The fascinating (and dangerous) places scientists aren't exploring | Ella Al-Shamahi

Prevoditelj: Nina Bassi Recezent: Sanda L

So I've got something that I'm slightly embarrassed to admit to.

Postoji nešto što me malo sramota priznati.

At the age of 17,

U dobi od 17 godina,

as a creationist,

kao kreacionist,

I decided to go to university to study evolution

odlučila sam otići na fakultet učiti o evoluciji

so that I could destroy it.

kako bih je mogla uništiti.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I failed.

Nisam uspjela.

I failed so spectacularly that I'm now an evolutionary biologist.

Toliko jako nisam uspjela da sam sada evolucijska biologinja.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

So I'm a paleoanthropologist, I'm a National Geographic Explorer

Ja sam paleoantropologinja, istraživačica National Geographica

specializing in fossil hunting in caves

koja se specijalizirala za traženje fosila u špiljama

in unstable, hostile and disputed territories.

u nestabilnim, negostoljubivim i osporavanim teritorijima.

And we all know that if I was a guy and not a girl,

A svi znamo, da sam muško, a ne žensko,

that wouldn't be a job description, that would be a pick-up line.

to ne bi bio opis posla nego dobar ulet.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Now, here's the thing. I do not have a death wish.

Evo kako stvari stoje. Nemam želju umrijeti.

I'm not an adrenaline junkie.

Nisam ovisnica o adrenalinu.

I just looked at a map.

Samo sam pogledala na kartu.

See, frontline exploratory science does not happen as much

Vidite, pionirska istraživačka znanost ne događa se često

in politically unstable territories.

na politički nestabilnim teritorijima.

This is a map of all the places which the British Foreign Office

Ovo je karta svih mjesta koja je britansko Ministarstvo vanjskih poslova

have declared contain red zones, orange zones

označilo kao pripadnike crvene zone, narančaste zone,

or have raised some kind of a threat warning about.

ili ih je označilo kao potencijalnu prijetnju.

Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it is a tragedy

Riskirat ću i reći kako je tragedija

if we're not doing frontline exploratory science in a huge portion of the planet.

ako ne izvodimo pionirsku istraživačku znanost na većini ovog planeta.

And so science has a geography problem.

Tako da znanost ima geografski problem.

Also, as a paleoanthropologist,

Također, kao paleoantropologinja,

guys, this is basically a map of some of the most important places

ljudi, ovo je praktički karta nekih od najvažnijih mjesta

in the human journey.

na ljudskom putovanju.

There are almost definitely fascinating fossils to be found here.

Skoro pa sigurno postoje fascinantni fosili koje ovdje možemo pronaći.

But are we looking for them?

Ali tražimo li ih?

And so as an undergraduate, I was repeatedly told

I tako kao prvostupniku opetovano su mi govorili

that humans, be they ourselves, homo sapiens, or earlier species,

kako ljudi, bili to mi, homo sapiensi, ili ranije vrste,

that we left Africa via the Sinai of Egypt.

kako smo otišli iz Afrike preko Sinaja u Egiptu.

I'm English, as you can probably tell from my accent,

Ja sam Engleskinja, što vjerojatno možete zaključiti prema mom naglasku,

but I am actually of Arab heritage,

ali sam zapravo arapskog podrijetla

and I always say that I'm very, very Arab on the outside.

i uvijek kažem kako sam Arapkinja izvana.

You know, I can really be passionate.

Znate, mogu biti veoma strastvena.

Like, "You're amazing! I love you!"

Kao: "Nevjerojatna si! Volim te!"

But on the inside, I'm really English, so everybody irritates me.

Ali iznutra sam zapravo Engleskinja, tako da mi svi idu na živce.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

It's true.

To je istina.

And the thing is, my family are Arab from Yemen,

A zapravo, moja obitelj su Arapi iz Jemena,

and I knew that that channel,

a ja sam znala kako taj kanal,

Bab-el-Mandeb,

Bab-el-Mandeb,

is not that much of a feat to cross.

nije toliko širok za prijeći.

And I kept asking myself this really simple question:

I stalno se pitam ovo jednostavno pitanje:

if the ancestors to New World monkeys could somehow cross the Atlantic Ocean,

ako su preci majmuna Novog svijeta mogli nekako prijeći Atlantski ocean,

why couldn't humans cross that tiny stretch of water?

zašto ljudi ne bi mogli prijeći tu malu vodenu površinu?

But the thing is, Yemen,

Ali zapravo, Jemen,

compared to, let's say, Europe,

u usporedbi s, recimo, Europom,

was so understudied

je toliko malo istražen

that it was something akin to near virgin territory.

tako da je skoro kao djevičanski teritorij.

But that, along with its location, made the sheer potential for discovery

Ali to mu je, uz njegovu lokaciju, dalo potpuni potencijal za otkrića

so exciting,

tako uzbudljiv,

and I had so many questions.

i ja sam imala toliko pitanja.

When did we first start using Bab-el-Mandeb?

Kada smo prvi puta počeli koristiti Bab-el-Mandeb?

But also, which species of human besides ourselves made it to Yemen?

Ali isto tako, koje vrste ljudi su, osim nas, dospjele do Jemena?

Might we find a species as yet unknown to science?

Možemo li pronaći vrste nepoznate znanosti?

And it turned out, I wasn't the only one who had noticed Yemen's potential.

I ispada kako ja nisam bila jedina koja je primjetila potencijal Jemena.

There was actually a few other academics out there.

Tamo je također bilo i nekoliko drugih akademika.

But sadly, due to political instability, they moved out, and so I moved in.

Nažalost, zbog političke nestabilnosti oni su se iselili, a ja sam se uselila.

And I was looking for caves:

A ja sam tražila špilje.

caves because caves are the original prime real estate.

Špilje, zato što su špilje originalne prve nekretnine.

But also because if you're looking for fossils in that kind of heat,

Ali isto tako zato što ako tražite fosile po takvoj vrućini,

your best bet for fossil preservation is always going to be caves.

najbolji izgledi za očuvanje fosila uvijek će biti špilje.

But then, Yemen took a really sad turn for the worse,

Ali opet, u Jemenu su se stvari okrenule na gore

and just a few days before I was due to fly out to Yemen,

i samo par dana prije nego što sam trebala na let za Jemen,

the civil war escalated into a regional conflict,

građanski rat je eskalirao u regionalni sukob,

the capital's airport was bombed

glavna zračna luka je bombardirana

and Yemen became a no-fly zone.

i Jemen je postao zona zabranjenog letenja.

Now, my parents made this decision before I was born:

Moji roditelji donijeli su ovu odluku prije nego što sam se ja rodila:

that I would be born British.

kako ću se roditi kao Britanka.

I had nothing to do with the best decision of my life.

Nisam imala ništa s najboljom odlukom u svom životu.

And now ...

A sada...

Now the lucky ones in my family have escaped,

Sada su sretnici u mojoj obitelji pobjegli,

and the others, the others are being been bombed

a ostali, ostali su bombardirani

and send you WhatsApp messages that make you detest your very existence.

i šalju poruke na WhatsApp-u od kojih počinjete prezirati vlastito postojanje.

This war's been going on for four years.

Ovaj rat traje četiri godine.

It's been going on for over four years, and it has led to a humanitarian crisis.

Traje više od četiri godine i doveo je do humanitarne krize.

There is a famine there,

Tamo je glad,

a man-made famine.

ljudski stvorena glad.

That's a man-made famine, so not a natural famine,

To je ljudski stvorena glad, dakle nije prirodna glad,

an entirely man-made famine that the UN has warned

potpuno ljudski stvorena glad za koju je UN upozorio

could be the worst famine the world has seen in a hundred years.

kako bi mogla biti najgora glad koju je svijet doživio u posljednjih sto godina.

This war has made it clear to me more than ever

Ovaj rat mi je razjasnio, više nego ikad,

that no place, no people deserve to get left behind.

kako nijedno mjesto, nijedna osoba ne zaslužuje da je se napusti.

And so I was joining these other teams, and I was forming new collaborations

Tako sam se pridruživala ostalim timovima i pokretala nove suradnje

in other unstable places.

na ostalim nestabilnim prostorima.

But I was desperate to get back into Yemen,

Ali sam se očajno htjela vratiti u Jemen,

because for me, Yemen's really personal.

zato što je za mene Jemen veoma osobna stvar.

And so I kept trying to think of a project I could do in Yemen

Tako sam stalno pokušavala smisliti projekt kako bih otišla u Jemen

that would help highlight what was going on there.

koji bi pomogao istaknuti ono što se tamo događa.

And every idea I had just kept failing,

I svaka ideja koju sam imala je propadala,

or it was just too high-risk, because let's be honest,

ili je bila prerizična, zato što, iskreno,

most of Yemen is just too dangerous for a Western team.

većina je Jemena jednostavno previše opasna za zapadnjačku ekipu.

But then I was told that Socotra, a Yemeni island,

Ali su mi tada rekli kako je Socotra, otok u Jemenu,

was safe once you got there.

siguran jednom kada se stigne tamo.

In fact, it turned out there was a few local and international academics

Ustvari, ispalo je kako je tamo nekoliko lokalnih i internacionalnih akademika

that were still working there.

koji još uvijek tamo rade.

And that got me really excited,

I to me zbilja uzbudilo,

because look at Socotra's proximity to Africa.

jer pogledajte Socotrinu blizinu Africi.

And yet we have no idea when humans arrived on that island.

A opet, nemamo pojma kada su ljudi došli na taj otok.

But Socotra, for those of you who know it,

Ali Socotra, za one koji ga znaju,

well, let's just say you probably know it for a completely different reason.

pa, recimo samo kako ga vjerojatno znate iz potpuno drugih razloga.

You probably know it as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean,

Vjerojatno ga znate kao Galapagos Indijskog oceana,

because it is one of the most biodiverse places on this earth.

zato što je jedno od biološki najraznovrsnijih mjesta na Zemlji.

But we were also getting information

Ali smo također dobivali informacije

that this incredibly delicate environment and its people

kako su ovaj nevjerojatno osjetljiv okoliš, kao i njegovi ljudi,

were under threat

bili pod prijetnjom

because they were at the frontline of both Middle Eastern politics

zato što su bili u prvim redovima bliskoistočne politike

and climate change.

i klimatskih promjena.

And it slowly dawned on me that Socotra was my Yemen project.

I polako mi je sinulo kako je Socotra moj projekt u Jemenu.

And so I wanted to put together a huge multidisciplinary team.

I tako sam htjela sastaviti golemu multidisciplinarnu ekipu.

We wanted to cross the archipelago on foot, camel and dhow boat

Htjeli smo prijeći arhipelag pješke, devama i dhow brodovima

to conduct a health check of this place.

kako bismo napravili zdravstveni pregled mjesta.

This has only been attempted once before, and it was in 1999.

Ovo je pokušano samo jednom prije, 1999.

But the thing is, that is not an easy thing to pull off.

Ali stvar je u tome kako to nije jednostavno za napraviti.

And so we desperately needed a recce,

A mi smo očajnički trebali izvidnicu,

and for those of you who aren't familiar with British English,

a za vas koji niste upoznati s britanskim engleskim,

a recce is like a scouting expedition.

izvidnica je nešto kao izviđačka ekspedicija.

It's like a reconnaissance.

Kao izviđačka misija.

And I often say that a really big expedition without a recce

I ja često kažem kako su velike ekspedicije bez izvidnice

is a bit like a first date without a Facebook stalk.

nešto kao prvi spoj bez prethodnog Facebook uhođenja.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Like, it's doable, but is it wise?

Izvedivo je, ali je li mudro?

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

There's a few too many knowing laughs in this room.

Ovdje je dosta smjehova onih koji znaju o čemu pričam.

Anyway, so then our recce team thankfully were no strangers to unstable places,

Tako da našoj izvidničkoj ekipi, na sreću, nestabilna mjesta nisu bila strana,

which, let's be honest, is kind of important

što je, budimo iskreni, važno

because we were trying to get to a place between Yemen and Somalia,

zato što smo nastojali doći u mjesto između Jemena i Somalije

And after calling in what felt like a million favors,

i nakon traženja, što se učinilo kao milijun usluga,

including to the deputy governor,

uključujući i onu zamjenika guvernera,

we finally found ourselves on the move,

napokon smo se pokrenuli,

albeit on a wooden cement cargo ship

iako na cementnom teretnom brodu

sailing through pirate waters in the Indian Ocean

ploveći kroz piratske vode Indijskog oceana

with this as a toilet.

s ovim kao toaletom.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Can you guys see this?

Možete li vidjeti ovo?

You know how everybody has their worst toilet story?

Znate kako svatko ima svoju najgoru priču s toaletom?

Well, I've never swam with dolphins before.

Pa, ja nisam nikad plivala s dupinima.

I just went straight to pooping on them.

Jednostavno sam odmah prešla na obavljanje nužde po njima.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And also, I genuinely discovered that I am genuinely less stressed

I također sam stvarno otkrila kako sam zapravo manje pod stresom

by pirate waters

u piratskim vodama

than I am with a cockroach infestation

nego tijekom najezde žohara

that was so intense

koja je bila tolika

that at one point I went belowdeck,

da sam u jednom trenutku otišla pod palubu,

and the floor was black and it was moving.

a pod je bio crn i kretao se.

(Audience moans)

(Publika gunđa)

Yeah, and at night there was three raised platforms to sleep on,

Da, a po noći su bile tri podignute platforme na kojima se spavalo,

but there was only -- let's say there was four team members,

ali bila je samo jedna --- recimo da je bilo četiri članova tima,

and the thing is, if you got a raised platform to sleep on,

a stvar je u tome da, ako dobijete podignutu platformu za spavanje,

you only had to contend with a few cockroaches during the night,

trebali ste se zadovoljiti sa samo nekoliko žohara tijekom noći,

whereas if you got the floor, good luck to you.

ali ako ste dobili pod, sretno vam.

And so I was the only girl in the team and the whole ship,

A ja sam bila jedina cura u timu, i na cijelom brodu,

so I got away without sleeping on the floor.

tako da sam se izvukla od spavanja na podu.

And then, on, like, the fourth or fifth night,

A onda, negdje u četvrtoj ili petoj večeri

Martin Edström looks at me and goes, "Ella, Ella I really believe in equality."

Martin Edström me pogledao i rekao: "Ella, Ella ja stvarno vjerujem u jednakost".

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So we were sailing on that cement cargo ship for three days,

Plovili smo tim cementnim teretnim brodom tri dana,

and then we slowly started seeing land.

kada smo polako vidjeli kopno.

And after three years of failing,

I nakon tri godine razočaranja,

I was finally seeing Yemen.

napokon sam vidjela Jemen.

And there is no feeling on earth like that start of an expedition.

I ne postoji osjećaj na svijetu kao što je početak ekspedicije.

It's this moment where you jump out of a jeep

To je trenutak kada iskočite iz džipa,

or you look up from a boat

ili pogledate s broda,

and you know that there's this possibility,

i znate kako postoji ta mogućnost,

it's small but it's still there,

malena je, ali je tu,

that you're about to find something

kako ste nadomak tome da pronađete nešto

that could add to or change our knowledge of who we are and where we come from.

što će nadopuniti ili promijeniti naše znanje onoga tko smo i odakle dolazimo.

There is no feeling like it on earth,

Ne postoji nijedan takav osjećaj na svijetu,

and it's a feeling that so many scientists have

i to je osjećaj kojeg mnogi znanstvenici imaju,

but rarely in politically unstable places.

ali rijetko na politički nestabilnim prostorima.

Because Western scientists are discouraged or all-out barred

Zato što su zapadni znanstvenici obeshrabrivani ili im je zabranjeno

from working in unstable places.

raditi na nestabilnim prostorima.

But here's the thing:

Ali ovako stoje stvari.

scientists specialize in the jungle.

Znanstvenici se specijaliziraju u džungli.

Scientists work in deep cave systems.

Znanstvenici rade u sustavima dubokih špilja.

Scientists attach themselves to rockets and blow themselves into outer space.

Znanstvenici se privežu za raketu i ispale se u svemir.

But apparently, working in an unstable place

Ali očito je rad na nestabilnim prostorima

is deemed too high-risk.

previše rizičan.

It is completely arbitrary.

Potpuno je proizvoljno.

Who here in this room wasn't brought up on adventure stories?

Tko u ovoj prostoriji nije odrastao uz avanturističke priče?

And most of our heroes were actually scientists and academics.

I većina naših heroja bili su znanstvenici i akademici.

Science was about going out into the unknown.

Znanost je značila otisnuti se u nepoznato.

It was about truly global exploration, even if there were risks.

Zaista je bila o globalnom istraživanju, čak i ako su postojali rizici.

And so when did it become acceptable to make it difficult for science to happen

Kada je postalo prihvatljivo otežati znanosti da istražuje

in unstable places?

na nestabilnim prostorima?

And look, I'm not saying that all scientists should go off

Gledajte, ne kažem kako bi svi znanstvenici trebali otići

and start working in unstable places.

i početi raditi na nestabilnim prostorima.

This isn't some gung-ho call.

Ovo nije poziv na pokretanje.

But here's the thing:

Ali ovako stvari stoje:

for those who have done the research, understand security protocol

za one koji su obavili istraživanje, razumiju sigurnosni protokol

and are trained,

i koji su trenirani...

stop stopping those who want to.

prestanite braniti onima koji žele ići.

Plus,

Uz to,

just because one part of a country is an active war zone

samo zato što je jedan dio zemlje aktivno ratno područje,

doesn't mean the whole country is.

ne znači kako je cijela zemlja takva.

I'm not saying we should go into active war zones.

Ne kažem kako trebamo otići u aktivna ratna područja.

But Iraqi Kurdistan looks very different from Fallujah.

Ali Irački Kurdistan izgleda veoma drugačije od Fallujaha.

And actually, a few months after I couldn't get into Yemen,

I zapravo, nekoliko mjeseci nakon što nisam mogla ući u Jemen,

another team adopted me.

posvojila me druga ekipa.

So Professor Graeme Barker's team were actually working in Iraqi Kurdistan,

Ekipa profesora Graemea Barkera radila je u Iračkom Kurdistanu

and they were digging up Shanidar Cave.

i vršili su iskapanja špilje Shanidar.

Now, Shanidar Cave a few decades earlier

U špilji Shanidar je nekoliko desetljeća ranije

had unveiled a Neanderthal known as Shanidar 1.

otkriven neandertalac poznat kao Shanidar 1.

Now, for a BBC/PBS TV series we actually brought Shanidar 1 to life,

Za BBC/PBS-ovu TV seriju oživjeli smo Shanidara 1

and I want you guys to meet Ned, Ned the Neanderthal.

i želim da upoznate Neda, Neandertalca Neda.

Now here's the coolest thing about Ned.

Evo najzanimljivije stvari o Nedu.

Ned, this guy,

Ned, ova osoba,

you're meeting him before his injuries.

upoznajete ga prije njegovih ozljeda.

See, it turned out that Ned was severely disabled.

Vidite, ispalo je kako je Ned bio ozbiljno ozlijeđen.

He was in fact so disabled that there is no way he could have survived

Ustvari, bio je toliko ozlijeđen da nema šanse kako bi preživio

without the help of other Neanderthals.

bez pomoći ostalih neandertalaca.

And so this was proof that,

Tako da je ovo bio dokaz da su,

at least for this population of Neanderthals at this time,

barem ova populacija neandertalaca u to vrijeme,

Neanderthals were like us,

neandertalci bili poput nas,

and they sometimes looked after those who couldn't look after themselves.

i ponekad su se brinuli za one koji se nisu mogli brinuti sami za sebe.

Ned's an Iraqi Neanderthal.

Ned je irački neandertalac.

So what else are we missing?

Dakle, što nam još izmiče?

What incredible scientific discoveries

Koja nevjerojatna znanstvena otkrića

are we not making because we're not looking?

ne saznajemo zato što ne gledamo?

And by the way, these places, they deserve narratives of hope,

I usput, ova mjesta zaslužuju priče nade,

and science and exploration can be a part of that.

a znanost i istraživanja mogu biti dio toga.

In fact, I would argue that it can tangibly aid development,

U stvari, rekla bih kako mogu osjetno pomoći razvoju,

and these discoveries become a huge source of local pride.

a ova otkrića mogu postati veliki izvor lokalnog ponosa.

And that brings me to the second reason why science has a geography problem.

A to me dovodi do drugog razloga zašto znanost ima veliki geografski problem.

See, we don't empower local academics, do we?

Vidite, ne osnažujemo lokalne akademike, zar ne?

Like, it's not lost on me

Ne promiče mi

that in my particular field of paleoanthropology

kako u mom polju paleoantropologije

we study human origins,

proučavamo postanak ljudi,

but we have so few diverse scientists.

ali imamo tako malo različitih znanstvenika.

And the thing is, these places are full of students and academics

I stvar je u tome kako su ta mjesta puna studenata i akademika

who are desperate to collaborate,

koji očajno žele surađivati.

and the truth is

A istina je

that for them,

kako za njih...

they have fewer security issues than us.

oni imaju manje sigurnosnih problema nego mi.

I think we constantly forget that for them it's not a hostile environment;

Mislim da stalno zaboravljamo kako za njih to nije neprijateljsko okružje;

for them it's home.

za njih je to dom.

I'm telling you,

I govorim vam,

research done in unstable places with local collaborators

istraživanja napravljena na nestabilnim prostorima s lokalnom suradnjom

can lead to incredible discoveries,

mogu dovesti do nevjerojatnih otkrića,

and that is what we are hoping upon hope to do in Socotra.

a to je ono čemu se nadamo u Socotri.

They call Socotra

Socotru zovu

the most alien-looking place on earth,

mjestom koje najviše izgleda kao vanzemaljsko,

and myself, Leon McCarron, Martin Edström and Rhys Thwaites-Jones could see why.

a ja, Leon McCarron, Martin Edström i Rhys Thwaites-Jones vidimo i zašto.

I mean, look at this place.

Mislim, pogledajte ovo mjesto.

These places, they're not hellholes, they're not write-offs,

Ova mjesta, ona nisu rupe, nisu otpisana mjesta,

they're the future frontline of science and exploration.

ona su buduće prve crte znanosti i istraživanja.

90 percent of the reptiles on this island,

90 posto gmazova na ovom otoku,

37 percent of the plant species exist here and nowhere else on earth,

37 posto biljnih vrsta postoji ovdje i nigdje drugdje na zemlji,

and that includes this species of dragon's blood tree,

a ovo uključuje i ovu vrstu Zmajskog drveta

which actually bleeds this red resin.

koja zapravo krvari ovu crvenu smolu.

And there's something else.

A postoji i još nešto.

People on Socotra, some of them still live in caves,

Ljudi na Socotri, neki od njih još uvijek žive u špiljama,

and that is really exciting,

i to je veoma uzbudljivo,

because it means if a cave is prime real estate this century,

jer ako su špilje glavne nekretnine ovog stoljeća,

maybe it was a few thousand years ago.

možda je tako bilo i prije nekoliko tisuća godina.

But we need the data to prove it, the fossils, the stone tools,

Ali trebamo podatke koji bi to dokazali, fosile, kamene alatke.

and so our scouting team have teamed up with other scientists,

Tako da se naša izviđačka ekipa udružila s drugim znanstvenicima,

anthropologists and storytellers,

antropolozima i pripovjedačima,

international as well as local, like Ahmed Alarqbi,

internacionalnima kao i lokanima, kao Ahmed Alarqbi,

and we are desperate to shed a light on this place

i očajni smo u pokušaju da osvjetlimo obraz ovom mjestu

before it's too late.

prije nego bude prekasno.

And now, now we just somehow need to get back

A sada, sada se nekako moramo vratiti

for that really big expedition,

toj zaista velikoj ekspediciji,

because science,

zato što znanost,

science has a geography problem.

znanost ima geografski problem.

You guys have been a really lovely audience.

Bili ste zaista divna publika.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Pljesak)

(Applause)