For thousands of years, well, really probably millions of years,

幾千年或幾百萬年來，

our ancestors have looked up at the sky and wondered what's up there,

我們的祖先抬頭仰望天空， 想知道那裡有什麼。

and they've also started to wonder,

他們納悶：

hmm, could we be alone in this planet?

人類和地球獨一無二嗎？

Now, I'm fortunate that I get to get paid to actually ask some of those questions,

我很幸運能夠領著薪水 實際探討這些問題；

and sort of bad news for you,

對你而言算是個壞消息，

your tax dollars are paying me to try to answer some of those questions.

因為你納的稅正付我薪水 去探索其中的一些問題。

But then, about 10 years ago,

大約 10 年前我被告知，

I was told, I mean asked,

換言之，

if I would start to look at the technology to help get us off planet,

我被要求研究 幫人類飛離地球的技術，

and so that's what I'm going to talk to you about today.

這就是我今天的主題。

So playing to the local crowd,

這是波士頓本地人日常生活的樣貌；

this is what it looks like in your day-to-day life in Boston,

一旦你離開地球就大不相同。

but as you start to go off planet, things look very, very different.

這是我們在 WGBH 電台的上空徘徊。

So there we are, hovering above the WGBH studios.

這是一張非常著名 從月球看地球升起的照片，

And here's a very famous picture of the Earthrise from the Moon,

看得到地球漸行漸遠。

and you can see the Earth starting to recede.

我喜歡從火星表面看地球的照片。

And then what I love is this picture

誰找得到地球？

that was taken from the surface of Mars looking back at the Earth.

讓我來幫忙。

Can anyone find the Earth?

（笑聲）

I'm going to help you out a little.

是啊。

(Laughter)

關鍵是前往火星的人

Yeah.

無法繼續打電話，

The point of showing this is that when people start to go to Mars,

也無法像在太空站上那樣微觀管理。

they're not going to be able to keep calling in

他們必須靠自己。

and be micromanaged the way people on a space station are.

因此，在火星那裡的人

They're going to have to be independent.

將會需要各種各樣的東西，

So even though they're up there,

就像地球上的人需要東西一樣，

there are going to be all sorts of things that they're going to need,

諸如運輸、維生、食物、衣服等等。

just like people on Earth need things like, oh, transportation,

但與地球不同，他們還需要氧氣，

life support, food, clothing and so on.

還得面對這裡三分之一的重力。

But unlike on Earth, they are also going to need oxygen.

他們得擔心棲息地、

They're going to have to deal with about a third of the gravity that we have here.

能源、高溫、光線和輻射防護，

They're going to have to worry about habitats, power, heat, light

在地球上無需擔心這些，

and radiation protection,

因為我們有美麗的大氣層和磁層。

something that we don't actually worry about nearly as much on the Earth,

問題是限制很多，

because we have this beautiful atmosphere and magnetosphere.

其中最大的問題就是載重 （升空承載質量，upmass）。

The problem with that is that we also have a lot of constraints.

多年來我用的數字是

So the biggest one for us is upmass,

將一罐可樂推入近地軌道 約需一萬美元。

and the number that I've used for years

問題是花了一萬美元後

is it costs about 10,000 dollars to launch a can of Coke into low Earth orbit.

你仍處於近地軌道，

The problem is, there you are with 10,000 dollars later,

還沒到月球、火星或其他任何地方。

and you're still in low Earth orbit.

因此得想出辦法

You're not even at the Moon or Mars or anything else.

盡可能降低送上太空的質量。

So you're going to have to try to figure out

除了質量和成本問題，

how to keep the mass as low as possible so you don't have to launch it.

還有存儲、靈活度 和可靠性方面的問題。

But on top of that cost issue with the mass,

你不能到了那裡才說： 「哎呀，我忘了帶」，

you also have problems of storage

因為亞馬遜不送貨到火星。

and flexibility and reliability.

你最好先準備好。

You can't just get there and say, "Oops, I forgot to bring,"

那麼有什麼解決方案？

because Amazon.com just does not deliver to Mars.

在接下來的演講

So you better be prepared.

我提的解決之道就是生命。

So what is the solution for this?

當你把生命視為科技時

And I'm going to propose to you for the rest of this talk

就會意識到：「啊，果真如此，

that the solution actually is life,

正是我們需要的。」

and when you start to look at life as a technology,

這株植物，就像這裡的每個人、

you realize, ah, that's it,

你們的狗、貓和植物等，

that's exactly what we needed.

都從一個單細胞開始。

This plant here, like every person here

想像你一開始的質量很小，

and every one of your dogs and cats

然後長得很大。

and plants and so on,

雖然我的英雄 查爾斯•達爾文提醒我們

all started as a single cell.

在生物學中沒有設計師這號人物，

So imagine, you're starting as a very low upmass object

但倘若我們擁有設計生物的技術，

and then growing into something a good deal bigger.

能夠設計全新的生物，

Now, my hero Charles Darwin,

來為我們做過去無法想像的事呢？

of course, reminds us that there's no such thing as a designer in biology,

幾年前，我被指派來推展這個專案，

but what if we now have the technology

我面對美國太空總署的一個小組——

to design biology,

想像一群

maybe even design, oh, whole new life-forms

穿西裝、白襯衫， 外加防筆漬保護套的人——

that can do things for us that we couldn't have imagined otherwise?

我瘋狂地推銷：

So years ago, I was asked to start to sell this program,

「這是下一個壯舉」，

and while I was doing that,

以為他們會驚為天人。

I was put in front of a panel at NASA,

然而委員會主席只是直視著我並說：

as you might sort of imagine,

「是什麼壯舉？」

a bunch of people in suits and white shirts and pencil protectors,

我想：「好吧，你想要星際迷航？

and I did this sort of crazy, wild,

就給你星際迷航。」

"This is all the next great thing,"

聽我說明這壯舉是什麼。

and I thought they would be blown over,

多年來我們一直 用生物製造生物材料。

and instead the chairman of the committee just looked at me straight in the eye,

這是在格拉斯哥外拍攝的精美照片，

and said, "So what's the big idea?"

看得到很多很棒的生物材料：

So I was like, "OK, you want Star Trek?

有樹可以用來建房子，

We'll do Star Trek."

有羊可以取得羊毛和皮革。

And so let me tell you what the big idea is.

快速瀏覽這大廳， 我敢打賭這裡沒有任何人

We've used organisms to make biomaterials for years.

不用某種動物或植物產品，

So here's a great picture taken outside of Glasgow,

都用某種生物材料。

and you can see lots of great biomaterials there.

但你知道嗎？

There are trees that you could use to build houses.

我們不會把羊、樹和東西帶上火星，

There are sheep where you can get your wool from.

由於載重的問題，那樣行不通。

You could get leather from the sheep.

我們會用的方式如下。

Just quickly glancing around the room, I'll bet there's no one in this room

這是枯草芽孢桿菌。

that doesn't have some kind of animal or plant product on them,

那些看得到的白點是孢子，

some kind of biomaterial.

恰好是一種可以形成 非凡抗性孢子的細菌，

But you know what?

它們已經證明了自己的非凡抗性。

We're not going to take sheep and trees and stuff to Mars.

枯草芽孢桿菌孢子 已經長時間暴露在

That's nuts, because of the upmass problem.

太空梭的長時照射設備（LDEF）上

But we are going to take things like this.

將近六年了，

This is Bacillus subtilis.

有些倖存在太空中。

Those white dots that you see are spores.

令人難以置信的是 它們的表現比我們人類好。

This happens to be a bacterium that can form incredibly resistant spores,

那麼，為什麼不利用這能力來製作

and when I say incredibly resistant, they've proven themselves.

木頭、羊毛、蜘蛛絲等材料，

Bacillus subtilis spores have been flown on what was called LDEF,

將其放入枯草芽孢桿菌孢子中

Long Duration Exposure Facility, for almost six years

帶離地球呢？

and some of them survived that in space.

離開地球後要怎麼做？

Unbelievable, a lot better than any of us can do.

這張標誌性的照片是 外號「嗡嗡」的太空人艾德林上校，

So why not just take the capabilities,

約在 50 年前登月時， 他回頭看「鷹」號登月艙。

like to make wood or to make wool or spider silk or whatever,

如果你是第一個踏足月球的人，

and put them in Bacillus subtilis spores,

要在那裡待上三天，

and take those with you off planet?

那麼你的確可以靠罐頭過日子；

So what are you going to do when you're off planet?

但是要住上一年半載就不行了。

Here's an iconic picture of Buzz Aldrin looking back at the Eagle

因此我在加州實際算了一下。

when he landed, oh, it was almost 50 years ago, on the surface of the Moon.

我看過惡魔島禁閉室的平均大小，

Now if you're going to go to the Moon for three days

讓我告訴你，

and you're the first person to set foot,

「鷹」號登月艙的大小

yeah, you can live in a tin can,

會和惡魔島的禁閉室大小差不多，

but you wouldn't want to do that for, say, a year and a half.

如果艙高只有 150 公分。

So I did actually a calculation, being in California.

生活空間狹窄得如此難以置信，

I looked at what the average size of a cell at Alcatraz is,

無法要求人類長時間住在那裡。

and I have news for you,

那麼何不用這些生物材料 製造點什麼呢？

the volume in the Eagle there, in the Lunar Module,

我的建築師同事克里斯•毛惹

was about the size of a cell at Alcatraz

已經完成了我們的提案，

if it were only five feet high.

稍後會說明為什麼我站在這裡

So incredibly cramped living quarters.

手裡一直拿著看似乾掉的三明治。

You just can't ask a human to stay in there for long periods of time.

我們已經提出解決火星棲地的辦法

So why not take these biomaterials and make something?

可能就在於真菌。

So here's an image that a colleague of mine

如果我現在再次提到吃蘑菇

who is an architect, Chris Maurer, has done of what we've been proposing,

可能會使所有的人厭煩。

and we'll get to the point

讓我們來討論一下真菌。

of why I've been standing up here holding something

或許你熟悉真菌的子實體，

that looks like a dried sandwich this whole lecture.

也就是蘑菇。

So we've proposed that the solution to the habitat problem on Mars

但實際上我們感興趣的是

could just simply lie in a fungus.

表面下的菌絲體，

So I'm now probably going to turn off everyone

這些根毛狀的結構，

from ever eating a mushroom again.

乃是蘑菇真正主要的部分。

So let's talk about fungi for a second.

你能拿那些——

So you're probably familiar with this fruiting body of the fungus.

這是一張顯微照片——

That's the mushroom.

把真菌放在模具裡，

But what we're interested in actually is what's beneath the surface there,

餵一點食物，

the mycelium,

不需要多，它們可以長在木屑上——

which are these root hair-like structures

這個長在木屑上，

that are really the main part of the mushroom.

菌絲體將會長滿該結構。

Well, it turns out you can take those --

我們在火星模擬物上 實際試種過真菌——

there's a micrograph I did --

沒有人真的去過火星的表面，

and you can put them in a mold

這是模擬火星的表面——

and give them a little food --

在那裡看得到那些毛髮狀的菌絲體。

and it doesn't take much, you can grow these things on sawdust --

真是神奇。

so this piece here was grown on sawdust,

這東西有多強呢？

and that mycelium then will fill that structure

我可以提供數字和測試之類，

to make something.

但我認為這可能是最佳的描述方式。

We've actually tried growing mycelium on Mars Simulant.

我一個學生證明能坐在上面。

So no one's actually gone to the surface of Mars,

為了要做到，得要弄清楚周遭的環境。

but this is a simulated surface of Mars,

要怎麼做呢？

and you can see those hair-like mycelia out there.

我的意思是，主意是不錯，

It's really amazing stuff.

但要怎麼辦到呢？

How strong can you make these things?

我們的作法是在實驗室中長菌絲體，

Well, you know, I could give you numbers and tests and so on,

填滿一個像房子一樣的小結構，

but I think that's probably the best way to describe it.

大概像充氣的雙層塑膠袋那樣吧——

There's one of my students proving that you can do this.

看到這個我就會想到 L. L. Bean。 （戶外用品網購公司）

To do this, then, you've got to figure out how to put it in context.

把它放入火箭太空船，

How's this actually going to happen?

送上火星。

I mean, this is a great idea, Lynn,

火箭降落，

but how are you going to get from here to there?

釋出袋子，

So what we're saying is you grow up the mycelium in the lab, for example

加點水，

and then you fill up a little structure, maybe a house-like structure that's tiny,

瞧，你有棲息地了。

that is maybe a double-bagged sort of plastic thing, like an inflatable --

你知道這有多酷嗎？

I sort of think L.L.Bean when I see this.

最棒的是你不必預先鑄造。

And then you put it in a rocket ship and you send it off to Mars.

我們估計

Rocket lands,

如果實際在現場種植，

you release the bag

可以比現在太空總署用的大型鋼構 節省 90％ 的質量。

and you add a little water,

讓我再說個好主意。

and voila, you've got your habitat.

怎麼處理數位訊息呢？

You know, how cool would that be?

最有趣的地方是： 你與父母有基因上的聯繫，

And the beauty of that is you don't have to take something prebuilt.

它們與它們的父母 也有基因上的聯繫等等，

And so our estimates are that we could save 90 percent of the mass

一直回溯到生命的起源。

that NASA is currently proposing by taking up a big steel structure

那連續從未被打破。

if we actually grow it on site.

事實上我們今天做得到。

So let me give you another big idea.

因此，我們實驗室每天都有學生——

What about digital information?

波士頓的學生——

What's really interesting is you have a physical link to your parents

甚至排序 DNA，

and they have a physical link to their parents, and so on,

排好後按「發送」鈕，

all the way back to the origin of life.

送給當地的 DNA 合成公司。

You have never broken that continuum.

一旦你打破了那從此地 送到彼地的實體連結，

But the fact is that we can do that today.

不論是送到查爾斯河對岸

So we have students every day in our labs --

或送上火星並不是重點。

students in Boston even do this --

你打破了那個實體的連結。

that make up DNA sequences

那麼，一旦你在火星上，

and they hit the "send" button

或者在河對岸或任何地方，

and they send them to their local DNA synthesis company.

你能接收數位訊息，

Now once you break that physical link

合成 DNA 實體，

where you're sending it across town,

把它放在另一個有機體中，

it doesn't matter if you're sending it across the Charles River

瞧，你就有了新的能力。

or if you're sending that information to Mars.

再說一次，你突破實體連結，真棒！

You've broken that physical link.

化學呢？

So then, once you're on Mars,

生物學在地球上為我們做化學反應

or across the river or wherever,

已經有幾千年了。

you can take that digital information,

我敢打賭，這個房間裡的每個人

synthesize the physical DNA,

今天都吃過生物化學做的東西。

put it maybe in another organism

讓我給你一個很大的提示。

and voila, you've got new capabilities there.

另一個想法如何呢？

So again, you've broken that physical link. That's huge.

用 DNA 來製作電線如何？

What about chemistry?

再說一次，因為我們 努力縮小化一切。

Biology does chemistry for us on Earth,

DNA 非常便宜。

and again has for literally thousands of years.

草莓含有大量的 DNA。

I bet virtually everyone in this room has eaten something today

你可以隨身攜帶草莓， 分離 DNA 出來，

that has been made by biology doing chemistry.

我的一個學生已經找到了一種方法

Let me give you a big hint there.

擷取 DNA，略微調整它，

What about another idea?

將銀原子連接在特定之處，

What about using DNA itself to make a wire?

從而製成電線。

Because again, we're trying to miniaturize everything.

多麼酷啊！

DNA is really cheap.

既然我們正在談論金屬，

Strawberries have a gazillion amount of DNA.

我們將需要將金屬 用於積體電路之類的東西上。

You know, you could take a strawberry with you, isolate the DNA,

可能我們會想要把它 用在某些結構上之類的。

and one of my students has figured out a way

像積體電路這樣的東西最終會壞掉。

to take DNA and tweak it a little bit

這部分有很多可談，但我不多說了。

so that you can incorporate silver atoms in very specific places,

當它們壞了的時候，

thus making an electrical wire.

你去哪裡找這些金屬呢？

How cool is that?

沒錯，你可以嘗試用重型設備挖礦，

So while we're on the subject of metals,

但是你又碰到了那個載重的問題。

we're going to need to use metals for things like integrated circuits.

而我總是說，

Probably we're going to want it for some structures, and so on.

為新手機找金屬的最佳方法是 回收舊手機的金屬。

And things like integrated circuits ultimately go bad.