与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S02E09

Part 5 April 19, 2021, 2:37 p.m.

Now, this animal,
因为大气层相对浑浊
because the atmosphere is relatively opaque,
就必须要能够以最小的付出来长途跋涉
has to be able to travel long distances at minimal cost
以找到它们的猎物
in order to find their prey.
它就有了长长的翅膀
It's got long wings.
它就有了相对较窄的翅膀因为更具有效率
It's got relatively narrow wings because they're more efficient.
它具有相对其身体较大的展翅面♥积♥
It has a big wing area relative to its body.
在地球上
On Earth,
信天翁利用一种叫做动态滑翔的技术
albatrosses use a technique called dynamic soaring
来旅行数千英里
to travel thousands of miles
而几乎不扇动翅膀
while barely flapping their wings.
在长途滑翔中
Gliding in long loops,
蝙蝠-天翁也会节省能量
the bat-atross would also conserve energy
依靠气流携带它前行
by letting air currents carry it along.
该动物实际上所走的距离要许多倍于
The animal actually covers many times the distance
它转圈时所覆盖的面♥积♥
in these loops that it's covering on the ground,
但这无关紧要
but it doesn't matter.
它并没有付出什么，那是免费的
It doesn't cost it anything. It's free.
其能量的供应来自环境
It's energy that's supplied by the environment,
并不是机体
not by the organism.
但现在在一个终日不见阳光的世界里
But how, in a world of permanent twilight,
这个猎手又是如何发现其猎物的呢？
does this hunter find its prey?
在暗无天日中
In the absence of light,
就得有一些其它办法来寻找猎物了
there's got to be some other way of locating prey.
一个办法就是竖起耳朵静听
One way is just to sit and listen
等待着你的猎物发出声音
and wait for your prey to make noise.
另一个办法就是你弄出声音
The other way is for you to make noise
听回音——就是我们所说的声纳
and listen for echoes -- what we call sonar.
就是你发出声波
So that you send a sound beam out
然后等待反射
and you wait for a reflection.
我可以有很多信息
I can get a lot of information
来自球回弹时的反应
from the response of the ball as it comes back.
所以我把球掷出与它回来之间的延迟
So, the delay between when I throw and when it returns
告诉我目标有多远
tells me how far away the object is.
如果它回来快于我将它扔出去
If it comes back faster than I threw it out,
那么目标正迎头而来
then the object is coming towards me.
如果它是往另一个方向去的
If it's going in the other direction,
那它回来就会慢些
it will come back slower.
如果你在寻找猎物这是个绝妙的主意
If you're looking for prey, this is a wonderful idea,
当然除非你的猎物也能够侦测声音
unless your prey, of course, can detect the sound.
蝙蝠-天翁将是一个有效的杀手
The bat-atross would be an effective killer,
所以它的猎物就需要培育有效的防御
so its prey would need to develop effective defenses.
威廉·贝恩斯想象出一种动物
William Bains imagines an animal
类似于一种硬壳海洋生物
similar to the hard-shelled marine life
它早在数亿年前
that evolved on Earth
就已经在地球上进化了
hundreds of millions of years ago.
鹦鹉螺对猎手来说是天然的猎物
The nautilus is natural prey for the hunters,
它们有三重防御机制
and they'll have three defense mechanisms.
首先当然了它们有壳
First is, of course, they have a shell.
其次是如果你用声纳来捕猎
The second is if you're being hunted by sonar,
那么你就要发展出很好的耳朵你才能听到声纳
then you develop very good ears so you can hear sonar.
一旦你听到声纳的回音你就会奔向它
When you hear the ping of a sonar, you run for it.
它具有一个射流推进系统
And it has a jet propulsion system
这样就能够在紧急情况下将自己往前射出去
that can squirt itself forward in emergencies.
这些家伙将能够
These guys will be able to
将自己射过大气层
jet themselves through the atmosphere
嗖的一下速度极快
in short bursts, moving very quickly.
所以到了紧要关头
So, at the last minute,
它们就喷射到一边逃脱虎口
they'll jet to one side and escape being eaten.
但是尽管有了这些防御
But even with these defenses,
蝙蝠-天翁仍将是可怕的对手
the bat-atross would be a fearsome opponent,
鹦鹉螺不会一直逃之夭夭的
and the nautilus won't always get away.
它命悬一线
It's life on the edge.
始终有顶级的猎食者
There always is a top predator.
它是最稀有的动物
It's the rarest animal,
但它并不是你想狭路相逢的家伙
but it's not the guy you want to meet in a dark alley.
冷酷的环境滋生冷酷的生命形式
Brutal conditions breed brutal life-forms.
在地球这里经过了数亿年
Here on Earth, over hundreds of millions of years,
数十亿钟生物为竞争求生
billions of different creatures competed for survival,
但最终突变让一种动物
but eventually, a special mutation enabled one animal
成为了星球上至高无上的猎食者
to become the planet's top predator.
那个突变就是人的大脑
That mutation was the human brain.
在太空中某处
Somewhere out in space,
外星演化也应该将人类打造成
alien evolution should have created beings
至少如我们这样聪慧
at least as smart as we are.
智能外星人究竟是何模样呢？
What do intelligent extraterrestrials look like?
此人认为他知道
This man thinks he knows,
答案可能对地球生命是个坏消息
and the answer could be bad news for life on Earth.
随着每一个新世界被我们发现
With each new world we discover,
我们都更进一步接近发现
we come one step closer to finding evidence
地球以外生命的证据
of life beyond Earth
甚至实现
and perhaps to fulfilling our dreams
我们与外星生命形式沟通之梦
of communicating with alien life-forms.
但一旦那天到来
But if that day ever comes,
我们最好防患于未然
we'd better brace ourselves for a shock,
因为许多科学家认为
because many scientists think
它们有可能根本就不像芸芸众生
they may not look like living beings at all.
过去50年里
For the past 50 years,
搜寻外星智能项目
the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, SETI,
试图捕捉到任何一丝
has attempted to capture any glimmer of communication
来自外星世界的信息
from alien worlds.
对于赛斯·肖斯坦克这位搜寻外星智能项目资深天文学家来说
For Seth Shostack, SETI's senior astronomer,
它就是搜寻我们遥远的宇宙图像
it's a search for our distant cosmic image,
搜寻具有与我们一样聪慧大脑的物种
for a species with a brain at least as smart as ours.
说到智能生命
When it comes to intelligent life,
我们还没有发现它
we haven't found it.
所以对此是说什么的都有
So, there are people on all sides of the issue.
但是有一件事可以说服你
But the one thing that can convince you --
我认为可以说服任何人——那就是即使你认为
I think can convince anybody -- is that even if you think
可以导致生命的过程
the processes that could lead to life,
导致智能生命的过程
lead to intelligent life,
是不会经常发生的
are not going to occur very often,
不会有许多机会使其发生在宇宙间
there's so many chances for it to happen in the cosmos,
如果我们是唯一具有智能生命的世界
it would be miraculous
那将是一个奇迹
if we were the only world with intelligent beings.
人类不是地球上最大
Humans aren't the largest
或最快
or the fastest
或最敏捷的动物
or the most agile animals on Earth,
但我们是最聪慧的
but we are the smartest.
我们的大脑置我们于顶部
Our brains have put us on top.
但是依然有很多改进的余地
There is, however, plenty of room for improvement.
有一个不可避免的趋势就是认为
There's an unavoidable tendency to think
我们好像就是万物之灵
that we're kind of the crown of creation.
正是这样
This is it.
你知道40亿年的进化
You know, 4 billion years of evolution
从生命之处到我们
from the beginnings of life to us.
你知道我觉得你要是去问恐龙
You know, I think if you asked the dinosaurs
同样的问题
the same question --
你是否认为你就是万物之灵呢？
"Do you think you're the crown of creation?"
我打赌它们会说没错
I bet they would have said "Yes,"
如果它们能够开口的话
if they could have talked.
正是这样这就是进化的终点
"This is it. This is the end of evolution."
啊它们大错特错了
Well, they were wrong.
我们认为我们是进化的终点
And it would be wrong for us to think
同样错了显而易见
we're the end of evolution, too, obviously.
那么进化下一步会将我们带往何处呢？
So, where will evolution take us next?
哪里有可能已经出现了外星文明了呢？
And where is it likely to have taken alien civilizations?
赛斯认为我们需要看一下电脑来寻求答案
Seth thinks we need to look at our computers for the answer.
从上世纪70年代起
Since the 1970s,
当时软盘是铁定的标准
when floppy disks were the gold standard,
这个速度在处理指令的电脑上