that is hidden from us,

如果我可以揭露任何事物，

at least in modern cultures,

我們看不到的事物，

it would be to reveal something that we've forgotten,

至少對於現代文化來說，

that we used to know

那就只能揭露我們已拋之腦後的事物。

as well as we knew our own names.

但我們曾經是知道它們的，

And that is that we live in a competent universe,

就像我們知道自己的名字一樣。

that we are part of a brilliant planet,

而且我們生存在充足的宇宙中，

and that we are surrounded by genius.

身為這絕妙星球的一員，

Biomimicry is a new discipline

身旁圍繞著一群天才。

that tries to learn from those geniuses,

仿生科技是一門新的學科，

and take advice from them, design advice.

嘗試向那群天才學習，

That's where I live,

聽取他們的建議，設計上的建議。

and it's my university as well.

那是我住的地方。

I'm surrounded by genius. I cannot help but

也是我念的大學。

remember the organisms and the ecosystems

我被天才包圍，不由自主地．．．

that know how to live here gracefully on this planet.

一直記得這些生物和生態系統，

This is what I would tell you to remember

它們知道如何優雅地生存在地球上。

if you ever forget this again.

這是我想要你記得的一點，

Remember this.

不准再忘記它，

This is what happens every year.

記得它。

This is what keeps its promise.

這是每年都會發生的事，

While we're doing bailouts, this is what happened.

信守諾言的事，

Spring.

當我們正忙於紓困案，這已發生。

Imagine designing spring.

春天。

Imagine that orchestration.

想像要設計一個春天。

You think TED is hard to organize. (Laughter) Right?

想像一切和諧編排。

Imagine, and if you haven't done this in a while, do.

你覺得TED很難組織 (笑聲)，是吧？

Imagine the timing, the coordination,

想像，如果你很久沒這麼做，現在做。

all without top-down laws,

想像那些時機點，那些巧合。

or policies, or climate change protocols.

完全沒有上對下的法律規則，

This happens every year.

或政策，或氣候變遷草案。

There is lots of showing off.

每年都這樣發生。

There is lots of love in the air.

有很多爭奇鬥艷。

There's lots of grand openings.

空氣裡充滿愛。

And the organisms, I promise you,

有很多盛大的開場。

have all of their priorities in order.

而這些生物體，我向你保證，

I have this neighbor that keeps me in touch with this,

他們全都井然有序。

because he's living, usually on his back,

我曾經有個鄰居，讓我接觸這些。

looking up at those grasses.

因為他的生活，通常是躺著

And one time he came up to me --

往上看那些牧草。

he was about seven or eight years old -- he came up to me.

有一次，他來找我，

And there was a wasp's nest

那時他大約七或八歲，他來找我。

that I had let grow in my yard,

那時有個蜂巢，

right outside my door.

我讓它長在我家後院裡，

And most people knock them down when they're small.

就在我的門外。

But it was fascinating to me,

大多數人會趁蜂巢還小，就將之打下。

because I was looking at this sort of fine Italian end papers.

但它對我來很迷人。

And he came up to me and he knocked.

因為我看著這種細緻的意式襯紙。

He would come every day with something to show me.

而他來找我並敲敲門。

And like, knock like a woodpecker on my door until I opened it up.

每天都帶些東西來給我看。

And he asked me

敲門敲得像隻啄木鳥，直到我開門為止。

how I had made the house for those wasps,

然後他問我，

because he had never seen one this big.

我是如何做出那些蜂巢的。

And I told him, "You know, Cody,

因為他從未見過這麼大的蜂巢。

the wasps actually made that."

我告訴他：「知道嗎？Cody

And we looked at it together.

其實蜂巢是蜜蜂自己做的。」

And I could see why he thought,

然後我們一起觀察它。

you know -- it was so beautifully done.

而我可以了解為什麼他會那樣以為，

It was so architectural. It was so precise.

你知道嗎？它是如此美麗地完工。

But it occurred to me, how in his small life

它很建築，很精準。

had he already believed the myth

但我不禁想到，為何這麼小的孩子，

that if something was that well done,

就已經相信一個神話，

that we must have done it.

那就是這樣完美的作品，

How did he not know --

一定是我們人類做出來的。

it's what we've all forgotten --

他為何不知道一件事，

that we're not the first ones to build.

也是我們都忘記的事實，

We're not the first ones to process cellulose.

就是我們並非第一個會建造的物種。

We're not the first ones to make paper. We're not the first ones

我們並非第一個會處理纖維，

to try to optimize packing space,

並非第一個造紙，也並非第一個

or to waterproof, or to try to heat and cool a structure.

嘗試加大收納空間的物種。

We're not the first ones to build houses for our young.

或是製作防水、或嘗試加熱和冷卻。

What's happening now, in this field called biomimicry,

我們並非第一個為後代建造房屋的物種。

is that people are beginning to remember

正在仿生科技學領域中發生的，

that organisms, other organisms,

是人們開始記得

the rest of the natural world,

生物體，其他的生物體，

are doing things very similar to what we need to do.

自然界中的其他生物，

But in fact they are doing them in a way

正在做與我們需求極相似的事。

that have allowed them to live gracefully on this planet

但事實上，他們用的方式

for billions of years.

可讓他們優雅生存在地球上

So these people, biomimics,

好幾億年。

are nature's apprentices.

所以說這些仿生科學家

And they're focusing on function.

是大自然的學徒。

What I'd like to do is show you a few of the things

他們注重功能。

that they're learning.

我想要讓你們看一些

They have asked themselves,

他們正在學習的東西。

"What if, every time I started to invent something,

他們這樣問自己：

I asked, 'How would nature solve this?'"

「倘若每次開始發明前

And here is what they're learning.

我都問『大自然會如何解決？』呢？」

This is an amazing picture from a Czech photographer named Jack Hedley.

而這就是他們正在學習的。

This is a story about an engineer at J.R. West.

這驚嘆的照片由捷克攝影師Jack Hedley拍攝。

They're the people who make the bullet train.

這個故事關於一位J.R. West的工程師。

It was called the bullet train

他們製造子彈列車。

because it was rounded in front,

它之所以名為子彈列車，

but every time it went into a tunnel

是因為它圓頭的造型。

it would build up a pressure wave,

但每次駛進山洞時，

and then it would create like a sonic boom when it exited.

就會產生一股壓力波，

So the engineer's boss said,

而在駛出山洞時製造音爆。

"Find a way to quiet this train."

於是工程師的老闆說：

He happened to be a birder.

「找出讓列車安靜的方法。」

He went to the equivalent of an Audubon Society meeting.

他正巧是位愛鳥者，

And he studied -- there was a film about king fishers.

他去了奧杜邦學會相關的會議。

And he thought to himself, "They go from one density of medium,

他研究和學習，一段翠鳥的影片，

the air, into another density of medium, water,

他想：「牠們從一種密度的介質—空氣，

without a splash. Look at this picture.

進入另一種密度的介質—水，

Without a splash, so they can see the fish.

卻不會濺起水花。」看這張照片。

And he thought, "What if we do this?"

沒有濺起水花，所以牠們看得到魚。

Quieted the train.

然後他想到：「倘若我們這麼做？」

Made it go 10 percent faster on 15 percent less electricity.

安靜的列車。

How does nature repel bacteria?

加快10%而且節省15%電力。

We're not the first ones to have to protect ourselves

大自然如何抗菌？

from some bacteria.

我們並非第一個需要保護自己

Turns out that -- this is a Galapagos Shark.

免於某些細菌侵擾的物種。

It has no bacteria on its surface, no fouling on its surface, no barnacles.

原來答案在—直翅真鯊。

And it's not because it goes fast.

牠的表面沒有細菌，表面無垢，亦無藤壺。

It actually basks. It's a slow-moving shark.

並不是因為牠游得很快。

So how does it keep its body free of bacteria build-up?

牠其實很愜意，是一種慢速鯊。

It doesn't do it with a chemical.

那牠如何保持身體不滋生細菌？

It does it, it turns out, with the same denticles

牠不是使用化學方法。

that you had on Speedo bathing suits,

原來，牠身上的鋸齒狀物，

that broke all those records in the Olympics,

與Speedo泳衣上的材質的相同，

but it's a particular kind of pattern.

而那泳衣曾打破所有奧運記錄。

And that pattern, the architecture of that pattern

但它有一種獨特的樣式，

on its skin denticles

而那種樣式—那種牠皮膚上

keep bacteria from being able to land and adhere.

鋸齒狀樣式的結構

There is a company called Sharklet Technologies

讓細菌無法附著。

that's now putting this on the surfaces in hospitals

有間名為Sharklet Technologies的公司

to keep bacteria from landing,

正將這種結構鋪在醫院的牆面，

which is better than dousing it with anti-bacterials or harsh cleansers

防止細菌附著。

that many, many organisms are now becoming drug resistant.

此法遠優於使用抗菌或強烈洗劑，

Hospital-acquired infections are now killing

讓許多許多生物產生抗藥性。

more people every year in the United States

在美國，醫院院內感染

than die from AIDS or cancer or car accidents combined --

每年奪走的性命

about 100,000.

比AIDS或癌症或車禍的死亡總數更多—

This is a little critter that's in the Namibian desert.

約十萬人。

It has no fresh water that it's able to drink,

這隻住在納米比沙漠的小生物，

but it drinks water out of fog.

沒有新鮮水源可以喝，

It's got bumps on the back of its wing covers.

但他從霧氣中攝取水分。

And those bumps act like a magnet for water.

在牠覆蓋身體的翅膀外側有些突起物，

They have water-loving tips, and waxy sides.

而那些突起物可像磁鐵搬吸住水，

And the fog comes in and it builds up on the tips.

它們有親水性的尖端和蠟質的側邊，

And it goes down the sides and goes into the critter's mouth.

所以霧氣會凝結在尖端，

There is actually a scientist here at Oxford

然後從側邊流下，流如這種生物的口中。

who studied this, Andrew Parker.

真的有位Oxford的科學家，

And now kinetic and architectural firms like Grimshaw

研究這項技術，他叫Andrew Parker.

are starting to look at this as a way

而現在有些動力和建築公司，像是Grimshaw

of coating buildings

開始著眼於把這技術應用在

so that they gather water from the fog.

建築物的塗裝，

10 times better than our fog-catching nets.

於是它們能從霧氣擷取水分，

CO2 as a building block.

效果比我們的捉霧網好上10倍。

Organisms don't think of CO2 as a poison.

把二氧化碳當作建材。

Plants and organisms that make shells,

生物體不認為二氧化碳是有害的，

coral, think of it as a building block.

植物和一些製造貝殼、珊瑚的生物，

There is now a cement manufacturing company

都把二氧化碳當作建材。

starting in the United States called Calera.

現在有間水泥製造公司

They've borrowed the recipe from the coral reef,

成立於美國，名叫Clara.

and they're using CO2 as a building block

他們借用珊瑚礁的祕方，

in cement, in concrete.

並且把二氧化碳當作

Instead of -- cement usually

水泥、混凝土的材料，

emits a ton of CO2 for every ton of cement.

代替...水泥通常...

Now it's reversing that equation,

每頓水泥會排放一頓二氧化碳，

and actually sequestering half a ton of CO2

現在方程式被逆轉，

thanks to the recipe from the coral.

而實際上可節省半頓二氧化碳，

None of these are using the organisms.

多虧了得自珊瑚的祕方。

They're really only using the blueprints or the recipes

以上都沒有利用生物體，

from the organisms.

他們其實都只利用了

How does nature gather the sun's energy?

生物的生命藍圖或祕方。

This is a new kind of solar cell

大自然如何收集太陽能？

that's based on how a leaf works.

這是新的太陽能電池，

It's self-assembling.

建基於葉子的運作方式，

It can be put down on any substrate whatsoever.

它可以自我組裝。

It's extremely inexpensive

它可著根於任何生化基質，

and rechargeable every five years.

它非常便宜，

It's actually a company a company that I'm involved in called OneSun,

而且每五年可再充電。

with Paul Hawken.

那其實是我參與的一家公司，名為OneSun,

There are many many ways that nature filters water

與Paul Hawken合作。

that takes salt out of water.

大自然有好多好多淨化水的方式，

We take water and push it against a membrane.

取出水中的鹽分。

And then we wonder why the membrane clogs

我們用水去推擠細胞膜，

and why it takes so much electricity.

然後好奇為何細胞膜會堵塞，

Nature does something much more elegant.

而且為什麼需要那麼多電流。

And it's in every cell.

大自然使用更優雅的方式，

Every red blood cell of your body right now

而且每個細胞都會用。

has these hourglass-shaped pores

你現在體內的每一粒紅血球

called aquaporins.

都有沙漏形的小孔，

They actually export water molecules through.

名為水孔蛋白，

It's kind of a forward osmosis.

它們讓水分子通過、輸出。

They export water molecules through,

這像是一種正向滲透作用，

and leave solutes on the other side.

他們輸出水分子，

A company called Aquaporin is starting to make desalination

然後讓溶質留在另一邊。

membranes mimicking this technology.

一間名為Aquaporin的公司正開始製造

Trees and bones are constantly reforming themselves

模仿這種技術的去鹽薄膜。

along lines of stress.

樹木和骨骼經常

This algorithm has been put into a software program

沿著壓力線自我重組。

that's now being used to make bridges lightweight,

這種演算法已被運用在一個軟體，

to make building beams lightweight.

現在用於使橋樑輕量化，

Actually G.M. Opel used it

使建築鋼樑輕量化。

to create that skeleton you see,

事實上G.M. Opel已經運用這軟體

in what's called their bionic car.

創造了你所見到的那種骨架，

It lightweighted that skeleton using a minimum amount of material,

在所謂的仿生車當中。

as an organism must,

輕量化的骨架使用最少材料，

for the maximum amount of strength.

如同一個生物體必須做的，

This beetle, unlike this chip bag here,

並且得到最大的支撐力。

this beetle uses one material, chitin.

這隻甲蟲，與這餅乾帶子大不相同，

And it finds many many ways

甲蟲運用的是一種材料 ─ 基丁質。

to put many functions into it.

而且它找出好多好多種方法

It's waterproof.

讓基丁質有很多不同的功能。

It's strong and resilient.

它防水，

It's breathable. It creates color through structure.

它堅固且有彈性，

Whereas that chip bag has about seven layers to do all of those things.

它很透氣，藉由結構安排產生顏色。

One of our major inventions

反觀餅乾袋需要約七層材料來達成那些功能。

that we need to be able to do

我們主要的發明之一

to come even close to what these organisms can do

就是我們必須具備能力

is to find a way

與這些生物體更相近的能力，

to minimize the amount of material, the kind of material we use,

那就是找到一個方法

and to add design to it.

減少材料用量，那種我們所用的材料，

We use five polymers in the natural world

然後加上設計。

to do everything that you see.

大自然只使用五種聚合物

In our world we use about 350 polymers

來達成你所能見到的所有事物。

to make all this.

而人類用了350種聚合物

Nature is nano.

來製造這一切。

Nanotechnology, nanoparticles, you hear a lot of worry about this.

大自然是奈米專家。

Loose nanoparticles. What is really interesting to me

奈米科技、奈米粒子，聽過很多相關憂慮，

is that not many people have been asking,

鬆散奈米粒子。而我最有興趣的是

"How can we consult nature about how to make nanotechnology safe?"

有多少人問過：

Nature has been doing that for a long time.

「怎麼諮詢大自然如何安全運用耐米科技？」

Embedding nanoparticles in a material for instance, always.

大自然已行之久遠。

In fact, sulfur-reducing bacteria,

例如它總是把耐米粒子固定在某種材料。

as part of their synthesis,

事實上，硫還原細菌

they will emit, as a byproduct,

在它們合成的過程中，

nanoparticles into the water.

會釋放一種副產品，

But then right after that, they emit a protein

一種奈米粒子進入水中。

that actually gathers and aggregates those nanoparticles

但那之後，他們釋放一種蛋白質

so that they fall out of solution.

可以聚集、聚合那些奈米粒子，

Energy use. Organisms sip energy,

於是它們得以解決。

because they have to work or barter for every single bit that they get.

能量使用。生物體慎用能量。

And one of the largest fields right now,

因為牠們得工作或以物異物來獲得每一分。

in the world of energy grids,

而現今最大的領域之一，

you hear about the smart grid.

世界能源網當中，

One of the largest consultants are the social insects.

你聽過智能電網。

Swarm technology. There is a company called Regen.

最重要的顧問之一就是群居昆蟲。

They are looking at how ants and bees

群技術。有家公司名為Regen.

find their food and their flowers

他們觀察螞蟻和蜜蜂