演讲题目：How humans could evolve to survive in space

演讲简介：

如果我们希望有一天离开地球去探索宇宙，我们的身体需要变得更强大去在严酷的太空环境中生存。运用合成生物科技，丽萨·尼普希望在地球现存的微生物中获取特殊的能量－比如适应宇宙辐射－来让人类更好地探索宇宙。



中英文字幕

So there are lands few and far between on Earth itself that are hospitable to humans by any measure, but survive we have.

其实，就连在地球本身，也存在着一些不适宜人类居住的环境，但是我们生存了下来。

Our primitive ancestors, when they found their homes and livelihood endangered,

当我们的祖先发现他们的居住环境越来越恶劣的时候，

they dared to make their way into unfamiliar territories in search of better opportunities.

他们鼓起勇气来到他们不熟悉的陌生环境去寻找更宜居的地方。

And as the descendants of these explorers, we have their nomadic blood coursing through our own veins.

作为他们的后代，我们血液中流淌着他们无畏的血统。

But at the same time, distracted by our bread and circuses and embroiled in the wars that we have waged on each other,

可是与此同时，我们为食物和享乐而分心我们被卷入战争，手足相残，

it seems that we have forgotten this desire to explore.

我们好像忘记了我们热衷探索的本性。

We, as a species, we're evolved uniquely for Earth, on Earth, and by Earth,

作为人类，我们进化的方式非常特殊，为了地球上，在地球上，被地球进化着，

and so content are we with our living conditions that we have grown complacent and just too busy to notice that its resources are finite,

我们对自己的居住环境非常满意，以至于有些自负，我们忙碌于俗世，以至于忘记了我们的资源是有限的，

and that our Sun's life is also finite.

太阳的寿命也是有限的。

While Mars and all the movies made in its name have reinvigorated the ethos for space travel,

火星本身和所有关于它的电影重新勾起了人类对于星际旅行的畅想，

few of us seem to truly realize that our species' fragile constitution is woefully unprepared for long duration journeys into space.

我们当中的一些人好像已经意识到，很不幸的，我们脆弱的体质无法支撑我们做长时间的星际旅行。

Let us take a trek to your local national forest for a quick reality check.

让我们到附近的国家森林公园中走一走，来看一下真实的情况。

So just a quick show of hands here: how many of you think you would be able to survive in this lush wilderness for a few days?

那么我先来问几个问题：多少人认为自己可以在这样的完全野生的环境下生存好几天？

Well, that's a lot of you.

哇，很多人这么有自信呢。

How about a few weeks?

那几周呢？

That's a decent amount.

不少人嘛。

How about a few months?

那几个月呢？

That's pretty good too.

还有很多人嘛。

Now, let us imagine that this local national forest experiences an eternal winter.

那么，现在让我们再来想象一下，我们在这个国家森林公园里经历着漫长的冬季。

Same questions: how many of you think you would be able to survive for a few days?

同样的问题：多少人认为你可以在这样的环境下生存很多天？

That's quite a lot.

还是有不少人嘛。

How about a few weeks?

那么几周呢？

So for a fun twist, let us imagine that the only source of water available is trapped as frozen blocks miles below the surface.

我们做一个有趣的改变，想象在这个环境中你只能从几英里下的地下冰层中获得水资源。

Soil nutrients are so minimal that no vegetation can be found, and of course hardly any atmosphere exists to speak of.

土壤里几乎没有营养物质，自然也就找不到什么果蔬，当然大气层也就近乎不存在。

Such examples are only a few of the many challenges we would face on a planet like Mars.

这些仅仅是我们来到像火星这样的星球上后所要面临的挑战中的几个。

So how do we steel ourselves for voyages whose destinations are so far removed from a tropical vacation?

那么我们应当做什么去坚定自己的信心去到一个比起热带小岛差如此多的目的地呢？

Will we continuously ship supplies from Planet Earth?

难道我们依旧要从地球运输资源吗？

Build space elevators, or impossible miles of transport belts that tether your planet of choice to our home planet?

建太空电梯，或者不可能的连接着地球和未来根据地的超长运输带？

And how do we grow things like food that grew up on Earth like us?

我们怎样能像在地球一样，在那里种出我们的食物？

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

其实我有些超前了。

In our species' journey to find a new home under a new sun, we are more likely than not going to be spending much time in the journey itself,

在我们寻找新太阳系下的新家的旅程中，我们很有可能会在这个旅程花费很长的时间，

in space, on a ship, a hermetic flying can, possibly for many generations.

在太空中，在向密封的飞行罐头一样的飞船里，很有可能要度过几十年，几代更迭。

The longest continuous amount of time that any human has spent in space is in the vicinity of 12 to 14 months.

人类在太空中度过的最长的时间是差不多12到14个月。

From astronauts' experiences in space, we know that spending time in a microgravity environment means bone loss, muscle atrophy,

从宇航员们对于太空飞行的回忆里，我们了解到，长时间呆在微重力的环境中会使人丧失骨密度，肌肉萎缩，

cardiovascular problems, among many other complications that range for the physiological to the psychological.

引发心血管的问题，还有很多其他的问题，这些问题有生理的，也有心理的。

And what about macrogravity, or any other variation in gravitational pull of the planet that we find ourselves on?

如果我们找到的新家有着超重力和重力不均的情况，我们的情况又会怎样呢？

In short, our cosmic voyages will be fraught with dangers both known and unknown.

简而言之，我们的星际旅行将会面临各种危险，包括已知的和未知的。

So far we've been looking to this new piece of mechanical technology or that great next generation robot as part of a lineup to ensure our species safe passage in space.

目前我们已经将问题转向新的工程学发明，或者是下一代新型机器人，用这些来确保我们人类可以平安的度过这段旅程。

Wonderful as they are, I believe the time has come for us to complement these bulky electronic giants with what nature has already invented:

尽管这些想法非常棒，我还是相信我们可以用大自然已经创造出来的，去补足那些笨重的机器，

the microbe, a single-celled organism that is itself a self-generating, self-replenishing, living machine.

微生物，一个单细胞的，自生自养的活着的机器。

It requires fairly little to maintain, offers much flexibility in design and only asks to be carried in a single plastic tube.

不需要提供给它们什么，又有大范围的想象空间去设计它们，并且我们只需要一个简单的塑料盒去运输它们。

The field of study that has enabled us to utilize the capabilities of the microbe is known as synthetic biology.

更多关于这方面的知识让我们可以更好的了解微生物，更好地利用它们，这个领域叫做合成生物学。

It comes from molecular biology, which has given us antibiotics, vaccines and better ways to observe the physiological nuances of the human body.

这个领域是微生物学的分支，微生物学就是那个带给我们抗生素，疫苗，并给我们更好的途径去研究人体细微差别的领域。

Using the tools of synthetic biology, we can now edit the genes of nearly any organism, microscopic or not, with incredible speed and fidelity.

应用合成生物学的方法，我们几乎可以编辑所有生物的基因，微生物或非微生物，非常快速并精准。

Given the limitations of our man-made machines, synthetic biology will be a means for us to engineer not only our food, our fuel and our environment,

相比较人造机器带来的局限性，合成生物学不仅仅带给我们设计食物，燃料和环境的方法，

but also ourselves to compensate for our physical inadequacies and to ensure our survival in space.

也包括设计我们自身，让我们完善个体的不足，并确保我们能在太空中生存。

Mars is a destination, but it will not be our last.

火星是我们的一个目的地，但这并不会是我们最后一个目的地。

Our true final frontier is the line we must cross in deciding what we can and should make of our species' improbable intelligence.

我们的最终的疆界将是我们跨出决定我们能做什么和如何使用我们种族无与伦比的智慧。

Space is cold, brutal and unforgiving.

太空是冷酷的，残忍的，毫不留情的。

Our path to the stars will be rife with trials that will bring us to question not only who we are but where we will be going.

我们通往星星的道路将充满考验，带给我们新的问题， 不仅仅要问出“我们是谁”

“我们的终点在哪里”。

The answers will lie in our choice to use or abandon the technology that we have gleaned from life itself,

答案就在我们的选择中， 我们是会使用还是会放弃这项从生命本身拾起的科技，

and it will define us for the remainder of our term in this universe.

它也会决定我们在这宇宙中的生存期限。

Thank you.

谢谢。