much of what surrounds us

看看四周

started life as various rocks and sludge

身邊周圍很多東西

buried in the ground in various places in the world.

原先只是各種石頭或爛泥

But, of course, they don't look like rocks and sludge now.

埋在世界的各個角落

They look like TV cameras, monitors,

當然現在看起來並不像石頭或爛泥

annoying radio mics.

而是像電視攝影機啦、螢幕啦

And so this magical transformation

或惱人的無線麥克風

is what I was trying to get at with my project,

這樣驚人的轉變

which became known as the Toaster Project.

正是我所著手的計畫

And it was also inspired by this quote

也就是--烤麵包機計畫

from Douglas Adams,

我也是受到亞當斯(Douglas Adams)的一句話

and the situation is from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

所啟發的

And the situation it describes

場景是來自小說《銀河便車指南》

is the hero of the book -- he's a 20th-century man --

內容是在描述

finds himself alone on a strange planet

書裡的英雄--一個20世紀的人--

populated only by a technologically primitive people.

發現自己處在一個陌生的星球

And he kind of assumes that, yes,

上面只住有原始技術的人

he'll become -- these villagers --

他有點假想自己

he'll become their emperor

會變成這些居民的...

and transform their society

這些人的皇帝

with his wonderful command of technology

並將其社會轉型

and science and the elements,

用他豐富的科技知識

but, of course, realizes

加上科學及其他元素

that without the rest of human society,

但是，當然啦

he can barely make a sandwich,

他發現若沒有其餘人類社會的部分

let alone a toaster.

他連三明治都做不大出來

But he didn't have Wikipedia.

更別說是烤麵包機了

So I thought, okay,

但他沒有維基百科

I'll try and make an electric toaster from scratch.

所以我想說

And, working on the idea

那我就來從零開始做個烤麵包機

that the cheapest electric toaster

要實行這個想法

would also be the simplest to reverse-engineer,

買台最便宜的烤麵包機

I went and bought the cheapest toaster I could find,

就是最簡單的逆向操作

took it home

我盡力去買了最便宜的烤麵包機

and was kind of dismayed to discover

帶回家後

that, inside this object,

有點傻眼的發現

which I'd bought for just 3.49 pounds,

這個東西裡面

there were 400 different bits

這個我才花3英鎊45便士(約170台幣)買的東西

made out of a hundred-plus different materials.

竟然有400種不同的小零件

I didn't have the rest of my life to do this project.

由100多種材料所製成

I had maybe nine months.

我不是要花一輩子的時間去研究

So I thought, okay, I'll start with five.

只有大概9個月

And these were steel, mica,

所以我想說，那就先從5個開始吧

plastic, copper and nickel.

有鋼、雲母

So, starting with steel: how do you make steel?

塑膠、銅和鎳

I went and knocked on the door

那先從鋼開始，如何鍊鋼?

of the Rio Tinto Chair

我登門拜訪了

of Advanced Mineral Extraction at the Royal School of Mines

力拓礦業的主席

and said, "How do you make steel?"

他在英國皇家礦業學校教「進階採礦學」

And Professor Cilliers was very kind

我問他要如何煉鋼

and talked me through it.

西里斯(Cilliers)教授人很好

And my vague rememberings from GCSE science --

他詳細的向我說明

well, steel comes from iron,

我依稀記得國中的自然課教過

so I phoned up an iron mine.

鋼來自於鐵

And said, "Hi, I'm trying to make a toaster.

所以我就打電話給一家鐵礦場

Can I come up and get some iron?"

我說：「哈囉，我想做一個烤麵包機(toaster)」

Unfortunately, when I got there -- emerges Ray.

「可以過去跟你要一些鐵嗎?」

He had misheard me

結果，我到那裡之後，雷(Ray)出現了

and thought I was coming up because I was trying to make a poster,

他聽錯我的意思

and so wasn't prepared to take me into the mines.

以為我去是要做海報(poster)

But after some nagging, I got him to do that.

所以沒準備要帶我進礦場

(Video) Ray: It was Crease Limestone,

我好說歹說之後終於說服了他

and that was produced

(影片) 雷:這是褶曲石灰岩

by sea creatures

由海底生物

350 million years ago

所產生的

in a nice, warm,

在3億5千萬年前

sunny atmosphere.

有著舒適、溫暖

When you study geology,

陽光的環境下

you can see what's happened in the past,

等你讀地質學之後

and there were terrific changes in the earth.

就能看見過去發生的事

Thomas Thwaites: As you can see, they had the Christmas decorations up.

中間有很多大變動

And of course, it wasn't actually a working mine anymore,

湯瑪士斯韋茨: 如你所見，他們還有聖誕節的裝飾

because, though Ray was a miner there,

當然，這個礦場已經沒有在運作了

the mine had closed

雖然雷曾是那裡的礦工

and had been reopened as a kind of tourist attraction,

但這間礦場已經關閉

because, of course, it can't compete

並以觀光為主重新開放

on the scale of operations which are happening

因為他的確無法

in South America, Australia, wherever.

跟現在的南美、澳洲等地方的

But anyway, I got my suitcase of iron ore

經營規模相比

and dragged it back to London on the train,

反正呢，我裝了整箱的鐵礦

and then was faced with the problem:

坐火車拖回倫敦

Okay, how do you make this rock

然後問題來了:

into components for a toaster?

要怎麼把這顆石頭

So I went back to Professor Cilliers,

變成烤麵包機的元件?

and he said, "Go to the library."

所以我又回去找西里斯教授

So I did

他說: 「去圖書館找」

and was looking through the undergraduate textbooks on metallurgy --

我就去了

completely useless for what I was trying to do.

然後翻了一些關於冶金學的研究生教科書 --

Because, of course, they don't actually tell you how to do it

跟我要做的完全不相干

if you want to do it yourself and you don't have a smelting plant.

想也知道他們不可能真的教你怎麼做

So I ended up going to the History of Science Library

如果是DIY，又沒有冶鍊廠

and looking at this book.

所以最後我去了科學史博物館

This is the first textbook on metallurgy

看到了這本書

written in the West, at least.

這是西方在寫冶金學的

And there you can see that woodcut

第一本教科書

is basically what I ended up doing.

你看到的木刻畫呢

But instead of a bellows, I had a leaf blower.

基本上就是我後來做的事

(Laughter)

只是我沒有風箱，但我有吹落葉機

And that was something that reoccurred throughout the project,

(笑聲)

was, the smaller the scale you want to work on,

整個計畫在重現的就是

the further back in time you have to go.

你想投入的規模越小

And so this is after

就要用越原始的方法來做

a day and about half a night

所以這就是在

smelting this iron.

大概一天又半個晚上之後

I dragged out this stuff,

我把鐵礦融化了

and it wasn't iron.

然後我把它拉出來

But luckily,

結果不是鐵

I found a patent online

幸好

for industrial furnaces that use microwaves,

我在網路上找到一個專利

and at 30 minutes at full power,

就是工業用的微波融爐

and I was able to finish off the process.

火力全開30分鐘後

So, my next --

差不多就完成了

(Applause)

所以接下來...

The next thing I was trying to get was copper.

(鼓掌)

Again, this mine

接下來我要找銅

was once the largest copper mine in the world.

一樣，這個礦場

It's not anymore,

之前曾是全世界最大的銅礦場

but I found a retired geology professor

現在不是了

to take me down,

我找到一位退休的地質學教授

and he said, "Okay, I'll let you have some water from the mine."

來帶我下去

And the reason I was interested in getting water

他說: 「好，我讓你在礦場裡取些水」

is because water which goes through mines

我想要拿到水的理由是

becomes kind of acidic

因為流過整個礦場的水

and will start picking up,

會變得偏酸性

dissolving the minerals from the mine.

而且會帶走

And a good example of this is the Rio Tinto,

和溶解礦物裡的礦物質

which is in Portugal.

力拓礦業有個不錯的例子

As you can see, it's got lots and lots of minerals dissolved in it.

這是在葡萄牙

So many such

你可以看到，有很多的礦物溶解在裡面

that it's now just a home for bacteria

多到呢

who really like acidic, toxic conditions.

現在變成細菌的滋生地

But anyway, the water I dragged back

因為細菌喜歡酸又有毒的環境

from the Isle of Anglesey where the mine was --

總之，我從安格爾西島的礦場

there was enough copper in it

帶回來的水裡

such that I could cast the pins

含有足夠的銅

of my metal electric plug.

能讓我鑄造出

So my next thing: I was off to Scotland

插頭的金屬腳

to get mica.

所以再下來，我到蘇格蘭

And mica is a mineral

去採雲母

which is a very good insulator

雲母是一種

and very good at insulating electricity.

很好的絕緣體

That's me getting mica.

隔絕電的效果很好

And the last material I'm going to talk about today is plastic,

這是我拿到雲母的樣子

and, of course,

今天要講的最後一項材料是塑膠

my toaster had to have a plastic case.

當然啦

Plastic is the defining feature

烤麵包機一定要有塑膠外殼

of cheap electrical goods.

塑膠是便宜電器的

And so plastic comes from oil, so I phoned up BP

一個特點

and spent a good half an hour

塑膠來自石油，我就打給英國石油公司

trying to convince the PR office at BP

花了半個小時

that it would be fantastic for them

在說服公關

if they flew me to an oil rig

我說如果他們可以

and let me have a jug of oil.

帶我飛到油井去

BP obviously has a bit more on their mind now.

取一罐石油的話就太好了

But even then

英國石油公司顯然地還有很多其他事要做。

they weren't convinced

但即使如此

and said, "Okay, we'll phone you back" -- never did.

他們還是無法接受

So I looked at other ways of making plastic.

就說「好的，我們會再跟你聯絡」--根本沒有

And you can actually make plastic

所以我就尋求其他方法

from obviously oils which come from plants, but also from starches.

其實要製造塑膠

So this is attempting to make

可以從植物或是澱粉類食物中取得

potato starch plastic.

所以我就試著做個

And for a while that was looking really good.

馬鈴薯澱粉塑膠

I poured it into the mold, which you can see there,

一開始看起來還不錯

which I've made from a tree trunk.

我倒進模具裡，在那邊

And it was looking good for a while,

我用樹幹做的

but I left it outside, because you had to leave it outside to dry,

一開始看起來還不錯

and unfortunately I came back

但是我放在外面之後，因為要風乾

and there were snails eating the unhydrolyzed bits of potato.

過了一會兒再回來

So kind of out of desperation,

就出現好幾隻蝸牛在吃馬鈴薯未水解的部分

I decided that I could think laterally.

在絕望之後呢

And geologists have actually christened --

我決定做橫向思考

well, they're debating whether to christen --

地質學家有要命名--

the age that we're living in --

還在爭議當中啦--

they're debating whether to make it a new geological epoch

我們生活的這個世紀--

called the Anthropocene, the age of Man.

到底要不要劃下一個新地質時代

And that's because geologists of the future

稱之為「人類世」，即人類的時代

would kind of see a sharp shift

因為未來的地質學家

in the strata of rock that is being laid down now.

會在下沉的地層岩石中

So suddenly, it will become kind of radioactive from Chernobyl

發現急劇的變動

and the 2,000 or so nuclear bombs

突然間，車諾比的輻射事件啦、

that have been set off since 1945.

1945年後發射的

And there'd also be an extinction event --

2千顆核彈啦

like fossils would suddenly disappear.

還有絕種的事件

And also, I thought

像化石突然不見

that there would be

還有，我想

synthetic polymers,

還會有

plastics, embedded in the rock.

很多合成聚合物

So I looked up a plastic --

像是塑膠啦，嵌在石頭裡

so I decided that I could mine

所以我到處找

some of this modern-day rock.

決定採一些

And I went up to Manchester

「現代」的石頭

to visit a place called Axion Recycling.

我到曼徹斯特去

And they're at the sharp end of what's called the WEEE,

找一個地方叫「Axion回收場」

which is this European electrical and electronic waste directive.

他們處在所謂WEEE的第一線

And that was brought into force

也就是「歐洲報廢電子電氣設備指令」

to try and deal with the mountain of stuff

那是在實施

that is just being made

去處理一大堆的東西

and then living for a while in our homes

才剛被製造出來

and then going to landfill.

在我們家裡用了一陣子之後

But this is it.

就進了掩埋場

(Music)

大概是這樣

(Laughter)

(音樂)

So there's a picture

(笑聲)

of my toaster.

這就是我做的

(Applause)

烤麵包機

That's it without the case on.

(鼓掌)

And there it is on the shelves.

這是外殼拿掉的樣子

Thanks.

還有放在架上的樣子

(Applause)

謝謝大家

Bruno Giussani: I'm told you did plug it in once.

(鼓掌)

TT: Yeah, I did plug it in.

布魯諾吉桑尼: 我說你也插上一次插頭吧

I don't know if you could see,

有阿，我有插

but I was never able to make insulation for the wires.

不知道你們有沒有發現

Kew Gardens were insistent

我沒有做電線的絕緣皮

that I couldn't come and hack into their rubber tree.

皇家植物園的態度很硬

So the wires were uninsulated.

說我不能擅自取用橡膠樹

So there was 240 volts

所以電線是不絕緣的

going through these homemade copper wires,

結果240伏特的電

homemade plug.

流過整個手工的銅線

And for about five seconds,

手工的插頭

the toaster toasted,

大概有五秒鐘

but then, unfortunately,

麵包機有在烤

the element kind of melted itself.

可是之後

But I considered it a partial success, to be honest.

那些原件感覺有點融化

BG: Thomas Thwaites. TT: Thanks.

可是我認為還是算成功啦，說真的