Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_koine_flynn_the_science_of_skin_color/transcript

00:09
When ultraviolet sunlight hits our skin, it affects each of
us a little differently. Depending on skin color, it will take
only minutes of exposure to turn one person beetroot-
pink, while another requires hours to experience the
slightest change. So what's to account for that difference
and how did our skin come to take on so many different
hues to begin with?
当紫外线照射到皮肤上时， 它对我们的影响因
人而异。 取决于肤色， 一个人只在阳光下暴露
几分钟， 就会晒成甜菜根般的红色， 而另一个
人，需要几小时的暴露， 才能体现轻微的肤色
改变。 到底怎样解释这种差异呢？ 我们的皮肤
又是怎样 呈现出如此多不同的肤色呢？
00:31
Whatever the color, our skin tells an epic tale of human
intrepidness and adaptability, revealing its variance to be
a function of biology. It all centers around melanin, the
pigment that gives skin and hair its color. This ingredient
comes from skin cells called melanocytes and takes two
basic forms. There's eumelanin, which gives rise to a
range of brown skin tones, as well as black, brown, and
blond hair, and pheomelanin, which causes the reddish
browns of freckles and red hair. But humans weren't
always like this. Our varying skin tones were formed by
an evolutionary process driven by the Sun. In began some
50,000 years ago when our ancestors migrated north from
Africa and into Europe and Asia.
无论怎样的肤色， 我们的皮肤都在讲述一段人
类 无惧和适应性的史诗般的故事。 肤色的多变
性是一项生物学功能， 这一切都围绕着黑色
素， 这种颜料赋予皮肤和头发的颜色。 这种成
分来源于被称为 黑素细胞的皮肤细胞。 它具有
两种形式。 其中一种叫真黑色素, 它产生一系
列的褐色皮肤， 以及黑色，棕色以及金色的头
发。 另一种是伪黑色素， 则生成褐色雀斑和红
色头发。 但人类并不总是这样， 我们不同色调
的皮肤是 受太阳驱动的进化过程中形成的。 它
大约起源于五万年前， 当我们的祖先从非洲北
上， 迁移到欧洲与亚洲时。
01:22
These ancient humans lived between the Equator and the
Tropic of Capricorn, a region saturated by the Sun's UV-
carrying rays. When skin is exposed to UV for long
periods of time, the UV light damages the DNA within
our cells, and skin starts to burn. If that damage is severe
enough, the cells mutations can lead to melanoma, a
deadly cancer that forms in the skin's melanocytes.
这些远古人类生活在赤道 和南回归线之间， 这
部分地域充满了紫外线。 当皮肤被长期暴露于
紫外线中， 紫外线会损坏细胞中的基因， 皮肤
开始烧伤。 如果损伤足够严重, 细胞突变可导
致黑素瘤， 这是一种由皮肤中的黑色素细胞形
成的致命癌症。
01:49
Sunscreen as we know it today didn't exist 50,000 years
ago. So how did our ancestors cope with this onslaught
of UV? The key to survival lay in their own personal
sunscreen manufactured beneath the skin: melanin.
我们今天所知的防晒霜， 在五万年前并不存
在。 那么我们的祖先是如何 应对大量的紫外线
照射的呢？ 生存的关键在于他们自身的防晒
霜， 也就是皮下产生的黑色素。
02:05
The type and amount of melanin in your skin determines
whether you'll be more or less protected from the sun.
This comes down to the skin's response as sunlight strikes
it. When it's exposed to UV light, that triggers special
light-sensitive receptors called rhodopsin, which
stimulate the production of melanin to shield cells from
damage. For light-skin people, that extra melanin darkens
their skin and produces a tan.
你们皮肤中黑色素的种类和数量， 决定了你在
受太阳照射时， 是多，还是少的受保护程度。
这取决于阳光照射时皮肤的反应。 当暴露在紫
外线下时， 将触发被称为紫膜质的特殊感光受
体。 它促进黑色素的产生， 以保护细胞免受损
伤。 对于肤色偏浅的人来说, 额外的黑色素 会
使肤色加深变为黄褐色。
02:30
Over the course of generations, humans living at the Sun-
saturated latitudes in Africa adapted to have a higher
melanin production threshold and more eumelanin,
giving skin a darker tone. This built-in sun shield helped
protect them from melanoma, likely making them
evolutionarily fitter and capable of passing this useful
trait on to new generations.
经历无数代后， 生活在非洲阳光饱和的纬度的
人们 已经进化到拥有更高的 黑色素的生产阈值
和更多真黑素， 使皮肤拥有更深的色调。 这种
自身的防太阳光紫外线保护层 可防止黑素瘤的
形成， 他们为适应环境而进化， 并且将这种特
性代代相传。
02:55
But soon, some of our Sun-adapted ancestors migrated
northward out of the tropical zone, spreading far and
wide across the Earth. The further north they traveled, the
less direct sunshine they saw. This was a problem
because although UV light can damage skin, it also has
an important parallel benefit. UV helps our bodies
produce vitamin D, an ingredient that strengthens bones
and lets us absorb vital minerals, like calcium, iron,
magnesium, phosphate, and zinc. Without it, humans
experience serious fatigue and weakened bones that can
cause a condition known as rickets.
但是不久，部分适应日晒的 祖先们离开了热带
区域， 往北上移居， 他们广泛的迁移到世界各
地。 他们越往北，看见到的阳光就越少。 这有
一个问题， 因为尽管紫外线会损伤皮肤， 同时
它对人体有一个重要的益处。 紫外线帮助身体
产生维素 D， 这种物质可以强化骨骼， 并帮助
我们吸收重要的矿物质， 比如钙，铁，镁，磷
酸盐，锌。 没有它，人体会感到极为疲乏且骨
骼脆弱， 这种状况被称为佝偻病。
03:33
For humans whose dark skin effectively blocked
whatever sunlight there was, vitamin D deficiency would
have posed a serious threat in the north. But some of them
happened to produce less melanin. They were exposed to
small enough amounts of light that melanoma was less
likely, and their lighter skin better absorbed the UV light.
So they benefited from vitamin D, developed strong
bones, and survived well enough to produce healthy
offspring. Over many generations of selection, skin color
in those regions gradually lightened.
对于那些深色皮肤有效地阻止了任何阳光的人，
在北方维生素 D 缺乏将造成严重威胁。 但是他
们中的一些人正好产生较少黑色素。 他们暴露
在少量的阳光下， 是不大可能产生黑色素瘤
的， 并且他们的浅色皮肤能更好地吸收紫外
线。 因此他们得益于维生素 D， 发育出强健的
骨骼， 并能更好的生存，繁衍健康的后代。 经
过很多代的自然选择后， 居住在那些区域的人
的肤色逐渐淡化。
04:05
As a result of our ancestor's adaptability, today the planet
is full of people with a vast palette of skin colors,
typically, darker eumelanin-rich skin in the hot, sunny
band around the Equator, and increasingly lighter
pheomelanin-rich skin shades fanning outwards as the
sunshine dwindles.
作为我们祖先适应的结果， 如今我们的地球上
充满了各种肤色的人， 通常，黑色素丰富的深
色皮肤的人 生活在炎热的，阳光充足的赤道
带； 从赤道呈扇形越往外阳光越少， 含有伪黑
色素的皮肤的人 肤色也越来越浅。
04:26
Therefore, skin color is little more than an adaptive trait
for living on a rock that orbits the Sun. It may absorb
light, but it certainly does not reflect character.
因此，肤色仅仅是 生活在围绕太阳运行的 地球
上的人们的适应特征。 它可以吸收阳光， 但肯
定不反应品格。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/claudia_aguirre_what_would_happen_if_you_didn_t_sleep

00:07
In 1965, 17-year-old high school student, Randy Gardner
stayed awake for 264 hours. That's 11 days to see how
he'd cope without sleep. On the second day, his eyes
stopped focusing. Next, he lost the ability to identify
objects by touch. By day three, Gardner was moody and
uncoordinated. At the end of the experiment, he was
struggling to concentrate, had trouble with short-term
memory, became paranoid, and started hallucinating.
Although Gardner recovered without long-term
psychological or physical damage, for others, losing
shuteye can result in hormonal imbalance, illness, and, in
extreme cases, death.
在 1965 年， 17 岁的高中学生 Randy Gardner 维
持了 264 小时的清醒状态。 累计 11 天，来看看
他是怎么保持清醒的。 第二天，他的眼睛已经
无法聚焦了， 然后，他失去了依靠触摸 来辨别
物体的能力。 第三天，Gardner 变得喜怒无常，
动作也无法协调。 在实验结束的时候， 保持专
注对他来说十分艰难 短期记忆出现了问题 变的
易怒， 而且出现了幻觉。 尽管 Gardner 痊愈
了， 没有长期的生理或心理的后遗症， 对于其
他人来说 失去睡眠可以导致荷尔蒙失衡， 生
病， 在极端情况下，死亡。
00:50
We're only beginning to understand why we sleep to
begin with, but we do know it's essential. Adults need
seven to eight hours of sleep a night, and adolescents
need about ten. We grow sleepy due to signals from our
body telling our brain we are tired, and signals from the
environment telling us it's dark outside. The rise in sleep-
inducing chemicals, like adenosine and melatonin, send
us into a light doze that grows deeper, making our
breathing and heart rate slow down and our muscles
relax. This non-REM sleep is when DNA is repaired and
our bodies replenish themselves for the day ahead.
我们刚刚才开始明白我们为什么要睡觉， 但是
我们知道睡眠是至关重要的。 成人每晚需要 7
到 8 小时的睡眠， 青少年大概需要 10 小时。 我
们变困是因为身体发出暗示 告诉我们的大脑，
“我们累了” 环境中的信号告诉我们，外面天
黑了。 嗜睡化学成分的上升， 比如腺苷和褪黑
素， 使我们进入浅睡眠，并越睡越深， 使我们
的呼吸和心跳变缓， 肌肉变放松。 DNA 在这段
非快速眼动 睡眠期被修复， 我们的身体也补充
能量 以准备迎接新的一天。
01:30
In the United States, it's estimated that 30% of adults and
66% of adolescents are regularly sleep-deprived. This
isn't just a minor inconvenience. Staying awake can cause
serious bodily harm. When we lose sleep, learning,
memory, mood, and reaction time are affected.
Sleeplessness may also cause inflammation,
halluciations, high blood pressure, and it's even been
linked to diabetes and obesity.
在美国， 大概 30%的成人和 66%的青少年 经常
缺少睡眠。 这并不只是个小小的不便 长期保持
清醒会对身体 产生巨大的伤害。 当我们失去睡
眠的时候 学习， 记忆 情绪 和反应时间会受到
影响。 失眠还可能会导致发炎 幻觉， 高血
压， 甚至和高血糖和肥胖产生联系。
02:00
In 2014, a devoted soccer fan died after staying awake for
48 hours to watch the World Cup. While his untimely
death was due to a stroke, studies show that chronically
sleeping fewer than six hours a night increases stroke risk
by four and half times compared to those getting a
consistent seven to eight hours of shuteye. For a handful
of people on the planet who carry a rare inherited genetic
mutation, sleeplessness is a daily reality. This condition,
known as Fatal Familial Insomnia, places the body in a
nightmarish state of wakefulness, forbidding it from
entering the sanctuary of sleep. Within months or years,
this progressively worsening condition leads to dementia
and death.
在 2014 年, 一个铁杆球迷因为 连续 48 小时观
看世界杯而死亡。 虽然他是因为中风而“英年
早逝”， 研究表明，长期维持每日少于 六小时
的睡眠， 相对于那些保持 每晚 7 到 8 小时睡眠
的人来说 增加了 4.5 倍的中风风险。 对于那些
世上少数的， 通过遗传得到基因异变的人来
说， 失眠是家常便饭 这种症状，被称为致死性
家族失眠症 （Fatal Familial Insomnia） 将
身体置于一种噩梦般的清醒状态 防止患者进入
睡眠这个庇护所。 在几个月到几年内， 这种逐
渐恶化到病情 会导致痴呆和死亡。
02:47
How can sleep deprivation cause such immense
suffering? Scientists think the answer lies with the
accumulation of waste prducts in the brain.
失眠是如何导致如此严重的痛苦的？ 科学家们
认为答案是 代谢物在大脑中的累积。
02:56
During our waking hours, our cells are busy using up our
day's energy sources, which get broken down into various
byproducts, including adenosine. As adenosine builds up,
it increases the urge to sleep, also known as sleep
pressure. In fact, caffeine works by blocking adenosine's
receptor pathways. Other waste products also build up in
the brain, and if they're not cleared away, they
collectively overload the brain and are thought to lead to
the many negative symptoms of sleep deprivation.
在清醒的时候， 我们的细胞紧张的消耗一天的
能量， 分解成各种副产品， 包括腺苷。 当腺
苷累积起来的时候， 它增加了困倦感， 也就是
睡眠压力。 事实上，咖啡因是靠阻断接受 腺苷
的感知器官来实现其作用的。 其他的代谢物也
会积聚于大脑， 如果不清理出去， 它们会导致
大脑和思想超负荷运转， 并导致各种失眠症
状。
03:29
So, what's happening in our brain when we sleep to
prevent this? Scientists found something called the
glymphatic system, a clean-up mechanism that removes
this buildup and is much more active when we're asleep.
It works by using cerebrospinal fluid to flush away toxic
byproducts that accumulate between cells. Lymphatic
vessels, which serve as pathways for immune cells, have
recently been discovered in the brain, and they may also
play a role in clearing out the brain's daily waste products.
那我们睡觉的时候, 大脑是如何防止这些发生的
呢？ 科学家们发现了一种叫 glymphatic system
的脑部淋巴系统， 一种能清除这些积聚物的清
扫系统， 当我们睡觉的时候，这个系统更加活
跃。 它利用脑脊液来清除 在细胞之间的有毒物
质。 淋巴管，为免疫细胞提供路径的血管 最近
被发现存在于大脑中， 淋巴管也可能在清除大
脑 日常代谢物中扮演了重要的角色。
04:03
While scientists continue exploring the restorative
mechanisms behind sleep, we can be sure that slipping
into slumber is a necessity if we want to maintain our
health and our sanity.
虽然科学家们还在继续 探索关于睡眠的修复机
制， 我们可以肯定， 想要保持健和理智，打瞌
睡是必需的！
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/eleanor_nelsen_would_you_sacrifice_one_person_to_save_f
ive

00:06
Imagine you're watching a runaway trolley barreling down
the tracks straight towards five workers who can't escape.
You happen to be standing next to a switch that will divert
the trolley onto a second track. Here's the problem. That track
has a worker on it, too, but just one.
想象你眼前有一辆失控的电车， 飞速冲下轨道，
轨道前方有 5 个工人，难逃此劫。 而你正巧站在道
岔旁边, 可以将电车引向另一条轨道上。 那么，问
题来了, 另一条轨道上面也有工人， 但是只有一
个。
00:28
What do you do? Do you sacrifice one person to save five?
这时候，你会怎么办？ 你会选择牺牲一个人来挽救
五个人吗？
00:32
This is the trolley problem, a version of an ethical dilemma
that philosopher Philippa Foot devised in 1967. It's popular
because it forces us to think about how to choose when there
are no good choices. Do we pick the action with the best
outcome or stick to a moral code that prohibits causing
someone's death?
这就是我们所说的电车难题， 是由哲学家菲利帕福
特 在 1967 年提出的道德困境问题。 这个问题能引
起大家的兴趣 是因为它促使我们思考 如何在困境
之中做出抉择。 我们应该选择一个最好的结果，
还是坚守不做出任何伤害 他人生命的行为道德准
则？
00:55
In one survey, about 90% of respondents said that it's okay
to flip the switch, letting one worker die to save five, and
other studies, including a virtual reality simulation of the
dilemma, have found similar results.
一项调查显示， 大约 90%的参与者选择搬动道岔，
牺牲一人来拯救五个人的生命， 其他试验，包括一
个虚拟现实模拟研究 也得出了相似的结果。
01:11
These judgments are consistent with the philosophical
principle of utilitarianism which argues that the morally
correct decision is the one that maximizes well-being for the
greatest number of people. The five lives outweigh one, even
if achieving that outcome requires condemning someone to
death.
这与功利主义的观点相吻合， 即认为道德上正确的
决定是依据 为最多的人提供最大的利益 这一原则
做出的。 五个人的生命总归大于一个人的生命，
即便是以牺牲一个人的生命为代价。
01:30
But people don't always take the utilitarian view, which we
can see by changing the trolley problem a bit.
然而人们并不都遵循功利主义的思想， 我们从电车
难题的变式中就可以发现。
01:37
This time, you're standing on a bridge over the track as the
runaway trolley approaches. Now there's no second track, but
there is a very large man on the bridge next to you. If you
push him over, his body will stop the trolley, saving the five
workers, but he'll die.
这一次，你站在天桥上， 一辆失控的电车正朝你驶
来。 此时并没有第二条轨道， 但是你的旁边站着
一位体型庞大的男人。 如果你把他推下天桥， 他
的身体能够让电车停下来， 拯救五个人的性命。
但是，那个男人会牺牲。
01:56
To utilitarians, the decision is exactly the same, lose one life
to save five. But in this case, only about 10% of people say
that it's OK to throw the man onto the tracks. Our instincts
tell us that deliberately causing someone's death is different
than allowing them to die as collateral damage. It just feels
wrong for reasons that are hard to explain.
对于功利主义者而言， 这一次选择与上一次相同，
牺牲一个人来拯救另五个人。 但是在这次试验中，
只有大约 10%的参与者 认为可以把那个男人推落到
轨道上。 直觉告诉我们， 故意造成他人死亡的行
为 不同于间接伤害造成死亡。 这属于人之常情，
其背后的原因很难解释清楚。
02:20
This intersection between ethics and psychology is what's so
interesting about the trolley problem. The dilemma in its
many variations reveal that what we think is right or wrong
depends on factors other than a logical weighing of the pros
and cons.
正是道德伦理与心理学产生的交集 让电车难题变得
非常有意思。 电车难题及其多种变式 揭示了我们
在做出道德判断时 依赖于多种因素， 而非仅仅通
过合乎逻辑的利弊权衡。
02:36
For example, men are more likely than women to say it's
okay to push the man over the bridge. So are people who
watch a comedy clip before doing the thought experiment.
And in one virtual reality study, people were more willing to
sacrifice men than women.
比如说， 男性比女性更有可能选择 把那个男人推
下天桥。 参加试验之前看了喜剧片的人， 也更可
能做出同样的选择。 一项虚拟现实研究发现， 相
较女性，人们更愿意选择牺牲男性。
02:52
Researchers have studied the brain activity of people
thinking through the classic and bridge versions. Both
scenarios activate areas of the brain involved in conscious
decision-making and emotional responses. But in the bridge
version, the emotional response is much stronger. So is
activity in an area of the brain associated with processing
internal conflict. Why the difference? One explanation is that
pushing someone to their death feels more personal,
activating an emotional aversion to killing another person,
but we feel conflicted because we know it's still the logical
choice.
研究人员在探究 原始电车难题及其变式情形下 人
们的脑部活动时发现， 两种情景都激发了 脑部负
责有意识决策和 情绪反应的部位。 但是在变式情
况中， 参与者的情绪反应更加激烈。 脑部负责处
理 内部冲突的部位也更加活跃。 为什么会产生这
些变化？ 一种解释是，把人推下桥致死 对个人的
冲击更大， 激发了对于杀人行为的厌恶之情， 但
是我们又很矛盾， 因为我们知道这是符合逻辑的选
择。
03:31
"Trolleyology" has been criticized by some philosophers and
psychologists. They argue that it doesn't reveal anything
because its premise is so unrealistic that study participants
don't take it seriously.
一些哲学家和心理学家 对电车难题持批评态度。
他们认为这并没有揭示任何东西， 因为问题发生的
前提非常不现实， 以致于试验参与者并不会认真对
待。
03:45
But new technology is making this kind of ethical analysis
more important than ever. For example, driver-less cars may
have to handle choices like causing a small accident to
prevent a larger one. Meanwhile, governments are
researching autonomous military drones that could wind up
making decisions of whether they'll risk civilian casualties to
attack a high-value target. If we want these actions to be
ethical, we have to decide in advance how to value human
life and judge the greater good.
然而，新科技正让这种道德分析 变得比以往更加重
要。 比如说， 无人驾驶的汽车可能会面临 造成小
事故来避免大事故的选择。 同时，政府在研发军用
无人机 最终能够做出牺牲平民生命 以攻击高价值
目标的决定。 如果我们希望这样的行为 变得合乎
道德， 那么我们必须首先决定 如何衡量人类生命
的价值， 并评判什么是符合多数人利益的。
04:17
So researchers who study autonomous systems are
collaborating with philosophers to address the complex
problem of programming ethics into machines, which goes
to show that even hypothetical dilemmas can wind up on a
collision course with the real world.
那么，独立系统的研究人员 应该和哲学家一起处理
机器编程过程中遇到的道德难题， 而这正恰恰说明
了假设中的困境， 最终也会与现实世界发生碰撞。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/emma_bryce_what_really_happens_to_the_plastic_you_thr
ow_away/transcript

00:06
This is the story of three plastic bottles, empty and discarded.
Their journeys are about to diverge with outcomes that
impact nothing less than the fate of the planet. But they
weren't always this way. To understand where these bottles
end up, we must first explore their origins.
这是三个空废弃塑料瓶的故事 它们即将分道扬镳，
踏上各自的旅程， 而且最终都将影响地球的命运。
但故事不一定总是这样。 想要了解这些瓶子将去向
何方， 我们必须先探究它们的来源。
00:25
The heroes of our story were conceived in this oil refinery.
The plastic in their bodies was formed by chemically bonding
oil and gas molecules together to make monomers. In turn,
these monomers were bonded into long polymer chains to
make plastic in the form of millions of pellets. Those were
melted at manufacturing plants and reformed in molds to
create the resilient material that makes up the triplets' bodies.
Machines filled the bottles with sweet bubbily liquid and they
were then wrapped, shipped, bought, opened, consumed and
unceremoniously discarded. And now here they lie, poised at
the edge of the unknown.
我们故事的主角在炼油厂诞生。 形成它们身体的塑
料 是结合起来的油与汽的分子 通过化学反应产生
的单体所构成的。 这些单体是由长长的聚合物链组
成， 以数百万的小球的形式形成塑料。 这些单体
在工厂里被加热融化，通过模具塑型， 制造成弹性
材料，用于生产这些塑料瓶。 机器把甜汽水灌入瓶
中， 然后瓶子被包装成箱、运送发货、分销卖出、
再由消费者开瓶使用， 最后被丢进垃圾桶。 这就
是它们现在的归宿， 在未知世界的边缘蓄势待发。
01:10
Bottle one, like hundreds of millions of tons of his plastic
brethren, ends up in a landfill. This huge dump expands each
day as more trash comes in and continues to take up space.
As plastics sit there being compressed amongst layers of
other junk, rainwater flows through the waste and absorbs the
water-soluble compounds it contains, and some of those are
highly toxic. Together, they create a harmful stew called
leachate, which can move into groundwater, soil and streams,
poisoning ecosystems and harming wildlife. It can take bottle
one an agonizing 1,000 years to decompose.
一号瓶子，同它亿万吨的塑料弟兄们一样， 生命终
结在垃圾填埋场。 每天都有很多垃圾被丢到这里，
于是这个巨大的垃圾堆就越来越大。 塑料与其他的
垃圾一层层累积， 当雨水流经这些垃圾时， 会吸
收其中的水溶性化合物， 而某些化合物是剧毒的。
它们聚集在一起，形成有害的“垃圾渗滤液”， 这
种“垃圾渗滤液”可以进入地下水、土壤、河流，
毒害生态系统和野生动物。 一号瓶子大概要一千多
年才能分解。
01:54
Bottle two's journey is stranger but, unfortunately, no
happier. He floats on a trickle that reaches a stream, a stream
that flows into a river, and a river that reaches the ocean. After
months lost at sea, he's slowly drawn into a massive vortex,
where trash accumulates, a place known as the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch. Here the ocean's currents have trapped
millions of pieces of plastic debris. This is one of five plastic-
filled gyres in the world's seas. Places where the pollutants
turn the water into a cloudy plastic soup. Some animals, like
seabirds, get entangled in the mess. They, and others, mistake
the brightly colored plastic bits for food. Plastic makes them
feel full when they're not, so they starve to death and pass the
toxins from the plastic up the food chain. For example, it's
eaten by lanternfish, the lanternfish are eaten by squid, the
squid are eaten by tuna, and the tuna are eaten by us. And
most plastics don't biodegrade, which means they're destined
to break down into smaller and smaller pieces called micro
plastics, which might rotate in the sea eternally.
二号瓶子的旅途则比较奇特。 但是，这场奇特的旅
途并不愉快。 它漂浮在山涧，山涧汇入小溪， 小
溪流向小河， 小河流向了海洋， 在漂浮于海洋数
月后， 它缓慢卷入了一个巨大的垃圾漩涡， 那个
地方叫作“太平洋垃圾带”。 海洋涡流困住了无数
垃圾碎片， 这是世界上五大海洋垃圾漩涡之一。
在这些地方，污染物把海水变成了浑浊的塑料汤。
一些动物，比如海鸟，不小心陷入这里无法自救。
还有其他动物，误将鲜艳的塑料当做食物。 于是，
即使不吃东西也不会有饥饿感， 然后它们就饿死
了， 并把这些来自塑料的有毒物质带入了食物链。
举个例子，那些物质被小灯笼鱼吃了， 灯笼鱼又被
乌贼吃了， 乌贼又被金枪鱼吃了， 金枪鱼被我们
吃了。 大多数塑料是无法生物降解的， 这也就意
味着，它们只会分解成越来越小的碎片， 这种碎片
叫做“微塑料”， 它们可能会在海中循环，永远地
留在海里。
03:12
But bottle three is spared the cruel purgatories of his brothers.
A truck brings him to a plant where he and his companions
are squeezed flat and compressed into a block. Okay, this
sounds pretty bad, too, but hang in there. It gets better. The
blocks are shredded into tiny pieces, which are washed and
melted, so they become the raw materials that can be used
again. As if by magic, bottle three is now ready to be reborn
as something completely new.
而三号瓶子却幸免于它兄弟们遭遇的炼狱。 一辆卡
车将它带到工厂, 在这里，它和小伙伴们被压平，
之后再被压缩成块。 嗯，这听起来也很糟糕，但是
不要着急， 情况会有转机的。 那些压缩块被切成
小片， 经过洗涤、熔化， 又变成了可以利用的材
料。 奇迹般地，三号瓶子做好了准备， 即将摇身
一变，成为某样全新的物品。
03:44
For this bit of plastic with such humble origins, suddenly the
sky is the limit.
于是，看起来十分普通的塑料， 也能够大放异彩
了。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/emma_bryce_what_really_happens_to_the_plastic_you_thr
ow_away/transcript
00:11
Every day of your life, you move through systems of power
that other people made. Do you sense them? Do you
understand power? Do you realize why it matters? Power is
something we are often uncomfortable talking about. That's
especially true in civic life, how we live together in
community. In a democracy, power is supposed to reside
with the people, period. Any further talk about power and
who really has it seems a little dirty, maybe even evil. But
power is no more inherently good or evil than fire or physics.
It just is. It governs how any form of government works. It
determines who gets to determine the rules of the game. So
learning how power operates is key to being effective, being
taken seriously, and not being taken advantage of. In this
lesson, we'll look at where power comes from, how it's
exercised and what you can do to become more powerful in
public life. Let's start with a basic definition. Power is the
ability to make others do what you would have them do. Of
course, this plays out in all arenas of life, from family to the
workplace to our relationships. Our focus is on the civic
arena, where power means getting a community to make the
choices and to take the actions that you want. There are six
main sources of civic power. First, there's physical force and
a capacity for violence. Control of the means of force,
whether in the police or a militia, is power at its most primal.
A second core source of power is wealth. Money creates the
ability to buy results and to buy almost any other kind of
power. The third form of power is state action, government.
This is the use of law and bureaucracy to compel people to
do or not do certain things. In a democracy, for example, we
the people, theoretically, give government its power through
elections. In a dictatorship, state power emerges from the
threat of force, not the consent of the governed. The fourth
type of power is social norms or what other people think is
okay. Norms don't have the centralized machinery of
government. They operate in a softer way, peer to peer. They
can certainly make people change behavior and even change
laws. Think about how norms around marriage equality
today are evolving. The fifth form of power is ideas. An idea,
individual liberties, say, or racial equality, can generate
boundless amounts of power if it motivates enough people to
change their thinking and actions. And so the sixth source of
power is numbers, lots of humans. A vocal mass of people
creates power by expressing collective intensity of interest
and by asserting legitimacy. Think of the Arab Spring or the
rise of the Tea Party. Crowds count. These are the six main
sources of power, what power is. So now, let's think about
how power operates. There are three laws of power worth
examining. Law number one: power is never static. It's
always either accumulating or decaying in a civic arena. So
if you aren't taking action, you're being acted upon. Law
number two: power is like water. It flows like a current
through everyday life. Politics is the work of harnessing that
flow in a direction you prefer. Policymaking is an effort to
freeze and perpetuate a particular flow of power. Policy is
power frozen. Law number three: power compounds. Power
begets more power, and so does powerlessness. The only
thing that keeps law number three from leading to a situation
where only one person has all the power is how we apply
laws one and two. What rules do we set up so that a few
people don't accumulate too much power, and so that they
can't enshrine their privilege in policy? That's the question of
democracy, and you can see each of these laws at work in
any news story. Low wage workers organize to get higher
pay. Oil companies push to get a big pipeline approved. Gay
and lesbian couples seek the legal right to marry. Urban
parents demand school vouchers. You may support these
efforts or not. Whether you get what you want depends on
how adept you are with power, which brings us finally to
what you can do to become more powerful in public life.
Here, it's useful to think in terms of literacy. Your challenge
is to learn how to read power and write power. To read power
means to pay attention to as many texts of power as you can.
I don't mean books only. I mean seeing society as a set of
texts. Don't like how things are in your campus or city or
country? Map out who has what kind of power, arrayed in
what systems. Understand why it turned out this way, who's
made it so, and who wants to keep it so. Study the strategies
others in such situations used: frontal attack or indirection,
coalitions or charismatic authority. Read so you may write.
To write power requires first that you believe you have the
right to write, to be an author of change. You do. As with any
kind of writing, you learn to express yourself, speak up in a
voice that's authentic. Organize your ideas, then organize
other people. Practice consensus building. Practice conflict.
As with writing, it's all about practice. Every day you have a
chance to practice, in your neighborhood and beyond. Set
objectives, then bigger ones. Watch the patterns, see what
works. Adapt, repeat. This is citizenship. In this short lesson,
we've explored where civic power comes from, how it works
and what you can do to exercise it. One big question
remaining is the "why" of power. Do you want power to
benefit everyone or only you? Are your purposes pro-social
or anti-social? This question isn't about strategy. It's about
character, and that's another set of lessons. But remember
this: Power plus character equals a great citizen, and you
have the power to be one.
在生命的每一天 你都生活在由他人创造的权力系统
中 你注意到过它们吗？ 你了解权力吗？ 你知道为
什么这很重要吗？ 我们常常不愿意讨论权力 尤其
在它涉及到公民生活，涉及到我们如何在一个团体
中共存时 在民主社会中，权力被认为属于人民，讨
论结束。 任何关于权力的深入讨论和谁真正拥有权
力 似乎都显得有一点肮脏甚至邪恶 但权力和火或
者其他物理现象一样，并不存在天生的好坏 权力仅
仅就是权力而已。 权力规定了任何政府的运作方式
它决定了谁来制定游戏规则。 因此了解权力如何运
作才能变得高效 才能不被人忽视，不被人利用。
在这一课中，我们就来了解一下权力从何而来， 如
何使用权力，以及如何让自己在公共生活中变得更
有权力。 让我们先从基本定义开始。 权力是一种
让他人按照你的意愿行动的能力。 当然，权力被运
用在生活的方方面面。 从家庭，到工作场合，到人
与人之间的关系。 我们关注的是社会生活领域。
此时权力指的是让公众按照你的意愿 做出选择并且
采取行动 社会权力主要来源于六个方面。 第一是
生理上的力量和实施暴力的能力 无论警方还是民兵
组织 权力最初体现在对各种武力的控制 财富是权
力的第二个主要来源 钱能够买到成果和几乎所有其
它的权力 政府行为是权力的第三种形式 利用法律
和官僚来统治人民 规定人们能做什么，不能做什么
在民主国家里，比如我们，人民在理论上， 通过选
举把权力交给政府 在专政国家中，国家权力来自武
力威胁 而不是人民对政府统治的许可 权力的第四
种形式是社会规范，也就是人们认为对的事情 规范
并不像政府那样，有中央集权的运作机构 它们有一
套更温和的运作方式 它们确实能使人们改变行为，
甚至改变法律 想想当今关于婚姻公平的理念是如何
发展的 权力的第五种形式是信念 一个信念，例如
个人自由，或种族平等 如果能够驱动人们去改变他
们的想法和行动 便能创造出无限的权力 因此，权
力的第六种来源是数量，是大量的人 勇于发声的人
民群众 通过传达集体对权益的强烈关注和支持正义
来创造权力 想一想阿拉伯之春和美国茶叶党的兴起
便能看出群众是有力量的 这就是权力的六种来源，
也解释了什么是权力。 现在，让我们思考一下权力
是如何运作的 三种权力定律值得我们探讨 定律
一，权力从来不是静态的 在公民领域，权力总是处
于积累或衰弱的过程中 你不采取行动，别人就要对
你采取行动 定律二：权力就像水一样 它像水流，
流过我们的日常生活 政治实际上就是把这股水流往
你希望的方向引 政策的制定就是要把“权力水流
“保持在一个特定的流向 政策是冻住的权力 定律
三：权力会引发连锁反应 权力会导致更多权力，反
之亦然 定律三最终会导致所有的权力集中在一人手
中 想要阻止这种情况发生 就只能看我们如何运用
定律一和定律二了 我们应该制定什么样的规定来
避免少数人积累起过多的权力，从而在政治领域享
有神圣的特权？ 这是一个关于民主的问题 在每一
条新闻中，你都能看到这三条定律在起着作用 低收
入的工人组织要求更高的工资 石油公司争取大输油
管道的批准 同性恋者为同性婚姻的合法化呼喊 城
市父母则要求得到教育补助金劵 你可能支持或反对
这些行为 你是否能够得到你想要的取决于你有多擅
长运用你的权力 我们最终回到了你应如何使自己在
公众生活中更加有权力这个命题 在这里，从文学的
角度来思考有益于我们理解这个问题 你的挑战是学
习如何阅读权力和书写权力 阅读权力意味着你应该
尽可能地多看有关权力的文本 我指的不仅仅是书籍
我的意思是把社会当做是一组文本 你不喜欢你发生
在所在的学校、城市或乡村的事情？ 标出什么人拥
有什么权力，是由什么体系决定的 想想为什么事情
会变成这个样子 是谁让事情变成这个样子，又是谁
想让事情保持现状 学习其他人在这种情况下使用的
策略 是直接进击还是采取迂回战术 是利用联合力
量还是魅力型权威 阅读是为了写作 书写权力首先
要求你相信自己有书写的权利 去主导改变 你确实
有 在任何一种写作中，你都要学会去表达自己 说
出自己真实的想法 组织好你的观点，再组织起其他
人 练习如何建立统一 练习如何面对矛盾 就像写作
一样，练习是不二法则 每天你都会有机会在你的邻
居之间或之外进行练习 设立一些目标，再设立更大
的目标 看看哪种形式起作用 不断运用 这就是公民
在这堂短课中，我们学习了权力的由来 权力的运作
方式和我们可以怎么实施权力 还有一个重要问题，
为什么要有权力？ 你想用权力来为造福大众，还是
仅仅为了自己的好处？ 你的目的是有利于社会的还
是反社会的？ 这个问题无关策略 而关于人的品
性，这就是另一堂课了 但记住 权力加上品性等于
好公民 而你有这个能力去当一个好公民
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/janet_iwasa_why_it_s_so_hard_to_cure_hiv_aids/transcript

00:06
In 2008, something incredible happened: a man was
cured of HIV. In over 70 million HIV cases, that was a
first and, so far, a last. We don't yet understand exactly
how he was cured. We can cure people of various
diseases, such as malaria and hepatitis C, so why can't we
cure HIV? Well, first let's examine how HIV infects
people and progresses into AIDS.
2008 年，难以置信的事情发生了： 一名 HIV 患
者被成功治愈 在超过七千万 HIV 病例中，这是
第一例， 目前为止也是最后一例 我们无法确切
的知道他是如何被治好的 我们可以治愈很多疾
病，比如疟疾与丙肝 但是我们为何不能治愈
HIV？ 首先，让我们来看 HIV 病毒是如何感染人
类 以及如何发展成为艾滋病
00:33
HIV spreads through exchanges of bodily fluids.
Unprotected sex and contaminated needles are the
leading cause of transmission. It, fortunately, cannot
spread through air, water, or casual contact. Individuals
of any age, sexual orientation, gender and race can
contract HIV.
HIV 病毒通过体液交换传播 无保护的性行为和污
染的针头是传播的主要原因 幸运的是，HIV 无
法通过空气、水或者接触传播 任何年纪，性取
向，性别和种族的个体 都有可能感染 HIV
00:52
Once inside the body, HIV infects cells that are part of
the immune system. It particularly targets helper T cells,
which help defend the body against bacterial and fungal
infections. HIV is a retrovirus, which means it can write
its genetic code into the genome of infected cells, co-
opting them into making more copies of itself.
一旦进入人体，HIV 病毒便开始感染免疫系统的
细胞 它专门攻击辅助型 T 细胞 这是一种帮助人
体抵抗细菌和真菌感染的细胞 HIV 是逆转录病
毒 它可以将自己的基因编码写入被感染细胞的
基因组 指派他们复制更多的病毒
01:13
During the first stage of HIV infection, the virus
replicates within helper T cells, destroying many of them
in the process. During this stage, patients often
experience flu-like symptoms, but are typically not yet in
mortal danger. However, for a period ranging from a few
months to several years, during which time the patient
may look and feel completely healthy, the virus continues
to replicate and destroy T cells. When T cell counts drop
too low, patients are in serious danger of contracting
deadly infections that healthy immune systems can
normally handle. This stage of HIV infection is known as
AIDS.
在 HIV 感染初期 病毒在辅助性 T 细胞中复制 在
这个过程中破坏了许多 T 细胞 在这个阶段，患
者通常有类似流感的症状 但不会有生命危险 在
几个月甚至几年的一段时期内 患者可能看起来
很健康 但病毒持续复制，同时破坏 T 细胞 当 T
细胞数目过低 患者将处于致死性感染的危险中
这种感染在健康的免疫系统中是可以被抵御的
HIV 感染的这个阶段被称作艾滋病
01:50
The good news is there are drugs that are highly effective
at managing levels of HIV and preventing T cell counts
from getting low enough for the disease to progress to
AIDS. With antiretroviral therapy, most HIV-positive
people can expect to live long and healthy lives, and are
much less likely to infect others.
好消息是已经有有效的药物 能够控制 HIV 病毒
水平， 并防止 T 细胞数目过低， 从而避免发展
成为艾滋病 如果进行抗逆转录病毒治疗， 大部
分 HIV 阳性的病人能够继续正常生活 而且也会
减少对其他人的感染
02:09
However, there are two major catches. One is that HIV-
positive patients must keep taking their drugs for the rest
of their lives. Without them, the virus can make a deadly
comeback.
但目前有两个难点 第一，HIV 阳性病人在有生之
年 必须一直服药 如果停止，HIV 会恶化
02:20
So, how do these drugs work? The most commonly
prescribed ones prevent the viral genome from being
copied and incorporated into a host cell's DNA. Other
drugs prevent the virus from maturing or assembling,
causing HIV to be unable to infect new cells in the body.
那么，这些药物是如何起作用的？ 最常用的那
些临床药物可以阻止病毒的基因 复制并合并入
宿主细胞 DNA 其他的药物可以阻止病毒的变异和
组装 使得 HIV 病毒不能感染体内其他细胞
02:37
But HIV hides out somewhere our current drugs cannot
reach it: inside the DNA of healthy T cells. Most T cells
die shortly after being infected with HIV. But in a tiny
percentage, the instructions for building more HIV
viruses lies dormant, sometimes for years. So even if we
could wipe out every HIV virus from an infected person's
body, one of those T cells could activate and start
spreading the virus again.
但是 HIV 病毒会藏在目前药物无法到达的地方：
健康 T 细胞的 DNA 中 大部分 T 细胞被 HIV 传染
后迅速死亡 但是很小的一部分 被用作构建更多
HIV 病毒的场所，会处于休眠 有时甚至好几年
因此，即使我们能够清除感染人体的每一个 HIV
病毒 一个这样的 T 细胞就能激活并且重新传播
病毒
03:02
The other major catch is that not everyone in the world
has access to the therapies that could save their lives. In
Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for over 70% of
HIV patients worldwide, antiretrovirals reached only
about one in three HIV-positive patients in 2012. There
is no easy answer to this problem. A mix of political,
economic and cultural barriers makes effective
prevention and treatment difficult. And even in the U.S.,
HIV still claims more than 10,000 lives per year.
另一个难点是，并不是世界上的所有人都能获得
这些能够挽救他们生命的药物 在撒哈拉以南非
洲， 这个地区占全球艾滋病患者的 70％以上
2012 年，仅有三个 HIV 阳性患者接受抗逆转录病
毒治疗 这个问题很难解决 政治，经济，文化的
障碍 使得有效的预防和治疗变得困难 即使是在
美国，每年 HIV 夺去超过 10000 人的生命
03:34
However, there is ample cause for hope. Researchers may
be closer than ever to developing a true cure. One
research approach involves using a drug to activate all
cells harboring the HIV genetic information. This would
both destroy those cells and flush the virus out into the
open, where our current drugs are effective. Another is
looking to use genetic tools to cut the HIV DNA out of
cells genomes altogether.
但是依然有希望 研究人员比以往任何时候都接
近发展出真正的治疗方法 一项研究涉及 使用一
种药物激活隐含 HIV 遗传信息的所有细胞 这将
破坏这些细胞并且将病毒暴露出来 接着我们现
有的药物就可以起作用了 另外一种是使用基因
工具 将 HIV 的 DNA 从细胞基因组剪切下来
04:01
And while one cure out of 70 million cases may seem like
terrible odds, one is immeasurably better than zero. We
now know that a cure is possible, and that may give us
what we need to beat HIV for good.
尽管七千万人中仅有一例治愈 但是一个总比没
有好 我们现在清楚治疗还是有可能的 这告诉我
们将需要什么去击败 HIV
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/aaron_slepkov_why_can_t_you_put_metal_in_a_microwave
/transcript
00:07
American engineer Percy Spencer developed World War II
RADAR technology that helped detect Nazi airplanes— but
it would soon have other surprising applications. One day in
1945, Spencer was standing near a RADAR instrument called
a magnetron, a device that produced high-intensity
microwaves that could reflect off planes. Suddenly, he
noticed that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. He
exposed other things to the magnetron and, sure enough,
popcorn kernels popped, and an egg—well— exploded onto
a colleague. Soon after, the first microwave oven became
available, operating using the very same technology. So, how
does it work?
美国工程师珀西·斯宾塞（Percy Spencer） 开发
了二战雷达技术， 该技术有助于探测纳粹飞机——
但很快它有了其他令人惊喜的应用。 1945 年的某
一天，斯宾塞站在一台名为 磁控管的雷达仪器旁
边， 该设备可产生能在飞机上反射的高强度微波。
突然，他注意到口袋里的糖果棒融化了。 他将其他
东西暴露在磁控管中，果然， 爆米花弹出来了，
一个鸡蛋飞溅到了同事身上。 不久之后，第一台微
波炉问世， 其运行技术（和磁控管）完全相同。
那么，它是如何运作的？
00:54
All light energy travels in waves of oscillating electric and
magnetic fields. These oscillations span a range of
frequencies comprising the electromagnetic spectrum. The
higher the frequency, the more energetic. Gamma rays and X-
rays have the highest frequencies; microwaves and radio
waves, the lowest.Generally, light’s oscillating electric field
exerts forces on charged particles, like the electrons in a
molecule. When light encounters polar molecules, like water,
it can make them rotate, as their positive and negative regions
are pushed and pulled in different directions. The frequency
the light is traveling at also determines how it interacts with
matter. Microwaves interact strongly with the water
molecules found in most foods. Essentially, they make the
molecules jostle against each other, creating frictional heat.
所有光能都以振荡的电场和磁场波动性传播。 这些
振荡跨越了一系列频率， 包括电磁频谱。 频率越
高，能量越大。 伽玛射线和 X 射线的频率最高；
微波和无线电波的频率最低。 通常，光的振荡电场
对带电粒子施加压力， 例如分子中的电子。 当光
遇到极性分子（例如水）时， 它会使水分子旋转，
这是因为极性分子的正负区域 被推向了不同的方
向。 光的传播频率 也决定了它与物质相互作用的
方式。 微波与大多数食物中的水分子强烈相互作
用。 本质上，它们使分子相互碰撞， 产生摩擦
热。
01:51
Household microwave ovens are fitted with cavity
magnetrons. When you activate a microwave oven, a heated
element within the magnetron ejects electrons, and a strong
magnet forces them to spiral outwards. As they pass over the
magnetron’s metallic cavities, the electrons induce an
oscillating charge, generating a continuous stream of
electromagnetic microwaves. A metal pipe directs the
microwaves into the main food compartment, where they
bounce off the metal walls and penetrate a few centimeters
into the food inside. When the microwaves encounter polar
molecules in the food, like water, they make them vibrate at
high frequencies.
家用微波炉装有腔体磁控管， 当你开启微波炉时，
磁控管内的加热元件会喷出电子， 强磁体迫使它们
向外螺旋。 当它们穿过磁控管的金属腔时， 电子
会产生振荡电荷， 产生连续的电磁微波流。 金属
管将微波引导到主要的食物空间， 在那里它们从金
属墙上反弹， 并可穿透食物内部几厘米深。 当微
波遇到食物中的极性分子（例如水）时， 它们会使
水分子以高频振动。
02:36
This can have interesting effects depending on the food's
composition. Oil and sugar absorb fewer microwaves than
water, so if you microwave them alone, not much happens.
But when microwaves encounter a marshmallow, they heat
the moisture trapped within its gelatin-sugar matrix, making
the hot air expand and the marshmallow puff.Butter is
essentially a suspension of water droplets in fat. When
microwaved, the water rapidly vaporizes, making the butter
melt quickly— and sometimes, a bit violently.
根据食物的成分，这可能会产生有趣的效果。 油和
糖吸收的微波比水少， 因此，如果单独用微波炉加
热， 不会有什么额外变化。 但是，当微波炉遇到
棉花糖时， 它们会加热残留在其明胶糖基质中的水
分， 从而使热空气膨胀，棉花糖膨化。 黄油本质
上是水滴在脂肪中的悬浊液， 用微波炉加热时，水
迅速蒸发， 使黄油快速融化，有时甚至有点剧烈
了。
03:13
So microwaves heat food molecules mechanically, through
friction— but they don't alter them chemically. Soup heated
in the microwave is molecularly indistinguishable from soup
heated using a stove or oven. The term “microwave radiation”
can be alarming. But in physics, radiation simply describes
any transfer of energy across a gap. High frequency, ionizing
radiation may be harmful because it can strip electrons from
molecules, including DNA. However, microwaves aren’t
energetic enough to alter chemical bonds. And microwave
ovens are designed to prevent leakage— for safety and
efficiency’s sake. Nonetheless, to totally limit exposure,
experts recommend simply standing a few feet away when a
microwave oven is on.
因此，微波通过摩擦机械地加热食物分子， 但它们
不会对食物分子进行化学改变。 汤是用微波炉还是
炉子或烤箱加热的， 在分子上没有区别。 “微波
辐射” 一词可能令人警觉。 但在物理学中， 辐射
只是描述任何能量跨越间隙的传递。 高频电离辐射
可能是有害的， 因为它可以从分子中剥离电子，包
括 DNA。 但是，微波的能量不足以改变化学键。 微
波炉在设计上就是防泄漏的， 既是为了安全也是效
率。 尽管如此，为了完全杜绝暴露在辐射下， 专
家建议在微波炉使用时 直接站在几英尺远的地方。
04:05
Microwaving metal is dangerous, though, right? Well, it
depends. Metals are conductors, meaning their electrons are
loosely bound to their atoms and move freely in response to
electric fields.Instead of absorbing microwave radiation, the
metal’s electrons concentrate on the surface, leading to high
voltages at sharp edges, corners, and small gaps. This
includes areas between the creases on a sheet of aluminum
foil, the prongs of a fork, or a metal object and the microwave
oven’s metal walls. Sometimes, voltages get high enough to
strip electrons from the surrounding air molecules. This
electrically charged gas, or plasma, may then form lightning-
like sparks and grow as it absorbs more microwaves. Once
the oven is turned off, the plasma dissipates.
但是，用微波炉加热金属很危险，对吧？ 好吧，这
要看情况。 金属是导体， 这意味着它们的电子与
原子结合松散， 并在电场的作用下自由移动。 金
属的电子不会吸收微波辐射， 而是集中在表面，
从而在锋利的边缘、角落和小间隙处产生高电压。
这包括铝箔纸上的折痕、 叉子 或金属物体尖端以
及微波炉的金属壁。 有时，电压会高得足够 从周
围的空气分子中剥离电子。 然后，这种带电的气体
或等离子体 可能会形成电火花， 并随着吸收更多
的微波而变多。 烤箱关闭后，等离子体就会消散。
04:57
But not all metal objects spark in the microwave— though
they might make things cook a little unevenly. In fact, a lot of
microwavable packaging takes advantage of this, using a thin
metal coating to crisp the food’s surface. And overall, as long
as it doesn't approach the oven's walls, leaving a metal spoon
in a microwaving bowl of soup should be a pretty uneventful
affair. That’s just another neat benefit of cooking with
RADAR.
但是，并非所有的金属物体 都会在微波炉中产生火
花， 尽管它们可能会使食物煮得有点不均匀。 实
际上，许多可微波炉加热的包装 都利用了这一点，
使用薄薄的金属涂层使食物表面变脆。 总的来说，
只要它不靠近烤箱的墙壁， 在装有微波炉的汤碗里
放一把金属勺子 应该没什么关系。 这只是使用
“雷达”烹饪的另一个好处。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/raiana_mckinney_and_esther_wozniak_the_god_who_wante
d_to_rule_the_seas/transcript
00:06
With his appetite for conquest and knack for combat, the
shark god Dakuwaqa was determined to vanquish all his
rivals.
凭借对征服的渴望和战斗的技巧， 鲨鱼之神达库瓦
卡决心战胜所有对手。
00:16
Long ago, the ancestral gods of Fiji, known as kalou vu or
simply vu, settled on the Pacific archipelago, each
establishing a village in a different area. Eventually, they
metamorphosed into various forms. Dakuwaqa settled on
resource-rich Cakaudrove and transformed into a shark. But
he was unsatisfied. He became proud and greedy, and wanted
to challenge every vu, establish himself as the mightiest, and
dominate all of Fiji’s islands.
很久以前，斐济祖先的诸神， 被称为卡卢乌或简称
乌， 他们定居在太平洋群岛， 各自占山为王。 最
终，它们幻化成各种形态。 达库瓦卡选择了富饶的
卡考德罗夫 并幻化成了鲨鱼。 但他并不满意。 他
变得傲慢又贪婪，想挑战每一位乌， 确立自己为最
强者并统治斐济所有岛屿。
00:52
In his quest for power, Dakuwaqa sped through the waters
toward Rewa, where a quick and cunning eel-shaped vu tried
to stop him in the mouth of a river. Soon, the two were
tumbling through the water, locked in combat. The brawling
vu created towering waves, stretching the river further inshore
and flooding nearby coastal communities. In the end, the eel
was no match for Dakuwaqa’s ferocity. After the fight, the
Rewa River became the longest and widest in Fiji, which
made nearby communities especially prone to flooding. But
Dakuwaqa didn’t care what damage he caused, so long as he
remained undefeated.
在寻求权力的过程中，达库瓦卡 疾驰穿过水域前往
雷瓦， 在那里，一个敏捷而狡猾的鳗鱼乌 试图将
他拦在河口。 很快，两人在水中翻滚，陷入了战
斗。 这场激烈的战斗带来了巨浪， 河流进一步向
近海延伸， 并淹没了附近的沿海群落。 最后，鳗
鱼乌不敌达库瓦卡败下阵来。 战斗结束后，雷瓦河
成为斐济 最长、最宽的河流， 这使得附近的群落
特别容易发生洪灾。 但达库瓦卡并不在乎他带来的
灾难， 只要他能立于不败之地。
01:35
Dakuwaqa continued on his rampage, later vanquishing
Masilaca, the small, mischievous shark vu that lived near
Beqa Island. Despite their rocky start, the two became friends.
But one day, Masilaca— perhaps growing tired of
Dakuwaqa’s proud, selfish ways and the chaos he’d caused
across the archipelago— presented a challenge he knew
Dakuwaqa couldn’t resist. Masilaca spoke about a fierce vu
called Rokobakaniceva, who guarded the outer island of
Kadavu, and teased that, until Dakuwaqa defeated them, he
couldn’t claim the title of strongest vu. Before Masilaca could
even finish describing Rokobakaniceva, Dakuwaqa was
jetting through the water in the direction of Kadavu.
达库瓦卡继续作恶还征服了马西拉卡—— 那个生活
在贝卡岛附近的顽皮小鲨鱼乌。 不打不相识，两人
成了朋友。 但是有一天，马西拉卡 ——也许已经
厌倦了达库瓦卡傲慢、自私的方式， 以及他在群岛
上造成的混乱—— 提出了他知道达库瓦卡无法抗拒
的挑战。 马西拉卡谈到了一个 名叫罗科巴卡尼切
娃的乌， 他守卫着坎达乌的外岛， 并开玩笑说，
在达库瓦卡击败他们之前， 他不配获得最强乌的称
号。 没等马西拉卡说完 罗科巴卡尼切娃的的事
迹， 达库瓦卡就朝着坎达乌的方向疾驰而去。
02:24
As he came close, Dakuwaqa saw a giant octopus hovering at
the entrance to a reef. The octopus vu, Rokobakaniceva, cared
greatly for the people of Kadavu and asked Dakuwaqa
politely to stay away and not intimidate the villagers.
Dakuwaqa was only emboldened by the request. He showed
his imposing teeth and lunged forward to attack.
当他靠近时，达库瓦卡看见一只巨型章鱼 在珊瑚礁
的入口处盘旋。 章鱼乌罗科巴卡尼切娃 非常关心
坎达乌的人民， 并礼貌地要求达库瓦卡离开， 不
要恐吓村民。 达库瓦卡只是因为这个要求 而奋起
攻击。 他露出利齿，向前猛冲进攻。
02:50
But Rokobakaniceva was prepared. With four tentacles, the
octopus vu remained rooted to a rock on the seafloor and with
the remaining four, captured Dakuwaqa’s body and flipped
him over. In this position, his breathing slowed and his
muscles relaxed. He was paralyzed and powerless in a
mysterious state called tonic immobility that some sharks
assume when flipped over or when the sensitive pores of their
snout are stimulated. Dakuwaqa was stuck upside down and
struggling to breathe, and Rokobakaniceva’s tentacles
wrapped tighter and tighter around his body. Though still
shocked, Dakuwaqa realized the battle was lost for the first
time in his life. In exchange for Rokobakaniceva’s mercy, he
promised that he would change his ways. Instead of menacing
the villagers and other vu, he vowed to protect Fijian fishers
from Kadavu and beyond. Pleased with the pact,
Rokobakaniceva agreed and freed Dakuwaqa.
但是罗科巴卡尼切娃已经做好了准备， 他的四根触
角仍然扎根于海底的岩石上， 剩下的四只触角抓住
了达库瓦卡的身体 并将他翻过来。 在这个姿势
下， 达库瓦卡的呼吸减慢，肌肉松弛， 处于一种
叫做强直性不动的 神秘状态下，瘫软无力， 有些
鲨鱼在翻身 或鼻子敏感毛孔 受到刺激时也会出现
这种状态。 达库瓦卡被倒置困住，难以呼吸， 而
罗科巴卡尼切娃的触角 越来越紧地缠绕着他的身
体。 尽管震惊不已， 但达库瓦卡有生以来 第一次
意识到这场战斗失败了。 为了让罗科巴卡尼切娃饶
命， 他承诺会改变自己的方式。 他发誓不会威胁
村民和其他乌， 而是要保护坎达乌 及斐济其他地
方的渔民免受侵害， 罗科巴卡尼切娃对承诺感到满
意， 同意并释放了达库瓦卡。
03:58
He stayed true to his word— no longer bragging about
dueling vu, conquering coastlines, and taking tributes.
Instead, he began finding satisfaction in guiding lost people
back to their homes and warning local fishers of bad weather
and sinister sea creatures. In return, some of Fiji’s people
would pay homage to Dakuwaqa by pouring a traditional
drink— yaqona, also known as kava— into the ocean. And
upon returning safely from fishing trips with an abundance of
catch, they’d throw fish heads back into the ocean for the
sharks— gestures of mutual care to elicit luck and protection
from Dakuwaqa himself.
他信守诺言， 不再吹嘘与其他乌决斗、 征服海岸
线或是收取贡品。 相反，他开始满足于 引导迷路
的人返回家园， 以及提醒当地渔民注意恶劣天气
和险恶的海洋生物。 作为回报，一些斐济人会向大
海里 倒入一种传统的饮料 ——亚科纳，也称为卡
瓦酒， 向达库瓦卡致敬。 而且，当他们带着丰富
的战利品 从钓鱼航行中安全回来后， 他们会把鱼
头扔回海里送给鲨鱼 意思是互相照顾以求好运，
并得到达库瓦卡本人的保护。
Topic:

Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/carolyn_beans_why_is_rice_so_popular/transcript
00:07
If you were to place all the rice consumed each year on
one side of a scale, and every person in the world on the
other, the scale would tip heavily towards rice's favor.
This beloved crop contributes over 20% of the calories
consumed by humans each year. Korean bibimbap,
Nigerian jollof, Indian biryani, Spanish paella, and
countless other culinary masterpieces all begin with rice.
So how did this humble grain end up in so many cuisines?
如果你将每年消费的大米量 放在天平的一侧，
将世界上的人口放在另一边， 那么天平就会大
大偏向于大米一侧。 这种备受喜爱的作物贡献
了人类 每年消耗的卡路里的 20 ％以上。 韩式
石锅拌饭、尼日利亚加罗夫饭、 印度香饭、西
班牙海鲜饭 和无数其他烹饪杰作都有米饭的身
影。 那么，这种不起眼的谷物是 如何融入这么
多美食中的呢？
00:35
The roots of rice go back thousands of years to when
early farmers in Asia, Africa, and South America each
independently domesticated the crop. First came Asian
rice, which many plant geneticists believe originated in
what's now China. Over 10,000 years ago, nomadic
hunters in the region began gathering and eating seeds
from a weedy grass. Then, around 9,000 years ago, they
started planting these seeds, prompting nomadic hunters
to settle into farming communities. With each harvest,
growers selected and replanted seeds from the rice plants
that pleased them most— like those with bigger and more
plentiful grains or aromatic flavors. Over millennia,
thousands of varieties of Asian rice emerged.
水稻的起源可以追溯到几千年前 亚洲、非洲和
南美的早期农民 各自独立驯化水稻的时候。 首
先是亚洲大米， 许多植物遗传学家认为 它起源
于现在的中国。 一万多年前，该地区的游牧猎
人 开始从杂草丛中采集和食用种子。 然后，大
约在 9,000 年前， 他们开始播种这些种子， 促
使游牧猎人定居在农业社区。 每次收获时，种
植者都会从最令他们 满意的水稻中挑选并重新
种植种子， 例如谷物更，更丰富 或具有芳香味
的种子。 几千年来，出现了数千种亚洲大米。
01:18
A relative of the same weedy grass was also domesticated
in Africa around 3,000 years ago. Today, its growth is
mostly limited to West Africa. South American growers
also domesticated rice around 4,000 years ago, though
the crop was lost after the arrival of Europeans.
大约在 3000 年前， 非洲也驯化了 同样的杂草
的亲属。 如今，其增长主要局限于西非。 南美
的种植者也在 大约 4000 年前驯化了水稻， 但
欧洲人到来后收成就流失了。
01:36
Asian rice, however, spread widely, and is now a
cornerstone of diet and culture in Asia and beyond. In
India and Nepal, many Hindus mark an infant's transition
to solid foods with a ceremony known as Annaprashan,
where the baby tastes rice for the first time. in Japan, rice
is so central to diets that the word "gohan" means both
"cooked rice" and "meal."
但是，亚洲大米传播广泛， 现在已成为亚洲及
其他地区 饮食和文化的基石。 在印度和尼泊
尔，许多印度教徒会 纪念婴儿转为进食固体食
物， 这种仪式名为安纳普拉尚。 也就是婴儿第
一次品尝大米。 在日本，大米是饮食的核心 ，
“悟饭”一词 意味着 “煮熟的米饭” 和 “膳
食”。
01:58
The global expansion of rice cultivation was only
possible because the plant can grow in many climates—
from tropical to temperate. As a semi-aquatic plant, rice
happily grows in submerged soils. Many other crops can't
survive in standing water because their root cells rely on
air within soil to access oxygen. But rice plants have air
channels in their roots that allow oxygen to travel from
the leaves and stems to the submerged tissues.
Traditionally, growers plant rice in paddy fields— flat
land submerged under as much as 10 centimeters of water
throughout the growing season. This practice returns high
yields since many competing weeds can't hack it in the
aquatic environment. But the technique is also water
intensive. Rice covers 11% of global cropland, but uses
over a third of the world's irrigation water.
水稻种植的全球扩张之所以成为可能， 是因为
该植物可以 在许多气候中生长—— 从热带到温
带。 作为一种半水生植物， 水稻在水下的土壤
中生长活跃。 许多其他作物无法在积水中生
存， 因为它们的根细胞依赖 土壤中的空气来获
取氧气。 但是水稻植物的根部有气腔，允许氧
气 从叶子和茎传播到水下组织。 传统上，种植
者在稻田里种植水稻—— 整个生长季节， 水深
可达 10 厘米的平地。 这种方式非常高产， 因
为许多相互竞争的杂草 无法在水生环境中影响
水稻。 但是该技术也需要大量用水。 水稻覆盖
了全球农田的 11 ％， 但使用了世界三分之一
以上的灌溉用水。
02:47
This form of rice production also pumps out a surprising
amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Flooded fields are
the perfect breeding grounds for microorganisms known
as methanogens. These microscopic lifeforms thrive in
environments lacking oxygen, because they evolved
when the Earth contained little of this gas. Methanogens
are the only organisms known to produce methane— a
greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide
at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Cows, for example,
are infamous for burping out methane due to
methanogens in their stomachs. In a flooded paddy field,
methanogens set to work eating away at organic material
in the submerged soil and multiplying rapidly, all the
while releasing copious amounts of methane. The result:
rice cultivation contributes around 12% of human-caused
methane emissions each year.
这种形式的大米生产还排放出 惊人的温室气体
排放。 被洪水淹没的田地是甲烷原微生物的 理
想繁殖地。 这些微小生命体在 缺乏氧气的环境
中茁壮成长， 因为它们是在地球几乎 不含氧气
时进化的。 甲烷原是已知唯一能产生甲烷的生
物， 甲烷是一种温室气体， 在大气中产生热量
的能力 是二氧化碳的 25 倍。 例如，奶牛的差
评就是因其胃中 有能排除甲烷的甲烷原。 在被
洪水淹没的稻田里， 甲烷原会吞噬水下土壤中
的有机物质 并迅速繁殖， 同时释放出大量的甲
烷， 结果：每年水稻种植排放量约占 人为甲烷
排放量的 12％。
03:37
But there's good news. Rice doesn't actually need to grow
in continuously flooded paddies. Researchers and
growers are exploring water management strategies that
can cut the methane while keeping the yield. One
promising technique is known as alternate wetting and
drying. Growers periodically let the water level drop,
which keeps methanogen growth in check. Alternate
wetting and drying can cut water use by 30% and
methane emissions by 30 to 70% without impacting
yield.
但是有个好消息。 水稻实际上并不需要在 持续
被洪水淹没的稻田里生长。 研究人员和种植者
正在 探索水资源管理策略， 这些策略可以在保
持 产量的同时减少甲烷。 一种被看好的技术被
称为干湿循环。 种植者定期让水位下降， 从而
控制甲烷的生长。 干湿循环可以减少 30% 的用
水量 和 30% 到 70% 的甲烷 排放但不影响产
量。
04:05
Greenhouse gases come from many— sometimes
unexpected— places. Making rice growing more
sustainable is just one of the many challenges we'll need
to face to avoid catastrophic warming. Today, many rice
growers still flood fields all season long. Changing
millennia-old practices requires a major mindset shift.
But going against the grain could be just what we need to
keep our planet healthy and our bowls full.
温室气体来自许多有时 是意想不到的地方。 提
高水稻种植的可持续性 只是我们为避免灾难性
变暖 而需要面对的众多挑战之一。 今天，许多
水稻种植者 仍在整季淹没田地。 改变千禧一代
的做法需要 重大的思维方式转变。 但是，与谷
物的周旋可能 正是我们维护地球健康 和吃饱饭
所需要的。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_kwartler_the_diseases_that_changed_humanity_foreve
r/transcript

00:06
Since humanity's earliest days, we’ve been plagued by
countless disease-causing pathogens. Invisible and persistent,
these microorganisms and the illnesses they incur have killed
more humans than anything else in history. But which disease
is deadliest varies across time and place. Because while the
march of progress has made us safer from some infectious
threats, human innovation often exposes us to surprising new
maladies.
从人类早期开始 我们就一直被各种致病的病原体所
困扰。 这些无形且持久的微生物及其导致的疾病
已经是剥夺人类性命之物的王中之王。 然而，最致
命的疾病会随着 时间和地点的改变而变化。 虽然
人类不断的进步 会让我们免受一些传染病的威胁，
但人类的创新往往让我们面临新的疾病。
00:37
Our tour of history’s deadliest diseases begins when humans
lived in small hunter-gatherer communities. The illnesses
these pre-agricultural nomads encountered most likely came
from the various animals they ate, and the soil and water they
interacted with. There are no written records to help us
identify these diseases, however, some illnesses leave distinct
growths or lesions on the skeleton, allowing
bioarchaeologists to diagnose ancient remains. And
researchers have found that bones from this era suggest the
presence of tuberculosis and treponemal infections.
历史上最致命疾病始于 人类活在小型狩猎采集社区
的时期。 这些早期游牧民族 最常遇到的疾病可能
来自 他们所食用的各种动物 以及他们接触的土壤
和水源。 虽然没有书面记录可以 帮助我们弄清楚
这些疾病， 但有些疾病会在骨骼上 留下独特的生
长物或病变， 能够让生物考古学家 对古代的遗骸
进行诊断。 研究人员发现 这个时期的骨骼显示出
存在肺结核和梅毒感染。
01:15
While these conditions are life-threatening, the deadliest
diseases are invariably part of widespread epidemics, and
there’s no evidence of any large-scale outbreaks in this
lengthy pre-agricultural period. However, when humans
started developing agriculture around 12,000 years ago, it
brought a whole new crop of diseases. Early farmers knew
little about waste and water management, setting the stage for
diarrheal diseases like dysentery. Much worse, the
proliferation of open fields and irrigation created standing
pools of water which brought mosquitoes and in turn
malaria— one of history’s oldest and deadliest diseases. We
don’t know exactly how many early farmers malaria killed,
or how many it left vulnerable to other lethal infections. But
we do know this mosquito-borne illness continued to spread
through humanity’s next major development: urbanization.
虽然这些疾病威胁生命 但最致命的疾病无一例外
都是广泛流行的大疫情。 没有证据表明在这段 漫
长的农前时期出现了大规模疫情。 然而，当人类在
大约一万两千年前 开始发展农业时， 农业带来了
一整套新的疾病。 早期的农民对 废物和水资源的
管理知之甚少， 为像痢疾这样的腹泻性疾病铺平道
路。 更糟糕的是 开阔的田地和灌溉造成了滞水，
带来了蚊子，从而带来了疟疾-- 历史上最古老也是
最致命的疾病之一。 我们不知道究竟 有多少早期
的农民因疟疾丧生 或者有多少人因此变得 易受其
他致命感染的侵袭。 但我们确实知道，这种由蚊子
传播的疾病 继续在城市化， 这一人类下一个重大
发展进程中传播。
02:15
In small communities, infectious diseases like measles and
smallpox can only circulate so long before running out of
hosts. But in densely populated regions with high birth rates,
fast-evolving viruses like the flu can continually infect new
individuals and morph into various strains. When large
settlements became common, medical science hadn't
advanced enough to effectively treat or even distinguish these
variants. Nor was it prepared to deal with one of the deadliest
pandemics of all time: the Black Death. From the 1330s to the
1350s, the bubonic plague swept Asia, Africa and Europe,
reducing the global population from 475 million to roughly
350 million. Like most Afro-Eurasian diseases, the plague
didn’t cross the Atlantic until Europeans did in the late 1400s.
But at the height of the plague in Europe, Asia, and North
Africa, infection was almost guaranteed, and the plague’s
fatality rate ranged from 30 to 75%. However, the illness
wasn't equally distributed among the population. Many
wealthy lords and landowners were able to stay safe by hiding
away in their spacious homes.
在小社区中， 像麻疹和天花这样的传染病 只能在
宿主群体中传播一段时间。 但在人口密集且出生率
高的地区， 像流感这样快速演变的病毒 可以不断
感染新的个体 并演化成各种毒株。 当大型定居点
变得普遍时 医学科学还没有进步到足以有效治疗，
甚至区分这些病毒变种， 也没有准备好应对 有史
以来最致命的大流行病之一 黑死病。 从 13 世纪
的 30 年代到 50 年代 鼠疫席卷了亚洲，非洲和欧
洲 全球人口从 4.75 亿减少到大约 3.5 亿 和大多
数非洲-欧亚疾病一样 鼠疫直到 14 世纪末 欧洲人
穿越大西洋后才进入美洲， 但在欧洲、亚洲和北非
鼠疫的高峰期 感染几乎是必然的， 而鼠疫的死亡
率 在 30% 到 75% 之间。 然而，疾病在人口中的
分布并不平均， 许多富有的领主和地主通过躲在
宽敞的家中保持安全。
03:32
As medical knowledge became more robust, this kind of class
disparity began reflecting who had access to medical care.
And that divide became particularly apparent during the reign
of our next deadly disease. By the beginning of the 19th
century, tuberculosis was already one of the most common
causes of death in Europe and the Americas. But the
Industrial Revolution led to working and living conditions
that were overcrowded and poorly ventilated, turning TB into
an epidemic that killed a quarter of Europe’s adult population.
The unhealthiest environments were largely populated by
impoverished individuals who often went untreated, while
doctors provided wealthier victims with the era’s most
cutting-edge care.
随着医学知识变得越来越扎实， 这种阶级差异开始
折射出谁可以得到医疗服务。 在我们下一个致命疾
病的统治期间 这种差距变得尤为明显。 到 19 世
纪初， 肺结核已经是 欧洲和美洲最常见的死亡原
因之一。 但工业革命导致工作和生活条件 拥挤且
通风很差， 使得肺结核成为一种疫情 杀死了欧洲
成年人口的四分之一。 贫困的人口大多 居住在最
不健康的环境。 他们通常未受治疗 而医生为富有
的病患 提供了那个时代最先进的护理。
04:18
Throughout the 20th century, vaccines became common in
many countries, even eradicating the centuries-old viral threat
of smallpox. The advent of vaccination, alongside
improvements in nutrition and hygiene, have helped people
live longer lives on average. And today, medical advances in
rapid testing and mRNA vaccines can help us tackle new
outbreaks in record time. However, countless regions around
the world remain unable to access vaccines, leaving them
vulnerable to older threats. Malaria still takes the lives of over
600,000 people every year, with 96% of deaths occurring in
communities across Africa. Tuberculosis continues to infect
millions, almost half of whom live in Southeast Asia.
Addressing these ailments and those yet to emerge will
require scientists to develop new and more effective
medicines. But something governments and health care
systems can do today is working to make the treatments we
have already accessible to all.
在 20 世纪，疫苗在许多国家逐渐普及 甚至根除了
肆虐了 几个世纪的病毒——天花 疫苗的出现， 加
上营养和卫生的改善， 帮助人们的延长了平均寿
命。 如今，快速检测和 mRNA 疫苗 方面的医学进
步 可以帮助我们在 创纪录的时间内应对新的疫
情。 然而，世界上仍有无数地区无法获得疫苗，
使他们容易受到之前病毒的威胁。 每年仍有超过
60 万人死于疟疾， 其中 96% 的死亡发生在非洲各
地。 结核病继续感染数百万人， 其中近一半受感
染的人生活在东南亚。 为解决这些疾病 以及那些
还未出现的疾病 将需要科学家研发 更新且更有效
的药物。 但政府和医疗系统 今天可以做的是努力
是让 所有人都能用上 当下我们已有的治疗方案。
Topic:

Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/ted_ed_how_to_overcome_your_mistakes/transcript

00:07
In a 2019 study, over 400 participants were enlisted to
learn a mysterious, invented language. Individuals were
asked about three pairs of runes— for example, which of
these two characters represents an animal? Then, after a
brief break, they were asked about the same rune pairs
with questions flipped, as in, which of these two runes
represents a non-living object? But this game had a
secret— The subjects’ answers in round one determined
the runes’ meanings in round two. In the first round,
participants either had all their answers marked as correct
no matter what, or they were forced to fail every question.
This meant that at the break, every participant had the
same amount of information, and in round two they were
playing for real. But despite this even playing field, the
successful participants from round one rose to the top of
the ranks, while those cast as failures kept, well, failing.
2019 年的一项研究中， 招募了 400 多人学习
一种新发明的神秘语言。 共三对符文，要求每
人回答问题。 例如，这俩字中哪个代表动物？
接下来，短暂休息之后， 还是同一组符文，但
问题会反过来， 比如这组，哪个代表非生物物
体？ 但该游戏有个秘密： 受试者第一轮的答案
决定了第二轮中符文的含义。 在第一轮中， 不
论答案是什么，要么判全对， 要么被告知全答
错。 这意味着在休息时， 每位参与者掌握同等
信息量， 且第二轮中，他们都认真答题。 但
是，尽管竞争环境平等， 第一轮的赢家还是升
至榜首， 而那些第一轮的输家却一直答错。
01:13
People often describe failure as a teachable moment— a
necessary stumble on our way to improvement. But
learning from our mistakes isn't always easy, especially
when those failures are demoralizing, overwhelming, or
just downright confusing. So what exactly prevents us
from turning our mistakes into mastery?
人们经常把失败描述为学习的机会—— 它是我
们进步路上必然的绊脚石。 但从错误中吸取教
训并非易事， 尤其是当这些失败令人沮丧、崩
溃 或完全令人困惑时。 那么，究竟是什么 阻
止我们把错误变成精通呢？
01:35
Perhaps the most obvious hurdle to learning from failure
is how painful it can be. People generally want to think
of themselves as capable and competent, and
experiencing failure threatens that self-image. In a survey
following a replication of the rune study, participants in
the failure group indicated much lower levels of self-
confidence after participating. It’s tempting to dismiss
this pain as a temporary setback. But some studies have
found that when people feel demoralized or incompetent,
their brains often stop processing new information. This
suggests that if a threat to your self-esteem is large
enough, it can undermine your ability to learn.
也许从失败中吸取教训 最明显的障碍是失败的
痛苦。 人们通常希望认为 自己有能力且有竞争
力， 而经历失败会威胁到这种自我形象。 在符
文研究重复实验后的调查中， 研究结束后， 失
败组参与者表现出的自信水平低得多。 人们很
容易将这种痛苦视为暂时挫折， 但一些研究发
现，当感到沮丧或无能时， 大脑通常会停止处
理新信息。 这表明，如果失败伤害自尊心巨
大， 就会削弱你的学习能力。
02:18
However, your tolerance for failure also depends on your
relationship with the task at hand. In a study from 2011,
researchers surveyed a group of American students
enrolled in introductory and advanced French courses.
These students completed a questionnaire asking what
kind of teacher they preferred— one who emphasized
their strengths and successes, or one who highlighted
their mistakes and corrected their weaknesses. In general,
responses showed that while beginner students sought
positive reinforcement, advanced students were more
eager for critical feedback. Researchers have theorized a
handful of explanations for these results. Having just
started out, beginners are still determining if they enjoy
learning French and if they want to continue studying, so
they might crave praise as a way to stay motivated. On
the other hand, the advanced students are already
invested, so they may want to improve their skills as
efficiently as possible. The process of gaining expertise
also comes with its fair share of failure, so the advanced
students may have built a higher tolerance for making
mistakes.
但是，对失败的容忍度 也取决于你与手头任务
的关系。 在 2011 年的一项研究中， 研究人员
对一组报名参加法语入门课 和高级课程的美国
学生进行了调查。 这些学生填写了一份问卷，
回答他们更喜欢哪种老师—— 是强调学生长处
和成功的老师， 还是强调学生的错误 并纠正其
弱点的老师。 总的来说，反馈表明， 虽然初学
者寻求积极的强化， 但级别高的学生更渴望获
得批判性反馈。 研究人员对这些结果给了些理
论解释。 刚刚起步的初学者， 仍在考虑是否喜
欢学法语， 以及是否想继续学习， 因此，他们
可能渴望获得赞美 作为保持动力的一种方式。
另一方面，高级别学生已经付出了， 因此他们
可能希望 尽可能高效地提高自己的技能。 获得
专业知识的过程也伴随着众多失败， 因此，高
级别学生 对犯错的容忍度可能更高。
03:26
But whether you're an expert or a novice, it’s usually
much more straightforward to learn from your successes
than your failures. For example, imagine getting your
grade back on an exam. If you aced it, you could
reasonably assume you made good choices around when,
what, and how much to study, and you can replicate those
decisions for the next test. But if you failed, it could be
for any number of reasons. Maybe you didn’t study
enough, maybe you studied the wrong information, or
maybe you did everything right and the test covered
things you shouldn't have been expected to know. In
cases like this, it’s unclear exactly what went wrong,
making it difficult to learn how to improve.
但是，无论你是专家还是新手， 通常从成功中
吸取教训 比从失败中吸取教训要简单得多。 例
如，想象一下在考试中提高成绩。 如果你成功
了，你可以合理地假设 你在学习时间、内容 和
学习量方面做出了不错的选择， 你可以在下一
次考试中复制这些决定。 但如果你失败了，可
能有多种原因： 也许你学习不够刻苦， 也许你
学习了错误的信息， 或者你把所有事情都做对
了， 但考试内容超出了范围。 在这样的案例
中， 尚不清楚到底出了什么问题， 因此很难学
习如何改进。
04:08
Wanting to learn from our failures is completely natural,
and there’s a lot to gain by being resilient and cultivating
a growth mindset. But fixating on your failures can make
it easy to forget all your successes. And building on what
you’re doing right can be more effective than focusing on
what you did wrong.
想要从失败中吸取教训是完全自然的， 保持韧
性和培养成长心态 可以带来很多好处。 但是，
专注于自己的失败 让人很容易忘记所有的成
功， 而且在做对的事情的基础上再接再厉， 可
能比专注于自己做错了什么更有效。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/shannon_odell_does_recycling_your_plastic_actually_work/
transcript

00:06
If you've ever looked at the bottom of a disposable bottle or
cup, you've probably noticed this symbol. Seeing this, many
people assume the item they’re holding should be tossed in a
recycling bin. Yet many of these plastics are incapable of
being recycled at most centers. In fact, of the 360 million tons
of plastic created worldwide each year, only 9% is ever
recycled. So why are so few plastics recycled? And what do
these codes actually mean?
如果你曾经看过 一次性瓶子或杯子的底部， 那你
大概注意过这个符号。 看到这，多数人会认为 他
们拿着的东西 应该被扔到回收箱里。 然而，这些
塑料却无法 被大多数回收中心回收。 实际上，全
球每年生产的 3.6 亿吨塑料中， 只有 9％ 被回收
利用。 那么，为什么可回收的塑料如此少呢？ 而
这些代码又是什么意思呢？
00:40
Our recycling problem is multi-layered, beginning at
production.
我们的回收问题是多层次的， 从生产开始。
00:44
About 18% of plastics are made from what is known as
thermosetting polymers. These plastics gain stability through
curing, a process that hardens a material by irreversibly
crosslinking its molecular chains. The very properties that
make thermoset plastics so useful, in that they keep their
shape and integrity under extreme conditions, mean that they
can’t be broken down and rebuilt by the vast majority of
recycling plants.
大约 18%的塑料 是由所谓的热固性聚合物制成。
这些塑料通过固化而变得稳定， 固化是通过分子链
的不可逆交联 使材料硬化的过程。 热固性塑料之
所以如此有用 是因为它们在极端条件下 还可以完
整保持原状， 这也意味着绝大多数回收厂 无法分
解和重塑它们。
01:14
Thankfully, most plastics are thermoplastics, which can be
melted and remolded. But this category encompasses a
variety of materials with unique chemical structures,
weights, and properties, all of which require different
conditions for recycling. As a result, only some of these
thermoplastics are accepted at most recycling centers.
值得庆幸的是， 绝大多数塑料都是热塑性塑料 所
以可以被熔化并重新塑形。 但是这一类别包括 各
种具有独特化学结构、 重量和特性的材料， 而所
有这些材料都需要 不同的回收条件。 因此，大多
数回收中心 只接受其中一部分热塑性塑料。
01:38
Which brings us to our next problem: the confusing code
system.
这引出了下一个问题： 混乱的代码系统。
01:43
Developed and introduced by the plastics industry in 1988,
this code was presented as a way to help consumers and
facilities sort their trash. Each number indicates the material
the plastic is made of, known as its resin. Some resin
numbers are recyclable at most centers, while others are not.
And yet, within this system, all numbers are surrounded by
the universally recognized recycling symbol, misleading
consumers into thinking that many unsalvageable plastics
have a chance at a second life.
1988 年，塑料行业开发和推出了该系统， 旨在帮
助消费者和设施 对垃圾进行分类。 数字代表所制
成的材料， 即树脂。 有些树脂编号 在大多数中心
是可以回收的， 而另一些则不是。 然而，在这个
系统中， 所有数字都用 大众熟知的回收符号所环
绕， 误导消费者， 认为许多无法回收的塑料 也有
机会重获新生。
02:17
And just because a technically recyclable resin makes it to a
recycling bin, doesn’t mean it will continue its journey.
Plastics often contain multiple resins, are mixed with dyes
and additives, or are affixed with difficult-to-remove stickers
and labels, all of which can cause them to be rerouted to the
incinerator or trash bin. In short, many companies don't
design packaging with recovery in mind.
而且，即使技术上可回收的树脂 成功的进入了回收
箱， 也并不意味着它将继续其旅程。 塑料通常含
有多种树脂， 混有染料和添加剂， 或者贴有难以
去除的贴纸和标签， 都有可能是导致它们 被转送
到焚化炉或垃圾桶的原因。 简而言之，许多公司在
设计包装时 并不考虑重复利用。
02:46
Even under pristine conditions, plastic resins can only be
melted down and remolded a handful of times, as their
polymers degrade with each use.
即使在原始条件下， 塑料树脂能被熔化并重塑的次
数 也屈指可数， 因为它们的聚合物 每经过一次使
用都会降解。
02:57
If all these issues make you feel as if recycling plastics is
infeasible, you wouldn't be the first. This reality was well
known to the plastics industry as early as the 1970s. Despite
their doubts that widespread recycling would ever be
economically viable, the industry threw millions of dollars
into ad campaigns. Within the US, the plastics industry
quietly lobbied state governments, leading a majority to
adopt laws requiring that plastics bear the confusing resin
codes. And with this, the burden of “fixing” the growing
plastic waste problem was pushed from the industry onto the
consumer.
如果所有这些问题让你觉得 回收塑料好像并不可
行， 那么你不是第一个这样想的人。 早在 20 世
纪 70 年代， 这一现实就为塑料行业所熟知。 尽
管他们怀疑 广泛回收在经济上是否可行， 该行业
还是向广告活动 投入了数百万美金。 在美国境
内， 塑料行业悄悄地游说州政府， 导致大多数人
接受塑料必须带有 令人困惑的树脂代码的律法。
这样一来，“解决”日益严重的 塑料垃圾问题的重
任 就从塑料行业推到了消费者身上。
03:39
Today, the situation has only gotten worse. The rising costs
to properly separate all this waste, paired with fewer
international buyers of recyclable scraps, has forced many
cities to shut down their curbside recycling programs
altogether.
如今，情况只会更糟。 妥善分离这些废物的成本不
断上涨， 再加上可回收废料的国际购买者减少，
许多城市被迫关闭了路边回收计划。
03:57
So how can we fix our growing plastic waste system?
那么，我们怎样才能 修复我们不断增长的塑料垃圾
系统呢？
04:02
It’s clear that we must reduce the plastics we consume. More
than a quarter of our plastic waste comes from packaging
materials. Many manufacturers have taken steps in the right
direction, phasing out unnecessary plastic films, and
switching out plastic tubs and tubes with more easily
recyclable materials, or compostable options.
很明显，我们必须减少塑料消耗。 我们超过四分之
一的塑料垃圾 来原于包装材料。 许多制造商已经
朝着正确的方向 采取了措施， 逐步淘汰了不必要
的塑料薄膜， 并采用了更容易回收的材料或可堆肥
的选项 来取代塑料桶和管子。
04:24
For the plastics that do remain, one solution is to work
towards a circular economy for plastics. This means creating
fewer new plastics, eliminating those that are single-use, and
ensuring the plastics that remain can stay in circulation via
recycling. Such a system would rely on policies that regulate
plastics starting at their production— ensuring that all
plastics created are free from contaminants that could harm
their ability to be recycled.
对于残留的塑料， 一种解决方案是努力实现塑料循
环经济。 这意味着减少新塑料的生产， 淘汰那些
一次性塑料， 并确保剩余的塑料 能够通过循环利
用继续流通。 这样一个系统将依赖于从塑料生产开
始 就对其进行监管的政策—— 确保所生产的所有
塑料都不含有 可能损害其回收能力的污染物。
04:54
In the meantime, many experts believe the current resin code
system should be eliminated, and swapped out for clear,
simplified recyclable versus non-recyclable labels. This
would help consumers more easily sort their waste, but more
importantly, allow them to make informed decisions at
purchase, ultimately putting the pressure back on
manufacturers to ensure a recyclable future.
与此同时，许多专家认为， 我们应该废除目前的树
脂代码系统， 并让清晰、简化的可回收标签 或不
可回收标签取而代之。 这将帮助消费者更轻松地
对垃圾进行分类，甚至更重要的是， 使他们能够在
购买时 做出明智的决定， 从而最终减轻制造商的
压力 以确保一个可回收利用的未来。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/ted_ed_3_tips_on_how_to_study_effectively/transcript

00:07
During their training, medical residents learn countless
techniques, surgeries, and procedures which they’ll later
use to save lives. Being able to remember these skills can
quite literally be a matter of life and death. With this in
mind, a 2006 research study took a class of surgical
residents learning to suture arteries and split them into
two groups. Each received the same study materials, but
one group implemented a small change in how they
studied them. And when tested one month later, this
group performed the surgeries significantly better than
the other residents.
住院医生在培训期间 学习了无数技术、手术和
流程， 以后将用这些来挽救生命。 能记住这些
技能 实际上是生死攸关的问题。 有鉴于此，
2006 年开展了一项研究， 对象是些学习动脉缝
合的外科住院医生， 并将他们分为两组。 两组
收到的学习材料相同， 但其中一组稍微改变了
学习方法。 在一个月后进行测试时， 该组的手
术表现 明显好于另一组的医生。
00:45
We’ll discuss the secret to that group’s success, along
with two other highly effective study techniques which
can be applied both in and out of the classroom. But to
understand why these methods work, let's first unpack
how the brain learns and stores information.
我们将讨论该小组成功的秘诀， 以及另外两种
课堂内外适用的高效学习技巧。 但是，要了解
这些方法为何有效， 让我们首先来解开 大脑如
何学习和存储信息。
01:02
Say you're trying to memorize the anatomy of the heart.
When you’re introduced to a new concept, the memory is
temporarily encoded in groups of neurons in a brain area
called the hippocampus.
假设你想记住心脏的解剖结构。 当接触新概念
时， 大脑的海马体 将记忆暂时编码成神经元
群。
01:15
As you continue to learn about workings of the heart in
class or study its chambers for an exam, you reactivate
these same neurons. This repeated firing strengthens the
connections between the cells, stabilizing the memory.
Gradually, the knowledge of heart anatomy is stored
long-term, which involves another brain area known as
the neocortex. How information is transferred from short-
term to long-term storage is still not completely
understood, but it’s thought to happen in between study
sessions and perhaps most crucially during sleep. Here
the new knowledge is integrated with other related
concepts you already know, such as how to measure heart
rate, or the anatomy of other organs.
当上课继续学习心脏的工作原理 或研究心脏腔
室备考时， 你会重新激活相同的神经元。 重复
的神经信号增强了细胞间的联系， 从而稳定了
记忆。 心脏解剖学知识逐渐被长期储存， 这涉
及另一个大脑区域——新皮质。 信息如何从短
期存储转移到长期存储 尚不完全清楚， 但被认
为发生在学习期间， 也许最关键的是在睡眠期
间。 此时新知识与已知的其他相关概念结合，
像如何测量心率或其他器官的解剖结构。
02:02
And the process doesn’t end there. Each time you recall
heart anatomy, you reactivate the long-term memory,
which makes it susceptible to change. The knowledge can
be updated, strengthened, and reintegrated with other
pieces of information. This is where our first study
technique comes in.
而且这个过程并没有就此结束， 每当回想起心
脏解剖结构时， 都会重新激活长期记忆， 使它
容易改变。 知识可以更新、强化， 也可以与其
他信息重新整合。 此时就用到第一种学习技
巧。
02:20
Testing yourself with flashcards and quizzes forces you
to actively retrieve knowledge, which updates and
strengthens the memory. Students often prefer other
study methods, like rereading textbooks and highlighting
notes. But these practices can generate a false sense of
competence, since the information is right in front of you.
Testing yourself, however, allows you to more accurately
gauge what you actually know.
用闪卡和测验来测试自己， 会迫使你主动检索
知识， 从而更新和增强记忆力。 学生通常更喜
欢其他学习方法， 如重读课本并标注笔记。 但
这些做法可能会产生已掌握的错觉， 因为信息
就在眼前。 但自我测试 可以更准确地衡量你的
实际掌握情况。
02:47
But what if, while doing this, you can’t remember the
answers? Not to worry— making mistakes can actually
improve learning in the long term. It’s theorized that as
you rack your brain for the answer, you activate relevant
pieces of knowledge. Then, when the correct answer is
later revealed, the brain can better integrate this
information with what you already know.
但如果这样做时想不起答案怎么办？ 不用担心
—— 长远来看，犯错误实际上可以改善学习。
从理论上讲，当绞尽脑汁寻找答案时， 就会激
活相关的知识片段。 而当发现正确答案时， 大
脑可将这些信息与已知信息优化整合。
03:10
Our second technique builds on the first. When using
flashcards to study, it's best to mix the deck with multiple
subjects. Interleaving, or mixing the concepts you focus
on in a single session, can lead to better retention than
practicing a single skill or topic at a time. One hypothesis
of why this works is that, similar to testing, cycling
through different subjects forces your brain to
temporarily forget, then retrieve information, further
strengthening the memory. You may also find
connections across the topics, and better understand their
differences.
而第二个技巧则建立在第一个技巧之上： 使用
闪卡学习时， 最好将多科目的闪卡混在一起。
与练习单一技能或主题相比， 在学习中穿插或
混合所关注的概念， 可以提高记忆力。 该方法
有效的假设是，与测试类似， 循环浏览不同科
目迫使大脑暂时忘记它， 然后再检索信息，从
而增强记忆力； 还可找到跨主题的联系， 并更
好地了解其中差异。
03:46
Now that you know how and what to study, our final
technique concerns when. Spacing your review across
multiple days allows for rest and sleep between sessions.
While “offline,” the brain is actively at work, storing and
integrating knowledge in the neocortex. So while
cramming the night before the exam may seem logical—
after all, won’t the material be fresh in your mind?— the
information won’t stick around for the long term. This
brings us back to our medical residents. Both groups
studied the surgery for the same amount of time. Yet one
group’s training was crammed in a single day, while the
other more successful group’s training was spread over
four weeks.
既然知道了如何学习和学习什么， 最后的技巧
就是何时学习。 间隔几天再复习， 以便在两次
复习之间能休息和睡觉。 当 “离线” 时，大
脑正积极工作， 在新皮质中存储和整合知识，
那么在考试前一晚死记硬背 似乎就合理许多—
— 毕竟你对这些材料又记忆犹新了吧？ 这些信
息又不是长期存在。 说到这里，我们再回到住
院医生的案例。 两组医生学习手术的总时间相
同， 但一组是集中培训一天， 而更成功的另一
组则分散在四星期内。
04:32
The reason all three of these study techniques work is
because they’re designed with the brain in mind. They
complement and reinforce the incredible way the brain
works, sorting through and storing the abundance of
information it’s fed day after day.
这三种学习技巧之所以奏效， 是因为设计时考
虑了大脑的特点。 这些技巧补充、强化了 大脑
神奇的工作方式， 整理并存储 大脑日复一日收
集的大量信息。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/nadia_frontier_surviving_the_coldest_place_on_earth/trans
cript
00:07
The vast, white ice surface of Antarctica stretches for over 3
million square kilometers: empty, desolate, and almost
completely silent. But appearances can be deceiving. On the
coast of this expanse, just a few meters beneath the ice lies a
multicolored constellation of life. This remarkably diverse
realm is home to over 8,000 species of sea denizens who rely
on an arsenal of otherworldly traits to survive. So how do
these species not only live, but thrive, in conditions most
animals would be unable to bear?
南极洲广阔无垠的雪白冰面 覆盖 300 多万平方公
里： 景象空旷、荒凉，且近乎死寂。 但表象往往
不代表全部， 在这片广阔区域的海岸上， 冰层下
几公尺处 就隐藏着丰富的生命群。 这片极其多样
化的空间是 8,000 多种海洋居民的家园； 它们凭
借超凡的本领在此生存。 那么，这些物种是怎么在
大多生物所无法承受的 条件下存活并繁衍生长的
呢？
00:40
Antarctic waters are some of the most consistently frigid in
the world, hovering below 0 degrees Celsius for a large
portion of the year. This means burning energy too quickly
can be deadly, so survival in this ecosystem looks slow and
steady. Freezing temperatures persist even in the summer,
but this season brings a rare gift: sunlight. For a brief period,
it’s abundant, shining through the ice for 24 hours a day. This
infusion of energy drives intense coastal phytoplankton
blooms, transforming the waters into a thick green soup.
南极水域是世界上最稳定 维持冰冷的水域之一，
常年位于零度以下。 这意味着过快地 消耗能量会
是致命的， 因此在个生态系统中 生存似乎不紧不
慢。 冰冷的温度在夏季中持续， 但是这个季节带
来了 难得的馈赠：阳光。 在短时间内，它是很充
足的， 每天 24 小时照向通透的冰面。 这类能量
的增加导致 沿海浮游植物的迅速繁殖， 将水域染
为浓厚的绿色。
01:14
Marine life both large and small takes advantage of this
bounty, including the giant Antarctic isopod. Cousins of the
humble pill bug, these crustaceans can reach up to 11
centimeters long, and they never miss the opportunity for a
meal. The scavengers eat a wide variety of prey, including
other giant isopods. And by slowing their metabolisms, they
can make this food last, with one study showing specimens
surviving for 50 days without eating. Since this adaptation
involves careful conservation of energy, giant isopods spend
most of their time stationary or inching across the seafloor.
Meanwhile, their tiny amphipod relatives celebrate the
summer by releasing offspring alongside the algal explosion,
ensuring their young have an abundance of food. And sea
cucumbers carpeting the seafloor hoover up the dense
plankton with outstretched tentacles, producing nutrient-rich
feces that nourish nearby life.
体型各异的海洋生物 都善加利用这富足的滋养，
包括巨型南极等足类动物。 作为药虫的表兄， 这
些甲壳类动物可长达 11 厘米， 而且它们从来不会
错过用餐的机会。 这些“清道夫”会捕食各种各样
的猎物， 包括其他巨型等足类动物。 而通过减缓
新陈代谢， 它们可以充分利用这类食物， 一项研
究显示，其在 停止进食后可存活 50 天。 由于这
种方法需要谨慎地储存能量， 巨型等足类动物大段
时间是 静态，或是在海底挪动。 而它们的小型两
栖类亲属 通过在藻类爆炸的 同时释放后代来庆祝
夏天， 确保它们的幼儿有充足的食物。 遍布海底
的海参用伸出的触角 摄取密集的浮游生物， 产生
营养丰富的粪便， 滋养附近的生物。
02:10
But this big summer blowout doesn’t last long. The first
signs of autumn arrive in fine needles of frazil ice. These
slowly coagulating crystals form a skin across the surface,
then mix with falling snow before freezing into a thin crust
of ice. The waters get darker and colder. And in this swiftly
dimming world, a set of long, spiky limbs sidle into view.
With up to six pairs of legs, these giant sea spiders aren’t
arachnids, but rather a related class of marine arthropod
unique to the seafloor. In addition to housing some of the
animal’s organs, its legs are covered in tiny holes, which
grow more numerous as the spider ages. These holes will
likely help absorb the dissolved oxygen that saturates these
freezing southern waters. Since oxygen fuels growth, many
local species have evolved to take advantage of this
abundance, and it may be one of the reasons that gigantism
is so common in this region. Individual sea spiders, for
instance, can grow to the size of dinner plates. But soon,
these underwater giants will be moving slower than ever.
不过，夏季的盛况 不会持续多久。 秋天的第一个
征兆是 细微冻粒冰的出现。 这些缓慢凝结的 晶体
在水面上形成薄层， 随后与落雪融合， 最终结成
单薄的冰壳。 海水会变得愈加黑暗、冰冷。 在这
个迅速失色的世界中， 一对细长带刺的肢体隐约可
见。 这些巨型海蜘蛛最多长着六对腿， 不是蛛形
纲动物， 而是一种与栖息海底节肢动物 相近的、
独一无二的蛛形纲。 它们的腿除了容纳某些器官，
上面还遍布小洞， 这会随着蜘蛛的年龄增长， 而
变得越来越多。 这些洞大概能有助于吸收 冰冻南
极水域的饱和溶解氧。 由于氧气促进生长， 许多
当地物种已经进化出 利用这样密集度的能力， 这
可能是巨型生物 在该地区如此普遍的原因之一。
例如，单个海蜘蛛 可以长到餐盘般大小。 但再过
会儿，这些水下巨人将 移动得比以往任何时候更加
缓慢。
03:13
As winter settles in, the sea floor becomes even colder.
Waters fall to negative 1.8 degrees Celsius. On the surface,
the thin icy crust thickens into a layer called nilas, and young
sea ice starts forming ridges that block out the sun. The ocean
begins to mirror the still landscape above it. Antarctic sea
cucumbers and urchins go into dormancy for months, and
their metabolic rates fall to the slowest on Earth. Antarctic
limpets continue feeding, but at such a gradual pace that
they're largely still surviving on energy reserves from the
summer. Tiny crustaceans survive off the traces of algae
growing on their home’s icy ceiling, raising their young in
these expansive winter nurseries.
随着冬天来临， 海底变得更为寒冷。 水温降至零
下 1.8 摄氏度。 在海面，薄薄的冰壳 会凝固成一
层海冰， 积累起来遮挡住阳光。 海面开始折射周
围静象的景观。 南极海参和海胆会数月停留在休眠
期， 它们的新陈代谢率 降到地球上最慢的程度。
南极帽贝继续进食， 但节奏如此缓慢， 它们基本
上仍依靠夏季的 能量储备生存。 微小的甲壳类动
物靠它们家园冰顶上 生长的零星藻类生存， 在这
些辽阔的冬季窝巢里培育幼体。
03:56
But this seemingly endless winter won't last forever. As
spring comes, light slowly begins to trickle back down
through the ice. And week by week, bit by bit, this
underwater world will begin waking up to begin its delicate,
slow-motion dance once again.
但是这个看似无尽的冬天 不会永远持续下去。 随
着春天的到来， 光线慢慢地穿过冰层。 一周周过
去，一点点地， 这个海底世界会开始苏醒， 再次
跳起它那支灵巧的慢动作舞蹈。
Topic:

Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/douglas_maclean_ethical_dilemma_what_makes_life_worth
_living/transcript
00:07
On your planet, life depends entirely on Nuronium. Your
species is almost otherwise identical to humans, except you
require Nuronium in the atmosphere for normal cognition.
Without it, people lose their capacity to imagine and think
reflectively. Over time, they even lose their ability to make
and retain long-term memories. While this is certainly a
delicate situation, this essential element also provides an
infinite source of clean energy, which has allowed your
people to thrive for millennia. But leading scientists have
discovered terrible news. Somehow the entire source of
Nuronium has been irreversibly compromised. It now emits
a pollutant that lowers fertility in your species, and if your
planet continues relying on this resource, your people will go
extinct within 100 years. However, in an incredible stroke of
luck, your scientists have identified a passing comet from
which they can mine an alternate energy source called
Polixate. Polixate won’t cause infertility and would provide
the same renewable energy as Nuronium. But it won’t sustain
cognition in quite the same way. With Polixate in the
atmosphere instead of Nuronium, people would lose their
creativity, their long-term memories, and eventually, your
entire culture would disappear.
在你的星球上，生命 完全依赖着“锘”
(Nuronium)。 你是一种与人类近乎雷同的物种，
不过你需要大气中的“锘” 以维持正常意识。 缺
乏它，人们便会 失去想象力和反思能力。 慢慢
地，他们甚至丧失 产生和保留长期记忆的能力。
虽然这是个微妙的局面， 这个核心元素也提供着
无限的清洁能源， 使你的族人 几百万年来生生不
息 。 但 顶 尖 科学家 传 出 糟糕 的 消息 ： 全 部 的
“锘”来源被不可逆地污染。 它现在释放出一类毒
素， 降低整个物种的生育能力， 假设你的星球持
续依赖这个资源， 你们会在 100 年之内灭绝。 不
过，出奇幸运的是 你的科学家在一颗经过的卫星中
发现一种可供开采的替代能量源，“钋”。 “锘”
不会导致不育， 也会像“锘”一样提供再生能源。
但是，它不会维护认知能力。 当“锘”在大气层
中， 人们会失去他们的创造力、 长期记忆， 而最
终，你的整个文化会消失殆尽。
01:34
The Polixate comet will only remain in orbit for a few days,
and after that it won't return for centuries. So your society's
administrative council must decide immediately whether to
keep using Nuronium or mount an expedition to harvest the
Polixate. Right now, the board is split— waiting for your
tiebreaking vote.
“钋”彗星只会逗留几天， 之后数个世纪不会返
回。 所以你的社会行政议会 得当即决定 是否持续
利用“锘”， 或派出分队开采“钋”。 目前，议
会悬而未决， 需要你的最后一票。
01:58
Dr. Taylof’s contingent argues that your people must
continue using Nuronium. They believe that your species’
culture— centuries of literature, music, and art, as well as
your achievements in agriculture, medicine, and
technology— is what makes life worth living. Without the
memories of your people’s history or the ability to dream up
new inventions, the people on your planet would essentially
be reduced to mindless drones. Their basic needs for survival
and reproduction would be met, but Dr. Taylof believes the
lives of those future generations would be meaningless
without memories, imagination, and culture. And since Dr.
Taylof’s group doesn’t believe that future generations have
any inherent right to be brought into existence, if it’s not
possible for them to add to the civilization they’ve inherited,
there's no point in trying to preserve them. Besides, no living
beings are harmed by continuing to rely on Nuronium— your
species should simply accept their fate and go extinct with
dignity.
泰罗夫博士一方主张 持续利用“锘”的必要性。
他们认为这个物种的文化⸺ 数个世纪的文学、音
乐和艺术， 和你们在农业、 医药与科技上的成
果， 使得生活充满意义。 若人们的记忆丧失 或缺
乏产生新发明的能力， 你星球的人民会沦为无脑的
躯体。 他们最根本的生存需要会得到满足， 但泰
罗夫认为这未来几代的生命， 缺乏记忆、想象力和
文化， 会是毫无意义的。 而由于泰罗夫博士那方
不认为未来几代持有 存在的根本权利， 如果缺乏
持续发展文明的能力， 那也没必要使他们留存下
来。 而且，没什么生命会依赖 “锘”而受到损
害。 你的物种会接受命运， 带着尊严走向灭绝。
03:04
Dr. Kahan and their colleagues strongly disagree. They admit
that switching to Polixate would decrease your people’s
quality of life. But with their basic needs met, they could still
experience a kind of happiness observed in other, arguably
less complex lifeforms. And even if there's no chance of your
people redeveloping creativity, what's most important for Dr.
Kahan is that we would be preserving life. Dr. Kahan’s
faction believes the continuation of life alone is
incomparably valuable. They also believe that, on average,
every member of your species contributes, in small but
constant ways, to the betterment of your people. So by
choosing to ensure your people’s existence, you would
ultimately be improving the total happiness of your species.
卡汉博士与他的同僚强力反对。 他们承认改换为
“钋” 会降低人们的生活质量。 但由于基本需求
被满足， 他们仍然能够体会那种 更原始生命中的
“快乐”。 即便人们没机会重获创造力， 对于卡
汉博士而言， 最重要的是保存生命。 卡汉博士一
方认为 生命的延续本身便是 无比珍贵的。 他们也
相信，这个物种的每个个体 都在缓慢但持续地改善
其他人。 所以选择保证人们存在， 你会最终提升
整个物种的快乐程度。
03:53
But Dr. Taylof rejects the idea that maximizing happiness is
the ultimate goal of living. They believe that a valuable life
consists not only of happiness but also meaningfulness. And
that acting as links in the chain of tradition and preserving
cultural artifacts are some of the most fundamental sources
of meaning a species can have. Merely continuing to exist, in
lives like those of contented pets, would not be valuable.
但泰罗夫博士反对将快乐最大化 是生活的终极目
标。 他认为有价值的生活 不仅包含快乐， 还有意
义和内涵。 延续各项传统， 保护文化遗物 是一个
物种最基础的“意义”来源。 单纯持续的存在。
像安乐的宠物一样， 是无价值的。
04:22
Meanwhile, the advocates for Polixate believe there’s
something fundamentally unethical about choosing
extinction. Dr. Kahan argues there’s no moral difference
between what we do and what we allow to happen when we
could have acted differently. So while it would be tragic if
your people ceased to exist due to chance, to knowingly make
a decision that results in extinction is tantamount to mass
murder.
而同时，“钋”的支持者相信 选择灭绝本质上是不
道德的。 卡汉博士认为，我们做出选择 与我们袖
手旁观在道德上没有区别。 因此，尽管物种走向灭
绝是场悲剧， 但主观地选择走上导致灭绝的道路，
不亚于大规模屠杀。
04:48
Both sides have much more to say, but the council needs your
vote now. So what shall it be: Nuronium for a while, or
Polixate forever?
两方还可争论更久， 但议会需要你现在投票。 那
是该选短期的“锘”，还是无限的“钋”？