ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Latif Nasser - Radio researcher
Latif Nasser is the director of research at Radiolab, where he has reported on such disparate topics as culture-bound illnesses, snowflake photography, sinking islands and 16th-century automata.

Why you should listen

The history of science is "brimming with tales stranger than fiction," says Latif Nasser, who wrote his PhD dissertation on the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic of 1962. A writer and researcher, Nasser is now the research director at Radiolab, a job that allows him to dive into archives, talk to interesting people and tell stories as a way to think about science and society.

More profile about the speaker
Latif Nasser | Speaker | TED.com
TED Talks Live

Latif Nasser: You have no idea where camels really come from

拉蒂夫·納賽爾: 你絕不知道駱駝是從哪來的

Filmed:
3,107,623 views

駱駝非常適合沙漠的氣候,很難想像牠們住在其他地方。但是如果我們大錯特錯呢?如果那些駝峰、腳掌和眼睛都是爲了不同的氣候、不同的時間而進化的呢?在這個演講中,加入廣播實驗室的拉蒂夫·納賽爾,他將為我們講述一個驚奇故事,關於一個微小奇怪的化石如何顛覆我們對駱駝以及世界的認知。
- Radio researcher
Latif Nasser is the director of research at Radiolab, where he has reported on such disparate topics as culture-bound illnesses, snowflake photography, sinking islands and 16th-century automata. Full bio

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

00:12
So, this is a story故事
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今天這個故事是關於
00:14
about how we know what we know.
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我們如何認知我們所知道的事物。
00:17
It's a story故事 about this woman女人,
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這個故事是關於這位女性:
00:20
Natalia納塔利婭 RybczynskiRybczynski.
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娜塔莉亞·瑞辛斯基。
00:22
She's a paleobiologist古生物學家,
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她是一位古生物學家。
00:24
which哪一個 means手段 she specializes專業
in digging挖掘 up really old dead stuff東東.
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也就是說她的專長
就是挖掘那些古老的死東西。
00:28
(Audio音頻) Natalia納塔利婭 RybczynskiRybczynski: Yeah,
I had someone有人 call me "Dr博士. Dead Things."
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(音頻)娜塔莉亞·瑞辛斯基:
是的,有些人就稱我為「死物博士」
00:32
Latif拉蒂夫 Nasser納賽爾: And I think
she's particularly尤其 interesting有趣
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拉蒂夫·納賽爾:
而且我覺得她特別有趣,
00:35
because of where she digs that stuff東東 up,
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因為她挖掘那些東西的地方
00:36
way above以上 the Arctic北極 Circle
in the remote遠程 Canadian加拿大 tundra苔原.
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都是在北極圈內,
偏遠的加拿大苔原地區。
00:41
Now, one summer夏季 day in 2006,
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2006 年夏季的一天,
00:44
she was at a dig site現場 called
the FylesFyles Leaf Bed,
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她在一個叫法爾斯葉床的
岩層挖掘現場,
00:48
which哪一個 is less than 10 degrees latitude緯度
away from the magnetic磁性 north pole.
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距離地磁北極僅僅不到 10 緯度。
00:52
(Audio音頻) NRNR: Really, it's not
going to sound聲音 very exciting扣人心弦,
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(音頻)娜:說真的,
這聽起來並沒那麼有趣。
00:55
because it was a day of walking步行
with your backpack背包 and your GPS全球定位系統
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因為一整天你都要
背著你的背包、GPS、
00:59
and notebook筆記本 and just picking選擇 up
anything that might威力 be a fossil化石.
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筆記本,一直長途跋涉,
去撿任何看起來可能是化石的東西。
01:03
LNLN: And at some point,
she noticed注意到 something.
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拉:就在某一刻,
她發現了一些東西。
01:06
(Audio音頻) NRNR: Rusty生疏, kind of rust-colored鐵鏽色,
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(音頻)娜:它近乎鐵鏽色,
01:08
about the size尺寸 of the palm棕櫚 of my hand.
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大概像我手掌一樣大小。
01:10
It was just lying說謊 on the surface表面.
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它就躺在地面上。
01:12
LNLN: And at first she thought
it was just a splinter碎片 of wood,
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拉:最初她以為這是
一小塊碎木頭而已。
01:16
because that's the sort分類 of thing
people had found發現
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因為之前人們每次在法爾斯葉床
01:18
at the FylesFyles Leaf Bed before --
prehistoric史前 plant parts部分.
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找到的都是這種東西
——史前植物的一部份。
01:22
But that night, back at camp ...
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但是那一夜,回到帳篷之後,
01:24
(Audio音頻) NRNR: ... I get out the hand lens鏡片,
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(音頻)娜:我拿出放大鏡,
01:26
I'm looking a little bit
more closely密切 and realizing實現
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我仔細地觀察,然後突然發現,
01:29
it doesn't quite相當 look
like this has tree rings戒指.
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它看起來好像沒有年輪啊。
01:31
Maybe it's a preservation保存 thing,
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這可能是由於保存的問題,
01:33
but it looks容貌 really like ...
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但是它看起來真的像是...
01:35
bone.
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骨頭。
01:36
LNLN: Huh. So over the next下一個 four years年份,
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拉:所以在接下來的四年裡,
01:39
she went to that spot over and over,
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她一次一次地回到那裡,
01:42
and eventually終於 collected 30 fragments片段
of that exact精確 same相同 bone,
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最終收集到了 30 塊碎片,
都來自同一塊骨頭。
01:48
most of them really tiny.
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大多數都很小,
01:50
(Audio音頻) NRNR: It's not a whole整個 lot.
It fits適合 in a small Ziploc保鮮袋 bag.
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(音頻)娜:其實不算很多,
一個小密封袋就能裝得下。
01:54
LNLN: And she tried試著 to piece them
together一起 like a jigsaw拼圖 puzzle難題.
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拉:然後她嘗試像拼拼圖一樣,
把碎片都拼在一起。
01:58
But it was challenging具有挑戰性的.
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這非常具有挑戰性。
02:00
(Audio音頻) NRNR: It's broken破碎 up
into so many許多 little tiny pieces,
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(音頻)娜:它碎成太多片了,
02:03
I'm trying to use sand and putty油灰,
and it's not looking good.
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我們試圖用沙土和塑鋼土來復原,
但是效果並不是很好。
02:07
So finally最後, we used a 3D surface表面 scanner掃描器.
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所以最後,我們用了一個
3D 表面掃描儀。
02:12
LNLN: Ooh!
NRNR: Yeah, right?
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拉:噢!
娜:沒錯!很棒吧?
02:14
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
02:15
LNLN: It turns out it was way easier更輕鬆
to do it virtually實質上.
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拉:事實證明
用虛擬的方式更簡單啊。
02:18
(Audio音頻) NRNR: It's kind of magical神奇
when it all fits適合 together一起.
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(音頻)娜:當它們全部拼在
一起的時候,感覺就像魔法一樣!
02:21
LNLN: How certain某些 were you
that you had it right,
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拉:你怎麼確定你拼得是對的?
02:23
that you had put it together一起
in the right way?
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怎麼確定是用正確的方式
把它們拼起來的?
02:25
Was there a potential潛在 that you'd
put it together一起 a different不同 way
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會不會有可能
當你換一種方式拼的時候,
02:28
and have, like, a parakeet多嘴的人 or something?
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然後得到一個,嗯,像是長尾鸚鵡
或什麽其他的東西?
02:30
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
02:32
(Audio音頻) NRNR: (Laughs) Um, no.
No, we got this.
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(音頻)娜:(大笑)
呃不會,我們肯定是拼對了。
02:36
LNLN: What she had, she discovered發現,
was a tibia脛骨, a leg bone,
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拉:她發現她拼出來的,
是一根脛骨,也就是一根腿骨。
02:40
and specifically特別, one that belonged屬於
to a cloven-hoofed偶蹄 mammal哺乳動物,
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更具體一點說,這是一根
偶蹄類哺乳動物的脛骨。
02:44
so something like a cow or a sheep.
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像是牛、羊之類的動物。
02:47
But it couldn't不能 have been either of those.
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但是它不可能是牛或羊的。
02:49
It was just too big.
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它實在是太大了。
02:51
(Audio音頻) NRNR: The size尺寸 of this thing,
it was huge巨大. It's a really big animal動物.
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(音頻)娜:這個東西的尺寸
確實很大,這是個大型動物。
02:55
LNLN: So what animal動物 could it be?
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拉:所以這可能是什麽動物呢?
02:59
Having hit擊中 a wall, she showed顯示
one of the fragments片段
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她遇到了瓶頸。
她把其中一小片碎片
03:01
to some colleagues同事 of hers她的 in Colorado科羅拉多州,
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拿給了科羅拉多州的一些同事看,
03:04
and they had an idea理念.
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他們產生了一個想法。
03:06
(Audio音頻) NRNR: We took a saw,
and we nicked缺口 just the edge邊緣 of it,
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(音頻)娜:我們用一把小鋸子,
在碎片邊緣切了個小切口,
03:11
and there was this really interesting有趣
smell that comes from it.
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它產生了一種引起我們興趣的氣味。
03:18
LNLN: It smelled kind of like singed燒毛 flesh.
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拉:它聞起來像是燒焦了的肉。
03:21
It was a smell that Natalia納塔利婭 recognized認可
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娜塔莉亞分辨出了這種氣味。
03:23
from cutting切割 up skulls頭骨
in her gross anatomy解剖學 lab實驗室:
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她在噁心的大體解剖實驗室
切割骨頭的時候聞到過:
03:27
collagen膠原.
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膠原蛋白。
03:29
Collagen膠原 is what gives
structure結構體 to our bones骨頭.
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膠原蛋白是構成我們
骨頭結構的物質。
03:31
And usually平時, after so many許多 years年份,
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通常,在很多年後,
03:33
it breaks休息 down.
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它會自然分解。
03:35
But in this case案件, the Arctic北極 had acted行動
like a natural自然 freezer冰箱 and preserved罐頭 it.
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但是這一次,北極圈就像是一個
天然的冷凍箱將它保存了下來。
03:40
Then a year or two later後來,
Natalia納塔利婭 was at a conference會議 in Bristol布里斯托爾,
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一兩年後,娜塔莉亞
去布里斯托參加一個研討會,
03:43
and she saw that a colleague同事
of hers她的 named命名 Mike麥克風 Buckley巴克利
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她遇到一個同行,叫麥克·巴克利。
03:47
was demoingdemoing this new process處理
that he called "collagen膠原 fingerprinting指紋."
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他正在演示一種新技術,
他稱之為「膠原蛋白指紋技術」。
03:53
It turns out that different不同 species種類
have slightly different不同 structures結構
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事實上,不同物種的膠原蛋白
03:56
of collagen膠原,
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在結構上是有著微小差異的。
03:58
so if you get a collagen膠原 profile輪廓
of an unknown未知 bone,
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所以如果你有一塊未知骨頭的
膠原蛋白分析圖,
04:00
you can compare比較 it
to those of known已知 species種類,
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你可以將它與已知物種的
膠原蛋白進行比對。
04:03
and, who knows知道, maybe you get a match比賽.
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也許,誰知道呢,
有可能就配對成功了。
04:06
So she shipped him one of the fragments片段,
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然後她就給麥克寄了一塊碎片,
04:09
FedEx聯邦快遞.
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用聯邦快遞。
04:11
(Audio音頻) NRNR: Yeah, you want to track跟踪 it.
It's kind of important重要.
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(音頻)娜:對啊,你想追蹤貨件
到了哪啊,這很重要的。
04:15
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
04:16
LNLN: And he processed處理 it,
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拉:然後他處理了樣本,
04:17
and compared相比 it to 37 known已知
and modern-day現代 mammal哺乳動物 species種類.
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將它與 37 種已知現代哺乳動物
物種進行比對,
04:22
And he found發現 a match比賽.
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然後他配對成功了。
04:24
It turns out that
the 3.5 million-year-old億歲 bone
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實驗顯示,
娜塔莉亞在北極圈裡
04:29
that Natalia納塔利婭 had dug
out of the High Arctic北極
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發現的這塊 350 萬歲的骨頭
04:33
belonged屬於 to ...
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屬於...
04:36
a camel駱駝.
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一匹駱駝。
04:37
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
04:39
(Audio音頻) NRNR: And I'm thinking思維, what?
That's amazing驚人 -- if it's true真正.
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(音頻)娜:我想,什麽?
如果這是真的,那就太神奇了!
04:43
LNLN: So they tested測試
a bunch of the fragments片段,
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拉:所以她們測試了一大堆碎片,
04:45
and they got the same相同 result結果 for each one.
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每一塊都得到了相同的結果。
04:48
However然而, based基於 on the size尺寸
of the bone that they found發現,
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然而,根據她們發現的
那塊骨頭的尺寸,
04:53
it meant意味著 that this camel駱駝 was 30 percent百分
larger than modern-day現代 camels駱駝.
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這個駱駝比現代駱駝大概大 30%。
05:00
So this camel駱駝 would have been
about nine feet tall,
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所以這個駱駝大概有 9 英尺高,
05:03
weighed稱重 around a ton.
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大概 1 噸重。
05:04
(Audience聽眾 reacts發生反應)
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(觀眾驚呼)
05:05
Yeah.
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是的。
05:06
Natalia納塔利婭 had found發現 a Giant巨人 Arctic北極 camel駱駝.
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娜塔莉亞發現了一種巨型北極駱駝。
05:10
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:14
Now, when you hear the word "camel駱駝,"
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現在,當你聽到
「駱駝」一詞的時候,
05:16
what may可能 come to mind心神 is one of these,
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腦海裡出現的可能是這種:
05:21
the Bactrian雙峰駝 camel駱駝
of East and Central中央 Asia亞洲.
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東亞或者中亞地區的雙峰駱駝,
05:24
But chances機會 are the postcard明信片 image圖片
you have in your brain
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但很有可能你腦海裡出現的圖片
05:28
is one of these, the dromedary單峰駝,
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其實是這種,單峰駱駝。
05:31
quintessential典型 desert沙漠 creature生物 --
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典型的沙漠動物——
05:34
hangs掛起 out in sandy, hot places地方
like the Middle中間 East and the Sahara撒哈拉,
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常常出現在炎熱的沙漠地帶,
像是中東或者撒哈拉地區,
05:38
has a big old hump駝峰 on its back
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背上有一個巨大的駝峰。
05:40
for storing存儲 water
for those long desert沙漠 treks跋涉,
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用來為沙漠中的長途跋涉儲存水分;
05:42
has big, broad廣闊 feet to help it
trompTROMP over sand dunes沙丘.
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有著寬大的腳掌幫助牠們踏過沙丘,
05:46
So how on earth地球 would one of these guys
end結束 up in the High Arctic北極?
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所以這些駱駝中的一頭
到底是如何跑到北極圈呢?
05:53
Well, scientists科學家們 have known已知
for a long time, turns out,
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其實科學家們早就知道,
05:56
even before Natalia's納塔利婭的 discovery發現,
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甚至在娜塔莉亞的發現之前,
05:59
that camels駱駝 are actually其實
originally本來 American美國.
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駱駝其實是起源於美國。
06:04
(Music音樂: The Star-Spangled星條旗 Banner旗幟)
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(音樂:《星條旗之歌》美國國歌)
06:10
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
06:11
They started開始 here.
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牠們從這起源,
06:13
For nearly幾乎 40 of the 45 million百萬 years年份
that camels駱駝 have been around,
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在駱駝存在的 4500 萬年間,
大概有 4000 萬年的時間,
06:18
you could only find them in North America美國,
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你只能在北美發現牠們。
06:21
around 20 different不同 species種類, maybe more.
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大概 20 種不同的物種,
或許更多。
06:24
(Audio音頻) LNLN: If I put them all in a lineup排隊,
would they look different不同?
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拉:如果讓牠們站一排,
看起來會有區別嗎?
06:28
NRNR: Yeah, you're going to have
different不同 body身體 sizes大小.
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(音頻)娜:會啊,
牠們的體積差別很大。
06:30
You'll你會 have some with really long necks脖子,
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有些的脖子會特別長。
06:32
so they're actually其實
functionally功能 like giraffes長頸鹿.
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所以牠們實際上
從功能來說更像是長頸鹿。
06:35
LNLN: Some had snouts口鼻部, like crocodiles鱷魚.
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拉:有些有鼻子,像鱷魚一樣。
06:38
(Audio音頻) NRNR: The really primitive原始,
early ones那些 would have been really small,
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(音頻)娜:那些非常原始的
早期駱駝可能非常小;
06:42
almost幾乎 like rabbits.
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幾乎是一隻兔子的大小。
06:44
LNLN: What? Rabbit-sized兔子大小的 camels駱駝?
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拉:什麽?兔子大小的駱駝?
06:47
(Audio音頻) NRNR: The earliest最早 ones那些.
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(音頻)娜:最早的那些是。
06:48
So those ones那些 you probably大概
would not recognize認識.
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所以那些駱駝你可能都認不出來。
06:51
LNLN: Oh my God, I want a pet寵物 rabbit-camel兔駱駝.
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拉:天哪!
我好想要隻「兔駱駝」寵物啊!
06:53
(Audio音頻) NRNR: I know,
wouldn't不會 that be great?
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(音頻)娜:我知道,
聽起來很棒不是嗎?
06:55
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
06:56
LNLN: And then about three
to seven million百萬 years年份 ago,
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拉:然後大約
300 萬至 700 萬年前,
06:59
one branch of camels駱駝
went down to South America美國,
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駱駝的一個分支
向南遷徙到了南美洲。
07:02
where they became成為 llamas駱駝 and alpacas羊駝,
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在那裡牠們進化成了美洲駝和羊駝。
07:05
and another另一個 branch crossed越過 over
the Bering白令 Land土地 Bridge
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另外一個分支跨過了白令陸橋,
07:08
into Asia亞洲 and Africa非洲.
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來到亞洲和非洲。
07:09
And then around the end結束
of the last ice age年齡,
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然後在上一次冰河紀末,
07:11
North American美國 camels駱駝 went extinct絕種.
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北美駱駝滅絕了。
07:15
So, scientists科學家們 knew知道 all of that already已經,
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所以科學家早就知道了這些,
07:18
but it still doesn't fully充分 explain說明
how Natalia納塔利婭 found發現 one so far north.
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但是這並不能完全解釋娜塔莉亞
是怎麼在那麼北的地方發現駱駝的。
07:24
Like, this is, temperature-wise溫度明智,
the polar極性 opposite對面 of the Sahara撒哈拉.
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這裡從溫度的角度來說,
簡直就是撒哈拉的反義詞。
07:29
Now to be fair公平,
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平心而論,
07:31
three and a half million百萬 years年份 ago,
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350 萬年前,
07:33
it was on average平均 22 degrees Celsius攝氏
warmer回暖 than it is now.
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平均溫度比現在大約
高攝氏 22 度。
07:37
So it would have been boreal寒帶 forest森林,
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所以那裡可以算是一個寒帶森林,
07:40
so more like the Yukon育空 or Siberia西伯利亞 today今天.
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就像如今的育空或西伯利亞一樣。
07:44
But still, like, they would have
six-month-long六個月之久 winters冬天
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但是那兒仍有六個月長的冬季。
07:48
where the ponds池塘 would freeze凍結 over.
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池塘凍結成冰,
07:50
You'd have blizzards暴風雪.
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暴風雪肆虐,
07:52
You'd have 24 hours小時 a day
of straight直行 darkness黑暗.
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以及一天 24 小時的永夜;
07:55
Like, how ... How?
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那麼...到底是怎麼回事?
07:58
How is it that one of these
Saharan撒哈拉 superstars超級巨星
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這些撒哈拉沙漠的超級巨星
08:03
could ever have survived倖存
those arctic北極 conditions條件?
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是怎麼在這種極地條件下存活的?
08:06
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
08:09
Natalia納塔利婭 and her colleagues同事
think they have an answer回答.
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娜塔莉亞和她的同事認為
她們找到了答案。
08:13
And it's kind of brilliant輝煌.
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相當絕妙,
08:16
What if the very features特徵 that we imagine想像
make the camel駱駝 so well-suited非常適合
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假如駱駝的這些特性
並不如我們所想,
08:23
to places地方 like the Sahara撒哈拉,
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是爲了適應撒哈拉沙漠
那樣的環境而產生,
08:25
actually其實 evolved進化 to help it
get through通過 the winter冬季?
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其實是爲了幫助牠們
度過嚴寒才演化出來的呢?
08:29
What if those broad廣闊 feet were meant意味著
to trompTROMP not over sand,
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如果那些寬大的腳掌
不是爲了踏過沙丘,
08:34
but over snow, like a pair of snowshoes雪鞋?
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而是爲了踏過雪原,像雪鞋一樣呢?
08:37
What if that hump駝峰 --
which哪一個, huge巨大 news新聞 to me,
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如果那些駝峰——
對我來說,真是天大的新聞!
08:40
does not contain包含 water, it contains包含 fat脂肪 --
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不是儲存水分,而是儲存脂肪——
08:43
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
08:44
was there to help the camel駱駝
get through通過 that six-month-long六個月之久 winter冬季,
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來幫助駱駝度過食物稀缺的
08:48
when food餐飲 was scarce稀缺?
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六個月長的嚴冬呢?
08:49
And then, only later後來, long after
it crossed越過 over the land土地 bridge
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然後,遠在牠們跨越大陸橋之後,
08:53
did it retrofit改造 those winter冬季 features特徵
for a hot desert沙漠 environment環境?
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才把這些冬季特性
改進成適應炎熱的沙漠環境的呢?
08:58
Like, for instance, the hump駝峰
may可能 be helpful有幫助 to camels駱駝 in hotter climes的氣候
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就比如說,那些駝峰
在炎熱的氣候下可能非常有用,
09:02
because having all your fat脂肪 in one place地點,
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因為把脂肪都存儲在一個地方,
09:04
like a, you know, fat脂肪 backpack背包,
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像,你知道的,脂肪背包一樣,
09:07
means手段 that you don't have
to have that insulation絕緣
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意味著你身體的隔熱層
09:10
all over the rest休息 of your body身體.
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不需要覆蓋全身。
09:11
So it helps幫助 heat dissipate消散 easier更輕鬆.
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這樣,散熱就變得容易了。
09:14
It's this crazy idea理念,
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這是一個瘋狂的想法,
09:17
that what seems似乎 like proof證明 of the camel's駱駝
quintessential典型 desert沙漠 nature性質
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這些看起來像是證明
駱駝典型的沙漠特性的證據,
09:22
could actually其實 be proof證明
of its High Arctic北極 past過去.
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實際也是證明牠們過去
生活在北極圈裡的證據。
09:27
Now, I'm not the first person
to tell this story故事.
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我並不是第一個講述這個故事的人,
09:31
Others其他 have told it as a way
to marvel奇蹟 at evolutionary發展的 biology生物學
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其他人早已講過
以此讚歎生物進化的神奇,
09:36
or as a keyhole鎖孔 into the future未來
of climate氣候 change更改.
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或著見微知著,
以此來看未來的氣候變化。
09:40
But I love it for a totally完全
different不同 reason原因.
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但是我愛這個故事,
有一個完全不同的原因。
09:43
For me, it's a story故事 about us,
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對我來說,這是關於我們的故事,
09:46
about how we see the world世界
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關於我們如何看待這個世界,
09:48
and about how that changes變化.
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以及這種認知如何改變的。
09:51
So I was trained熟練 as a historian歷史學家.
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我的職業是歷史學家,
09:55
And I've learned學到了 that, actually其實,
a lot of scientists科學家們 are historians歷史學家, too.
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我發現,實際上很多科學家
同時也是歷史學家。
09:59
They make sense of the past過去.
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他們讓過去有意義,
10:00
They tell the history歷史 of our universe宇宙,
of our planet行星, of life on this planet行星.
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他們講述我們的
宇宙、星球、地球生命的歷史。
10:06
And as a historian歷史學家,
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作為一個歷史學家,
10:08
you start開始 with an idea理念 in your mind心神
of how the story故事 goes.
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你開始於腦海中的一個想法,
關於故事是如何發展的。
10:13
(Audio音頻) NRNR: We make up stories故事
and we stick with it,
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(音頻)娜:我們編故事,
然後以此繼續講下去。
10:15
like the camel駱駝 in the desert沙漠, right?
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就像沙漠裡的駱駝,是吧?
10:17
That's a great story故事!
It's totally完全 adapted適應 for that.
195
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這是個非常棒的故事!
駱駝非常適應沙漠環境,
10:19
Clearly明確地, it always lived生活 there.
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很明顯,牠一直住在那裡。
10:22
LNLN: But at any moment時刻, you could
uncover揭露 some tiny bit of evidence證據.
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拉:但是你隨時會
發現一些細小的線索,
10:26
You could learn學習 some tiny thing
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你會發現一些細小的東西,
10:28
that forces軍隊 you to reframe重構
everything you thought you knew知道.
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迫使你重新定義
你自以為知道的一切。
10:32
Like, in this case案件, this one scientist科學家
finds認定 this one shard碎片
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就像這個例子,一個科學家發現了
10:36
of what she thought was wood,
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這一個她以為是木頭的碎片,
10:38
and because of that, science科學 has a totally完全
new and totally完全 counterintuitive有悖常理 theory理論
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由此,科學誕生了一個全新的、
反直覺的理論,
10:43
about why this absurd荒誕
Dr博士. Seuss-looking蘇斯的前瞻性 creature生物
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來解釋爲什麽這個可笑、
像極了蘇斯博士筆下的生物,
10:46
looks容貌 the way it does.
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看起來像這樣。
10:48
And for me, it completely全然 upended顛覆
the way I think of the camel駱駝.
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對於我來說,
它完全顛覆了我對駱駝的認知,
10:53
It went from being存在
this ridiculously可笑 niche壁龕 creature生物
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牠從只適合這一特定環境
10:58
suited合適的 only to this
one specific具體 environment環境,
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而存在的生物,
11:00
to being存在 this world世界 traveler遊客
that just happens發生 to be in the Sahara撒哈拉,
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變成了世界旅行家,
只是恰好出現在撒哈拉沙漠。
11:06
and could end結束 up virtually實質上 anywhere隨地.
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並且可能到達幾乎任何地方。
11:09
(Applause掌聲)
210
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(掌聲)
11:26
This is AzuriAzuri.
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這是阿祖力。
11:28
AzuriAzuri, hi, how are you doing?
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嗨,阿祖力,你好嗎?
11:31
OK, here, I've got
one of these for you here.
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來,我給你帶了一些吃的。
11:34
(Laughter笑聲)
214
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(掌聲)
11:36
So AzuriAzuri is on a break打破
from her regular定期 gig演出
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阿祖力剛剛完成她的特約演出,
11:40
at the Radio無線電 City Music音樂 Hall大廳.
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從紐約無線電城音樂廳來,
11:42
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
11:44
That's not even a joke玩笑.
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這不是開玩笑。
11:46
Anyway無論如何 --
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不過——
11:48
But really, AzuriAzuri is here
as a living活的 reminder提醒
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真的,阿祖力在這裡
作為一個鮮活的例子,
11:52
that the story故事 of our world世界
is a dynamic動態 one.
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說明這個世界的故事是
瞬息萬變的。
11:57
It requires要求 our willingness願意
to readjust重新調整, to reimagine重新構想.
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需要我們主動重新調整,
大膽想像。
12:01
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
12:06
Right, AzuriAzuri?
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對吧?阿祖力。
12:07
And, really, that we're all
just one shard碎片 of bone away
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真的,我們與看待世界的全新視角
12:14
from seeing眼看 the world世界 anew重新.
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只有一片碎骨頭的距離罷了。
12:16
Thank you very much.
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非常感謝!
12:18
(Applause掌聲)
228
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(掌聲)
Translated by Victoria Yan
Reviewed by Regina Chu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Latif Nasser - Radio researcher
Latif Nasser is the director of research at Radiolab, where he has reported on such disparate topics as culture-bound illnesses, snowflake photography, sinking islands and 16th-century automata.

Why you should listen

The history of science is "brimming with tales stranger than fiction," says Latif Nasser, who wrote his PhD dissertation on the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic of 1962. A writer and researcher, Nasser is now the research director at Radiolab, a job that allows him to dive into archives, talk to interesting people and tell stories as a way to think about science and society.

More profile about the speaker
Latif Nasser | Speaker | TED.com