TED2006
Saul Griffith: Everyday inventions
索尔·格里菲斯谈日常生活 中的发明
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索尔·格里菲斯（Saul Griffith）是一位发明家，也是麦克阿瑟天才奖获得者。在这个演讲里，他分享了包括“智能绳索”、以及屋子一般大小的载货风筝在内的一些有趣的发明。
Saul Griffith - Inventor
Inventor Saul Griffith looks for elegant ways to make real things, from low-cost eyeglasses to a kite that tows boats. His latest projects include open-source inventions and elegant new ways to generate power. Full bio
Inventor Saul Griffith looks for elegant ways to make real things, from low-cost eyeglasses to a kite that tows boats. His latest projects include open-source inventions and elegant new ways to generate power. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:24
So anyway, who am I?
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好，我们开始吧。首先我是谁？
00:25
I usually say to people, when they say, "What do you do?"
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别人问起我做什么的时候，我通常会跟别人讲
00:28
I say, "I do hardware,"
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“我是做硬件的”
00:30
because it sort of conveniently encompasses everything I do.
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因为那样可以很直接的涵盖我现在做的几乎所有东西
00:32
And I recently said that to a venture capitalist casually at some
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最近在硅谷的一次活动上
00:36
Valley event, to which he replied, "How quaint."
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我就是这么跟一位风投说的。他说，这么怪！
00:39
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
00:41
And I sort of really was dumbstruck.
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我当时真的是傻呆了
00:44
And I really should have said something smart.
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本来应该说点其他有趣的东西
00:46
And now I've had a little bit of time to think about it,
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后来想了一下
00:51
I would have said, "Well, you know,
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我现在可以这么回答
00:53
if we look at the next 100 years
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要是我们往前看100年
00:55
and we've seen all these problems in the last few days,
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我们过去几天看到了各种各样的问题
00:57
most of the big issues -- clean water, clean energy --
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那些大的问题，包括清洁饮水、清洁能源
01:00
and they're interchangeable in some respects --
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——这两者某种程度上是可以相互转换的
01:02
and cleaner, more functional materials --
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以及更干净更具功能化的材料
01:04
they all look to me to be hardware problems.
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在我看来，这些都是硬件层面的问题
01:07
This doesn't mean we should ignore software,
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这不是说我们要忽视软件
01:09
or information, or computation."
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或者信息或者计算
01:11
And that's in fact probably what I'm going to try and tell you about.
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这就是我今天演讲的内容
01:14
So, this talk is going to be about how do we make things
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我要告诉大家我们怎么制造东西
01:17
and what are the new ways that we're going to make things in the future.
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以及未来我们将怎么制造东西
01:22
Now, TED sends you a lot of spam if you're a speaker
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假如你是一位演讲嘉宾，TED会给你发来大量的垃圾邮件
01:27
about "do this, do that" and you fill out all these forms,
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告诉你，要这么做，不要那么做，你还要填写大量的表格
01:29
and you don't actually know how they're going to describe you,
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你甚至也不知道他们会怎么描述你
01:32
and it flashed across my desk that they were going to introduce me as a futurist.
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我刚才想到，似乎TED要将我描绘成为一个未来学家
01:35
And I've always been nervous about the term "futurist,"
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一听到未来学家这个词，我一向是很紧张的
01:37
because you seem doomed to failure because you can't really predict it.
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因为事实上未来是不可预测的，所以你注定是要失败的
01:40
And I was laughing about this with the very smart colleagues I have,
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我和我的一位很聪明的同事在笑
01:43
and said, "You know, well, if I have to talk about the future, what is it?"
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我说，假如你要讲未来，那你会讲什么呢？
01:47
And George Homsey, a great guy, said, "Oh, the future is amazing.
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我的同事George Homsey是个很聪明的家伙，他说，“未来是很美好的
01:52
It is so much stranger than you think.
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比你想象的要美好得多
01:54
We're going to reprogram the bacteria in your gut,
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我们将有可能给细胞重新编排他们的基因序列
01:56
and we're going to make your poo smell like peppermint."
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也可以让你的粪便闻起来想薄荷一样
02:01
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:03
So, you may think that's sort of really crazy,
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也许你会认为那是有点夸张的
02:06
but there are some pretty amazing things that are happening
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但确实在这些方面我们取得了相当可喜的进展，使得那样的故事
02:08
that make this possible.
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有可能变为现实
02:09
So, this isn't my work, but it's work of good friends of mine at MIT.
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这不是我的作品。是我的好朋友的作品
02:13
This is called the registry of standard biological parts.
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它叫标准生物部件组
02:15
This is headed by Drew Endy and Tom Knight
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它是由Drew Endy以及 Tom Knight主导的团队开发的
02:17
and a few other very, very bright individuals.
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还要其他几个非常非常优秀的人
02:20
Basically, what they're doing is looking at biology as a programmable system.
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他们所做的，就是将生命看作是一个可编程的系统
02:23
Literally, think of proteins as subroutines
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真的， 你可以把蛋白质看成是
02:27
that you can string together to execute a program.
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可以组合在一起形成一个程序的单元
02:30
Now, this is actually becoming such an interesting idea.
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这样的想法正变得非常有趣
02:35
This is a state diagram. That's an extremely simple computer.
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这是一个状态图。是很简单的一部计算机。
02:38
This one is a two-bit counter.
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这是个双字节的计算器
02:40
So that's essentially the computational equivalent of two light switches.
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或者从计算的角度来讲，那就相当于一个灯的开关
02:46
And this is being built by a group of students at Zurich
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瑞士的一班学生
02:49
for a design competition in biology.
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在一个生物学竞赛上制作出了这个东西
02:51
And from the results of the same competition last year,
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同样是在去年举办的这个竞赛上
02:54
a University of Texas team of students programmed bacteria
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来自得克萨斯大学的学生通过给细菌 编程
02:58
so that they can detect light and switch on and off.
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使得细菌可以感知灯光并且控制开灯或关灯
03:01
So this is interesting in the sense that you can now
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这是很有意思的
03:03
do "if-then-for" statements in materials, in structure.
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因为这意味着我们可以为实物铸入像 "if then for" 这样的口令了
03:08
This is a pretty interesting trend,
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这是一个很有趣的趋势
03:10
because we used to live in a world where everyone's said glibly,
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我们过去所生活的世界是一个模糊的世界
03:12
"Form follows function," but I think I've sort of grown up in a world
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先有功能，后有形态，但我相信，我正在一个
03:16
-- you listened to Neil Gershenfeld yesterday;
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——像尼尔·歌申费尔德教授所描绘的世界
03:19
I was in a lab associated with his -- where it's really a world
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我就在一个跟尼尔教授有关系的实验室工作
03:23
where information defines form and function.
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在那里，信息决定了形态与功能
03:26
I spent six years thinking about that,
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我有六年的时间就在想这个
03:30
but to show you the power of art over science --
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但为了向你展示艺术相对于科学带给人们的震撼力——
03:32
this is actually one of the cartoons I write. These are called "HowToons."
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这是我画的一幅漫画，我管这样的漫画叫“好图画”
03:35
I work with a fabulous illustrator called Nick Dragotta.
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那是我跟一个非常优秀的叫Nick Dragotta的漫画家一起完成的
03:37
Took me six years at MIT,
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一共花去了我在MIT的六年时间
03:39
and about that many pages to describe what I was doing,
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以及如此多的页数来描述当时我做的事情
03:43
and it took him one page. And so this is our muse Tucker.
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但对于这位漫画家而言，他只需要一页就够了。Tucker是我们的灵感之源
03:48
He's an interesting little kid -- and his sister, Celine --
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他是个很有趣的孩子，这是他的妹妹Celine
03:50
and what he's doing here
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他现在在做的
03:52
is observing the self-assembly of his Cheerios in his cereal bowl.
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就是观察在他的饭碗里的燕麦圈的自组合过程
03:56
And in fact you can program the self-assembly of things,
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事实上，你可以通过编程，来使得物品进行自我组合
03:59
so he starts chocolate-dipping edges,
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于是他从巧克力开始做
04:01
changing the hydrophobicity and the hydrophylicity.
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改变其抗水性以及亲水性
04:03
In theory, if you program those sufficiently,
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从理论来说，只要你的程序有足够的完整性
04:05
you should be able to do something pretty interesting
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你可以做出任何有意思的东西
04:07
and make a very complex structure.
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创造出很复杂的结构出来
04:09
In this case, he's done self-replication of a complex 3D structure.
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他对三维的复杂结构很喜欢，现在是业余做这个。
04:14
And that's what I thought about for a long time,
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我很久以来在思考的正是这个
04:17
because this is how we currently make things.
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因为这正是我们现在制造东西的方式
04:19
This is a silicon wafer, and essentially
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这是一个硅晶圆
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that's just a whole bunch of layers of two-dimensional stuff, sort of layered up.
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它实际上就是很多重的二维结构的材料堆积起来
04:25
The feature side is -- you know, people will say,
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它的侧面
04:27
[unclear] down around about 65 nanometers now.
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65纳米
04:29
On the right, that's a radiolara.
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右边的是放射虫
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That's a unicellular organism ubiquitous in the oceans.
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它是一种在海洋里大量存在的单细胞生物
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And that has feature sizes down to about 20 nanometers,
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它的直径为20纳米
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and it's a complex 3D structure.
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并且它有复杂的三维结构
04:40
We could do a lot more with computers and things generally
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我们还可以用电脑制造很多其他的东西
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if we knew how to build things this way.
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假如我们懂得像放射虫那样去搭建起三维结构的话
04:47
The secret to biology is, it builds computation
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生物之奥秘，在于它在造物的时候就把
04:50
into the way it makes things. So this little thing here, polymerase,
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一套计算的程式装进去了。这是一个聚合酶
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is essentially a supercomputer designed for replicating DNA.
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它事实上就是一台专门用来复制DNA的超级计算机
04:58
And the ribosome here is another little computer
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而那些一个个突起的核糖体又是另外一种功能的计算机
05:01
that helps in the translation of the proteins.
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它可以帮助实现蛋白质的合成
05:03
I thought about this
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我一直在想
05:04
in the sense that it's great to build in biological materials,
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用生物材料可以搭建起非常有趣的东西
05:07
but can we do similar things?
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但用物理材料是否同样可行呢？
05:09
Can we get self-replicating-type behavior?
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我们能否设计出具备自复制能力的机器呢？
05:11
Can we get complex 3D structure automatically assembling
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我们能否让复杂的三维结构
05:15
in inorganic systems?
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在一个非生物的系统里自行组合起来呢？
05:17
Because there are some advantages to inorganic systems,
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因为非生物系统有些很好的优势
05:19
like higher speed semiconductors, etc.
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比如更高速的半导体等等
05:21
So, this is some of my work
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这就是我的工作
05:23
on how do you do an autonomously self-replicating system.
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研究怎么去建立一个可以实现自行复制的系统
05:29
And this is sort of Babbage's revenge.
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有点像是巴贝奇最初设计的计算机
05:31
These are little mechanical computers.
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这些是微型机械电脑
05:32
These are five-state state machines.
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这些是五状态的状态机
05:35
So, that's about three light switches lined up.
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可以看到有三个并排的电灯开关
05:38
In a neutral state, they won't bind at all.
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在自然状态下，它们不会自行接合
05:40
Now, if I make a string of these, a bit string,
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但假如我做了一串这样的东西
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they will be able to replicate.
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它们就可以实现自我复制
05:46
So we start with white, blue, blue, white.
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我们不妨从白色、蓝色、蓝色、白色开始
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That encodes; that will now copy. From one comes two,
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它们经过编码后，就可以实现复制，从一个到两个
05:53
and then from two comes three.
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再有两个到四个
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And so you've got this sort of replicating system.
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于是我们就得到了这样一种自复制的系统
05:59
It was work actually by Lionel Penrose,
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它最初是由Lionel Penrose发现的
06:01
father of Roger Penrose, the tiles guy.
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也就是Roger Penrose的父亲
06:04
He did a lot of this work in the '60s,
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他在1960年代的时候做了很多这方面的研究
06:06
and so a lot of this logic theory lay fallow
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但是他的很多关于逻辑的理论没有被重视
06:08
as we went down the digital computer revolution, but it's now coming back.
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因为我们走向了数字计算机革命，但今天我们又一次见到了这一理论重新发光的可能
06:11
So now I'm going to show you the hands-free, autonomous self-replication.
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接下来我会给大家看一个不经过人工干预的，全自动的复制过程
06:15
So we've tracked in the video the input string,
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输入的初始状态是
06:17
which was green, green, yellow, yellow, green.
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绿色、绿色、黄色、黄色、绿色
06:19
We set them off on this air hockey table.
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我们把它放到桌上冰球游戏的桌面上
06:23
You know, high science uses air hockey tables --
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——很多科学家都爱玩这个游戏
06:25
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:26
-- and if you watch this thing long enough you get dizzy,
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假如你长时间看的话也会感觉疲惫
06:28
but what you're actually seeing is copies of that original string
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因为事实上你看到的是原先的链条的复件
06:31
emerging from the parts bin that you have here.
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都是从零件出来的
06:34
So we've got autonomous replication of bit strings.
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我们看到了比特串的自复制
06:39
So, why would you want to replicate bit strings?
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但为什么要让比特串实现自复制呢？
06:42
Well, it turns out biology has this other very interesting meme,
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因为生物有个特性
06:45
that you can take a linear string, which is a convenient thing to copy,
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你拿一个 线性的一串细胞，它可以很容易实现复制
06:48
and you can fold that into an arbitrarily complex 3D structure.
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你可以将它折叠成复杂的三维结构
06:52
So I was trying to, you know, take the engineer's version:
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于是我就想
06:55
Can we build a mechanical system in inorganic materials
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我们能否用非生物材料来建一个机械的系统
06:58
that will do the same thing?
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并且使之实现同样的过程？
06:59
So what I'm showing you here is that we can make a 2D shape --
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大家看到的是，我们可以将二维的结构
07:04
the B -- assemble from a string of components
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图上的 B ——它是由一串基础元素
07:08
that follow extremely simple rules.
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依据非常简单的规律组合而成的
07:10
And the whole point of going with the extremely simple rules here,
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而我们之所以要设置非常简单的规律
07:13
and the incredibly simple state machines in the previous design,
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以及非常简单的初始状态
07:16
was that you don't need digital logic to do computation.
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是因为我们不需要通过数字逻辑来实现计算
07:19
And that way you can scale things much smaller than microchips.
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这样我们可以将那些比微型芯片更小的东西规模化
07:23
So you can literally use these as the tiny components in the assembly process.
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所以你完成可以用这些作为基础原料来组合出更复杂的东西
07:27
So, Neil Gershenfeld showed you this video on Wednesday, I believe,
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我想Neil Gershenfeld周三的时候就给大家看过了这个视频
07:32
but I'll show you again.
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不过我还是想给你们再看一遍
07:34
This is literally the colored sequence of those tiles.
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这就是那些已经被染色的砖块的照片
07:37
Each different color has a different magnetic polarity,
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每一种颜色都有不同的磁力
07:40
and the sequence is uniquely specifying the structure that is coming out.
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序列可以准确的规定生成的结构
07:45
Now, hopefully, those of you who know anything about graph theory
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假如你懂得一点点的图论知识
07:48
can look at that, and that will satisfy you
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不妨看看这里，你会感到很舒服
07:50
that that can also do arbitrary 3D structure,
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因为它还能演化为任意的三维结构
07:53
and in fact, you know, I can now take a dog, carve it up
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事实上，我可以绘画出一条狗
07:58
and then reassemble it so it's a linear string
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而后将其重新组合，使之成为一个线性的长串
08:00
that will fold from a sequence. And now
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它最后可以实现复制
08:02
I can actually define that three-dimensional object as a sequence of bits.
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我还能将三维的物体变成一串比特
08:09
So, you know, it's a pretty interesting world
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这里发生的事情都很有趣
08:12
when you start looking at the world a little bit differently.
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当你以另外一个视角看这个世界的时候
08:14
And the universe is now a compiler.
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整个宇宙就是一台汇编机器
08:17
And so I'm thinking about, you know, what are the programs
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于是我想，那些给物理宇宙进行编程的
08:19
for programming the physical universe?
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都是怎样一些程序？
08:22
And how do we think about materials and structure,
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我们如何才能把材料与结构的问题
08:25
sort of as an information and computation problem?
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化为信息与计算的问题来解决？
08:28
Not just where you attach a micro-controller to the end point,
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不仅仅是在末端添加一个微控制器
08:31
but that the structure and the mechanisms are the logic, are the computers.
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而是让结构以及机械本身成为逻辑，成为计算机
08:36
Having totally absorbed this philosophy,
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当你完全理解了这一理念之后
08:41
I started looking at a lot of problems a little differently.
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我们就能以不一样的视角来看待许多问题
08:44
With the universe as a computer,
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假如宇宙就是一台计算机
08:45
you can look at this droplet of water
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那么你可以把这一滴水看成是
08:47
as having performed the computations.
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在进行一种计算
08:49
You set a couple of boundary conditions, like gravity,
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你给它设定一些条件，比如重力
08:51
the surface tension, density, etc., and then you press "execute,"
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表面张力、密度等等，而后按“执行”
08:55
and magically, the universe produces you a perfect ball lens.
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于是宛如魔术一般，宇宙就给你制造出了一个完美的球状镜片
09:00
So, this actually applied to the problem
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这样的思维同样可以用来
09:02
of -- so there's a half a billion to a billion people in the world
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解决其他问题，比如世界上有5到10亿人
09:05
don't have access to cheap eyeglasses.
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不能很轻松的购买到廉价的眼镜
09:07
So can you make a machine
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那么我们是否可以做出一台机器
09:09
that could make any prescription lens very quickly on site?
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让它可以在任意地方，按照人们的需求，以最快速度做出人们需要的镜片？
09:13
This is a machine where you literally define a boundary condition.
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这样一台机器你确实要给它设置一些边界条件
09:17
If it's circular, you make a spherical lens.
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比如设定为圆形，那么得到的将是球状的镜片
09:20
If it's elliptical, you can make an astigmatic lens.
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假如是椭圆形，就可以用于制作散光镜片
09:23
You then put a membrane on that and you apply pressure --
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而后把薄膜放在上面，施加压力
09:26
so that's part of the extra program.
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那还需要另外的流程
09:28
And literally with only those two inputs --
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事实上，只要有那样两个输入数据
09:31
so, the shape of your boundary condition and the pressure --
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即边缘状况以及压力
09:33
you can define an infinite number of lenses
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我们可以定义出无限种可能的镜片
09:35
that cover the range of human refractive error,
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可以涵盖人类全部的反射缺陷
09:37
from minus 12 to plus eight diopters, up to four diopters of cylinder.
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从负12到正8 的屈光度
09:42
And then literally, you now pour on a monomer.
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而后将其浇灌到单体上
09:45
You know, I'll do a Julia Childs here.
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我现在是在学Julia Childs （著名法国厨师）了
09:48
This is three minutes of UV light.
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这是三分钟的紫外光
09:51
And you reverse the pressure on your membrane
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将薄膜的受压面换过来
09:54
once you've cooked it. Pop it out.
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加热，而后敲打出来
09:57
I've seen this video, but I still don't know if it's going to end right.
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我看过这个视频，但我不知它是否真的可以实现
10:00
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
10:03
So you reverse this. This is a very old movie,
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反转过来。这是很老的一个片子
10:05
so with the new prototypes, actually both surfaces are flexible,
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我们有新的原型，事实上两面都是可弯曲的
10:09
but this will show you the point.
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希望这个可以让你看懂个中奥秘
10:11
Now you've finished the lens, you literally pop it out.
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做好镜片之后，把它敲出来
10:13
That's next year's Yves Klein, you know, eyeglasses shape.
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这会成为明年的Yves Klein作品，一个镜片形的作品
10:20
And you can see that that has a mild prescription of about minus two diopters.
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你会看到它是有一个很小的负2度的屈光度
10:23
And as I rotate it against this side shot, you'll see that that has cylinder,
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当我从侧面旋转的时候，你会看到它是圆柱形的
10:27
and that was programmed in --
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也是我们预先通过程序设定的
10:28
literally into the physics of the system.
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就是我们可以 将系统的物理特性设定好
10:32
So, this sort of thinking about structure as computation
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这样一种将结构看成是一种计算
10:35
and structure as information leads to other things, like this.
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以及结构即信息的思维可以带来其他的东西
10:40
This is something that my people at SQUID Labs
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这是我在 SQUID Labs 的朋友做的
10:43
are working on at the moment, called "electronic rope."
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叫电子绳
10:45
So literally, you think about a rope. It has very complex structure in the weave.
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讲到绳子，你会想到很复杂的纤维结构
10:49
And under no load, it's one structure.
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当受到一种外力的时候，它显现一种结构
10:51
Under a different load, it's a different structure. And you can actually exploit that
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不同的外力会带来不同的结构
10:54
by putting in a very small number of
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你还可以
10:56
conducting fibers to actually make it a sensor.
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加上一些导电的纤维，将其改造成一个传感器
10:58
So this is now a rope that knows the load on the rope
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所以这是一个能够感知外力的绳子
11:01
at any particular point in the rope.
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并且可以准备的知道绳子的任意位置的受力大小
11:03
Just by thinking about the physics of the world,
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当你开始如此看世界之后
11:06
materials as the computer,
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即将材料看成计算机
11:08
you can start to do things like this.
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你就可以做这样的事情了
11:11
I'm going to segue a little here.
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现在我想转换到这个图
11:14
I guess I'm just going to casually tell you the types of things
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我将向大家介绍我正在
11:16
that I think about with this.
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思考的一些物体
11:17
One thing I'm really interested about this right now is, how,
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我现在非常感兴趣的一点是
11:21
if you're really taking this view of the universe as a computer,
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假如你真的把宇宙看成是一个计算机
11:25
how do we make things in a very general sense,
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我们如何制造出一般的东西？
11:27
and how might we share the way we make things in a general sense
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还有我们如何分享我们制造东西的方法和过程呢？
11:31
the same way you share open source hardware?
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能否使之变得跟共享开源硬件一样简单？
11:34
And a lot of talks here have espoused the benefits
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很多人已经在此谈论过
11:37
of having lots of people look at problems,
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让许多人关注一个问题
11:39
share the information and work on those things together.
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彼此交换信息、共同协作解决问题的好处
11:42
So, a convenient thing about being a human is you move in linear time,
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作为一个人，我们都是在线性的时间里移动的
11:45
and unless Lisa Randall changes that,
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除非Lisa Randall可以改变这一事实
11:47
we'll continue to move in linear time.
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我们仍将这么做
11:50
So that means anything you do, or anything you make,
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也就是说，你做的任意事情，或你制造任意物体
11:52
you produce a sequence of steps --
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都是有一串的步骤的
11:54
and I think Lego in the '70s nailed this,
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Lego在1970年代就看到了这一点
11:57
and they did it most elegantly.
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并且以最美丽的方式去展现这一点
11:58
But they can show you how to build things in sequence.
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他们的产品就是最好的明证
12:02
So, I'm thinking about, how can we generalize
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于是我想，我们怎么才能将我们制造东西的方式
12:05
the way we make all sorts of things,
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一般化？
12:07
so you end up with this sort of guy, right?
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是不是就变成这样的人？
12:09
And I think this applies across a very broad -- sort of, a lot of concepts.
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我想这是对于很广的概念都适用的
12:14
You know, Cameron Sinclair yesterday said,
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Cameron Sinclair昨天就在这里说到
12:16
"How do I get everyone to collaborate on design
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我怎么才能让 每个人都参与到设计的过程中
12:18
globally to do housing for humanity?"
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让地球人都能为人道建站贡献自己的一分力？
12:21
And if you've seen Amy Smith,
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假如你看过Amy Smith的演讲
12:23
she talks about how you get students at MIT
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她就是讲如何让MIT的学生
12:27
to work with communities in Haiti.
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去到海地帮助当地人建设自己的社区
12:29
And I think we have to sort of redefine and rethink
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我想我们需要重新定义以及构想
12:31
how we define structure and materials and assembly things,
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关于结构、材料以及我们做东西的方式
12:35
so that we can really share the information
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让信息共享成为现实
12:37
on how you do those things in a more profound way
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或者说我们怎么才能发明出更优秀的方式去做那些事情
12:39
and build on each other's source code for structure.
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在其他人的基础上搭建新的东西
12:42
I don't know exactly how to do this yet,
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现在我还不知具体可以怎么做
12:43
but, you know, it's something being actively thought about.
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但我相信很多人正在想这个问题
12:48
So, you know, that leads to questions
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于是可以引发这样的问题
12:50
like, is this a compiler? Is this a sub-routine?
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这是编译器吗？这是子路径吗？
12:54
Interesting things like that.
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还有很多此类的有意思的事情
12:55
Maybe I'm getting a little too abstract, but you know,
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也许我讲得有点抽象了
12:58
this is the sort of -- returning to our comic characters --
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但是，假如我们回到刚才这幅漫画
13:01
this is sort of the universe, or a different universe view,
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这样一种宇宙的视野
13:03
that I think is going to be very prevalent in the future --
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我想未来会变得相当普遍
13:05
from biotech to materials assembly. It was great to hear Bill Joy.
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从生物技术到材料合成。我听到Bill Joy的演讲，很振奋
13:08
They're starting to invest in materials science,
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他们正希望在材料科学方面进行投资
13:11
but these are the new things in materials science.
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但我们见到了这类新的材料科学
13:13
How do we put real information and real structure into new ideas,
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我们如何才能把真正的信息以及结构化为真正的点子
13:17
and see the world in a different way? And it's not going to be binary code
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进而以不一样的视角来看世界？新的世界视野
13:20
that defines the computers of the universe --
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将不再是2进制的视野
13:22
it's sort of an analog computer.
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那很快会像模拟计算机一样走向衰败
13:24
But it's definitely an interesting new worldview.
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但必然是很有趣的一种视野
13:29
I've gone too far. So that sounds like it's it.
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我也许讲得有点离题了
13:32
I've probably got a couple of minutes of questions,
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我想还剩几分钟
13:34
or I can show -- I think they also said that I do extreme stuff
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我想——有人说我会做一些极端的东西
13:38
in the introduction, so I may have to explain that.
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我就解释一下吧
13:42
So maybe I'll do that with this short video.
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也许可以放这个视频给大家看
13:45
So this is actually a 3,000-square-foot kite,
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这是一个3000平方英尺的风筝
13:51
which also happens to be a minimal energy surface.
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也是一个可以吸取能量的最低直径
13:53
So returning to the droplet, again,
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还是回到刚才所讲的
13:55
thinking about the universe in a new way.
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以不一样的视野看宇宙
13:57
This is a kite designed by a guy called Dave Kulp.
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这是由Dave Kulp设计的风筝
13:59
And why do you want a 3,000-square-foot kite?
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为何要做这么大的风筝呢？
14:01
So that's a kite the size of your house.
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它简直就跟你家一般大小啊
14:03
And so you want that to tow boats very fast.
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因为只有这样你才能很快的拉动一条船
14:07
So I've been working on this a little, also,
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我也在跟一些朋友
14:10
with a couple of other guys.
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在做这个
14:12
But, you know, this is another way to look at the --
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这是另外一种看——
14:14
if you abstract again,
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假如允许我用抽象的语言讲的话
14:16
this is a structure that is defined by the physics of the universe.
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这是一种被宇宙定义的结构
14:20
You could just hang it as a bed sheet,
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你可以像蚊帐一样挂着它
14:21
but again, the computation of all the physics
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但各种物理成分的计算
14:23
gives you the aerodynamic shape.
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则使得它可以实现一种很强的空气动力结构
14:25
And so you can actually sort of almost double your boat speed
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并且还能给船的速度加倍
14:28
with systems like that. So that's sort of another interesting aspect of the future.
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这会是未来很有趣的一种应用
14:35
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Saul Griffith - InventorInventor Saul Griffith looks for elegant ways to make real things, from low-cost eyeglasses to a kite that tows boats. His latest projects include open-source inventions and elegant new ways to generate power.
Why you should listen
Innovator and inventor Saul Griffith has a uniquely open approach to problem solving. Whether he's devising a way to slash the cost of prescription eyeglasses or teaching science through cartoons, Griffith makes things and then shares his ideas with the world.
A proponent of open-source information, he established Instructables , an open website showing how to make an array of incredible objects. He is the co-founder of numerous companies including Squid Labs, Low Cost Eyeglasses, Potenco and Makani Power, where he is President and Chief Scientist. His companies have invented a myriad of new devices and materials, such as a "smart" rope that senses its load, or a machine for making low-cost eyeglass lenses through a process inspired by a water droplet. He is a columnist at Make magazine and co-writes How Toons! He's fascinated with materials that assemble themselves, and with taking advantage of those properties to make things quickly and cheaply.
Saul Griffith | Speaker | TED.com