与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S04E10

Part 4 April 19, 2021, 2:55 p.m.

TNA即苏糖核酸
TNA or Threose Nucleic Acid.
苏阿糖是很让人兴奋的
Threose is very exciting,
因为化学成分上它比核糖简单
because it's, chemically, much simpler than ribose.
约翰认为TNA更像是
John thinks TNA is a likely candidate
构成原始生命的候选人
for being the first spark of life
因为它是个四碳糖
because it is made of four identical sugar molecules
很容易就可以形成
that come together in just one easy step.
当你用苏糖核酸
And when you make a genetic polymer
构建成遗传分子
out of threose nucleic acid,
它能与RNA的碱基良好匹配
it turns out that it base pairs very well with RNA,
所以TNA
so it has the ability
不仅比RNA有着更简单的化学结构
to not only be chemically simpler than RNA,
它还能够与RNA进行遗传信息交换
but it can also exchange genetic information with RNA.
约翰可能发现了DNA的祖先
John may have found an ancestor of DNA,
它是古老的生命蓝图
an ancient genetic blueprint that showed up
远早于我们现今的
long before the complex machinery
复杂细胞结构
that is in our cells today.
他还尚未证明TNA能够自我复♥制♥
He has not yet been able to show that TNA can copy itself,
但他认为TNA是迄今为止
but he believes it is the best candidate so far
复杂生命前体的最好候选人
to be the precursor to complex life.
所以生命是如此复杂
So, life in so complex
使得许多人认为肯定存在一个高层次力量
that many people feel that it must have had a higher power,
用神力创造了现有的生命
a God-like power that helped to create life as we know it.
但现实是，当你从比如化学的角度
But the reality is, when you take a look at it
来看生命的诞生
from the perspective of, say, chemistry,
这的确是一个问题
it's really a question of what molecules
都存在过哪些分子
might have been present
这些分子如何互相作用？
and how were these molecules able to react with one another?
科学家瞄准了一种分子
Scientists are zeroing in on a molecule
它可能是地球上第一种遗传物质
that may have been the first genetic material on earth.
这会是生命的起源吗？
Would this be the spark of life?
也许需要比化学更深刻的答案
Perhaps the answer is deeper than chemistry.
如果生命起源
What if the origin of life
需要追溯到一个简单的规律呢
can be traced back to one simple pattern,
一个统治
a pattern that governs
整个宇宙结构的规律？
the structure of the entire universe?
你看的每个地方
Imagine if everywhere you looked,
都能发现同样的规律
you saw the same pattern --
天空中，地面上
in the sky, on the ground,
你身体内
in your body.
你可能认为这是一个伟大工匠的杰作
You might wonder if it was a signature of a craftsman.
实际上，宇宙中处处存在着这样的规律
In fact, our universe really is filled with such a pattern.
这就意味着某个伟大的设计者创造了一切吗？
Does this mean it must be the work of a grand designer?
在阿德里安·贝让成为杜克大学的工程学教授前
Before Adrian Bejan became a Professor of engineering
他从事着完全不同的职业
at Duke university, he had a very different career.
阿德里安是罗马尼亚的明星篮球运动员
Adrian was a basketball star in Romania.
我是共♥产♥主义体制下的运动员
I was a player under the communist system.
但篮球运动不是共♥产♥主义
Basketball is not communism.
尽管在共♥产♥主义制度下，篮球运动也要正确的进行
Even under communism, basketball was played correctly.
在我篮球生涯中最重要的一课
The greatest single lesson from growing up in basketball
就是篮球像水一样沿着渠道运动
was the idea that the ball flows through channels.
这些渠道并不是严格规定的
The channels are not rigid.
它们在持续变化
They are constantly morphing.
就像运动员阿德里安把篮球
Just as Adrian the athlete saw basketball
看做是球场上的水流一样
as the flow of a ball across a court,
工程师阿德里安现在研究着这样的流动
Adrian the engineer now studies that flow.
他认为这会是
He thinks it may be the key
了解整个宇宙设计的关键
to understanding the design of the universe.
篮球是一个活动的流动系统
Basketball is a live flow system.
它会从球场上任意一点流向球篮
The ball flows from any point of the area to the basket.
进攻队员试图打开这些渠道
The players on offense are trying to open up the channels
来促使这种流动
to facilitate the flow.
而同时防守队员
The players on defense, at the same time,
试着关闭这些渠道
are closing down the channels.
结果是越好的运动员就越频繁的得到篮球
Over time, the better players get the ball more often,
使一些特定的渠道更宽阔繁忙
making certain channels bigger and busier
较不活跃的渠道保持其状态
while the less active channels stay smaller.
最终，就产生了规律
Eventually, a pattern emerges
形成了分枝树结构
that resembles the shape of a branching tree.
这种树形结构无处不在
This tree shape is everywhere.
它们数十亿次的反复出现
They occur in the billions and billions.
它们构成了自然界的一种现象
They constitute a phenomenon of all nature.
阿德里安看到了自然界中无处不在的规律
Adrian sees the same pattern everywhere in nature,
从一棵树，到闪电，及叶脉
from a tree to a lightning bolt to the veins of a leaf.
他试着找出这种结构出自哪里
He's trying to figure out where this pattern comes from.
他认为这与物质
He thinks it has to do
从一点流向另一点的方式有关
with the way things flow from one point to another.
什么以树形结构流动呢？
What flows through the tree?
水从地面“流”向干燥的风中
Water is flowing from the ground back into the dry wind.
其他以树形结构流动的是
The other thing that flows through the tree structure
机械力或机械应力
is the mechanical force or mechanical stresses.
风的力量通过树木
The force of the wind is transmitted to the ground
传向地面
through the tree.
阿德里安认为这种结构
Adrian believes this design
是普遍自然法则的一种表现
is an expression of a universal law of nature.
他称之为结构法则
He calls it the constructal law.
这表明通常情况下
It states, most generally,
任何大小有限行为有限的东西
that anything that is finite size and moves,
为了与时间协调同步，这也意味着生存
in order to persist in time, which means to live,
就必须进化出更加容易的
it must evolve such that it flows more and more easily
随时间发展的更宽广的“渠道”
for greater and greater access over time.
阿德里安看到了我们身体内部
Adrian sees evidence of the constructal law
存在的结构法则
inside of all of us.
氧气在肺中流动，血液在血管中流动
Oxygen flows through our lungs, blood flows through our veins,
电流沿神经元流动
electricity flows through our neurons,
全部以树形结构进行
all in the same tree-like design.
宇宙似乎就是这样创造出了复杂性
The universe seems to be hardwired to create complexity,
或者说宇宙是以这种方式被设计的
almost as though it was designed that way.
对于神创论的信仰者来说
To a believer in creationism,
树形结构似乎是创造者的标志
it would seem like the mark of a creator.
阿德里安并不这么认为
Adrian says no.
这种设计就像地心引力现象一样
The design is a phenomenon just like the gravitation fall.
我们并不知道这些性质为什么存在
We do not know why these things happen.
我们能做的就是总结这些现象
All we can do is to summarize these phenomena,
得出规律法则
and those are the laws.
阿德里安认为树形结构
Adrian thinks this tree-shaped pattern
自然而然的创造了更强、更具适应性的生物体
naturally creates stronger, fitter organisms
因为它帮助了“流动”
because it helps improve flow,
无论是水在树干中流动
whether it be water flowing through the trunk of a tree
还是篮球在球场上向篮筐流动
or the ball flowing through the court to the hoop.
篮球实际上是一种
Basketball is actually a metaphor
社会中个体运动的比喻
for the movement of the individual in society.
这就像是个人顺着“渠道”流动
It is the same kind of movement through channels
并努力保持“渠道”的打开
that the individual strives to open up
同样的，其他人会在不经意间
and, at the same, channels that others are,
关闭这些“渠道”
in fact, unwittingly, trying to close down.
也许宇宙的设计
Perhaps the design of the universe
像是一棵巨大的树
is like a giant tree --
不断的通过增加流动生长、进化
constantly growing and evolving through improved flow.
但在南非
But across the world in South Africa,
一位宇宙学家正在通过不同的角度
a cosmologist is looking at the design of the universe
观察宇宙
through a different lens.
他正在将自然法则倒置
He's turning the laws of nature upside down.
那些巨大而又复杂的东西是如何出现的呢？
How do large and complex things come to be?
他们是许多微小事物的集♥合♥
They're collections of many little things.
身体由细胞构成，细胞由原子构成
Bodies are made from cells, and cells are built from atoms.
但组成我身体的原子并不知道它们是我的一部分
But the atoms in my body don't know they're part of me.
那它们如何知道自己要干嘛呢？
How do they know what to do?
为什么我不会崩坏成数以万亿的碎片？
Why don't I just fall apart into a trillion tiny pieces?
它们是受到高层次力量的指引吗？
Are they being guided by a higher power?