ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Phil Plait - Astronomer
Phil Plait blogs at Bad Astronomy, where he deconstructs misconceptions and explores the wonder of the universe.

Why you should listen

Phil Plait is the Bad Astronomer. Not a bad astronomer, but a blogger for Slate who debunks myths and misconceptions about astronomy -- and also writes about the beauty, wonder and importance of fundamental research.

He worked for six years on the Hubble Space Telescope, and directed public outreach for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. He is a past president of the James Randi Educational Foundation, and was the host of Phil Plait's Bad Universe, a documentary series on the Discovery Channel.

Read more from Phil Plait in the Huffington Post's special TEDWeekends feature, "Asteroids: Getting Ready" >>

More profile about the speaker
Phil Plait | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxBoulder

Phil Plait: The secret to scientific discoveries? Making mistakes

菲尔·普莱特: 科学发现的奥秘是什么?犯错误

Filmed:
1,760,281 views

菲尔·普莱特(Phil Plait)曾是哈勃太空望远镜(Hubble Space Telescope)的天文学家团队成员,他们认为自己可能捕捉到了有史以来第一张直接拍摄到系外行星的照片。但证据真的支持这一点吗?来看看普莱特展示科学研究是如何进步的——通过大量的犯错和纠正错误。“科学研究的代价是承认自己的错误,但回报是最好的:知识和理解”,菲尔如是说。
- Astronomer
Phil Plait blogs at Bad Astronomy, where he deconstructs misconceptions and explores the wonder of the universe. Full bio

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

00:12
Now, people have a lot
of misconceptions误解 about science科学 --
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人们对于科学有很多误解——
关于科学原理和科学的含义。
00:15
about how it works作品 and what it is.
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00:17
A big one is that science科学
is just a big old pile of facts事实.
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一个最大的误解是,
科学只是一大堆陈旧的事实。
但这并不正确
——这甚至不是科学的目的。
00:21
But that's not true真正 --
that's not even the goal目标 of science科学.
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00:25
Science科学 is a process处理.
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科学是一个过程。
00:27
It's a way of thinking思维.
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它是一种思考方式。
收集事实只是其中一步,
但并非目的。
00:29
Gathering搜集 facts事实 is just a piece of it,
but it's not the goal目标.
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00:32
The ultimate最终 goal目标 of science科学
is to understand理解 objective目的 reality现实
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科学的最终目的
是用我们所知道的最优方法
00:37
the best最好 way we know how,
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来理解客观事实,
00:38
and that's based基于 on evidence证据.
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即要以证据为基础。
00:41
The problem问题 here
is that people are flawed有缺陷.
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问题在于,人类是有缺陷的。
00:44
We can be fooled上当 --
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我们可能被愚弄——
00:45
we're really good at fooling嘴硬 ourselves我们自己.
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我们真的很擅长欺骗自己。
00:47
And so baked烘烤的 into this process处理
is a way of minimizing减少 our own拥有 bias偏压.
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所以,融入科学的探究过程,
是一种将偏见最小化的方法。
00:52
So sort分类 of boiled煮沸 down
more than is probably大概 useful有用,
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总结起来说可能更好,
00:56
here's这里的 how this works作品.
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科学的原理如下。
00:58
If you want to do some science科学,
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如果你想要做点科学研究,
01:00
what you want to do
is you want to observe something ...
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观察一些事物…
01:02
say, "The sky天空 is blue蓝色. Hey, I wonder奇迹 why?"
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举例来说,“天空是蓝的,
我很好奇为什么是这样?”
01:06
You question it.
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你提出疑问。
01:07
The next下一个 thing you do is you come up
with an idea理念 that may可能 explain说明 it:
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下一步你要做的
是提出一个可能的解释:
一个假设。
01:10
a hypothesis假设.
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01:12
Well, you know what? Oceans海洋 are blue蓝色.
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首先,海水是蓝的。
01:13
Maybe the sky天空 is reflecting反映
the colors颜色 from the ocean海洋.
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也许天空反射了海洋的蓝色。
01:17
Great, but now you have to test测试 it
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很好,但现在你得检验它,
01:19
so you predict预测 what that might威力 mean.
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去推测这意味着什么。
01:22
Your prediction预测 would be,
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你的预测可能是,
“哦,如果天空反射了海洋的颜色,
01:23
"Well, if the sky天空 is reflecting反映
the ocean海洋 color颜色,
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那么海水在海边的颜色
01:26
it will be bluer更蓝 on the coasts海岸
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01:28
than it will be
in the middle中间 of the country国家."
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要比在一个国家的内陆部分更蓝。”
01:30
OK, that's fair公平 enough足够,
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好的,这很合理,
01:32
but you've got to test测试 that prediction预测
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但你得验证那个预测,
01:34
so you get on a plane平面,
you leave离开 Denver丹佛 on a nice不错 gray灰色 day,
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于是你坐上飞机,在一个
灰蒙蒙的好日子里离开丹佛,
飞到洛杉矶,望向天空,
天空映衬着壮丽的蔚蓝色。
01:38
you fly to LALA, you look up
and the sky天空 is gloriously光荣 blue蓝色.
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01:41
Hooray万岁, your thesis论文 is proven证明.
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太好了,你的论点被证明了。
01:44
But is it really? No.
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但真是这样吗?不是。
01:46
You've made制作 one observation意见.
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你做了一个观察。
01:48
You need to think about your hypothesis假设,
think about how to test测试 it
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你得对这个假设进行斟酌,
思考如何检验它,
01:51
and do more than just one.
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还要重复多次。
01:53
Maybe you could go
to a different不同 part部分 of the country国家
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也许你可以去这个国家的其他地方,
或者在一年的不同时间去,
01:55
or a different不同 part部分 of the year
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01:57
and see what the weather's天气的 like then.
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看看那时的天气如何。
01:59
Another另一个 good idea理念
is to talk to other people.
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另一个好主意是和其他人聊聊。
02:02
They have different不同 ideas思路,
different不同 perspectives观点,
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他们有不同的想法,不同的视角,
02:04
and they can help you.
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他们可以帮助到你。
这就是我们所称的同行评议。
02:05
This is what we call peer窥视 review评论.
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02:08
And in fact事实 that will probably大概 also
save保存 you a lot of money and a lot of time,
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事实上,这也会帮你省下
很大一笔钱和时间,
不必只为了看看天气两头飞。
02:12
flying飞行 coast-to-coast海岸到海岸
just to check the weather天气.
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02:15
Now, what happens发生 if your hypothesis假设
does a decent正经 job工作 but not a perfect完善 job工作?
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那么如果你的假设很好,
但不是很完美怎么办?
这不是大问题,
02:21
Well, that's OK,
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因为你可以对它进行一点修正,
02:23
because what you can do
is you can modify修改 it a little bit
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02:25
and then go through通过
this whole整个 process处理 again --
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然后再把整个流程走一遍——
02:28
make predictions预测, test测试 them --
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做预测,检验它——
02:30
and as you do that over and over again,
you will hone磨练 this idea理念.
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随着你一遍又一遍地重复,
你的假设便会被优化。
如果它变得足够好了,
02:33
And if it gets得到 good enough足够,
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02:34
it may可能 be accepted公认
by the scientific科学 community社区,
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可能会被科学界采纳,
02:37
at least最小 provisionally临时,
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至少暂时性地,
02:38
as a good explanation说明 of what's going on,
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作为一种对此自然现象的合理解释,
02:41
at least最小 until直到 a better idea理念
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直到有更好的观点
02:43
or some contradictory矛盾
evidence证据 comes along沿.
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或者出现了一些与之相矛盾的证据。
02:47
Now, part部分 of this process处理
is admitting承认 when you're wrong错误.
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科学探究过程的一部分
就是承认你的错误。
02:51
And that can be really, really hard.
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这真的非常、非常难。
02:54
Science科学 has its strengths优势 and weaknesses弱点
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科学有其优势和不足,
02:56
and they depend依靠 on this.
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而它依赖于错误。
科学的优点之一是,
它是由人来完成的,
02:59
One of the strengths优势 of science科学
is that it's doneDONE by people,
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03:02
and it's proven证明 itself本身
to do a really good job工作.
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长久以来我们获得的
科学成就也毋庸置疑。
03:04
We understand理解 the universe宇宙
pretty漂亮 well because of science科学.
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因为科学,我们对宇宙
有非常不错的认知。
03:07
One of science's科学的 weaknesses弱点
is that it's doneDONE by people,
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而科学的一个不足也恰恰是,
它是由人来完成的,
03:10
and we bring带来 a lot of baggage行李
along沿 with us when we investigate调查 things.
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当我们调查研究的时候,
会带着很多包袱。
03:15
We are egotistical自负,
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我们是任性主观的,
03:17
we are stubborn倔强, we're superstitious迷信的,
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我们固执且迷信,
03:19
we're tribal部落的, we're humans人类 --
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我们是群聚动物,我们是人类——
03:22
these are all human人的 traits性状
and scientists科学家们 are humans人类.
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这些都是人的特点,而科学家也是人。
03:25
And so we have to be aware知道的 of that
when we're studying研究 science科学
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所以在研究和做出假设时,
我们要意识到这一点。
03:30
and when we're trying
to develop发展 our theses论文.
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03:33
But part部分 of this whole整个 thing,
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但这整件事的一部分,
03:35
part部分 of this scientific科学 process处理,
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整个科学过程的一部分,
03:37
part部分 of the scientific科学 method方法,
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整个科学方法的一部分,
03:39
is admitting承认 when you're wrong错误.
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在于要承认自己在哪里犯了错。
03:42
I know, I've been there.
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我曾经有过这样的经历。
03:44
Many许多 years年份 ago I was working加工
on Hubble哈勃 Space空间 Telescope望远镜,
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许多年前,我在
哈勃太空望远镜项目工作,
03:47
and a scientist科学家 I worked工作 with
came来了 to me with some data数据,
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有个一起共事的
科学家带着数据来找我,
03:51
and he said, "I think
there may可能 be a picture图片
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他说:“我认为这个数据表明
03:54
of a planet行星 orbiting轨道
another另一个 star in this data数据."
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可能有颗行星围绕另一颗恒星转。”
03:58
We had not had any pictures图片 taken采取
of planets行星 orbiting轨道 other stars明星 yet然而,
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人们当时还没有拍到行星
绕其他恒星转的照片,
04:02
so if this were true真正,
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所以如果这个是真的,
04:04
then this would be the first one
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就会是世界上的首次发现,
04:06
and we would be the ones那些 who found发现 it.
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并且我们就是发现它的人。
04:08
That's a big deal合同.
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这可了不得。
我非常激动,
04:10
I was very excited兴奋,
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04:12
so I just dug right into this data数据.
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所以我就深入研究了这些数据。
04:14
I spent花费 a long time trying to figure数字 out
if this thing were a planet行星 or not.
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我花了很长的时间去搞清楚
这个东西是不是行星。
04:19
The problem问题 is planets行星 are faint
and stars明星 are bright,
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问题是行星很暗,恒星很亮,
04:22
so trying to get
the signal信号 out of this data数据
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所以试图从这些数据中获取信号
04:24
was like trying to hear a whisper耳语
in a heavy metal金属 concert音乐会 --
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就像在重金属音乐会上听到耳语一样。
04:28
it was really hard.
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真是非常难。
04:29
I tried试着 everything I could,
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我想尽了一切办法,
04:32
but after a month of working加工 on this,
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但忙了一个月后,
04:34
I came来了 to a realization实现 ...
couldn't不能 do it.
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我意识到…我做不到。
04:37
I had to give up.
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我不得不放弃。
04:39
And I had to tell this other scientist科学家,
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我得告诉其他科学家,
04:41
"The data's数据的 too messy.
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“数据太混乱了,
04:42
We can't say whether是否
this is a planet行星 or not."
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我们无法确定这是不是行星。”
04:45
And that was hard.
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承认这件事真的非常难。
后来我们用哈勃望远镜做了后续观测,
04:47
Then later后来 on we got
follow-up跟进 observations意见 with Hubble哈勃,
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04:50
and it showed显示 that it wasn't a planet行星.
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结果发现它并不是一颗行星,
04:52
It was a background背景 star
or galaxy星系, something like that.
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只是个类似于背景恒星或星系的东西。
04:56
Well, not to get too technical技术,
but that sucked.
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我不想说得太专业,
但那真是太糟糕了。
(笑声)
04:59
(Laughter笑声)
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05:00
I was really unhappy不快乐 about this.
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我对此真的非常失落。
但就这是科学的一部分。
05:03
But that's part部分 of it.
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05:05
You have to say, "Look, you know,
we can't do this with the data数据 we have."
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你不得不承认,“看吧,
我们无法用现有数据进行分析。”
05:09
And then I had to face面对 up to the fact事实
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随后我还得面对
05:11
that even the follow-up跟进 data数据
showed显示 we were wrong错误.
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后续的数据证明
我们是错的这个事实。
05:15
Emotionally感情上 I was pretty漂亮 unhappy不快乐.
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情感上,我非常失落。
05:18
But if a scientist科学家
is doing their job工作 correctly正确地,
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但如果一个科学家正确地进行了研究,
犯了错误并不是坏事,
05:21
being存在 wrong错误 is not so bad
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05:24
because that means手段
there's still more stuff东东 out there --
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因为这意味着
在此之外还有更多事物——
05:26
more things to figure数字 out.
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更多的东西等待着我们去探索。
05:28
Scientists科学家们 don't love being存在 wrong错误
but we love puzzles谜题,
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科学家不喜欢犯错,但我们喜欢谜题,
而宇宙就是最大的迷题。
05:32
and the universe宇宙 is
the biggest最大 puzzle难题 of them all.
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05:36
Now having said that,
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话虽如此,
05:37
if you have a piece and it doesn't fit适合
no matter how you move移动 it,
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如果你有一小块拼图,
但怎么摆弄都拼不上,
05:41
jamming拥塞 it in harder更难 isn't going to help.
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硬插进去并没有用。
05:44
There's going to be a time
when you have to let go of your idea理念
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如果你想要理解更大的概念,
05:47
if you want to understand理解
the bigger picture图片.
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就得放弃目前所持有的观点。
05:50
The price价钱 of doing science科学
is admitting承认 when you're wrong错误,
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科学研究的代价就是
当你犯错时要承认,
05:53
but the payoff付清 is the best最好 there is:
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但这件事的回报是最好的:
05:56
knowledge知识 and understanding理解.
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知识和理解。
我可以给你上千个科学案例,
05:59
And I can give you a thousand
examples例子 of this in science科学,
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06:01
but there's one I really like.
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但其中有一个我真的很喜欢。
06:03
It has to do with astronomy天文学,
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这当然与天文学有关,
06:04
and it was a question
that had been plaguing困扰着 astronomers天文学家
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这个问题一直困扰了天文学家
06:07
literally按照字面 for centuries百年.
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好几个世纪。
太阳看起来很特别。
06:08
When you look at the Sun太阳,
it seems似乎 special特别.
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06:11
It is the brightest object目的 in the sky天空,
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它是天空中最亮的物体,
06:13
but having studied研究 astronomy天文学, physics物理,
chemistry化学, thermodynamics热力学 for centuries百年,
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但是经过了几个世纪的天文学,
物理学,化学,热力学研究后,
06:19
we learned学到了 something
very important重要 about it.
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我们了解到了一些
关于太阳的重要信息。
它不再那么特别了。
06:21
It's not that special特别.
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它不过跟其他数百万个恒星一样。
06:22
It's a star just like
millions百万 of other stars明星.
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06:25
But that raises加薪 an interesting有趣 question.
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但这又引申出了一个有趣的问题。
06:27
If the Sun太阳 is a star
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如果太阳是恒星,
06:29
and the Sun太阳 has planets行星,
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并且太阳有行星,
06:32
do these other stars明星 have planets行星?
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其他恒星会有行星吗?
06:34
Well, like I said with my own拥有 failure失败
in the "planet行星" I was looking for,
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像我提到的在寻找“行星”上的失败经历,
06:38
finding发现 them is super hard,
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找到它们真的非常难,
06:40
but scientists科学家们 tend趋向 to be
pretty漂亮 clever聪明 people
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但科学家往往非常聪明,
他们会应用很多不同的技术
06:43
and they used a lot
of different不同 techniques技术
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观察恒星。
06:45
and started开始 observing观察 stars明星.
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几十年后,
06:46
And over the decades几十年
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他们开始发现一些真正有趣的东西,
06:47
they started开始 finding发现 some things
that were pretty漂亮 interesting有趣,
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就在他们能够探测到的
薄而粗糙的边缘。
06:50
right on the thin, hairy毛茸茸 edge边缘
of what they were able能够 to detect检测.
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06:53
But time and again,
it was shown显示 to be wrong错误.
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但事实一再证明,这是错的。
06:56
That all changed in 1991.
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事态在1991年才完全改变。
06:59
A couple一对 of astronomers天文学家 --
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几位天文学家——
07:01
Alexander亚历山大 Lyne莱恩 --
Andrew安德鲁 Lyne莱恩, pardon赦免 me --
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亚历山大·莱恩——
安德鲁·莱恩,对不起——
07:03
and Matthew马修 Bailes巴莱斯,
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和马修·贝尔斯,
07:04
had a huge巨大 announcement公告.
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发布了一项重大声明。
07:06
They had found发现 a planet行星
orbiting轨道 another另一个 star.
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他们发现了一个绕着
另一颗恒星旋转的行星。
07:09
And not just any star, but a pulsar脉冲星,
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不是随便一颗恒星,而是脉冲星,
07:12
and this is the remnant of a star
that has previously先前 exploded爆炸.
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这是之前爆炸过的恒星的残骸。
07:16
It's blasting爆破 out radiation辐射.
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它在爆炸时释放了大量辐射。
07:18
This is the last place地点 in the universe宇宙
you would expect期望 to find a planet行星,
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这是宇宙中你最不可能
找到行星的地方。
07:23
but they had very methodically有条不紊
looked看着 at this pulsar脉冲星,
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但他们非常系统地
观察了这颗脉冲星,
07:25
and they detected检测 the gravitational引力 tug拖船
of this planet行星 as it orbited绕行 the pulsar脉冲星.
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当这颗行星绕脉冲星旋转时,
他们探测到了它的引力。
07:30
It looked看着 really good.
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这看起来真的很棒。
07:32
The first planet行星 orbiting轨道
another另一个 star had been found发现 ...
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第一颗绕另一颗恒星
运行的行星被发现了…
只是没有那么多。
07:35
except not so much.
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(笑声)
07:38
(Laughter笑声)
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07:39
After they made制作 the announcement公告,
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在他们发布公告后,
其他一些天文学家对此发表了评论,
07:40
a bunch of other astronomers天文学家
commented评论 on it,
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于是他们仔细地回去查看数据,
07:42
and so they went back
and looked看着 at their data数据
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并意识到自己犯了
一个非常尴尬的错误。
07:45
and realized实现 they had made制作
a very embarrassing尴尬 mistake错误.
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07:47
They had not accounted
for some very subtle微妙 characteristics特点
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他们没有考虑到地球绕太阳的运动中
07:51
of the Earth's地球 motion运动 around the Sun太阳,
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一些非常不明显的特征,
07:53
which哪一个 affected受影响 how they measured测量
this planet行星 going around the pulsar脉冲星.
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这些特征影响了他们测量这颗行星
绕脉冲星运行的方式。
07:57
And it turns out that when they did
account帐户 for it correctly正确地,
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结果,当他们做了正确的计算时,
08:00
poof -- their planet行星 disappeared消失.
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糟糕——他们的行星消失了。
08:02
It wasn't real真实.
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它其实并不存在的。
08:04
So Andrew安德鲁 Lyne莱恩 had a very formidable强大 task任务.
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安德鲁·莱恩有个非常艰巨的任务,
08:07
He had to admit承认 this.
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他得承认错误。
于是在1992年美国天文学会会议,
08:09
So in 1992 at the American美国
Astronomical天文 Society社会 meeting会议,
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08:13
which哪一个 is one of the largest最大 gatherings聚会
of astronomers天文学家 on the planet行星,
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这个全世界最大的天文学会议上,
08:16
he stood站在 up and announced公布
that he had made制作 a mistake错误
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他站起来并宣布他犯了个错误,
08:20
and that the planet行星 did not exist存在.
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那颗行星并不存在。
08:23
And what happened发生 next下一个 --
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接下来发生的是——
08:25
oh, I love this --
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太让我激动了——
接下来的一幕很让人难忘。
08:27
what happened发生 next下一个 was wonderful精彩.
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08:29
He got an ovation欢呼.
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1934
他得到了热烈的掌声。
天文学家们并没有对他表示愤怒;
08:31
The astronomers天文学家 weren't angry愤怒 at him;
189
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08:34
they didn't want to chastise惩罚 him.
190
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他们不想谴责他,
08:35
They praised称赞 him
for his honesty诚实 and his integrity廉正.
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而是赞扬了他的诚实和正直。
08:38
I love that!
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我非常喜欢这一点!
08:40
Scientists科学家们 are people.
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科学家也是人。
08:41
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
事情在变得越来越好!
08:42
And it gets得到 better!
195
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08:43
(Laughter笑声)
196
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(笑声)
08:45
Lyne莱恩 steps脚步 off the podium讲台.
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莱恩从讲台上走下来后,
08:46
The next下一个 guy to come up
is a man named命名 Aleksander阿列克桑德 Wolszczan沃尔什克赞
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下一位上台的人是亚历山大·沃尔兹森,
08:49
He takes the microphone麦克风 and says,
199
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1976
他拿起麦克风说道,
08:51
"Yeah, so Lyne's莱恩的 team球队
didn't find a pulsar脉冲星 planet行星,
200
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“很遗憾,莱恩的团队没有发现脉冲星,
08:55
but my team球队 found发现 not just one
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但我的团队发现了不止一个,
08:57
but two planets行星
orbiting轨道 a different不同 pulsar脉冲星.
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而是两颗行星围绕不同的脉冲星运行。
09:00
We knew知道 about the problem问题 that Lyne莱恩 had,
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我们知道莱恩存在的问题,
09:02
we checked检查 for it,
and yeah, ours我们的 are real真实."
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我们仔细核实了自己的结果,
我们的结果是真的。”
09:06
And it turns out he was right.
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结果他是对的。
09:08
And in fact事实, a few少数 months个月 later后来,
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事实上,几个月后,
09:10
they found发现 a third第三 planet行星
orbiting轨道 this pulsar脉冲星
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他们发现了第三颗绕着
这颗脉冲星的行星,
09:12
and it was the first
exoplanet太阳系外行星 system系统 ever found发现 --
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这是迄今为止发现的
第一个系外行星系统——
09:16
what we call alien外侨 worlds世界 -- exoplanets系外行星.
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我们称之为外星世界——系外行星。
09:20
That to me is just wonderful精彩.
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这对我来说太棒了。
09:23
At that point the floodgates开闸 were opened打开.
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从那时起,就好像
泄洪阀门被打开了一样。
09:26
In 1995 a planet行星 was found发现
around a star more like the Sun太阳,
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1995年,一个行星被发现
绕着类似太阳的恒星运行,
09:31
and then we found发现 another另一个 and another另一个.
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随后我们发现了一个又一个。
09:34
This is an image图片 of an actual实际 planet行星
orbiting轨道 an actual实际 star.
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这是一颗围绕恒星运行的行星图像。
09:39
We kept不停 getting得到 better at it.
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我们做得越来越好。
09:40
We started开始 finding发现 them by the bucketload桶装.
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我们开始成批成批地找到它们,
09:42
We started开始 finding发现 thousands数千 of them.
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数量达到了几千个。
09:44
We built内置 observatories天文台
specifically特别 designed设计 to look for them.
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我们建造了专门用来
寻找它们的天文台。
09:48
And now we know of thousands数千 of them.
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利用这些天文台,
我们发现了数千颗行星。
09:50
We even know of planetary行星 systems系统.
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我们甚至了解了行星系统。
09:52
That is actual实际 data数据, animated动画, showing展示
four planets行星 orbiting轨道 another另一个 star.
221
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这是真实的数据,动画显示了
围绕另一颗恒星运行的四颗行星。
09:58
This is incredible难以置信. Think about that.
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真是难以置信,想想看吧。
10:00
For all of human人的 history历史,
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纵观人类历史,
10:02
you could count计数 all the known已知 planets行星
in the universe宇宙 on two hands --
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用两只手就可以算出
宇宙中所有的行星——
10:07
nine -- eight?
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9——8个?
10:08
Nine? Eight -- eight.
226
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9个?8——8个。
10:09
(Laughter笑声)
227
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(笑声)
10:13
Eh.
228
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呃。
10:14
(Laughter笑声)
229
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(笑声)
10:15
But now we know they're everywhere到处.
230
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但现在我们知道它们到处都是。
10:17
Every一切 star --
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每个恒星——
10:19
for every一切 star you see in the sky天空
there could be three, five, ten planets行星.
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每个你在天空看到的星星,
都可能拥有3,5,10个行星。
10:22
The sky天空 is filled填充 with them.
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它们布满了天空。
10:26
We think that planets行星
may可能 outnumber想个办法 stars明星 in the galaxy星系.
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我们认为行星的数量可能
超过星系中的恒星。
10:29
This is a profound深刻 statement声明,
235
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这是一个意义重大的结论,
10:31
and it was made制作 because of science科学.
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这全要归功于科学。
得出这个结论不止要归功于
科学研究和数据观测;
10:33
And it wasn't made制作 just because of science科学
and the observatories天文台 and the data数据;
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能得出这个结论要归功于
建造了天文台的科学家,
10:37
it was made制作 because of the scientists科学家们
who built内置 the observatories天文台,
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他们得到了数据,
10:40
who took the data数据,
239
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他们犯了错误并承认了错误,
10:42
who made制作 the mistakes错误 and admitted承认 them
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10:43
and then let other scientists科学家们
build建立 on their mistakes错误
241
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然后让其他科学家
在他们的错误之上前进,
10:47
so that they could do what they do
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所以他们可以做到力所能及的事,
10:49
and figure数字 out where
our place地点 is in the universe宇宙.
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并去弄清楚我们在宇宙中的位置。
10:53
That is how you find the truth真相.
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这就是你发现真相的方式。
10:56
Science科学 is at its best最好
when it dares to be human人的.
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当科学敢于为人时,
它就处于最佳状态。
11:01
Thank you.
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谢谢。
(鼓掌和欢呼)
11:02
(Applause掌声 and cheers干杯)
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Translated by jacks jun
Reviewed by Hanlin Wang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Phil Plait - Astronomer
Phil Plait blogs at Bad Astronomy, where he deconstructs misconceptions and explores the wonder of the universe.

Why you should listen

Phil Plait is the Bad Astronomer. Not a bad astronomer, but a blogger for Slate who debunks myths and misconceptions about astronomy -- and also writes about the beauty, wonder and importance of fundamental research.

He worked for six years on the Hubble Space Telescope, and directed public outreach for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. He is a past president of the James Randi Educational Foundation, and was the host of Phil Plait's Bad Universe, a documentary series on the Discovery Channel.

Read more from Phil Plait in the Huffington Post's special TEDWeekends feature, "Asteroids: Getting Ready" >>

More profile about the speaker
Phil Plait | Speaker | TED.com

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