Lifesaving scientific tools made of paper | Manu Prakash

翻译人员: Lin Zhang 校对人员: Zilin Lu

So, I love making tools and sharing them with people.

我喜欢制作工具并与别人分享。

I remember as a child,

我记得小时候，

my first tool I built was actually a microscope

我制作的第一个工具 是一个显微镜，

that I built by stealing lenses from my brother's eyeglasses.

它的镜片是从我哥哥的 眼镜上偷偷掰下来的。

He wasn't that thrilled.

他（知道后）并没有 为我的发明感到激动。

But, you know, maybe because of that moment,

但也许正是因为那一刻，

30 years later,

30年后，

I'm still making microscopes.

我依然在制作显微镜。

And the reason I built these tools is for moments like this.

制作这些工具的原因 是为了像这样的时刻。

(Video) Girl: I have black things in my hair --

（视频）女孩：有个 黑色的东西在我的头发里。

Manu Prakash: This is a school in the Bay Area.

马努 · 普拉卡什：这是 一所在旧金山湾区的学校。

(Video) MP: The living world far supersedes our imagination

（视频）马努：我们如今 生活的世界远远超越了

of how things actually work.

我们对事物运作的猜想。

(Video) Boy: Oh my God!

（视频）男孩：哦，我的天！

MP: Right -- oh my God!

马努：没错——我的天啊！

I hadn't realized this would be such a universal phrase.

我没有意识到这是 如此通用的一个短语。

Over the last two years,

在过去的两年，

in my lab,

在我的实验室里，

we built 50,000 Foldscopes

我们制作了5万个折叠镜，

and shipped them to 130 countries in the world,

并将其运往世界上的130个国家，

at no cost to the kids we sent them to.

免费发放给孩子们。

This year alone,

仅这一年，

with the support of our community,

在我们社区的支持下，

we are planning to ship a million microscopes

我们计划发放一百万个折叠镜

to kids around the world.

送给世界各地的孩子们。

What does that do?

这有什么用途呢？

It creates an inspiring community of people around the world,

它为世界各地的人们创造了一个 鼓舞人心的的社区，

learning and teaching each other,

大家共同学习和相互传授，

from Kenya to Kampala to Kathmandu to Kansas.

从肯尼亚到坎帕拉， 从加德满都到堪萨斯州。

And one of the phenomenal things that I love about this

而我喜欢的现象之一，

is the sense of community.

就是社区感。

There's a kid in Nicaragua

尼加拉瓜有个孩子

teaching others how to identify mosquito species that carry dengue

教其他人如何通过观察 显微镜下的幼虫

by looking at the larva under a microscope.

来识别携带登革热的蚊子。

There's a pharmacologist who came up with a new way

有一位药理学家 提出了一种新的方法，

to detect fake drugs anywhere.

能在任何地方检测假药。

There is a girl who wondered:

有一位女孩想知道：

"How does glitter actually work?"

”闪粉是如何产生效果的？”

and discovered the physics of crystalline formation in glitter.

并在闪粉中发现了 晶体形成的物理现象。

There is an Argentinian doctor

有一位阿根廷医生

who's trying to do field cervical cancer screening with this tool.

用这个工具来做宫颈癌的筛检。

And yours very truly found a species of flea

接着我们又发现了一种跳蚤，

that was dug inside my heel in my foot one centimeter deep.

就在我的脚后跟内一厘米深的地方。

Now, you might think of these as anomalies.

现在，你可能会认为这都是 一些例外的情况。

But there is a method to this madness.

但是的确有实现这些 奇思妙想的办法。

I call this "frugal science" --

我称之为“节俭科学”——

the idea of sharing the experience of science,

这是种分享科学经验的想法，

and not just the information.

而不仅仅是得到的信息。

To remind you:

别忘了：

there are a billion people on this planet

这个星球上有数十亿人口

who live with absolutely no infrastructure:

生活在没有基础设施的环境里：

no roads,

没有道路，

no electricity

没有电力，

and thus, no health care.

因此，也没有医疗服务。

Also, there a billion kids on this planet that live in poverty.

另外，这个星球上有 10亿儿童生活在贫困中。

How are we supposed to inspire them

那我们应该如何激励他们

for the next generation of solution makers?

成为下一代的问题解决者？

There are health care workers that we put on the line

现在我们的医护人员还处于

to fight infectious diseases,

对抗传染病的危险环境中，

to protect us with absolutely bare-minimum tools and resources.

他们用最最基本的工具与 资源保护着我们。

So as a lab at Stanford,

在斯坦福大学的实验室中，

I think of this from a context of frugal science

我尝尝思考如何从“节约科学”

and building solutions for these communities.

以及为社区提供方案的 角度来解决这个问题。

Often we think about being able to do diagnosis under a tree, off-grid.

我们常常设想能够 在没有网络的树下做诊断。

I'll tell you two examples today of new tools.

今天我要给你们介绍 两个新工具的例子。

One of them starts in Uganda.

其中一个是在乌干达试用的。

In 2013,

2013年，

on a field trip to detect schistosomiasis with Foldscopes,

在用折叠镜检测 血吸虫病的实地考察中，

I made a minor observation.

我做了一个小小的观察。

In a clinic,

在一家处于

in a far, remote area,

偏远地区的诊所里，

I saw a centrifuge being used as a doorstop.

我看到一台离心机 被当作门挡来使用。

I mean -- quite literally, the doorstop.

我指的就是字面意义上的“门挡”。

And I asked them and they said,

我问他们怎么回事，他们回答说，

"Oh, we don't actually have electricity,

"哦，我们这儿根本没有电，

so this piece of junk is good as a doorstop."

所以这玩意儿没啥用， 当门挡正合适。”

Centrifuges, for some of you who don't know,

如果你们有谁不知道的话，离心机，

are the pinnacle tool to be able to do sample processing.

是一种能够进行 样品处理的顶尖工具。

You separate components of blood or body fluids

你可以用它来分离 血液或体液内的成分，

to be able to detect and identify pathogens.

以此检测和识别病原体。

But centrifuges are bulky, expensive --

但是离心机体积庞大，价格昂贵——

cost around 1,000 dollars --

价格大约1000美元——

and really hard to carry out in the field.

并且很难搬运。

And of course,

当然，

they don't work without power.

它们没有电力就不能工作。

Sound familiar?

很耳熟吧？

So we started thinking about solving this problem,

于是我们开始思考 如何解决这个问题，

and I came back --

我回来后——

kept thinking about toys.

就一直想着玩具。

Now ...

那么今天...

I have a few with me here.

我带了几个在身上。

I first started with yo-yos ...

我先从溜溜球开始...

and I'm a terrible yo-yo thrower.

不过我是一个糟糕的扔球者。

Because these objects spin,

看着这些东西在旋转，

we wondered,

我们就会想，

could we actually use the physics of these objects

是否可以把它们旋转的物理原理

拿来建造离心机呢？

to be able to build centrifuges?

This was possibly the worst throw I could make.

这可能是我做出的最糟糕的一投。

But you might start realizing,

但是你可能会意识到，

if you start exploring the space of toys --

如果你开始探索 各种可能合适的玩具——

we tried these spinning tops,

我们尝试了这些陀螺，

and then in the lab,

然后在实验室里，

we stumbled upon this wonder.

我们偶然发现了这个神奇的东西。

It's the whirligig, or a buzzer, or a rundle.

它是个陀螺，或者可以称之为蜂鸣器， 或者类似绞盘器的东西。

A couple of strings and a little disk,

它由一些绳子和一个小盘构成。

and if I push, it spins.

如果我拉一下绳子，它就会旋转。

How many of you have played with this as a kid?

你们中有多少人在小时候玩过这个？

This is called a button-on-a-string.

这就是所谓的“纽扣绳"。

OK, maybe 50 percent of you.

好吧，大概有一半的人。

What you didn't realize --

然而你并没有意识到——

that this little object

这个小玩意儿

is the oldest toy in the history of mankind ...

起源于5000年前，

5,000 years ago.

是人类历史上最古老的玩具。

We have found relics of this object hidden around on our planet.

我们已经在地球上 发现了这些玩具的遗迹。

Now the irony is,

具有讽刺意味的是，

we actually don't understand how this little thing works.

我们实际上并不知道 这个小东西的工作原理。

That's when I get excited.

这让我感到好奇和兴奋。

So we got back to work,

当我们回去工作时，

wrote down a couple of equations.

写下了几个方程式。

If you take the input torque that you put in,

如果你把之前的输入转矩，（译者注： 机械元件在转矩作用下会发生扭转变形）

you take the drag on this disc,

拖动到这个圆盘上，

and the twist drag on these strings,

然后扭动这些绳子，

you should be able to mathematically solve this.

你应该能用数学来解决这个问题。

This is not the only equation in my talk.

这不是我演讲中唯一的方程式。

Ten pages of math later,

我们后来又写了十页的公式，

we could actually write down the complete analytical solution

可以用这些方程式， 为这个动态系统

for this dynamic system.

写出完整的解析方案。

And out comes what we call "Paperfuge."

我们把它叫做“纸质离心机”。

That's my postdoc Saad Bhamla,

这是我们组的博士后，萨阿德 · 巴姆拉，

who's the co-inventor of Paperfuge.

也是纸质离心机的共同发明人。

And to the left, you see all the centrifuges

在左边，你可以看到 所有我们正试图用

that we're trying to replace.

新工具取代的离心机们。

This little object that you see right here

你看到的这个小东西

is a disc, a couple of strings and a handle.

是由一个圆盘，几根绳子 和一对把手构成的。

And when I spin

每当我旋转它，

and I push,

往两旁边拉绳子，

it starts to spin.

它就开始旋转了起来。

现在，当我们用数学公式

Now, when you realize,

when you do the math,

来计算

when we calculate the rpm for this object,

这个物体的转速时，

mathematically, we should be able to go all the way to a million rpm.

理论上它应该能够 达到每分钟100万转。

Now, there is a little twist in human anatomy,

这和人体解剖学稍有分歧，

because the resonant frequency of this object is about 10 hertz,

因为这个东西的 共振频率大约是10赫兹，

and if you've ever played the piano,

如果你曾经弹过钢琴，

you can't go higher than two or three hertz.

你和钢琴的共振频率 最高不会超过2或3赫兹。

The maximum speed we've been able to achieve with this object

这个东西旋转能达到的最大速度

is not 10,000 rpm,

不是每分钟1万转，

not 50,000 rpm --

也不是5万转——

120,000 rpm.

而是12万转。

That's equal to 30,000 g-forces.

相当于3万倍的重力加速度g。

If I was to stick you right here and have it spin,

如果我把你绑在这里，让它旋转，

you would think about the types of forces you would experience.

你会想到可能经历的 各种类型的力。

One of the factors of a tool like this

像这样的工具有一个要素

is to be able to do diagnosis with this.

就是可以用接下来的事做个诊断。

So, I'm going to do a quick demo here, where --

我将在这里做一个简短的演示——

this is a moment where I'm going to make a little finger prick,

现在我要轻轻刺一下我的手指，

and a tiny drop of blood is going to come out.

然后就会流出一滴血。

如果你不喜欢血，你可以不看它。

If you don't like blood, you don't have to look at it.

Here is a little lancet.

这是一把小刀。

These lancets are available everywhere,

这种小刀

completely passive.

在哪都很常见。

And if I've had breakfast today ...

我今天应该是吃了早餐的...

That didn't hurt at all.

所以并不会造成什么伤害。

OK, I take a little capillary with a drop of blood --

好的，我用采血管采了一滴血——

now this drop of blood has answers,

现在这滴血背后 隐藏着一个事情的答案，

that's why I'm interested in it.

也就是我对它感兴趣的原因，

It might actually tell me whether I have malaria right now or not.

它可能会告诉我， 我现在是否患有疟疾。

I take a little capillary,

我拿出一个真空毛细管，

and you see it starts wicking in.

接着你能看到它开始采血了。

I'm going to draw a little more blood.

我还要多挤一点血出来。

And that's good enough for right now.

好了，足够了。

Now, I just seal this capillary by putting it in clay.

现在，我把这个采血管密封在粘土中。

And now that's sealed the sample.

现在这个样本已经被密封了。

We're going to take the sample,

我们要把这个样本

mount it on Paperfuge.

放入纸质离心机里。

A little piece of tape to make a sealed cavity.

用一小块胶带做一个密封的腔。

So now the sample is completely enclosed.

现在样本已经完全封闭了。

And we are ready for a spin.

然后我们就准备好开始旋转了。

I'm pushing and pulling with this object.

我要对它进行推拉的操作，

I'm going to load this up ...

给它加点速度...

And you see the object starts spinning.

然后你可以看到盘子开始旋转。

Unlike a regular centrifuge,

跟普通离心机不同，

this is a counter-rotating centrifuge.

这是一个反向旋转的离心机。

It goes back and forth, back and forth ...

它来来回回，反反复复...

And now I'm charging it up,

现在我要给它更多的动力，

and you see it builds momentum.

接着你就看到它积累了动量。

And now -- I don't know if you can hear this --

现在——我不知道你们是否能听到——

30 seconds of this,

旋转30秒后，

and I should be able to separate all the blood cells with the plasma.

我应该能够把所有的 血细胞和血浆分离，

And the ratio of those blood cells to plasma --

并且得知这些血细胞和血浆的比率——

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Already, if you see right here,

现在，请集中注意力，

if you focus on this,

把目光聚焦在这里，

you should be able to see a separated volume

你应该能看到互相分离的

of blood and plasma.

血液与血浆。

And the ratio of that actually tells me whether I might be anemic.

这个比率会告诉我， 我是否可能有贫血症状。

One of the aspects of this is, we build many types of Paperfuges.

我们做了很多类型的纸质离心机。

This one allows us to identify malaria parasites

这一种可以帮助我们识别疟原虫，

by running them for a little longer,

通过让它们运行更长时间，

and we can identify malaria parasites that are in the blood

我们可以识别血液中存在的疟原虫。

that we can separate out and detect with something like a centrifuge.

这也正是普通离心机 分离和检测的结果。

Another version of this allows me to separate nucleic acids

另一种类型的纸质离心机， 可以帮我分离核酸，

to be able to do nucleic acid tests out in the field itself.

从而能够在现场直接进行核酸测试。

Here is another version that allows me to separate bulk samples,

还有一种类型， 它可以帮助我分离大量的样本，

and then, finally,

那么最后，

something new that we've been working on

我们最近一直在研究的，

to be able to implement the entire multiplex test on an object like this.

这么一个装置可以 实现整套的多元测试。

So where you do the sample preparation and the chemistry in the same object.

也就是说你可以在同一个 装置上准备样品和观察化学反应。

Now ...

现在...

this is all good,

这些看起来都不错，

but when you start thinking about this,

但是当你开始思考这个问题的时候，

you have to share these tools with people.

你必须与别人分享这些工具。

And one of the things we did is -- we just got back from Madagascar;

我们做过的一件事是—— 我们刚从马达加斯加回来，

this is what clinical trials for malaria look like --

这就是那里的 疟疾临床试验的样子——

（笑声）

(Laughter)

你可以一边喝咖啡一边工作。

You can do this while having coffee.

But most importantly,

但最重要的是，

this is a village six hours from any road.

这是一个不论从哪条路过去 都要走六个小时的村庄。

We are in a room with one of the senior members of the community

我们和社区里的一些年长者， 还有一名医疗保健工作者

and a health care worker.

待在同一间屋子里。

It really is this portion of the work that excites me the most --

这份工作最让我兴奋的地方——

that smile,

就是那些使用者的笑容，

to be able to share simple but powerful tools with people around the world.

同时，我们能够与世界各地的 人们分享构造简单，但功能强大的工具。

Now, I forgot to tell you this,

对了，忘记告诉你们了，

that all of that cost me 20 cents to make.

这么一个工具的制作成本 只需要20美分。

OK, in the negative time I have left,

好的，时间差不多了，

I'll tell you about the most recent --

我来告诉你们我们实验室里——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

invention from our lab.

最新的发明。

It's called Abuzz --

它叫做嗡鸣（Abuzz）—

the idea that all of you could help us fight mosquitoes;

是一种大家都可以帮助 我们对抗蚊子的想法；

you could all help us track our enemies.

你们都可以帮助我们追踪敌人。

These are enemies because they cause malaria, Zika, chikungunya, dengue.

这些蚊子是敌人，因为它们会传播 疟疾、寨卡病毒、基孔肯雅病、登革热。

But the challenge is that we actually don't know where our enemies are.

而我们所面临的挑战是， 我们根本找不到这些敌人在哪里。

The world map for where mosquitoes are is missing.

世界地图上可没有标记蚊子的地方。

So we started thinking about this.

所以我们开始思考这个问题。

There are 3,500 species of mosquitoes,

目前一共有3500种蚊子，

and they're all very similar.

并且它们都非常相似。

Some of them are so identical

有些种类的相似程度，

that even an entomologist cannot identify them under a microscope.

昆虫学家借助 显微镜也无法识别它们。

But they have an Achilles' heel.

但是他们有一个致命的弱点。

This is what mosquitoes flirting with each other looks like.

这是蚊子互相调情的样子。

That's a male chasing a female.

那是一只雄性在追逐雌性。

They're actually talking to each other with their wingbeat frequencies.

它们实际上是用它们的 翼拍频率在相互交谈。

(Buzzing sound)

(嗡嗡的声音)

And thus, they have a signature.

因此，他们有一个特征信号。

We realized that using a regular phone,

我们借助一个普通的手机 发现了这一点，

a $5-10 flip phone --

一个价值5-10美元的翻盖手机——

how many remember what this object is?

有多少人还记得这东西是什么吗？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

We can record these acoustic signatures from mosquitoes.

我们可以从蚊子的信号中 记录这些声音特征。

I'll tell you exactly how to do this.

我来告诉你是怎么做到的。

I caught some mosquitoes outside.

我在外面发现了一些蚊子。

Unlike Bill [Gates], I'm not going to release them.

不像比尔（盖茨），我不会放了它们。

(Laughter)

But I will tell you how to record from this.

（笑声）

但我会告诉你如何对它们做记录。

All you do is tap them and they fly.

你只需要轻敲它们， 它们就会飞起来。

You can first test --

你可以先测试一下——

I can actually hear that.

我确实能听到它们的嗡嗡声。

And you bring your phone, which has microphones --

然后你用手机上的麦克风——

it turns out the mics are so damn good already,

事实上，即使是普通的手机，

even on regular phones,

它的麦克风也已经很好了，

that you can pick up this near-field signature.

你可以收到这个近场的信号。

And since I'm out of time,

考虑到我的演讲时间快到了，

let me just play the recording that I made a day ago.

我就播放一段昨天录制的录音吧。

(Mosquitoes buzz)

(蚊子的嗡嗡声)

This is all the charming sound that you heard before

这就是你们之前听到的迷人的，

that you all love.

让人欲罢不能的声音。

One of the contexts of this

介绍一点背景知识，

is that being able to do this with a regular cell phone

我们可以用普通的手机来

allows us to map mosquito species.

帮助绘制蚊子种类的地图。

Using a flip phone,

我们也能用一个翻盖手机

we mapped one of the largest acoustic databases

来绘制世界上最大的 声学数据库之一，

with 25 to 20 species of mosquitoes that carry human pathogens.

这些声音来自于20-25种携带 人类病原体的蚊子。

And from this and machine learning,

利用这些数据，加上机器学习，

anybody who uploads this data,

任何人上传了声音数据，

we can identify and tell the probability

我们就能识别并大致判断

of what species of mosquitoes you're actually working with.

你所提供的蚊子种类。

We call this Abuzz, and if any of you want to sign up,

我们称这是嗡鸣(Abuzz)， 如果你们想要报名参与的话，

just go to the website.

只要去这个网站就可以了。

Let me close with something

现在让我用我心目中很重要，

that's very important and dear to my heart.

很珍爱的东西来结束这场演讲。

One of the challenges of today is we have terrible problems.

当今我们所面临的挑战之一， 就是我们遭遇着一些可怕的状况。

We have a billion people with absolutely no health care,

我们有10亿人完全没有医疗服务，

climate change, biodiversity loss,

气候变化，生物多样性丧失，

on and on and on.

还有很多很多的问题。

And we hope that science is going to provide the answer.

我们希望科学能够 为这些问题提供答案。

But before you leave this theatre today,

但是在你离开这个会场之前，

I want you to promise one thing.

我希望你们能答应我一件事。

We're going to make science accessible --

我们将合力使科学变得平易近人——

not just to the people who can afford it,

不仅仅是那些能够负担得起的人，

but a billion others who can't.

还有那十亿负担不起的人。

Let's make science and scientific literacy a human right.

让我们把科学和科学素养 作为人类的权利。

The moment that you pass the tingling feeling of making a discovery

当你将发现新事物带来的刺激感

to another child,

传递给另一个孩子时，

you're enabling them to be the next group of people

你可能会让他们成为下一代

who will actually solve these problems.

能够真正解决这些问题的人。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）