ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Randall Munroe - Cartoonist
Randall Munroe sketches elegant and illuminating explanations of the weird science and math questions that keep geeks awake at night.

Why you should listen

One of a small group of professional web cartoonists, math obsessive and chronic explainer Randall Munroe dazzles the online world (and racks up millions of monthly page views) with the meaninglessly-named (and occasionally heartbreaking) webcomic xkcd.
 
Munroe’s blog What If? specializes in cunning answers to, as the Atlantic put it, "the kinds of of wonderful and fanciful hypotheticals that might arise when the nerdily inclined get together in bars," like “How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?” or “What would happen if a hair dryer with continuous power was turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1 meter box?” As he told Math Horizons, I really enjoy solving these kinds of things, and it’s a bonus if I realize that I can put boxes around it and make it a comic."

He is also the author of the book Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words

More profile about the speaker
Randall Munroe | Speaker | TED.com
TED2014

Randall Munroe: Comics that ask "what if?"

蘭德爾.門羅: 由漫畫引出的假設分析

Filmed:
3,496,101 views

網頁漫畫家蘭德爾.門羅常運用數理、邏輯和冷面幽默來回答一些簡單的假設性問題(例如:假設你擊中一顆速度高達光速的棒球將會發生什麼事?)在他引人入勝的演說中分享了一位讀者提出的谷歌數據庫問題,引發門羅從迂迴的邏輯路徑思考出令人捧腹大笑且過於細節的答案——別錯過,你或許會有所收穫。
- Cartoonist
Randall Munroe sketches elegant and illuminating explanations of the weird science and math questions that keep geeks awake at night. Full bio

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

00:12
So, I have a feature特徵 on my website網站 where every一切 week
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我的網站上有一個功能,
00:15
people submit提交 hypothetical假想 questions問題
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在那裡人們每週可以向我發問,
00:17
for me to answer回答,
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一些假設性的問題。
00:18
and I try to answer回答 them using運用 math數學, science科學
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而我會盡量以數學、科學
00:21
and comics漫畫.
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和漫畫的形式來回答。
00:22
So for example, one person asked,
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例如,有人問:
00:25
what would happen發生 if you tried試著 to hit擊中 a baseball棒球
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如果你試圖擊中一個速度為高達
00:26
pitched傾斜的 at 90 percent百分 of the speed速度 of light?
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光速的90%的棒球,將會怎麼樣?
00:29
So I did some calculations計算.
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然後我做了計算,
00:32
Now, normally一般, when an object目的 flies蒼蠅 through通過 the air空氣,
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通常情況下,當一個物體在空氣中飛行,
00:34
the air空氣 will flow around the object目的,
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空氣將繞著此物環流。
00:36
but in this case案件, the ball would be going so fast快速
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但是對於這個案例,
棒球速度將會過快,
00:37
that the air空氣 molecules分子 wouldn't不會 have time
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以至於空氣分子來不及讓道。
00:39
to move移動 out of the way.
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00:41
The ball would smash粉碎 right into and through通過 them,
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棒球將會碰撞空氣並穿透空氣分子,
00:44
and the collisions碰撞 with these air空氣 molecules分子
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然後這些與空氣分子的撞擊運動,
00:45
would knock away the nitrogen,
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將會把氮、碳、氫
00:47
carbon and hydrogen from the ball,
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從棒球那擊退,
00:49
fragmenting分割 it off into tiny particles粒子,
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使球破裂成極小粒子,
00:51
and also triggering觸發 waves波浪 of thermonuclear熱核 fusion聚變
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同時也在空氣中引發熱核聚變的波。
00:53
in the air空氣 around it.
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00:55
This would result結果 in a flood洪水 of x-raysx射線
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這將導致
大量的X光線擴散開成一個大泡沫,
00:57
that would spread傳播 out in a bubble泡沫
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00:59
along沿 with exotic異國情調 particles粒子,
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並伴隨著一些外來粒子,
01:00
plasma等離子體 inside, centered中心 on the pitcher's投手 mound,
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泡沫裡面是等離子,集中在投球區。
01:03
and that would move移動 away from the pitcher's投手 mound
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然後這些X光線將
01:07
slightly faster更快 than the ball.
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以比球稍快的速度遠離棒球。
01:09
Now at this point, about 30 nanoseconds納秒 in,
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此時,大約在 30 奈秒內,
01:12
the home plate盤子 is far enough足夠 away
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本壘板遠到
01:14
that light hasn't有沒有 had time to reach達到 it,
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光來不及去觸及它。
01:16
which哪一個 means手段 the batter麵糊
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這意味著球棒打者仍能
01:17
still sees看到 the pitcher投手 about to throw
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看見投手即將拋球的動作,
01:20
and has no idea理念 that anything is wrong錯誤.
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並且沒想到事情不對勁。
01:22
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:24
Now, after 70 nanoseconds納秒,
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現在,70 奈秒之後,
01:27
the ball will reach達到 home plate盤子,
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這個棒球將會擊中本壘板,
01:28
or at least最小 the cloud of expanding擴大 plasma等離子體
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亦或是那些球分離出的
01:31
that used to be the ball,
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擴散的等離子集合體,
01:33
and it will engulf吞噬 the bat蝙蝠 and the batter麵糊
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它將吞沒球棒、打者、
01:37
and the plate盤子 and the catcher捕手 and the umpire裁判
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本壘板、補手和裁判,
01:40
and start開始 disintegrating崩解 them all
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然後將它們全部分解,
01:43
as it also starts啟動 to carry攜帶 them backward落後
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同時棒球運載這些分解物
01:46
through通過 the backstop逆止, which哪一個
also starts啟動 to disintegrate瓦解.
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穿過擋球網,擋球網也被分解。
01:50
So if you were watching觀看 this whole整個 thing
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因此如果你從一座山上
01:51
from a hill爬坡道,
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觀察全過程
01:53
ideally理想, far away,
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理想狀態下,要夠遠,
01:56
what you'd see is a bright flash of light
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你看到的是一道閃光,
01:57
that would fade褪色 over a few少數 seconds,
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在數秒後消褪。
01:59
followed其次 by a blast爆破 wave spreading傳播 out,
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同時伴隨閃光的衝擊波會擴散
02:01
shredding切碎 trees樹木 and houses房屋
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並撕毀樹和房子,
02:04
as it moves移動 away from the stadium體育場,
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與此同時它遠離運動場,
02:06
and then eventually終於 a mushroom蘑菇 cloud
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最終一朵蘑菇雲
02:09
rising升起 up over the ruined毀了 city. (Laughter笑聲)
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從這廢城中升起。
02:12
So the Major重大的 League聯盟 Baseball棒球 rules規則
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美國職業棒球大聯盟
02:13
are a little bit hazy朦朧,
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對此的評分規則頗為模糊,
02:16
but — (Laughter笑聲) — under rule規則 6.02 and 5.09,
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(笑聲)但針對規則6.02和5.09,
02:20
I think that in this situation情況,
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我想在這種情況下,
02:22
the batter麵糊 would be considered考慮 hit擊中 by pitch瀝青
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打者將會被認為被球擊中,
02:25
and would be eligible合格 to take first base基礎,
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並有資格上一壘,
02:27
if it still existed存在.
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如果壘包還存在的話。
02:30
So this is the kind of question I answer回答,
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這些就是我常回答的問題。
02:32
and I get people writing寫作 in with
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我讓大家寫下的
02:34
a lot of other strange奇怪 questions問題.
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各種千奇百怪的問題。
02:36
I've had someone有人 write and say,
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今天有人問我:
02:39
scientifically科學 speaking請講, what is the best最好
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從科學的角度,
02:41
and fastest最快的 way to hide隱藏 a body身體?
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有沒有藏具屍體最佳最快的方法?
02:43
Can you do this one soon不久?
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可以麻煩你盡快解答嗎?
02:45
And I had someone有人 write in,
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也有人問,
02:47
I've had people write in about,
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有人寫,
02:49
can you prove證明 whether是否 or not you can find love again
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你能否證明
當你傷心欲絕時,還能否重拾愛情?
02:51
after your heart's心臟的 broken破碎?
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02:53
And I've had people send發送 in
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還有人發給我
02:54
what are clearly明確地 homework家庭作業 questions問題
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很明顯是作業題目,
02:56
they're trying to get me to do for them.
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希望我可以替他們效勞。
03:00
But one week, a couple一對 months個月 ago,
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但在幾個月前的某個星期,
03:03
I got a question that was actually其實 about Google谷歌.
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有人問了我一個關於谷歌的問題,
03:06
If all digital數字 data數據 in the world世界
were stored存儲 on punch沖床 cards,
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如果把世界上所有數據保存在穿孔卡片上,
03:09
how big would Google's谷歌的 data數據 warehouse倉庫 be?
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那麼谷歌的數據庫要多大才足夠?
03:12
Now, Google's谷歌的 pretty漂亮 secretive隱秘
about their operations操作,
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然而谷歌對自身運營情況十分保密,
03:15
so no one really knows知道 how much data數據 Google谷歌 has,
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無人曉得谷歌數據有多少。
03:18
and in fact事實, no one really knows知道
how many許多 data數據 centers中心 Google谷歌 has,
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實際上,沒人真正清楚谷歌擁有多少數據中心,
03:20
except people at Google谷歌 itself本身.
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除了谷歌內部人員外。
03:23
And I've tried試著, I've met會見 them a few少數 times,
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我嘗試過去瞭解並與他們碰過幾次面,
03:24
tried試著 asking them, and they
aren't revealing揭示 anything.
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可他們守口如瓶。
03:29
So I decided決定 to try to figure數字 this out myself.
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因此我決定自尋答案。
03:32
There are a few少數 things that I looked看著 at here.
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有注意到幾個方面,
03:34
I started開始 with money.
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先從資金說起,
03:36
Google谷歌 has to reveal揭示 how much they spend,
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谷歌必須得公開它們的開支狀況,
03:38
in general一般, and that lets讓我們 you put some caps帽子
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那麼,這就能夠限制
03:40
on how many許多 data數據 centers中心 could they be building建造,
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它們可建的數據中心的數量,
03:44
because a big data數據 center中央 costs成本
a certain某些 amount of money.
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因為一個大型數據中心花費相當多。
03:46
And you can also then put a cap on
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這同樣也可以限制
03:49
how much of the world世界 hard
drive駕駛 market市場 are they taking服用 up,
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他們佔世界硬碟市場的份量。
03:51
which哪一個 turns out, it's pretty漂亮 sizable可觀.
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這數額也是相當可觀的。
03:53
I read a calculation計算 at one point,
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我曾經看到過一個估算,我認為谷歌
03:55
I think Google谷歌 has a drive駕駛 failure失敗
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03:56
about every一切 minute分鐘 or two,
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每一到兩秒會發生硬碟故障。
04:00
and they just throw out the hard drive駕駛
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他們會立刻扔掉壞的硬碟,
04:01
and swap交換 in a new one.
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並且換上新的。
所以這過程消耗了大量的硬碟。
04:02
So they go through通過 a huge巨大 number of them.
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04:05
And so by looking at money,
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我們再回到資金方面,
04:06
you can get an idea理念 of how
many許多 of these centers中心 they have.
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你可以大致瞭解
谷歌擁有多少數據中心,
04:08
You can also look at power功率.
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你也可以觀察能源方面,
04:10
You can look at how much electricity電力 they need,
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看看他們需要多少電量。
04:14
because you need a certain某些 amount
of electricity電力 to run the servers服務器,
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這是因為運行伺服器需要相當多的電力,
04:16
and Google谷歌 is more efficient高效 than most,
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在這方面谷歌比眾多同行更高效。
然而他們還是遵循一些基本要求,
04:18
but they still have some basic基本 requirements要求,
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然後讓你對他們的伺服器數量設限。
04:21
and that lets讓我們 you put a limit限制
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04:23
on the number of servers服務器 that they have.
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04:25
You can also look at square廣場 footage鏡頭 and see
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你也可以從面積入手,
觀察你所知道的數據中心:
04:29
of the data數據 centers中心 that you know,
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04:31
how big are they?
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它們有多大?
04:32
How much room房間 is that?
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容量是多少?
04:33
How many許多 server服務器 racks衣架 could you fit適合 in there?
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裡面可以容納多少伺服器支架?
04:35
And for some data數據 centers中心,
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對於一些數據中心,
04:37
you might威力 get two of these pieces of information信息.
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你或許會獲取其中兩份訊息。
04:39
You know how much they spent花費,
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假設你知道他們的開支,
04:41
and they also, say, because they had to contract合同
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同樣地,因為他們必須和地方政府
04:43
with the local本地 government政府
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04:44
to get the power功率 provided提供,
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簽訂協議來獲取能源。
04:46
you might威力 know what they made製作 a deal合同 to buy購買,
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你會大概知道他們交易的內容,
04:49
so you know how much power功率 it takes.
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知道有多少能源被消耗。
04:50
Then you can look at the ratios of those numbers數字,
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接著,你可以看看這些數目的比率,
04:53
and figure數字 out for a data數據 center中央
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然後計算一個
你不熟識的數據中心。
04:54
where you don't have that information信息,
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04:56
you can figure數字 out,
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這也能計算,
04:57
but maybe you only have one of those,
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或許你只知道其中一個數據,
04:59
you know the square廣場 footage鏡頭,
then you could figure數字 out
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你知道面積,
就能知道或許能量是成比例的。
05:01
well, maybe the power功率 is proportional成比例的.
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05:03
And you can do this same相同 thing
with a lot of different不同 quantities數量,
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你可以運用各種不同數據
05:05
you know, with guesses猜測 about
the total amount of storage存儲,
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來進行相同運算。通過對總容量、
05:08
the number of servers服務器, the
number of drives驅動器 per server服務器,
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伺服器數目、每台伺服器的
05:10
and in each case案件 using運用 what you know
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硬碟數目的估算,在每一項中
05:13
to come up with a model模型 that narrows變窄 down
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用已知來擬建出一個模型,
05:16
your guesses猜測 for the things that you don't know.
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縮小對未知對象的猜測範圍。
05:18
It's sort分類 of circling盤旋 around the
number you're trying to get.
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這有點像在這些數據裡循環,
05:20
And this is a lot of fun開玩笑.
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樂趣十足。
05:23
The math數學 is not all that advanced高級,
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數學計算並不是完全先進,
05:25
and really it's like nothing more than
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說實在這不過就像
05:28
solving a sudoku數獨 puzzle難題.
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做出一道數獨題目罷了。
05:30
So what I did, I went through通過 all of this information信息,
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我所做的只是瀏覽所有相關信息,
05:35
spent花費 a day or two researching研究.
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用一兩天的時間做調查。
05:37
And there are some things I didn't look at.
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還有,我未曾注意到這幾方面:
05:39
You could always look at the Google谷歌
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而你可多留意
05:42
recruitment招聘 messages消息 that they post崗位.
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谷歌發佈的徵才啟示。
05:44
That gives you an idea理念 of where they have people.
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由此可知他們在哪些地方需要員工。
05:46
Sometimes有時, when people visit訪問 a data數據 center中央,
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當有人參觀某數據中心時,
05:47
they'll他們會 take a cell-cam細胞凸輪 photo照片 and post崗位 it,
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他們會用手機拍照並公開照片。
05:49
and they aren't supposed應該 to,
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雖然他們不應該這麼做,
05:51
but you can learn學習 things about
their hardware硬件 that way.
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但你可以由此得知硬碟的情況。
05:54
And in fact事實, you can just
look at pizza比薩 delivery交貨 drivers司機.
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實際上,你僅需留意那些比薩餅速遞員,
05:56
Turns out, they know where all
the Google谷歌 data數據 centers中心 are,
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他們其實知道
所有谷歌數據中心的具體位置,
05:59
at least最小 the ones那些 that have people in them.
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最起碼是那些有人的數據中心。
06:02
But I came來了 up with my estimate估計,
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然而我想到了一個讓我
06:04
which哪一個 I felt pretty漂亮 good about,
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興奮不已的一個估測:
06:06
that was about 10 exabytes艾字節 of data數據
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那是關於覆蓋整個
06:09
across橫過 all of Google's谷歌的 operations操作,
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谷歌操作系統的10 EB的數據量,
06:11
and then another另一個 maybe five exabytes艾字節 or so
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另外大約五個EB的離線數據
06:15
of offline離線 storage存儲 in tape膠帶 drives驅動器,
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被保存在磁帶伺服器裡。
06:17
which哪一個 it turns out Google谷歌 is
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這印證了谷歌
06:18
about the world's世界 largest最大 consumer消費者 of.
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是世界上最大的消耗者。
06:21
So I came來了 up with this estimate估計, and this is
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所以我想出了這個估測,
這一數值也是大到相當驚人。
06:25
a staggering踉蹌 amount of data數據.
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06:26
It's quite相當 a bit more than any other organization組織
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這超過了世界上其他任何一個機構,
06:29
in the world世界 has, as far as we know.
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就目前已知的來說。
06:30
There's a couple一對 of other contenders競爭者,
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同時總會有些其他競爭對手,
06:32
especially特別 everyone大家 always thinks of the NSANSA.
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尤其是眾所周知的美國國家安全局,
06:35
But using運用 some of these same相同 methods方法,
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但運用以上某些相同的方法,
06:36
we can look at the NSA'sNSA的 data數據 centers中心,
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我們可以觀察到國家安全局的數據中心。
06:38
and figure數字 out, you know, we
don't know what's going on there,
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雖然我們並不知道那裡的具體情況,
06:40
but it's pretty漂亮 clear明確 that their operation手術
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但很清楚的是,
它們的操作系統大小和谷歌的不同。
06:43
is not the size尺寸 of Google's谷歌的.
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06:44
Adding添加 all of this up, I came來了 up with
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統計起來,
我想出了一個我們可以回答的問題,
06:46
the other thing that we can answer回答, which哪一個 is,
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那就是,這將需要張多少穿孔卡片?
06:48
how many許多 punch沖床 cards would this take?
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06:50
And so a punch沖床 card can hold保持
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一張穿孔卡片可以
06:53
about 80 characters人物,
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容納約80個字母。
06:55
and you can fit適合 about 2,000 or so cards into a box,
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接著,一個盒子
能被大約2000張卡片裝滿。
06:58
and you put them in, say,
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我們打個比方,
07:00
my home region地區 of New England英國,
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這些卡片可覆蓋我家鄉
新英格蘭地區的全部面積,
07:02
it would cover the entire整個 region地區
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07:04
up to a depth深度 of a little less than five kilometers公里,
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覆蓋深度稍稍低於5000米。
07:08
which哪一個 is about three times deeper更深
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這差不多是上一個冰河時期
冰川深度的三倍。
07:09
than the glaciers冰川 during the last ice age年齡
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07:11
about 20,000 years年份 ago.
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這大約在兩萬多年前。
07:14
So this is impractical不切實際的, but I think
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即使這想法不切實際,
07:16
that's about the best最好 answer回答 I could come up with.
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但這是我所能想到的最佳答案。
07:19
And I posted發布 it on my website網站. I wrote it up.
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我在我官網上發佈並寫出過程,
07:21
And I didn't expect期望 to get an answer回答 from Google谷歌,
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然而我沒預料到能得到谷歌的回覆。
07:25
because of course課程 they've他們已經 been so secretive隱秘,
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當然他們一直保密有加,
07:26
they didn't answer回答 of my questions問題,
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所以並沒有直接回答我的問題,
07:28
and so I just put it up and said,
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我只是順便說說:
07:29
well, I guess猜測 we'll never know.
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我們永遠都不會知道答案。
07:31
But then a little while later後來
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但是過了一會兒,
07:33
I got a message信息, a couple一對 weeks later後來, from Google谷歌,
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也就是幾周前,我收到谷歌的訊息。
07:35
saying, hey, someone有人 here has an envelope信封 for you.
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我被告知我有封來信。
07:39
So I go and get it, open打開 it up,
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我拿來打開一看,
07:42
and it's punch沖床 cards. (Laughter笑聲)
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裡面全是穿孔卡片。(笑聲)
07:44
Google-branded谷歌自有品牌 punch沖床 cards.
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谷歌牌的穿孔卡片。
07:47
And on these punch沖床 cards,
there are a bunch of holes,
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卡片上有很多孔。
07:50
and I said, thank you, thank you,
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我還是表示感謝。
07:52
okay, so what's on here?
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好,究竟上面有什麼?
07:53
So I get some software軟件 and start開始 reading it,
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我藉助一些軟體,
開始讀它,並掃描。
07:55
and scan掃描 them, and it turns out
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結果發現,這是個字謎。
07:57
it's a puzzle難題.
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07:58
There's a bunch of code,
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裡面有一堆編碼。
08:00
and I get some friends朋友 to help,
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在友人相助下,
08:01
and we crack裂紋 the code, and then
inside that is another另一個 code,
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我們破解了一個編碼後,
裡面藏著新編碼。
08:04
and then there are some equations方程,
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還有一些方程式。
08:05
and then we solve解決 those equations方程,
209
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1171
我們算出了這些算式後,
08:06
and then finally最後 out pops持久性有機污染物 a message信息 from Google谷歌
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谷歌那邊發來了一條訊息,
08:10
which哪一個 is their official官方 answer回答 to my article文章,
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也是他們對我文章
作出的官方答案,那即是:
08:13
and it said, "No comment評論."
212
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不予置評。
08:15
(Laughter笑聲) (Applause掌聲)
213
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(笑聲)(掌聲)
08:26
And I love calculating計算 these kinds of things,
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我熱愛計算各式奇異的東西。
08:29
and it's not that I love doing the math數學.
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這不只是因為我喜歡數學。
08:31
I do a lot of math數學,
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是的,我常做很多演算,
08:32
but I don't really like math數學 for its own擁有 sake清酒.
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但我並不針對喜歡數學本身。
08:35
What I love is that it lets讓我們 you take
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我真正喜歡的是數學
08:37
some things that you know,
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能讓你運用你已知的,
08:39
and just by moving移動 symbols符號
around on a piece of paper,
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在紙上將字符移來移去
08:43
find out something that you didn't know
221
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來解讀未知。
08:45
that's very surprising奇怪.
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這非常令人驚奇。
08:47
And I have a lot of stupid questions問題,
223
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我常有很多笨問題,
08:49
and I love that math數學 gives the power功率
224
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我欣賞數學能輔助我
08:51
to answer回答 them sometimes有時.
225
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去解決這些問題。
08:54
And sometimes有時 not.
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但也不是時時都行得通。
08:55
This is a question I got from a reader讀者,
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下面是一個讀者給我的問題,
08:58
an anonymous匿名 reader讀者,
228
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一個匿名讀者,
08:59
and the subject學科 line just said, "Urgent緊急,"
229
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標題寫了「緊急」一詞。
09:01
and this was the entire整個 email電子郵件:
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郵件內容如下:
09:03
"If people had wheels車輪 and could fly,
231
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如果人們有輪子而且有飛行能力,
09:06
how would we differentiate區分 them from airplanes飛機?"
232
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我們將如何區分這些人和飛機呢?
09:09
Urgent緊急. (Laughter笑聲)
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這是個緊急問題。
09:11
And I think there are some questions問題
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(笑聲)我覺得有對某些問題,
09:15
that math數學 just cannot不能 answer回答.
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數學無能為力的。
09:17
Thank you.
236
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謝謝。
09:20
(Applause掌聲)
237
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(掌聲)
Translated by Elaine Lin
Reviewed by Nan-Kun Wu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Randall Munroe - Cartoonist
Randall Munroe sketches elegant and illuminating explanations of the weird science and math questions that keep geeks awake at night.

Why you should listen

One of a small group of professional web cartoonists, math obsessive and chronic explainer Randall Munroe dazzles the online world (and racks up millions of monthly page views) with the meaninglessly-named (and occasionally heartbreaking) webcomic xkcd.
 
Munroe’s blog What If? specializes in cunning answers to, as the Atlantic put it, "the kinds of of wonderful and fanciful hypotheticals that might arise when the nerdily inclined get together in bars," like “How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?” or “What would happen if a hair dryer with continuous power was turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1 meter box?” As he told Math Horizons, I really enjoy solving these kinds of things, and it’s a bonus if I realize that I can put boxes around it and make it a comic."

He is also the author of the book Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words

More profile about the speaker
Randall Munroe | Speaker | TED.com

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