Curiosity, discovery and gecko feet - Robert Full

好奇、發明、壁虎腳 - Robert Full

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Jephian Lin 審譯者: Hao-Wei Chang

Nearly every one of your science classes

幾乎每個人上的自然課

starts off with the scientific method.

都是從科學方法開始的

You recognize this?

你認得它嗎？

Ask a question,

form a hypothesis,

提題

假設

perform an experiment,

實驗

collect data,

蒐集數據

draw conclusions,

作出結論

and then memorize a bunch of facts.

然後記住一堆東西

This is really boring!

這真的非常無聊！

Science is not a simple recipe in a cookbook,

科學不是烹飪書上的食譜

and learning is not memorizing facts for tests.

學習也不是為了考試而死背

Yet, that is exactly what we do.

然而，這就是我們平時所做的

We have to change this!

我們必須改變這點！

We have to look at how curiosity can ultimately benefit society

我們要來看看 好奇心如何貢獻社會

by looking towards tomorrow,

藉由展望明天

by going through a path from involvement

藉由一個過程，從參與（involvement）

to imagination

到想像（imagination）

to invention

進而發明（invention）

to innovation.

最後創新（innovation）

And I'd like to illustrate this by telling you the real story

我要用一個真實故事來說明這點

about how we discovered how geckos stick.

是關於我們發現 壁虎如何吸附東西的故事

First you need to get involved.

首先，你必須參與

You need to do curiosity-driven research yourself.

你必須讓好奇心驅使研究

We know that learning by being an active researcher

我們知道成為一個積極的研究者

is the best way to learn.

是學習的最佳方法

Imagine being in my lab

想像在我的實驗室中

and trying to discover how geckos stick.

然後探討壁虎如何吸附東西

"Here is one of our subjects.

「這是我們其中一位受試者

This is a crested gecko.

它是一隻睫角守宮（crested gecko）

We are going to put the gecko on glass

我們要把這隻壁虎放在玻璃上

and we're going to use a high speed camera

然後我們要用高速攝影機

that can capture up to 1,000 pictures in one second.

它可以每秒捕捉 1 千張影像

There he goes.

開始了

OK, record it.

好，錄起來

There's the animal's toes."

這是這動物的腳趾。」

"So how do their feet stick and unstick so quickly?"

「牠們的腳如何在 吸附與不吸附之間快速地轉換？」

How <i>do</i> they do this?

牠們究竟是怎麼做到的？

We wonder, it's kind of crazy, right?

我們很好奇，這很不可思議，對吧？

It's hard to believe.

很難以置信

Well it turns out, it was already known that the geckos have hairy toes,

大家已經知道壁虎有長滿細毛的腳趾

and those hairs are really small compared to your hair,

跟你的頭髮比起來 這些毛非常細小

and the little tips at the end are even smaller.

而在末端的分枝更是小

Well, my student Tanya,

嗯，我的學生 Tanya

who is not much older than some of you when she did this,

她做這研究時沒比你們大多少

a sophomore undergraduate,

還在讀大二

tried to figure this out,

她想要找出答案

and we told that her that in order to do this,

然後我們告訴她

you'd have to measure the force of a single hair.

必須測量單一細毛的力量

Though we kind of only did this jokingly

雖然我們覺得我們在開完笑

because these hairs are so small,

因為那些細毛真的太小了

we didn't think it was possible.

我們覺得這是不可能的

But Tanya didn't know that,

但是 Tanya 並不知道

and she went on to build the simplest,

所以她就想辦法做出了

most beautiful measurement device ever.

我見過最簡單、也最漂亮的測量儀器

Here it is:

就是這個：

she took one of those tiny little hairs

她拿一根細毛

and put it on to a probe,

然後把它放在探測器上

and then she began pushing it into the metal beam.

然後她開始用它推這個金屬桿

Now she was very frustrated for months - it didn't stick.

有好幾個月她非常灰心 因為它並不會吸附

But she had figured out she had to orient it

但是她想到 她必須要調對方向

just like the gecko grabs on,

就像壁虎吸附東西時一樣

and then it worked!

然後就成功了！

And there's the little split ends grabbing the beam in that little window.

細毛末端有小小的分叉 會抓住小視窗裡的金屬桿

And then she did something magical:

於是她克服了這個挑戰：

for the first time ever,

史無前例地

she measured the force of a single gecko hair

她測量了一根壁虎細毛的力量

that allowed her to discover

這讓她發現了

a completely new way to stick to something,

一種附著物體的全新方法

something no human has ever known before.

這方法沒有任何人了解過

They have hairy little toes,

壁虎有佈滿細毛的腳趾

huge numbers of hairs,

有大量的細毛

and each hair has the worst case of split ends possible,

每根細毛尾端還有分叉

100 to 1,000 nano-tips that an animal has on one hair,

每根細毛上的分岔 約長 1 百到 1 千個奈米

and 2 billion total,

每根細毛上總共有 20 億個分岔

and they don't stick by glue,

而牠們不是靠膠水

or by suction,

吸盤

or by velcro.

或魔鬼粘吸附東西

It was discovered that they stick by inter-molecular forces alone,

我們發現牠們只靠 分子間作用力吸附東西

by van der Waals forces,

這叫凡得瓦力

and you'll learn this in Chemistry and Physics, if you take it.

若選修化學或物理課，你就會學到

It's unbelievable!

It's a whole new way of thinking about making an adhesive!

這太令人不可置信了！

這是一種對於 黏著東西的全新想法！

Well, this isn't the end of the story,

不過，這故事還沒結束

there are still mysteries.

還有一些謎團

Why are the gecko's feet looking like this?

為什麼壁虎的腳趾長得像這樣？

They have bizarre toes and we don't know why.

牠們腳趾的樣子奇特 而我們不知道原因

If you go into a museum and look at each gecko species,

如果你到博物館， 然後看看每一種壁虎

you see they have all different hairs,

你會看到各種不同的細毛

different lengths, and thicknesses, and patterns.

不同長度、不同厚度、不同樣式

Why?

為什麼？

I don't know!

我不知道！

But you should come to Berkeley and help me figure this out.

但是你們應該 來柏克萊大學幫我

It's just about right, so, apply.

我們很接近了 試著申請看看吧

But it's a mystery.

這只是其中一個謎團

There is even more stuff that is unknown.

而且還有更多未知的東西

This tarantula also has hairs

這隻狼蛛也有細毛

and can stick this way, too,

也可以這樣吸附東西

but recently it was found that they also can secrete silk from their feet,

但最近發現牠們 也可以從牠們的腳吐絲

not just their behind, like you know they do.

並不只是你們已知的絲疣

And even more recently, my graduate student Ann showed

而更新的結果： 我的研究生 Ann 發現

that all spiders can secrete glue,

所有的蜘蛛都可以分泌黏液

and we know nothing about this glue

而我們對這黏液一無所知

except it was around way before this guy,

除了知道這黏液

millions of years before.

比蜘蛛人早出現幾百萬年

So don't stop at the discovery,

所以不要在發現時就停下來

next imagine the possible uses for society.

接著要想像 對社會可能的貢獻

Here is the first human supported by a gecko-inspired adhesive.

她是第一個被由 壁虎式黏著劑支撐的人

This is my former graduate student, Kellar Autumn,

這是我之前的研究生 Kellar Autumn

who is professor at Lewis and Clark,

他現在是路易克拉克大學（Lewis and Clark）的教授

offering his second born child for the test.

他帶他家老二來做實驗

And she's a very good sport about it!

她很能接受這個遊戲！

Now imagine all the things you could make from this,

現在想像所有你可以 用這做出來的東西

not only adhesives, but products in sports,

不止是黏膠，還有各種產品， 可以運用到運動器材

and biomedicine,

technology,

生物醫學

科技

robotics,

機器人學

toys,

玩具

automotive,

汽車

fashion,

clothes,

流行時尚

服飾

and yes, even hair pieces.

噢對，甚至是假髮

I swear to you, we got a call from Michael Jackson's hairdresser

我保證：在麥可．傑克森過世之前

about hair pieces before he passed away.

我們接過一通來自 他設計師詢問假髮的電話

Who would have guessed from studying geckos?!?

誰會想到這是研究壁虎得來的？

Next, invent a game-changing technology, device, or product.

接著，發明一個改變世界的 科技、設備、或是產品

Like my engineering colleague at Berkeley, Ron Fearing, did

我一位柏克萊 名叫 Ron Fearing 的同事

when he made one of the first synthetic, self-cleaning dry adhesives

從觀察動物後合成

after the simplest version that you see in animals.

第一個能自我清潔的乾型黏著劑

Believe it or not, right now, because of this work,

你信不信因為有項個發明

you can make your own synthetic gecko nano-tape

你可以用一些奈米模型

by nano-molding with just a few parts,

然後做出屬於自己的壁虎膠帶

and here's the recipe that we can give you.

而這些是我們可以給你的配方

It's been incredible since we made this discovery

很難想像我們的這項發現

of all the papers and the work

還有所有相關論文以及研究

and the different ways to make it,

還有其他不同的做法

it's emerging into a billion dollar industry.

可以衍生出幾十億元的商機

And who would have imagined that it started

而誰會想過這是來自於

because we were curious about how geckos can run up walls.

我們對壁虎爬牆能力的好奇心

Next you need to innovate,

接著你必須創新

create a business that ultimately benefits society.

如何創造產業， 並對社會作出貢獻

Did you know that there are 6 million people per year that have chronic wounds,

你知道每年約有 600 萬人有慢性傷口嗎？

2 million develop an infection,

其中有 200 萬人傷口感染

and infections account for 100,000 hospital deaths?

而感染造成 10 萬多人死亡

Imagine if you could build a company that could produce

想像如果你能蓋一座工廠

a gecko-inspired band-aid

它可以生產壁虎 OK 繃

that would remove the pain and suffering.

可以減緩疼痛以及不便

Just a simple invention.

只是一個簡單的發明

If you look at the last three great earthquakes,

如果你看看過去三個大地震

over 700,000 people were trapped and lost their lives.

將近 70 萬人受困、喪生

Imagine the company that made a search-and-rescue robot

想像一間工廠，由壁虎啟發

inspired from a gecko

並製造出搜救機器人

that could move anywhere

它可以爬到各個地方

and quickly find individuals that have been trapped,

然後迅速地找到受困的人

that sometimes survive as long as two weeks.

他們有的可以存活兩個禮拜

There is a gecko-inspired robot, StickyBot,

這是一臺叫作 StickyBot 的壁虎機器人

from the Stanford group,

它來自於史丹佛團隊

that can grab on to any surface.

可以在各種表面上爬行

Now we ran our own, for TED, Mini Bio-inspired Design Challenge

現在我們為 TED 籌劃了 小型生物啟發設計挑戰賽

to get you to think about these kinds of products.

來鼓勵你去思考這類的產品

We have a winner.

我們有一個得獎者

Here's the winner.

這是他的作品

The winner came up with this design called StickySeat.

他發明了這個設計 叫做壁虎黏椅（Sticky Seat）

Really clever.

真的很聰明

It's a seat that is not only comfortable,

這個座椅不儘舒適

but it aids a seat belt, if you were in an accident,

同時在有意外的狀況下

in terms of keeping your seat and moving.

藉由將你穩固在座椅上， 來減少安全帶壓力

This is brilliant!

這很聰明！

We didn't think about this,

我們沒想過這點

although we might think about patenting it now,

雖然我們現在可能會想要申請專利了

but there is a winner for this,

但得獎者就在這

and the winner, and you can't,

而這得獎者，你不能

you can't make up something like this,

你不能憑空捏造這種東西

the winner's name

得獎者的名字是

is Harry.

Harry

Where's Harry?

Harry 在哪？

Harry, come here, we have a prize for you.

Harry，上臺來， 我們有禮物要給你

Where's Harry?

Harry 呢？

Harry!

Harry！

Come here!

快來！

We have a crested gecko for you

我們有一隻睫角守宮要給你

that has very cool hairs on it.

牠上面的毛長得很酷

Congratulations for Harry!

恭喜 Harry！

Excellent job!

他做得太棒了！

So don't worry, if you missed out on this, it's OK

所以別擔心，如果你錯過這次沒關係

because we are doing another design challenge

因為我們還有別的設計挑戰賽

working with the San Diego Zoo.

是和聖地牙哥動物園合作的

They're developing a best ideas project in San Diego,

我們正在聖地牙哥 發展一個最佳點子的計劃

but it's going to go national.

不過它會漸漸變全國性的

And I'll leave you with a fact that you should keep being curious

最後我想告訴你們 你們應該保有好奇心

because curiosity-based research leads to the biggest benefits,

因為由好奇心驅使的研究 才可以達到最佳的效益

as we showed you in our example,

就像我們的例子裡所說的

and you <i>can</i> make a difference

你一定可以做點不同的事

<i>now</i>

就是現在

because like Tanya,

就像 Tanya 一樣

you don't know what can't be done.

你不會知道什麼是做不到的

Thank you.

謝謝