ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jessica Green - Engineer and biodiversity scientist
Jessica Green wants people to understand the important role microbes play in every facet of our lives: climate change, building ecosystems, human health, even roller derby -- using nontraditional tools like art, animation and film to help people visualize the invisible world.

Why you should listen

Jessica Green, a TED2010 Fellow and TED2011 Senior Fellow, is an engineer and ecologist who specializes in biodiversity theory and microbial systems. As a professor at both the University of Oregon and the Santa Fe Institute, she is the founding director of the innovative Biology and the Built Environment (BioBE) Center that bridges biology and architecture.

Green envisions a future with genomic-driven approaches to architectural design that promote sustainability, human health and well-being. She is spearheading efforts to model buildings as complex ecosystems that house trillions of diverse microorganisms interacting with each other, with humans, and with their environment. This framework uses next-generation sequencing technology to characterize the “built environment microbiome” and will offer site-specific design solutions to minimize the spread of infectious disease and maximize building energy efficiency.

More profile about the speaker
Jessica Green | Speaker | TED.com
TED2013

Jessica Green: We're covered in germs. Let's design for that.

Jessica Green: 设计周遭的细菌环境

Filmed:
1,040,941 views

我们的身体是微生物的家园和栖息地-某些对我们有益、某些对我们有害。当我们对这些邻居们了解更加深入之后,TED会员Jessica Green思索:我们是否能在建筑设计中创造出促进积极、有益的微生物生长的环境?
- Engineer and biodiversity scientist
Jessica Green wants people to understand the important role microbes play in every facet of our lives: climate change, building ecosystems, human health, even roller derby -- using nontraditional tools like art, animation and film to help people visualize the invisible world. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Everything is covered覆盖 in invisible无形 ecosystems生态系统
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一切事物均被肉眼不可见的生态系统覆盖
00:17
made制作 of tiny lifeforms生命形式: bacteria, viruses病毒 and fungi菌类.
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其组成为微小的
生命形式:细菌、病毒和霉菌
00:21
Our desks书桌, our computers电脑, our pencils铅笔, our buildings房屋
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我们的书桌、计算机、笔、建筑
00:25
all harbor港口 resident居民 microbial微生物 landscapes景观.
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全是微生物的栖息地
00:29
As we design设计 these things, we could be thinking思维
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当我们设计这些物品时,不妨思考一下
00:31
about designing设计 these invisible无形 worlds世界,
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关于这些隐形世界的设计
00:34
and also thinking思维 about how they interact相互作用
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同时思考它们如何与
00:36
with our personal个人 ecosystems生态系统.
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我们个人的生态系统互动
00:39
Our bodies身体 are home to trillions万亿 of microbes微生物,
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我们的身体是亿万个微生物的住所
00:43
and these creatures生物 define确定 who we are.
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这些生物定义了我们
00:45
The microbes微生物 in your gut肠道 can influence影响 your weight重量 and your moods情绪.
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肠道中的微生物可影响你的体重和心情
00:49
The microbes微生物 on your skin皮肤 can help boost促进 your immune免疫的 system系统.
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皮肤上的微生物有助于提升你的免疫系统
00:53
The microbes微生物 in your mouth can freshen梳洗 your breath呼吸,
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口中的微生物可使你口气清新
00:56
or not,
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或正好相反
00:57
and the key thing is that our personal个人 ecosystems生态系统
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最重要的是,我们个人的生态系统
01:00
interact相互作用 with ecosystems生态系统 on everything we touch触摸.
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与我们接触的一切生态系统间的交互作用
01:03
So, for example, when you touch触摸 a pencil铅笔,
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因此,例如,当你触摸一支笔时
01:05
microbial微生物 exchange交换 happens发生.
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即发生微生物交换
01:08
If we can design设计 the invisible无形 ecosystems生态系统 in our surroundings环境,
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如果我们能设计周遭的隐形生态系统
01:12
this opens打开 a path路径 to influencing影响
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将开启一条途径
01:15
our health健康 in unprecedented史无前例 ways方法.
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以前所未有的方式影响我们的健康
01:18
I get asked all of the time from people,
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经常有人问我
01:21
"Is it possible可能 to really design设计 microbial微生物 ecosystems生态系统?"
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“设计微生物生态系统是否确实可行?”
01:25
And I believe the answer回答 is yes.
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我认为答案是肯定的
01:28
I think we're doing it right now,
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我认为我们此刻正在进行这件事
01:29
but we're doing it unconsciously不知不觉.
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但处于不自觉状态
01:33
I'm going to share分享 data数据 with you
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我想与大家分享一些信息
01:35
from one aspect方面 of my research研究 focused重点 on architecture建筑
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来自我对建筑的研究之一
01:38
that demonstrates演示 how, through通过 both conscious意识
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显示我们如何藉由有意识
01:41
and unconscious无意识 design设计,
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及无意识的设计
01:44
we're impacting影响 these invisible无形 worlds世界.
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影响这些肉眼不可见的世界
01:47
This is the Lillis莱丽斯 Business商业 Complex复杂 at the University大学 of Oregon俄勒冈,
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这是奥勒冈大学Lillis商学综合大楼
01:51
and I worked工作 with a team球队 of architects建筑师 and biologists生物学家
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我与一个由
建筑师和生物学家组成的团队合作
01:53
to sample样品 over 300 rooms客房 in this building建造.
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在这栋建筑中的300多个房间取样
01:58
We wanted to get something like a fossil化石 record记录 of the building建造,
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我们希望得到
类似建筑物化石纪录的数据
02:02
and to do this, we sampled取样 dust灰尘.
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为了达成这个目标,我们搜集灰尘样本
02:05
From the dust灰尘, we pulled out bacterial细菌 cells细胞,
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我们从灰尘中分离出细菌细胞
02:09
broke打破 them open打开, and compared相比 their gene基因 sequences序列.
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将它们打破,比较其中的基因序列
02:12
This means手段 that people in my group
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这意味着我的团队成员
02:14
were doing a lot of vacuuming吸尘 during this project项目.
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在这个计划中进行了许多吸尘工作
02:17
This is a picture图片 of Tim蒂姆, who,
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照片中的人是Tim
02:20
right when I snapped抢购 this picture图片, reminded提醒 me,
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就在拍摄这张照片的当下,他提醒我-
02:22
he said, "Jessica杰西卡, the last lab实验室 group I worked工作 in
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他说,“Jessica,在上个研究团队中”
02:25
I was doing fieldwork实习 in the Costa哥斯达黎加 Rican波多黎各 rainforest雨林,
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“我的工作是
在哥斯达黎加雨林进行田野调查”
02:28
and things have changed dramatically显着 for me."
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“对我来说
目前的处境简直是天壤之别”
02:32
So I'm going to show显示 you now first what we found发现 in the offices办事处,
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因此我准备向大家展示
我们在办公室中的第一项发现
02:35
and we're going to look at the data数据 through通过 a visualization可视化 tool工具
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我们将藉由某种视觉工具浏览这些数据
02:38
that I've been working加工 on in partnership合伙 with Autodesk欧特克.
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这是我和Autodesk
(3D软件设计公司)长期合作的成果
02:42
The way that you look at this data数据 is,
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浏览数据的方法是
02:44
first, look around the outside of the circle.
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先观察圆圈外围
02:48
You'll你会 see broad广阔 bacterial细菌 groups,
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你将看见许多不同的菌落
02:51
and if you look at the shape形状 of this pink lobe,
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如果观察这个粉红叶片状图形
02:54
it tells告诉 you something about the relative相对的 abundance丰富 of each group.
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它将显示每种菌落的相对数量
02:57
So at 12 o'clock, you'll你会 see that offices办事处 have a lot of
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因此在12点钟方向
你看见办公室存在许多
02:59
alphaproteobacteriaα-变形菌, and at one o'clock
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甲型变形菌,在1点钟方向
03:02
you'll你会 see that bacilli杆菌 are relatively相对 rare罕见.
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你看见杆菌数量十分稀少
03:06
Let's take a look at what's going on in different不同 space空间 types类型 in this building建造.
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我们看看建筑中不同类型空间的情况
03:11
If you look inside the restrooms厕所,
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如果观察休息室
03:13
they all have really similar类似 ecosystems生态系统,
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它们的生态系统均十分相似
03:16
and if you were to look inside the classrooms教室,
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如果观察教室
03:18
those also have similar类似 ecosystems生态系统.
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它们亦拥有相似的生态系统
03:21
But if you look across横过 these space空间 types类型,
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但如果纵观这些空间类型
03:23
you can see that they're fundamentally从根本上 different不同
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可看出它们彼此间
03:26
from one another另一个.
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截然不同
03:28
I like to think of bathrooms浴室 like a tropical热带 rainforest雨林.
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我喜欢将浴室想成热带雨林
03:31
I told Tim蒂姆, "If you could just see the microbes微生物,
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我对Tim说,“如果你能看见微生物”
03:33
it's kind of like being存在 in Costa哥斯达黎加 Rica哥斯达黎加. Kind of."
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“感觉就像身处哥斯达黎加,多少吧”
03:37
And I also like to think of offices办事处 as being存在 a temperate适度的 grassland草原.
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我也喜欢将办公室想成温带草原
03:42
This perspective透视 is a really powerful强大 one for designers设计师,
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这个观点对设计师来说十分有用
03:46
because you can bring带来 on principles原则 of ecology生态,
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因为你可套用生态学原则
03:50
and a really important重要 principle原理 of ecology生态 is dispersal分散,
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生态学中一个十分重要的原则就是分布
03:52
the way organisms生物 move移动 around.
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即有机体的传播方式
03:55
We know that microbes微生物 are dispersed分散 around by people
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我们知道微生物藉由人类
03:59
and by air空气.
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和空气传播
04:00
So the very first thing we wanted to do in this building建造
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因此我们希望在这栋建筑中做的第一件事
04:03
was look at the air空气 system系统.
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就是观察空气系统
04:05
Mechanical机械 engineers工程师 design设计 air空气 handling处理 units单位
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机械工程师设计空调系统
04:08
to make sure that people are comfortable自在,
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确保人们感到舒适
04:11
that the air空气 flow and temperature温度 is just right.
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空气流通、气温恰到好处
04:13
They do this using运用 principles原则 of physics物理 and chemistry化学,
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他们利用物理和化学原理进行这项工作
04:17
but they could also be using运用 biology生物学.
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但也可利用生物学
04:21
If you look at the microbes微生物
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如果观察这栋建筑中
04:23
in one of the air空气 handling处理 units单位 in this building建造,
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某个空调系统里的微生物
04:26
you'll你会 see that they're all very similar类似 to one another另一个.
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将发现其中生态均十分相似
04:30
And if you compare比较 this to the microbes微生物
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如果将它与
04:34
in a different不同 air空气 handling处理 unit单元,
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不同空调系统中的微生物比较
04:36
you'll你会 see that they're fundamentally从根本上 different不同.
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将发现两者截然不同
04:39
The rooms客房 in this building建造 are like islands岛屿 in an archipelago群岛,
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这建筑中的房间就像孤立群岛中的岛屿
04:42
and what that means手段 is that mechanical机械 engineers工程师
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这意味着机械工程师
04:45
are like eco-engineers环保工程师, and they have the ability能力
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如同生态工程师,有能力
04:48
to structure结构体 biomes生物群落 in this building建造 the way that they want to.
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以他们想要的方式
建构这栋建筑中的生物群落
04:53
Another另一个 facet of how microbes微生物 get around is by people,
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另一个传播微生物的方式是藉由人类
04:57
and designers设计师 often经常 cluster rooms客房 together一起
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设计师通常将房间设计在一处
05:00
to facilitate促进 interactions互动 among其中 people,
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促进人们的交流
05:03
or the sharing分享 of ideas思路, like in labs实验室 and in offices办事处.
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或分享彼此的看法,就像实验室和办公室
05:06
Given特定 that microbes微生物 travel旅行 around with people,
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考虑微生物随着人们四处传播
05:09
you might威力 expect期望 to see rooms客房 that are close together一起
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你或许预期相距不远的房间
05:11
have really similar类似 biomes生物群落.
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存在十分相似的生物群落
05:14
And that is exactly究竟 what we found发现.
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这正是我们发现的结果
05:16
If you look at classrooms教室 right adjacent to one another另一个,
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如果观察彼此相邻的教室
05:19
they have very similar类似 ecosystems生态系统,
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它们拥有十分相似的生态系统
05:21
but if you go to an office办公室
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但如果观察
05:25
that is a farther更远 walking步行 distance距离 away,
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与其相距甚远的办公室
05:28
the ecosystem生态系统 is fundamentally从根本上 different不同.
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其中的生态系统则大不相同
05:30
And when I see the power功率 that dispersal分散 has
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当我发现促使
05:35
on these biogeographic生物地理 patterns模式,
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生物地理学分布的力量之后
05:37
it makes品牌 me think that it's possible可能
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意识到或许可藉此
05:40
to tackle滑车 really challenging具有挑战性的 problems问题,
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解决一些充满挑战的问题
05:44
like hospital-acquired医院获得 infections感染.
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例如医院内感染
05:46
I believe this has got to be, in part部分,
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我认为其中部分原因必定在于
05:49
a building建造 ecology生态 problem问题.
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建筑物的生态问题
05:52
All right, I'm going to tell you one more story故事 about this building建造.
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好,我将告诉大家
更多关于这栋建筑的故事
05:56
I am collaborating合作 with Charlie查理 Brown棕色.
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我与Charlie Brown合作
05:59
He's an architect建筑师,
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他是一名建筑师
06:01
and Charlie查理 is deeply concerned关心 about global全球 climate气候 change更改.
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Charlie十分关切全球气候变化
06:06
He's dedicated专用 his life to sustainable可持续发展 design设计.
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毕生致力于永续建筑设计
06:09
When he met会见 me and realized实现 that it was possible可能 for him
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当他遇上我之后,意识到自己有机会
06:12
to study研究 in a quantitative way
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以量化方式进行研究
06:15
how his design设计 choices选择 impacted影响
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了解他的设计选择如何影响
06:17
the ecology生态 and biology生物学 of this building建造,
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这栋建筑的生态和生物系统
06:20
he got really excited兴奋, because it added添加 a new dimension尺寸 to what he did.
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他十分兴奋,因为
这为他的工作增添一个新层面
06:25
He went from thinking思维 just about energy能源
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他从仅思考能源问题
06:26
to also starting开始 to think about human人的 health健康.
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转为同时将人类健康纳入考虑
06:30
He helped帮助 design设计 some of the air空气 handling处理 systems系统
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他协助设计了一些
06:34
in this building建造 and the way it was ventilated通风.
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这栋建筑的空调系统及通风方式
06:36
So what I'm first going to show显示 you is
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因此我首先要展示的是
06:39
air空气 that we sampled取样 outside of the building建造.
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我们从户外取样的空气
06:42
What you're looking at is a signature签名 of bacterial细菌 communities社区
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图中显示的是户外空气中的细菌群落
06:46
in the outdoor户外 air空气, and how they vary变化 over time.
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以及它们如何随时间改变
06:50
Next下一个 I'm going to show显示 you what happened发生
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接下来我将向大家展示
06:53
when we experimentally实验 manipulated操纵 classrooms教室.
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我们以教室进行实验的情形
06:57
We blocked受阻 them off at night
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我们于夜间将它关闭
06:59
so that they got no ventilation通风.
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因此教室无法通风
07:01
A lot of buildings房屋 are operated操作 this way,
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许多建筑采用这种方式
07:03
probably大概 where you work,
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或许你的工作地点正是如此
07:05
and companies公司 do this to save保存 money on their energy能源 bill法案.
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公司藉由这种方式节省电费
07:08
What we found发现 is that these rooms客房 remained保持 relatively相对 stagnant
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我们发现这些房间的空气几乎静止不动
07:12
until直到 Saturday星期六, when we opened打开 the vents通风口 up again.
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直到我们周六再次将它打开
07:15
When you walked into those rooms客房,
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当你走进那些房间时
07:16
they smelled really bad,
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气味十分难闻
07:18
and our data数据 suggests提示 that it had something to do with
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我们的数据显示
07:21
leaving离开 behind背后 the airborne空降 bacterial细菌 soup
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这和空气中残留的菌落有关
07:25
from people the day before.
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来自前一天于此活动的人们
07:27
Contrast对比 this to rooms客房
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相较于
07:29
that were designed设计 using运用 a sustainable可持续发展 passive被动 design设计 strategy战略
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采用被动式永续策略设计的房间
07:34
where air空气 came来了 in from the outside through通过 louvers百叶.
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户外空气可由百叶窗进入
07:37
In these rooms客房, the air空气 tracked追踪 the outdoor户外 air空气 relatively相对 well,
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这些房间的空气成分与户外空气极为相似
07:42
and when Charlie查理 saw this, he got really excited兴奋.
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目赌这个结果时,Charlie非常兴奋
07:44
He felt like he had made制作 a good choice选择
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他感到自己藉由设计
07:47
with the design设计 process处理
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做了一个好选择
07:48
because it was both energy能源 efficient高效
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因为这不仅符合能源效率需求
07:51
and it washed away the building's建筑的 resident居民 microbial微生物 landscape景观.
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也能带走残留在建筑中的微生物
07:56
The examples例子 that I just gave you are about architecture建筑,
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我刚刚展示的是关于建筑的例子
07:59
but they're relevant相应 to the design设计 of anything.
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但这和任何设计都息息相关
08:01
Imagine想像 designing设计 with the kinds of microbes微生物 that we want
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想象我们希望设计的微生物种类
08:06
in a plane平面
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在飞机上
08:07
or on a phone电话.
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或手机上
08:10
There's a new microbe微生物, I just discovered发现 it.
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我不久前发现一种新型微生物
08:12
It's called BLISBLIS, and it's been shown显示
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名为BLIS,研究证明
08:15
to both ward病房 off pathogens病原体
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它不但能抵御病原体
08:18
and give you good breath呼吸.
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也能使你口气清新
08:20
Wouldn't岂不 it be awesome真棒 if we all had BLISBLIS on our phones手机?
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如果我们手机上都有BLIS,不是很棒吗?
08:26
A conscious意识 approach途径 to design设计,
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根据意识进行的设计
08:28
I'm calling调用 it bioinformedbioinformed design设计,
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我称之为生物信息设计
(bioinformed design)
08:31
and I think it's possible可能.
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我认为这是可行的
08:32
Thank you.
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谢谢
08:34
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by illusion Hung
Reviewed by SHI CHEN

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jessica Green - Engineer and biodiversity scientist
Jessica Green wants people to understand the important role microbes play in every facet of our lives: climate change, building ecosystems, human health, even roller derby -- using nontraditional tools like art, animation and film to help people visualize the invisible world.

Why you should listen

Jessica Green, a TED2010 Fellow and TED2011 Senior Fellow, is an engineer and ecologist who specializes in biodiversity theory and microbial systems. As a professor at both the University of Oregon and the Santa Fe Institute, she is the founding director of the innovative Biology and the Built Environment (BioBE) Center that bridges biology and architecture.

Green envisions a future with genomic-driven approaches to architectural design that promote sustainability, human health and well-being. She is spearheading efforts to model buildings as complex ecosystems that house trillions of diverse microorganisms interacting with each other, with humans, and with their environment. This framework uses next-generation sequencing technology to characterize the “built environment microbiome” and will offer site-specific design solutions to minimize the spread of infectious disease and maximize building energy efficiency.

More profile about the speaker
Jessica Green | Speaker | TED.com