TED2014
Will Marshall: Tiny satellites show us the Earth as it changes in near-real-time
威尔·马歇尔: 袖珍卫星展示接近实时地追踪地球的变化
Filmed:
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卫星成像颠覆了我们对地球的认知，在网上可以看到几乎每个街角的清晰照片。但星球实验室的威尔·马歇尔认为我们可以做得更好，更快——方法是变得是更小。他来介绍他的袖珍卫星——体积10×10×30立方厘米——而当这些卫星集群发射后，它们能够提供地球每日更新的高清图像。
Will Marshall - Space scientist
At Planet, Will Marshall leads overall strategy for commercializing new geospatial data and analytics that are disrupting agriculture, mapping, energy, the environment and other vertical markets. Full bio
At Planet, Will Marshall leads overall strategy for commercializing new geospatial data and analytics that are disrupting agriculture, mapping, energy, the environment and other vertical markets. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
The Earth needs no introduction.
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地球不用我介绍。
00:15
It needs no introduction in part
because the Apollo 17 astronauts,
because the Apollo 17 astronauts,
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不用介绍，部分是因为阿波罗17号的宇航员
00:20
when they were hurtling
around the moon in 1972,
around the moon in 1972,
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在1972年奔向月球时，
00:23
took this iconic image.
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拍下了这张经典照片。
00:27
It galvanized a whole
generation of human beings
generation of human beings
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这张照片震撼了整整一代人，
00:30
to realize that we're on
Spaceship Earth,
Spaceship Earth,
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让大家意识到我们身处的“地球飞船”
00:33
fragile and finite as it is,
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是如此脆弱，规模也如此有限，
00:35
and that we need
to take care of it.
to take care of it.
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我们需要保护它。
00:37
But while this picture
is beautiful, it's static,
is beautiful, it's static,
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不过尽管这张照片非常美丽，它是静态的，
00:40
and the Earth is constantly changing.
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而地球每时每刻都在变化。
00:43
It's changing on days' time
scales with human activity.
scales with human activity.
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随着人类活动，它的变化以天为单位。
00:46
And the satellite imagery we
have of it today is old.
have of it today is old.
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我们的卫星图像却是旧的。
00:49
Typically, years old.
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通常，是好几年前的。
00:52
And that's important because
you can't fix what you can't see.
you can't fix what you can't see.
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这点很重要，因为不知道的是无法改进的。
00:56
What we'd ideally want is images
of the whole planet every day.
of the whole planet every day.
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理想中，我们需要的是地球每天的照片。
01:01
So, what's standing in our way?
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那么，为什么我们做不到？
01:03
What's the problem?
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问题出在哪里？
01:05
This is the problem:
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这就是问题：
01:07
Satellites are big, expensive
and they're slow.
and they're slow.
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卫星太大，太贵，太慢。
01:12
This one weighs three tons.
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这个3吨重。
01:14
It's six meters tall, four meters wide.
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6米高，4米宽。
01:17
It took up the entire fairing
of a rocket just to launch it.
of a rocket just to launch it.
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要发射它，需要一整枚火箭。
01:20
One satellite, one rocket.
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一颗卫星，一枚火箭。
01:22
It cost 855 million dollars.
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要花费8.55亿美元。
01:25
Satellites like these have
done an amazing job
done an amazing job
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这种卫星在我们了解地球的路上
01:27
at helping us to understand our planet.
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起了极大作用。
01:30
But if we want to understand
it much more regularly,
it much more regularly,
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但如果我们想更常态地了解地球，
01:34
we need lots of satellites,
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我们就需要很多卫星。
01:36
and this model isn't scalable.
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而这个卫星却不是可分布式的。
01:38
So me and my friends,
we started Planet Labs
we started Planet Labs
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于是，我和我的朋友们创立了“行星实验室”
01:40
to make satellites ultra-compact
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来让卫星袖珍化，
01:42
and small and highly capable.
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变小，而功能强大。
01:44
I'm going to show you what
our satellite looks like:
our satellite looks like:
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我来给你们看我们的卫星：
01:52
This is our satellite.
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这就是我们的卫星。
01:54
This is not a scale model,
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这不是微缩模型，
01:56
this is the real size.
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这就是真实大小。
01:58
It's 10 by 10 by 30 centimeters,
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体积10×10×30立方厘米，
02:00
it weighs four kilograms,
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重4公斤，
02:03
and we've stuffed the latest
and greatest electronics
and greatest electronics
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我们还把最新最好的电子仪器
02:05
and sensor systems into
this little package
this little package
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和传感器挤进了这个体积中，
02:07
so that even though this is really small,
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所以尽管这个卫星非常小，
02:09
this can take pictures 10 times the
resolution of the big satellite here,
resolution of the big satellite here,
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它拍照的分辨率比刚才大型卫星还能高10倍，
02:14
even though it weighs one
thousandth of the mass.
thousandth of the mass.
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而重量只有千分之一。
02:19
And we call this satellite
"Dove" — Thank you.
"Dove" — Thank you.
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我们管这个卫星叫“鸽子”——谢谢。
02:23
(Applause)
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（鼓掌）
02:25
We call this satellite "Dove,"
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我们管这个卫星叫“鸽子”。
02:27
and we call it "Dove" because
satellites are typically named
satellites are typically named
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它叫“鸽子”，因为一般卫星是用
02:30
after birds, but normally birds of prey:
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鸟类来命名，通常是猛禽类，
02:32
like Eagle, Hawk, Swoop,
Kill, I don't know,
Kill, I don't know,
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像老鹰，小鹰，雄鹰，还有什么，
02:35
Kestrel, these sort of things.
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红隼，这一类的。
02:37
But ours have a
humanitarian mission,
humanitarian mission,
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我们的卫星肩负人道主义任务，
02:39
so we wanted to call them Doves.
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所以我们叫“鸽子”。
02:41
And we haven't just
built them, though.
built them, though.
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我们不仅仅进行了生产，
02:43
We've launched them.
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我们还进行了发射。
02:44
And not just one, but many.
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不只是一个，好多个。
02:50
It all started in our garage.
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这一切都是从我们的车库中开始的。
02:52
Yes, we built our first satellite
prototype in our garage.
prototype in our garage.
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是的，我们第一个原型卫星就是在车库里制作的。
02:55
Now, this is pretty normal for a
Silicon Valley company that we are,
Silicon Valley company that we are,
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这在我们这种硅谷公司中很常见，
02:58
but we believe it's the first time
for a space company.
for a space company.
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但对于航天公司来说，我相信我们是第一个。
03:01
And that's not the only trick
we learned from Silicon Valley.
we learned from Silicon Valley.
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我们从硅谷不仅仅学到了这一点。
03:05
We rapidly prototype our satellites.
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我们还将卫星快速原型化。
03:08
We use "release early,
release often" on our software.
release often" on our software.
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我们的软件遵循“早发布，多发布”原则。
03:11
And we take a different
risk approach.
risk approach.
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我们的风险意识也不同。
03:13
We take them outside and test them.
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我们把卫星拿出去试验。
03:15
We even put satellites in space
just to test the satellites,
just to test the satellites,
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我们甚至发射卫星到太空，只是为了试验。
03:18
and we've learned to manufacture
our satellites at scale.
our satellites at scale.
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我们还学会了规模化生产。
03:21
We've used modern production techniques
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我们使用现代生产技术，
03:23
so we can build large numbers of them,
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大批量进行建造。
03:25
I think for the first time.
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我想这是第一次。
03:28
We call it agile aerospace,
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我们管这个叫灵巧航天，
03:31
and that's what's enabled us to put
so much capability into this little box.
so much capability into this little box.
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这也是为什么我们的小盒子能有这么大能力。
03:36
Now, what has bonded
our team over the years
our team over the years
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还有，这么多年我们团队团结的纽带，
03:41
is the idea of democratizing
access to satellite information.
access to satellite information.
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是我们对卫星数据民主化获取的认同。
03:46
In fact, the founders of our
company, Chris, Robbie and I,
company, Chris, Robbie and I,
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我们公司的创始人，Chris，Robbie，还有我，
03:49
we met over 15 years ago
at the United Nations
at the United Nations
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我们15年前在联合国开会时认识，
03:51
when they were hosting a conference
about exactly that question:
about exactly that question:
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当时联合国在开一个会，讨论的就是这个问题：
03:54
How do you use satellites
to help humanity?
to help humanity?
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怎样用卫星促进人类发展？
03:56
How do you use satellites to help
people in developing countries
people in developing countries
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怎样用卫星来帮助发展中国家
03:57
or with climate change?
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或应对环境变化？
03:59
And this is what has bonded us.
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这个问题成了我们之间的纽带。
04:02
Our entire team is passionate about
using satellites to help humanity.
using satellites to help humanity.
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我们整个团队都想用卫星来帮助人类发展。
04:06
You could say
we're space geeks,
we're space geeks,
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你可以说我们是太空极客，
04:08
but not only do we care
about what's up there,
about what's up there,
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但我们关心的不仅仅是天上，
04:11
we care about what's down here, too.
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我们还关心地上的事情。
04:13
I'm going to show you a video
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我来给你们放一段视频，
04:15
from just four weeks ago
of two of our satellites
of two of our satellites
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是4个星期前，我们的两颗卫星
04:17
being launched from the
International Space Station.
International Space Station.
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从国际太空站上发射的场景。
04:20
This is not an animation,
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这不是动画，
04:22
this is a video taken by the astronaut
looking out of the window.
looking out of the window.
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这是宇航员从窗口拍摄的。
04:25
It gives you a bit of a sense of
scale of our two satellites.
scale of our two satellites.
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从中你能感到我们卫星的大小。
04:28
It's like some of the
smallest satellites ever
smallest satellites ever
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这真是最小的卫星
04:30
are being launched from
the biggest satellite ever.
the biggest satellite ever.
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从最大的卫星上发射。
04:33
And right at the end, the
solar array glints in the sun.
solar array glints in the sun.
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在视频最后，太阳板反射阳光。
04:35
It's really cool. Wait for it.
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超级爽。等着，
04:38
Boom! Yeah. It's the money shot.
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这儿！是吧。大片啊。
04:41
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
04:43
So we didn't just launch
two of them like this,
two of them like this,
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我们不仅仅是发射了这两个，
04:46
we launched 28 of them.
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我们发射了28个。
04:48
It's the largest constellation of
Earth-imaging satellites in human history,
Earth-imaging satellites in human history,
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这是人类历史上最大的地球成像卫星群，
04:52
and it's going to provide a
completely radical new data set
completely radical new data set
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它能为我们不断变化的星球
04:55
about our changing planet.
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提供全新的数据集。
04:57
But that's just the beginning.
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而这只是开始。
04:59
You see, we're going to launch
more than 100 of these satellites
more than 100 of these satellites
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我们在明年将要发射
05:02
like these over the
course of the next year.
course of the next year.
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超过100个这种卫星。
05:05
It's going to be the largest constellation
of satellites in human history.
of satellites in human history.
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这将是人类历史上最大的卫星群。
05:08
And this is what it's going to do:
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这些卫星要做的是：
05:10
Acting in a single-orbit plane that
stays fixed with respect to the sun,
stays fixed with respect to the sun,
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以太阳为基准，处在固定的轨道面上，
05:13
the Earth rotates underneath.
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地球在卫星下面自转。
05:15
They're all cameras pointed down,
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所有的相机都朝下，
05:17
and they slowly scan across as
the Earth rotates underneath.
the Earth rotates underneath.
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当地球自转时，相机就缓慢的扫描。
05:20
The Earth rotates every 24 hours,
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地球24小时自转一圈，
05:22
so we scan every point on the
planet every 24 hours.
planet every 24 hours.
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我们24小时也就扫描一遍整个地球，
05:25
It's a line scanner for the planet.
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就像行扫描仪一样。
05:28
We don't take a picture of
anywhere on the planet every day,
anywhere on the planet every day,
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我们不是每天拍照一些地方，
05:31
we take a picture of every single
place on the planet every day.
place on the planet every day.
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我们是每天拍照地球上每一个地方。
05:34
Even though we launched these
just a couple of weeks ago,
just a couple of weeks ago,
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尽管我们发射这些才几个星期，
05:37
we've already got some initial
imagery from the satellites
imagery from the satellites
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我们已经从卫星上获得了一些初始图像。
05:40
and I'm going to show it
publicly for the first time right now.
publicly for the first time right now.
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现在我就首次对公众进行展示。
05:43
This is the very first picture
taken by our satellite.
taken by our satellite.
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这是我们卫星的第一张照片。
05:46
It happened to be over
UC-Davis' campus
UC-Davis' campus
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在我们打开相机时，
05:48
in California when we
turned the camera on.
turned the camera on.
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卫星正处在加州大学戴维斯分校上空。
05:50
But what's even cooler is when
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更爽的是，
05:52
we compare it to the previous
latest image of that area,
latest image of that area,
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我们拿这个照片跟之前的卫星照片作对比，
05:55
which was taken many months ago.
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之前的照片拍摄于几个月前。
05:57
And the image on the left
is from our satellite,
is from our satellite,
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左边的是我们的卫星，
06:00
and we see buildings are being built.
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能看到正在建造的建筑物。
06:02
The general point is that we will be able
to track urban growth as it happens
to track urban growth as it happens
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这样我们就能实时追踪城市发展，
06:06
around the whole world
in all cities, every day.
in all cities, every day.
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追踪世界上每一个城市，每一天。
06:10
Water as well.
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水资源也可以。
06:11
Thank you.
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谢谢。
06:13
(Applause)
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（鼓掌）
06:14
We'll be able to see
the extent of all water bodies
the extent of all water bodies
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我们能够每天观测全世界
06:17
around the whole world every day
and help water security.
and help water security.
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的所有水域，保障水资源安全。
06:20
From water security
to food security.
to food security.
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从水资源安全到农作物安全。
06:22
We'll see crops as they
grow in all the fields
grow in all the fields
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我们可以每天看到每一个田里
06:25
in every farmer's field around
the planet every day.
the planet every day.
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正在生长的农作物，
06:28
and help them to improve crop yield.
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来帮助他们增产。
06:31
This is a beautiful image that was taken
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这张美丽的照片是
06:33
just a few hours ago when the
satellite was flying over Argentina.
satellite was flying over Argentina.
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几个小时前卫星在阿根廷上空拍摄的。
06:37
The general point is
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要点是，
06:39
there are probably hundreds and
thousands of applications of this data,
thousands of applications of this data,
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这些数据可能有成百上千的应用方式，
06:42
I've mentioned a few, but there's others:
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我才只提了一些，还有其他的：
06:44
deforestation, the ice caps melting.
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追踪森林砍伐，追踪冰盖融化。
06:46
We can track all of these things,
every tree on the planet every day.
every tree on the planet every day.
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我们每天可以追踪所有这些，以至于地球上的每棵树。
06:49
If you took the difference between
today's image and yesterday's image,
today's image and yesterday's image,
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如果你来分析今天照片和昨天照片的不同，
06:52
you'd see much of the world news —
you'd see floods and fires and earthquakes.
you'd see floods and fires and earthquakes.
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你就可以看到很多世界新闻——洪水，火灾，地震。
06:56
And we have decided, therefore, that the
best thing that we could do with our data
best thing that we could do with our data
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因此，我们决定，使用这些数据的最好方式，
07:00
is to ensure universal access to it.
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是确保所有人都能获取。
07:03
We want to ensure everyone can see it.
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我们想确保所有人都能看到。
07:05
Thank you. (Applause)
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谢谢。（鼓掌）
07:08
We want to empower NGOs and
companies and scientists and journalists
companies and scientists and journalists
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我们想授权NGO，公司，科学家，记者，
07:12
to be able to answer the questions
that they have about the planet.
that they have about the planet.
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让他们能够回答他们关于地球的问题。
07:16
We want to enable the developer community
to run their apps on our data.
to run their apps on our data.
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我们想让研发社区能够用app来获取我们的数据。
07:21
In short, we want to democratize access
to information about our planet.
to information about our planet.
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总之，我们想让我们地球信息的获取民主化。
07:25
Which brings me back to this.
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这就回到了之前所说的。
07:28
You see, this will be an entirely
new global data set.
new global data set.
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这将是全新的地球数据集。
07:32
And we believe that together,
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我们相信一起，
07:34
we can help to take care
of our Spaceship Earth.
of our Spaceship Earth.
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我们能够帮助保护我们的”地球飞船“。
07:39
And what I would like to leave
you with is the following question:
you with is the following question:
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而我想给各位留下的问题是：
07:42
If you had access to imagery of the
whole planet every single day,
whole planet every single day,
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如果你能获取全地球每一天的照片，
07:47
what would you do with that data?
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你会拿这些数据做什么？
07:48
What problems would you solve?
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你会解决什么问题？
07:50
What exploration would you do?
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你会进行哪些探索？
07:52
Well, I invite you to come
and explore with us.
and explore with us.
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我邀请你与我们来一同探索。
07:54
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢。
07:56
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Will Marshall - Space scientistAt Planet, Will Marshall leads overall strategy for commercializing new geospatial data and analytics that are disrupting agriculture, mapping, energy, the environment and other vertical markets.
Why you should listen
Will Marshall is the co-founder and CEO of Planet. Prior to Planet, he was a Scientist at NASA/USRA where he worked on missions "LADEE" and "LCROSS," served as co-principal investigator on PhoneSat, and was the technical lead on research projects in space debris remediation.
Marshall received his PhD in Physics from the University of Oxford and his Masters in Physics with Space Science and Technology from the University of Leicester. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at George Washington University and Harvard.
Will Marshall | Speaker | TED.com