ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Justin Hall-Tipping - Science entrepreneur
Justin Hall-Tipping works on nano-energy startups -- mastering the electron to create power.

Why you should listen

Some of our most serious planetary worries revolve around energy and power -- controlling it, paying for it, and the consequences of burning it. Justin Hall-Tipping had an epiphany about energy after seeing footage of a chunk of ice the size of his home state (Connecticut) falling off Antarctica into the ocean, and decided to focus on science to find new forms of energy. A longtime investor, he formed Nanoholdings  to work closely with universities and labs who are studying new forms of nano-scale energy in the four sectors of the energy economy: generation, transmission, storage and conservation.

Nanotech as a field is still very young (the National Science Foundation says it's "at a level of development similar to that of computer technology in the 1950s") and nano-energy in particular holds tremendous promise.

He says: "For the first time in human history, we actually have the ability to pick up an atom and place it the way we want. Some very powerful things can happen when you can do that."

More profile about the speaker
Justin Hall-Tipping | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Justin Hall-Tipping: Freeing energy from the grid

贾斯汀・霍-提平:将能源从电网中解放出来

Filmed:
1,182,680 views

如果我们能通过窗户玻璃上提取能量会是什么情景?创业家贾斯汀・霍-提平在这个感人的演讲中展现给我们能将此设想变为现实的材料,并告诉我们对所谓“正常”概念的质疑能带我们找到突破。
- Science entrepreneur
Justin Hall-Tipping works on nano-energy startups -- mastering the electron to create power. Full bio

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

00:16
Why can't we solve解决 these problems问题?
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为什么我们不能解决这些问题?
00:21
We know what they are.
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我们了解这些问题
00:24
Something always seems似乎 to stop us.
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但似乎总有什么阻止着我们
00:28
Why?
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为什么?
00:31
I remember记得 March游行 the 15th, 2000.
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我记得是2000年的3月15日
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The B15 iceberg冰山 broke打破 off the Ross罗斯 Ice Shelf.
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B15冰山从罗斯冰架上脱落
00:39
In the newspaper报纸 it said
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报纸上是这么说的
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"it was all part部分 of a normal正常 process处理."
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“这是一个正常过程的一部分”
00:45
A little bit further进一步 on in the article文章
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随后文章又说道
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it said "a loss失利 that would normally一般 take
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“这个损失正常需要
00:51
the ice shelf 50-100 years年份 to replace更换."
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50到100年的时间来恢复”
00:58
That same相同 word, "normal正常,"
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同样一个词-“正常”
01:01
had two different不同,
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是两种不同的
01:03
almost几乎 opposite对面 meanings含义.
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甚至皆然相反的含义
01:06
If we walk步行 into the B15 iceberg冰山
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现在如果我们离开这儿
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when we leave离开 here today今天,
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去往B15冰山
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we're going to bump磕碰 into something
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我们碰上的会是个
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a thousand feet tall,
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一千英尺高
01:17
76 miles英里 long,
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76公里长
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17 miles英里 wide,
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17公里宽
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and it's going to weigh称重 two gigatons亿吨.
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2亿吨重的大家伙
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I'm sorry, there's nothing normal正常 about this.
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这完全不是所谓的正常
01:30
And yet然而 I think it's this perspective透视 of us
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而我认为作为人类
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as humans人类 to look at our world世界
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透过“正常的”镜片观察世界的
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through通过 the lens镜片 of normal正常
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这个视角
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is one of the forces军队
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正是阻止我们
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that stops停止 us developing发展 real真实 solutions解决方案.
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寻求现实解决方案的力量之一
01:46
Only 90 days after this,
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冰山事件后的90天
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arguably按理说 the greatest最大 discovery发现
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上世纪最具争议的
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of the last century世纪 occurred发生.
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伟大发现问世了
01:53
It was the sequencing测序 for the first time
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这就是对人类基因组的
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of the human人的 genome基因组.
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首次测序
01:58
This is the code that's in every一切 single one
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它是存在我们身体
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of our 50 trillion cells细胞
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50兆个细胞中
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that makes品牌 us who we are and what we are.
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决定了我们是谁的密码
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And if we just take one cell's细胞 worth价值
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如果我们将一个细胞的
02:10
of this code and unwind放松 it,
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基因密码展开
02:15
it's a meter仪表 long,
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它有一米长
02:19
two nanometers纳米 thick.
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两纳米厚
02:21
Two nanometers纳米 is 20 atoms原子 in thickness厚度.
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两纳米就是20个原子那么厚
02:25
And I wondered想知道,
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我常想
02:27
what if the answer回答 to some of our biggest最大 problems问题
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如果一些大难题的答案
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could be found发现 in the smallest最少 of places地方,
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就藏在最细微的地方呢?
02:33
where the difference区别 between之间 what is
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这种有价值和无意义间的
02:35
valuable有价值 and what is worthless无用
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细微差别仅仅是
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is merely仅仅 the addition加成 or subtraction减法
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增加或者减少
02:39
of a few少数 atoms原子?
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几个原子的差别
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And what
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如果
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if we could get exquisite精美 control控制
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我们能对能源的核心
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over the essence本质 of energy能源,
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即电子进行
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the electron电子?
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精确控制呢?
02:51
So I started开始 to go around the world世界
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于是我走遍世界
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finding发现 the best最好 and brightest scientists科学家们
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在大学里寻找
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I could at universities高校
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最优秀伟大的科学家们
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whose谁的 collective集体 discoveries发现 have the chance机会
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他们的共同发现可能
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to take us there,
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帮我们实现这个愿望
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and we formed形成 a company公司 to build建立
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我们成立了一个公司
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on their extraordinary非凡 ideas思路.
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来开发他们不寻常的想法
03:05
Six and a half years年份 later后来,
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六年半后
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a hundred and eighty八十 researchers研究人员,
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180名研究者
03:09
they have some amazing惊人 developments发展
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终于在实验室有了
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in the lab实验室,
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惊人的进展
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and I will show显示 you three of those today今天,
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今天我会展示其中三个
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such这样 that we can stop burning燃烧 up our planet行星
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以此我们可以停止耗尽我们的地球
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and instead代替,
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并且
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we can generate生成 all the energy能源 we need
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我们能在我们所处的地方
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right where we are,
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以清洁安全和廉价的方式
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cleanly干净, safely安然, and cheaply廉价地.
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产生所有需要的能源
03:28
Think of the space空间 that we spend
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试想一下我们大部分时间
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most of our time.
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所在的场所
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A tremendous巨大 amount of energy能源
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大量的能量
03:34
is coming未来 at us from the sun太阳.
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是来自太阳
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We like the light that comes into the room房间,
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我们喜欢射进屋子的阳光
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but in the middle中间 of summer夏季,
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但在伏暑
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all that heat is coming未来 into the room房间
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我们得减少进入屋子的热量
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that we're trying to keep cool.
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保持凉爽
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In winter冬季, exactly究竟 the opposite对面 is happening事件.
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冬天则完全相反
03:46
We're trying to heat up
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我们则对屋子
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the space空间 that we're in,
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加热
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and all that is trying to get out through通过 the window窗口.
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防止热量散出
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Wouldn't岂不 it be really great
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如果窗户能够
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if the window窗口 could flick拂去 back the heat
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根据我们的需要
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into the room房间 if we needed需要 it
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把热量反射回屋里
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or flick拂去 it away before it came来了 in?
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或者在其进入屋子之前反射回去不是很棒吗?
04:01
One of the materials物料 that can do this
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具备此功能的材料之一
04:03
is a remarkable卓越 material材料, carbon,
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就是碳
04:08
that has changed its form形成 in this incredibly令人难以置信 beautiful美丽 reaction反应
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在这个如此美妙的反应里碳改变了形态
04:11
where graphite石墨 is blasted炮轰 by a vapor,
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石墨被汽化
04:16
and when the vaporized蒸发 carbon condenses冷凝,
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然后在冷凝
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it condenses冷凝 back into a different不同 form形成:
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变成一种不同的形态
04:23
chickenwirechickenwire rolled热轧 up.
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象卷起来的铁丝网
04:26
But this chickenwirechickenwire carbon,
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但是这个碳网
04:28
called a carbon nanotube纳米管,
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叫做碳纳米管
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is a hundred thousand times smaller
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它比你的头发丝
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than the width宽度 of one of your hairs.
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还细一千倍
04:35
It's a thousand times
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它比铜的导电能力
04:37
more conductive导电 than copper.
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要高一千倍
04:40
How is that possible可能?
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这是怎么实现的?
04:45
One of the things about working加工 at the nanoscale纳米级
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原因之一是碳纳米管的
04:49
is things look and act法案 very differently不同.
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结构十分与众不同
04:52
You think of carbon as black黑色.
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你也许觉得碳是黑的
04:58
Carbon at the nanoscale纳米级
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但碳纳米管里的碳
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is actually其实 transparent透明
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是透明的
05:04
and flexible灵活.
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并具备弹性
05:09
And when it's in this form形成,
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碳处于此种形态下
05:11
if I combine结合 it with a polymer聚合物
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如果我将其与一聚合物结合
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and affix词缀 it to your window窗口
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贴到你的窗户上
05:17
when it's in its colored有色 state,
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在它着色的情况下
05:20
it will reflect反映 away all heat and light,
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它能反射掉所有的光和热
05:23
and when it's in its bleached漂白 state
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当它是无色的状态下
05:25
it will let all the light and heat through通过
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它能让所有的光和热透过
05:28
and any combination组合 in between之间.
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也可在两种状态间调节
05:31
To change更改 its state, by the way,
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要调节它的状态
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takes two volts from a millisecond毫秒 pulse脉冲.
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只需要1毫秒电脉冲的2伏电
05:37
And once一旦 you've changed its state, it stays入住 there
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一旦改变状态后会持续下去
05:40
until直到 you change更改 its state again.
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直到你再次调节
05:43
As we were working加工 on this incredible难以置信
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当我们在弗罗里达大学
05:45
discovery发现 at University大学 of Florida佛罗里达,
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观看这个不可思议的发现时
05:47
we were told to go down the corridor走廊
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我们被告知去走廊的另一头
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to visit访问 another另一个 scientist科学家,
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拜访另一个科学家
05:52
and he was working加工
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他也正在做一个
05:54
on a pretty漂亮 incredible难以置信 thing.
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非常不可思议的项目
05:56
Imagine想像
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试想一想
05:58
if we didn't have to rely依靠
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要是晚上我们
06:00
on artificial人造 lighting灯光 to get around at night.
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不依靠人工照明的话
06:06
We'd星期三 have to see at night, right?
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我们得能夜视,对吧?
06:12
This lets让我们 you do it.
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这个能帮你实现
06:14
It's a nanomaterial纳米材料, two nanomaterials纳米材料,
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这是个碳纳米材料,两个部件
06:17
a detector探测器 and an imager成像仪.
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一个探测器一个成像仪
06:20
The total width宽度 of it
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它的宽度
06:22
is 600 times smaller
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比一个小数位的大小
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than the width宽度 of a decimal十进制 place地点.
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还小600倍
06:27
And it takes all the infrared红外线 available可得到 at night,
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它将夜间可获得的红外线
06:31
converts转换 it into an electron电子
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在2个小胶片上
06:34
in the space空间 of two small films影片,
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转化为电子
06:37
and is enabling启用 you to play an image图片
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这样可你让你看到
06:40
which哪一个 you can see through通过.
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图像
06:47
I'm going to show显示 to TEDstersTEDsters,
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我将向诸位
06:50
the first time, this operating操作.
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独家首次展示它
06:52
Firstly首先 I'm going to show显示 you
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首先你看到
06:54
the transparency透明度.
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它具有通透性
06:57
Transparency透明度 is key.
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通透性是关键
07:01
It's a film电影 that you can look through通过.
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这是一个你可以看穿的胶片
07:04
And then I'm going to turn the lights灯火 out.
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我把灯关掉
07:07
And you can see, off a tiny film电影,
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你可以清晰地
07:10
incredible难以置信 clarity明晰.
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看到胶片后面的物体
07:14
As we were working加工 on this, it dawned破晓 on us:
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当我们研究这个的时候,这个给我们灵光一现
07:18
this is taking服用 infrared红外线 radiation辐射, wavelengths波长,
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这是将红外辐射,波长
07:22
and converting转换 it into electrons电子.
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转化成电子
07:25
What if we combined结合 it
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如果把它
07:31
with this?
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与此结合呢?
07:34
Suddenly突然 you've converted转换 energy能源
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这样你就可以将能源
07:37
into an electron电子 on a plastic塑料 surface表面
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在一个塑料表面上转化为电子
07:41
that you can stick on your window窗口.
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你可以把这个塑料膜贴到窗户上
07:44
But because it's flexible灵活,
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因为它灵活可变性
07:46
it can be on any surface表面 whatsoever任何.
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可适用于任何表面
07:50
The power功率 plant of tomorrow明天
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未来的发电厂
07:53
is no power功率 plant.
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不再是电厂
08:00
We talked about generating发电 and using运用.
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我们谈了开发和利用能源
08:03
We want to talk about storing存储 energy能源,
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下面谈谈储存
08:05
and unfortunately不幸
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不幸的是
08:07
the best最好 thing we've我们已经 got going
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我们的储存手段是
08:09
is something that was developed发达 in France法国
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一百五十年前
08:11
a hundred and fifty五十 years年份 ago,
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在法国开发出来的
08:13
the lead acid battery电池.
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铅酸电池
08:15
In terms条款 of dollars美元 per what's stored存储,
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就其经济性来说
08:17
it's simply只是 the best最好.
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无疑是最好的
08:19
Knowing会心 that we're not going to put fifty五十 of
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但我们不想在地下室放上
08:21
these in our basements地下室 to store商店 our power功率,
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五十个这样的电池
08:23
we went to a group at University大学 of Texas德州 at Dallas达拉斯,
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我们找到达拉斯德州大学的一个研究小组
08:25
and we gave them this diagram.
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交给他们这个图表
08:27
It was in actually其实 a diner餐车
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这是达拉斯/沃斯堡机场外的
08:29
outside of Dallas达拉斯/Fort Worth价值 Airport飞机场.
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一个餐厅
08:31
We said, "Could you build建立 this?"
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我们问道:“你们能建这个吗?”
08:33
And these scientists科学家们,
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这些科学家
08:35
instead代替 of laughing at us, said, "Yeah."
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并没有嘲笑我们而是一口答应了
08:37
And what they built内置 was eBoxeBox的.
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他们制造一个电子盒子
08:40
EBoxEBOX is testing测试 new nanomaterials纳米材料
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电子盒子正测试碳纳米管材料
08:42
to park公园 an electron电子 on the outside,
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是否能将停留其外面的电子
08:45
hold保持 it until直到 you need it,
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保留住直到你需要的时候
08:48
and then be able能够 to release发布 it and pass通过 it off.
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释放它并令其通过
08:51
Being存在 able能够 to do that means手段
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能做到这个的话意味着
08:55
that I can generate生成 energy能源
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我能当场
08:58
cleanly干净, efficiently有效率的 and cheaply廉价地
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以清洁高效低廉的方式
09:01
right where I am.
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发电
09:03
It's my energy能源.
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这是我的能源
09:06
And if I don't need it, I can convert兑换 it
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如果我暂不需要
09:08
back up on the window窗口
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可以在窗户上将其
09:10
to energy能源, light, and beam光束 it,
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转化为能源,光
09:12
line线 of site现场, to your place地点.
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一直照亮到你的屋子
09:15
And for that I do not need
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而这一切
09:18
an electric电动 grid between之间 us.
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完全不需要电网连接你我间的设备
09:21
The grid of tomorrow明天 is no grid,
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未来的电网不需要电网
09:25
and energy能源, clean清洁 efficient高效 energy能源,
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清洁高效的能源
09:29
will one day be free自由.
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也将被解放出来
09:36
If you do this, you get the last puzzle难题 piece,
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如果能做到这一点那就剩下最后一个问题
09:40
which哪一个 is water.
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这就是水
09:46
Each of us, every一切 day,
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我们每个人每天
09:51
need just eight glasses眼镜 of this,
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只需要八杯水
09:56
because we're human人的.
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因为我们是人类
09:59
When we run out of water,
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如果水资源枯竭
10:01
as we are in some parts部分 of the world世界
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这已经在有些地区发生了
10:03
and soon不久 to be in other parts部分 of the world世界,
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不久的将来在全球都会出现这样的问题
10:05
we're going to have to get this from the sea,
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我们就得从海里取水
10:08
and that's going to require要求 us to build建立 desalination海水淡化 plants植物.
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这就要建海水淡化处理厂
10:11
19 trillion dollars美元 is what we're going to have to spend.
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这得花上19万亿美元
10:14
These also require要求 tremendous巨大 amounts of energy能源.
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和无可估计的大量能源
10:16
In fact事实, it's going to require要求 twice两次 the world's世界
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事实上,这需要两倍全世界的
10:18
supply供应 of oil to run the pumps
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石油供给保持机器运转
10:20
to generate生成 the water.
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来淡化海水
10:23
We're simply只是 not going to do that.
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我们不会这么做
10:25
But in a world世界 where energy能源 is freed释放
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但是如果能源能被自由地获取
10:27
and transmittable传递
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并能便捷低成本地
10:29
easily容易 and cheaply廉价地, we can take any water
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进行转化的话
10:31
wherever哪里 we are
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我们可以随处取水
10:33
and turn it into whatever随你 we need.
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并将其处理
10:37
I'm glad高兴 to be working加工 with
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我很高兴能与
10:39
incredibly令人难以置信 brilliant辉煌 and kind scientists科学家们,
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非常聪明和友善的科学家共事
10:41
no kinder金德 than
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也许没有这世上的很多人
10:43
many许多 of the people in the world世界,
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那么善良
10:45
but they have a magic魔法 look at the world世界.
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但是他们对世界有完全不一样的看法
10:48
And I'm glad高兴 to see their discoveries发现
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我很高兴他们的发现
10:50
coming未来 out of the lab实验室 and into the world世界.
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能走出实验室走向世界
10:53
It's been a long time in coming未来 for me.
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我等待这一切很久了
10:57
18 years年份 ago,
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18年前
11:00
I saw a photograph照片 in the paper.
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我在报纸上看到一幅照片
11:04
It was taken采取 by Kevin凯文 Carter卡特
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那是凯文・卡特
11:06
who went to the Sudan苏丹
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在苏丹纪录大饥荒
11:08
to document文件 their famine饥荒 there.
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拍下的照片
11:10
I've carried携带的 this photograph照片 with me
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自此我一直将这张照片
11:12
every一切 day since以来 then.
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随身携带
11:17
It's a picture图片 of a little girl女孩 dying垂死 of thirst口渴.
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这是一个小女孩死于饥渴的照片
11:27
By any standard标准 this is wrong错误.
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无庸置疑这是个悲剧
11:32
It's just wrong错误.
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一个悲剧
11:38
We can do better than this.
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我们能改善这种情况
11:41
We should do better than this.
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我们应该有所作为
11:44
And whenever每当 I go round回合
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每当我
11:46
to somebody who says,
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听到有人说
11:48
"You know what, you're working加工 on something that's too difficult.
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“你知不知道我们研究的东西太难了
11:50
It'll它会 never happen发生. You don't have enough足够 money.
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不会成功的 你没有足够的资金
11:53
You don't have enough足够 time.
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没有足够的时间
11:56
There's something much more interesting有趣 around the corner,"
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别的研究更有趣好玩儿”
11:59
I say, "Try saying that to her."
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我说:“你能对着她说这些吗”
12:01
That's what I say in my mind心神. And I just say
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这是我在心里对我自己说的话
12:03
"thank you," and I go on to the next下一个 one.
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我对那些人说声谢谢,继续我的研究
12:06
This is why we have to solve解决 our problems问题,
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这就是为什么我们必须解决问题的原因
12:09
and I know the answer回答 as to how
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我知道 答案就在于
12:14
is to be able能够 to get exquisite精美 control控制
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怎样去精确地控制
12:18
over a building建造 block of nature性质,
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自然的基础单元
12:21
the stuff东东 of life:
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生命的物质:
12:23
the simple简单 electron电子.
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就是电子
12:25
Thank you.
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谢谢
12:27
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Chunxiang Qian
Reviewed by Jenny Yang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Justin Hall-Tipping - Science entrepreneur
Justin Hall-Tipping works on nano-energy startups -- mastering the electron to create power.

Why you should listen

Some of our most serious planetary worries revolve around energy and power -- controlling it, paying for it, and the consequences of burning it. Justin Hall-Tipping had an epiphany about energy after seeing footage of a chunk of ice the size of his home state (Connecticut) falling off Antarctica into the ocean, and decided to focus on science to find new forms of energy. A longtime investor, he formed Nanoholdings  to work closely with universities and labs who are studying new forms of nano-scale energy in the four sectors of the energy economy: generation, transmission, storage and conservation.

Nanotech as a field is still very young (the National Science Foundation says it's "at a level of development similar to that of computer technology in the 1950s") and nano-energy in particular holds tremendous promise.

He says: "For the first time in human history, we actually have the ability to pick up an atom and place it the way we want. Some very powerful things can happen when you can do that."

More profile about the speaker
Justin Hall-Tipping | Speaker | TED.com