TEDSalon London 2010
Brian Cox: Why we need the explorers
布赖恩 考克斯：我们为什么需要探索家？
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在经济困难的情况下，我们的探索性科学项目——从太空探索到大型强子对撞器——就会最先遭到预算削减。布赖恩 考克斯解释了以好奇心为导向的科学是如何养活自己，激发创新和对于我们自身生存的深入理解的。
Brian Cox - Physicist
Physicist Brian Cox has two jobs: working with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and explaining big science to the general public. He's a professor at the University of Manchester. Full bio
Physicist Brian Cox has two jobs: working with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and explaining big science to the general public. He's a professor at the University of Manchester. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
We live in difficult and challenging
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现在我们处在
00:18
economic times, of course.
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经济危机困难重重的时刻。
00:20
And one of the first victims
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这种情况下，
00:23
of difficult economic times,
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首当其冲的受害者，
00:25
I think, is public spending of any kind,
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我认为是各种各种的公共开支，
00:28
but certainly in the firing line at the moment
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但更加命悬一线的
00:30
is public spending for science,
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是科学方面的公共开支，
00:32
and particularly curiosity-led science
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特别是以好奇心为导向的科学
00:34
and exploration.
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与探索。
00:36
So I want to try and convince you in about 15 minutes
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因此我想用15分钟来说服你，
00:39
that that's a ridiculous
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（削减科学开支）是
00:41
and ludicrous thing to do.
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相当愚蠢的。
00:43
But I think to set the scene,
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为了叙述一下背景
00:45
I want to show -- the next slide is not my attempt
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我要给你们展示——我并不是要
00:47
to show the worst TED slide in the history of TED,
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让你们看到TED有史以来最糟糕的幻灯片，
00:50
but it is a bit of a mess.
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但这是有点乱。
00:52
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
00:54
But actually, it's not my fault; it's from the Guardian newspaper.
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但这并不是我的错，这是从《卫报》那弄来的。
00:57
And it's actually a beautiful demonstration
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这很清楚的展示了，
00:59
of how much science costs.
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科学的花费。
01:01
Because, if I'm going to make the case
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因为我要说服
01:03
for continuing to spend on curiosity-driven science and exploration,
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继续给以好奇为导向的科学与探索提供资金，
01:06
I should tell you how much it costs.
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所以我得告诉你它的花费情况。
01:08
So this is a game called "spot the science budgets."
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这是个游戏，叫做”找出科学预算来“。
01:10
This is the U.K. government spend.
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这是英国政府开支图。
01:12
You see there, it's about 620 billion a year.
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你看，一年一共是6千2百亿英镑。
01:15
The science budget is actually --
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科学预算在-
01:17
if you look to your left, there's a purple set of blobs
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看左边，有个紫色的圈圈
01:20
and then yellow set of blobs.
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还有黄色的圈圈。
01:22
And it's one of the yellow set of blobs
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科学预算就是那个大黄圈圈
01:24
around the big yellow blob.
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旁边的一个小圈圈。
01:26
It's about 3.3 billion pounds per year
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是6千2百亿英镑中的
01:28
out of 620 billion.
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33亿英镑。
01:30
That funds everything in the U.K.
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在英国，
01:32
from medical research, space exploration,
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从医疗研究，空间探索，
01:35
where I work, at CERN in Geneva, particle physics,
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我工作的地方，日内瓦的CERN，粒子物理学，
01:37
engineering, even arts and humanities,
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到工程，甚至是艺术和人文，
01:40
funded from the science budget,
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给这一切提供资金的，
01:42
which is that 3.3 billion, that little, tiny yellow blob
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就是那33亿英镑，那个小得不能再小的黄圈圈，
01:45
around the orange blob at the top left of the screen.
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在屏幕左上角的橙色圈圈旁边。
01:48
So that's what we're arguing about.
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这就是我们争论的对象。
01:50
That percentage, by the way, is about the same
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顺便一提，这个比率，
01:52
in the U.S. and Germany and France.
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同美国，德国和法国是一样的。
01:54
R&D in total in the economy,
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全部科研在经济当中，
01:56
publicly funded, is about
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公共拨款的，
01:58
0.6 percent of GDP.
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占GDP的百分之0.6.
02:00
So that's what we're arguing about.
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这就是我们所说的。
02:02
The first thing I want to say,
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首先我要说的是，
02:04
and this is straight from "Wonders of the Solar System,"
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这是来自于“太阳系的奇观”，
02:07
is that our exploration of the solar system and the universe
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我们对太阳系和宇宙的探索
02:10
has shown us that it is indescribably beautiful.
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展现给了我们无与伦比的美丽。
02:13
This is a picture that actually was sent back
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这张照片是
02:15
by the Cassini space probe around Saturn,
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在我们拍完“太阳系的奇观”之后，
02:17
after we'd finished filming "Wonders of the Solar System."
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卡西尼号太空探测器在土星附近发回来的。
02:19
So it isn't in the series.
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因此它没有在那个系列里面。
02:21
It's of the moon Enceladus.
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这是恩克拉多斯卫星。
02:23
So that big sweeping, white
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角落里那个巨大的白色的范围
02:25
sphere in the corner is Saturn,
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就是土星，
02:27
which is actually in the background of the picture.
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是这张图片的背景。
02:30
And that crescent there is the moon Enceladus,
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那里的新月形就是恩克拉多斯卫星，
02:32
which is about as big as the British Isles.
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差不多和不列颠诸岛一样大。
02:35
It's about 500 kilometers in diameter.
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直径有500千米。
02:37
So, tiny moon.
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一个很小的卫星。
02:39
What's fascinating and beautiful ...
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多么美丽，多么令人着迷——
02:41
this an unprocessed picture, by the way, I should say,
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顺便我要说下，这是张未经过处理的图片。
02:43
it's black and white, straight from Saturnian orbit.
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是黑白的，从土星轨道发过来的。
02:46
What's beautiful is, you can probably see on the limb there
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很美丽的地方是，又可以在这里看到
02:48
some faint, sort of,
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一些微弱的
02:50
wisps of almost smoke
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像烟雾一样的鬼火
02:52
rising up from the limb.
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冉冉升起。
02:54
This is how we visualize that in "Wonders of the Solar System."
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我们在“太阳系奇观”中就是这样用视觉展现的。
02:57
It's a beautiful graphic.
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多么漂亮的图片。
02:59
What we found out were that those faint wisps
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我们发现了那些微弱的鬼火
03:01
are actually fountains of ice
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其实在这个小卫星的表面上突起
03:03
rising up from the surface of this tiny moon.
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的冰泉
03:06
That's fascinating and beautiful in itself,
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它本身就很美丽和令人着迷，
03:09
but we think that the mechanism
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但我们认为使那些冰泉运动的
03:11
for powering those fountains
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背后的机械
03:13
requires there to be lakes of liquid water
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要求在这个卫星的地面之下，
03:16
beneath the surface of this moon.
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有液态水组成的湖泊。
03:18
And what's important about that
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这很重要，因为，
03:20
is that, on our planet, on Earth,
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在我们的星球，地球上，
03:22
wherever we find liquid water,
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能够找到液态水的地方，
03:24
we find life.
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我们能找到生命。
03:26
So, to find strong evidence
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因此，能找到足够的证据
03:29
of liquid, pools of liquid, beneath the surface of a moon
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证明离地球7亿5千万英里远的卫星
03:32
750 million miles away from the Earth
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的地表之下有着液态水的存在
03:35
is really quite astounding.
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是相当惊人的。
03:38
So what we're saying, essentially,
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我们基本上是说
03:40
is maybe that's a habitat for life in the solar system.
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也许这是太阳系里的又一个生命的摇篮。
03:44
Well, let me just say, that was a graphic. I just want to show this picture.
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这是张图片，我只是想要展示这张照片。
03:47
That's one more picture of Enceladus.
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又是一张恩克拉多斯卫星的照片。
03:49
This is when Cassini flew beneath Enceladus.
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这是卡西尼号飞到它下面时拍的。
03:52
So it made a very low pass,
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因此靠得很近，
03:54
just a few hundred kilometers above the surface.
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离卫星表面只有几百千米。
03:56
And so this, again, a real picture of the ice fountains rising up into space,
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这也是一张冰泉的真实照片，
03:59
absolutely beautiful.
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无比美丽。
04:01
But that's not the prime candidate for life in the solar system.
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但这不是太阳系最有可能有生命存在的星球。
04:04
That's probably this place,
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最有可能的是这个地方，
04:06
which is a moon of Jupiter, Europa.
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木星的一个卫星，欧罗巴。
04:08
And again, we had to fly to the Jovian system
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同样，我们得飞到木星系统
04:11
to get any sense that this moon, as most moons,
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才能了解这个卫星，同大多数卫星一样，
04:14
was anything other than a dead ball of rock.
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只不过是个没有生气的岩石球。
04:16
It's actually an ice moon.
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它事实上是个冰球。
04:18
So what you're looking at is the surface of the moon Europa,
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看看欧罗巴卫星的地表，
04:21
which is a thick sheet of ice, probably a hundred kilometers thick.
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是一层很厚的冰面，大概有一百千米深。
04:24
But by measuring the way that
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通过检测
04:26
Europa interacts
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欧罗巴卫星是怎样
04:28
with the magnetic field of Jupiter,
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同木星的磁场相互作用的，
04:30
and looking at how those cracks in the ice
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和研究你在这种图片上可以看见的
04:32
that you can see there on that graphic move around,
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冰面上的裂缝
04:35
we've inferred very strongly
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我们很肯定的推测
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that there's an ocean of liquid surrounding
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欧罗巴的整个地表下，
04:39
the entire surface of Europa.
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有着像海洋一样的液体环绕着。
04:42
So below the ice, there's an ocean of liquid around the whole moon.
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冰面之下，有着大量的液体。
04:45
It could be hundreds of kilometers deep, we think.
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我们认为，可能有几百千米深。
04:48
We think it's saltwater, and that would mean that
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我们认为是咸水，就意味着
04:50
there's more water on that moon of Jupiter
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木星这颗卫星上的水，
04:53
than there is in all the oceans of the Earth combined.
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比地球上所有海洋里的水还要多。
04:56
So that place, a little moon around Jupiter,
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因此，木星周围的一个小卫星
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is probably the prime candidate
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可能是我们所知的
05:02
for finding life on a moon
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地球之外的
05:04
or a body outside the Earth, that we know of.
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最有可能找到生命存在的星球。
05:07
Tremendous and beautiful discovery.
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了不起的发现。
05:10
Our exploration of the solar system
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对太阳系的探索
05:12
has taught us that the solar system is beautiful.
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让我们发现了太阳系的美丽。
05:14
It may also have pointed the way to answering
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也为回答人们会问的最深远的问题之一
05:17
one of the most profound questions that you can possibly ask,
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指明了道路。
05:20
which is: "Are we alone in the universe?"
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这个问题就是，“宇宙里，我们是孤独的吗？”
05:23
Is there any other use to exploration and science,
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除了让人们称奇之外，探索和科学
05:25
other than just a sense of wonder?
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还有其他的作用吗？
05:27
Well, there is.
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有的。
05:29
This is a very famous picture
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这是一张非常著名的照片，
05:31
taken, actually, on my first Christmas Eve,
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在我的第一个圣诞夜是拍摄的，
05:33
December 24th, 1968,
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1968年的12月24日。
05:36
when I was about eight months old.
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那时我大约只有八个月大。
05:38
It was taken by Apollo 8
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是由阿波罗八号
05:40
as it went around the back of the moon.
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绕到月亮背面时拍摄的。
05:42
Earthrise from Apollo 8.
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阿波罗八号上看到的地球升起来。
05:44
A famous picture; many people have said that it's the picture
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很著名的照片，很多人说过，
05:46
that saved 1968,
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正是这张照片拯救了1968年，
05:48
which was a turbulent year --
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那时动荡不安的一年——
05:50
the student riots in Paris,
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巴黎的学生暴乱，
05:52
the height of the Vietnam War.
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越南战争的巅峰。
05:54
The reason many people think that about this picture,
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很多人这样评价这张照片，
05:57
and Al Gore has said it many times, actually, on the stage at TED,
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戈尔在TED的讲台上多次说起
06:00
is that this picture, arguably, was
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是因为这张照片，可以说是
06:02
the beginning of the environmental movement.
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环保运动的开端。
06:04
Because, for the first time,
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因为，那是我们
06:06
we saw our world,
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第一次看见地球，
06:08
not as a solid, immovable,
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不是一个牢固的，固定的
06:11
kind of indestructible place,
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不可摧毁的地方，
06:13
but as a very small, fragile-looking world
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而是一个很小，看上去很脆弱的星球，
06:16
just hanging against the blackness of space.
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悬挂在一片漆黑的宇宙空间之中。
06:19
What's also not often said
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关于太空探索和阿波罗计划，
06:21
about the space exploration, about the Apollo program,
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很少提起的是
06:24
is the economic contribution it made.
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它给经济作出的贡献。
06:26
I mean while you can make arguments that it was wonderful
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我是说，你可以论述它是多么美好
06:29
and a tremendous achievement
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多么了不起的成就，
06:31
and delivered pictures like this,
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拍了这样的照片，
06:33
it cost a lot, didn't it?
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但它耗资巨大，不是吗？
06:35
Well, actually, many studies have been done
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事实上，有人做过了许多
06:37
about the economic effectiveness,
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经济效益的研究，
06:39
the economic impact of Apollo.
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阿波罗计划的经济影响。
06:41
The biggest one was in 1975 by Chase Econometrics.
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最大的一次是在1975年由大通计量经济学进行的。
06:44
And it showed that for every $1 spent on Apollo,
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结果显示，花在阿波罗计划上的每一美元，
06:47
14 came back into the U.S. economy.
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给美国经济带回了14美元。
06:50
So the Apollo program paid for itself
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因此阿波罗计划
06:52
in inspiration,
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在激励方面，
06:54
in engineering, achievement
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在工程学成就方面
06:56
and, I think, in inspiring young scientists and engineers
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在鼓舞年轻的科学家和工程师方面，
06:59
14 times over.
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收益比投资高出14倍。
07:01
So exploration can pay for itself.
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所以说，探索项目可以养活自己。
07:03
What about scientific discovery?
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科学性探索如何呢？
07:06
What about driving innovation?
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鼓励创新呢？
07:08
Well, this looks like a picture of virtually nothing.
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这张照片看上去什么也没有。
07:11
What it is, is a picture of the spectrum
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它是一张氢气的
07:13
of hydrogen.
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光谱图。
07:16
See, back in the 1880s, 1890s,
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在19世纪80年代，90年代时，
07:19
many scientists, many observers,
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许多科学家和观察员
07:22
looked at the light given off from atoms.
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检查原子释放出来的光，
07:24
And they saw strange pictures like this.
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他们就看见了像这张一样的奇怪图片。
07:26
What you're seeing when you put it through a prism
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把它透过棱镜时你看见的是，
07:28
is that you heat hydrogen up and it doesn't just glow
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你加热氢气，它并不会发出
07:31
like a white light,
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白色的光，
07:33
it just emits light at particular colors,
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它只发出特别的颜色的光，
07:35
a red one, a light blue one, some dark blue ones.
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一道红的，一道浅蓝的，一些深蓝色的。
07:38
Now that led to an understanding of atomic structure
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这就使得人们了解原子的结构
07:41
because the way that's explained
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因为按照这样解释
07:43
is atoms are a single nucleus
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原子是周围带有电子的
07:45
with electrons going around them.
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单一核心。
07:47
And the electrons can only be in particular places.
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电子只在特定的位置。
07:50
And when they jump up to the next place they can be,
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他们跳到别的地方，
07:52
and fall back down again,
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就会回到原地，
07:54
they emit light at particular colors.
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他们发出特定颜色的光。
07:56
And so the fact that atoms, when you heat them up,
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当你加热原子时，
07:58
only emit light at very specific colors,
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只会发出特定颜色的光，
08:01
was one of the key drivers
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原子的这一特性，成为
08:03
that led to the development of the quantum theory,
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导向量子理论，原子结构理论发展的
08:05
the theory of the structure of atoms.
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一个关键因素。
08:08
I just wanted to show this picture because this is remarkable.
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我想要展示这张了不起的图片。
08:11
This is actually a picture of the spectrum of the Sun.
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这是太阳的光谱图。
08:13
And now, this is a picture of atoms in the Sun's atmosphere
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这张照片显示的是，太阳大气层的原子
08:16
absorbing light.
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吸收光。
08:18
And again, they only absorb light at particular colors
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他们只吸收特定颜色的光
08:20
when electrons jump up and fall down,
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而电子跳起来又落回去，
08:22
jump up and fall down.
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跳起来又落回去。
08:24
But look at the number of black lines in that spectrum.
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但看看光谱图里黑线的数量。
08:27
And the element helium
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氦元素
08:29
was discovered just by staring at the light from the Sun
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是在研究太阳光时发现的。
08:32
because some of those black lines were found
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因为一些那样的黑线，
08:34
that corresponded to no known element.
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与未知元素相对应。
08:36
And that's why helium's called helium.
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这就是为什么氦元素叫做氦元素。
08:38
It's called "helios" -- helios from the Sun.
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它被叫做“赫利俄斯”——来自太阳的赫利俄斯。
08:41
Now, that sounds esoteric,
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这听起来很深奥，
08:43
and indeed it was an esoteric pursuit,
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它也确实是很深奥的学问，
08:46
but the quantum theory quickly led
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但是量子理论很快引导人们
08:48
to an understanding of the behaviors of electrons in materials
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理解物质里电子的行为，
08:51
like silicon, for example.
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比如说硅原子。
08:53
The way that silicon behaves,
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硅原子的行为，
08:55
the fact that you can build transistors,
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以及你能用它制作晶体管，
08:57
is a purely quantum phenomenon.
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是纯粹的量子现象。
08:59
So without that curiosity-driven
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所以如果没有
09:01
understanding of the structure of atoms,
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好奇心引导的对原子结构的了解——
09:03
which led to this rather esoteric theory, quantum mechanics,
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这使得人们有了更加深奥的理论，量子力学，
09:06
then we wouldn't have transistors, we wouldn't have silicon chips,
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我们就没有晶体管，没有硅芯片，
09:09
we wouldn't have pretty much the basis
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没有我们现代经济赖以生存
09:12
of our modern economy.
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的根基。
09:14
There's one more, I think, wonderful twist to that tale.
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这个故事有了个奇妙的转折。
09:17
In "Wonders of the Solar System,"
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在“太阳系的奇观”中，
09:19
we kept emphasizing the laws of physics are universal.
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我们一直强调物理学的定理是普遍存在的。
09:22
It's one of the most incredible things about the physics
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物理学和你在地球上得到的对于自然界的认知
09:25
and the understanding of nature that you get on Earth,
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有很神奇的特性，
09:28
is you can transport it, not only to the planets,
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就是你可以把它应用到行星上，
09:31
but to the most distant stars and galaxies.
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甚至是最遥远的恒星和星系上。
09:33
And one of the astonishing predictions
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对量子力学
09:35
of quantum mechanics,
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最令人震惊的预测是
09:37
just by looking at the structure of atoms --
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只要看看原子的结构——
09:39
the same theory that describes transistors --
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描述过晶体管的同样理论——
09:41
is that there can be no stars in the universe
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宇宙中，
09:44
that have reached the end of their life
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没有一颗已死亡的恒星
09:46
that are bigger than, quite specifically, 1.4 times the mass of the Sun.
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的质量比太阳大，准确来说，大1.4倍。
09:49
That's a limit imposed on the mass of stars.
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这是恒星质量的最大限度。
09:52
You can work it out on a piece of paper in a laboratory,
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你可以在实验室里拿张纸算出来，
09:55
get a telescope, swing it to the sky,
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或者用个望远镜，对着天空
09:57
and you find that there are no dead stars
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你就会发现，没有质量超过太阳1.4倍
10:00
bigger than 1.4 times the mass of the Sun.
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的死亡恒星。
10:02
That's quite an incredible prediction.
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这是个了不起的预测。
10:05
What happens when you have a star that's right on the edge of that mass?
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如果有颗恒星达到了最大质量限度的边缘呢？
10:08
Well, this is a picture of it.
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这是它的照片。
10:10
This is the picture of a galaxy, a common "our garden" galaxy
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这是一个星系的照片，一个普通的星系。
10:13
with, what, 100 billion
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其中有1千亿
10:15
stars like our Sun in it.
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像太阳一样的恒星。
10:17
It's just one of billions of galaxies in the universe.
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它只是宇宙中数十亿星系中的一个。
10:20
There are a billion stars in the galactic core,
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星系的核心里有十亿颗恒星，
10:22
which is why it's shining out so brightly.
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因此它光芒耀眼。
10:25
This is about 50 million light years away,
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这是我们的一个隔壁星系，
10:27
so one of our neighboring galaxies.
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离我们大概5千万光年远。
10:29
But that bright star there
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但那颗明亮的星星
10:31
is actually one of the stars in the galaxy.
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其实是星系中的一员。
10:34
So that star is also
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这颗星星
10:36
50 million light years away.
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也离我们5千万光年远。
10:38
It's part of that galaxy, and it's shining as brightly
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它是星系的一部分，而它的光芒
10:41
as the center of the galaxy
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同有着十亿颗太阳的星系中心
10:43
with a billion suns in it.
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一样明亮耀眼。
10:45
That's a Type Ia supernova explosion.
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这就是Ia型超新星爆炸。
10:48
Now that's an incredible phenomena,
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这是难以置信的现象，
10:50
because it's a star that sits there.
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因为这颗星星在那里。
10:52
It's called a carbon-oxygen dwarf.
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它被成为白矮星。
10:54
It sits there about, say, 1.3 times the mass of the Sun.
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它的质量是太阳的1.3倍。
10:57
And it has a binary companion that goes around it,
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它有颗联星，围绕它运转，
11:00
so a big star, a big ball of gas.
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一颗大恒星，一颗大的气体球。
11:03
And what it does is it sucks gas
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于是，它从那颗联星上
11:05
off its companion star,
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吸收气体，
11:07
until it gets to this limit called the Chandrasekhar limit,
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直到它达到钱德拉塞卡极限，
11:10
and then it explodes.
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接着它就会爆炸。
11:12
And it explodes, and it shines as brightly
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爆炸时，它会发出同十亿个太阳一样强烈的光
11:14
as a billion suns for about two weeks,
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光会维持两个星期，
11:16
and releases, not only energy,
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同时它不仅会释放出能量，
11:19
but a huge amount of chemical elements into the universe.
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而且会释放大量的化学元素到宇宙空间。
11:22
In fact, that one is a carbon-oxygen dwarf.
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事实上，这颗就是白矮星。
11:25
Now, there was no carbon and oxygen
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大爆炸时，
11:27
in the universe at the Big Bang.
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宇宙里没有碳元素和氧元素。
11:29
And there was no carbon and oxygen in the universe
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第一代恒星期间，宇宙里没有
11:31
throughout the first generation of stars.
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碳元素和氧元素。
11:34
It was made in stars like that,
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它们在那样的恒星里面，
11:36
locked away and then returned to the universe
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封存起来，再通过那样的爆炸，
11:38
in explosions like that
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返回到宇宙空间，
11:40
in order to recondense into planets,
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重新凝聚成行星，
11:42
stars, new solar systems
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恒星，新的太阳系统
11:44
and, indeed, people like us.
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还有，像我们一样的人类。
11:47
I think that's a remarkable demonstration of the power
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我想，这是很好的展示了
11:49
and beauty and universality of the laws of physics,
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物理学定理的力量，美，和普遍性，
11:52
because we understand that process,
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因为我们理解这个过程，
11:54
because we understand
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因为我们知道
11:56
the structure of atoms here on Earth.
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地球上原子的结构。
11:58
This is a beautiful quote that I found --
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这是我找到的一段美丽的引文——
12:00
we're talking about serendipity there -- from Alexander Fleming:
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出自于亚历山大·弗莱明，我们讲的是机缘巧合。
12:03
"When I woke up just after dawn
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“1928年9月28日的黎明，
12:05
on September 28, 1928,
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我刚醒来，
12:07
I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine
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我自然没有打算通过发现世界上第一个抗生素
12:09
by discovering the world's first antibiotic."
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来改革整个医术界。”
12:12
Now, the explorers of the world of the atom
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原子世界的探索者们
12:14
did not intend to invent the transistor.
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并没有打算发明晶体管。
12:16
And they certainly didn't intend to
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他们也没有打算
12:18
describe the mechanics of supernova explosions,
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描述超新星爆炸的机制，
12:21
which eventually told us where
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这一机制最终告诉我们
12:23
the building blocks of life
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构建生命的基石
12:25
were synthesized in the universe.
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是在宇宙里合成的。
12:28
So, I think science can be --
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我认为科学可以——
12:30
serendipity is important.
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机遇偶然很重要。
12:32
It can be beautiful. It can reveal quite astonishing things.
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科学很美丽，可以揭露一些令人吃惊的事物。
12:35
It can also, I think, finally
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我想，它也可以，
12:38
reveal the most profound
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最终向我们
12:40
ideas to us
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揭露
12:42
about our place in the universe
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关于我们在宇宙中的位置，
12:44
and really the value of our home planet.
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还有我们的家园的真正价值这样的终极问题。
12:46
This is a spectacular picture of our home planet.
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这是一张地球的壮观照片。
12:49
Now, it doesn't look like our home planet.
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它看起来不像是地球。
12:51
It looks like Saturn because, of course, it is.
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看上去像土星，因为
12:54
It was taken by the Cassini space probe.
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它是由卡西尼号太空探测器拍摄的。
12:56
But it's a famous picture, not because of
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但这是张很著名的照片，不是因为
12:58
the beauty and majesty of Saturn's rings,
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土星环的美丽和壮观，
13:01
but actually because of a tiny, faint blob
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而是因为悬挂在光环之下的
13:04
just hanging underneath one of the rings.
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那一个小小的微弱的圆点。
13:06
And if I blow it up there, you see it.
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如果我把那里放大，你就会看见。
13:08
It looks like a moon,
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它看起来像个卫星，
13:10
but in fact, it's a picture of Earth.
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但事实上，那是地球。
13:12
It was a picture of Earth captured in that frame of Saturn.
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那是土星的框架下拍摄到的地球。
13:15
That's our planet from 750 million miles away.
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那是7亿5千万英里远之外看到的我们的地球。
13:19
I think the Earth has got a strange property
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我认为地球有个奇怪的属性，
13:21
that the farther away you get from it,
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你离它越远，
13:23
the more beautiful it seems.
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它看上去越漂亮。
13:25
But that is not the most distant or most famous picture of our planet.
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不过，这还不是最远或者最著名的地球照片。
13:28
It was taken by this thing, which is called the Voyager spacecraft.
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它是由这个东西拍摄的，叫做旅行家飞船。
13:31
And that's a picture of me in front of it for scale.
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这是我站在它前面，作为尺寸对比。
13:34
The Voyager is a tiny machine.
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旅行家号是个很小的机器。
13:36
It's currently 10 billion miles away from Earth,
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现在它离地球有100亿千里远，
13:39
transmitting with that dish, with the power of 20 watts,
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用那个卫星盘以20瓦特的功率传输数据，
13:42
and we're still in contact with it.
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我们还在和它保持联系。
13:44
But it visited Jupiter, Saturn,
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它拜访了木星，土星，
13:46
Uranus and Neptune.
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天王星和海王星。
13:48
And after it visited all four of those planets,
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它拜访完这四个行星之后，
13:51
Carl Sagan, who's one of my great heroes,
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我的偶像之一，卡尔 萨根，
13:54
had the wonderful idea
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有了个很棒的主意
13:56
of turning Voyager around
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把旅行家号调头
13:58
and taking a picture of every planet it had visited.
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拍下它拜访过的星球的照片。
14:00
And it took this picture of Earth.
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它拍了这张地球的照片。
14:02
Now it's very hard to see the Earth there, it's called the "Pale Blue Dot" picture,
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这上面很难看见地球，这张照片被称为“微弱蓝点”，
14:05
but Earth is suspended in that red shaft of light.
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但地球悬挂在这道光线之中。
14:08
That's Earth from four billion miles away.
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这是40亿英里远看到的地球。
14:11
And I'd like to read you what
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我想读一段
14:13
Sagan wrote about it, just to finish,
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萨根写的文字，作为结束，
14:15
because I cannot say words as beautiful as this
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因为我无法说出像他那样优美的文字，
14:18
to describe what he saw
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来形容在他拍摄的那张照片里
14:20
in that picture that he had taken.
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他所看见的情形。
14:22
He said, "Consider again that dot.
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他说，“再看一下这个点吧。
14:24
That's here. That's home. That's us.
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它在那里。那就是我们的家，我们的一切。
14:27
On it, everyone you love,
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在它上面，有你爱的每个人、
14:29
everyone you know, everyone you've ever heard of,
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你认识的每个人、你听说过的每个人。
14:32
every human being who ever was
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历史上的每一个人，
14:34
lived out their lives.
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都在它上面度过了自己的一生。
14:36
The aggregates of joy and suffering
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所有我们的欢乐和痛苦，
14:38
thousands of confident religions,
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所有言之凿凿的宗教、
14:40
ideologies and economic doctrines,
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意识形态和经济原理，
14:43
every hunter and forager, every hero and coward,
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所有猎人和强盗，所有英雄和懦夫，
14:46
every creator and destroyer of civilization,
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所有文明的创造者和毁灭者，
14:49
every king and peasant, every young couple in love,
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所有的皇帝和农夫，所有热恋中的青年情侣，
14:52
every mother and father, hopeful child,
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所有的父母、满怀希望的孩子、
14:54
inventor and explorer,
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发明者和探索者，
14:56
every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician,
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所有精神导师，所有腐败的政治家，
14:59
every superstar, every supreme leader,
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所有“超级明星”，所有“最高领导人”，
15:02
every saint and sinner in the history of our species,
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所有圣徒和罪人，从人类这个种族存在的第一天起
15:05
lived there, on a mote of dust,
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都生活在这颗遥远的尘埃上，
15:07
suspended in a sunbeam.
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悬浮在太阳光中。
15:09
It's been said that astronomy's a humbling
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有人说，天文学会让人谦卑，
15:11
and character-building experience.
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塑造人的性格。
15:13
There is perhaps no better demonstration
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没有什么东西，
15:15
of the folly of human conceits
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比这张从远处拍摄的地球的图片
15:17
than this distant image of our tiny world.
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更能够说明人类自负的愚昧徒劳。
15:19
To me, it underscores our responsibility
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对我而言，它强调了
15:21
to deal more kindly with one another
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我们有责任更好地相互交往，
15:24
and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot,
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并且要保护和珍惜这个微弱蓝点，
15:27
the only home we've ever known."
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这是我们迄今所知的唯一家园。”
15:29
Beautiful words about
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多么优美的文字，
15:31
the power of science and exploration.
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描述了科学与探索的力量。
15:33
The argument has always been made, and it will always be made,
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一直有人，而且会永远有人认为，
15:35
that we know enough about the universe.
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关于宇宙，我们知道得够多了。
15:37
You could have made it in the 1920s; you wouldn't have had penicillin.
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如果在20世纪20年代做出这样的结论，人们就不会发现青霉素。
15:40
You could have made it in the 1890s; you wouldn't have the transistor.
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如果是在19世纪90年代，人们就不会发明晶体管。
15:43
And it's made today in these difficult economic times.
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在现在经济困难的时期有人这样说了，
15:46
Surely, we know enough.
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是的，我们知道的足够多了。
15:48
We don't need to discover anything else about our universe.
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我们不需要继续探索宇宙了。
15:50
Let me leave the last words to someone
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让我用一个人的话做最后的总结，
15:52
who's rapidly becoming a hero of mine,
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汉弗里·戴维，他很快成为了我的英雄，
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Humphrey Davy, who did his science at the turn of the 19th century.
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他在19世纪初做了科学研究。
15:57
He was clearly under assault all the time.
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他那时一直被人瞧不起。
16:00
"We know enough at the turn of the 19th century.
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我们都知道19世纪初时的事。
16:03
Just exploit it; just build things."
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拼命开发，拼命建筑。
16:05
He said this, he said, "Nothing is more fatal
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他说，“对人类思想进步
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to the progress of the human mind
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造成致命危害的是
16:09
than to presume that our views of science
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认为我们现在对科学的认知
16:11
are ultimate,
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达到极致了，
16:13
that our triumphs are complete,
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我们彻底成功了，
16:15
that there are no mysteries in nature,
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自然界再也没有神秘之处了，
16:17
and that there are no new worlds to conquer."
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再也没有新的世界让我们去征服了。“
16:19
Thank you.
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谢谢。
16:21
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Brian Cox - PhysicistPhysicist Brian Cox has two jobs: working with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and explaining big science to the general public. He's a professor at the University of Manchester.
Why you should listen
Based at the University of Manchester, Brian Cox works at CERN in Geneva on the ATLAS experiment, studying the forward proton detectors for the Large Hadron Collider there. He's a professor at the University of Manchester, working in the High Energy Physics group, and is a research fellow of the Royal Society.
He's also become a vital voice in the UK media for explaining physics to the public. With his rockstar hair and accessible charm, he's the go-to physicist for explaining heady concepts on British TV and radio. (If you're in the UK, watch him on The Big Bang Machine.) He was the science advisor for the 2007 film Sunshine. He answers science questions every Friday on BBC6 radio's Breakfast Show.
Brian Cox | Speaker | TED.com