TED2007
Nathan Myhrvold: Archeology, animal photography, BBQ ...
纳森·梅尔沃德：考古，动物摄影，烧烤...
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纳森·梅尔沃德讲述了一些他最近所着迷的东西——动物摄影，考古，烧烤， 和作为一个古怪的天才千万富翁。请聆听来自动物世界边缘的奇异故事。
Nathan Myhrvold - Polymath
Nathan Myhrvold is a professional jack-of-all-trades. After leaving Microsoft in 1999, he's been a world barbecue champion, a wildlife photographer, a chef, a contributor to SETI, and a volcano explorer. Full bio
Nathan Myhrvold is a professional jack-of-all-trades. After leaving Microsoft in 1999, he's been a world barbecue champion, a wildlife photographer, a chef, a contributor to SETI, and a volcano explorer. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:18
So, I'm in Chile,
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当时我在智利，
00:20
in the Atacama desert, sitting in a hotel lobby,
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坐在阿塔卡马沙漠一家酒店的大厅里，
00:23
because that's the only place that I can get a Wi-Fi connection,
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因为那是我能找到的唯一有无线网络的地方。
00:26
and I have this picture up on my screen,
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当时在我电脑屏幕上显示的是这张照片。
00:28
and a woman comes up behind me.
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正好有一位女士从我的身后走过来，
00:30
She says, "Oh, that's beautiful.
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她说：“哇，那真美！
00:32
What is it? Is that Jackson Pollock?"
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这是什么？是杰克逊·波洛克的作品么？“
00:35
And unfortunately, I can be a little too honest.
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但不幸的是，我有点过于诚实了，
00:38
I said, "No, it's -- it's penguin shit."
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我对她说说：”不，那是企鹅大便。“
00:41
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
00:43
And, you know, "Excuse me!"
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呃，你们知道的，（她的反应是）”什么！“
00:45
And I could sense
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我能够感觉到
00:47
that she thought I was speaking synecdochically.
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她以为我在开玩笑。
00:50
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
00:55
So, I said, "No, no, really -- it's penguin shit."
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所以我补充说：”不，不，是真的，那真的是企鹅大便。“
00:58
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
01:00
Because I had just been in the Falkland Islands
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因为我之前刚去了福克兰群岛
01:03
taking pictures of penguins.
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拍摄企鹅。
01:05
This is a Gentoo penguin. And she was still skeptical.
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这是一只巴布亚企鹅。但她仍是将信将疑。
01:08
So, literally, a few minutes before that,
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大概在那几分钟之前，
01:10
I downloaded this scientific paper
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我下载了这篇
01:12
about calculations on avian defecation,
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关于计算鸟类排便的论文。
01:17
which is really quite interesting, because it turns out
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这真的很有趣，因为结论是
01:20
you can model this as something called "Poiseuille flow,"
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你可以用泊肃叶流来模拟它，
01:24
and you can learn an awful lot
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而且你可以学到很多
01:26
about the physics of the avian rectum.
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关于鸟类直肠的物理知识。
01:29
Actually, technically, it's not a rectum. It's called a cloaca.
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不过实际上那不是直肠，而是叫做泄殖腔。
01:33
At this point, she stops me,
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在这时，她打断了我，
01:36
and she says, "Who are you?
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她问道：”你是谁？“
01:39
Wha -- what do you do?"
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”你是做什么的？“
01:43
And I was stuck,
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我愣住了，
01:45
because I didn't have any way to describe what I do.
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因为我真不知道该怎么描述我的职业。
01:48
And so, in some sense,
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从某种意义上讲，
01:50
this talk today
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今天的演讲
01:52
is my answer to that.
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就是对那个问题的回答。
01:54
It's a selection of a random bunch of the stuff that I do.
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今天的演讲收集了一些我所做的很随机的事情。
01:58
And it's very hard for me to make sense of it,
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很难去解释他们，
02:01
so I'm not sure that you can.
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所以我也不敢确定你们可以。
02:03
It's the kind of thing that I sit up late at night thinking about sometimes --
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我有时候会坐在那里思考这些事情直到深夜，
02:06
often at four in the morning.
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甚至一直到早上4点。
02:09
So, some people are afraid of what I do.
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有些人对我所做的事感到害怕。
02:14
Some people think I am the nerd Tony Soprano,
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有些人认为我是那个怪人托尼·瑟普拉诺，
02:17
and in response, I have ordered
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于是作为回应，
02:19
a bulletproof pocket protector.
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我特地订了一个防弹保护袋。
02:22
I'm not sure what these people think,
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我不知道这些人在想什么，
02:24
because I don't speak Norsk.
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因为我不会说挪威语。
02:26
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
02:28
But I'm not thinking "monsteret" is a good thing.
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但我可不觉得”怪兽“是个好东西。（挪威有一份杂志曾将梅尔沃德称为”专利怪兽“）
02:32
I don't know, you know?
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我不知到，你们知道么？
02:34
So, one of the things that I love to do
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环游世界和参观考古遗址
02:36
is travel around the world and look at archaeological sites.
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是我喜爱做的一件事。
02:39
Because archaeology gives us an opportunity
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因为考古使我们有机会
02:41
to study past civilizations,
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去研究以前的文明，
02:43
and see where they succeeded
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并去了解他们在哪些地方成功
02:45
and where they failed.
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或者失败了。
02:47
Use science to, you know,
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利用科学去倒推，
02:49
work backwards and say, "Well, really, what were they thinking?"
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然后询问：”他们到底在想什么？“
02:52
And recently, I was in Easter Island,
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最近我去了复活节岛，
02:55
which is an incredibly beautiful place,
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那是个美得难以置信的地方，
02:58
and an incredibly mysterious place,
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也是个十分神秘的地方，
03:00
because no matter where you go in Easter Island,
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因为在复活节岛上，无论走到哪里，
03:03
you're struck by these statues, called the moai.
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你都能见到那些被称为摩艾的雕像。
03:06
The place is 64 square miles.
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岛的面积是64平方英里，
03:08
They made, so far as we can tell, 900 of them.
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而据我所知，一共有900各这样的雕像。
03:13
Why on Earth? And if you haven't read
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这到底是为什？如果你还没有读过
03:15
Jared Diamond's book, "Collapse,"
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賈德·戴蒙的《大崩壞》，
03:17
I totally recommend that you do.
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我强烈推荐你去读一下。
03:18
He's got a great chapter about it.
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他的书中有一个关于这些雕像的章节写得很好。
03:20
Basically, these people
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基本上，这些人
03:22
committed ecological suicide
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用自杀式的生态破坏
03:24
in order to make more of these.
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来建造更多这样的雕像。
03:27
And somewhere along the line, somebody said,
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在这过程中有人说道：
03:29
"I know! Let's cut down the last tree
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“我知道了！让我们来砍掉最后一棵树，
03:31
and commit suicide, because
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然后自杀，
03:33
we need more identical statues."
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因为我们需要更多的一模一样的雕像。“
03:35
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
03:37
And,
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嗯...
03:39
one thing that isn't a mystery, actually,
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有一件事其实并不那么神秘。
03:41
was when I grew up -- because when I was a little kid, I'd seen these pictures --
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当还是小孩的时候，我看到了这些照片，
03:43
and I thought, "Well, why that look on the face?
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就想：”为什么是那样一副表情？
03:46
Why that brow?" I mean, it's such a powerful thing.
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为什么是那样的眉毛？” 我的意思是，那是多么刚强有力。
03:49
Where did they get that inspiration?
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他们是从哪里得到的灵感？
03:51
And then I met Yoyo,
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然后我遇到了尤尤
03:53
who is the native Rapa Nui-an guide,
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一个土著拉帕努伊人导游。
03:55
and if you look at Yoyo's face,
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如果你们看一下尤尤的脸，
03:57
you kind of figure out where they got it.
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你们或许就能知道他们灵感的出处。
04:00
There's many mysteries, these statues.
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关于这些雕像有很多秘密。
04:02
Everyone wants to know, how did they make them,
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每个人都想知道，他们是怎样建成这些雕像的，
04:04
how did they transport them?
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又是怎样运输的？
04:06
This woman in the foreground is Jo Anne Van Tilberg.
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照片中在前面的这位女士是乔·安妮·范·提尔伯格，
04:09
She's the leading archaeologist working Easter Island today.
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她是当今在复活节岛上工作的考古学家中的佼佼者。
04:12
And she has studied the statues for 20-some years,
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她研究这些雕像已有20多年，
04:15
and she has detailed records of every single statue.
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她还有每个雕像的详细资料。
04:18
The one on the page here is the same that's up there.
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册子上的那个雕像就是照片里那个。
04:22
One interesting problem is the stone isn't very hard.
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一个有趣的现象是，那些石头并不是很硬，
04:25
So, this used to be completely smooth.
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它们曾经是十分光滑的。
04:29
In fact, in many of the statues, when you excavate them,
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事实上，在他们被挖掘出来的时候，
04:31
the backs are totally smooth -- almost glass smooth.
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狠多雕像的背后是完全平滑的，就像玻璃那样光滑。
04:34
But after 1,000 years out in the weather,
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但是在经历几千年的风吹雨打之后
04:36
they look like this.
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它们变成了现在这个样子。
04:38
Jo Anne and I have just embarked on a project to digitize them all,
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乔·安妮和我正着手把这些雕像数字化，
04:41
and we're going to do a very high-res digitization,
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我们要做高分辨率的，
04:44
first because it's a way of preserving them.
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这首先是为了保存它们，
04:46
Second, we have these ideas about how you can algorithmically, then,
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其次我们在想怎样可以通过算法
04:49
learn a few of the mysteries about them.
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去研究它们的秘密。
04:51
How long have they been standing in what positions?
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它们在什么位置站立了多久？
04:54
And maybe, indirectly, get at some of the issues of
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也许还可以间接了解
04:56
what caused them to be the way they are.
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是什么使它们变成现在这样。
04:59
While I was in Easter Island, comet McNaught was there also,
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当我在复活节岛时，麦克诺特彗星也在那里，
05:02
so you get a gratuitous picture
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于是就有了这张无偿照片，
05:04
of a moai with a comet.
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一个摩艾和一颗彗星。
05:07
I also have an archaeological project going on
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我在埃及也有一个考古项目，
05:09
in Egypt.
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正在进行中。
05:11
"Going on" is perhaps a little bit strong.
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“正在进行”这个词可能言过其实了。
05:13
We're trying to get all of the permissions
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我们正在尝试得到各方面的批准，
05:15
to get everything all set, to get it going.
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做好各种准备，然后开始着手工作。
05:17
So, I'll talk about it at a future TED.
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所以我将来会在TED谈一下这个。
05:19
But there's some amazing opportunities in Egypt as well.
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但是在埃及有一些非常令人惊讶的机会。
05:23
Another thing I do is I invent stuff.
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我还做一件事，就是搞发明。
05:27
In fact, I design nuclear reactors.
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事实上我设计核反应堆。
05:31
Not a joke.
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不是开玩笑的。
05:33
This is the conventional
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这是一个常见的
05:35
nuclear fuel cycle.
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核燃料循环。
05:37
The red line is what is done in
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红线表示的是大部分核反应堆里的流程，
05:40
most nuclear reactors. It's called the open fuel cycle.
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叫做开放式燃料循环。
05:44
The white lines are what's called an advance fuel cycle,
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白线部分被称为高级燃料循环，
05:46
where you reprocess.
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在这里进行再处理。
05:48
Now, this is the normal way it's done.
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那么，这是通常的做法。
05:51
It's got the huge advantage that it
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它有一个很大的优势，
05:53
does not create carbon pollution.
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就是不会产生二氧化碳污染。
05:56
It has a lot of disadvantages:
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但它同时也有很多不足，
05:58
each one of these steps is extremely expensive,
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这里的每一个步骤都很昂贵，
06:01
it's potentially dangerous
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也有安全隐患。
06:03
and they have the interesting property that the step
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而且有趣的是，
06:05
cannot be performed in anyone's backyard,
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任何步骤都不可能在家门口完成，
06:07
which is a problem.
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这是个麻烦。
06:09
So, our reactor eliminates these steps,
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而我们的反应堆省去了这些步骤。
06:13
which, if we can actually make it work, is a really cool thing.
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如果我们真的能做到，那将会是件很棒的事。
06:17
Now, it's kind of nuts to work on a new nuclear reactor.
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研究新的核反应堆听上去很疯狂。
06:20
There's -- no reactor's been even built
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在美国，近25年内
06:23
to an old design, much less a new one, in the United States
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没有建过一个反应堆，不管是老设计，
06:25
for 25 years.
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还是新设计了。
06:28
It's the kind of very high-risk, but potentially very high-return
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我们所做的事是高风险的，
06:31
thing that we do.
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但也是高回报的。
06:34
Changing into a totally different field,
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在另一个完全不同的领域，
06:36
we do a lot of stuff in solid state physics,
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我们从事很多固体物理学，
06:38
particularly in an area called metamaterials.
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尤其是超材料方面的研究。
06:40
A metamaterial is an artificial material,
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超材料是一种人造材料，
06:44
which manipulates, in this case, electromagnetic radiation,
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在这个例子中它可以操控电磁辐射，
06:47
in a way that you couldn't otherwise.
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这是天然材料做不到的。
06:50
So, this device here is an invisibility cloak.
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这个装置是一个隐形斗篷。
06:55
It may not seem that, but if you were a microwave,
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看上去很难想象，但如果你是一束微波，
06:58
this is how you would view it.
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你将会看到这样的现象。
07:00
Rays of light -- in this case, microwave light --
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光束，这里特指微波，
07:02
come in, and they just squish around the cell,
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从一边进来，绕过这个装置，
07:05
and they come back the other side.
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然后从另一边出去。
07:07
Now, you could do that with mirrors from one angle.
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你可以利用镜子在特定角度做到同样的效果，
07:09
The cool thing is, this does it from all angles.
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但神奇的是，用它，你可以在任何角度做到。
07:12
Metamaterials, unfortunately --
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可惜的是，超材料
07:14
A, it only works on microwave,
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第一，只对微波有效，
07:17
and B, it doesn't work all that well yet.
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第二，还并不那么理想。
07:19
But metamaterials are an incredibly exciting field.
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但是超材料是一个令人难以置信的领域，
07:22
It's -- you know, today I'd like to say
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它是，嗯，我想说，
07:24
it's a zero billion dollar business, but,
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在当今是没有效益的，
07:26
in fact, it's negative.
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事实上是负产出的。
07:29
But some day, some day, maybe it's going to work.
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但是终有一天，那可能会实现。
07:33
We do a lot of work in biomedical fields.
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我们在生物医药方面做很多工作。
07:36
In this case, we're working with a major medical foundation
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具体说来，我们致力于一个医疗基金会,
07:39
to develop inexpensive ways of diagnosing
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来促进发展中国家中
07:42
diseases in developing countries.
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便宜的医疗诊断。
07:45
So, they say the eyes are the windows of the soul --
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人们说眼睛是心灵的窗户，
07:47
turns out they're a window to a whole lot more stuff.
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实际上那是通向万物的窗户。
07:50
And these happen to be my eyes, by the way.
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顺便提一下，那是我的眼睛。
07:55
Now, I'm also very interested in cooking.
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我也很热衷于烹饪。
07:58
While I was at Microsoft, I took a leave of absence
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当我还在微软的时候，
08:01
and went to a chef school in France.
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有一次我请假去法国一所厨师学校。
08:03
I used to work, also while at Microsoft,
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在微软工作时，
08:05
at a leading restaurant in Seattle,
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我也曾同时在西雅图一家知名餐馆工作，
08:09
so I do a lot of cooking.
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所以我经常下厨。
08:11
I've been on a team that won
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我还曾和队友一起
08:13
the world championship of barbecue.
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赢得了烧烤比赛的世界冠军。
08:16
But barbecue's interesting, because it's one of these cult foods
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烧烤很有趣，因为它是一种让一部分人狂热的食物，
08:19
like chili, or bouillabaisse.
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就好像辣椒或者马赛鱼汤。
08:21
Various parts of the world will have a cult food
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很多地方都有
08:23
that people get enormously attached to --
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这样让人十分着迷的食物。
08:25
there's tremendous traditions, there's secrecy.
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这里面有很多的传统和秘密，
08:28
And I'm trying to use a very
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而我尝试用一种
08:30
scientific approach.
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十分科学的方式来烹饪。
08:32
So, this is my latest cooker,
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这个是我最新的一个烤箱，
08:35
and if this looks more complicated than the nuclear reactor,
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如果它看上去比核反应堆更复杂，
08:39
that's because it is.
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那是因为事实就是这样的。
08:42
But if you get to play with all those knobs and dials --
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你要是很好地操作这些旋钮和拨盘，
08:45
and of course, really the controller over there does it all on software --
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当然这些控制都是通过电脑软件实现的，
08:48
you can make some terrific ribs.
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你就可以制作出美味的排骨。
08:51
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
08:54
This is a high-speed centrifuge.
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这是一个高速离心机。
08:56
You should all have one in your kitchen,
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你们都应该有一台，
08:58
beside your Turbochef.
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就在厨房里快速烘烤箱边上。
09:00
This subjects food to a force about 50,000 times
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它对食物施加相当于5000倍重力
09:02
that of normal gravity,
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的力量。
09:04
and oh boy, does it clarify chicken stock.
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哦孩子，它能过滤鸡汤？
09:07
You would not believe it!
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你是不会相信的！
09:10
I perform a series of ghoulish experiments
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我对食物做过一系列
09:12
on food --
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残酷的实验，
09:14
in this case, trying to calibrate a mathematical model
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这一次是要校对一个数学模型，
09:17
so that one can predict exactly
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是为了准确预测
09:19
what the internal cooking times are.
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内部烹调时间。
09:21
It turns out, A, it's useful, and for a geek like me, it's fun.
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这个实验很有用，而且对于我这样一个反常的人来说也很有趣。
09:24
Theory is red,
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红色的是理论预测，
09:26
black is experiment.
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黑色的是实验结果。
09:28
So, I'm either really good at faking it,
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所以说，要不就是我真的很善于作假，
09:31
or this particular model seems to work.
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不然的话就是这个模型很有效。
09:34
So, another random thing I do
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我所做的另一件事
09:36
is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence,
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是寻找外星智慧，
09:38
or SETI.
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或者说搜寻地外文明。
09:40
And you may be familiar with the movie "Contact,"
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你可能熟悉《超时空接触》这部电影，
09:42
which sort of popularized that.
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正是这部电影使搜寻外星智慧流行起来。
09:44
It turns out there are real people who go out
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其实真的有人
09:46
and search for extraterrestrials in a very scientific way.
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用科学的方式去搜寻外星智慧。
09:50
In fact, almost everybody in the movie
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事实上，电影中几乎每个角色
09:53
is based on a real character, a real person.
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都是根据真实人物改编的。
09:56
So, the Jodie Foster character here
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朱迪·福斯特扮演的角色
09:58
is actually this woman, Jill Tarter,
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其实就是这位女士，吉尔·塔特。
10:01
and Jill has dedicated her life to this.
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吉尔将她的一生都奉献给这个事业。
10:05
You know, a lot of people risk their lives
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嗯，很多人冒生命危险
10:07
in a brief act of heroism,
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去做英雄主义的行为，
10:09
which is kind of cool,
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这看起来很酷。
10:11
but Jill has
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但是吉尔所做的，
10:13
what I call slow heroism.
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我把它称为缓慢的英雄主义。
10:15
She is risking her professional life on something
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她为一些一千年后，
10:18
that her own calculations show
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甚至永远都不会成功的事，
10:21
may not work for a thousand years -- may not ever.
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赌上了她的职业生涯。
10:25
So, I like to support people that are risking their lives.
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我支持这样的人。
10:28
After the movie came out, of course, there was a lot of interest in SETI.
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当电影上映之后，自然掀起了一股地外文明热。
10:31
My kids saw the movie,
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我的孩子们看了电影之后
10:33
and afterwards they came to me and they said,
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就对我说：
10:35
"So, Dad, so -- so --
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“爸爸，
10:37
that character -- that's Jill, right?"
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那个角色就是吉尔，是不是？”
10:39
I said, "Oh, yeah, yeah -- absolutely."
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我说：“哦，是的，完全正确。”
10:41
"And that other person, that's someone -- " I said, "Yes."
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“而且其他角色也都是确有其人的，” 我说，“是的。”
10:43
They said, "Well, you know that creepy rich guy in the movie?
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他们又说：“哦，那你认识电影里那个怪异的有钱人吗？
10:47
Is that you?"
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那是你吗？“
10:49
I said, "Well, you know, it's just a movie! Come on."
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我说，哦，那仅仅是部电影！别闹了。
10:51
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
10:55
So, the SETI Institute,
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恩，搜寻地外文明研究所，
10:57
with a little bit of help from me, and a lot of help from Paul Allen
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它们得到了我的一点帮助，以及保罗·阿伦
10:59
and a variety of other people,
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和其他很多人的帮助，
11:01
is building a dedicated radio telescope
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正在位于加利福尼亚州的哈特克里克
11:03
in Hat Creek, California,
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建造一个专门的射电望远镜，
11:05
so they can do this SETI work.
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这样他们就能搜寻地外文明了。
11:08
Now, I travel a lot, and I change cell phones a lot,
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最近我时常旅游，也经常换手机，
11:10
and the one person who always gets updated
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我总是把最新的
11:12
on all my cell phones and pagers and everything else
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电话、呼机号码和其他一些信息告诉吉尔，
11:15
is Jill, because I really don't want to miss
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因为我可不想错过
11:17
"the call."
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她的来电。
11:19
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
11:21
I mean, can you imagine? E.T.'s phoning home,
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我的意思是，你能想象么？这就好像外星人在给家里打电话，
11:23
and I'm not, like, there? You know, horrible!
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而我却不在。多么糟糕啊！
11:27
So, I do a lot of work on dinosaurs.
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我还研究恐龙。
11:30
I'm known to TEDsters as the guy that has sex with dinosaurs.
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我被TED成员称为那个和恐龙做爱的人，
11:33
And I resemble that remark.
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我就是这样的人。
11:36
I'm going to talk about a different aspect of dinosaurs,
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我要讲述关于恐龙的不一样的一面，
11:38
which is the finding of them.
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关于寻找恐龙。
11:41
Now, to find dinosaurs, you hike around in horrible conditions
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要找到恐龙，你就得在很艰难的条件下
11:44
looking for a dinosaur.
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徒步寻找。
11:46
It sounds really dumb, but that's what it is.
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这听起来很愚蠢，但事实就是如此。
11:48
It's horrible conditions, because
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条件很艰难是因为
11:50
wherever you have nice weather,
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一但天气好了
11:52
plants grow,
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植物就会生长。
11:54
and you don't get any erosion, and you don't see any dinosaurs.
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如果没有地质腐蚀，你就找不到恐龙。
11:56
So, you always find dinosaurs
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所以你总是
11:59
in deserts or badlands,
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在沙漠或者荒地，
12:01
areas that have very little plant growth
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那些很少有植物生长，
12:03
and have flash floods in the spring.
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春天又会发大水的地方，才能找到恐龙。
12:05
You know, skiers pray for snow?
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滑雪者祈祷下雪，
12:07
Paleontologists pray for erosion.
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古生物学家祈祷地址腐蚀。
12:10
So, you hike around
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你到四处远足，
12:12
and -- this is after you dig them up, they look like this.
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嗯— 当你把它们从地下挖起来，它们就是这个样子。
12:15
You hike around, you see something like this.
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你四处远足，然后就发现了这些东西。
12:17
Now, this is something I found, so look at it very closely here.
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这个是我的发现，近一点看，
12:20
You've got this bentonite clay,
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这是一块膨润土，
12:23
which is -- sort of swells up and expands.
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有点鼓起来了。
12:26
And there's some stuff poking out. So, you look at that,
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这里有东西突出来。你看，
12:28
and you look up close, and you say,
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近距离看，你就会说：
12:30
"Well, gee, that's kind of interesting. What are all of these pieces?"
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”哦，真有趣，这些碎片是什么？“
12:35
Well, if you look closely, you can recognize, actually,
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要是近距离看你就能从它们的形状认出来，
12:37
from the shape, that these are skull fragments.
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其实那是头骨碎片。
12:40
And then when you look at this,
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然后你看这个，
12:42
you say, "That's a tooth.
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你会说：”那是牙齿，
12:44
It's a big tooth."
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一颗很大的牙齿。”
12:46
It's about the size of a banana.
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它有一只香蕉那么大，
12:49
It has a big serration on the edge.
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边上还有很大的锯齿。
12:51
This is what Tyrannosaurus rex looks like in the ground.
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霸王龙埋在地下时就是这样子。
12:54
And this is what it's like to find a Tyrannosaurus rex,
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找到霸王龙就是这样子的，
12:57
which I was lucky enough to do a few years ago.
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我在几年前有幸做到。
13:01
Now, this is what Tyrannosaurus rex looks like in my living room.
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而这是霸王龙在我的起居室里的样子，
13:07
Not the same one, actually. This is a cast, which I had bought,
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实际上不是同一个。这个是我买的模型。
13:10
and then, after buying the cast, I found my own,
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在我买了这个模型之后，我找到了自己的霸王龙，
13:12
and I don't have room for two.
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但是我没有足够的空间放两个。
13:16
You know.
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你们明白的。
13:18
So, the thing that's wonderful for me about finding dinosaurs
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找到恐龙对我来说很神奇是因为
13:21
is that it is both an intellectual thing,
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这是一件需要智力的事，
13:24
because you're trying to reconstruct the environment
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因为你在试图重建
13:27
of millions of years ago.
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几百万年前的场景。
13:29
It's something that can inform all sorts of science
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这可以给科学带来各种
13:31
in unexpected ways.
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出乎意料的信息。
13:33
The study of dinosaurs led to the realization
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举个例子，对于恐龙的研究
13:36
that there's a problem with asteroid impact,
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使我们认识到了小行星撞击
13:38
for example.
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这个问题。
13:40
The study of dinosaurs may, literally,
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对恐龙的研究也许某天
13:42
one day save the planet.
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能够拯救地球。
13:44
Study of the ancient climate is very important.
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对于古代气候的研究十分重要。
13:46
In fact, the Mesozoic, when dinosaurs lived,
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事实上，在恐龙生活的中生代，
13:48
had much higher CO2 than today,
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地球上有比现在多得多的二氧化碳，
13:50
was much warmer than today, and is one of the interesting proof points
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也比现在温暖很多，这是二氧化碳对气候影响的
13:53
for the effects of CO2 on climate.
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一个有趣的论据。
13:57
But, besides being intellectually
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在智力上和科学上有趣的同时，
14:00
and scientifically interesting, it's also very different
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寻找恐龙也是与众不同的，
14:03
than the other things I do, because you get to hike around in the badlands.
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它和我所作的其他事不同，因为我会在不毛之地远足。
14:07
This is actually what most dinosaur research looks like.
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事实上大多数关于恐龙的研究就是这个样子的。
14:09
This is one of my papers: "A pygostyle from a non-avian theropod."
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这是我的一片论文，叫“一根属于非禽类双足恐龙的尾综骨”。
14:13
It's not as gripping as dinosaur sex,
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这并没有恐龙性爱那么吸引人，
14:15
so we're not going to go into it further.
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所以我们不会继续下去了。
14:18
Now, I'm also really big on photography.
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另外，我还非常热衷于摄影。
14:21
I travel all over the world taking pictures --
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我环球旅行并拍摄很多照片，
14:25
some of them good, most of them not.
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有一些还不错，大多数都不行。
14:27
These days, bits are cheap. Unfortunately, that means
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如今比特已经很便宜了，但不幸的是，
14:29
you've got to spend more time sorting through them.
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这就意味着我们要花更多的时间去筛选它们。
14:33
Here's a picture I took in the Falkland Islands
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这里有一张我在福克兰群岛拍的照片，
14:35
of king penguins on a beach.
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是一群在海滩上的帝企鹅。
14:39
Here's a picture I took in Alaska, a few years ago, of Orcas.
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这张虎鲸的照片几年前摄于阿拉斯加。
14:42
I'd gone up to photograph Orcas,
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我去拍虎鲸，
14:44
and we had looked for a week,
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但是我们整整找了一星期
14:46
and we hadn't seen a damn Orca.
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也没见到它的影子。
14:48
And the last day, the sun comes out,
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终于在最后一天，太阳出来了，
14:50
the Orcas come, they're right by the boat. It's fantastic.
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虎鲸也出现了，它们就在船边上。那真是太棒了。
14:53
And I get lots of pictures like this.
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我拍了很多这样的照片。
14:56
Then, a little bit later,
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然后，又过了一会儿，
14:58
I start getting some pictures like this.
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我拍到了这样的照片。
15:00
Now, to a human audience, I need to explain that
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我需要对在座的各位解释一下，
15:04
if Penthouse magazine had a marine mammal edition,
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如果阁楼杂志有海洋哺乳动物版，
15:07
this would be the centerfold.
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这张照片一定会成为插页。
15:11
It's true.
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是真的。
15:13
So, there's more and more activity near the boat,
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它们在船边的活动越来越频繁，
15:15
and all of a sudden somebody shouts,
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突然有人喊道：
15:17
"What's that in the water?"
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“那是什么？”
15:21
I said, "Well, I think that's what you call a free willy."
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我说：“哦，我想这就是你们所说的人鱼的童话吧。”
15:24
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
15:28
There's a variety of things you can learn from watching whales have sex.
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从观察鲸鱼性交能学到很多东西。
15:31
(Laughter)
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(观众笑)
15:34
The first thing you learn
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首先能了解到的
15:36
is the overwhelming importance of hands.
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是双手的重要性。
15:39
They don't have them.
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它们没有。
15:41
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
15:43
I think Paul Simon is in the audience,
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我想保罗·西蒙应该坐在观众席中，
15:45
and he has --
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他曾经，
15:47
he may not realize it, but he wrote a song all about whale sex,
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他自己或许还没有意识到，他曾经写过一首关于鲸鱼性爱的歌：
15:50
"Slip-Slidin' Away."
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《越滑越远》。
15:53
That's kind of what it's like.
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就是那样的。
15:56
The other interesting thing that I learned about whale sex:
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关于鲸鱼性爱我学会的另一件事是，
16:00
they curl their toes too.
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它们也会曲脚趾。
16:03
(Laughter)
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（观众笑）
16:06
So --
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所以，
16:08
where do you go putting all of these disparate pieces together?
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如果把这极端的碎片拼起来你将会得到什么？
16:11
You know, there's a tremendous amount of wisdom
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这里包含了许多智慧，
16:13
in finding a great thing, passion in life,
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关于寻找生活的激情，
16:17
and focusing all your energy on it,
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并且全心全意地投入进去。
16:20
and I've never been able to do that.
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我从未做到过。
16:22
I just -- you know, because, yes,
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至于我，嗯，是的，因为
16:25
I'll focus passion on something,
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我会集中注意力在一件事上，
16:27
but then there will be something else, and then there's something else again.
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但又会有新的事物出现，然后又会有新的。
16:29
And for a long time I fought this, and I thought,
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在很长一段时间里，我尝试这样做，我想：
16:31
"Well, gee, I really ought to buckle down."
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“好吧，我真的应该认真起来了”
16:33
And you know, when I was at Microsoft,
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当我在微软的时候，
16:35
that was so engrossing,
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那是令人着迷的，
16:37
and the whole industry was expanding so much,
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整个产业都在迅速发展，
16:40
that it did tend to crowd out most of the other things in my life.
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那时候我生活中的其他事物都被挤出去了。
16:44
But ultimately,
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但是最终，
16:46
I decided
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我还是决定，
16:48
that what I really ought to do is not fight being who I am,
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我真正要做的不是努力做自己，
16:51
but embrace it.
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而是拥抱自己。
16:53
And say, "Yeah, you know, I --
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然后说：“是的，
16:55
this whole talk has been a mile wide and an inch deep,
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这个演讲博而不深，
16:58
but that's really what works for me."
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但这真的适合我。“
17:01
And regardless of whether it's nuclear reactors
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而不管是核反应堆或者是超材料，
17:03
or metamaterials or whale sex,
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是超材料还是鲸鱼性爱，
17:07
the common -- or lowest common denominator -- is me.
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它们的共同点，最基本的共同点，就是我。
17:10
That's it, thank you.
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就这些了，谢谢。
17:12
(Applause)
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（观众鼓掌）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nathan Myhrvold - PolymathNathan Myhrvold is a professional jack-of-all-trades. After leaving Microsoft in 1999, he's been a world barbecue champion, a wildlife photographer, a chef, a contributor to SETI, and a volcano explorer.
Why you should listen
Since leaving his post as Microsoft's Chief Technology Officer in 1999 (with fortune in tow), Nathan Myhrvold has been a professional exemplar of the spirit of the "Renaissance Man," proudly following his interests wherever they've led. His dispersed passions have triggered an impressive list of accomplishments, including world barbecue championships, major archeological finds (several Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons), prize-winning wildlife photography, building a section of Babbage's Difference Engine #2, s, and a new and consuming interest in the sous-vide cooking technique.
Malcolm Gladwell's 2008 New Yorker profile of him revealed an impish but truly inspired character whose latest company, Intellectual Ventures -- which brainstorms and patents a wide array of inventions -- has been accused in some quarters of acting like a 'patent troll' but is described by Myhrvold as "a disruptive organization providing an efficient way for patent holders to get paid for the inventions they own, and... for technology companies to gain easy access to the invention rights they need." After funding big-vision projects such as the Allen Telescope Array, exploring active volcanoes and investigating penguin digestion, Myhrvold insists that his hobbies aren't as discursive as they seem. They do have a common denominator, after all: him.
Nathan Myhrvold | Speaker | TED.com