic塑料, copper and nickel.
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塑料,铜和镍
02:03
So, starting开始 with steel: how do you make steel?
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于是,从钢铁开始:我们是怎么炼出钢铁的?
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I went and knocked被撞 on the door
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我去皇家矿业学院访问了
02:08
of the Rio里约热内卢 Tinto Chair椅子
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力拓集团
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of Advanced高级 Mineral矿物 Extraction萃取 at the Royal王室的 School学校 of Mines矿业
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高级矿物提炼部门的主席,
02:13
and said, "How do you make steel?"
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并问道,“你们是怎么做钢铁的?”
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And Professor教授 Cilliers西利尔斯 was very kind
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那个Cilliers教授人很好,
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and talked me through通过 it.
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他向我介绍了整个提炼过程
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And my vague模糊 rememberingsrememberings from GCSEGCSE science科学 --
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加上对中学科学的模糊记忆--
02:22
well, steel comes from iron,
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钢铁应该是由铁炼出来的,
02:24
so I phoned打电话给 up an iron mine.
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所以我就打电话给了一个铁矿厂。
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And said, "Hi你好, I'm trying to make a toaster烤面包机.
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我说:“你好,我想要做一个烤面包机,
02:29
Can I come up and get some iron?"
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我能到你们那里拿点铁吗?"
02:33
Unfortunately不幸, when I got there -- emerges出现 Ray射线.
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很不幸的是,当我到那里-- 见到了Ray。
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He had misheard听错 me
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他在电话里听错了我的意思,
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and thought I was coming未来 up because I was trying to make a poster海报,
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他认为我来他那里只是为了做一个画报,
02:41
and so wasn't prepared准备 to take me into the mines矿山.
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所以就没有准备让我下矿井。
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But after some nagging唠叨, I got him to do that.
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但对他唠叨一会之后,他还是带我去了。
02:46
(Video视频) Ray射线: It was Crease Limestone石灰石,
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(视频)Ray: 它以前是石炭石灰岩,
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and that was produced生成
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是由
02:52
by sea creatures生物
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海洋生物
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350 million百万 years年份 ago
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在3亿5千万年前
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in a nice不错, warm,
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在温暖,
03:00
sunny晴朗 atmosphere大气层.
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阳光充足的环境下形成的。
03:02
When you study研究 geology地质学,
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当你学地质学的时候,
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you can see what's happened发生 in the past过去,
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你就能知道这里过去都发生过什么。
03:07
and there were terrific了不起 changes变化 in the earth地球.
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这里都发生过巨大的变化。
03:16
Thomas托马斯 Thwaites香棒: As you can see, they had the Christmas圣诞 decorations up.
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正如你看到的,他们已把这里装扮好准备过圣诞节了。
03:20
And of course课程, it wasn't actually其实 a working加工 mine anymore,
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当然,事实上这个矿井已经不工作了,
03:23
because, though虽然 Ray射线 was a miner矿工 there,
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因为,虽然Ray曾是这里的矿工
03:26
the mine had closed关闭
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但是这矿井已经被关闭了
03:28
and had been reopened重新开放 as a kind of tourist游客 attraction引力,
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而且后来又作为一个旅游景点重新开放,
03:31
because, of course课程, it can't compete竞争
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因为,很明显
03:33
on the scale规模 of operations操作 which哪一个 are happening事件
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它在运营规模上比不上
03:36
in South America美国, Australia澳大利亚, wherever哪里.
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南美洲,澳大利亚,或其他什么地方。
03:39
But anyway无论如何, I got my suitcase手提箱 of iron ore矿石
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但是不管怎样,我还是把铁矿石装到了到我旅行箱里
03:42
and dragged it back to London伦敦 on the train培养,
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并坐火车把它带了伦敦,
03:44
and then was faced面对 with the problem问题:
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之后我又面临一个问题:
03:46
Okay, how do you make this rock
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那好,我要怎样把这个石头
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into components组件 for a toaster烤面包机?
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变成烤面包机的部件呢?
03:50
So I went back to Professor教授 Cilliers西利尔斯,
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所以我就回去找了Cilliers教授,
03:52
and he said, "Go to the library图书馆."
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他告诉我,“去图书馆吧。”
03:54
So I did
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然后我就去了
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and was looking through通过 the undergraduate大学本科 textbooks教科书 on metallurgy冶金 --
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我在那翻阅了本科生冶金学教材--
03:59
completely全然 useless无用 for what I was trying to do.
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但这根本没用
04:02
Because, of course课程, they don't actually其实 tell you how to do it
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因为,当然,书里面实际上并没有提到
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if you want to do it yourself你自己 and you don't have a smelting冶炼 plant.
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在没有冶炼厂的情况下该如何炼铁。
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So I ended结束 up going to the History历史 of Science科学 Library图书馆
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所以我最后去了科学史图书馆
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and looking at this book.
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阅读了这本书
04:12
This is the first textbook教科书 on metallurgy冶金
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这是冶金学的第一本教材
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written书面 in the West西, at least最小.
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至少在西方是第一本。
04:16
And there you can see that woodcut木刻
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在这里你们看见的木雕
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is basically基本上 what I ended结束 up doing.
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就是我最终做到的
04:20
But instead代替 of a bellows风箱, I had a leaf blower送风机.
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但是我没有风箱,只有一个叶风机。
04:23
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
04:25
And that was something that reoccurred又发作 throughout始终 the project项目,
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在整个项目过程中,我一直有一个感叹,
04:28
was, the smaller the scale规模 you want to work on,
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那就是,你越想从小的地方做起,
04:30
the further进一步 back in time you have to go.
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你就得追溯到越远的过去。
04:33
And so this is after
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所以这就是我花了
04:35
a day and about half a night
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一个白天加一半个晚上
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smelting冶炼 this iron.
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提炼这个铁矿之后。
04:39
I dragged out this stuff东东,
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我得到了这个东西,
04:41
and it wasn't iron.
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这并不是铁。
04:43
But luckily,
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但幸运的是,
04:45
I found发现 a patent专利 online线上
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我在网上找了一个专利
04:47
for industrial产业 furnaces that use microwaves微波炉,
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就是说可以用微波炉代替工业熔炉。
04:50
and at 30 minutes分钟 at full充分 power功率,
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所以在30分钟全功率运作之后,
04:52
and I was able能够 to finish off the process处理.
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我终于能够完成这个工序。
04:57
So, my next下一个 --
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之后,我接下来的--
04:59
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
05:03
The next下一个 thing I was trying to get was copper.
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接下来我要试着得到的就是铜。
05:06
Again, this mine
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同样,这里
05:09
was once一旦 the largest最大 copper mine in the world世界.
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曾经是世界上最大的铜矿山。
05:11
It's not anymore,
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现在已经不是了。
05:13
but I found发现 a retired退休 geology地质学 professor教授
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但是我找到了一位退休的地质学教授
05:15
to take me down,
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把我带了下去。
05:17
and he said, "Okay, I'll let you have some water from the mine."
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他说,“那好,我会让你从矿井里取些水走。”
05:20
And the reason原因 I was interested有兴趣 in getting得到 water
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至于我想得到一些水的原因
05:23
is because water which哪一个 goes through通过 mines矿山
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就是因为流过矿井的水
05:25
becomes kind of acidic酸性
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会含有酸性物质
05:27
and will start开始 picking选择 up,
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矿中的矿物质会渗透
05:29
dissolving溶解 the minerals矿物质 from the mine.
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并溶解在水里
05:31
And a good example of this is the Rio里约热内卢 Tinto,
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一个很好的例子就是力拓
05:34
which哪一个 is in Portugal葡萄牙.
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这是他在葡萄牙的一个分厂。
05:36
As you can see, it's got lots and lots of minerals矿物质 dissolved溶解 in it.
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正如你所见的,有许多的矿物都溶在了这水里。
05:39
So many许多 such这样
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这东西太多了,
05:41
that it's now just a home for bacteria
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以至于现在都成了那些
05:44
who really like acidic酸性, toxic有毒的 conditions条件.
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喜欢在酸性,有毒的环境下生活的细菌的家。
05:47
But anyway无论如何, the water I dragged back
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但是不管怎样,那些我从
05:49
from the Isle小岛 of Anglesey安格尔西 where the mine was --
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Anglesey岛上,就是铜矿所在地,带回的水--
05:51
there was enough足够 copper in it
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里面有足够的铜矿
05:53
such这样 that I could cast the pins
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这足以让我浇铸出
05:55
of my metal金属 electric电动 plug插头.
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我要的金属插头。
05:57
So my next下一个 thing: I was off to Scotland苏格兰
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然后接下来:我去了苏格兰
06:00
to get mica云母.
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去找云母。
06:03
And mica云母 is a mineral矿物
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云母也是一种矿物,
06:06
which哪一个 is a very good insulator绝缘子
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是一种很好的绝缘体
06:09
and very good at insulating绝缘 electricity电力.
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能很好的阻隔电流.
06:12
That's me getting得到 mica云母.
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这是我得到了云母的照片。
06:15
And the last material材料 I'm going to talk about today今天 is plastic塑料,
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我今天最后要说的原材料就是塑料。
06:18
and, of course课程,
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当然,
06:20
my toaster烤面包机 had to have a plastic塑料 case案件.
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我的面包机需要一个塑料的外包装。
06:22
Plastic塑料 is the defining确定 feature特征
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塑料包装是
06:24
of cheap低廉 electrical电动 goods产品.
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便宜电子产品的共同特点。
06:26
And so plastic塑料 comes from oil, so I phoned打电话给 up BPBP
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塑料是由石油炼来的,所以我给BP公司打了电话
06:29
and spent花费 a good half an hour小时
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花了大半个小时
06:31
trying to convince说服 the PRPR office办公室 at BPBP
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试图说服他们的公关部门
06:33
that it would be fantastic奇妙 for them
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说如果他们能带我去钻油塔,
06:35
if they flew me to an oil rig操纵
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并给我一壶油
06:37
and let me have a jug坛子 of oil.
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那简直就太好了。
06:39
BPBP obviously明显 has a bit more on their mind心神 now.
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若现在找他们,估计没人理我,因为他们现在有很多事缠身。
06:43
But even then
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但是就是当时,
06:45
they weren't convinced相信
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他们也没有答应我
06:47
and said, "Okay, we'll phone电话 you back" -- never did.
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他们说,“好的,我们会给你回电话。”-- 从来没回过。
06:50
So I looked看着 at other ways方法 of making制造 plastic塑料.
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所以我就看了其他做塑料的方法。
06:53
And you can actually其实 make plastic塑料
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后来发现,我们除了
06:55
from obviously明显 oils which哪一个 come from plants植物, but also from starches淀粉.
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用由植物演变的石油可以提炼之外,用淀粉也行。
06:58
So this is attempting尝试 to make
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这就是我尝试着做
07:00
potato土豆 starch淀粉 plastic塑料.
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土豆淀粉塑料。
07:02
And for a while that was looking really good.
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刚做好时,它看上去很棒。
07:04
I poured it into the mold模子, which哪一个 you can see there,
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正如你们所见,我把它倒进了模子
07:06
which哪一个 I've made制作 from a tree trunk树干.
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这模子是用我树干做的
07:08
And it was looking good for a while,
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这东西刚出来时,看上去很好,
07:10
but I left it outside, because you had to leave离开 it outside to dry,
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因为需要晒干,所以我把它放在了外面,
07:13
and unfortunately不幸 I came来了 back
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但不幸的是,我再出来看的时候
07:15
and there were snails蜗牛 eating the unhydrolyzed未水解 bits of potato土豆.
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我发现有蜗牛正在吃那些未水解的土豆。
07:19
So kind of out of desperation绝望,
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失望之余
07:22
I decided决定 that I could think laterally横向.
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我决定来点创新。
07:25
And geologists地质学家 have actually其实 christened命名 --
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地质学家已经将这个时代命名为--
07:27
well, they're debating辩论 whether是否 to christen克里森 --
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事实上,他们正在争论
07:29
the age年龄 that we're living活的 in --
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是否要命名--
07:31
they're debating辩论 whether是否 to make it a new geological地质 epoch时代
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是否需要取一个新的地质纪元名称
07:34
called the Anthropocene人类世, the age年龄 of Man.
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叫做“人类世”, 一个属于人类的时代。
07:37
And that's because geologists地质学家 of the future未来
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这样做是因为未来的地质学家
07:39
would kind of see a sharp尖锐 shift转移
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可能会在由我们现在埋下的岩层中
07:41
in the strata地层 of rock that is being存在 laid铺设 down now.
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发现明显的转变。
07:43
So suddenly突然, it will become成为 kind of radioactive放射性的 from Chernobyl切尔诺贝利
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突然间,它会有像切尔诺贝利核电那样的放射污染
07:46
and the 2,000 or so nuclear bombs炸弹
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或者是从1945年开始到现在
07:48
that have been set off since以来 1945.
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引爆的2000个左右的核炸弹那样的危害。
07:52
And there'd这红色 also be an extinction灭绝 event事件 --
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这可能会是一个毁灭性的灾难---
07:55
like fossils化石 would suddenly突然 disappear消失.
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就像化石可能突然消失一样。
07:58
And also, I thought
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所以,我认为
08:00
that there would be
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应该会有
08:02
synthetic合成的 polymers聚合物,
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人造聚合体和
08:04
plastics塑料, embedded嵌入式 in the rock.
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塑料元素夹杂在岩层中。
08:06
So I looked看着 up a plastic塑料 --
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所以我查阅了一种塑料--
08:08
so I decided决定 that I could mine
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我决定去开采一下
08:10
some of this modern-day现代 rock.
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一些现代岩石。
08:12
And I went up to Manchester曼彻斯特
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我去了曼彻斯特
08:14
to visit访问 a place地点 called Axion公理 Recycling回收.
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造访了一个叫Axion Recycling的地方
08:17
And they're at the sharp尖锐 end结束 of what's called the WEEEWEEE,
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那儿的人正处在一个叫WEEE项目中的最艰难的阶段,
08:20
which哪一个 is this European欧洲的 electrical电动 and electronic电子 waste浪费 directive指示.
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WEEE是“欧洲电子电器垃圾”官方指南。
08:25
And that was brought into force
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这个项目正在实施
08:27
to try and deal合同 with the mountain of stuff东东
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目的是处理堆积如山的电子垃圾
08:30
that is just being存在 made制作
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这些东西一般是刚做出来
08:33
and then living活的 for a while in our homes家园
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被我们买回家用一段时间
08:35
and then going to landfill垃圾填埋场.
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但他们很快就被人送去了垃圾填埋场
08:37
But this is it.
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事实就是这样
08:46
(Music音乐)
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音乐响起
09:47
(Laughter笑声)
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笑声一片
09:49
So there's a picture图片
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这儿有一副图片
09:51
of my toaster烤面包机.
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是我的烤面包机
09:53
(Applause掌声)
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(鼓掌)
09:57
That's it without the case案件 on.
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它没有壳子
10:00
And there it is on the shelves货架.
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这儿,它被安放在架子上
10:03
Thanks谢谢.
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谢谢
10:05
(Applause掌声)
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(鼓掌)
10:09
Bruno布鲁诺 Giussani吉萨尼: I'm told you did plug插头 it in once一旦.
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Bruno Giussani: 我听说你有一次没有接入电源插进去?
10:11
TTTT: Yeah, I did plug插头 it in.
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呃,是的,我没有把它接入进去
10:13
I don't know if you could see,
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我不知道这样你是否能看得见
10:15
but I was never able能够 to make insulation绝缘 for the wires电线.
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不过我一向不会做电线外的绝缘材料
10:18
Kew基尤 Gardens花园 were insistent坚持
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Kew 庄园的人很顽固
10:20
that I couldn't不能 come and hack into their rubber橡胶 tree.
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所以我不能去砍他们家的橡胶树来弄点绝缘材料
10:23
So the wires电线 were uninsulated非绝缘.
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所以,这些电线都是不绝缘的
10:25
So there was 240 volts
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这儿有240伏的电压
10:27
going through通过 these homemade自制 copper wires电线,
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将要通过这些自制的铜电线
10:29
homemade自制 plug插头.
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通过自制的插座
10:31
And for about five seconds,
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大约五秒过后
10:33
the toaster烤面包机 toasted,
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烤面包机运作起来了,
10:35
but then, unfortunately不幸,
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但是,不幸的是
10:37
the element元件 kind of melted融化了 itself本身.
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这些电器元件自熔了
10:40
But I considered考虑 it a partial局部 success成功, to be honest诚实.
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不过,说实话,我仍当作这是部分成功
10:43
BGBG: Thomas托马斯 Thwaites香棒. TTTT: Thanks谢谢.
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®谢谢
Translated by Chunyang Hu
Reviewed by Hanyang Song

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Thomas Thwaites - Designer
Thomas Thwaites is a designer "of a more speculative sort," he says.

Why you should listen

Thomas Thwaites calls himself "a designer (of a more speculative sort)." His thoughtful projects look deeply at the science behind technology, as in the Toaster Project, which sent spiralling him into the history and techniques of metallurgy and plastics production, and Policing Genes, a thought experiment around amateur genetics. We will not mention Honeytrap, an attempt to explore modern criminality through a bicycle theft gone horribly wrong. He's currently working on a project investigating counterfactual histories in science, supported by the Wellcome Trust.

More profile about the speaker
Thomas Thwaites | Speaker | TED.com