Scientists must be free to learn, to speak and to challenge | Kirsty Duncan

翻译人员: Ruoxuan Sun 校对人员: Tianji (Homer) Li

Let me tell you about rock snot.

让我来解释一下什么是岩石鼻涕。

Since 1992, Dr. Max Bothwell,

自1992年以来，麦克斯 · 博斯维尔 博士（Dr. Max Bothwell），

a Government of Canada scientist,

一位加拿大的科学家，

has been studying a type of algae that grows on rocks.

一直在研究一种 生长于岩石上的藻类。

Now, the very unscientific term for that algae is rock snot,

这种藻类俗称岩石鼻涕，

because as you can imagine,

因为正如你所想的那样，

it looks a lot like snot.

它看起来非常像鼻涕。

But scientists also call it Didymosphenia geminata

但科学家也称之为双生双楔藻。

and for decades, this algae has been sliming up riverbeds

数十年来，该藻类不断使全世界的河床

around the world.

变得越来越薄。

The problem with this algae

这一藻类带来的问题是，

is that it is a threat to salmon, to trout

它会对三文鱼、鳟鱼造成威胁，

and the river ecosystems it invades.

甚至破坏河流的生态系统。

Now, it turns out Canada's Dr. Bothwell

不得不承认，加拿大的博斯维尔博士，

is actually a world expert in the field,

的确是这方面的专家，

so it was no surprise in 2014

所以在2014年，

when a reporter contacted Dr. Bothwell

记者联系博斯维尔博士 询问该藻类的信息，

for a story on the algae.

就非常合理了。

The problem was, Dr. Bothwell wasn't allowed to speak to the reporter,

不过博斯维尔博士并不能 给记者透露任何消息。

because the government of the day wouldn't let him.

原因是当权政府不允许他这样做。

110 pages of emails

110页的电子邮件

and 16 government communication experts

以及16位政府交际专家

stood in Dr. Bothwell's way.

都在阻止博斯维尔博士。

Why couldn't Dr. Bothwell speak?

为什么博斯维尔博士不能谈论它呢？

Well, we'll never know for sure,

我们也许无从得知，

but Dr. Bothwell's research did suggest

但博斯维尔博士的研究确实表明

that climate change may have been responsible

气候变化也许是导致

for the aggressive algae blooms.

岩石鼻涕爆发式增长的原因。

But who the heck would want to stifle climate change information, right?

但到底是谁想切断气候变化 相关消息的外泄渠道呢？

Yes, you can laugh.

是的，你可以笑。

It's a joke,

这是个玩笑，

because it is laughable.

因为的确可笑。

We know that climate change is suppressed for all sorts of reasons.

我们知道，不论出于什么原因， 气候变化都应得到控制。

I saw it firsthand when I was a university professor.

以前在大学任教的时候，曾亲身参与其中。

We see it when countries pull out of international climate agreements

我们见证了许多国家共同 签署的国际气候协议，

like the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Accord,

如京都议定书、巴黎协定，

and we see it when industry fails to meet its emissions reduction targets.

我们同时也发现，公司企业并没有 完成自身节能减排的目标。

But it's not just climate change information that's being stifled.

但并不只是气候变化的信息被压下来。

So many other scientific issues are obscured by alternate facts,

太多其他的科学问题也被不同的说法，

fake news and other forms of suppression.

假新闻和其他形式的压制所掩盖。

We've seen it in the United Kingdom,

英国出现过这样的情况，

we've seen it in Russia,

俄罗斯也是，

we've seen it in the United States

还有美国。

and, until 2015,

直到2015年，

right here in Canada.

在加拿大，就在这里，也出现了。

In our modern technological age,

在这个现代化的技术时代，

when our very survival depends on discovery,

我们的生存依赖探索，

innovation and science,

创新和科学。

it is critical, absolutely critical,

毫无疑问，我们的科学家可以

that our scientists are free to undertake their work,

毫无阻碍的进行工作，

free to collaborate with other scientists,

和其他科学家合作，

free to speak to the media

自由地和媒体交流，

and free to speak to the public.

与公众对话，这一点至关重要。

Because after all,

因为毕竟，

science is humanity's best effort at uncovering the truth

科学是人类揭开与我们的世界，

about our world,

我们的存在有关的

about our very existence.

真相的最佳手段。

Every new fact that is uncovered

每个新发现的真相

adds to the growing body of our collective knowledge.

都使得我们的集体知识愈发丰富。

Scientists must be free to explore

科学家必须不受约束地探索

unconventional or controversial topics.

非传统或是有争议的主题。

They must be free to challenge the thinking of the day

他们必须自由地挑战主流思想，

and they must be free

同时还必须不受束缚地

to present uncomfortable or inconvenient truths,

表达令人不快或是难以面对的真相，

because that's how scientists push boundaries

因为这就是科学如何拓宽认知界限的，

and pushing boundaries is, after all, what science is all about.

毕竟，不断超越就是科学的全部。

And here's another point:

另一点是：

scientists must be free to fail,

科学家必须坦然接受失败，

because even a failed hypothesis teaches us something.

因为即使不成立的假设 也会使我们从中获益。

And the best way I can explain that is through one of my own adventures.

对此，我的一次个人经历 可以做出最好的解释。

But first I've got to take you back in time.

但首先，我得带大家回到过去。

It's the early 1900s

20世纪初，

and Claire and Vera are roommates in southern Ontario.

住在安大略省南部的 克莱尔和薇拉是舍友。

One evening during the height of the Spanish flu pandemic,

在西班牙大流感高峰期的一天晚上，

the two attend a lecture together.

这两个女孩儿一起去上课。

The end of the evening, they head for home and for bed.

下课后，她们回家，然后上床睡觉。

In the morning, Claire calls up to Vera

第二天早上，克莱尔给薇拉打电话，

and says she's going out to breakfast.

说她要出去吃早餐。

When she returns a short while later,

当她不久后回来，

Vera wasn't up.

薇拉还没起床。

She pulls back the covers

她把被子拉起来，

and makes the gruesome discovery.

发现了一件可怕的事情。

Vera was dead.

薇拉死了。

When it comes to Spanish flu,

提及西班牙流感，

those stories are common,

这种一夜致命的情况

of lightning speed deaths.

非常普遍。

Well, I was a professor in my mid-20s

当我第一次听说这些令人震惊的事情，

when I first heard those shocking facts

还是一名20多岁的教授，

and the scientist in me wanted to know why and how.

我体内的“科学家”在觉醒，想知道 它为什么会发生，以及是怎样发生的。

My curiosity would lead me to a frozen land

好奇心驱使我去往一个冰冻之地，

and to lead an expedition

同时也促成了另一段征程，

to uncover the cause of the 1918 Spanish flu.

去弄清楚1918年西班牙流感的成因。

I wanted to test our current drugs against one of history's deadliest diseases.

我想要检验当今的药物能否 对抗历史上最致命的疾病之一。

I hoped we could make a flu vaccine

我希望我们可以培育出流感疫苗，

that would be effective against the virus

从而有效应对病毒

and mutation of it,

和基因突变，

should it ever return.

以及病情是否会反复。

And so I led a team, a research team,

于是我带领了一个17人的

of 17 men

研究小组，

from Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom

他们当中有加拿大人、挪威人、英国人、

and the United States

和美国人，

to the Svalbard Islands in the Arctic Ocean.

还有人来自北冰洋的斯瓦尔巴群岛。

These islands are between Norway and the North Pole.

斯瓦尔巴群岛位于挪威和北极之间。

We exhumed six bodies

我们挖掘出了六具尸体，

who had died of Spanish flu and were buried in the permafrost

他们皆死于西班牙流感， 并被长埋于此。

and we hoped the frozen ground would preserve the body and the virus.

我们希望冰封的土地 可以同时保存尸体和病毒。

Now, I know what you are all waiting for,

我知道你们在期待什么，

that big scientific payoff.

一个重大的科研成果。

But my science story doesn't have that spectacular Hollywood ending.

但我的科学故事并没有一个 宏大的好莱坞式的结局。

Most don't.

大多数都没有。

Truth is, we didn't find the virus,

事实是，我们并没有找到病毒。

but we did develop new techniques

但我们的确发展了新技术，

to safely exhume bodies

能够安全挖掘

that might contain virus.

可能携带病毒的尸体。

We did develop new techniques

我们也开发了新技术，

to safely remove tissue

安全移除可能携带病毒的

that might contain virus.

人体组织。

And we developed new safety protocols

此外，我们还建立了新的安全协议

to protect our research team and the nearby community.

以保护我们的研究小组和附近的社区。

We made important contributions to science

我们为科学做出了重要的贡献，

even though the contributions we made

尽管这些成就

were not the ones originally intended.

并不是原先设想的那样。

In science, attempts fail,

在科学里，努力以失败收场，

results prove inconclusive

结果也往往不确定，

and theories don't pan out.

因此理论也不成功。

In science,

在科学里，

research builds upon the work and knowledge of others,

研究依赖于其他人的努力和知识，

or by seeing further,

或是目光长远，

by standing on the shoulders of giants,

站在巨人的肩膀上，

to paraphrase Newton.

这句话是牛顿的名言。

The point is, scientists must be free

问题在于，科学家必须可以自由的

to choose what they want to explore,

选择他们进行研究探索的内容，

what they are passionate about

他们的兴趣所在，

and they must be free to report their findings.

以及随心所欲发表研究结果。

You heard me say

你们也听到我说的了，

that respect for science started to improve in Canada in 2015.

在2015年，加拿大对于科学的尊重开始改善。

How did we get here?

我们是怎么做到的？

What lessons might we have to share?

我们可以分享什么经验？

Well, it actually goes back to my time as a professor.

事实上，这得回到我还是教授的时候。

I watched while agencies, governments and industries around the world

我注意到，全球的组织、政府以及工业

suppressed information on climate change.

在气候变化这一问题上都有所隐瞒。

It infuriated me.

这让我非常愤怒。

It kept me up at night.

夜不能寐。

How could politicians twist scientific fact for partisan gain?

政客怎么可以为了党派利益扭曲科学事实？

So I did what anyone appalled by politics would do:

所以我做了件事，一件任何 对政治感到震惊的人都会做的事：

I ran for office, and I won.

我参加了竞选，然后我成功了。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

I thought I would use my new platform

我原想可以利用我的新平台

to talk about the importance of science.

来讲述科学的重要性。

It quickly became a fight for the freedom of science.

它很快就变成了为科学的自由而战。

After all, I was a scientist, I came from the world under attack,

我终究是一位科学家，全球正在遭受攻击，

and I had personally felt the outrage.

我也感受到了这种愤怒。

I could be a voice for those who were being silenced.

我可以为那些保持沉默的人发声。

But I quickly learned that scientists were nervous,

但我很快明白，科学家们都小心翼翼，

even afraid to talk to me.

甚至不敢和我说话。

One government scientist, a friend of mine,

我的一个朋友在政府从事科研工作，

we'll call him McPherson,

我们叫他麦克弗森，

was concerned about the impact

政府政策对他的研究产生了一定影响，

government policies were having on his research

如今加拿大科学的状态正在恶化，

and the state of science deteriorating in Canada.

他对此非常担心。

He was so concerned, he wrote to me

他在忧虑之中写信给我，

from his wife's email account

用了他妻子的邮箱账号，

because he was afraid a phone call could be traced.

因为他担心打电话可能会被追踪。

He wanted me to phone his wife's cell phone

他想让我打给他妻子的手机，

so that call couldn't be traced.

这样就不会被查到。

I only wish I were kidding.

我真希望我是在开玩笑。

It quickly brought what was happening in Canada into sharp focus for me.

很快，加拿大发生的一切 让我成为了焦点。

How could my friend of 20 years be that afraid to talk to me?

和我有20年交情的朋友 为何惧怕和我说话？

So I did what I could at the time.

所以我做了当时我所能做的。

I listened and I shared what I learned

我仔细聆听，并把我所学的分享给

with my friend in Parliament,

我在议会的朋友，

a man who was interested in all things environment, science,

他对环境、科学、技术、创新的

technology, innovation.

一切都感兴趣。

And then the 2015 election rolled around

随后2015年大选到来，

and our party won.

我们的政党赢了。

And we formed government.

我们组建了政府。

And that friend of mine

我的那个朋友

is now the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.

现在是加拿大的总理贾斯汀 · 特鲁多。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

And he asked if I would serve as his Minister of Science.

他问我是否愿意担任科技部部长。

Together, with the rest of the government,

同时，和政府其他部门一起，

we are working hard to restore science to its rightful place.

我们努力试图重树科学的传统地位。

I will never forget that day in December 2015

我永远都不会忘记2015年12月的那一天，

when I proudly stood in Parliament

当我自豪地站在议会前

and proclaimed,

宣布，

"The war on science is now over."

“科学的战争结束了。”

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

And I have worked hard to back up those words with actions.

我努力工作，尽量做到知行合一。

We've had many successes.

我们已经取得了很多成就，

There's still more work to do,

但仍然任重道远，

because we're building this culture shift.

因为我们正在进行文化的转变。

But we want our government scientists to talk to the media, talk to the public.

但是我们希望我们的科学家 能够和媒体、公众对话。

It'll take time, but we are committed.

这需要时间，但我们对此坚定不移。

After all, Canada is seen as a beacon for science internationally.

毕竟，加拿大在国际上被视为科学的标杆。

And we want to send a message

我们想传达一个信息，

that you do not mess with something so fundamental,

不要把科学这样基础的、珍贵的东西

so precious, as science.

搞得一团糟。

So, for Dr. Bothwell, for Claire and Vera,

因此，为了博斯维尔博士、克莱尔、薇拉、

for McPherson and all those other voices,

麦克弗森和其他的很多人，

if you see that science is being stifled, suppressed or attacked,

如果你发现科学正在 被扼杀、镇压或是攻击，

speak up.

请大声说出来。

If you see that scientists are being silenced, speak up.

如果你发现科学家沉默不语，请说出来。

We must hold our leaders to account.

我们必须让领导人 对自己的行为做出解释。

Whether that is by exercising our right to vote,

无论是行使我们的选举权，

whether it is by penning an op-ed in a newspaper

还是写报纸专栏，

or by starting a conversation on social media,

或是与媒体对话，

it is our collective voice that will ensure the freedom of science.

这是我们集体的声音， 以确保科学的自由。

And after all, science is for everyone,

毕竟，科学是每一个人的，

and it will lead to a better, brighter, bolder future for us all.

它会带给我们一个更美好的、 光明的、大胆的未来。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）