我们上天寻找有智慧生命存在的迹象 We search the heavens for signs of intelligent life.
但找到之后要怎么做 But what would we do if we found it?
我们做好第一次接触的准备了吗 Are we ready for first contact?
我们真的聪明到 Would we be smart enough
能知道有没有人给我们传递信息了吗 to even know if someone was sending us a message?
我们侦测无线电信号的时间才刚过一个世纪 We've only been able to detect radio signals for a little over a century.
外星文明可能早在十亿年前 Extraterrestrial civilizations could have been bombarding
就不断地朝地球发送无线电信号 Earth with radio signals for millions and billions of years before then,
这里却无人察觉这件事 and nobody here would have had any inkling that it had ever happened.
如果我们对他们而言就像蚂蚁一般又该如何 And what if we seem just like ants to them.
大家都知道人类是怎么对待蚂蚁的 We all know how we treat ants.
如果外星生命比我们聪明 What if the extraterrestrials are smarter than we are,
拥有的技术和武器让我们束手无策该怎么办 have technology, weapons that render us helpless?
地球上各文明之间第一次接触的历史 The history of first contact among terrestrial civilizations,
东方 西方 北方和南方的人类 the humans of east and west,
都因发生种族大屠杀而受到创伤 north and south, has been scarred by genocide.
在全宇宙中 In all of the cosmos,
是否有结局圆满的第一次接触的故事？ is there such a thing as a first contact story with a happy ending?
我听过一个第一次接触的故事 I know of one first contact story,
但现在还无法知道故事结局会是如何 but it's too soon to know how it will turn out...
宇宙 未知世界 第1季 第7集
这个科学与建筑的世界奇观 This scientific and architectural wonder of the
位于中国南部 world is in Southern China,
这是地球上最大的射电望远镜 it's the largest radio telescope on Earth,
其实这是天底下最大的望远镜 in fact it's the largest telescope of any kind.
五百米口径球面射电望远镜 The Five-Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope,
或简称 FAST or FAST, as it's known.
这个碟形天线是一个巨大接收器 This dish is a giant listening device for detecting radio waves
可侦测到在宇宙间传播的无线电波 that propagate throughout the cosmos.
这架望远镜的任务是解开有关 The mission of this telescope is to solve unanswered questions
宇宙起源尚未解开的谜题 about the origin of the universe,
与其早期历史 and its early history.
它还会搜索脉冲星 It will also search for pulsars,
那些不断急速转动的中子星 those rapidly rotating neutron stars,
并探寻荡漾在时空结构中 and for telltale signs of gravitational waves,
有关引力波的蛛丝马迹 ripples in the fabric of space-time...
还会找找有无外星文明的迹象 And it will search for signs of alien civilizations.
特别是那些极度遥远的地方 Especially those very far away...
我要带你去一个地方 我们已开始在那窃听 I want to take you to a place where we've begun to
一个错综复杂的全球通讯网络 eavesdrop on an intricate global communications network.
我们直到最近才知道这个网络的存在 We didn't even know it existed until recently.
其复杂程度超过我们最离奇的想象力 Complex beyond our wildest imagining,
建造这个网络的群落 it was built by a community whose population
成员总数多到令人难以置信 is inconceivably vast.
我们的远祖 貌似鼩鼱的微小动物 Our distant ancestors, tiny shrew-like animals,
*鼩鼱(qú jīng): 已知最小的哺乳动物,像老鼠
是在跟这里差不多的地方进化出来的 came of age in places not too different from this one.
森林 Forests.
也许他们知道我们最近才发现的事 Maybe they knew what we've only recently discovered.
这个地方的秘密生活可是精彩万分 The secret life of this place is filled with drama,
充斥着对话 abuzz with conversation.
这些对话多半是以一种电化学语言进行的 Much of it is spoken in an electrochemical language,
规模过小 and it takes place on a scale too small,
进行的速度太慢 and in motion too slow,
以致于像我们这样的生物无法察觉 for creatures like us to even notice.
但我们脚底下曾发生一件更令人惊异的事 But there's something even more amazing that was going
历时最久 on right beneath our feet, for the longest time,
范围扩及全球 and on a global scale,
我们却丝毫未曾察觉其存在 and we had no inkling that it was there.
一个遍及全球的古老地下网络 An ancient, subterranean worldwide web,
一个广大的类神经网络将整座森林结合在一起 a vast neural network is what binds the forest together,
使之成为一个互通互动的动态有机体 making it an intercommunicating, and interacting dynamic organism.
这个有机体具有行动力 有能力影响地面上的事件 One with agency, and the power to influence events above ground.
这叫做菌丝体 It's called the mycelium.
这是一种隐秘的基质 It's a hidden matrix, the creation of an enduring
是真菌 植物 细菌和动物通过长期合作创造出来的 collaboration among fungi, plants, bacteria, and animals.
地球上90%的树木和植物 90% of all the trees and plants on Earth are involved
加入了由菌丝体建立起来的 in the mutually beneficial relationship made
互助关系 possible by the mycelium.
它们会交换养料 信息 They exchange nourishment, messages,
传达对彼此的同理心 这情形跨越了物种 and empathy with one another, across species,
甚至跨越了生物界 and even across the kingdoms of life.
蘑菇是菌丝体的生殖器官 Mushrooms are the reproductive organs,
是菌丝体的子实体 the fruiting bodies of the mycelium.
看到蘑菇在森林里茁壮生长 To see a mushroom growing wild in the forest is to know
便可知道你脚底下有那个大规模自然互联网络 that the great natural Internet is online beneath your feet.
有些蘑菇随着微风散播无数孢子 Some mushrooms spread trillions of spores on the breeze,
每个孢子都是携带生命讯息的伞兵 each spore a paratrooper carrying life's message.
这是蘑菇的性行为 This is mushroom sex.
过了一段时间 为了寻找水分 After a while, in their search for moisture,
菌丝体这个新长出的部分 this new segment of the mycelium will return down
将返回地底世界 并连接到更大的网络上 to the underworld, and link up to the greater network.
树木拥有秘密生活 我们长期被蒙在鼓里 The secret lives of trees have been long-hidden from us.
对树木来说 菌丝体是他们彼此的命脉 For them, the mycelium is their lifeline to one another.
菌丝体使森林成为一个群落 It makes the forest a community.
树木利用菌丝体养育彼此 They use it to parent,
培植彼此 to nurture each other
甚至借着菌丝体来中止处决 and even to devise a stay of execution,
暂缓斧头的杀伤力 a reprieve from the axe.
森林里一旦有树木被砍倒 When a tree is cut down in the forest,
其他树木会将根尖伸向遭砍伐的树 other trees reach out to the victim with their root tips,
然后通过菌丝体输送水分 糖分 and send lifesaving sustenance, water, sugar,
以及其他养分等救命的营养物 and other nutrients via the mycelium.
邻近树木持续输送的这种静脉点滴 This continuous IV drip from neighboring trees can
可以让这棵树桩存活几十年 甚至几百年 keep this stump alive for decades, and even centuries.
它们不仅会对同种树木这么做 And they don't only do it for their own kind.
也会如此对待其他种类的树木 They do it for the trees of other species.
为什么 Why?
是因为树木知道自己的生命 Is it because they know that their lives depend on
取决于整座森林健康与否 the health of the whole forest,
甚至也仰赖与己身大不相同的生物？ and even on beings very different from themselves?
有没有可能树木想得比我们更长远 Is it possible that the trees can think in longer terms than we do?
我们知道树木具备优异的养育能力 We know they have excellent parenting skills.
拿这棵冷杉来说 Take this fir tree.
这棵较年轻的树是这棵树的后代 This younger tree here is its offspring,
时时需要照料 and it requires constant attention.
按我们的标准 它称不上年轻 已有60岁 It's hardly young by our standards, 60 years old.
但是年轻树木不知道要是长得太快 But young trees don't know that if they grow up too quickly,
树干细胞里会有太多的空气 there will be too much air in the cells of their trunks.
日后 当暴风雨和掠食动物来袭 Later, when the stormy winds and predators come,
他们会很脆弱而容易受伤 they'll be weak and vulnerable.
如同其他生物界的幼体 Like the young of other kingdoms,
冷杉想尽快生长到有阳光的地方 the fir wants to grow into the light as soon as possible.
但是母冷杉用树枝为它遮蔽阳光 But the mother fir shades it with her branches so that
不让它尽情吸收阳光 it cannot binge on sunlight,
进而长得太快 这全是为了它好 and grow up too fast for its own good.
我去过多少座森林 却完全没察觉 How many forests have I been in without any awareness
在我周围发生的事？ of what was really happening all around me?
我们居然还想寻找外星智慧生命 Who are we to search for alien intelligence when we can't even recognize,
我们根本无法察觉或尊重周遭的意识 or respect, the consciousness all around us,
甚至连我们脚下的也一样 and even beneath our feet?
这棵高大枫树感觉到 This stately maple senses that the tiny caterpillar
有小毛虫在啃食它的树叶 is nipping at its leaf.
一道信号被传送到枫树的各处 A signal is sent through the tree,
就像信号通过我们的神经系统一样 just as it would go through our own nervous system.
只是速度慢得多 But not nearly so fast.
同样地 树木活在一个慢很多的时间标度里 Again, the trees live on a much slower time scale.
树木传递疼痛的速度 The speed of "ouch" for a tree is only an inch,
是 每 三 分 钟 一 英 寸 every three minutes.
所以至少要一小时后 树木才会作出反应 So, it will take at least an hour for the tree to react
产生化学物质来赶走这只害虫 by generating the chemical that will chase this pest away.
当掠食动物来袭时 When a predator strikes, the first thing a tree does
树木会先采集唾液样本 来替入侵者进行核酸测序 is to take a saliva sample in order to sequence the DNA of the invading species.
然后根据敌人的特有弱点 It then tailors its chemical response to the special
来特制化学反应 vulnerability of its enemy.
在某些情况下 树木会分泌恰恰合适的信息素 In certain cases, it releases the precise pheromone that
吸引敌人的敌人来帮树木战斗 will attract its enemy's enemy to do the tree's fighting for it.
我们可以说树木在 Is it fair to say that the trees have a deep knowledge
化学 昆虫学和其他地球科学方面的知识渊博吗? of chemistry, entomology, and other earth sciences?
树木的认知和我们的究竟有何差异？ How exactly is their knowing different from ours?
我们人类在做这些事时有哪里不同吗 Is it any different when we humans do these things?
在自然界中处处可发现这类 Throughout nature, we find these electrochemical
不同物种与生物界之间的 conversations between the life-forms of different
电化学对话 species and kingdoms.
但是 不同文明之间的对话呢 But what of a conversation between different worlds?
我们能给另一个世界的智慧文明分享什么呢 What might we share with the intelligent civilization of another world?
科学和数学 Science and mathematics.
科学家 数学家和工程师的 The symbolic languages of the scientist, mathematician,
符号语言 会避开那些 and the engineer avoid those things that are lost
从一种文化到另一种文化中会流失意义的东西 in translation from one culture to another.
符号语言 包括在编程中使用的语言 Symbolic languages, including those used in programming,
精确度高于文字 have a much higher degree of precision than words do.
比较不容易被误解 They are not as open to misinterpretation.
我只知道一种非人类的符号语言 I know of only one nonhuman symbolic language,
我们人类与使用那种语言的生物 and only one instance when we humans made contact with
仅有一次接触 the life-form that uses it.
这种生物的天文学和数学知识会令我们大多数人吃惊 Their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics would astonish most of us.
他们致力于以民主方式消弭彼此间的差异 Their commitment to resolving their differences democratically,
并尽可能通过辩论达成最广泛的共识 and reaching the broadest possible consensus through debate,
我知道的人类社会全都不及它们 is unparalleled by any human society that I know.
数千万年前 Tens of millions of years ago,
它们是食肉动物 they had been carnivores,
但放弃吃肉改成吃素 but they gave that up to become vegans.
这改变了他们的世界 It changed their world,
以致它们漫游到哪里 哪里便出现绝美景象 and resulted in surpassing beauty wherever they wandered.
他们是探险家 利用自己的符号语言 They are explorers who use their symbolic language
告诉彼此 在旅途中发现的事物 to tell each other about the things they have discovered on their travels.
这是它们的夜空 This is their night sky.
我要告诉你这种生物的故事 I want to tell you their story.
这里是泛大洋的海岸 This is the shore of the Panthalassic Ocean,
这片海在一个名为奥陶纪的时期 a sea that covered Earth's entire Northern Hemisphere
覆盖着地球整个北半球 in a period named the Ordovician.
我们将眼下这一刻 We've compressed all of the time from this very second,
至宇宙初始之间的时间 back to the beginning of the universe,
压缩成一个地球年 一个宇宙历 into a single calendar Earth year, a Cosmic Calendar.
每个月代表十亿多年 Every month represents a little more than a billion years.
每周代表将近3亿年 Every week, nearly 300 million years.
每天代表大约4000万年 Every day, about 40 million years.
大爆炸是新年元旦的最初时刻 The Big Bang is the first moment of New Year's Day.
我们身处的现在 Our present, right now, is at the stroke of midnight on
是除夕的午夜12点 New Year's Eve.
我站在宇宙历的12月20日上午 I'm standing on the morning of December 20th on the Cosmic Calendar,
地球史 上的4.8亿年前 480 million years ago in Earth's history.
生物是在这个时候开始变得多样化 This was the time when life began to diversify.
这现象被称为奥陶纪生物大辐射事件 It's remembered as the Great Ordovician Biodiversity Event.
发生时间在生物多样化的首次大跃进 It came 40 million years after life's first big leap
即寒武纪大爆发的4千万年后 into diversification known as the Cambrian explosion.
节肢动物于此时开始出现 This was the dawn of the arthropods,
这种无脊椎动物将骨骼披戴在外面 the invertebrates who wear their skeletons on the outside,
而非藏在身体里 instead of on the inside,
我们在数亿年后也会变成这样 as we would one day do hundreds of millions of years later.
奥陶纪的节肢动物首先发展出 The arthropods of the Ordovician pioneered the most
自生物开始进化以来最成功的体型呈现 successful body plan ever evolved by life.
即使到了今日 现存动物仍有超过80%是节肢动物 Even today, more than 80% of all living animals are arthropods.
但大概到了植物开始冒险离开水中时 But around the time the plants began to venture out
一种甲壳动物蹒跚上岸 of the waters, a crustacean staggered ashore,
在新的陆地世界定居下来 and made a home in the new world of the land.
昆虫是甲壳动物进化而来 Insects evolved from the crustaceans.
每次到海鲜餐厅用餐 A thought I do my best to hold at bay whenever I'm dining
我都尽量不去想这件事 in a seafood restaurant.
我们认为昆虫和植物 We think that the insects and the plants colonized
大约是在同一时间移居到陆地上 于4亿年前 the land at about the same time, 400 million years ago,
或者说是宇宙历的12月21日 or December 21 on the Cosmic Calendar.
在这个时候 巨大蘑菇高过全世界所有树木 This was a time when giant mushrooms towered over the world's trees,
当时树只有几英尺高 which were then no more than a few feet high.
如此巨大的蘑菇令人好奇 Mushrooms this gigantic make you wonder just how big
供养它们的地下网络到底有多大 the underground network that supported them must have been.
地球上的生物是在此时学会如何飞行 And this was the time on Earth when life learned how to fly.
昆虫可再独占地球9千万年 The insects would have it all to themselves for another 90 million years.
没有会飞的爬行动物 鸟类 蝙蝠来吞食它们 No flying reptiles, no birds, no bats to gobble them up,
只有其他的虫子 just other bugs.
动力飞行是昆虫的一次进化大跃进 Powered flight was a huge evolutionary leap for insects,
它们因而能散布到全球各地 allowing them to spread all over the planet.
昆虫令自命不凡的人类自惭形秽 The insects put human pretensions to shame.
它们存活在地球上的时间是我们的几百倍 Their tenure on Earth is hundreds of times greater than ours.
今日在我们眼中的昆虫 They look much the same to us today,
与在白垩纪末期恐龙眼中的昆虫并无不同 as they did to the dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous.
即使在那时 你也不会想招惹黄蜂 Even back then, you didn't want to mess with a wasp.
它们向来是贪婪的猎食者 They've always been voracious hunters.
是的 2.4亿年前地球上有巨大红杉林 Yes, there were giant redwoods on the Earth 240 million years ago.
那只黄蜂外出寻找食物给幼蜂吃 That wasp is out hunting for food for her young.
黄蜂继续随心所欲生活了1亿年 Wasps did their thing for another 100 million years.
之后发生了一件肉眼几乎看不到的事 And then, something happened on an almost microscopic scale
这将在一个全新的色彩光谱中描绘地球 that would paint the Earth in a whole new spectrum of colors.
那时候 没有动物伙伴这样的东西 Back then, there was no such thing as an animal partner to
帮助植物受精 aid the plants in their fertilization,
有效地将它们的种子运送到繁殖的 to efficiently transport their seed to the reproductive
远处植物的器官 换句话说 organs of distant plants, in other words,
为他们扮演丘比特 to play cupid for them.
在这里上演的戏剧不是 The drama unfolding here is not the struggle between
蜘蛛和黄蜂 the spider and the wasp,
是那些粘在黄蜂腿上的小颗粒 it's those tiny particles sticking to the wasp's legs.
没什么看头 只是几个颗粒 Nothing much to look at, just a few grains,
但是这种叫做花粉的神奇粉末 but this magic dust, called pollen,
具有改变世界的能力 contained the power to transform the world,
并能造就这颗行星上 and to make possible some of the most beautiful
有史以来最美丽的景象 sights ever seen on this planet.
即便到了今日 经过了1亿多年以后 Even today, more than 100 million years later,
也依旧如此 this is still true.
每一粒花粉皆经过进化的不同雕刻 Each grain of pollen sculpted differently by evolution,
每一粒都是一种全新求生策略 each a novel strategy for survival,
受过漫长时间的磨炼 sharpened by vast expanses of time.
花粉很坚强 Pollen is tough.
它必须如此 It has to be.
花粉坚固到可以用枪来发射 It's so well-built that you can fire it from a gun,
花粉出枪管时会是丝毫无损 其特性也完好无缺 and it will emerge unscathed with its identity fully intact.
黄蜂会哺育处于幼虫期 无能力自我照顾的幼蜂 The wasps had nurtured their young during their helpless,
将猎物带回来给它们吃 larval stage by bringing home game for them to feast on.
花粉富含蛋白质 The pollen was rich in protein,
当妈妈空手而归时 也能让幼虫饱餐一顿 a meal for the grubs when Mom came home without any kills.
经过数十亿年后 进化出一种新的生命形式 Over the eons, a new kind of life-form evolved,
这种生命形式不再带肉回家当晚餐 one that stopped bringing meat home for dinner.
这种新生物只带回花朵制造的神奇粉末 This new creature brought only the magic dust that the flowers made.
蜜蜂 Bees.
他们对死亡昆虫受损的部位不感兴趣 They had no appetite for the mangled parts of dead insects.
持续只吃花粉 这并非一时的流行 They went on the all-pollen diet, and it was no fad.
蜜蜂成为专心一致的授粉者 The bees became fully committed pollinators.
植物慷慨报答蜜蜂 The plants rewarded them handsomely by evolving
进化出始终诱人的雌性生殖器官 evermore alluring female sexual organs,
有着惊人的色彩和撩人的形态 in outrageous colors and seductive forms.
植物调制了可口的分泌物 香甜的花蜜 They concocted delicious secretions, sweet nectars,
使得蜜蜂不断回来采更多蜜 that would keep the bees coming back for more,
一次又一次 again and again.
花的时代来临了 The Age of the Flowers had begun.
蜜蜂是时间大师 Bees are masters of time,
走过了1亿年 traveling across 100 million years,
却丝毫不显疲态 and they are none the worse for wear.
这些生物比其他生物更加努力 These beings did more than anyone else to fill the
让生命的殿堂充满食物与美 Palace of Life with sustenance and beauty.
我们会在稍后的旅程中探索蜜蜂的珍贵与秘密 We will explore its treasures and mysteries later on our voyage.
几千年来 For thousands of years,
蜜蜂一直象征着无须用脑的工业 bees have been symbols of mindless industry.
我们总是认为它们很像生物机器人 We always think of them as being something like
注定要按部就班地生活 biological robots, doomed to live out their lives in lockstep,
被大自然指派给它们的枯燥任务束缚 shackled to the dreary roles assigned to them by nature.
这个故事是关于我们的第一次接触 This is our first contact story.
发生在奥地利乡下 一个叫布伦温克的地方 It happened in a place called Brunnwinkl in rural Austria,
在20世纪初 in the early 1900s.
卡尔·冯·弗里希从小时候开始 From the time Karl von Frisch was a child,
就渴望了解其他动物知道些什么 he longed to understand what the other animals knew,
动物是如何感知这个世界的 how they perceived the world.
他想知道小鱼是否能看到颜色 He wanted to know if tiny fish saw color,
或者拥有嗅觉 or had a sense of smell.
他发明了许多实验来探究动物的经验 He invented experiments to explore animal experience,
他会将实验过程拍摄下来 and he filmed them.
从20世纪初开始 Starting in the early 20th century,
他是第一个使用电影这个新媒介 he was the first to use the new medium of motion pictures
来创造科普娱乐和传达科学信息 to create popular science entertainment and communication.
人类注意到蜜蜂会跳古怪舞蹈 For thousands of years,
已经有数千年之久 humans have noted the eccentric dances of the bees.
但不会有人尊重蜜蜂 But no one had ever looked at them with the kind of respect
认为它们跳那种舞是有原因的 that assumed there was a reason to their dancing.
在卡尔·冯·弗里希之前 Before Karl von Frisch,
不会有人想知道蜜蜂为什么 no one ever thought to ask why they moved this way and
会从这里到那里 连续以8字形图形移动 that way in a succession of elaborate figure eights...
冯·弗里希研究了蜜蜂的每一个微小姿态 Von Frisch studied every tiny bee gesture,
进而迷上了一个他无法解释的谜题 and became fascinated by a mystery he couldn't explain.
他为实验蜂巢的蜜蜂 He would set out a dish of sugar water for a bee from
摆一碟糖水 his experimental hive.
蜜蜂在飞回蜂巢前会先去喝糖水 The bee would feast upon it before flying back home.
身上有记号的蜜蜂之后会再去喝 The marked bee would later return to dine on
美味的糖水 the delicious sugar water.
冯·弗里希注意到在短短几个小时后 Von Frisch noted that in just a few hours,
有一大群蜜蜂会和它一同去喝糖水 a multitude of other bees would join her there.
他们一定是同蜂巢的伙伴 They were always her fellow hive mates.
但真正令人惊讶的是 But here was the really amazing thing,
冯·弗里希知道其他蜜蜂 von Frisch knew that the other bees had not
没有跟着那只有记号的蜜蜂到摄食场所 followed the marked bee to the feeding place.
他怎么知道的？ How?
因为他一直都在严密注意蜂巢 Because he had the hive closely watched at all times.
他设想周全 不用蜂蜜而用糖水 He had been careful to use sugar water, and not honey,
所以蜜蜂的嗅觉无法引导它们找到奖品 so that the bees' sense of smell could not guide them to the reward.
他接着把糖水的盘子移到更远的地方 He continued to move the dish of sugar water farther away,
直到糖水离蜂巢有几公里远 until it was several kilometers from the hive.
但那个蜂巢的蜜蜂还是找得到糖水 Still, the hive mates would find their way to it.
这只带记号的蜜蜂是如何准确的标记糖水确切位置 So, how did the painted bee reveal the exact location
以致于同巢蜜蜂 of the sugar water with such precision that her hive mates
都能准确无误地找到糖水的呢 could unerringly find their way there?
蜜蜂的编舞中藏有秘密的信息 There was a secret message in her choreography.
在无数代的观察者眼中 What had seemed to countless generations of observers
一种愚笨动物毫无意义的间歇性动作 to be nothing more than the meaningless,
其实是复杂的信息 spasmodic motions of a dumb animal was actually a complex message,
一个通过数学 天文学 an equation informed by mathematics, astronomy,
以及对时间的认识来展示的方程式 and an acute knowledge of time,
蜜蜂组合了这一切来传达 all synthesized to convey the location of the riches
想和姐妹们分享的美味的位置 she hoped to share with her sisters.
跳舞的蜜蜂利用了我们的恒星 太阳的角度 The dancer used the angle of our star, the sun,
指出食物位置的大致方向 to indicate the general direction of the food's location.
冯·弗里希注意到 当蜜蜂直线向上舞动时 Von Frisch noted that when a bee danced straight upward,
意思是 飞向太阳 she meant, "fly toward the sun."
当她向下移动时 意思是 飞离太阳 And when she moved downward, she meant, "fly away from it."
她的左右扭动身体 是在传达食物在空间里的确切坐标 Her swivels left and right conveyed the food's exact coordinates in space,
有时食物位于几公里外 sometimes kilometers away.
蜜蜂跳舞的持续时间 短到不满一秒 The duration of her dance, down to a fraction of a second,
指示了同巢蜜蜂飞到那里需要多长时间 indicated the length of time it would take her fellow bees to get there.
它甚至将风速考虑在内 以更精细地校准它跳舞传递的信息 She even factored in wind speed to more finely calibrate the message she danced.
一年中的任何时刻都是如此 And this was true at any time of the year,
每一个蜂巢和每个大洲都是这样 and from hive to hive, from continent to continent.
蜜蜂懂得计算 Bees can do the math.
我为何会称这是第一次接触的故事？ Why do I call this a first contact story?
两个天差地别的物种 Two species as different as any you can imagine,
人类和蜜蜂 在进化这条道路上 humans and bees, evolved on evolutionary pathways that
在6亿年前分道扬镳 diverged 600 million years ago.
然而 这两个物种 据我们所知 And yet, these two species and as far as we know,
这颗星球上只有蜜蜂和我们 only they and we on this planet,
创造出用数学和科学 managed to create a symbolic language written
写出的符号语言 in mathematics and science.
我们和蜜蜂一起生活了几千年 We lived side-by-side with the bees for millennia,
却从未想过它们的沟通如此复杂 never dreaming of the complexity of their communications.
我们在冯·弗里希之后的数十年对蜜蜂社会的了解 What we've learned about bee society in the decades since
令人类的自大志向相形见绌 von Frisch puts some of our loftiest human aspirations to shame,
并彻底改变了我们对地球上智慧生命的看法 and changes forever our idea of intelligent life on Earth.
我们生活的这个时代 世界各地的民主制度 We live in a time when the world's democracies are
比以往更加摇摇欲坠 even more fragile than ever.
但地球上有些地方并非如此 But there are places on Earth where that's not true.
在那些地方 每个个体都有发言权 Where every individual has a voice.
腐败乃前所未闻的事 Where corruption is unknown.
群落只有通过商讨和辩论 Where the community acts only when it has arrived
达成共识后才会采取行动 at consensus through reason and debate.
这里就是那种地方的其中之一 This is one of those places.
相异于大众的认知 蜂巢并不是君主制 Contrary to popular belief, the hive is no monarchy.
蜂后不是控制其他蜜蜂的独裁统治者 The queen is no absolute ruler controlling the other bees.
蜂后几乎只负责生殖 The queen's role is almost entirely reproductive.
任何雌蜂 多数蜜蜂都是雌蜂 Any female bee, and that's what the vast majority of bees are,
皆可登上女王宝座 只要有适当食物和生长空间 can ascend to the throne given the right food and the space to grow.
当天气变暖 树木茂盛时 When the weather warms, and the trees bloom,
蜂后亲切地将王权传给新一代的女王 she graciously passes her scepter to a new generation of queens.
蜂巢每逢这种时候 That's the time in the life of a hive,
在春末或夏初时 in late spring or early summer,
蜂巢内会有一半的蜜蜂 大约一万只 when about half the hive's bees, around 10,000 of them,
变得焦躁不安 grow restless.
它们决定要在这个时候离开母巢 They decide it's time to leave the mother hive,
去建立一个新蜂巢 它们不知道要去哪里 to found a new colony, they know not where.
一旦离开 就无法回头 Once they depart, there's no turning back.
在没有退路的情况下离家更需要勇气 It takes courage to leave home with no way back,
得破釜沉舟 选择未知的未来 to risk everything, and choose the unknown.
它们那样推撞并没有恶意 That pushing and shoving is not meant to be hostile.
工蜂在帮蜂后进行 The workers are putting the queen on a rigorous
严格的锻炼计划 让她减重 exercise program so that she can lose weight,
回到可以飞行的体型 and get back into flying shape.
当一切准备就绪 When everything's ready,
它们就该展开漫长旅行的第一段旅程 it's time for the first leg of their odyssey.
该集体搬家了 It's time to swarm.
原本的蜂巢已有新蜂后即位 With a new queen now installed on her throne in the original hive,
前蜂后因而占据最重要的位置 the old Queen Mother has pride of place at the very
位在要去冒险的蜂群的正中央 center of the swarm of adventurers.
数百名最资深的侦察蜂 Hundreds of their most senior members, scouts,
被派去到方圆五公里之内进行侦察任务 are dispatched on missions of reconnaissance over a five kilometer radius.
侦察蜂侦察当地的树木 寻找最适合新家的地方 The scouts reconnoiter the local trees for the best possible new home.
他们非常挑剔 And they're extremely picky.
不是随便什么地方就行 Not just any place will do.
前门 树上的洞 The front door, a hollow in a tree,
都必须够高以防熊和其他掠食动物 must be too high for bears and other marauders to
能轻易将手伸进蜂巢盗走珍贵的蜂蜜 easily reach in and plunder their precious honey.
总面积大小关系重大 Total square footage is of critical concern.
蜜蜂不冬眠 Honeybees don't hibernate.
它们在漫长冬季里得为蜂巢供热 They'll have to heat the place for the long winter,
并确保能生产足够的食物 蜂蜜 and be sure to produce enough food, honey,
好让蜂群平安过冬 to see them through.
每只侦察蜂必须测量准确的尺寸 Each scout must measure the exact dimensions,
高度 宽度和深度 height, width, and depth.
蜂巢即便只是稍微过小或过大 If it's even slightly too small, or too large,
整个蜂群都会在明年春天之前灭绝 the entire swarm will be wiped out before the next spring.
当所有的侦察蜂回来后 When all the scouts return, the bees are ready to hold
蜂群就要举行年度大会 their annual convention.
每一只侦察蜂都会在蜂群中找位置站好 Each scout finds a place to stand on the swarm.
它在那里说明它找到的最佳地点 There, she presents her argument for the best site
为何适合作为新家 she has discovered.
这项寻房演讲 This house-hunting discourse is conducted in
是以蜜蜂的科学和数学语言进行 their scientific and mathematical language.
此时数百只侦察蜂利用8字形摇摆舞 Hundreds of scouts now use the waggle dance to advertise
说明找到的家 the home that they've found.
一开始 意见分歧很大 At first, opinions vary widely,
因为每个倡议者都会吸引到一些拥护者 as each advocate attracts her share of followers.
在我们人类的政治会议上 人们总喜欢撒谎 At our political conventions, people routinely lie.
激起我们的情绪 将人妖魔化 找背锅侠 They press our buttons, demonizing, scapegoating,
诉诸我们的恐惧 appealing to our fears.
但蜜蜂不能冒这个险 But the bees can't risk that.
我们和蜜蜂这两种生物 In both cases, ours and theirs,
是否拥有未来取决于能否看清现实 the future depends on seeing reality clearly.
但出于某种原因 But for some reason,
我们很容易被操纵和欺骗 we are easily manipulated and deceived.
蜜蜂不知为何知道它们必须坚守事实 The bees somehow know that they have to stick to the facts.
必须精准确实 They have to be accurate.
不能过分吹嘘 They can't oversell.
蜜蜂表现得好像明白了解事实最重要 They act as if they understand that it matters what's true.
大自然是不会被愚弄的 That nature won't be fooled.
找到最适合作为蜂群新家地点的侦察蜂 The scouts who have found the optimum sites for the
是最热情的8字形摇摆舞者 swarm's new home are the most passionate waggle dancers.
几十年的近距离科学观察结果 Close scientific observation over many decades affirms
证实了这个惊人的事实 this astonishing fact,
每只蜜蜂心中都有一个柏拉图式的理想家园 each bee has a platonic ideal of home in mind.
此外 蜂群的成员不会未加查验 Moreover, the members of the swarm don't take the
就相信最受欢迎的舞者的证词 testimony of the most popular dancers on faith.
有很多蜜蜂会亲自去看 Many of them go to see for themselves.
保持质疑是一种生存机制 Skepticism is a survival mechanism.
查证员会飞去那个地方 The fact-checkers fly off to the site to make
进行独立评估 an independent evaluation.
请想想 8字形摇摆舞传递的讯息 Just think for a minute how articulate the waggle
必须要有多明确 dance messaging has to be.
那可是一座森林里 It's the coordinates for one particular tree in
某一棵树的坐标 a whole forest of them.
侦察蜂每次都是直线飞到那里 The scouts make a beeline for it every time.
那个树洞如果和宣传的一样好 If the hollow turns out to be as good as advertised,
它们会回到蜂群 they will return to the swarm, where they,
也会在那里用舞蹈赞美那个地方 too, will dance its praises.
没有欺骗 暴力 或暗箱交易的手段 Without deceit, or violence, or back-hive deals,
侦察蜂最先达成共识 the scouts are the first to arrive at consensus.
但仍得说服其他的大多数伙伴 But the larger population remains to be persuaded.
一旦它们全支持某一支舞 Once they all align behind one dance,
一旦全体一致同意哪里最适合作为新家 once they've achieved unanimity on the best new place to call home,
便可展开大迁徙 the great migration can begin.
在第一批蜜蜂起飞后60秒内 Within 60 seconds of the first takeoff,
一万只蜜蜂就整队离开 飞往新家 10,000 bees depart in formation for their new home.
以太阳为指南针 With the sun as their compass,
在空中的蜂群听从蜂后领导 the airborne colony turns to its queen for leadership.
蜂群是一种心智 一种集体意识 The swarm is a kind of mind, a collective consciousness to
每只蜜蜂都对这个意识做出了贡献 which every individual bee makes a contribution.
完成迁徙后 就要打开行李 Now that the move is complete, it's time to unpack,
装饰哺育室 在储藏室里放置食物 decorate the nursery, stock the pantry,
把这个地方变成它们的家 直到天气变暖 and make the place their own, until the weather warms,
树木再次茂盛 and the trees bloom again.
数千万年来蜜蜂一直如此 And so it has been for tens of millions of years.
关于蜜蜂生活的这份详细知识 This intimate knowledge of the lives of the bees is the
是卡尔·冯·弗里希留给后人的遗产 legacy of Karl von Frisch, who was the first to decrypt
他率先解开蜜蜂的符号语言 用截然不同的心态 their symbolic language, to make contact with a completely
与蜜蜂接触 different kind of mind.
现在 我们在研究蜜蜂的脑 Today, we study bee brains.
我们在搭建一座跨越鸿沟的桥梁 We are building a bridge over the chasm that has separated
这个鸿沟分离两个物种长达5亿年 two species for half a billion years.
然而 经过了这么多年后 And yet, after all that time,
我们和蜜蜂这两个物种在某些地方仍有交集 there are places where our species and theirs converged,
农业 建筑 语言和政治 agriculture, architecture, language, and politics.
我们现在知道蜜蜂会睡觉 We now know that bees sleep,
一些科学家还怀疑它们会做梦 and some scientists suspect that they dream.
是什么让我们觉醒 What knocked us out of our trance,
我们才终于认清这世上 so that we could finally recognize another intelligence
一直存在着另一种智慧生物 that had always been there?
在冯·弗里希之前的几代人 A few generations before von Frisch,
有一个人比他人更努力开拓这条道路 one man did more than any other to open the way.
对我来说 他是近千年来最伟大的心灵导师 For me, he was the greatest spiritual teacher of the last thousand years.
他多年前在这里种的花依旧绽放 The flowers he planted here long ago still bloom.
他一手打造并开放心胸研究的蜂巢 The hive he founded, and studied with open eyes,
仍旧繁盛 continues to flourish.
是他发现了生命的宫殿如何 It was he who figured out how the Palace of Life could
从普通的单房结构演变成高耸入云的雄伟高塔 evolve from a modest one-room structure to an edifice of soaring towers,
从而能触及星星 reaching to the stars and it was he who
是他最先瞥见其他地球同胞的秘密生活 first glimpsed the secret lives of our fellow earthlings.
在某个地方 有个叫灭绝宫的建筑 Somewhere there is a place called the Halls of extinction,
那里是供奉生命之树所有断枝的圣坛 a shrine to all the broken branches on the tree of life.
但那棵树还活着 But that tree still lives,
自从它初次扎根后 已经见证了40亿个春天 it's seen 4 billion springtimes since it first took root.
它绽放出的花朵带有无法预料的可能性 Its flowers burst forth with unforeseeable possibilities.
一种微小的单细胞有机体进化成人类 A tiny, one-celled organism evolves into you
以及所有其他的地球生物 and everything else that is Earthlife.
无论如何 眼下是没有任何办法能预测 There's just no way of predicting, for now, anyway,
生命会进化成什么样子 where life can lead.
没有方法能预言 在历经漫长时间后 No way of foretelling the forms and capabilities that
简单生物会发展成何种形体与能力 can issue from simpler organisms over vast expanses of time.
生命本身可以被看作是一种化学的突创性质 Life itself can be seen as an emergent property of chemistry,
科学则是生命的突创性质 science as an emergent property of life,
一个用来让生命认识自身的方法 a way that life has found to begin to know itself.
40亿年 Four billion years.
这些是生命最早建造出的塔 These are the most ancient towers that life built.
没有人知道这座宫殿的存在 Nobody knew this palace existed.
它被隐藏在时间的迷雾中 被神话所笼罩 It was hidden by the mists of time, and enshrouded in myth.
但是有一个人敢拉开那块布帘 But one man dared to part that curtain.
他尽可能地研究多种生物 He studied as many kinds of life as he could.
他航行到地球另一端的群岛 He sailed to a group of islands on the far side of
寻找异国物种 the planet in search of exotic species.
他研究蜜蜂 花 雀 He studied the bees, the flowers, the finches,
软体动物和蚯蚓 长达30年 mollusks, and earthworms, for 30 years.
一种基本的模式浮现 这个模式将震撼世人 A radical pattern emerged, one that would shake the world.
至今也仍然如此 他揭穿了亚当和夏娃的故事 It still does, he debunked the story of Adam and Eve.
人类并不是生物之王 Humans are not the kings of life,
也并非被特别创造而后被赋予管理责任 created separately, and charged with its management but instead,
而是其尊贵古老家族傲慢自负的后裔 an upstart offspring of its stately, ancient family.
他等到能够百分百证明这项事实 He waited to tell the world what he had discovered until
才告诉世人他的发现 he could demonstrate its truth beyond a shadow of a doubt.
但后来他再次往前跃进一大步 But then he made another great leap,
查尔斯·达尔文也首先意识到 Charles Darwin was also one of the first to recognize that
如果所有的生命都有血缘关系 if all life is related,
这其中具有某种哲学内涵 there were certain philosophical implications.
我们被创造出来时若不是独立于其他动物 If we were not created separately from the other animals,
我们肯定与它们有着更多共同点吧？ must we not share more of who we are with them?
我们的感知 我们与其他生物的关系 Our awareness, our relationships with others,
甚至还有我们的感情？ even our feelings?
人类感知在宇宙中并非绝无仅有 Instead of a single island of human perception in the universe,
达尔文意识到我们周围存在着 Darwin realized that we are surrounded by other
其他物种的生存方式与意义 ways of being alive and conscious.
对达尔文来说 科学能使我们 For Darwin, science was a pathway to a deeper level
更有同理心和谦逊 of empathy and humility.
当他听说当地有一个农夫虐待他的羊时 When word reached him that a local farmer was mistreating his sheep,
达尔文放下研究去逮捕那个人 Darwin dropped his research to make an arrest of the man.
他揭露了野生动物被捕兽夹夹着 He exposed the horrendous suffering of wild animals
没被施用麻醉药接受外科手术实验 caught in the jaws of steel traps,
饱受痛苦的骇人惨状 and experimented on surgically without benefit of anesthesia.
他终其一生无法摆脱一只无助小狗的身影 Throughout his entire life, he was haunted by an image of
小狗舔舐着折磨它的人的手 the helpless dog who licked his tormentor's hand while
同时被一名科学家解剖 being dissected by a scientist.
达尔文的这份怜悯之心对人类也有体现 And this compassion extended even to our own species.
他看出与他同样生活在19世纪的人有多盲目 He recognized the blindness of his 19th century contemporaries.
在他的自传中 In his autobiography, he recounted the story of
他叙述了一名跳崖身亡的非洲女子的故事 an African woman who jumped off a cliff to her certain death,
因为她不愿当葡萄牙人的奴隶 rather than submit to being enslaved by the Portuguese.
达尔文评述 如果她是古典时代的妇女 Darwin observed that if she had been a Roman matron from classical antiquity,
世人就会对她另眼相看 she would be viewed very differently.
会用她的名字为自己的女儿命名 We would be naming our daughters after her.
是他最先开始对 It was he who began the scientific study of the hidden
隐藏在森林地下的世界进行科学研究 world beneath the forest floor.
达尔文崇拜自然 Darwin worshipped nature.
他的科学知识使他通达事理 令他更有同情心 His knowledge of science informed and drove his compassion to new heights.
请看 皱囊虫 Behold, Saccorhytus coronarius.
它活在5.5亿年前时 是肉眼看不到的 When it lived, 550 million years ago, it was microscopic.
但对现在的我们来说 它赫然变得很大 But for us now, it looms large because this creature is
因为这种生物是我们迄今发现的最早的共同祖先 the earliest common ancestor we've yet found,
是我们与地球上几乎所有动物之间的血缘连接 a physical connection we share with almost every animal on Earth.
我们若能将那个连接放在心上 If we could only take that connection to heart.
如果将来有一天 我们能结合所有生命知识 If some day, we could synthesize all our knowledge
然后运用其来打造一个经验拱门 of life, and use it to build an Arch of Experience,
让我们能借此来感受其他生命的感觉 a way for us to really feel what it's like to be the other.
如果我们能准确了解在安第斯山脉高处 What if we could truly know the joy of a giant condor
乘着热流前进的巨型秃鹫的喜悦 riding the thermals high in the Andes,
或者是座头鲸思念在太平洋另一端的爱人时低吟的痛苦 or the anguish of a humpback whale singing to its lover across the vast Pacific
或是我们最痛恨的敌人内心的恐惧 or the fear in the heart of our most hated enemy
那将如何改变这个世界？ how would that change this world?
它们全部和我们每个人 And all of them, and each of us,
都是用同一个的工具箱做成的 具有相同的遗传物质 made from the same toolbox, with the same genetic material,
只是进化历程不同 but on different evolutionary voyages.
宇宙中还会有其他可能的世界 Are there other possible worlds in the cosmos where
有生命路径在那里会合交错吗 life's pathways converge and intersect?
还记得我们上一季的老朋友 水熊虫吗 Remember our friends, the tardigrades,
它们能死而复生 在地球上没有其他生物能存活的 who can rise from the dead to thrive on Earth in those
如地狱般的地方生长繁盛 hellish places where no one else can live?
它们在五次大灭绝中幸存下来 They have survived all five mass extinctions,
甚至可以在太空真空环境中生存 不需要任何保护 and they can even live in the vacuum of space without protection.
这些生物小到肉眼看不见 These creatures, too small to see with the naked eye,
一直被科学家观察 have been observed by scientists,
科学家用扫描电子显微镜 using a scanning electron microscope,
看见这些生物在做一些我们认为只有人类才会做的事情 doing something that we like to think only humans do.
它们并非在执行为了生存而必须执行的 They're not performing any of the known biological functions
任何已知生命行为 that organisms need to survive.
它们是在轻轻地给予彼此 They're gently giving each other
愉悦 爱意 温柔感受 只是因为它们喜欢这样 pleasure, affection, tenderness for its own sake.
如果蜜蜂会做梦 水熊虫会相互依偎 If bees dream, and tardigrades snuggle,
宇宙中是不是也会有无数种方式让生命 are there countless roads in the universe that life can
去漫游和去爱？ take to wonder and to love?
如果我们能站在经验拱门之下 If we could stand beneath the Arch of Experience,
或者在内心中建造一座经验拱门 or build one inside ourselves,
我们或许能让第一次接触的故事有个好的结局 maybe we'd be able to give our first contact story a better outcome.
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