ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Amy Smith - inventor, engineer
Amy Smith designs cheap, practical fixes for tough problems in developing countries. Among her many accomplishments, the MIT engineer received a MacArthur "genius" grant in 2004 and was the first woman to win the Lemelson-MIT Prize for turning her ideas into inventions.

Why you should listen

Mechanical engineer Amy Smith's approach to problem-solving in developing nations is refreshingly common-sense: Invent cheap, low-tech devices that use local resources, so communities can reproduce her efforts and ultimately help themselves. Smith, working with her students at MIT's D-Lab, has come up with several useful tools, including an incubator that stays warm without electricity, a simple grain mill, and a tool that converts farm waste into cleaner-burning charcoal.

The inventions have earned Smith three prestigious prizes: the B.F. Goodrich Collegiate Inventors Award, the MIT-Lemelson Prize, and a MacArthur "genius" grant. Her course, "Design for Developing Countries," is a pioneer in bringing humanitarian design into the curriculum of major institutions. Going forward, the former Peace Corps volunteer strives to do much more, bringing her inventiveness and boundless energy to bear on some of the world's most persistent problems.

More profile about the speaker
Amy Smith | Speaker | TED.com
TED2006

Amy Smith: Simple designs to save a life

Amy Smith 与您分享简便又能救人的设想

Filmed:
1,709,782 views

厨房油烟造成发展中国家每年200万人死亡。麻省理工学院工程师艾米.史密斯与您分享一个既吸引人又简单的解决之道:转农业废物为干净木炭。
- inventor, engineer
Amy Smith designs cheap, practical fixes for tough problems in developing countries. Among her many accomplishments, the MIT engineer received a MacArthur "genius" grant in 2004 and was the first woman to win the Lemelson-MIT Prize for turning her ideas into inventions. Full bio

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

说到发明
00:25
In terms条款 of invention发明,
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00:26
I'd like to tell you the tale故事
of one of my favorite喜爱 projects项目.
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我想跟你们说说我最得意的一个项目
00:29
I think it's one of the most exciting扣人心弦
that I'm working加工 on,
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我觉得它是我现在做的最令我兴奋的项目
同时也是最简单的一个
00:32
but I think it's also the simplest简单.
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这个项目很可能极大地影响世界
00:34
It's a project项目 that has the potential潜在
to make a huge巨大 impact碰撞 around the world世界.
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它能解决目前世界上最严重的健康问题之一
00:39
It addresses地址 one of the biggest最大
health健康 issues问题 on the planet行星,
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这个问题是5岁以下儿童死亡的头号杀手
00:42
the number one cause原因 of death死亡
in children孩子 under five.
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是什么呢? 水媒传染疾病?痢疾?营养不良?
00:46
Which哪一个 is ...?
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00:48
Water-borne水性 diseases疾病?
Diarrhea腹泻? Malnutrition营养不良?
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都不对,是吸入厨房油烟
00:52
No.
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00:53
It's breathing呼吸 the smoke抽烟
from indoor室内 cooking烹饪 fires火灾 --
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导致急性呼吸道感染,你相信吗?
00:57
acute急性 respiratory呼吸 infections感染
caused造成 by this.
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01:00
Can you believe that?
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我感到很震惊也很可怕
01:02
I find this shocking触目惊心
and somewhat有些 appalling骇人听闻的.
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我们能否发明更清洁的炊事燃料?
01:05
Can't we make
cleaner清洁器 burning燃烧 cooking烹饪 fuels燃料?
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更好的炉灶?
01:08
Can't we make better stoves炉具?
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这个问题为何每年能杀死200多万人呢?
01:10
How is it that this can lead
to over two million百万 deaths死亡 every一切 year?
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我知道Bill Joy和大家讲过
01:14
I know Bill法案 Joy喜悦 was talking to you
about the wonders奇迹 of carbon nanotubes纳米管,
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碳纳管的奇妙之处
那今天我就和大家讲讲
01:18
so I'm going to talk to you
about the wonders奇迹 of carbon macro-tubes宏观管,
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大碳管也就是木炭的妙用
01:22
which哪一个 is charcoal木炭.
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01:24
(Laughter笑声)
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这是一张海地乡村的照片,海地国土面积的98%如今都没有森林覆盖了
01:26
So this is a picture图片 of rural乡村 Haiti海地.
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01:28
Haiti海地 is now 98 percent百分 deforested砍伐.
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整个海地岛屿都是这幅景象
01:31
You'll你会 see scenes场景 like this
all over the island.
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这造成了各种环境问题
01:34
It leads引线 to all sorts排序
of environmental环境的 problems问题
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以及一些影响海地人民的其他问题
01:37
and problems问题 that affect影响 people
throughout始终 the nation国家.
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01:41
A couple一对 years年份 ago
there was severe严重 flooding洪水
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几年前一场洪水肆虐
夺走了几千人的生命
01:43
that led to thousands数千 of deaths死亡 --
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这都是因为
01:45
that's directly attributable归属 to the fact事实
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山上没有树来巩固土壤
01:47
that there are no trees树木 on the hills丘陵
to stabilize稳定 the soil.
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所以一旦下雨,雨水混杂泥土直接冲入河流,造成洪灾
01:50
So the rains降雨 come --
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01:51
they go down the rivers河流
and the flooding洪水 happens发生.
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这里没树主要是因为
01:55
Now one of the reasons原因
why there are so few少数 trees树木 is this:
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人们烧饭需要燃料
01:58
people need to cook厨师,
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02:00
and they harvest收成 wood
and they make charcoal木炭 in order订购 to do it.
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于是人们把木材做成木炭
并不是海地人不重视环境保护
02:04
It's not that people are ignorant愚昧
to the environmental环境的 damage损伤.
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他们明白环境重要,但是他们无可奈何
02:07
They know perfectly完美 well,
but they have no other choice选择.
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这里没有化石燃料
02:09
Fossil化石 fuels燃料 are not available可得到,
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太阳能也不是很好用
02:11
and solar太阳能 energy能源 doesn't cook厨师 the way
that they like their food餐饮 prepared准备.
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02:16
And so this is what they do.
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所以这也算是无奈之举
你常能看到这样一家人一起去森林里
02:18
You'll你会 find families家庭 like this who go out
into the forest森林 to find a tree,
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砍了树,再做成木炭
02:23
cut it down and make charcoal木炭 out of it.
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毫无疑问,人们已经很努力
02:27
So not surprisingly出奇,
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02:28
there's a lot of effort功夫 that's been doneDONE
to look at alternative替代 cooking烹饪 fuels燃料.
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找寻这种燃料的替代品了
4年前,我和一群学生去海地
02:34
About four years年份 ago, I took
a team球队 of students学生们 down to Haiti海地
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和当地的和平队志愿者一起工作
02:37
and we worked工作 with
Peace和平 Corps兵团 volunteers志愿者 there.
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02:39
This is one such这样 volunteer志愿者
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有一个志愿者
02:41
and this is a device设备 that he had built内置
in the village where he worked工作.
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在他呆的村庄里发明了这个小玩意儿
02:44
And the idea理念 was
that you could take waste浪费 paper;
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就是把废纸
压缩成块状用来燃烧
02:47
you could compress压缩 it
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02:48
and make briquettes煤球
that could be used for fuel汽油.
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但是它烧得很慢
02:51
But this device设备 was very slow.
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我们工程系的学生就拿来改良了一下
02:53
So our engineering工程 students学生们
went to work on it
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做了一点小改动之后
02:56
and with some very simple简单 changes变化,
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02:58
they were able能够 to triple三倍
the throughput吞吐量 of this device设备.
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它的效率提高了3倍
03:01
So you could imagine想像
they were very excited兴奋 about it.
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他们当时非常激动
后来他们还把这些纸砖块带回麻省大学做测试
03:04
And they took the briquettes煤球 back to MITMIT
so that they could test测试 them.
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结果却发现这些东西不能燃烧
03:08
And one of the things
that they found发现 was they didn't burn烧伤.
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学生们都挺失望的
03:13
So it was a little
discouraging令人沮丧 to the students学生们.
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03:15
(Laughter笑声)
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如果你仔细看,在这儿,
03:17
And in fact事实, if you look closely密切,
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03:19
right here you can see
it says, "US Peace和平 Corps兵团."
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你就会发现“美国和平队”字样
因为在那个村庄里根本没废纸
03:23
As it turns out, there actually其实 wasn't
any waste浪费 paper in this village.
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或许这仪器用来处理政府文书倒是挺好的
03:27
And while it was a good use
of government政府 paperwork证件
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03:30
for this volunteer志愿者 to bring带来 it
back with him to his village,
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让那个志愿者把政府文书带回到那个村子
不过政府机关离那个村子有足足800公里之遥
03:33
it was 800 kilometers公里 away.
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所以我们就想琢磨个更好的办法
03:35
And so we thought perhaps也许
there might威力 be a better way
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03:38
to come up with
an alternative替代 cooking烹饪 fuel汽油.
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来制造炊事燃料的替代品
我们希望这种新燃料
03:41
What we wanted to do
is we wanted to make a fuel汽油
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03:43
that used something that was
readily容易 available可得到 on the local本地 level水平.
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能就地取材
海地到处都有小规模的制糖厂
03:47
You see these all over Haiti海地 as well.
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03:48
They're small-scale小型 sugar mills钢厂.
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03:50
And the waste浪费 product产品 from them
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这些厂的废料
也就是榨完甘蔗之后剩下的东西叫“甘蔗渣”
03:52
after you extract提取 the juice果汁
from the sugarcane甘蔗
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03:54
is called "bagasse."
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这个没啥用,也没营养价值
03:56
It has no other use.
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03:57
It has no nutritional营养 value,
so they don't feed饲料 it to the animals动物.
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当饲料都不够好
04:00
It just sits坐镇 in a pile near the sugar mill
until直到 eventually终于 they burn烧伤 it.
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人们就把成堆的甘蔗渣堆在制糖厂外,最后拿来烧掉
而我们就想
04:05
What we wanted to do was
we wanted to find a way
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变废为宝
04:08
to harness马具 this waste浪费 resource资源
and turn it into a fuel汽油
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把那些甘蔗渣做成人人都能方便使用的燃料
04:11
that would be something
that people could easily容易 cook厨师 with,
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就像木炭一样
04:14
something like charcoal木炭.
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接下来的几年时间里,我和我的学生就在开发合适的生产工艺
04:16
So over the next下一个 couple一对 of years年份,
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04:18
students学生们 and I worked工作
to develop发展 a process处理.
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首先我们把甘蔗渣放入一个窑炉
04:21
So you start开始 with the bagasse,
and then you take a very simple简单 kiln
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这种炉子很好做,拿一个废弃的55加仑容积的油桶就可以改装了
04:25
that you can make out of
a waste浪费 fifty五十 five-gallon五加仑 oil drum.
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然后我们点燃甘蔗渣,让它烧一小会儿以后就把炉封好
04:28
After some time, after setting设置 it on fire,
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04:31
you seal密封 it to restrict限制 the oxygen
that goes into the kiln,
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不要让空气进去
最后就制成了这种炭化材料
04:35
and then you end结束 up
with this carbonized碳化 material材料 here.
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但是,这个不好用,因为颗粒太细了
04:38
However然而, you can't burn烧伤 this.
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04:40
It's too fine and it burns烧伤 too quickly很快
to be useful有用 for cooking烹饪.
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用来烧饭的话一下就烧完了
所以我们就设法把它压缩成块
04:45
So we had to try to find a way
to form形成 it into useful有用 briquettes煤球.
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正好,我的一个学生是加纳人
04:49
And conveniently便利地,
one of my students学生们 was from Ghana加纳,
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记得他母亲给他做过一道菜叫“木薯糊”
04:52
and he remembered记得 a dish his mom妈妈
used to make for him called "kokontekokonte,"
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04:56
which哪一个 is a very sticky porridge稀饭
made制作 out of the cassava木薯 root.
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就是用木薯的根烧成的很稠的粥
04:59
And so what we did was we looked看着,
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于是我们就四下寻找
05:01
and we found发现 that cassava木薯
is indeed确实 grown长大的 in Haiti海地,
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发现海地也种植木薯,只不过叫法不同
05:04
under the name名称 of "manioc木薯."
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其实世界上很多地方都有木薯
05:06
In fact事实, it's grown长大的 all over the world世界 --
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虽然名称各异,东西都是一样的
05:08
yucca丝兰, tapioca木薯, manioc木薯, cassava木薯,
it's all the same相同 thing --
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05:11
a very starchy淀粉 root vegetable蔬菜.
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就是含淀粉的食用其块状根的植物
你可以把它做成糊
05:13
And you can make a very thick,
sticky porridge稀饭 out of it,
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再用这个糊把木炭块粘在一起
05:17
which哪一个 you can use to bind捆绑 together一起
the charcoal木炭 briquettes煤球.
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我们就这么做了。 后来我们又去海地
05:21
So we did this. We went down to Haiti海地.
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这些研究生就是第一所
05:24
These are the graduates毕业生
of the first Ecole高等 de CharbonCharbon,
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木炭学院的学生
05:27
or Charcoal木炭 Institute研究所.
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(笑)
05:28
And these --
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05:30
(Laughter笑声)
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没错,所以我既是麻省理工的导师也是木碳学院的导师
05:31
That's right. So I'm actually其实
an instructor讲师 at MITMIT as well as CITCIT.
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这些就是我们做的炭砖
05:37
And these are the briquettes煤球 that we made制作.
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现在我们到亚洲再来看看印度
05:40
Now I'm going to take you
to a different不同 continent大陆.
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05:44
This is India印度
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这是印度最常见的炊事燃料——牛粪
05:45
and this is the most commonly常用 used
cooking烹饪 fuel汽油 in India印度.
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05:48
It's cow dung.
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这产生的油烟比海地的还厉害
05:50
And more than in Haiti海地,
this produces产生 really smoky fires火灾,
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你看,健康问题
05:54
and this is where you see
the health健康 impacts影响
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05:56
of cooking烹饪 with cow dung
and biomass生物质 as a fuel汽油.
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就是因为燃烧牛粪或其他生物燃料造成的
儿童和妇女尤受影响
06:01
Kids童装 and women妇女
are especially特别 affected受影响 by it,
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06:03
because they're the ones那些
who are around the cooking烹饪 fires火灾.
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因为他们经常在厨房里转悠
我们想看看是否能引进
06:06
So we wanted to see
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06:08
if we could introduce介绍
this charcoal-making木炭决策 technology技术 there.
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之前的制炭技术
可惜,印度没甘蔗
06:11
Well, unfortunately不幸,
they didn't have sugarcane甘蔗
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也没木薯,但这些都难不倒我们
06:14
and they didn't have cassava木薯,
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06:15
but that didn't stop us.
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我们还是就地取材
06:17
What we did was we found发现 what were
the locally本地 available可得到 sources来源 of biomass生物质.
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用这里的麦秆和稻秆加工成燃料
06:21
And there was wheat小麦 straw稻草
and there was rice白饭 straw稻草 in this area.
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至于粘合剂
06:24
And what we could use as a binder粘合剂
was actually其实 small amounts of cow manure肥料,
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就用少量的牛粪
而原本这些牛粪都是直接做燃料的
06:28
which哪一个 they used ordinarily按说 for their fuel汽油.
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我们做了些对比试验,大家可以看到
06:31
And we did side-by-side并排侧 tests测试,
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06:33
and here you can see
the charcoal木炭 briquettes煤球
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炭砖和牛粪做对比
06:36
and here the cow dung.
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06:37
And you can see that it's a lot cleaner清洁器
burning燃烧 of a cooking烹饪 fuel汽油.
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很明显炭砖清洁得多
而且烧水速度也快很多
06:41
And in fact事实, it heats预赛 the water
a lot more quickly很快.
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06:43
And so we were very happy快乐, thus从而 far.
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所以我们都很开心
但是我们发现
06:46
But one of the things that we found发现
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06:47
was when we did side-by-side并排侧
comparisons对比 with wood charcoal木炭,
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和一般木炭比
06:50
it didn't burn烧伤 as long.
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炭砖不持久,一下就碎了
06:52
And the briquettes煤球 crumbled崩溃 a little bit
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于是热量就分散开来,导致烧饭的时候很费力
06:54
and we lost丢失 energy能源 as they fell下跌 apart距离
as they were cooking烹饪.
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我们就想办法把炭砖做得更紧实
06:57
So we wanted to try to find a way
to make a stronger briquette煤饼
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07:00
so that we could compete竞争 with
wood charcoal木炭 in the markets市场 in Haiti海地.
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这样就能和海地市场上的木炭竞争了
我们回到麻省,找出英斯特朗电子强力测试仪
07:05
So we went back to MITMIT,
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07:07
we took out the Instron英斯特朗 machine
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分析出用多少压缩力度
07:09
and we figured想通 out
what sort分类 of forces军队 you needed需要
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压缩出的炭砖
07:12
in order订购 to compress压缩
a briquette煤饼 to the level水平
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会有一个质的飞跃
07:14
that you actually其实 are getting得到
improved改善 performance性能 out of it?
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一方面我的学生们在实验室里研究
07:17
And at the same相同 time that we had
students学生们 in the lab实验室 looking at this,
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一方面海地的社区伙伴也同我们合作
07:21
we also had community社区 partners伙伴 in Haiti海地
working加工 to develop发展 the process处理,
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努力改良炭砖,让人人都用得上
07:28
to improve提高 it and make it more accessible无障碍
to people in the villages村庄 there.
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一段时间之后
07:33
And after some time,
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我们发明了低成本制木炭法,新的产品
07:35
we developed发达 a low-cost低成本 press
that allows允许 you to produce生产 charcoal木炭,
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比一般木炭燃烧更持久也更清洁
07:40
which哪一个 actually其实 now burns烧伤 not only --
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07:43
actually其实, it burns烧伤 longer,
cleaner清洁器 than wood charcoal木炭.
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所以我们现在就有一个
07:47
So now we're in a situation情况
where we have a product产品,
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07:49
which哪一个 is actually其实 better than what
you can buy购买 in Haiti海地 in the marketplace市井,
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比海地市场上的木炭更好的产品
这是一个很好的状况
07:54
which哪一个 is a very wonderful精彩 place地点 to be.
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仅海地一国,每年就有3000万棵树被砍伐
07:58
In Haiti海地 alone单独, about 30 million百万 trees树木
are cut down every一切 year.
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08:03
There's a possibility可能性
of this being存在 implemented实施
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这个产品如果能得到应用
能救很多树
08:06
and saving保存 a good portion一部分 of those.
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另外,这种新木炭每年能创收2.6亿美元
08:08
In addition加成, the revenue收入 generated产生
from that charcoal木炭 is 260 million百万 dollars美元.
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这可是一大笔钱
08:14
That's an awful可怕 lot
for a country国家 like Haiti海地 --
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海地人口800万
08:17
with a population人口 of eight million百万
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人均收入不足400美元
08:19
and an average平均 income收入
of less than 400 dollars美元.
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因此我们想在海地继续这个木炭项目
08:23
So this is where we're also moving移动 ahead
with our charcoal木炭 project项目.
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08:27
And one of the things
that I think is also interesting有趣,
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还有一件有意思的事情是
我有个朋友在伯克利大学是做风险研究的
08:30
is I have a friend朋友 up at UCUC Berkeley伯克利
who's谁是 been doing risk风险 analysis分析.
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08:34
And he's looked看着 at the problem问题
of the health健康 impacts影响
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他研究了对健康
08:37
of burning燃烧 wood versus charcoal木炭.
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木材和木炭分别会造成什么影响
08:39
And he's found发现 that worldwide全世界,
you could prevent避免 a million百万 deaths死亡
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他发现只要改用木炭作燃料
在世界范围内就能有100万人可以幸免于难
08:43
switching交换 from wood
to charcoal木炭 as a cooking烹饪 fuel汽油.
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这真是很棒
08:46
That's remarkable卓越,
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本来做木炭都是需要木材的
08:47
but up until直到 now, there weren't ways方法
to do it without cutting切割 down trees树木.
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但现在我们能
08:51
But now we have a way
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08:52
that's using运用 an agricultural农业的
waste浪费 material材料 to create创建 a cooking烹饪 fuel汽油.
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变农业废物为炊事燃料
08:56
One of the really exciting扣人心弦 things, though虽然,
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最让人激动的是
08:58
is something that came来了 out of the trip
that I took to Ghana加纳 just last month.
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上个月我去加纳时了解到的一个信息
这个不但非常酷
09:02
And I think it's the coolest最酷 thing,
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而且在技术层面上也比前面的那些更简单
09:05
and it's even lower降低 tech高科技
than what you just saw,
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如果你们能想象的到的话。就是这个。
09:08
if you can imagine想像 such这样 a thing.
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09:10
Here it is.
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这是什么呢?这是把玉米棒做成木炭
09:11
So what is this?
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09:13
This is corncobs玉米芯 turned转身 into charcoal木炭.
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这个的好处就是你都不需要把炭压缩成块
09:15
And the beauty美女 of this is
that you don't need to form形成 briquettes煤球 --
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因为玉米棒本来就是一块块的。 这就是我的100美元手提电脑项目了(一个帮助促进不发达地区教育的事业)
09:19
it comes ready准备 made制作.
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09:20
This is my $100 laptop笔记本电脑, right here.
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和尼克一样,我也带了样品给大家
09:23
And actually其实, like Nick缺口,
I brought samples样本.
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(笑)
09:26
(Laughter笑声)
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09:28
So we can pass通过 these around.
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大家相互传一下
很好用,经过测试,能立刻燃烧
09:32
They're fully充分 functional实用,
field-tested现场测试, ready准备 to roll out.
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09:36
(Laughter笑声)
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这项技术妙在
09:40
And I think one of the things
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09:41
which哪一个 is also remarkable卓越
about this technology技术,
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容易转让
09:46
is that the technology技术
transfer转让 is so easy简单.
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就甘蔗木炭而言
09:48
Compared相比 to the sugarcane甘蔗 charcoal木炭,
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我们要培训当地人如何压缩木炭
09:51
where we have to teach people
how to form形成 it into briquettes煤球
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还要多出一步制粘合剂
09:53
and you have the extra额外 step
of cooking烹饪 the binder粘合剂,
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玉米棒木炭自己成型,不需经过压缩的步骤
09:56
this comes pre-briquetted预压块.
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而这是我一生中最让我激动的事了
09:57
And this is about the most exciting扣人心弦
thing in my life right now,
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也是我一个小小的遗憾的注脚
10:00
which哪一个 is perhaps也许
a sad伤心 commentary评论 on my life.
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(笑)
10:04
(Laughter笑声)
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但是一旦你见过,就像第一排的人
10:06
But once一旦 you see it,
like you guys in the front面前 row --
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恩,对,反正
10:08
All right, yeah, OK.
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10:10
So anyway无论如何 --
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(笑)
10:11
(Laughter笑声)
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我觉得这是最能
10:13
Here it is.
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10:14
And this is, I think, a perfect完善 example
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体现罗伯特.怀特说的非零和事物
10:17
of what Robert罗伯特 Wright赖特 was talking about
in those non-zero-sum非零和 things.
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这不光有利健康
10:22
So not only do you have health健康 benefits好处,
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有利环境
10:24
you have environmental环境的 benefits好处.
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更难得的是
10:27
But this is one
of the incredibly令人难以置信 rare罕见 situations情况
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还有经济效益
10:30
where you also have economic经济 benefits好处.
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人们用废农作物就可以烧饭
10:33
People can make their own拥有 cooking烹饪 fuel汽油
from waste浪费 products制品.
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10:36
They can generate生成 income收入 from this.
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2016
还能赚钱
10:38
They can save保存 the money
that they were going to spend on charcoal木炭
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他们能省下原本买木炭的钱
10:41
and they can produce生产 excess过量
and sell it in the market市场
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自己生产销售
卖给别人
10:44
to people who aren't making制造 their own拥有.
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难得的是,这不会造成
10:46
It's really rare罕见
that you don't have trade-offs权衡
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健康与经济发展,或环境与经济不可兼得的窘境
10:48
between之间 health健康 and economics经济学,
or environment环境 and economics经济学.
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10:51
So this is a project项目
that I just find extremely非常 exciting扣人心弦
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所以这个项目最振奋人心了
我期望看到它未来的发展前景
10:55
and I'm really looking forward前锋
to see where it takes us.
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讲到未来
11:02
So when we talk about, now,
the future未来 we will create创建,
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我觉得有必要
11:06
one of the things
that I think is necessary必要
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2016
11:08
is to have a very clear明确 vision视力
of the world世界 that we live生活 in.
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清晰地认识我们所处的这个世界
我不是指我们自己生活的这个小世界
11:12
And now, I don't actually其实 mean
the world世界 that we live生活 in.
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11:16
I mean the world世界 where women妇女
spend two to three hours小时 everyday每天
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而是另一个世界。在那里,妇女每天花2-3个小时
碾谷才能养活家人
11:20
grinding磨碎 grain粮食 for their families家庭 to eat.
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在那里,所谓的高级建材
11:24
I mean the world世界
where advanced高级 building建造 materials物料
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其实就是人工造的水泥屋顶板
11:27
means手段 cement水泥 roofing屋面 tiles瓷砖
that are made制作 by hand,
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在那里,就算你一天做10小时
11:30
and where, when you work 10 hours小时 a day,
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11:32
you're still only earning盈利
60 dollars美元 in a month.
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一个月也才赚60美元
在那里,妇女和儿童成天做的就是打水,一年400亿小时
11:37
I mean the world世界
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11:38
where women妇女 and children孩子 spend
40 billion十亿 hours小时 a year fetching water.
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工时相当加州所有劳动力的集合
11:45
That's as if the entire整个 workforce劳动力
of the state of California加州
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整年全职打水
11:49
worked工作 full充分 time for a year
doing nothing but fetching water.
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如果这里是印度
11:53
It's a place地点 where,
for example, if this were India印度,
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那么在坐的只有三分之一的人有车
11:57
in this room房间, only three of us
would have a car汽车.
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如果是阿富汗
12:01
If this were Afghanistan阿富汗,
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在坐的只有一人知道怎么上网
12:02
only one person in this room房间
would know how the use the Internet互联网.
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如果是赞比亚,你们中就有300个农民
12:06
If this were Zambia赞比亚 --
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12:08
300 of you would be farmers农民,
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100个人有艾滋病或感染艾滋病毒
12:11
100 of you would have AIDS艾滋病 or HIVHIV.
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一半以上的人日收入不足1美元
12:14
And more than half of you would be living活的
on less than a dollar美元 a day.
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这些问题都摆在我们面前
12:19
These are the issues问题 that we
need to come up with solutions解决方案 for.
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需要我们培训工程师
12:23
These are the issues问题 that
we need to be training训练 our engineers工程师,
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12:27
our designers设计师, our business商业 people,
our entrepreneurs企业家 to be facing面对.
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设计师,商人,企业家来解决
这些才是需要尽快解决的问题
12:32
These are the solutions解决方案
that we need to find.
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12:34
I have a few少数 areas that I believe
are especially特别 important重要 that we address地址.
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有些问题我觉得特别重要
一个就是寻找技术来推广小型金融和小型企业
12:41
One of them is creating创建 technologies技术
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12:43
to promote促进 micro-finance小额信贷
and micro-enterprise微型企业,
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那生活在贫困线以下的人就有了出路
12:46
so that people who are living活的
below下面 the poverty贫穷 line线
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12:49
can find a way to move移动 out --
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而不是像现在这样
12:50
and that they're not doing it
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通过传统的编篮子、养家禽来谋生
12:51
using运用 the same相同 traditional传统
basket making制造, poultry家禽 rearing饲养, etc等等.
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12:55
But there are new technologies技术
and new products制品
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现在我们已经有了
12:57
that they can make on a small scale规模.
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能小规模运作的新技术和新产品
13:00
The next下一个 thing I believe
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另外,我们还需要为贫苦农民发明新技术
13:01
is that we need to create创建
technologies技术 for poor较差的 farmers农民
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增加农作物价值
13:06
to add value to their own拥有 crops作物.
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我们还需要重新思考我们的发展策略
13:09
And we need to rethink反思
our development发展 strategies策略,
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推广教育
13:12
so that we're not promoting促进
educational教育性 campaigns活动
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13:15
to get them to stop being存在 farmers农民,
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不是让他们都不做农民
13:17
but rather to stop being存在 poor较差的 farmers农民.
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而是不做穷苦农民
13:20
And we need to think
about how we can do that effectively有效.
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我们还要思考如何提高效率
我们需要和社区合作
13:24
We need to work with the people
in these communities社区
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提供他们所需的资源和工具
13:27
and give them the resources资源
and the tools工具 that they need
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来解决他们的问题。这是最好的方法
13:29
to solve解决 their own拥有 problems问题.
265
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13:31
That's the best最好 way to do it.
266
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我们不能只做外在的努力
13:33
We shouldn't不能 be doing it from outside.
267
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我们要创造未来,就要从现在开始
13:35
So we need to create创建 this future未来,
and we need to start开始 doing it now.
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谢谢
13:40
Thank you.
269
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13:41
(Applause掌声)
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(鼓掌)
13:46
Chris克里斯 Anderson安德森: Thank you, incredible难以置信.
271
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13:49
Stay here.
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主持人安德森:我们来看看有没有观众要提问的
13:51
Tell us -- just while we see
if someone有人 has a question --
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与此同时你能不能再说说你做过的其他事情
13:54
just tell us about one of the other things
that you've worked工作 on.
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艾米.史密斯:现在我们在研究
13:57
Amy艾米 Smith工匠: Some of the other
things we're working加工 on
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低成本水质测试法
14:00
are ways方法 to do low-cost低成本
water quality质量 testing测试,
276
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帮助社区维护水系统
14:02
so that communities社区 can maintain保持
their own拥有 water systems系统,
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使他们知道他们的系统什么时候有效,什么时候需要清洁处理等等
14:05
know when they're working加工,
know when they treat对待 them, etc等等.
278
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14:07
We're also looking at low-cost低成本
water-treatment水处理 systems系统.
279
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2637
我们也在寻求低成本水治理系统
比如利用太阳能消毒,这很棒的
14:10
One of the really exciting扣人心弦 things
is looking at solar太阳能 water disinfection消毒
280
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3381
但我们还需要提高它的效率
14:13
and improving提高 the ability能力
to be able能够 to do that.
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主持人:有什么瓶颈问题会阻碍这项技术得到推广?
14:17
CACA: What's the bottleneck瓶颈
preventing防止 this stuff东东 getting得到 from scale规模?
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是否需要企业家,风险资本帮助
14:21
Do you need to find entrepreneurs企业家,
or venture冒险 capitalists资本家,
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或是其他帮助推广该技术?
14:24
or what do you need to take
what you've got and get it to scale规模?
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艾米.史密斯:要的,这需要很多人合作
14:29
AS: I think it's large numbers数字
of people moving移动 it forward前锋.
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这很难,因为这个市场很零散
14:32
It's a difficult thing --
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14:33
it's a marketplace市井
which哪一个 is very fragmented支离破碎
287
848457
2007
消费群体又没什么收入
14:35
and a consumer消费者 population人口 with no income收入.
288
850488
2208
所以美国的商业模式
14:37
So you can't use the same相同 models楷模
that you use in the United联合的 States状态
289
852720
3256
14:40
for making制造 things move移动 forward前锋.
290
856000
1536
不能助其发展
14:42
And we're a pretty漂亮 small staff员工,
291
857560
2016
而且我们人手不足,就我一个光杆司令
14:44
which哪一个 is me.
292
859600
1216
14:45
(Laughter笑声)
293
860840
1976
(笑)
所以我和我的学生会尽我们所能
14:47
So, you know,
I do what I can with the students学生们.
294
862840
2239
我们有30个学生在这个领域研究
14:49
We have 30 students学生们 a year
go out into the field领域
295
865103
2239
如何应用并推广这些技术
14:52
and try to implement实行 this
and move移动 it forward前锋.
296
867366
2450
另外,这些事是长期工程
14:54
The other thing is you have to do things
with a long time frame,
297
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3496
不可能一蹴而就
14:58
as, you know, you can't expect期望 to get
something doneDONE in a year or two years年份;
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3936
这需要5-10年时间
15:02
you have to be looking
five or 10 years年份 ahead.
299
877320
2143
但是我相信只要有信心我们就能成功
15:04
But I think with the vision视力 to do that,
we can move移动 forward前锋.
300
879487
3200
Translated by Ying Cui
Reviewed by Guo Sheng

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Amy Smith - inventor, engineer
Amy Smith designs cheap, practical fixes for tough problems in developing countries. Among her many accomplishments, the MIT engineer received a MacArthur "genius" grant in 2004 and was the first woman to win the Lemelson-MIT Prize for turning her ideas into inventions.

Why you should listen

Mechanical engineer Amy Smith's approach to problem-solving in developing nations is refreshingly common-sense: Invent cheap, low-tech devices that use local resources, so communities can reproduce her efforts and ultimately help themselves. Smith, working with her students at MIT's D-Lab, has come up with several useful tools, including an incubator that stays warm without electricity, a simple grain mill, and a tool that converts farm waste into cleaner-burning charcoal.

The inventions have earned Smith three prestigious prizes: the B.F. Goodrich Collegiate Inventors Award, the MIT-Lemelson Prize, and a MacArthur "genius" grant. Her course, "Design for Developing Countries," is a pioneer in bringing humanitarian design into the curriculum of major institutions. Going forward, the former Peace Corps volunteer strives to do much more, bringing her inventiveness and boundless energy to bear on some of the world's most persistent problems.

More profile about the speaker
Amy Smith | Speaker | TED.com