Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster -- from scratch

Translator: Martin Ukrop Reviewer: Roman Studenic

If we look around us,

Ak sa rozhliadneme,

much of what surrounds us

väčšina toho, čo nás obklopuje,

started life as various rocks and sludge

začalo svoj život ako rôzne skaly a usadeniny

buried in the ground in various places in the world.

pochované hlboko v zemi na rôznych miestach sveta.

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

Prirodzene ale, dnes už nevyzerajú ako skaly a usadeniny;

They look like TV cameras, monitors,

vyzerajú ako kamery, monitory,

annoying radio mics.

otravné bezdrôtové mikrofóny.

And so this magical transformation

A práve táto magická premena je to,

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

na čo som sa snažil zamerať vo svojom projekte,

which became known as the Toaster Project.

ktorý je známy ako Projekt Hriankovač.

And it was also inspired by this quote

Bol inšpirovaný aj týmto výrokom

from Douglas Adams,

od Douglasa Adamsa.

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

Je to scéna zo "Stopárovho sprievodcu galaxiou".

And the situation it describes

Táto situácia opisuje

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

ako sa hrdina knihy -- muž z 20. storočia --

finds himself alone on a strange planet

ocitne sám na neznámej planéte

populated only by a technologically primitive people.

obývanej iba technologicky primitívnymi ľuďmi.

And he kind of assumes that, yes,

A tak akosi predpokladá, áno,

he'll become -- these villagers --

že sa stane -- pre týchto vidiečanov --

he'll become their emperor

že sa stane ich vládcom

and transform their society

a pretvorí ich spoločnosť

with his wonderful command of technology

svojou úžasnou vládou technológie,

and science and the elements,

vedy a prvkov,

but, of course, realizes

ale, samozrejme, si uvedomí,

that without the rest of human society,

že bez zvyšku ľudskej spoločnosti

he can barely make a sandwich,

si ledva dokáže spraviť sendvič,

let alone a toaster.

nie to ešte hriankovač.

But he didn't have Wikipedia.

Ale on nemal Wikipediu.

So I thought, okay,

Tak som si povedal, áno,

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

pokúsim sa vyrobiť elektrický hriankovač od nuly.

And, working on the idea

A tak, vychádzajúc z predpokladu,

that the cheapest electric toaster

že najlacnejší elektrický hriankovač

would also be the simplest to reverse-engineer,

bude aj najjednoduchšie znovu zostrojiť,

I went and bought the cheapest toaster I could find,

som išiel a kúpil najlacnejší hriankovač, aký som našiel,

took it home

vzal ho domov

and was kind of dismayed to discover

a bol som mierne zdesený zistením,

that, inside this object,

že vo vnútri tohto objektu,

which I'd bought for just 3.49 pounds,

ktorý som kúpil len za 3 libry 94,

there were 400 different bits

sa nachádza 400 rôznych častí,

made out of a hundred-plus different materials.

vyrobených z niečo vyše 100 rôznych materiálov.

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

Nemal som na tento projekt zvyšok svojho života;

I had maybe nine months.

mal som možno tak 9 mesiacov.

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

Tak som si povedal, dobre, začnem s piatimi.

And these were steel, mica,

A to boli oceľ, sľuda,

plastic, copper and nickel.

plast, meď a nikel.

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

Takže, začínajúc s oceľou: ako vyrobíte oceľ?

I went and knocked on the door

A tak som zaklopal na dvere

of the Rio Tinto Chair

predsedu spoločnosti Rio Tinto

of Advanced Mineral Extraction at the Royal School of Mines

v oblasti Pokročilej ťažby minerálov na Kráľovskej baníckej škole

and said, "How do you make steel?"

a spýtal sa: "Ako sa vyrába oceľ?"

And Professor Cilliers was very kind

A profesor Cilliers bol taký milý,

and talked me through it.

že mi vysvetlil celý proces.

And my vague rememberings from GCSE science --

A moje matné spomienky z maturity z prírodných vied --

well, steel comes from iron,

oceľ sa vyrába zo železa,

so I phoned up an iron mine.

a tak som zavolal do železnej bane.

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

Povedal som: "Dobrý deň, snažím sa vyrobiť hriankovač.

Can I come up and get some iron?"

Mohol by som si prísť zobrať nejaké železo?"

Unfortunately, when I got there -- emerges Ray.

Nanešťastie však, keď som tam dorazil -- objavil sa Ray.

He had misheard me

Zle mi rozumel

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

a myslel si, že som prišiel, lebo som chcel vyrobiť plagát (poster)

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

a teda nebol pripravený zobrať ma do baní.

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

Po troche naliehania sa mi ho podarilo presvedčiť.

(Video) Ray: It was Crease Limestone,

(Video) Ray: To bol zvrásnený vápenec.

and that was produced

Vyprodukovali ho

by sea creatures

morské živočíchy

350 million years ago

pred 350 miliónmi rokov

in a nice, warm,

v príjemnej, teplej,

sunny atmosphere.

slnečnej atmosfére.

When you study geology,

Ak študujete geológiu,

you can see what's happened in the past,

môžete vidieť, čo sa dialo v minulosti.

and there were terrific changes in the earth.

A boli to obrovské zmeny.

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

Thomas Thwaites: Ako vidíte, mali rozloženú vianočnú výzdobu.

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

Už to, samozrejme, nebola fungujúca baňa,

because, though Ray was a miner there,

pretože, aj keď Ray tam robil baníka,

the mine had closed

baňu zatvorili

and had been reopened as a kind of tourist attraction,

a neskôr znova otvorili ako turistickú atrakciu,

because, of course, it can't compete

pretože, prirodzene, už nemohla konkurovať

on the scale of operations which are happening

veľkosti projektov, aké sa dnes realizujú

in South America, Australia, wherever.

v Južnej Amerike, Austrálii, hocikde.

But anyway, I got my suitcase of iron ore

Tak či tak, získal som svoj kufor železnej rudy

and dragged it back to London on the train,

a dotiahol ho vlakom naspäť do Londýna

and then was faced with the problem:

a potom nastal problém:

Okay, how do you make this rock

Dobre, ako prerobíte túto skalu

into components for a toaster?

na súčiastky do hriankovača?

So I went back to Professor Cilliers,

Tak som sa vrátil za profesorom Cilliersom

and he said, "Go to the library."

a on mi povedal: "Choďte do knižnice."

So I did

A tak som išiel

and was looking through the undergraduate textbooks on metallurgy --

a prezeral som vysokoškolské učebnice metalurgie --

completely useless for what I was trying to do.

úplne nepoužiteľné na to, čo som robil ja.

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

Pretože, prirodzene, vám vlastne nepovedia, ako to urobiť,

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

ak to chcete spraviť sami a nemáte pec na tavenie kovov.

So I ended up going to the History of Science Library

Tak som nakoniec skončil v Historickej vedeckej knižnici

and looking at this book.

čítajúc túto knihu.

This is the first textbook on metallurgy

Toto je prvá učebnica metalurgie,

written in the West, at least.

teda aspoň v západnom svete.

And there you can see that woodcut

A ten drevoryt, ktorý vidíte,

is basically what I ended up doing.

predstavuje to, čo som nakoniec robil.

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

Ale namiesto mechov som mal odfukovač lístia.

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

And that was something that reoccurred throughout the project,

A to bolo niečo, čo sa počas toho projektu objavovalo znova a znova,

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

a síce že v čím menšej škále chcete pracovať,

the further back in time you have to go.

tým viac do minulosti musíte ísť.

And so this is after

A toto je výsledok

a day and about half a night

po asi dni a asi polovici noci

smelting this iron.

tavenia tej železnej rudy.

I dragged out this stuff,

Vytiahol som tú hmotu,

and it wasn't iron.

ale nebolo to železo.

But luckily,

Ale našťastie

I found a patent online

som na internete našiel patent

for industrial furnaces that use microwaves,

na priemyselné pece používajúce mikrovlny.

and at 30 minutes at full power,

A pomocou 30 minút na plnom výkone

and I was able to finish off the process.

som dokázal ten proces dokončiť.

So, my next --

Takže, môj ďalší --

(Applause)

(Potlesk)

The next thing I was trying to get was copper.

Ďalšia vec, ktorú som sa pokúsil získať, bola meď.

Again, this mine

Opäť, táto baňa

was once the largest copper mine in the world.

bola kedysi najväčšou medenou baňou na svete.

It's not anymore,

Už to síce neplatí,

but I found a retired geology professor

ale našiel som profesora geológie na dôchodku,

to take me down,

ktorý ma zobral dole.

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

A povedal mi: "Dobre, nechám vás odniesť si trochu vody z bane."

And the reason I was interested in getting water

A dôvod, prečo som sa snažil získať vodu je ten,

is because water which goes through mines

že voda tečúca cez bane

becomes kind of acidic

sa postupne stáva kyslou

and will start picking up,

a začne do seba naberať,

dissolving the minerals from the mine.

rozpúšťať minerály z bane.

And a good example of this is the Rio Tinto,

A výborným príkladom toho je rieka Rio Tinto,

which is in Portugal.

ktorá sa nachádza v Portugalsku.

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

Ako vidíte, má v sebe rozpustených veľa, veľa minerálov.

So many such

Vlastne tak veľa,

that it's now just a home for bacteria

že dnes je domovom iba pre baktérie,

who really like acidic, toxic conditions.

ktoré obľubujú kyslé, toxické podmienky.

But anyway, the water I dragged back

Tak či onak, voda, ktorú som dotiahol

from the Isle of Anglesey where the mine was --

z ostrova Anglesey, kde bola tá baňa --

there was enough copper in it

bolo v nej dostatok medi,

such that I could cast the pins

aby som dokázal odliať kolíčky

of my metal electric plug.

mojej kovovej elektrickej zástrčky.

So my next thing: I was off to Scotland

Takže ďalšia vec: vyrazil som do Škótska,

to get mica.

získať sľudu.

And mica is a mineral

Sľuda je minerál,

which is a very good insulator

ktorý je veľmi dobrým izolantom

and very good at insulating electricity.

a veľmi dobrým v izolovaní od elektriky.

That's me getting mica.

To som ja, ako získavam sľudu.

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

A posledný materiál, o ktorom tu dnes budem rozprávať je plast.

and, of course,

A samozrejme,

my toaster had to have a plastic case.

môj hriankovač musel mať plastový kryt.

Plastic is the defining feature

Plast je charakteristickou črtou

of cheap electrical goods.

lacných elektrických spotrebičov.

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

A keďže plast sa získava z ropy, zavolal som do BP

and spent a good half an hour

a strávil dobrú pol hodinu snažiac sa

trying to convince the PR office at BP

presvedčiť oddelenie styku s verejnosťou v BP,

that it would be fantastic for them

že by pre nich bolo fantastické,

if they flew me to an oil rig

keby ma poslali na ropnú plošinu

and let me have a jug of oil.

a nechali ma odniesť krčah ropy.

BP obviously has a bit more on their mind now.

BP má očividne teraz na práci iné veci.

But even then

Ale ani vtedy

they weren't convinced

neboli presvedčení

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

a povedali: "Dobre, zavoláme vám späť." -- nikdy to neurobili.

So I looked at other ways of making plastic.

Tak som sa pozrel na iné spôsoby výroby plastu.

And you can actually make plastic

Plast sa vlastne dá vyrobiť

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

zjavne z ropy, ktorá je z rastlín, ale tak isto aj zo škrobu.

So this is attempting to make

Takže toto je pokus vyrobiť

potato starch plastic.

plast zo zemiakového škrobu.

And for a while that was looking really good.

A chvíľu to vyzeralo naozaj sľubne.

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

Nalial som to do formy, môžete ju tam vidieť,

which I've made from a tree trunk.

ktorú som vyrobil z kmeňa stromu.

And it was looking good for a while,

Chvíľu to vyzeralo veľmi dobre,

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

ale nechal som to vonku, pretože to musí vyschnúť,

and unfortunately I came back

a nanešťastie, keď som sa vrátil

and there were snails eating the unhydrolyzed bits of potato.

našiel som slimáky požierajúce nehydrolyzované kúsky zemiakov.

So kind of out of desperation,

Takže v podstate zo zúfalstva

I decided that I could think laterally.

som sa rozhodol problém obísť.

And geologists have actually christened --

Geológovia vlastne pomenovali --

well, they're debating whether to christen --

alebo teda diskutujú, či pomenovať --

the age that we're living in --

vek, v ktorom žijeme --

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

diskutujú, či to vyhlásiť za novú geologickú epochu

called the Anthropocene, the age of Man.

nazvanú antropocén, vek Človeka.

And that's because geologists of the future

A to preto, že geológovia budúcnosti

would kind of see a sharp shift

uvidia celkom prudkú zmenu

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

vo vrstve hornín, ktorá sa usadzuje teraz.

So suddenly, it will become kind of radioactive from Chernobyl

Odrazu začne byť tak trochu rádioaktívna z Černobyľu

and the 2,000 or so nuclear bombs

a tých zhruba 2 000 nukleárnych bômb,

that have been set off since 1945.

ktoré sme odpálili od roku 1945.

And there'd also be an extinction event --

A tak isto sa objaví aj príznak vyhynutia --

like fossils would suddenly disappear.

napríklad skameneliny odrazu vymiznú.

And also, I thought

A taktiež, povedal som si,

that there would be

tam budú uložené

synthetic polymers,

syntetické polyméry,

plastics, embedded in the rock.

plasty, zapustené v skale.

So I looked up a plastic --

A tak som vyhľadal plastové --

so I decided that I could mine

tak som sa rozhodol, že si môžem vyťažiť

some of this modern-day rock.

trochu týchto súčasných hornín.

And I went up to Manchester

Išiel som teda do Manchestru,

to visit a place called Axion Recycling.

aby som navštívil miesto nazývané Axion Recycling.

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

Oni sú na úplnej špičke niečoho, čo sa volá WEEE,

which is this European electrical and electronic waste directive.

to znamená Európska direktíva elektrického a elektronického odpadu.

And that was brought into force

Boli ustanovení a vytvorení na to,

to try and deal with the mountain of stuff

aby sa pokúsili vysporiadať s tou hromadou vecí,

that is just being made

ktoré sú vyrábené,

and then living for a while in our homes

potom žijú chvíľu v našich domovoch

and then going to landfill.

a nakoniec idú na skládku.

But this is it.

A toto je ono.

(Music)

(Hudba)

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

So there's a picture

Tak toto je fotka

of my toaster.

môjho hriankovača.

(Applause)

(Potlesk)

That's it without the case on.

A takto vyzerá bez krytu.

And there it is on the shelves.

A takto vyzerá na polici.

Thanks.

Ďakujem.

(Applause)

(Potlesk)

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

Bruno Giussani: Dozvedel som sa, že raz si ho aj zapojil.

TT: Yeah, I did plug it in.

TT: Áno, pripojil som ho do siete.

I don't know if you could see,

Neviem, či to bolo vidieť,

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

ale nebol som schopný vytvoriť izoláciu na drôty.

Kew Gardens were insistent

Kráľovské botanické záhrady v Kew

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

trvali na tom, že nesmiem prísť a sekať do ich kaučukovníka.

So the wires were uninsulated.

Takže tie drôty zostali neizolované.

So there was 240 volts

A 240 voltov teda prechádzalo

going through these homemade copper wires,

cez tieto doma vyrobené medené drôty,

homemade plug.

cez doma vyrobenú zástrčku.

And for about five seconds,

A asi 5 sekúnd

the toaster toasted,

ten hriankovač fungoval,

but then, unfortunately,

ale potom, nanešťastie,

the element kind of melted itself.

sa výhrevné teleso samo roztavilo.

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

Ale považoval som to za čiastočný úspech, ak mám byť úprimný.

BG: Thomas Thwaites. TT: Thanks.

BG: Thomas Thwaites. (TT: Ďakujem.)