The case for curiosity-driven research | Suzie Sheehy

翻译人员: jacks peng 校对人员: Wilde Luo

In the late 19th century, scientists were trying to solve a mystery.

19世纪晚期， 科学家在试图破解一个迷。

They found that if they had a vacuum tube like this one

他们发现， 如果有一个像这样的真空管，

and applied a high voltage across it,

在上面施加高压，

something strange happened.

会产生奇怪的现象。

They called them cathode rays.

他们称之为阴极射线。

But the question was: What were they made of?

但问题是： 它是由什么构成的？

In England, the 19th-century physicist J.J. Thompson

在19世纪的英国， 物理学家J.J.汤普森

conducted experiments using magnets and electricity, like this.

用磁铁和电源做了个实验，就像这样。

And he came to an incredible revelation.

他从中得到了 一个不可思议的真相。

These rays were made of negatively charged particles

这些射线是由某种 带负电荷的粒子构成的，

around 2,000 times lighter than the hydrogen atom,

大约比当时他们所知的 最小的粒子，氢原子，还轻2000倍。

the smallest thing they knew.

So Thompson had discovered the first subatomic particle,

于是汤普森发现了第一个亚原子粒子，

which we now call electrons.

也就是我们现在所称的电子。

Now, at the time, this seemed to be a completely impractical discovery.

在当时，这似乎就是个 百无一用的发现。

I mean, Thompson didn't think there were any applications of electrons.

我意思是，汤普森并不认为 电子能做什么用途。

Around his lab in Cambridge, he used to like to propose a toast:

在他位于剑桥的实验室里， 他过去常常邀杯道：

"To the electron.

“为电子而干杯，

May it never be of use to anybody."

希望它永远不会对任何人有用。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

He was strongly in favor of doing research out of sheer curiosity,

他纯粹是因为好奇，

为了更深入地了解世界 而投身于研究工作。

to arrive at a deeper understanding of the world.

And what he found did cause a revolution in science.

他的发现确实引发了一场科学革命。

But it also caused a second, unexpected revolution in technology.

但它也引发了另外一场 意料之外的技术革命。

Today, I'd like to make a case for curiosity-driven research,

今天，我想为由好奇心 驱动的研究提供充分理由，

because without it,

因为如果没有它，

none of the technologies I'll talk about today

我们今天讨论的所有技术,

would have been possible.

都不可能存在。

Now, what Thompson found here has actually changed our view of reality.

汤普森的这个发现真正地 改变了我们对现实的看法。

I mean, I think I'm standing on a stage,

我指的是， 我认为我现在站在台上，

and you think you're sitting in a seat.

你们认为你们坐在座位上。

But that's just the electrons in your body

实际情况是： 你身体里的电子

pushing back against the electrons in the seat,

正把椅子上的 电子往下挤，

opposing the force of gravity.

以此对抗重力。

You're not even really touching the seat.

你甚至没有 真正碰到座位。

You're hovering ever so slightly above it.

你只是一直在它上面 稍高一点的地方悬浮。

But in many ways, our modern society was actually built on this discovery.

但在很多方面，我们现代社会 其实是建立在这个发现之上的。

I mean, these tubes were the start of electronics.

我是说，这些管子是 电子学的开端。

And then for many years,

以及在以前， 很长一段时间，

most of us actually had one of these, if you remember, in your living room,

如果你还记得，在你的起居室中， 我们大多数人都拥有它的产物，

in cathode-ray tube televisions.

一台阴极射线管电视。

But -- I mean, how impoverished would our lives be

但是——我的意思是， 即使有了这个发现，

if the only invention that had come from here was the television?

但如果电视只是这唯一的发明， 我们的生活将会多么困顿？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Thankfully, this tube was just a start,

幸运的是，这个真空管只是一个开始，

because something else happens when the electrons here

因为当电子 撞到管子里的金属片时,

hit the piece of metal inside the tube.

会发生别的事情。

Let me show you.

让我给你们演示。

Pop this one back on.

重新打开它。

So as the electrons screech to a halt inside the metal,

所以随着电子“嘎吱一声” 急停在金属内部时，

their energy gets thrown out again

它们的能量以高能光束的方式 被释放出来，也就是X射线。

in a form of high-energy light, which we call X-rays.

(Buzzing)

（嗡嗡响）

(Buzzing)

（嗡嗡响）

And within 15 years of discovering the electron,

在发现电子后的15年内，

these X-rays were being used to make images inside the human body,

这些X射线被用来拍摄人体内部的影像，

helping soldiers' lives being saved by surgeons,

帮助拯救士兵生命的外科医生，

who could then find pieces of bullets and shrapnel inside their bodies.

这样他们就能够在士兵 身体中找到子弹和弹片。

But there's no way we could have come up with that technology

但是回到最初，如果命令科学家 发明出更好的手术探针，

by asking scientists to build better surgical probes.

这种技术就能凭空出现， 这是不可能的。

Only research done out of sheer curiosity, with no application in mind,

只有纯粹出于好奇做的研究， 而不考虑任何实际用途，

could have given us the discovery of the electron and X-rays.

才能让我们 发现电子和X射线。

Now, this tube also threw open the gates for our understanding of the universe

现在，这个真空管也为我们 理解宇宙和粒子物理领域

and the field of particle physics,

打开了一扇门，

because it's also the first, very simple particle accelerator.

因为它也是第一个粒子 加速器，结构堪称简陋。

Now, I'm an accelerator physicist, so I design particle accelerators,

嗯，我是加速器物理学家， 因此我设计粒子加速器，

and I try and understand how beams behave.

我试着理解粒子束的行为。

And my field's a bit unusual,

我的领域有点不一般，

because it crosses between curiosity-driven research

因为它的研究 不仅是由好奇心驱动的，

and technology with real-world applications.

而且也与现实世界的 应用技术相关。

But it's the combination of those two things

但这两者的结合让我对

that gets me really excited about what I do.

我的工作感到非常兴奋。

Now, over the last 100 years,

嗯，在过去100年中，

there have been far too many examples for me to list them all.

有太多的案例，数不胜数。

But I want to share with you just a few.

但我想给你们分享其中几个。

In 1928, a physicist named Paul Dirac found something strange in his equations.

1928年，一位名叫保罗 · 狄拉克的物理学家 在他的方程中发现了一些奇怪的东西。

And he predicted, based purely on mathematical insight,

仅仅基于数学的洞察，他预测，

that there ought to be a second kind of matter,

应该有第二种物质，

the opposite to normal matter,

与正常物质相反的物质，

that literally annihilates when it comes in contact:

当它们相互接触时就会湮灭：

antimatter.

反物质。

I mean, the idea sounded ridiculous.

我是说，这个想法听起来很荒谬。

But within four years, they'd found it.

但在4年之内，他们证实了它。

And nowadays, we use it every day in hospitals,

如今，我们每天都在医院使用它，

in positron emission tomography, or PET scans, used for detecting disease.

正电子发射断层扫描， 或叫PET扫描，用于检测疾病。

Or, take these X-rays.

或者，拿这些X光来说。

If you can get these electrons up to a higher energy,

如果你可以把这些电子 加速到更高能量，

so about 1,000 times higher than this tube,

例如，比这个管子里的高1000倍，

the X-rays that those produce

由此产生的X射线实际上

can actually deliver enough ionizing radiation to kill human cells.

可以释放足够强的电离 辐射，杀死人体细胞。

And if you can shape and direct those X-rays where you want them to go,

如果你能够按照实际需求 调整X射线的形状和方向，

that allows us to do an incredible thing:

就可以实现不可思议的事情：

to treat cancer without drugs or surgery,

无须药物或手术 就可以治疗癌症，

which we call radiotherapy.

这就是我们说的放射疗法。

In countries like Australia and the UK,

在澳大利亚和英国这样的国家，

around half of all cancer patients are treated using radiotherapy.

大约一半的癌症病人 使用放射疗法。

And so, electron accelerators are actually standard equipment

电子加速器 实际上是很多医院的

in most hospitals.

标准配备。

Or, a little closer to home:

或者，在日常生活中：

if you have a smartphone or a computer --

如果你有智能手机或电脑——

and this is TEDx, so you've got both with you right now, right?

在TEDx，大家都带着它们，对吧？

Well, inside those devices

嗯，这些设备中的芯片，

are chips that are made by implanting single ions into silicon,

是在“离子注入工序”中通过

in a process called ion implantation.

将单个离子注入硅来制造的。

And that uses a particle accelerator.

这就需要粒子加速器。

Without curiosity-driven research, though,

没有由好奇心驱动的研究，

none of these things would exist at all.

这些东西没有一个会存在。

So, over the years, we really learned to explore inside the atom.

那么，多年来， 我们真正学会了探索原子内部。

And to do that, we had to learn to develop particle accelerators.

要做到这一点， 我们必须研究发展粒子加速器。

The first ones we developed let us split the atom.

我们开发的第一个加速器 让我们分裂原子。

And then we got to higher and higher energies;

然后我们得到 越来越高的能量；

we created circular accelerators that let us delve into the nucleus

我们创造了圆形加速器， 让我们深入原子核

and then create new elements, even.

然后甚至产生了新的元素。

And at that point, we were no longer just exploring inside the atom.

在那一刻，我们不再只是探索原子内部。

We'd actually learned how to control these particles.

我们学会了控制这些粒子。

We'd learned how to interact with our world

我们学会了在一个人类无法看到、 触摸甚至感知到的微观层面上

on a scale that's too small for humans to see or touch

与世界互动。

or even sense that it's there.

And then we built larger and larger accelerators,

然后我们建造越来越大的加速器，

because we were curious about the nature of the universe.

因为我们对宇宙的本质充满好奇。

As we went deeper and deeper, new particles started popping up.

随着我们越钻越深，新的粒子接连被发现。

Eventually, we got to huge ring-like machines

最终，我们建造了一个巨大的环状机器，

that take two beams of particles in opposite directions,

它把两束粒子从相反的方向

squeeze them down to less than the width of a hair

压缩到不到一根 头发那么细的宽度，

and smash them together.

然后使它们对撞。

And then, using Einstein's E=mc2,

然后，根据爱因斯坦 质能方程E=mc^2，

you can take all of that energy and convert it into new matter,

你得到了所有的能量， 并把它转化为新的物质，

new particles which we rip from the very fabric of the universe.

我们从宇宙的特定基本 结构中提取的新的粒子。

Nowadays, there are about 35,000 accelerators in the world,

如今，全世界有35000台加速器，

not including televisions.

不包括电视。

And inside each one of these incredible machines,

在这些神奇的机器里面，

there are hundreds of billions of tiny particles,

有数千亿的微小粒子，

dancing and swirling in systems that are more complex

在比星系的组成 还复杂的系统中,

than the formation of galaxies.

跳舞和旋转。

You guys, I can't even begin to explain how incredible it is

各位，我甚至都无法解释，

我们能做到这一点 是多么的不可思议。

that we can do this.

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

So I want to encourage you to invest your time and energy

所以我想鼓励 你们投入时间和精力,

in people that do curiosity-driven research.

支持人们去做 由好奇心驱动的研究。

It was Jonathan Swift who once said,

乔纳森 · 斯威夫特曾经说过，

"Vision is the art of seeing the invisible."

“远见是见人所未见的艺术。”

And over a century ago, J.J. Thompson did just that,

一个多世纪前， 汤普森就是这么做的，

when he pulled back the veil on the subatomic world.

当他揭开亚原子世界面纱时。

And now we need to invest in curiosity-driven research,

现在，对于由好奇心驱动的 研究，我们需要进行投入，

because we have so many challenges that we face.

因为我们面对着如此多的挑战。

And we need patience;

我们需要耐心；

we need to give scientists the time, the space and the means

我们需要提供给科学家时间、场所以及

to continue their quest,

继续他们的探求的工具，

because history tells us

因为历史告诉我们：

that if we can remain curious and open-minded

如果我们能够对研究的结果

about the outcomes of research,

保持好奇和开放的心态，

the more world-changing our discoveries will be.

我们的发现就越能改变世界。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）