TED2006
Penelope Boston: There might just be life on Mars
Penelope Boston:火星可能有生命存在
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尽管火星探测器未能从火星表面“挖”出任何地外生命，科学家Renelope Boston仍然认为火星洞穴内存在生命的可能性很高,在25%－50%之间。在该讲座中她详细地陈述了自己的观点。
Penelope Boston - Cave scientist
Penelope Boston studies caves and karst formations, and the special biology that lives in them -- both here on Earth and possibly on other planets. Full bio
Penelope Boston studies caves and karst formations, and the special biology that lives in them -- both here on Earth and possibly on other planets. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:18
The career that I started early on in my life
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我在生涯早期开展的工作
00:21
was looking for exotic life forms in exotic places,
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是从奇异的地方寻找奇异的生命形式
00:25
and at that time I was working in the Antarctic and the Arctic,
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南极、北极、
00:28
and high deserts and low deserts.
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莫哈韦沙漠以及科罗拉多沙漠都是我当时工作过的地点
00:30
Until about a dozen years ago, when I was really captured by caves,
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直到十几年前我才被洞穴的魅力所吸引
00:33
and I really re-focused most of my research in that direction.
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并真正将我的研究集中到这一方向
00:37
So I have a really cool day job-- I get to do some really amazing stuff.
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于是我有了非常酷的日常工作--着手处理一些令人惊奇的事物
00:40
I work in some of the most extreme cave environments on the planet.
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我在这个星球上最极端的洞穴环境中工作
00:44
Many of them are trying to kill us from the minute we go into them,
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其中的许多在我们进入的那一刻起就威胁着我们的生命
00:46
but nevertheless, they're absolutely gripping,
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但是它们绝对引人入胜
00:49
and contain unbelievable biological wonders
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并且拥有令人难以置信的生物奇观
00:51
that are very, very different from those that we have on the planet.
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这些生物与地表上的普通生物具有很大很大的不同
00:54
Apart from the intrinsic value
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该类洞穴不仅可以使我们获得生物学
00:56
of the biology and mineralogy and geo-microbiology that we do there,
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矿物学和地质微生物学方面的内在价值
00:59
we're also using these as templates
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还可以作为模板
01:01
for figuring out how to go look
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来帮助我们研究怎样去寻找
01:03
for life on other planets.
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其它行星上的生命
01:05
Particularly Mars, but also Europa,
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特别是火星以及木卫二--
01:07
the small, icy moon around Jupiter.
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一颗小的、被冰面覆盖的木卫上的生命
01:10
And perhaps, someday, far beyond our solar system itself.
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甚至，也许某一天，寻找太阳系外的生命
01:13
I'm very passionately interested in the human future,
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我对人类在月球、火星
01:16
on the Moon and Mars particularly,
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以及太阳系其它角落的未来
01:18
and elsewhere in the solar system.
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有着特别浓厚的兴趣
01:20
I think it's time that we transitioned
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我想现在是我们过渡为
01:22
to a solar system-going civilization and species.
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一个横跨太阳系的种族和文明的时候了
01:25
And, as an outgrowth of all of this then,
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而作为一种过渡的可能后果
01:28
I wonder about whether we can, and whether we even should,
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我想知道我们是不是能，甚至是不是应该
01:31
think about transporting Earth-type life to other planets.
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考虑将地球上的生命运送至其它行星
01:35
Notably Mars, as a first example.
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火星显然是第一个要考虑的例子
01:37
Something I never talk about in scientific meetings
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我从未在学术会议上提及的一些事情
01:39
is how I actually got to this state
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是我怎样达到现在的状况
01:41
and why I do the work that I do.
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以及我做这种工作的初衷是什么
01:43
Why don't I have a normal job, a sensible job?
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为什么我不去找一个正常点的工作，一个实际点的工作？
01:46
And then of course, I blame the Soviet Union.
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当然，我要把这归咎于前苏联
01:49
Because in the mid-1950s,
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因为在1950年代中期
01:51
when I was a tiny child,
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当我还是个小孩的时候
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they had the audacity to launch
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苏联人大胆得发射了一颗
01:55
a very primitive little satellite called Sputnik,
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被称作伴侣号的原始的小卫星
01:58
which sent the Western world into a hysterical tailspin.
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这一壮举使西方世界陷入了歇斯底里般的混乱
02:02
And a tremendous amount of money
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于是，大量的资金
02:04
went into the funding of science
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被投入到教育中
02:06
and mathematics skills for kids.
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以提高孩子们的数学和科学素养
02:08
And I'm a product of that generation,
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就像许多我的同行一样
02:10
like so many other of my peers.
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我也是那一代的产品之一
02:12
It really caught hold of us, and caught fire,
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这样的教育限制了我们，令我们恼火
02:14
and it would be lovely if we could reproduce that again now.
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如果我们现在能回炉重造的话会比较不错
02:17
Of course, refusing to grow up --
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当然，拒绝长大使我一直保持
02:19
-- even though I impersonate a grown-up in daily life,
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孩子般的特质--不会在乎其他人
02:22
but I do a fairly good job of that --
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对你所感兴趣的事物的看法
02:24
but really retaining that childlike quality
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这是非常重要的
02:26
of not caring what other people think
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不过,在日常生活中
02:28
about what you're interested in, is really critical.
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我还是相当善于扮演一个成年人的角色
02:31
The next element is the fact that
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另一个元素是
02:33
I have applied a value judgment
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我将自己的价值判断应用在工作中
02:35
and my value judgment is that the presence of life
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这种价值判断便是生命的出现
02:37
is better than no life.
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要好于没有生命
02:39
And so, life is more valuable than no life.
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也就是有生命比没有生命更加更加珍贵
02:41
And so I think that that holds together
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并且我相信，这样的价值判断
02:44
a great deal of the work
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与在做的观众大部分的工作
02:46
that people in this audience approach.
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是紧密结合的
02:50
I'm very interested in Mars, of course,
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我对火星确实很感兴趣
02:53
and that was a product of my being a young undergraduate
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这是一个我在读本科时的创作
02:57
when the Viking Landers landed on Mars.
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那时候海盗号探测器已经在火星着陆
03:00
And that took what had been
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这将原本看起来
03:02
a tiny little astronomical object in the sky,
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仅仅是天空中一个小小天体的
03:05
that you would see as a dot,
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你们看做一个小点的东西
03:07
and turned it completely into a landscape,
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彻底得变成了一幅景观图
03:11
as that very first primitive picture
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当最原始的图像
03:13
came rastering across the screen.
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像光栅一样划过屏幕的时候
03:15
And when it became a landscape,
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在它变为一幅景观图的同时
03:17
it also became a destination,
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它也成为了一个目的地
03:19
and altered, really, the course of my life.
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并且改变了我的人生轨迹
03:23
In my graduate years I worked with
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在我的毕业年
03:25
my colleague and mentor and friend, Steve Schneider,
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我与我的同事、导师兼朋友，斯蒂夫·斯内德一起
03:27
at the National Center for Atmospheric Research,
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在国家大气研究中心
03:29
working on global change issues.
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进行关于全球变化问题的研究
03:32
We've written a number of things on
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我们写了大量的东西
03:34
the role of Gaia hypothesis --
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都是是关于盖亚假说（能否在重要科学的意义上
03:35
whether or not you could consider Earth as a single entity
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将地球看做一个独立存在的实体）
03:38
in any meaningful scientific sense,
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的作用
03:40
and then, as an outgrowth of that,
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后来，顺理成章的
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I worked on the environmental consequences of nuclear war.
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我又研究了核战争对环境的产生的后果
03:46
So, wonderful things and grim things.
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有令人惊奇研究也有令人感到恐惧的研究
03:48
But what it taught me was to look at Earth as a planet
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但这些研究教会了我采用外部的视角
03:51
with external eyes, not just as our home.
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将地球看做一颗行星，而不仅仅是我们的家园
03:54
And that is a wonderful stepping away in perspective,
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这是一种思考方法上的进步
03:58
to try to then think about the way
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可以帮助我们理解
04:00
our planet behaves, as a planet,
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地球作为一个普通行星
04:03
and with the life that's on it.
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以及作为一个具有生命的行星的特质
04:05
And all of this seems to me to be
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同时我认为这样的进步
04:08
a salient point in history.
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也是一个历史转折点
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We're getting ready to begin to go
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人类已经正在准备
04:12
through the process of leaving our planet of origin
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踏上征程，离开地球
04:15
and out into the wider solar system and beyond.
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去征服广袤的太阳系甚至更远的地方
04:19
So, back to Mars.
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让我们回到火星
04:21
How hard is it going to be to find life on Mars?
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在火星上找到生命是多难的一件事？
04:23
Well, sometimes it's really very hard for us to find each other,
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有时候我们会觉得在地球上想要找的彼此
04:25
even on this planet.
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都不是一件容易的事
04:27
So, finding life on another planet
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所以想要在其他行星发现生命
04:29
is a non-trivial occupation
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的难度可想而知
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and we spend a lot of time trying to think about that.
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而且我们也花了大量的时间来思考这个问题
04:34
Whether or not you think it's likely to be successful
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一个人对是否可能成功找到火星生命的判断
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sort of depends on what you think about
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某种程度取决于其对宇宙
04:38
the chances of life in the universe.
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生命存在几率的看法
04:40
I think, myself,
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我个人认为
04:42
that life is a natural outgrowth
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生命是物质随着时间的推移
04:45
of the increasing complexification of matter over time.
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而逐渐复化的自然结果
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So, you start with the Big Bang and you get hydrogen,
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比如，从大爆炸开始首先形成了氢气
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and then you get helium, and then you get more complicated stuff,
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然后是氦气，后来又有了一些更复杂的东西
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and you get planets forming --
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直到行星最终形成
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and life is a common, planetary-based phenomenon, in my view.
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从我的观点看来，生命只是一种以行星为基础的普通现象
04:58
Certainly, in the last 15 years,
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当然，在过去的十五年中
05:00
we've seen increasing numbers of planets
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我们看到
05:03
outside of our solar system being confirmed,
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越来越多的系外行星被确认存在
05:06
and just last month, a couple of weeks ago,
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就在上个月，几个星期之前
05:09
a planet in the size-class of Earth
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一个地球大小的行星
05:11
has actually been found.
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刚刚被发现
05:13
And so this is very exciting news.
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这是个令人兴奋的消息
05:15
So, my first bold prediction is that,
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所以，我第一个大胆的预测是
05:17
is that in the universe, life is going to be everywhere.
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在宇宙中生命无处不在
05:20
It's going to be everywhere we look --
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凡是在我们视野内的
05:22
where there are planetary systems that can possibly support it.
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行星系统都有可能支持生命的存在
05:25
And those planetary systems are going to be very common.
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而此类的行星系统将会是非常常见的
05:28
So, what about life on Mars?
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那么火星上的生命呢？
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Well, if somebody had asked me about a dozen years ago
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如果有人十几年前问我
05:32
what I thought the chances of life on Mars would be,
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关于火星上存在生命的机率有多大的问题
05:35
I would've probably said, a couple of percent.
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我当时可能会回答有百分之几
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And even that was considered outrageous at the time.
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尽管在当时这种机率被认为大得有点惊人
05:41
I was once sneeringly introduced
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我曾经被一位前任NASA官员
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by a former NASA official,
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轻蔑得介绍为
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as the only person on the planet
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地球上唯一还认为
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who still thought there was life on Mars.
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火星上有生命存在的人
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Of course, that official is now dead, and I'm not,
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当然，那位官员现在已经死了，而我还没有
05:51
so there's a certain amount of glory
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所以比我的对手活得长
05:54
in outliving your adversaries.
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还是相当值得骄傲的一件事
05:56
But things have changed greatly
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但在过去的十几年中
05:58
over the last dozen years.
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很多东西都发生了巨大的变化
06:01
And the reason that they have changed
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之所以发生这么大变化的原因是
06:03
is because we now have new information.
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我们现在有了新的信息
06:05
The amazing Pathfinder mission that went in '97,
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令人惊喜的97年开拓者任务
06:08
and the MER Rover missions
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以及火星探索任务
06:10
that are on Mars as we speak now
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该任务在此时还在火星进行着
06:12
and the European Space Agency's Mars Express,
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还有欧洲空间局的火星快车号
06:15
has taught us a number of amazing things.
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带给我们许许多多惊奇的发现
06:17
There is sub-surface ice on that planet.
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这其中就包括火星地下冰的发现
06:20
And so where there is water,
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哪里有水
06:22
there is a very high chance of our kind of life.
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哪里就非常有可能存在着类似我们这样的生命
06:24
There's clearly sedimentary rocks all over the place –
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在一个登陆车所在的古老的海床上
06:26
one of the landers is sitting in the middle of an ancient seabed,
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到处都明显的存在着沉积岩
06:29
and there are these amazing structures called blueberries,
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以及一种被称作蓝莓的奇异结构
06:33
which are these little, rocky concretions
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这些小而硬的凝结物即是
06:35
that we are busy making biologically
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我的实验室内正在紧锣密鼓生物合成的
06:37
in my lab right now.
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也是这种物质
06:39
So, with all of these things put together,
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将这些东西都放在一起
06:41
I think that the chances of life
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我有理由认为生命存在的机率
06:43
are much greater than I would've ever thought.
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远远大于我曾经的预测
06:45
I think that the chance of life having arisen on Mars, sometime in its past,
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我认为在曾经某个时期火星上产生过生命的机率
06:49
is maybe one in four to maybe even half and half.
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大概在1/4到1/2之间
06:52
So this is a very bold statement.
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这是个非常大胆的立场
06:54
I think it's there, and I think we need
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我认为生命的确在那里，并且是在地下
06:56
to go look for it, and I think it's underground.
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而我们需要去寻找它
06:58
So the game's afoot, and this is the game that we play in astro-biology.
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好戏正在上演，戏台就是天体生物学
07:02
How do you try to get a handle on extraterrestrial life?
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接下来的问题是我们该如何驾驭外星生命？
07:05
How do you plan to look for it?
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如何谋划寻找过程？
07:07
How do you know it when you find it?
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当我们发现生命后如何才能得知？
07:09
Because if it's big and obvious, we would've already found it --
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因为如果生命够大够明显的的话，我们早就已经发现它了
07:11
it would've already bitten us on the foot, and it hasn't.
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-如果可能它早就能咬到我们的脚了
07:14
So, we know that it's probably quite cryptic.
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所以也许那里的生命很隐秘
07:16
Very critically, how do we protect it,
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还有非常关键的一点是当我们发现生命了之后
07:18
if we find it, and not contaminate it?
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怎样保护它并免于污染它？
07:21
And also, even perhaps more critically, because
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也许更关键的一点，由于地球
07:24
this is the only home planet we have,
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是我们唯一的家园
07:26
how do we protect us from it, while we study it?
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我们该怎样在研究外星生命的同时保护自己？
07:30
So why might it be hard to find?
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那么为什么那里的生命可能很难被发现？
07:32
Well, it's probably microscopic, and it's never easy
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当然，这种生命可能是显微尺度的
07:34
to study microscopic things,
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想要研究这种生命也绝非易事
07:36
although the amazing tools that we now have to do that
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即使我们现在有先进的工具
07:39
allow us to study things in much greater depth,
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让我们能比以前更加深入得研究
07:41
at much smaller scales than ever before.
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尺寸异常微小的生物
07:44
But it's probably hiding, because if you are out
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这些生命也有可能隐藏在暗处
07:47
sequestering resources from your environment, that makes you yummy,
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而我们对它们来说相当美味
07:50
and other things might want to eat you, or consume you.
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所以有可能被他们吃掉
07:52
And so, there's a game of predator-prey
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在任何生物系统中
07:55
that's going to be, essentially, universal, really,
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这种捕食与被捕食的关系
08:00
in any kind of biological system.
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都是本质上存在的
08:02
It also may be very, very different in its fundamental properties –
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这种生命也许在内在属性上也与我们有本质区别
08:05
its chemistry, or its size.
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无论是化学成分还是体积大小
08:07
We say small, but what does that mean?
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我们说它小，但具体有多小？
08:09
Is it virus-sized? Is it smaller than that?
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跟病毒差不多大？还是比病毒更小？
08:11
Is it bigger than the biggest bacterium? We don't know.
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亦或是比最大的细菌还大？天知道
08:13
And speed of activity, which is something that we face
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还有它们的活力，这也是我们在研究
08:16
in our work with sub-surface organisms,
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地下生物时所遇到的问题
08:18
because they grow very, very slowly.
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因为它们的生长速度是异常之慢
08:20
If I were to take a swab off your teeth
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如果我从你的牙上擦下来点东西
08:23
and plate it on a Petri plate,
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并放在培养皿上
08:25
within about four or five hours, I would have to see growth.
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大概过4、5个小时我们就肯定会看到这些生物的生长
08:28
But the organisms that we work with,
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但对我们研究的地下
08:30
from the sub-surface of Earth,
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生物来说
08:31
very often it's months -- and in many cases, years --
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历时数月甚至数年才能观察到生长现象
08:34
before we see any growth whatsoever.
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是常事
08:36
So they are, intrinsically, a slower life-form.
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所以他们从本质上将属于慢速生命形式
08:39
But the real issue is that we are guided by
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但其实真正的问题在于
08:42
our limited experience,
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我们都习惯于被自己的经验所引导
08:44
and until we can think out of the box of our cranium and what we know,
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直到我们能冲破思想的樊篱后
08:48
then we can't recognize what to look for,
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我们才能意识到我们要找的是什么
08:50
or how to plan for it.
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或者怎样为其制定计划
08:53
So, perspective is everything
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所以正确的思考方法是一切的前提
08:55
and, because of the history that I've just briefly talked to you about,
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并且，正如我之前简介的自己的那段经历
08:58
I have learned to think about Earth
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我已经学会在思考问题的时候
09:00
as an extraterrestrial planet.
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将地球看做一个普通的地外行星
09:02
And this has been invaluable in our approach to try to study these things.
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这已经成为我们研究相关问题的一个非常宝贵的手段
09:06
This is my favorite game on airplanes:
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这是我乘飞机时喜欢的的一个游戏
09:08
where you're in an airplane and you look out the window,
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在飞机上，从舷窗眺望
09:10
you see the horizon.
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你可以看到地平线
09:11
I always turn my head on the side,
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这时候我总是将头靠在一侧
09:13
and that simple change makes me go from
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这一小小的改变会让我
09:16
seeing this planet as home,
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看地球的角度从自己的家
09:18
to seeing it as a planet.
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变换到一个行星
09:20
It's a very simple trick, and I never fail to do it
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这是个非常简单的戏法，令我乐此不疲
09:22
when I'm sitting in a window seat.
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当我坐在靠窗的座位的时候
09:24
Well, this is what we apply to our work.
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当然我们也把这应用与我们的工作
09:26
This shows one of the most extreme caves that we work in.
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这幅照片展示的是我们工作过的最极端的洞穴
09:29
This is Cueva de Villa Luz in Tabasco, in Mexico,
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这是位于墨西哥塔巴斯科州的光明洞
09:33
and this cave is saturated with sulfuric acid.
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洞内充满了硫酸
09:36
There is tremendous amounts of hydrogen sulfide
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火山以及分解的蒸发石
09:38
coming into this cave from volcanic sources
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--一种藏在洞穴主要成分：
09:41
and from the breakdown of evaporite --
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碳酸盐之下的矿物
09:43
minerals below the carbonates in which this cave is formed --
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产生大量的硫化氢气体
09:47
and it is a completely hostile environment for us.
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这使洞穴环境变得对人类极其不利
09:49
We have to go in with protective suits and breathing gear,
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要想进入洞穴，我们必须穿着保护服以及呼吸装置
09:53
and 30 parts per million of H2S will kill you.
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否则百万分之三十的硫化氢就会要了我们的命
09:58
This is regularly several hundred parts per million.
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而洞穴里的硫化氢浓度高达百万分之几百
10:00
So, it's a very hazardous environment,
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除此之外那里还有一氧化碳等气体
10:02
with CO as well, and many other gases.
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所以那里的环境的确异常危险
10:04
These extreme physical and chemical parameters
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这些极端的物理化学参数
10:07
make the biology that grows in these places very special.
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会使得生长在这里的生物变得异常
10:11
Because contrary to what you might think, this is not devoid of life.
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也许与你们想象的相反，那里不是生命的禁区
10:14
This is one of the richest caves
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这是我们发现的
10:16
that we have found on the planet, anywhere.
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地球上生命种类最丰富的洞穴之一
10:18
It's bursting with life.
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简直可以说是塞满了生命
10:20
The extremes on Earth are interesting in their own right,
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地球上的各种极端本身就是很吸引人的
10:22
but one of the reasons that we're interested in them
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但我们之所以对其感兴趣的原因之一
10:24
is because they represent, really,
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是这些环境极端恶劣的洞穴可以为我们呈现
10:26
the average conditions that we may expect on other planets.
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我们想象中的其他星球的普通环境
10:29
So, this is part of the ability that we have,
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这使我们具有部分
10:31
to try to stretch our imagination,
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扩展自我想象力
10:33
in terms of what we may find in the future.
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用以预测未来可能的发现的能力
10:36
There's so much life in this cave,
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太多太多的生命生存在于这个洞穴里
10:38
and I can't even begin
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覆盖了整个洞穴
10:40
to scratch the surface of it with you.
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以至于我们都不能看到它原来的表面
10:42
But one of the most famous objects out of this
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其中一种著名的物体
10:44
are what we call Snottites, for obvious reasons.
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我们叫它“鼻涕”
10:47
This stuff looks like what comes out of your two-year-old's nose when he has a cold.
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因为这玩艺儿看起来像是从感冒了两年的人的鼻子里流出来的东西
10:51
And this is produced by bacteria who are actually
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这其实是一种细菌的产物
10:54
making more sulfuric acid,
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它们可以产生硫酸
10:56
and living at pHs right around zero.
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并且生活在pH为零左右的环境中
10:59
And so, this stuff is like battery acid.
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所以那些“鼻涕”其实是些类似蓄电池酸液的东西
11:01
And yet, everything in this cave has adapted to it.
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事实上这里所有的生物都已经适应了洞穴内的环境
11:04
In fact, there's so much energy available
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这里有大量的能量
11:06
for biology in this cave,
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满足各种生物的需求
11:08
that there's actually a huge number of cavefish.
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甚至可以养活许多的洞穴鱼类
11:10
And the local Zoque Indians
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当地的索克人
11:12
harvest this twice a year,
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每两年收割一次这种东西
11:14
as part of their Easter week celebration and Holy Week celebration.
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作为复活节周和圣周庆祝活动的一部分
11:16
This is very unusual for caves.
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这对于洞穴来说是非常常见的
11:18
In some of the other amazing caves that we work in --
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有一些令人惊奇的洞穴
11:21
this is in Lechuguilla cave in New Mexico near Carlsbad,
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比如这个在新墨西哥州卡尔斯巴德附近的墨西哥龙舌兰洞
11:25
and this is one of the most famous caves in the world.
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是世界上最著名的洞穴之一
11:28
It's 115 miles of mapped passage,
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它有着115英里长的通道
11:30
it's pristine, it has no natural opening
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保持着原始的面貌，没有天然洞口
11:33
and it's a gigantic biological,
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是一个巨大的生物学及
11:35
geo-microbiological laboratory.
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地质微生物学实验室
11:38
In this cave, great areas are covered by
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在这个洞穴中，一种淡红色的物质
11:41
this reddish material that you see here,
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覆盖了你可以看到的大片地域
11:43
and also these enormous crystals
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你还可以在这里看到悬挂着的
11:45
of selenite that you can see dangling down.
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亚硒酸盐的巨大晶体
11:47
This stuff is produced biologically.
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这种东西是由生物合成的
11:50
This is the breakdown product of the bedrock,
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这是基岩分解后的产物
11:53
that organisms are busy munching their way through.
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上面有生物在忙着大快朵颐
11:56
They take iron and manganese minerals
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它们将铁和锰带入基岩
11:59
within the bedrock and they oxidize them.
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并将其氧化
12:01
And every time they do that, they get a tiny little packet of energy.
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每当它们这样做的时候，都会得到一点点能量
12:05
And that tiny little packet of energy is what they use, then,
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这些能量就是它们所用来
12:08
to run their life processes.
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维持自己生命活动的
12:10
Interestingly enough, they also do this
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足够有趣的是，它们还会利用
12:12
with uranium and chromium, and various other toxic metals.
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铀和铬，以及其他一些毒性金属来完成相同过程
12:15
And so, the obvious avenue
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像生物治理这样重要的
12:18
for bio-remediation
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净化环境的手段
12:20
comes from organisms like this.
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便需要依赖类似这样的生物来进行
12:22
These organisms we now bring into the lab,
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我们现在将这些生物带进了实验室
12:24
and you can see some of them growing on Petri plates,
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将它们放在培养皿上
12:26
and get them to reproduce the precise biominerals
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引导它们正确的进行生物矿物质的生产
12:29
that we find on the walls of these caves.
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这些矿物就是在洞穴壁上发现的
12:31
So, these are signals that they leave in the rock record.
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这些是它们留在岩石上的信号物质
12:34
Well, even in basalt surfaces in lava-tube caves,
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即使是在由火山活动形成的
12:37
which are a by-product of volcanic activity,
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熔岩管洞穴内的玄武岩的表面
12:39
we find these walls totally covered,
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在很多情况下
12:41
in many cases,
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我们都可以发现
12:43
by these beautiful, glistening silver walls,
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有漂亮、闪耀的银色、亮粉
12:45
or shiny pink or shiny red or shiny gold.
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亮红、两金色的物质覆盖
12:48
And these are mineral deposits
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这些都是由细菌产生的
12:50
that are also made by bacteria.
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矿物质沉淀形成的
12:52
And you can see in these central images here,
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你们可以看到中间的这些图片
12:54
scanning electron micrographs of some of these guys --
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这些是通过扫描电子显微得到的图像
12:57
these are gardens of these bacteria.
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这里简直就是细菌的后花园
12:59
One of the interesting things about these particular guys
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一件关于这些特别的小家伙们的有意思的事是
13:02
is that they're in the actinomycete
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它们属于放线菌和链霉菌类
13:04
and streptomycete groups of the bacteria,
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我们就是从它们身上得到
13:06
which is where we get most of our antibiotics.
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大部分的抗生素的
13:09
The sub-surface of Earth
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地球的表面之下
13:11
contains a vast biodiversity.
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存在着惊人的生物多样性
13:13
And these organisms,
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由于这些生物
13:15
because they're very separate from the surface,
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与表面隔离
13:17
make a vast array of novel compounds.
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所以它们产生的一系列化合物都是新型的
13:21
And so, the potential for exploiting this
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可见利用这些化合物
13:23
for pharmaceutical and industrial chemical uses
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来发展制药和化工业的潜力
13:26
is completely untapped,
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还完全没有被开发出来
13:28
but probably exceeds most of the rest
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也许它们在这方面的潜力要超出
13:30
of the biodiversity of the planet.
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地球上其他生物的总和
13:32
So, lava-tube caves--
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熔岩管洞穴--
13:34
I've just told you about organisms that live here on this planet.
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我刚才已经为你们讲解的微生物所存在的地方
13:37
We know that on Mars and the Moon
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我们已经知道在火星和月球上
13:39
there are tons of these structures.
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有很多这样的结构
13:41
We can see them.
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我们可以看到它们
13:42
On the left you can see a lava tube forming
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在左边你可以看到熔岩管道正在形成
13:44
at a recent eruption -- Mount Etna in Sicily --
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于西西里埃特纳火山最近的一次喷发中
13:47
and this is the way these tubes form.
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这正是此类管道形成的途径
13:49
And when they hollow out,
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当它们变得中空时
13:50
then they become habitats for organisms.
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正是生物栖息地形成之时
13:53
These are all over the planet Mars,
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这些管道在火星随处可见
13:55
and we're busy cataloguing them now.
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我们现在正忙着对它们进行编目
13:57
And so, there's very interesting cave real estate
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所以火星上有，至少是这种的
13:59
on Mars, at least of that type.
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有趣的洞穴房子
14:02
In order to access
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为了能够得到
14:04
these sub-surface environments that we're interested in,
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我们所感兴趣的类似的地下环境
14:07
we're very interested in developing the tools to do this.
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我们非常乐意开发相关的工具
14:10
You know, it's not easy to get into these caves.
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要知道想要进入这些洞穴可不是易事
14:12
It requires crawling, climbing,
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需要进行爬行，攀爬
14:14
rope-work, technical rope-work
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缆绳作业
14:17
and many other complex human motions
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以及其他一些复杂的活动
14:21
in order to access these.
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才可以到达这样的地方
14:23
We face the problem of, how can we do this robotically?
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我们面临的问题是怎样才能利用机器人完成？
14:26
Why would we want to do it robotically?
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我们为什么要让机器人来干这样的活呢？
14:28
Well, we're going to be sending
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那是因为
14:30
robotic missions to Mars
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经过长期的载人火星任务后
14:32
long in advance of human missions.
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我们将会将机器人送上火星
14:34
And then, secondly, getting back to that earlier point that I made
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就像前面我所提到的
14:37
about the preciousness of any life that we may find
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我们要珍惜我们在火星上可能发现的任何生命
14:41
on Mars, we don't want to contaminate it.
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而不去污染它们
14:43
And one of the best ways to study something without contaminating it
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最好的避免污染同时又对其进行研究的办法
14:46
is to have an intermediary.
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就是借助机器人这样的中间人
14:48
And in this case, we're imagining
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在这个案例中
14:50
intermediary robotic devices
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我们假象出的机器人设备
14:52
that can actually do some of that
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可以为我们完成一些
14:54
front-end work for us,
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前端的工作
14:56
to protect any potential life that we find.
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从而可以保护潜在的生命
14:58
I'm not going to go through all of these projects now,
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我不会一一介绍所有这些项目
15:01
but we're involved in about half-a-dozen robotic development projects,
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但是我们现在跟其他很多组织一起合作
15:04
in collaboration with a number of different groups.
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参与在数个机器人的开发项目中
15:07
I want to talk specifically about the
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我现在想向你们详细介绍
15:09
array that you see on the top.
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上面的这一系列
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These are hopping microbot swarms.
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这些是微型机器人群
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I'm working on this with the Field and Space Robotics Laboratory
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我和我MIT的朋友史蒂夫·杜波夫斯基
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and my friend Steve Dubowsky at MIT,
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同地面空间机器人实验室一道在做这方面的工作
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and we have come up with the idea
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我们有了一个想法
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of having little, jumping bean-like
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去制造一种由人造肌肉驱动的
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robots
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可跳跃的
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that are propelled by artificial muscle,
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豆型小机器人
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which is one of the Dubowsky Lab's specialties --
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人造肌肉或EPAMs
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are the EPAMs, or artificial muscles.
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都是杜波夫斯基实验室的专长
15:34
And these allow them to hop.
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并且使这些机器人具有跳跃的能力
15:36
They behave with
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我们仿照蜂群的行为
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a swarm behavior,
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来打造这些机器人
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where they relate to each other,
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使它们
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modeled after insect swarm behavior,
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具备相应的蜂群行为
15:44
and they could be made very numerous.
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而且它们可以被无数地制造出来
15:47
And so, one can send a thousand of them,
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就像你们从左上方这张图上看到的那样
15:49
as you can see in this upper left-hand picture,
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我们可以将成千上万的这样的机器人送上火星
15:52
a thousand of them could fit into the payload bay
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目前火星探测者使用的有效载重仓
15:55
that was used for one of the current MER Rovers.
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可以装载一千个这样的机器人
15:58
And these little guys -- you could lose many of them.
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这些小家伙即使损失很多也无所谓
16:01
If you send a thousand of them,
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由于数量巨大
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you could probably get rid of 90 percent of them and still have a mission.
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使得失去其中的90%也依然可以完成任务
16:05
And so, that allows you the flexibility
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这样就可以允许我们具有
16:08
to go into very challenging terrain
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进入富有挑战性地形的灵活性
16:11
and actually make your way where you want to go.
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并且正确地到达我们想要去的地方
16:13
Now, to wrap this up, I want to talk for two seconds
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现在来总结一下，我想花几秒钟讲下
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about caves and the human expansion beyond Earth
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洞穴和人类在地球外的扩张之间的关系
16:19
as a natural outgrowth of the work that we do in caves.
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作为一项我们在洞穴方面工作的成果
16:22
It occurred to us a number of years ago
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若干年前我们就想到
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that caves have many properties
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过去，作为人类
16:26
that people have used
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及其它一些生物的栖息地
16:28
and other organisms have used as habitat in the past.
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洞穴有很多特性
16:30
And perhaps it's time we started to explore those,
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也许现在到了我们开始开发这些特性的时候了
16:34
in the context of future Mars and the Moon exploration.
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特别是在未来火星和月球探索的背景下
16:37
So, we have just finished a NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts Phase II study,
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所以，我们刚刚建立了一个第二阶段先进概念研究NASA学会
16:42
looking at the irreducible set of technologies
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着眼于不可或缺的技术
16:44
that you would need in order to
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用于使
16:46
actually allow people to inhabit lava tubes
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人类可以在月球或火星
16:49
on the Moon or Mars.
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的熔岩管内生活
16:51
It turns out to be a fairly simple and small list,
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似乎这是项比较简单、工作量小的工作
16:54
and we have gone
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我们已经在
16:56
in the relatively primitive technology direction.
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相对原始的科技方向上有所进展
16:58
So, we're talking about things like inflatable liners
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我们说的是可充气的衬层
17:01
that can conform to the complex topological shape
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可与洞内复杂的拓扑形状
17:04
on the inside of a cave,
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相吻合
17:06
foamed-in-place airlocks to deal with this complex topology,
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现场发泡过度气压舱可以用来解决复杂的拓扑
17:10
various ways of getting breathing gases
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宇航服的内部材料
17:13
made from the intrinsic materials of these bodies.
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可以采用多种方法取得供人呼吸的气体
17:16
And the future is there for us
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未来在等着我们去
17:18
to use these lava-tube caves on Mars.
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利用这些火星上的熔岩洞
17:21
And right now we're in caves, and we're doing science and recreation,
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马上我们就可以在洞穴里进行科学以及娱乐活动
17:25
but I think in the future we'll be using them
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但我认为在未来我们会
17:27
for habitat and science on these other bodies.
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穿着宇航服来利用它们作为栖息和科学研究的地点
17:29
Now, my view of what the current status
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现在，我关于火星目前
17:32
of potential life on Mars is
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潜在生命的状况的观点是
17:34
that it's probably been on the planet,
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生命可能存在于那个星球
17:37
maybe one in two chances.
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大概有1/2的机率
17:40
The question as to whether
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火星上的生命
17:43
there is life on Mars that is related to life on Earth
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是否与地球上的生命有联系
17:47
has now been very muddied,
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现在还是很模糊的一个问题
17:49
because we now know,
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因为现在我们从
17:50
from Mars meteorites that have made it to Earth,
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到达地球的火星陨石得知
17:53
that there's material that can be exchanged between those two planets.
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这两个星球上的物质是可以进行交换的
17:57
One of the burning questions, of course, is
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一个急待解决的问题是
17:59
if we go there and find life in the sub-surface,
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如果我们到了火星并在地下发现了生命
18:02
as I fully expect that we will,
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就想我所期望的那样
18:04
is that a second genesis of life?
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那么这会是生命的第二个起源么？
18:06
Did life start here
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生命是在地球发源
18:08
and was it transported there?
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然后经传播到达火星的？
18:10
Did it start there and get transported here?
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还是在那里起源然后传播到我们这里的？
18:13
This will be a fascinating puzzle as we go into the next half-century,
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进入下半个世纪后这将成为一个具有吸引力的难题
18:17
and where I expect that we will
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我希望我们
18:19
have more and more Mars missions to answer these questions.
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会有越来越多的火星探索任务来回答这些问题
18:22
Thank you.
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谢谢
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Penelope Boston - Cave scientistPenelope Boston studies caves and karst formations, and the special biology that lives in them -- both here on Earth and possibly on other planets.
Why you should listen
Penelope Boston is fascinated by caves -- secret, mineral environments that shelter mysteries in beguiling darkness and stillness. She's spent most of her career studying caves and karst formations (karst is a formation where a bedrock, such as limestone, is eaten away by water to form underground voids), and is the cofounder of the new National Cave and Karst Research Institute, based in New Mexico.
Deep inside caves, there's a biology that is like no other on Earth, protected from surface stress and dependent on cave conditions for its survival. As part of her work with caves, Boston studies this life -- and has made the very sensible suggestion that, if odd forms of life lie quietly undiscovered in Earth's caves, there's a good chance it might also have arisen in caves and karst on other planets. Now, she's working on some new ways to look for it
Penelope Boston | Speaker | TED.com