TED2013
Adam Spencer: Why I fell in love with monster prime numbers
亚当·斯宾塞: 为什么我爱上了怪兽般的质数
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Readability: 3.8
2,209,386 views
他们有几百万位数字那么长，要找到它们需要一大批数学家和机器——我们有什么理由不喜欢这些怪兽般的质数？亚当·斯宾塞，喜剧表演家和终生的数学极客，将分享他对于这些奇数和数学神秘魔力的激情。
Adam Spencer - Science communicator
Radio host Adam Spencer fills Sydney's drive-time mornings with smart math and science talk. Full bio
Radio host Adam Spencer fills Sydney's drive-time mornings with smart math and science talk. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Ah yes, those university days,
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啊，那些大学的岁月，
00:15
a heady mix of Ph.D-level pure mathematics
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那段充斥着博士级纯理论数学
00:19
and world debating championships,
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和世界辩论赛的时光,
00:22
or, as I like to say, "Hello, ladies. Oh yeah."
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或者，像我爱说的：“嗨，女士们。哇。”
00:27
Didn't get much sexier than the Spence
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没有比大学时期的斯宾塞更迷人的,
00:29
at university, let me tell you.
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在我看来。
00:30
It is such a thrill for a humble breakfast radio announcer
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对于我这样一个来自澳大利亚悉尼的小小的早间电台主持人，
00:35
from Sydney, Australia, to be here on the TED stage
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能站在世界另一端的TED的讲坛上，
00:37
literally on the other side of the world.
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真是倍感荣幸.
00:39
And I wanted to let you know, a lot of the things you've heard
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让我告诉你们, 你们听到的
00:41
about Australians are true.
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关于澳大利亚的见闻都是真的!
00:43
From the youngest of ages, we display
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从很小的时候, 我们就展示出
00:45
a prodigious sporting talent.
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惊人的运动天赋。
00:47
On the field of battle, we are brave and noble warriors.
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在战场上，我们是勇敢和高尚的战士。
00:52
What you've heard is true.
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你们所耳闻的都是真实的。
00:52
Australians, we don't mind a bit of a drink,
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作为澳大利亚人，我们不介意喝点小酒，
00:56
sometimes to excess, leading to embarrassing social situations. (Laughter)
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有时候会过量，出现一些尴尬的场面。（笑声）
01:00
This is my father's work Christmas party, December 1973.
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这是我父亲的工作圣诞聚会，是在1973年的12月。
01:06
I'm almost five years old. Fair to say,
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我当时差不多5岁了。公平地说，
01:08
I'm enjoying the day a lot more than Santa was.
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我玩得比圣诞老人开心多了。
01:11
But I stand before you today
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但是今天我
01:14
not as a breakfast radio host,
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并不是以一个早间电台主持人,
01:16
not as a comedian, but as someone who was, is,
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或者喜剧演员的身份,站在你们面前的，而是一个过去是、现在是、
01:20
and always will be a mathematician.
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将来也一定会是的数学家。
01:23
And anyone who's been bitten by the numbers bug
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任何对数字感兴趣的人
01:25
knows that it bites early and it bites deep.
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都知道启蒙越早,印象越深.
01:29
I cast my mind back when I was in second grade
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时光倒转到我二年级的时候，
01:32
at a beautiful little government-run school
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我在一所美丽的公立学校就读,
01:34
called Boronia Park in the suburbs of Sydney,
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名叫博洛尼亚公园学校, 位于悉尼的郊区，
01:38
and as we came up towards lunchtime, our teacher,
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当将近午餐时，我们的老师
01:40
Ms. Russell, said to the class,
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罗素女士，对着全班说道：
01:41
"Hey, year two. What do you want to do after lunch?
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“嗨，二年级的同学们,你们午餐之后想做什么？
01:44
I've got no plans."
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我没有任何计划。”
01:46
It was an exercise in democratic schooling,
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那是一个民主教学的实践，
01:49
and I am all for democratic schooling, but we were only seven.
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我完全支持民主教学，但是我们那时才7岁。
01:54
So some of the suggestions we made as to what
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所以我们提出的午餐后活动
01:56
we might want to do after lunch were a little bit impractical,
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有点儿不切实际;
01:58
and after a while, someone made a particularly silly suggestion
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过了一会,有人提出了一个特别傻的建议，
02:00
and Ms. Russell patted them down with that gentle aphorism,
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罗素女士引用了一个谚语,非常温和地拒绝了他的提议：
02:03
"That wouldn't work.
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“那是行不通的,
02:04
That'd be like trying to put a square peg through a round hole."
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就像是想让方枘穿过圆孔一样。”
02:08
Now I wasn't trying to be smart.
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那时我没想着耍小聪明，
02:10
I wasn't trying to be funny.
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我也没想着显得风趣
02:11
I just politely raised my hand,
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我只是礼貌地举起我的手，
02:14
and when Ms. Russell acknowledged me, I said,
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然后当罗素女士同意我发言的时候，
02:15
in front of my year two classmates, and I quote,
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当着所有二年级同学的面说到:
02:18
"But Miss,
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“但是老师，
02:22
surely if the diagonal of the square
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如果木枘的对角线
02:25
is less than the diameter of the circle,
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小于圆孔直径,
02:30
well, the square peg will pass quite easily through the round hole."
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那么，木枘当然能非常轻松地通过圆孔。”
02:33
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:36
"It'd be like putting a piece of toast through a basketball hoop, wouldn't it?"
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“那就像让一块烤面包穿过篮球圈一样，不是吗？”
02:40
And there was that same awkward silence
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当时也是一阵类似于此的尴尬沉默，
02:42
from most of my classmates,
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来自于大多数的同学，
02:43
until sitting next to me, one of my friends,
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直到坐我旁边的一个小朋友，
02:45
one of the cool kids in class, Steven, leaned across
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同时也是班级里挺酷的一个小孩，叫做史蒂芬，靠了过来
02:47
and punched me really hard in the head.
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在我头上重重打了一拳。
02:50
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:51
Now what Steven was saying was, "Look, Adam,
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那时史蒂芬接着说：“听着，亚当，
02:53
you are at a critical juncture in your life here, my friend.
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我的朋友，现在你是在生命中一个很重要的关口。
02:58
You can keep sitting here with us.
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你可以继续在这和我们坐在一起。
03:00
Any more of that sort of talk, you've got to go and sit
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但是如果你再说那种话，你就不得不离开
03:02
over there with them."
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坐在那边和他们一起。”
03:05
I thought about it for a nanosecond.
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我想了一纳秒,
03:07
I took one look at the road map of life,
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审视了一下我的人生道路,
03:11
and I ran off down the street marked "Geek"
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凭借我胖嘟嘟带有哮喘的小身体,
03:15
as fast as my chubby, asthmatic little legs would carry me.
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全速加入了"异类"行列.
03:20
I fell in love with mathematics from the earliest of ages.
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我很早的时候就已经爱上了数学。
03:24
I explained it to all my friends. Maths is beautiful.
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我解释数学给我的朋友们: 数学很美丽,
03:27
It's natural. It's everywhere.
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它很自然,而且无处不在。
03:29
Numbers are the musical notes
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数字就像音符，
03:32
with which the symphony of the universe is written.
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谱写出了宇宙这首交响乐。
03:36
The great Descartes said something quite similar.
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伟大的笛卡尔曾经说过类似的话。
03:39
The universe "is written in the mathematical language."
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宇宙“是用数学的语言书写的。”
03:41
And today, I want to show you one of those musical notes,
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所以今天，我想向大家展示那些音符中的一个，
03:45
a number so beautiful, so massive,
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一种非常美丽、非常庞大的数字。
03:50
I think it will blow your mind.
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我想它会让你非常震惊。
03:52
Today we're going to talk about prime numbers.
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今天我们将谈谈质数。
03:55
Most of you I'm sure remember that six is not prime
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我相信你们中的大部分人都记得6不是质数
03:59
because it's 2 x 3.
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因为它等于2 x 3。
04:01
Seven is prime because it's 1 x 7,
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7是质数因为它等于1 x 7，
04:05
but we can't break it down into any smaller chunks,
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而且我们不能把它约成任何更小的整数了，
04:08
or as we call them, factors.
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或者叫因子.
04:10
Now a few things you might like to know about prime numbers.
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你们也许想知道一些关于质数的事实.
04:12
One is not prime.
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1不是质数。
04:14
The proof of that is a great party trick
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关于这一点的证明是一个很不错的聚会把戏,
04:17
that admittedly only works at certain parties.
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当然只适合于某些聚会。
04:20
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
04:23
Another thing about primes, there is no final biggest prime number.
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另外一个关于质数的事实是，没有最终的最大的质数。
04:26
They keep going on forever.
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它们持续不断得增大下去。
04:28
We know there are an infinite number of primes
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我们知道有无限个质数,
04:29
due to the brilliant mathematician Euclid.
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多亏了绝顶聪明的数学家欧几里得。
04:31
Over thousands of years ago, he proved that for us.
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一千多年前，他就为我们证明了它。
04:35
But the third thing about prime numbers,
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但是关于质数的第三点事实是，
04:36
mathematicians have always wondered,
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数学家们一直在探索,
04:38
well at any given moment in time,
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在任何时刻，
04:40
what is the biggest prime that we know about?
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我们知道的最大质数是多少？
04:43
Today we're going to hunt for that massive prime.
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今天我们将去寻觅那个巨大的质数。
04:47
Don't freak out.
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不要害怕。
04:50
All you need to know, of all the mathematics
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在所有那些
04:53
you've ever learned, unlearned, crammed, forgotten,
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你们曾经学过的、没学过的、死记硬背的、忘了的、
04:58
never understood in the first place,
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从来没有弄明白的数学知识中,
05:00
all you need to know is this:
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你们只需要知道一点:
05:02
When I say 2 ^ 5,
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当我说2的5次方时，
05:06
I'm talking about five little number twos next to each other
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我说的是5个小小的2 紧密排列
05:09
all multiplied together,
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都互相相乘，
05:10
2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2.
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2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2
05:14
So 2 ^ 5 is 2 x 2 = 4,
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所以2的5次方就是2 x 2 = 4，
05:17
8, 16, 32.
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8，16，32。
05:19
If you've got that, you're with me for the entire journey. Okay?
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如果你理解这个,接下来全没问题。行吗?
05:23
So 2 ^ 5,
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所以2的5次方，
05:25
those five little twos multiplied together.
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就是那5个小小的2互相相乘。
05:26
(2 ^ 5) - 1 = 31.
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2的5次方减去1等于31。
05:31
31 is a prime number, and that five in the power
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31是一个质数，而且指数中的5
05:34
is also a prime number.
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也是一个质数。
05:36
And the vast bulk of massive primes we've ever found
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并且我们曾经发现的大型的质数中的很大一部分
05:40
are of that form:
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都符合这个公式：
05:41
two to a prime number, take away one.
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2的质数次方，再减去1。
05:45
I won't go into great detail as to why,
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我不会详细阐述为什么那样，
05:47
because most of your eyes will bleed out of your head if I do,
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因为如果我那么做，你们当中的大多数人都会看得眼睛冒血,
05:50
but suffice to say, a number of that form
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我需要说的只是，那种形式的数字
05:54
is fairly easy to test for primacy.
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相对容易检验是否是质数。
05:57
A random odd number is a lot harder to test.
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一个随机的奇数检验起来要难得多。
06:01
But as soon as we go hunting for massive primes,
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但是一旦我们开始寻找大型的质数的时候，
06:03
we realize it's not enough
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我们意识到
06:05
just to put in any prime number in the power.
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仅仅尝试用不同的质数做指数是不够的。
06:07
(2 ^ 11) - 1 = 2,047,
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2的11次方减去1等于2047，
06:10
and you don't need me to tell you that's 23 x 89.
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并且不需要我说你们也知道它等于23 x 89。
06:13
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:16
But (2 ^ 13) - 1, (2 ^ 17) - 1
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但是2的13次方减去1，2的17次方减去1，
06:19
(2 ^ 19) - 1, are all prime numbers.
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2的19次方减去1，也全都是质数。
06:22
After that point, they thin out a lot.
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在那之后，它们就变得稀疏了很多。
06:25
And one of the things about the search for massive primes
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寻找大型质数的过程中一个
06:27
that I love so much is some of the great mathematical minds
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我异常珍视的东西就是
06:30
of all time have gone on this search.
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所有时期奉献于这寻找过程中的一些伟大的数学头脑。
06:33
This is the great Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler.
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这是伟大的瑞士数学家莱昂哈德·欧拉。
06:36
In the 1700s, other mathematicians said
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在18世纪，其他数学家说过
06:38
he is simply the master of us all.
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他根本上是我们所有人的导师。
06:41
He was so respected, they put him on European currency
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他是那么得以崇敬，甚至于他的头像都被印在欧洲的货币上,
06:44
back when that was a compliment.
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当时可称之为一种荣誉.
06:47
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:52
Euler discovered at the time the world's biggest prime:
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欧拉发现了那个时候世界上最大的质数：
06:55
(2 ^ 31) - 1.
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2的31次方减去1。
06:57
It's over two billion.
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这个数超过了20亿。
06:59
He proved it was prime with nothing more
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他证明这个数是质数，只用了
07:01
than a quill, ink, paper and his mind.
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羽毛笔、墨水、纸和他的智慧。
07:05
You think that's big.
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你一定觉得那个数很大。
07:06
We know that (2 ^ 127) - 1
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我们知道2的127次方减去1
07:09
is a prime number.
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是一个质数。
07:11
It's an absolute brute.
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真是叹为观止.
07:12
Look at it here: 39 digits long,
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看看这里：39位数这么长，
07:16
proven to be prime in 1876
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在1876年被证明了是一个质数
07:20
by a mathematician called Lucas.
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由一位叫做卢卡斯的数学家。
07:22
Word up, L-Dog.
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你太厉害了，我的卢卡斯朋友。
07:24
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
07:25
But one of the great things about the search for massive primes,
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但是搜寻大型质数的众多方面中很重要的一个就是，
07:28
it's not just finding the primes.
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它不仅仅是寻找质数,
07:29
Sometimes proving another number not to be prime is just as exciting.
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有时候证明一个数不是质数一样令人兴奋。
07:33
Lucas again, in 1876, showed us (2 ^ 67) - 1,
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还是卢卡斯，在1876年，证明了2的67次方减去1，
07:39
21 digits long, was not prime.
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一个21位长的数，不是质数。
07:42
But he didn't know what the factors were.
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但是他不知道因子是什么。
07:44
We knew it was like six, but we didn't know
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我们知道它应该像6
07:46
what are the 2 x 3 that multiply together
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等于2x3那种形式, 但不知是哪两个因子相乘
07:48
to give us that massive number.
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后得到这个巨大的数字.
07:50
We didn't know for almost 40 years
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我们有几乎40年的时间都不清楚
07:52
until Frank Nelson Cole came along.
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直到弗兰克·尼尔森·科尔的出现。
07:55
And at a gathering of prestigious American mathematicians,
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在一个著名美国数学家的聚会上，
07:57
he walked to the board, took up a piece of chalk,
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他走到黑板前，拿起一支粉笔，
08:01
and started writing out the powers of two:
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开始写2的幂：
08:04
two, four, eight, 16 --
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2，4，8，16——
08:07
come on, join in with me, you know how it goes --
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来吧，跟我一起，你们知道它怎么进行下去的——
08:08
32, 64, 128, 256,
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32，64，128，256，
08:12
512, 1,024, 2,048.
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512，1024，2048。
08:17
I'm in geek heaven. We'll stop it there for a second.
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我已经置身极客的乐园了。我们先在那打住一会。
08:19
Frank Nelson Cole did not stop there.
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但是弗兰克·尼尔森·科尔没在那停下。
08:22
He went on and on
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他继续写着
08:24
and calculated 67 powers of two.
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然后计算了2的67次方。
08:28
He took away one and wrote that number on the board.
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他减去了1，再把那个数写在黑板上。
08:30
A frisson of excitement went around the room.
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一阵激动的情绪充满了整个屋子。
08:34
It got even more exciting when he then wrote down
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当他继续写下去的时候，这情绪变得更加亢奋；
08:37
these two large prime numbers in your standard multiplication format --
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他写下了这两个标准相乘形式的巨大的质数——
08:41
and for the rest of the hour of his talk
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在他之后的演讲中
08:45
Frank Nelson Cole busted that out.
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弗兰克·尼尔森·科尔全盘托出。
08:50
He had found the prime factors
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他发现了
08:52
of (2 ^ 67) - 1.
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2的67次方减去1的质因子。
08:54
The room went berserk --
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整个屋子都疯狂了——
08:57
(Laughter) --
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（笑声）——
08:58
as Frank Nelson Cole sat down,
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当弗兰克·尼尔森·科尔坐下的时候，
09:00
having delivered the only talk in the history of mathematics
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他完成了数学历史上仅有的一次
09:04
with no words.
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没有语言的演讲。
09:07
He admitted afterwards it wasn't that hard to do.
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他后来承认那做起来并不那么难。
09:09
It took focus. It took dedication.
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那需要专注。那需要付出。
09:12
It took him, by his estimate,
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据他估计，那花了他
09:14
"three years of Sundays."
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“3年中的所有星期日”。
09:18
But then in the field of mathematics,
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但是然后在数学领域，
09:20
as in so many of the fields that we've heard from in this TED,
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就像我们从TED中听到的很多其他领域一样，
09:23
the age of the computer goes along and things explode.
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电脑时代的到来产生了爆炸性的效应。
09:28
These are the largest prime numbers we knew
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这些是以十年左右的时间为间隔，我们曾经知道的最大的质数。
09:30
decade by decade, each one dwarfing the one before
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每一个数都让前一个数变得渺小。
09:34
as computers took over and our power to calculate
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当电脑占据主导地位之后，我们的运算能力
09:37
just grew and grew.
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不断地增强。
09:39
This is the largest prime number we knew in 1996,
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这是我们在1996年所知道的的最大的质数，
09:42
a very emotional year for me.
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那年对我来说也是感慨良多的一年。
09:44
It was the year I left university.
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那年我离开了大学。
09:46
I was torn between mathematics and media.
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我在数学和媒体的选择之间受尽折磨。
09:48
It was a tough decision. I loved university.
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那是个很难的抉择。我爱大学。
09:51
My arts degree was the best nine and a half years of my life.
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我的艺术学位是我生命中最美好的九年半时光。
09:55
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
09:57
But I came to a realization about my own ability.
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但是我最终意识到了我自己的能力。
10:01
Put simply, in a room full of randomly selected people,
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简单来说，在一个聚满了随机选择的人的屋子里，
10:04
I'm a maths genius.
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我是一个数学天才。
10:06
In a roomful of maths Ph.Ds,
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而在一个聚满了数学博士的屋子里，
10:08
I'm as dumb as a box of hammers.
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我笨得就像棒槌。
10:12
My skill is not in the mathematics.
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我的强项不是数学。
10:14
It is in telling the story of the mathematics.
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我的强项是讲述数学故事。
10:18
And during that time, since I've left university,
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在我离开了大学的那段时间里，
10:20
these numbers have got bigger and bigger,
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这些数变得越来越大，
10:22
each one dwarfing the last,
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每一个都让上一个数相形见绌，
10:24
until along came this man, Dr. Curtis Cooper,
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直到柯蒂斯·库珀博士的出现，
10:29
who a few years ago held the record for the largest ever prime,
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他在几年之前还保持着古往今来所发现的最大质数的记录，
10:32
only to see it snatched away by a rival university.
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又眼睁睁地看着这个记录被一对手大学夺走.
10:35
And then Curtis Cooper got it back.
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然后柯蒂斯·库珀又把它夺了回来。
10:40
Not years ago, not months ago, days ago.
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不是几年前，不是几个月前，而是几天前。
10:45
In an amazing moment of serendipity,
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在一个令人惊讶的意外情况下，
10:47
I had to send TED a new slide
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我不得不发给TED一个新的幻灯片
10:51
to show you what this guy had done.
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来展示这个人做了什么。
10:53
I still remember -- (Applause) --
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我依然记得——（掌声）——
10:55
I still remember when it happened.
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我依然记得那一时刻.
10:57
I was doing my breakfast radio show.
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我当时在做我的早间节目.
10:58
I looked down on Twitter. There was a tweet:
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我低头看了下Twitter。有这样一条消息：
11:00
"Adam, have you seen the new largest prime number?"
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“亚当，你看到了新的最大的质数吗？”
11:02
I shivered --
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我颤抖了——
11:03
(Laughter) --
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（笑声）——
11:05
contacted the women who produced my radio show out in the other room,
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我马上联系隔壁的节目制作人,
11:08
and said "Girls, hold the front page.
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说道：“姑娘们,留出头版.
11:11
We're not talking politics today.
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我们今天不谈政治,
11:12
We're not talking sport today.
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也不谈体育,
11:14
They found another megaprime."
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又有一个巨大的质数被发现了。”
11:16
The girls just shook their heads,
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女孩们只是摇着头，
11:18
put them in their hands, and let me go my own way.
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用手捂住头，任由我自己发挥。
11:20
It's because of Curtis Cooper that we know,
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因为柯蒂斯·库珀我们知道了，
11:23
currently the largest prime number we know,
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目前最大的质数
11:25
is 2 ^ 57,885,161.
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8010
是2的57885161次方。
11:33
Don't forget to subtract the one.
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不要忘了减去1。
11:36
This number is almost 17 and a half million digits long.
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这个数几乎有一千七百五十万位数那么长。
11:43
If you typed it out on a computer and saved it as a text file,
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如果你把它输入到电脑里再保存成文本文件，
11:47
that's 22 meg.
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那有22兆字节。
11:49
For the slightly less geeky of you,
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对于你们当中不那么"怪异"的人来说,
11:51
think about the Harry Potter novels, okay?
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想想哈利·波特小说，行吧？
11:54
This is the first Harry Potter novel.
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这是第一部哈利·波特小说。
11:56
This is all seven Harry Potter novels,
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这是所有七部哈利·波特小说，
11:58
because she did tend to faff on a bit near the end.
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因为她快写完的时候确实有点喜欢拖泥带水。
12:00
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
12:03
Written out as a book, this number would run
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写成一本书的时候，这个数会有
12:06
the length of the Harry Potter novels and half again.
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所有哈利·波特小说的1.5倍长。
12:10
Here's a slide of the first 1,000 digits of this prime.
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这个幻灯片上有这个质数的前1000位数。
12:16
If, when TED had begun, at 11 o'clock on Tuesday,
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如果，TED在周二的11点开始，
12:19
we'd walked out and simply hit one slide every second,
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如果简单地一秒钟点击一页幻灯片，
12:23
it would have taken five hours to show you that number.
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那需要5个小时来展示这个数。
12:29
I was keen to do it, could not convince Bono.
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我很热衷这么做，但是无法说服波诺。
12:32
That's the way it goes.
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这也是没法子的事.
12:34
This number is 17 and a half thousand slides long,
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这个数有一万七千五百个幻灯片那么长，
12:39
and we know it is prime as confidently
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而我们非常肯定地知道它是个质数
12:43
as we know the number seven is prime.
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就像我们知道数字7是质数一样。
12:46
That fills me with almost sexual excitement.
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那几乎让我有了性冲动。
12:52
And who am I kidding when I say almost?
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当我说'几乎'时, 我到底是在骗谁？
12:54
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
12:57
I know what you're thinking:
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我知道你们在想什么：
12:58
Adam, we're happy that you're happy,
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亚当，你开心我们也很开心。
13:03
but why should we care?
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但是为什么我们要在意这个？
13:06
Let me give you just three reasons why this is so beautiful.
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让我给你们三个理由来说明其美妙之处.
13:09
First of all, as I explained, to ask a computer
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首先，就像我解释过得一样，去问一台电脑
13:12
"Is that number prime?" to type it in its abbreviated form,
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“那个数是质数吗？”并且输入它的缩略形式，
13:15
and then only about six lines of code is the test for primacy,
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然后只要六行代码就能测试数字是否为质数，
13:19
is a remarkably simple question to ask.
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是一个极其简单的问题,
13:22
It's got a remarkably clear yes/no answer,
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答案无非是'是'或'否'.
13:25
and just requires phenomenal grunt.
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只是需要惊人的计算能力.
13:27
Large prime numbers are a great way of testing
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(搜索)大型质数是测试
13:29
the speed and accuracy of computer chips.
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电脑芯片速度和准确度的很好的办法。
13:32
But secondly, as Curtis Cooper was looking for that monster prime,
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但是其次，在柯蒂斯·库珀寻找野兽般的质数的时候，
13:35
he wasn't the only guy searching.
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他不是唯一的搜索人.
13:37
My laptop at home was looking through
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我家里的笔记本电脑正在测试
13:38
four potential candidate primes myself
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四个可能的质数，
13:40
as part of a networked computer hunt around the world
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我是一个全球性网络
13:44
for these large numbers.
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搜寻大型质数的成员.
13:45
The discovery of that prime is similar to the work
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寻找那些质数类似于
13:47
people are doing in unraveling RNA sequences,
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人们解析核糖核酸序列,
13:50
in searching through data from SETI and other astronomical projects.
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以及搜寻地外文明计划和其他天文研究项目.
13:53
We live in an age where some of the great breakthroughs
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我们生活的时代是一些重大突破
13:57
are not going to happen in the labs or the halls of academia
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不会发生在实验室或者学术大厅,
13:59
but on laptops, desktops,
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而会发生在笔记本电脑上，台式电脑上，
14:01
in the palms of people's hands
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在那些
14:03
who are simply helping out for the search.
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帮助这些搜索的人们的手心里。
14:07
But for me it's amazing because it's a metaphor
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但是对我来说这很了不起, 因为它象征着
14:09
for the time in which we live,
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在我们生活的时代
14:11
when human minds and machines can conquer together.
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人脑和机器可以协同去征服难题.
14:16
We've heard a lot about robots in this TED.
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我们在TED里听闻了不少关于机器人的故事.
14:18
We've heard a lot about what they can and can't do.
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我们听到了很多他们能做和不能做的事情。
14:20
It is true, you can now download onto your smartphone
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你们现在确实可以下载到一款
14:22
an app that would beat most grandmasters at chess.
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能击败大多数国际象棋大师的应用程序到你的智能手机上。
14:26
You think that's cool.
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你们认为那很酷。
14:28
Here's a machine doing something cool.
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这有个能做一些很酷的事情的机器。
14:30
This is the CubeStormer II.
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这是魔方破解者二代。
14:32
It can take a randomly shuffled Rubik's Cube.
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它可以对付任何一个随机旋转出的鲁比克魔方。
14:36
Using the power of the smartphone,
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通过智能手机的力量，
14:39
it can examine the cube and solve the cube
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它可以检查这个魔方
14:46
in five seconds.
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然后在五秒钟内复原这个魔方。
14:49
(Applause)
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（掌声）
14:52
That scares some people. That excites me.
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那吓坏了一些人,却让我很兴奋。
14:56
How lucky are we to live in this age
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我们生活在一个
15:00
when mind and machine can work together?
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人脑和机器可以协同工作的时代是多么得幸运啊？
15:03
I was asked in an interview last year in my capacity
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我去年参加了一个访谈，
15:05
as a lower-case "c" celebrity in Australia,
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作为在澳大利亚一个并不真正非常知名的名人，我被问道：
15:08
"What was your highlight of 2012?"
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“我在2012年最难忘的时刻是什么？”
15:10
People were expecting me to talk about
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人们希望我谈论
15:12
my beloved Sydney Swans football team.
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我深爱的悉尼天鹅澳式足球队。
15:14
In our beautiful, indigenous sport of Australian football,
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在我们美丽的、本土的澳式足球中，
15:17
they won the equivalent of the Super Bowl.
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他们获得了类似于美式足球冠军的成就。
15:20
I was there. It was the most emotional, exciting day.
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我当时就在现场。那是非常激动兴奋的一天。
15:23
It wasn't my highlight of 2012.
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但它不是我2012年最难忘的时刻。
15:25
People thought it might have been an interview I'd done on my show.
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1963
人们认为也许是我做的一个名人采访,
15:27
It might have been a politician. It might have been a breakthrough.
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2068
也许是一个政治家,或是一项重大突破;
15:29
It might have been a book I read, the arts. No, no, no.
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2055
也许是我读过的一本书，或者艺术之类的东西。不不不。
15:31
It might have been something my two gorgeous daughters had done.
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也许是我两个美丽的女儿所做过的一些事情。
15:33
No, it wasn't. The highlight of 2012, so clearly,
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3579
不，不是。我2012年最难忘的时刻，十分明确,
15:36
was the discovery of the Higgs boson.
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就是希格斯玻色子的发现。
15:40
Give it up for the fundamental particle
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请为这个
15:43
that bequeaths all other fundamental particles their mass.
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3005
赋予了所有其他基本粒子质量的基本粒子送上掌声。
15:46
(Applause)
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1496
（掌声）
15:47
And what was so gorgeous about this discovery was
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2813
并且这个发现的美妙之处在于
15:50
50 years ago Peter Higgs and his team
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50年前皮特·希格斯和他的团队
15:52
considered one of the deepest of all questions:
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考虑的最深奥问题之一:
15:55
How is it that the things that make us up have no mass?
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如果组成我们的元素没有质量会怎么样？
15:59
I've clearly got mass. Where does it come from?
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我显然是有质量的。它来自哪里？
16:04
And he postulated a suggestion
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于是他假设
16:06
that there's this infinite, incredibly small field
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存在这个无限的、极其微小的、
16:09
stretching throughout the universe,
336
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2118
贯穿宇宙的场，
16:11
and as other particles go through those particles
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然后当其他粒子通过这些粒子
16:14
and interact, that's where they get their mass.
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并且发生作用，就使他们获得了质量。
16:16
The rest of the scientific community said,
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科学界的其他人说道：
16:18
"Great idea, Higgsy.
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“不错的设想，希格斯。
16:20
We've got no idea if we could ever prove it.
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但我们不知道能否证明它。
16:22
It's beyond our reach."
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它超越了我们的能力范围。”
16:24
And within just 50 years,
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可是就在50年内，
16:26
in his lifetime, with him sitting in the audience,
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在他的有生之年，在他坐在观众席里的时候，
16:32
we had designed the greatest machine ever
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我们设计出了有史以来最伟大的机器
16:36
to prove this incredible idea
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来证明这个
16:39
that originated just in a human mind.
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起源于人脑的难以置信的想法。
16:43
That's what is so exciting for me about this prime number.
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这就是为什么质数搜索让我如此兴奋:
16:45
We thought it might be there,
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我们认为它可能存在，
16:47
and we went and found it.
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然后我们去尝试，再发现它。
16:50
That is the essence of being human.
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那就是人的本质。
16:54
That is what we are all about.
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那就是我们存在的意义。
16:57
Or as my friend Descartes might put it,
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或者像我的朋友笛卡尔描述的那样，
16:59
we think,
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我思，
17:01
therefore we are.
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故我在。
17:04
Thank you.
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谢谢。
17:05
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Adam Spencer - Science communicatorRadio host Adam Spencer fills Sydney's drive-time mornings with smart math and science talk.
Why you should listen
Adam Spencer is the breakfast host on 702 ABC Sydney, the most listened-to talk show in Australia's biggest and most competitive market -- but (or maybe because) in between the usual fare of weather, traffic and local politics he weaves a spell of science, mathematics and general nerdery. Really! In a radio landscape dominated by shock jocks and morning zoos, he plays eclectic tunes, talks math, and never misses the chance to interview a Nobel Prize winner. Which is unsurprising once you find out that this former world debating champion had actually started on a PhD in Pure Mathematics before he began dabbling in improv comedy, which eventually led to his media career.
"Numbers," he says, "are the musical notes with which the symphony of the universe is played."
Watch Adam's promo video for this talk -- and follow the hashtag #PrimePush.
Adam Spencer | Speaker | TED.com