与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S03E03

Part 5 April 19, 2021, 2:44 p.m.

这种方法可以解释
There's a method to explain it.
进化论者认为，人类这样的复杂生物
Evolutionists believe that creatures as complex as humans
并不是奇迹般突然冒出来的
did not just miraculously pop into existence.
而是经过无数步骤，从更简单的机体
But rather, evolved through countless steps
进化得来
from ever-simpler organisms.
同理，李考虑我们难以置信的复杂宇宙
Likewise, Lee wondered whether our immensely complex universe
正是通过生物进化得到的一个宇宙版本
was also shaped by a cosmic version of biological evolution.
宇宙有没有历史
Could the Universe have a history?
有没有祖先？
Could it have ancestors?
它经过进化，从历史走来？
Has it evolved through its history?
定律是否经历过的随机变化
Could there have been random variation of laws,
然后选择了那些定律
and then selection of those laws,
那些具有最多结构
selecting those that introduced the most structure,
最复杂的定律
the most complexity.
我问自己这些问题
So I asked myself that as a question,
宇宙自然选择是一个答案
and cosmological natural selection is one answer to it.
也是迄今我知道的最好的答案
It's the best answer to it so far, I know.
但在认定李教授的
But in order for Lee's theory
宇宙自然选择理论站得住脚之前
of cosmological natural selection to work,
还得解决整个宇宙是如何
there has to be a mechanism by which an entire cosmos
复♥制♥并发生突变
can reproduce and undergo mutation,
并将DNA又亲代传递到子代
the way DNA does from parent to child.
即需要一种繁殖模型
So you need a mode of reproduction.
需要变异
You need variation.
需要一种东西
You need something that determines the properties
来决定由亲代到子代
to vary from instance to instance,
个体间不同的特征
from ancestor to child.
此外还需要选择
And then you need selection.
这些东西是宇宙中的什么？
So what could be those elements in cosmology?
这些问题的答案
The answer to all these questions,
李相信，隐藏在黑洞中心
Lee believes, lies in the hidden hearts of black holes,
在那里已知的物理定律失效
where the known laws of physics break down,
并由目前仍未完全了解的
and the as-yet-unknown laws
称为“量子引力”的定律接管
of a theory called quantum gravity take over.
当巨大的恒星爆♥炸♥时我们现有的理论预计
When a giant star explodes, our current theories predict
它的核心会坍缩到一个点
that its core should collapse down to a single point
并拥有无穷的密度
and become infinitely dense.
但是李对于量子引力开拓性地理解
But Lee's pioneering efforts to understand quantum gravity
认为并不这样
suggest it does not,
而是
and that instead,
此刻正是一个全新宇宙的诞生
this is the moment an entire new Universe is born.
形成黑洞的恒星坍缩
The star that formed a black hole is collapsing,
在即将拥有无限大密度之前
and just before it would become infinitely dense,
它反弹并再次开始膨胀
it bounces and begins expanding again.
此刻就可在黑洞视界之内
And you can evolve new regions of space-time
形成新的时空区域
still within the confines of the horizon of the black hole.
这一区域可以生长变大
But this region could grow and become large
正如我们宇宙在大爆♥炸♥之后那样
like our universe did after the Big Bang.
这些新宇宙时空的维度
The dimensions of space and time of these new universes
从黑洞内部与我们的宇宙分道扬镳
branch off from ours inside the black hole.
这一切发生时物理定律在这暴♥力♥一刻
The laws of physics change when that happens
发生改变
at this very violent event,
所以亲代和子代相似
so that the parent resembles the children,
子代之间彼此相似
and the children's children resemble them,
但存在小的改变
but there are small changes.
就像生物学那样
It works just like biology.
有了宇宙群体
You have a population of universes.
他们通过黑洞产生后代
They give rise to progeny through black holes,
如果说最成功的定律是什么
and if you ask what laws are most successful,
就是那些
those are the laws
能使宇宙产生最多的黑洞的定律
that lead to universes that have the most black holes.
一代代下去就得到了
So what you get, generation by generation,
选择趋势
is selection for the tendency
尽可能产生更多黑洞
to make as many black holes as possible.
我们的宇宙可能
Our Universe might exist
位于一个生生不息的宇宙家谱中
on an ever-growing cosmic tree of life.
这还不是李的
But this is not the most remarkable aspect
宇宙自然选择理论最卓越的方面
of Lee's theory of cosmological natural selection.
他探索了何种物理定律
As he explored which laws of physics
能让宇宙产生更多的后代
allow a baby universe to produce more offspring,
他发现了宇宙家谱
he discovered an uncanny connection
和我们的生物家谱之间神秘的关联
between the cosmic tree of life and our own biological one.
为了产生黑洞需要大质量的恒星
To make black holes, you need very massive stars.
至少要太阳质量的20倍
You need stars of 20 times the mass of the sun or more.
为此
And to make these,
需要冷却大量的云气和尘埃
you need big clouds of gas and dust that are cooled.
而冷却剂正是一氧化碳
So the coolant turns out to be carbon monoxide.
需要的碳和氧
And so you need carbon, and you need oxygen,
正是生命需求最大的两种原子
which are the two atoms that you need most plentifully for life.
事实上，拥有大量碳
And in fact, the universe has lots and lots of carbon
和大量氧的宇宙
and lots and lots of oxygen,
就解释了为什么宇宙对生命友好
so the explanation for why the universe is bio-friendly
生命友好恰恰是宇宙为了自我复♥制♥，为了多产
is a side effect of the universe being very fruitful
而出现的副产物
in terms of its own reproduction.
我觉得这非常可爱
And I find that very endearing.
如果李说的对
If Lee is correct,
我们认为恰当调谐的物理定律
the laws of physics we know have been fine-tuned
是宇宙为自我复♥制♥
in order to keep the cosmos fertile
而保持多产用的
for its own reproduction.
相同的定律恰好使宇宙成为
Those same laws also happen to make our universe
利于碳基生物繁衍生息的地方
a place where carbon-based life can flourish.
我们的宇宙可能只是
Our universe may be just one member
巨大宇宙家谱中的一员
of a giant family tree of cosmoses.
由于我们看不到宇宙外面
Since we can't see outside our universe,
这一想法可能还很难得到证实
this idea will likely remain hard to prove,
但还有一种方法
but there is one other way
可判断宇宙是否活着
we could determine whether the universe is alive.
我们可以寻找它的大脑
We could find its brain.
它用什么来思考？
What does it take to think?
我们的大脑中数十亿嘈杂的神经元组成网络
Inside my head is a network of several billion buzzing neurons.
电脑中
In a computer,
电子脉冲在迷宫般的微电路中疾驰
electrical pulses scurry across a maze of microscopic circuits.
现在科学家超越原子而构建电脑
Now some scientists are building computers out of atoms,
通过量子力学定律来驱动逻辑
deriving logic from the laws of quantum mechanics.
鉴于这些定律适用于整个宇宙
Since those laws apply to the entire universe,
宇宙缘何不能思考？
why couldn't the universe think?
在麻省理工学院赛斯·劳埃德
At M.I.T., Seth Lloyd welcomes us
欢迎我们走进量子计算这一奇异而美妙的世界
into the weird and wondrous world of quantum computing.
这台机器计算的方法
This is a machine that calculates in a way
将在未来取代我们现有的电脑
that will one day leave our current computers in the dust.
它基于一个想法
It is based on the idea
即原子和每个亚原子粒子可以思考
that atoms and every subatomic particle can think.
每个原子每个基本粒子
Every atom, every elementary particle
储存着数比特信息
stores bits of information.
例如这样的电子自旋为0
So electrons spinning like that is 0,
这种电子自旋为1
electrons spinning like that is 1.
当两个粒子碰撞
And every time two particles collide,
这些信息位翻转并被处理
those bits get flipped and processed.
量子计算机能力的关键
The key to a quantum computer's power
在于它可以同时思考不止一件事
is that it can think more than one thing at a time.
为了理解缘何如此
But to understand how that can be,
先要领会
we need to comprehend
量子力学这一奇怪的科学
the strange science of quantum mechanics.
关于量子力学，要记住的关键在于
The key thing to remember about quantum mechanics
量子力学太诡异了
is that quantum mechanics is weird.
这个科技术语
This is a technical term.
意思是违背直觉，潮到爆
It means funky, counterintuitive.
就像科学中的詹姆斯·布朗
It's like the James Brown of sciences.
你不知道接下来会发生什么
You don't know what's going on or what's gonna happen next.
至少一百年来
For the last 100 years,