Saul Griffith: Hardware solutions to everyday problems

譯者: Yu-Ju Chen 審譯者: Wang-Ju Tsai

So anyway, who am I?

好，我是誰。

I usually say to people, when they say, "What do you do?"

當他們問我「你是做什麼的?」，我通常會這樣回應

I say, "I do hardware,"

我說:「我是做硬體的。」

because it sort of conveniently encompasses everything I do.

因為這樣很方便地涵括了我做的每一個東西。

And I recently said that to a venture capitalist casually at some

而且，我最近在一個矽谷會議上就是這樣隨意地跟一個風險資本家說的。

Valley event, to which he replied, "How quaint."

他則回答:「好奇怪。」

(Laughter)

笑聲

And I sort of really was dumbstruck.

我當時真的有些傻住了。

And I really should have said something smart.

我當時真該說點聰明的。

And now I've had a little bit of time to think about it,

現在我有一些時間去想想

I would have said, "Well, you know,

我應該這麼說:

if we look at the next 100 years

如果我們看未來的一百年，

and we've seen all these problems in the last few days,

而我們在過去那幾天看到了這些問題，

most of the big issues -- clean water, clean energy --

大部分這些重大議題，例如: 潔淨的飲水，潔淨的能源，

and they're interchangeable in some respects --

這兩者在某種程度上是可以相互替換的，

and cleaner, more functional materials --

且是更乾淨，更有功能的材料，

they all look to me to be hardware problems.

他們對我來說都是硬體的問題。

This doesn't mean we should ignore software,

這不代表我們應該忽視軟體，

or information, or computation."

或資訊或計算。

And that's in fact probably what I'm going to try and tell you about.

這事實上就是我接著要講的。

So, this talk is going to be about how do we make things

所以，這演講是關於我們如何做東西，

and what are the new ways that we're going to make things in the future.

以及我們將來有那些製造東西的新方法。

Now, TED sends you a lot of spam if you're a speaker

現在，如果你是演講者，TED會寄給你一堆郵件

about "do this, do that" and you fill out all these forms,

要你去做這個做那個，要你填一大堆表格

and you don't actually know how they're going to describe you,

而事實上你並不知道他們將如何描述你

and it flashed across my desk that they were going to introduce me as a futurist.

我剛剛才想到他們將把我描述成未來學家。

And I've always been nervous about the term "futurist,"

談到未來學家這個詞我總是感到緊張

because you seem doomed to failure because you can't really predict it.

由於未來是不可預測的，所以你似乎註定失敗。

And I was laughing about this with the very smart colleagues I have,

關於這個我和我聰明的同事們都一起笑了，

and said, "You know, well, if I have to talk about the future, what is it?"

接著說:「如果我必須談論未來，那未來是什麼?」

And George Homsey, a great guy, said, "Oh, the future is amazing.

我的同事George Homsey，一個很聰明的傢伙，他說:「未來很美好的

It is so much stranger than you think.

比你想像的還要更美好。

We're going to reprogram the bacteria in your gut,

我們將給在你腸子內的細菌重新排列

and we're going to make your poo smell like peppermint."

我們將讓你的大便聞起來像薄荷。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, you may think that's sort of really crazy,

你們可能覺得那真的非常瘋狂

but there are some pretty amazing things that are happening

但是有一些神奇的新發明

that make this possible.

使得那樣的事可能成真。

So, this isn't my work, but it's work of good friends of mine at MIT.

這不是我的作品，是我在MIT的好朋友的作品。

This is called the registry of standard biological parts.

這叫標準生物零件組。

This is headed by Drew Endy and Tom Knight

這是由Drew Endy和Tom Knight主導的，

and a few other very, very bright individuals.

還有一些其他非常非常優秀的人也參加。

Basically, what they're doing is looking at biology as a programmable system.

基本上，他們所做的是把生物學看做是一個可程式化的系統。

Literally, think of proteins as subroutines

把蛋白質想成是個副程式

that you can string together to execute a program.

你可以把一些副程式組合成一個可執行的程式。

Now, this is actually becoming such an interesting idea.

現在，這變成一個相當有趣的想法。

This is a state diagram. That's an extremely simple computer.

這是一個狀態圖。它是一部很簡單的電腦。

This one is a two-bit counter.

這是個雙位元的計算器。

So that's essentially the computational equivalent of two light switches.

或從計算的角度來說，相當是兩個燈的開關。

And this is being built by a group of students at Zurich

這是在一個生物設計競賽中

for a design competition in biology.

由一群瑞士的學生製成的。

And from the results of the same competition last year,

在去年相同比賽的結果中

a University of Texas team of students programmed bacteria

德州大學的學生給細菌寫入程式

so that they can detect light and switch on and off.

使得細菌可以感應燈光並且可以開燈和關燈。

So this is interesting in the sense that you can now

這在某程度上相當有趣

do "if-then-for" statements in materials, in structure.

將if then for的陳述句導入材料中、結構中

This is a pretty interesting trend,

將會是一個很有趣的趨勢。

because we used to live in a world where everyone's said glibly,

因為我們以前所生活的世界是一個模糊的世界，

"Form follows function," but I think I've sort of grown up in a world

先有功能後有形態，但我相信我成長在一個

-- you listened to Neil Gershenfeld yesterday;

像你昨天聽到Neil Gershenfeld描述的世界。

I was in a lab associated with his -- where it's really a world

我在一個和他有關的實驗室，在那裡

where information defines form and function.

是一個用資訊來定義形態和功能的世界。

I spent six years thinking about that,

我花了六年的時間來想

but to show you the power of art over science --

但要現在給你們看藝術的力量如何發揮在科學上。

this is actually one of the cartoons I write. These are called "HowToons."

這是我畫的一部漫畫。它們叫做"好圖"

I work with a fabulous illustrator called Nick Dragotta.

我和一個叫做Nick Dragotta的優秀漫畫家工作。

Took me six years at MIT,

我在MIT待了六年，

and about that many pages to describe what I was doing,

必須用很多篇幅來描述我那時做的事

and it took him one page. And so this is our muse Tucker.

但他只用一頁漫畫就夠了。Tucker是我們的靈感來源。

He's an interesting little kid -- and his sister, Celine --

他是一個很有趣的小孩，還有他姊姊Celine

and what he's doing here

他在這裡做的事，

is observing the self-assembly of his Cheerios in his cereal bowl.

是去觀察在他碗裡的燕麥圈自行組合的過程。

And in fact you can program the self-assembly of things,

事實上你可以透過寫程式來控制物品自行組合的過程

so he starts chocolate-dipping edges,

於是他從沾巧克力的燕麥圈開始做

changing the hydrophobicity and the hydrophylicity.

改變其耐水性及抗水性。

In theory, if you program those sufficiently,

理論上，只要你的程式夠完整

you should be able to do something pretty interesting

你可以做出很有趣的東西

and make a very complex structure.

還有很複雜的結構。

In this case, he's done self-replication of a complex 3D structure.

在這裡，他做出可自行複製複雜的三維結構。

And that's what I thought about for a long time,

我思考很久的正是這個，

because this is how we currently make things.

因為這是我們目前做東西的方法。

This is a silicon wafer, and essentially

這是一個矽晶片，而本質上，

that's just a whole bunch of layers of two-dimensional stuff, sort of layered up.

是數層二維的東西堆積起來。

The feature side is -- you know, people will say,

大部分的人認爲重要的特徵為

[unclear] down around about 65 nanometers now.

厚度是65奈米。

On the right, that's a radiolara.

右邊是一個放射蟲

That's a unicellular organism ubiquitous in the oceans.

它是一種在海洋中大量存在的單細胞生物。

And that has feature sizes down to about 20 nanometers,

而它的直徑為20奈米，

and it's a complex 3D structure.

是個複雜的三維結構。

We could do a lot more with computers and things generally

如果我們知道如何以這種方式製造

if we knew how to build things this way.

我們還可以用電腦製造很多其他的東西。

The secret to biology is, it builds computation

生物的奧秘在於，製造的時候有精細的計算。

into the way it makes things. So this little thing here, polymerase,

這邊這個小東西是聚合酶，

is essentially a supercomputer designed for replicating DNA.

本質上是一部專門複製DNA的超級電腦。

And the ribosome here is another little computer

而核醣體是另一部小型電腦

that helps in the translation of the proteins.

可幫助蛋白質的合成。

I thought about this

我常常在想

in the sense that it's great to build in biological materials,

在某方面來說用生物材料來建造是很棒的，

but can we do similar things?

但我們能夠做類似的事情嗎?

Can we get self-replicating-type behavior?

我們可以有自我複製的行為嗎?

Can we get complex 3D structure automatically assembling

我們可以有複雜三維結構的自我合成嗎?

in inorganic systems?

而且是在非生物的系統裡?

Because there are some advantages to inorganic systems,

因為在非生物系統裡有很好的優勢

like higher speed semiconductors, etc.

例如，更高速的半導體等等。

So, this is some of my work

所以這就是我的工作，

on how do you do an autonomously self-replicating system.

研究如何去建立一個可以自行複製的系統。

And this is sort of Babbage's revenge.

這有點像是巴貝奇最初設計的計算機

These are little mechanical computers.

這些是小型的機械電腦，

These are five-state state machines.

這是五狀態的狀態機，

So, that's about three light switches lined up.

有三個並排的電燈開關，

In a neutral state, they won't bind at all.

在中性狀態下，他們不會自然接合。

Now, if I make a string of these, a bit string,

但假如我做了一串這樣的東西，一個位元字串

they will be able to replicate.

他們就能自行複製。

So we start with white, blue, blue, white.

我們以白、藍、藍、白開始，

That encodes; that will now copy. From one comes two,

他們經過編碼，之後就可以自行複製。從一到二，

and then from two comes three.

再從二到三，

And so you've got this sort of replicating system.

所以就得到了這樣的複製系統。

It was work actually by Lionel Penrose,

這最初是由Lionel Penrose發現的，

father of Roger Penrose, the tiles guy.

也就是Roger Penrose的父親。

He did a lot of this work in the '60s,

他在六零年代做了很多這樣的東西，

and so a lot of this logic theory lay fallow

但他很多關於邏輯的理論並沒有被重視

as we went down the digital computer revolution, but it's now coming back.

現在因為有了數位計算機革命，這理論又有可能發光發熱。

So now I'm going to show you the hands-free, autonomous self-replication.

現在我要給大家看的是不經過人工干預且全自動的自行複製過程。

So we've tracked in the video the input string,

輸入的開始狀態是

which was green, green, yellow, yellow, green.

綠色，接著是綠、黃、黃、綠。

We set them off on this air hockey table.

我們把它放在桌上的冰球遊戲上。

You know, high science uses air hockey tables --

很多科學家都愛玩這遊戲。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

-- and if you watch this thing long enough you get dizzy,

如果你看太久你會感到頭昏，

but what you're actually seeing is copies of that original string

但你實際上看到的是原來字串的複製，

emerging from the parts bin that you have here.

這都是以零件集裏面出來的。

So we've got autonomous replication of bit strings.

到此，我們看到了位元字串的自行複製。

So, why would you want to replicate bit strings?

所以，為何你會想要複製位元字串?

Well, it turns out biology has this other very interesting meme,

因為生物有個模仿特性，

that you can take a linear string, which is a convenient thing to copy,

你拿一個很容易自行複製的線性字串，

and you can fold that into an arbitrarily complex 3D structure.

就可以將它折疊成複雜的三維結構。

So I was trying to, you know, take the engineer's version:

所以我想，用工程師的想法:

Can we build a mechanical system in inorganic materials

我們能夠用非生物的材料來建造一個機械系統

that will do the same thing?

而且能執行同樣的過程嗎?

So what I'm showing you here is that we can make a 2D shape --

我現在要給你們看的是我們能夠做一個二維形狀

the B -- assemble from a string of components

圖上的B--它是由一串的零件

that follow extremely simple rules.

依照極簡單的規則組合起來的。

And the whole point of going with the extremely simple rules here,

而我們之所以要用極簡單的規則

and the incredibly simple state machines in the previous design,

和前一代極簡單的狀態機，

was that you don't need digital logic to do computation.

是因為我們不需用數位邏輯來計算。

And that way you can scale things much smaller than microchips.

而借此我們可以建構規模比微型晶片更小的東西。

So you can literally use these as the tiny components in the assembly process.

所以你可以用這些微小零件來組合。

So, Neil Gershenfeld showed you this video on Wednesday, I believe,

Neil Gershenfeld 在星期三展示這影片給你們看過了，

but I'll show you again.

但我要讓你們再看一遍。

This is literally the colored sequence of those tiles.

這是有色的瓷磚的序列。

Each different color has a different magnetic polarity,

每一種不同的顏色有不同的磁極，

and the sequence is uniquely specifying the structure that is coming out.

這序列獨特地說明了接下來要出現的結構。

Now, hopefully, those of you who know anything about graph theory

假如你們懂一點圖形理論的話，

can look at that, and that will satisfy you

可以看看這裡，你會感到很舒服，

that that can also do arbitrary 3D structure,

因為它還能演化為任意的三維結構，

and in fact, you know, I can now take a dog, carve it up

事實上我可以拿一條狗來，切開來

and then reassemble it so it's a linear string

然後將它重組成一個線性的長串，

that will fold from a sequence. And now

然後它會從序列折疊。

I can actually define that three-dimensional object as a sequence of bits.

我還能將三維的物體定義成一串字元。

So, you know, it's a pretty interesting world

當你用不同的角度去看這世界，

when you start looking at the world a little bit differently.

這些事很會變得很有趣。

And the universe is now a compiler.

宇宙是一台編輯器。

And so I'm thinking about, you know, what are the programs

於是我在想，那些給實體宇宙執行的

for programming the physical universe?

程式是什麼?

And how do we think about materials and structure,

我們如何能將材料與結構的問題

sort of as an information and computation problem?

變成資訊和計算的問題?

Not just where you attach a micro-controller to the end point,

不只是把微小的控制器連接到終端，

but that the structure and the mechanisms are the logic, are the computers.

而是把結構和機制當成是運算的邏輯，是一部電腦。

Having totally absorbed this philosophy,

完全了解這哲學後，

I started looking at a lot of problems a little differently.

我開始以不同的角度去看待很多問題。

With the universe as a computer,

將宇宙視為一個電腦，

you can look at this droplet of water

你可以把一滴水

as having performed the computations.

看成為執行計算的結果。

You set a couple of boundary conditions, like gravity,

你設定一些臨界條件，像重力，

the surface tension, density, etc., and then you press "execute,"

表面張力，濃密度等而你按壓執行鍵，

and magically, the universe produces you a perfect ball lens.

很神奇地，宇宙就幫你製造一個完美的球鏡。

So, this actually applied to the problem

所以，這個可以應用到一些問題，

of -- so there's a half a billion to a billion people in the world

例如，在這世界有五到十億的人，

don't have access to cheap eyeglasses.

無法取得便宜的眼鏡。

So can you make a machine

你可以製造一個機器

that could make any prescription lens very quickly on site?

以極快的速度且在任何地點做出人們需要的鏡片嗎?

This is a machine where you literally define a boundary condition.

在這一台機器上你要去設定它的臨界條件，

If it's circular, you make a spherical lens.

如果它是圓的，你可以做成球形鏡片

If it's elliptical, you can make an astigmatic lens.

如果它是橢圓的，你可以做出一個散光鏡片。

You then put a membrane on that and you apply pressure --

之後把薄膜放在上面，你還可以施加壓力，

so that's part of the extra program.

這一部分就需要另外的程式。

And literally with only those two inputs --

事實上只要有兩個輸入：

so, the shape of your boundary condition and the pressure --

臨界條件的形狀和壓力，

you can define an infinite number of lenses

就可以定義出無限種可能的鏡片，

that cover the range of human refractive error,

可涵蓋人類全部的反射缺限，

from minus 12 to plus eight diopters, up to four diopters of cylinder.

從負十二和正八的屈光度，

And then literally, you now pour on a monomer.

而後將其澆灌到一個單體上。

You know, I'll do a Julia Childs here.

我現在來學Julia Childs (著名法國菜廚師)

This is three minutes of UV light.

這是三分鐘的紫外綫。

And you reverse the pressure on your membrane

再換薄膜的另一面受壓，

once you've cooked it. Pop it out.

加熱好了後，敲一敲，給他打出來。

I've seen this video, but I still don't know if it's going to end right.

我看過這段影片，但我不知道結果會不會成功

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So you reverse this. This is a very old movie,

你把它翻轉過來，這是一部老片了，

so with the new prototypes, actually both surfaces are flexible,

在新的設計裏，事實上兩面表面都是有彈性的，

but this will show you the point.

現在重點來了。

Now you've finished the lens, you literally pop it out.

這鏡片作好了，把它拿出來，

That's next year's Yves Klein, you know, eyeglasses shape.

這會是明年的Yves Klein，鏡片型的作品，

And you can see that that has a mild prescription of about minus two diopters.

你可以看到它有一個很小的負二屈光度。

And as I rotate it against this side shot, you'll see that that has cylinder,

當我以側面旋轉的時倏，你會看到有一個圓柱形

and that was programmed in --

這也是預先程式設計就有考慮到的，

literally into the physics of the system.

可以將系統的物理特性設計好。

So, this sort of thinking about structure as computation

這種將結構視為計算、

and structure as information leads to other things, like this.

還有將結構視為資訊的想法可帶出其他的東西，像這個。

This is something that my people at SQUID Labs

這是我在SQUID的朋友做的，

are working on at the moment, called "electronic rope."

叫電子繩。

So literally, you think about a rope. It has very complex structure in the weave.

談到繩子你會想到很複雜的纖維結構

And under no load, it's one structure.

當不受到外力的時候它是一種結構。

Under a different load, it's a different structure. And you can actually exploit that

在不同的外力下會有不同的結構。你可以利用這個特性，

by putting in a very small number of

加上一小量的

conducting fibers to actually make it a sensor.

導電纖維使它變成一個感應器。

So this is now a rope that knows the load on the rope

所以這是一個能感應外力的繩子

at any particular point in the rope.

在繩子的各個點上都能感應。

Just by thinking about the physics of the world,

想想這世界的物理特性，

materials as the computer,

把材料當成電腦，

you can start to do things like this.

你可以開始做類似這樣的東西。

I'm going to segue a little here.

現在我將轉換到這個圖。

I guess I'm just going to casually tell you the types of things

我將要概略地介紹幾種

that I think about with this.

我正在思考的這類東西。

One thing I'm really interested about this right now is, how,

我現在很感興趣的一點是

if you're really taking this view of the universe as a computer,

利用這種將宇宙視為電腦的觀點，

how do we make things in a very general sense,

我們如何製造一般的東西，

and how might we share the way we make things in a general sense

還有我們如何分享我們製造東西的方法和過程，

the same way you share open source hardware?

能否像分享開放性硬體一樣簡單?

And a lot of talks here have espoused the benefits

這裏很多的演講支持

of having lots of people look at problems,

讓很多人一起看問題、

share the information and work on those things together.

分享資訊和一同工作所帶來的好處。

So, a convenient thing about being a human is you move in linear time,

作為一個人我們都是在線性的時間裡移動的，

and unless Lisa Randall changes that,

除非Lisa Randall 能改變這個事實

we'll continue to move in linear time.

不然我們會一直以線性的時間移動。

So that means anything you do, or anything you make,

這意味著，做任何事、任何東西，

you produce a sequence of steps --

你都會產生一連串的步驟，

and I think Lego in the '70s nailed this,

Lego 在1970年代看到了這一點，

and they did it most elegantly.

並以最優雅的方式展現這一點。

But they can show you how to build things in sequence.

他們能展示如何以序列的方式製造東西。

So, I'm thinking about, how can we generalize

我想我們如何能概化

the way we make all sorts of things,

做所有東西的方式，

so you end up with this sort of guy, right?

你最後就會變成這樣的傢伙（Linux系統），是不是?

And I think this applies across a very broad -- sort of, a lot of concepts.

我想這個可以應用在很多概念。

You know, Cameron Sinclair yesterday said,

Cameron Sinclair 昨天說，

"How do I get everyone to collaborate on design

“我如何能讓每個人一起合作設計

globally to do housing for humanity?"

為全球的人們提供住宅?”

And if you've seen Amy Smith,

如果你看過Amy Smith的演講，

she talks about how you get students at MIT

她談到如何讓MIT的學生

to work with communities in Haiti.

去幫助海地居民重建社區。

And I think we have to sort of redefine and rethink

我想我們須重新定義和思考，

how we define structure and materials and assembly things,

我們如何定義結構和材料和組合東西，

so that we can really share the information

我們可以因此分享這些資訊

on how you do those things in a more profound way

如何以更深層的方式去做這些東西

and build on each other's source code for structure.

利用其他人的已有基礎來製造。

I don't know exactly how to do this yet,

該如何做，很多的細節我不是很清楚，

but, you know, it's something being actively thought about.

但現在很多人積極地在思考這件事。

So, you know, that leads to questions

所以這會帶來更多的問題，

like, is this a compiler? Is this a sub-routine?

像，這是編輯器還是副程式?

Interesting things like that.

等等這類有趣的事。

Maybe I'm getting a little too abstract, but you know,

也許我講得太抽象了，

this is the sort of -- returning to our comic characters --

但讓我們回到剛才那幅漫畫

this is sort of the universe, or a different universe view,

這樣一種不同的宇宙觀

that I think is going to be very prevalent in the future --

我想未來會相當盛行

from biotech to materials assembly. It was great to hear Bill Joy.

在生物科技或材料組合上。聽到Bill Joy的演講是很棒的。

They're starting to invest in materials science,

他們開始投資材料科學

but these are the new things in materials science.

但這些在材料科學中是新的。

How do we put real information and real structure into new ideas,

我們如何將真實資訊和結構變成新觀念

and see the world in a different way? And it's not going to be binary code

並以不同的角度看這世界?

that defines the computers of the universe --

那將不會是定義宇宙的電腦的二元程式碼

it's sort of an analog computer.

而是一種類比電腦。

But it's definitely an interesting new worldview.

這絕對是一種有趣的新世界觀。

I've gone too far. So that sounds like it's it.

我講得有些離題了。但聽起來就像是這樣。

I've probably got a couple of minutes of questions,

我還有幾分鐘可供提問，

or I can show -- I think they also said that I do extreme stuff

介紹我的時候，他們說我在做一些極端的東西

in the introduction, so I may have to explain that.

這一點我必須解釋一下。

So maybe I'll do that with this short video.

也許我該用這短片來解釋一下。

So this is actually a 3,000-square-foot kite,

這是一個三千平方英尺的風箏

which also happens to be a minimal energy surface.

也是一個可以吸取能量的最小表面。

So returning to the droplet, again,

還是回到剛才講的

thinking about the universe in a new way.

以新的方式來看宇宙。

This is a kite designed by a guy called Dave Kulp.

這是由Dave Kulp設計的風箏。

And why do you want a 3,000-square-foot kite?

為何你要一個這麼大的風箏?

So that's a kite the size of your house.

簡直跟你家的面積一樣大。

And so you want that to tow boats very fast.

只有這樣你才能很快地拉動一條船。

So I've been working on this a little, also,

我也在研究這個

with a couple of other guys.

跟一些朋友在做。

But, you know, this is another way to look at the --

這是另外一種

if you abstract again,

如果我用更抽象的語言來說的話

this is a structure that is defined by the physics of the universe.

這是一種用宇宙物理來定義的結構。

You could just hang it as a bed sheet,

你可以把它掛起來，像被單一樣

but again, the computation of all the physics

但經過這些物理特性的計算

gives you the aerodynamic shape.

你得到空氣動力的結構。

And so you can actually sort of almost double your boat speed

你幾乎可以加倍你船的速度

with systems like that. So that's sort of another interesting aspect of the future.

用像這樣的系統。這是未來一個很有趣的方向。

(Applause)

（掌聲）