Psychedelic Science | Fabian Oefner | TED Talks

翻译人员: Zhi Yin Wang 校对人员: Sophia Liu

An image is worth more than a thousand words,

一张图片往往比一千个字来的有价值

so I'm going to start my talk

所以我先不说什么

by stop talking and show you a few images

而是先给大家看几张

that I recently captured.

我最近拍摄的照片

So by now, my talk is already 6,000 words long,

好，到目前为止，我已经说了有6000字了

and I feel like I should stop here.

我觉得是时候停下来了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

At the same time, I probably owe you

与此同时，我想我应该

some explanation

解释一下

about the images that you just saw.

这些你刚看到的图片。

What I am trying to do as a photographer,

作为一个摄影师和一个艺术家，

as an artist, is to bring the world

我想要做的是把艺术和科学

of art and science together.

相结合的世界带给大家。

Whether it is an image of a soap bubble

无论是一张在即将破裂的时刻拍摄的

captured at the very moment where it's bursting,

肥皂泡的照片，

as you can see in this image,

就是你看到的这张，

whether it's a universe made of tiny little beads

还是一个由微小油漆珠子

of oil paint,

组成的世界，

strange liquids that behave in very peculiar ways,

拥有古怪行为方式的奇怪液体，

or paint that is modeled by centrifugal forces,

又或者是由离心力绘制成的一幅画，

I'm always trying to link those two fields together.

我总是想着把这两个领域联系起来。

What I find very intriguing about those two

关于这两个领域，最让我痴迷的是

is that they both look at the same thing:

它们有一个共同点：

They are a response to their surroundings.

它们都是对其周围环境的反应。

And yet, they do it in a very different way.

然而，通过的是两种不同的方式。

If you look at science on one hand,

让我们先来看一下科学，

science is a very rational approach

科学是对其周围环境的一种

to its surroundings,

非常理性的表达，

whereas art on the other hand

而艺术是对周围环境的

is usually an emotional approach to its surroundings.

一种情绪化的诠释。

What I am trying to do is I'm trying

我想做的是

to bring those two views into one

把这两种方式结合起来

so that my images both speak to the viewer's heart

使我的作品不但能够打动观众的内心

but also to the viewer's brain.

也能启发观众的大脑。

Let me demonstrate this based on three projects.

我将用我的三个项目来阐明这点。

The first one has to do with making sound visible.

第一个项目是关于如何使声音变得可见。

Now as you may know,

你可能知道，

sound travels in waves,

声音是通过音波来传输的，

so if you have a speaker,

如果你有个音箱，

a speaker actually does nothing else

音箱不会干别的

than taking the audio signal,

只会在获得音频信号后，

transform it into a vibration,

将其转化为振动，

which is then transported through the air,

再通过空气，

is captured by our ear,

传到我们的耳朵里，

and transformed into an audio signal again.

再重新转化为音频信号。

Now I was thinking,

我曾经想过，

how can I make those sound waves visible?

如何才能使声波变得可见？

So I came up with the following setup.

由此我做了以下工作。

I took a speaker, I placed a thin foil

我拿一个音箱，在它的顶部

of plastic on top of that speaker,

放上一层塑料薄膜，

and then I added tiny little crystals

然后在上面放上一些

on top of that speaker.

细小的晶体。

And now, if I would play a sound through that speaker,

那么现在，如果我播放这个音箱的话

it would cause the crystals to move up and down.

就会造成这些小晶体的上下跳动。

Now this happens very fast,

这一过程非常迅速，

in the blink of an eye,

也就在眨眼之间，

so, together with LG, we captured this motion

通过与LG合作，我们通过一台

with a camera that is able

能够每秒拍摄3000帧的相机

to capture more than 3,000 frames per second.

捕捉到了这一运动。

Let me show you what this looks like.

让我来展示一下这是什么样的。

(Music: "Teardrop" by Massive Attack)

（音乐：“Teardrop"来自于Massive Attack乐队）

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you very much.

非常谢谢

I agree, it looks pretty amazing.

我同意，这看上去非常惊艳。

But I have to tell you a funny story.

但我得告诉你们一个好玩的故事。

I got an indoor sunburn doing this

就在洛杉矶拍摄这些的时候

while shooting in Los Angeles.

我居然在室内被晒伤了。

Now in Los Angeles, you could get a decent sunburn

在洛杉矶，你可以在

just on any of the beaches,

任何一个沙滩上被晒伤，

but I got mine indoors,

但我是在室内被晒伤的。

and what happened is that,

当时是这样的，

if you're shooting at 3,000 frames per second,

如果你需要每秒钟拍摄3000帧，

you need to have a silly amount of light, lots of lights.

那么你需要非常强的光线，非常多的光。

So we had this speaker set up,

我们把音箱放好，

and we had the camera facing it,

把相机对着它，

and lots of lights pointing at the speaker,

然后用强光源对着它，

and I would set up the speaker,

然后我负责的是

put the tiny little crystals on top of that speaker,

把细小晶体放到音箱的上面，

and we would do this over and over again,

我们需要一遍又一遍地重复这一工作，

and it was until midday that I realized

半天之后我发现

that I had a completely red face

我的脸完全红了

because of the lights pointing at the speaker.

就是因为那个对着音箱的光源。

What was so funny about it was that

好笑的是

the speaker was only coming from the right side,

音箱只被放在我的右边

so the right side of my face was completely red

所以我的右脸完全红透了

and I looked like the Phantom of the Opera

在这周余下的几天里我看起来

for the rest of the week.

就像是歌剧魅影。

Let me now turn to another project

让我进入下一个

which involves less harmful substances.

更安全些的项目。

Has anyone of you heard of ferrofluid?

有没有人听说过铁磁流体？

Ah, some of you have. Excellent.

哈，有一些听过，很好。

Should I skip that part?

那我是不是该跳过这一部分？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Ferrofluid has a very strange behavior.

铁磁流体的行为非常奇怪。

It's a liquid that is completely black.

它是一种全黑的液体。

It's got an oily consistency.

它有着油腻的质感。

And it's got tiny little particles of metal in it,

同时它其中又包含了微小的金属粒子，

which makes it magnetic.

使其变得拥有磁性。

So if I now put this liquid into a magnetic field,

如果我把这种液体置于磁场之中，

it would change its appearance.

它的外观就会改变。

Now I've got a live demonstration over here

我给大家在这里做一个

to show this to you.

现场的演示

So I've got a camera pointing down at this plate,

用一个照相机向下对着这个盘子，

and underneath that plate, there is a magnet.

在盘子的下面，有一块磁铁。

Now I'm going to add some of that ferrofluid

好现在我将在磁铁上放上一些

to that magnet.

铁磁流体。

Let's just slightly move it to the right

向右移一点

and maybe focus it a little bit more. Excellent.

调整一下焦点，很好。

So what you can see now is that

你现在看到的

the ferrofluid has formed spikes.

铁磁流体形变成了钉尖状

This is due to the attraction and the repulsion

这是由于液体里粒子的

of the individual particles inside the liquid.

相吸与相斥。

Now this looks already quite interesting,

这已经看起来很有趣了，

but let me now add some watercolors to it.

不过我现在要加点水彩进去。

Those are just standard watercolors

这些就是普通水彩

that you would paint with.

你用来画画的那种

You wouldn't paint with syringes,

你不会用注射器来画画

but it works just the same.

可工作原理是一样的。

So what happened now is,

现在发生了是，

when the watercolor was flowing into the structure,

当水彩流入到这个结构里去，

the watercolors do not mix with the ferrofluid.

水彩没有和铁磁流体混合在一起。

That's because the ferrofluid itself

这是由于铁磁流体具有

is hydrophobic.

疏水性。

That means it doesn't mix with the water.

也就是说不会和水混合。

And at the same time, it tries to maintain its position

同时，它又会努力保持住

above the magnet,

在磁铁上的位置，

and therefore, it creates those amazing-looking

所以就构成了这一由条纹和

structures of channels and tiny little ponds

微小彩色水池组成的

of colorful water paint.

不可思议的结构。

So that was the second project.

这就是我的第二个项目。

Let me now turn to the last project,

让我们进入最后一个项目，

which involves

是和

the national beverage of Scotland.

苏格兰国民饮料有关的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

This image, and also this one,

这幅画面，还有这个，

were made using whiskey.

是由威士忌做成的。

Now you might ask yourself,

你可能会问你自己，

how did he do that?

他是怎么做到的？

Did he drink half a bottle of whiskey

他是不是喝了半瓶威士忌

and then draw the hallucination he got

然后把他酒醉后看到的

from being drunk onto paper?

幻像给画了下来？

I can assure you I was fully conscious

我保证我在拍摄这些照片时

while I was taking those pictures.

是清醒的。

Now, whiskey contains 40 percent of alcohol,

威士忌的酒精含量是40%，

and alcohol has got some very interesting properties.

同时酒精具有一些非常有趣的特性。

Maybe you have experienced

你可能亲身体验过

some of those properties before,

其中一些特性，

but I am talking about the physical properties,

不过我这里要说的是物理特性，

not the other ones.

不是其它那些。

So when I open the bottle, the alcohol molecules

当我打开酒瓶的时候，酒精分子

would spread in the air,

会散播到空气中，

and that's because alcohol is a very volatile substance.

因为酒精是非常易挥发的物质

And at the same time, alcohol is highly flammable.

同时，酒精又是极易燃的。

And it was with those two properties

是这两种酒精的特性

that I was able to create the images

我才能完成你们

that you're seeing right now.

看到的这幅照片。

Let me demonstrate this over here.

我来向大家演示一下。

And what I have here is an empty glass vessel.

我这里有一个空的玻璃容器。

It's got nothing in it.

里面什么也没有。

And now I'm going to fill it with oxygen

现在我要把它装满氧气

and whiskey.

和威士忌。

Add some more.

再加一点。

Now we just wait for a few seconds

我们只需要等上几秒钟

for the molecules to spread inside the bottle.

让分子充分挥发到瓶子里

And now, let's set that on fire.

现在，把它点燃。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So that's all that happens.

就是这样

It goes really fast, and it's not that impressive.

它发生得非常快，也不怎么厉害。

I could do it again to show it one more time,

我可以再重新演示一遍，

but some would argue that this is a complete waste

不过肯定有人会反对

of the whiskey, and that I should rather drink it.

这完全是浪费威士忌，还不如喝掉。

But let me show you a slow motion

让我来给你们看一下慢动作

in a completely darkened room

在一个完全黑暗的环境下拍摄到的

of what I just showed you in this live demonstration.

就是刚才你们看到的那一幕。

So what happened is that the flame

那些火焰

traveled through the glass vessel from top to bottom,

从瓶口向下燃烧到瓶底

burning the mix of the air molecules

烧掉了空气和酒精分子的

and the alcohol.

混合物。

So the images that you saw at the beginning,

你们一开始看到的那些照片，

they are actually a flame stopped in time

其实是在瓶中燃烧

while it is traveling through the bottle,

刚刚及时停下的火焰，

and you have to imagine

你同时要想象一下

it was flipped around 180 degrees.

它被翻转了180度

So that's how those images were made.

那些照片就是这样被做出来的。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Thank you.

谢谢.

So, I have now showed you three projects,

我给大家了展示我的三个项目，

and you might ask yourself, what is it good for?

你可能在问自己，这些有什么用呢？

What's the idea behind it?

这背后是什么想法呢？

Is it just a waste of whiskey?

仅仅是浪费威士忌吗？

Is it just some strange materials?

或者只是一些奇怪的材料？

Those three projects, they're based on very simple

这三个项目，是基于非常简单的

scientific phenomena,

科学现象，

such as magnetism, the sound waves,

比如磁场，声波，

or over here, the physical properties of a substance,

或者是物质的物理性质，

and what I'm trying to do

我想做的是

is I'm trying to use these phenomena

我想通过这些现象

and show them in a poetic and unseen way,

展现一条诗意的没人见过的方式，

and therefore invite the viewer

因此我希望观众们能够

to pause for a moment

静静地停下一会儿

and think about all the beauty

仔细想想这些我们身边的

that is constantly surrounding us.

我们身边的美丽事物。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）