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We're talking about The Dragon's Den.我们今天要谈的是《龙穴》（The Dragon’s Den）这档节目。Yes, so Richard, what is The Dragon's Den?是的，那么，Richard，《龙穴》到底是什么节目呢？Well, the BBC describes it as a show where budding entrepreneurs get three minutes to pitch their business ideas to five multi-millionaires who are willing to invest their own cash.BBC 的官方描述是：这是一个节目，让有抱负的创业者在三分钟内向五位愿意用自己资金投资的百万富翁展示他们的商业创意。Now it's the multi-millionaires, isn't it Richard, who are the dragons and they can be very fierce indeed.而这些百万富翁就是所谓的“龙”，对吧，Richard？他们确实非常强势。They're very cutthroat, aren't they?他们可谓是相当“冷酷无情”的，对吧？So, as part of their opening pitch, the entrepreneurs are required to specify the amount of money they require from the dragons. And what percentage that will get of their company.所以在开场陈述中，创业者必须说明他们希望从这些“龙”那里获得多少资金，以及愿意出让公司多少股份。Right, the equity, plus they have to say how much they think the company could be worth.对，就是股权比例。此外，他们还得说明他们认为公司目前的估值是多少。Yes, and then if a dragon or maybe multiple dragons are interested, then they negotiate then and if they're not interested, they simply say they're out.是的，如果有一位或多位“龙”感兴趣，就会进入谈判阶段；如果不感兴趣，他们会直接说：“我退出（I’m out）。”It doesn't sound exciting, Richard, but it is.听起来似乎没什么刺激的，Richard，但实际上节目非常精彩。What makes it compelling TV?那是什么让这档节目如此吸引人呢？Well, the first thing, from the people pitching their ideas, you can see these enthusiastic but very nervous people.首先，是那些上台推介的创业者——他们既充满热情，又紧张不安。They're just normal people and they're talking for three minutes on something which they're passionate about and they really don't know the reaction of the dragons.他们只是普通人，用三分钟讲述自己热爱的事业，但他们完全不知道“龙”们会作何反应。And as you've said, they can be quite scary.正如你说的，那些“龙”有时候确实挺吓人的。Now, on the programme, most of the people walk away with nothing. There are only, what, one or two successful pitches every time.在节目中，大多数人都空手而归。每一期大概只有一到两个成功的案例。And there are also times when the entrepreneurs, they're so nervous in front of the TV cameras, they completely freeze up.有时候创业者因为太紧张，面对镜头完全僵住，说不出话。So, who can apply to the show then?那么，谁可以申请参加这个节目呢？Well, there's a form on the BBC website you can fill in.BBC 的网站上有一个申请表格可以填写。It's interesting because they say that the final selection for participation in the programme will be decided on the strength of the idea, a robust business plan and a projected turnover.有趣的是，他们说明最终能否被选中要看创业点子的实力、商业计划书的完整性以及预计的营业额。And this is decided by the BBC, presumably.这 presumably（大概）是由 BBC 来决定的。Presumably the dragons don't know the product before the people come up to present it.也就是说，那些“龙”在创业者登场前并不知道他们要介绍的产品是什么。No, and I think also that's one of the exciting things about the programme.没错，我觉得这正是节目有趣的地方之一。There's a whole range of products and companies that the people present.上节目的创业者展示的产品和公司种类非常广泛。Now, as we said, most people don't get a deal. However, sometimes the dragons turn down people who become very successful.正如我们说的，大多数人没能成功融资，但有时那些被拒绝的人反而后来大获成功。Yes, one such guy was a guy called Sean Palfrey and he invented the Tangle Teaser.是的，其中一个例子是一位叫 Sean Palfrey 的人，他发明了“Tangle Teaser”（解结梳）。He got turned down by the dragons but he had a hairbrush that also smooths knotted hair.他被“龙”们拒绝了，但他的发明是一种可以轻松梳顺打结头发的梳子。And he appeared on the Dragons' Den in 2007. He offered 15% of his company Tangle Teaser for £80,000 but was rejected.他在2007年登上《龙穴》，希望以公司15%的股份换取8万英镑投资，但遭到拒绝。And what's more, they were very, very negative about his product.更糟的是，“龙”们对他的产品评价非常负面。However, when the episode was aired on TV, his website crashed as a result of the public demand and they immediately placed 1,500 orders for the Tangle Teaser.然而，当那期节目播出后，他的网站因访问量过大而崩溃，公众反而立刻下了1500份订单。Subsequently, two years later, the brand had turned a profit and started to expand into a global market.随后两年，这个品牌实现了盈利，并开始向全球市场扩张。Where is Tangle Teaser today then, Richard?那么，Richard，现在的 Tangle Teaser 发展得怎样了？Well, I checked up on this and Tangle Teaser are expecting to post sales of close to £30 million.我查了一下，Tangle Teaser 预计年销售额接近3000万英镑。This is 2020 and the brushes are sold in over 75 countries.那是在2020年，他们的梳子已在75个国家销售。So they turned down a fantastic offer.所以，“龙”们错过了一个极其优秀的投资机会。I'm not sure if we went on.我不确定我们是否要继续。

We're talking about marketing terms used on food products and deciding if they are officially recognised terms or not.我们今天要讨论的是食品包装上常见的营销术语，并判断这些术语是否是官方认可的。Richard? Yes. A popular term used on many products, organic.Richard？是的。一个在许多产品上都能看到的热门词——“有机”。Right, yes. So, do you think organic is a legitimate term?好，对。那么你认为“有机”是一个合法、正规的术语吗？Yes, I think you have to pass certain standards to label your product organic.是的，我认为要想在产品上标注“有机”，必须通过一定的标准。Yeah, it's one of the most strict labels.没错，这是最严格的标签之一。Right, OK. It means that 95% of the ingredients have to originate from organically produced plants or animals.是的，确切地说，这意味着产品中95%的成分必须来自有机种植或有机饲养的动植物。Which means that no pesticides or herbicides.也就是说，不能使用农药或除草剂。Exactly. And also it means that there are no GMO, no genetically modified organisms in the food as well.没错，而且还意味着食品中不能含有任何转基因成分。OK, that makes sense. Very strict. Free range.好，我明白了，非常严格。那么“放养（Free range）”呢？Free, I know this. People generally think it means, it's chickens, isn't it? They think they can run around free wherever they want to go. But the reality is it's not true.“放养”，我知道这个。人们一般认为这是指鸡，对吧？他们觉得这些鸡可以随意到处跑。但事实上并不是这样。I know in Australia it means they have fresh grass to eat but they're not actually free to run around. It's just the matter they have fresh grass. I don't know what it means in other countries though.我知道在澳大利亚，“放养”意味着这些鸡有新鲜的草可以吃，但它们并不能真正自由活动。只是说它们的饲料中有新鲜草料而已。我不太清楚在其他国家是怎样的。In the UK, it only refers to the amount of space a chicken has, no more than 13 birds per square metre.在英国，这个词只表示鸡的饲养密度——每平方米不超过13只。Wow, they're packed in, that's not free-ranged for me.哇，那也太挤了吧！这在我看来根本算不上“放养”。No, there has to be access to open-air runs, that's all.不，他们只要求鸡能接触到户外区域，仅此而已。So, a legally defined term but it's very misleading.所以，“放养”虽然是法律定义的术语，但非常具有误导性。Natural. That doesn't mean anything, I'm sure.“天然的（Natural）”，我敢肯定这个词毫无意义。Well, actually it does. It is legally defined but it's defined very, very logically. When you read the definition you say, of course.其实它是有法律定义的，只不过定义得非常笼统。你看完之后只会觉得：“哦，原来如此。”Apparently a lot of people are turning away from products labelled natural when they know it is because they just see it as a marketing ploy.显然，许多人在了解“天然”这个词的真实含义后，会刻意避开这类产品，因为他们认为这只是营销手段。A gimmick. A gimmick.一种噱头，没错，就是噱头。Right, OK, I can understand that. Superfood.好吧，我能理解。那么“超级食物（Superfood）”呢？Superfood? I don't think it has any meaning whatsoever.“超级食物”？我觉得这个词根本没有任何意义。I know it's blueberries or something.我知道，人们通常会用它来形容蓝莓之类的东西。No. It's simply a marketing term.不，这纯粹是一个营销术语。It's not based on any scientific basis.它没有任何科学依据。It doesn't mean you can't use it, everybody can use it but it doesn't mean anything.当然，任何人都可以用这个词，但它本身并不代表什么实际含义。Yes, yes, nonsense.是的，没错，纯属胡扯。Sugar-free.“无糖（Sugar-free）”。Yes, it doesn't have any sugar.对，就是没有糖。It means a product can contain up to 0.5 grams of sugar per 100 ml or 100 grams.其实它的意思是每100毫升或100克产品中最多可以含有0.5克糖。Oh, that's complicated. So, a bottle of... a two-litre bottle of Fanta Zero... Right. ...can contain 10 grams of sugar.哦，这听起来有点复杂。那么，一瓶两升的“零度芬达”……对，可能含有10克糖。Now wait, so that's two and a half teaspoons. Right, OK. Wow.等等，那大概相当于两茶匙半的糖。是的，没错。哇。So, it's not sugar-free.所以它并不是真的“无糖”。It's not sugar-free. So, it's a legal term but again I would say that's misleading.没错，它并不是真的无糖。虽然这是一个法律定义的术语，但同样具有误导性。Yes. Gluten-free. That's got to be legal, hasn't it? Because people, celiacs have problems with gluten so that must be strict.是的。那么“无麸质（Gluten-free）”肯定是合法且严格定义的吧？因为患有乳糜泻的人不能吃麸质，所以标准应该很严。Very, very strict. However, you can have up to 200 parts of gluten per a million.是的，非常严格。不过，允许每百万份中含有多达200份的麸质。At the end of the day, Jackie, from a consumer's point of view, all of these marketing terms can mean anything but what you really need to do is just check the ingredients.总的来说，Jackie，从消费者的角度来看，这些营销术语可能什么都意味着，也可能什么都不代表。真正重要的是——仔细查看配料表。

When we first started podcasting many, many years ago, other podcasters who didn't have worksheets to sell suggested that those who used their podcasts to buy me a coffee. Yeah, buy me a coffee. It was a way of generating a small income for their work, wasn't it? And also advertisements on sites are also one way of making money and there are a few websites that don't have Google Ads or something similar on them.当我们许多年前刚开始做播客时，那些没有可出售资料的播客主持人建议听众通过“请我喝杯咖啡”的方式来支持他们。对，“请我喝杯咖啡”。这是一种为他们的工作赚取一点收入的方式，不是吗？另外，网站上的广告也是赚钱的一种途径，很少有网站上没有谷歌广告或类似的内容。Yeah, absolutely. But for this week's podcast, we're looking at an alternative way of making money, Patreon. OK, Jackie, so what is Patreon? Well, it's an American membership platform.没错，完全正确。但对于这周的播客来说，我们要看一种不同的赚钱方式——Patreon。好的，Jackie，那Patreon是什么呢？它是一个美国的会员制平台。It's a way of helping creators and artists earn a monthly income. It provides the tools to run a subscription payment service. All right, OK.这是一种帮助创作者和艺术家获得月收入的方式。它提供了运行订阅付费服务的工具。好吧，明白了。But how does it actually work then? Well, content creators, those people who have a website or a blog, they set up a Patreon page, right? And this allows patrons to pay a fixed amount to the creator on a monthly basis. Right, OK. So who are these patrons then? Well, they're the people who want to support the creator and help to pay for their income.但它究竟是怎么运作的呢？创作者，比如那些有网站或博客的人，他们会建立一个Patreon页面，对吧？这样，赞助者就可以每月向创作者支付一笔固定金额的费用。好的，那这些赞助者是谁呢？他们就是那些希望支持创作者并帮助他们维持收入的人。Right, OK. Instead of buying them a coffee, you become a patron. Yeah, and rather than buying the product, which they don't necessarily have, you're paying for their service.没错，也就是说，你不是“请他们喝咖啡”，而是成为他们的赞助人。是的，而且你不是在购买具体的产品（他们可能并没有产品），而是在为他们的创作服务付费。OK, for example, Richard, there's a Spanish chef behind Spain on a Fork. Ah yes, OK. Now on his website, all the recipes are free to read and all the instructional cooking videos that he produces are all free to watch.举个例子，Richard，有一位西班牙厨师经营着“Spain on a Fork”这个网站。啊，是的。现在在他的网站上，所有的食谱都可以免费阅读，他制作的教学烹饪视频也都可以免费观看。Right, so just like many, many blogs on cooking. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But the patrons want to support him to carry on producing his content, which is just fantastic.对，这就像许多烹饪博客一样。是的，完全没错。但那些赞助者希望支持他，让他能持续创作内容，这真是太棒了。And how much do they pay for this then? Well, it depends. Every single creator chooses the amount. If we look at Spain on a Fork again, he has four levels and you can choose to pay as little as one euro a month, subscription remember.那他们为此要付多少钱呢？这取决于创作者本人。每个创作者可以自己设定金额。以“Spain on a Fork”为例，他有四个等级，最低的订阅费用是每月1欧元（记住，这是订阅制的）。Right. Up to 22 euros a month. OK, and what do you get for that then, for the different amounts? Well, it depends.最高可以到每月22欧元。好吧，那不同的金额能获得什么呢？这也要看创作者设定。But for all of them, you get extra content, extra recipes, extra instructional videos that other people won't see. Right. And if you pay more, you presumably get to see more.但无论哪个等级，你都会获得额外的内容、额外的食谱，以及普通观众看不到的教学视频。没错。而且如果你支付更多，自然能看到更多独家内容。And also he thanks you publicly, you know, that you've paid to support him. Also, Richard, patrons can cancel at any time. So you can do a one-off payment if you want.此外，他还会公开感谢你，表示你对他的支持。而且，Richard，赞助者可以随时取消订阅。如果你愿意，也可以只支付一次性的费用。But most people like join for a year to support these people who are working at the end of the day. OK, it sounds like a good idea. But of course, how much do the creators pay Patreon for this? Well, it's not free, is it? I can imagine.不过，大多数人都会选择一年期的订阅，以支持这些全职创作者。听起来这是个不错的主意。不过创作者要为此付给Patreon多少费用呢？显然，这不是免费的，对吧？我可以想象。They charge, Richard, anywhere between a commission, five to 12 percent. Wow, that's quite a lot actually, isn't it? Of their monthly income. Yeah.他们会收取佣金，大约在5%到12%之间。哇，那其实挺高的，对吧？这是从创作者的月收入中扣除的。是的。And also, sorry, and also there are payment processing fees as well. Of course. I think one of the problems is, Richard, with the Internet is that many people expect the content always to be free.而且，对不起，还有支付处理费用。当然。我认为，互联网的一个问题是，很多人总是期望内容是免费的。And there is a lot of stuff on the Internet that is completely free. Yeah, so good quality stuff, which takes a lot of time to prepare. And these videos, for example, very well done, very well presented.确实，网上确实有很多完全免费的内容。但那些高质量的作品往往需要花费大量时间准备。比如这些视频——制作精良，呈现专业。It's his job at the end of the day. And you can choose whether you want to pay or not. I think that's a great idea.归根结底，这就是他的工作。而你可以选择是否愿意付费支持。我觉得这真是个好主意。Yeah, it's a way of supporting those who work online. And if you're just paying a few euros a month, well, that's keeping someone in employment. Everybody's happy.没错，这是一种支持网络创作者的方式。而且每月只付出几欧元，就能让一个人有稳定收入。大家都开心。

We're talking about how technology has really changed the face of business. 我们在谈论技术是如何改变商业面貌的。To be more specific, We're really talking about the internet, aren't we?更具体一点，我们其实是在谈论互联网，不是吗？Yeah. I mean, nowadays, Richard, every company, whether they provide a service or sell a product, they have a website.是啊。我的意思是，如今，Richard，不论一家公司是提供服务还是销售产品，他们都有自己的网站。Or at the very least, a Facebook page.或者至少也会有一个 Facebook 页面。Yeah. Now, you mentioned Facebook, Richard.是的。你刚才提到 Facebook，Richard。The rise of social media has really changed business, hasn't it?社交媒体的兴起确实彻底改变了商业模式，不是吗？I mean, it wasn't that long ago that you really needed to be able to, what, write a professional email.我的意思是，不久之前，一个人只需要会写一封专业的电子邮件就够了。But today, business owners, what, they must be able to communicate on Twitter, they need to engage regularly on Facebook, have a LinkedIn account...但如今，企业主必须能够在 Twitter 上交流，定期在 Facebook 上互动，还要拥有一个 LinkedIn 账号……And also, obviously, video conferencing is by Zoom.而且，显然，现在视频会议都是通过 Zoom 进行的。Yeah. And recruitment has changed completely.是的。而招聘方式也发生了彻底的变化。The whole explosion of social media has made it a part of our everyday lives, but both personally and professionally.社交媒体的全面爆发使它成为我们生活中不可分割的一部分，无论是个人生活还是职业领域。And of course, the other technology is, of course, mobile technology.当然，另一项重要的技术就是移动技术。Everything's done on the move and remotely.一切事情都可以在移动中、远程完成。Fewer actual phone calls are being made nowadays.如今人们打真正电话的次数越来越少了。It's all emails, texting, tweeting, and using messaging apps, isn't it?现在全都是发邮件、发短信、发推文，以及用各种通讯应用，对吧？Yeah. And the problem with that is that we are always connected.是的。而问题在于，我们总是“在线”的。So therefore, the line between work and home life, that's become blurred, hasn't it?因此，工作与家庭生活之间的界限变得模糊了，不是吗？Yes. There's no such thing nowadays as out of the office.是的。如今已经不存在所谓的“下班”状态了。Interesting, Richard, becausePortugalhas banned bosses from text messaging and emailing staff out of working hours.这很有趣，Richard，因为葡萄牙已经禁止老板在非工作时间发短信或发邮件给员工。They have this new law, the right to rest.他们制定了一项新法律，叫作“休息权”。Yes, it's all about improving work-life balance, which is very important.是的，这一切都是为了改善工作与生活的平衡，这非常重要。And of course, Richard, the other thing is, you say there's no out of office, but actually there's no office nowadays.当然，Richard，另一点是，你说没有“下班”，但实际上，现在很多人连“办公室”都没有了。Well, actually, that's good because starting a business used to mean a huge amount of investment required for an office.实际上这挺好，因为过去创业往往意味着要投入大量资金去租或建办公室。You don't need that anymore.而现在你已经不再需要这样做了。Yeah. Small businesses, they can be run entirely virtually. It's a huge saving.是啊，小型企业完全可以虚拟化运营，这节省了大量成本。Cuts down on a lot of overheads.大大减少了各种固定开支。Not just small businesses though, Richard. More and more employees, as we know, want to work remotely.但这不仅限于小企业，Richard。正如我们所知，越来越多的员工也希望能够远程工作。And PricewaterhouseCooper, a huge organisation, they recognise this and they have said it will allow all US employees who can telework the ability to work virtually from anywhere on the continent, which is amazing.普华永道这样的大型机构也意识到了这一点，他们宣布允许所有可以远程办公的美国员工在北美大陆的任何地方工作，这真是了不起。That's 40,000 employees who can, if they want to, work from home. Wow.这意味着有四万名员工如果愿意，都可以在家工作。哇。So that's a huge change in the way businesses are run nowadays, isn't it?这真的是商业运作方式上的巨大变革，不是吗？Yeah. We've talked mainly about engaging with customers, but obviously payment methods, getting paid online is much easier as well.是的。我们主要谈到了客户互动，但显然，在线支付方式也让收款变得更加容易。Yes. Online banking, PayPal, etc, etc.没错，比如网上银行、PayPal 等等。And consumers spend more than ever nowadays as well. It's so easy just to click on buy now, isn't it?如今消费者的支出也比以往任何时候都多。只要点一下“立即购买”就能完成购物，太容易了，对吧？Yes. So at the end of the day, Jackie, starting a new business in this digital age has never been easier.是的。总的来说，Jackie，在这个数字时代创业从未如此简单。So if you've got an idea, go for it.所以，如果你有一个好点子，就大胆去做吧。

Nasa's Perseverance Rover has spent the past four years exploring an area of Mars called the Jezero Crater. It's dry and dusty, but billions of years ago, it was thought to be an ancient lake with a river flowing into it.美国国家航空航天局的 “毅力” 号火星车在过去四年里探索了火星上被称为杰泽罗陨石坑的区域。这片区域干燥并布满灰尘，但科学家认为数十亿年前这里是一个古湖泊，有一条河流汇入其中。The intriguing rocks were found on the riverbed. They have unusual ringed markings, nicknamed 'leopard spots' by the researchers, and black dots the team are calling 'poppy seeds'. These features are actually minerals, and the scientists think they could have been produced by chemical reactions associated with microbes.这些引人注目的岩石就是在这里的河床上被发现的。它们带有被研究人员戏称为 “豹纹” 的不同寻常的环状斑纹，以及被研究团队称为 “罂粟籽” 的小黑点。岩石上的这些特征其实是矿物质，而科学家们认为这些矿物质可能产生自与微生物相关的化学反应。Life isn't the only possible explanation. The minerals could have been made by natural geological processes. The only way to find out for sure is to bring the rocks back to Earth for analysis. Missions to return samples have been proposed, but there's uncertainty because of the proposed cuts to Nasa's budget.生命并不是对这些矿物质的唯一解释。这些矿物质也可能产生于自然地质作用的过程。唯一能查明真相的方式就是把这些岩石带回地球进行分析。已经有人提议开展航天任务带回这些样本，但这尚存在不确定性，因为已有提议削减美国国家航空航天局的预算。While there's still much to find out, these rocks are tantalising, and the findings are strong enough to meet Nasa's criteria for potential biosignatures, features that warrant further investigation to determine if they really are a sign of life.还有许多事情尚待发掘，但这些岩石十分诱人，而且目前的研究结果所具备的说服力也达到了美国国家航空航天局对潜在生物特征的判定标准。潜在生物特征指的是 “足以满足值得进一步调查的理由，以确认它们是否真的是生命的迹象”。

The researchers describe this artificial intelligence model as like a weather forecast for your health. But instead of warning of a 70% chance of rain, it tells you the risk of more than a thousand diseases. The AI has learned to spot patterns hidden in the types and timings of different medical diagnoses, so now it can look at a patient and predict what is likely to come next.研究人员称，这个人工智能模型就好像一个对我们健康状况发出的 “天气预报”。只不过它并不是对 70% 的降水概率做出预警，而是告诉人们一千多种疾病的患病风险。这个人工智能模型已经学会了如何发现隐藏在不同医学诊断类型和时间中的模式，因此现在它可以通过观察一个病人来预测接下来很可能会发生什么。The AI was trained using more than 400,000 people's anonymous medical records from the UK and tested on nearly two million people's records in Denmark.这个人工智能模型使用了来自英国 40 多万人的匿名医疗记录进行训练，然后在丹麦接近两百万人的医疗记录上进行了测试。But what can we do with such predictions? People are already offered a cholesterol-lowering statin based on a calculation of their risk of a heart attack or stroke. Understanding how diseases unfold could lead to new ways of intervening early. The AI could also help inform screening programmes or help hospitals plan for future demand, like estimating how many heart attacks might happen in Norwich in 2030. The researchers say there is work to do, but that they are at the beginning of a new way of understanding health and disease.但我们能用这种预测做些什么呢？已经有人因被计算出具有患心脏病或中风的风险而被提供了降胆固醇的他汀类药物。了解疾病如何发展能为我们带来早期干预的新方法。这个人工智能模型也能为筛查项目提供信息，或帮助医院规划未来的就诊需求，比如估计 2030 年时诺里奇可能会出现多少例心脏病发作。研究人员表示，目前还有工作要做，但他们已经处在一个理解健康和疾病的新方式的开端。

An asteroid ended the age of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Could something as catastrophic as that happen again?6600 万年前，一颗小行星结束了恐龙时代。 如此灾难性的事情还会发生吗？Asteroids are something astronomers closely track. Recently, the asteroid named 2024 YR4 made headlines for its tiny, but real, chance of colliding with Earth in 2032. In February 2025, NASA increased the impact probability of this asteroid hitting us to 2.3%. Scientists have calculated that YR4 is between 40m and 90m in diameter. It would have the power of a nuclear bomb if it was to hit Earth, causing severe damage if the impact was in a populated area. However, Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society urges calm. He said he is not "losing sleep over" the asteroid, but stresses that funding planetary defence and spotting potential threats is essential.小行星是天文学家密切追踪的对象。 最近，一颗名为 2024 YR4 的小行星因其在 2032 年与地球相撞的微小但真实的机会而成为头条新闻。2025 年 2 月，美国宇航局将这颗小行星撞击我们的可能性提高到 2.3%。 科学家计算出YR4的直径在40m到90m之间。 如果它击中地球，其威力将相当于核弹，如果撞击在人口稠密地区，则会造成严重破坏。 然而，英国皇家天文学会的罗伯特·梅西博士敦促大家保持冷静。 他表示，他并没有因为这颗小行星“失眠”，但强调为行星防御提供资金和发现潜在威胁至关重要。So what are asteroids? They are fragments of rock left over from the creation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. They frequently orbit close to Earth pushed by the gravity of other planets, though it was only in the late 1900s that scientists were able to systematically track near-Earth objects and learn this. They found that asteroids of more than 40m across, that's large enough to destroy a city, cross the Earth's path within lunar distance several times a year.那么什么是小行星？ 它们是 46 亿年前太阳系形成时留下的岩石碎片。 它们经常在其他行星的引力推动下在靠近地球的轨道上运行，尽管直到 1900 年代末科学家才能够系统地跟踪近地天体并了解这一点。 他们发现，直径超过 40m 的小行星（大到足以摧毁一座城市）每年都会在月球距离内多次穿过地球轨道。The chance of an asteroid being large enough to penetrate our atmosphere intact and destroy a city is likely to happen once in every hundred years. In 1908, an asteroid exploded over Siberia, injuring people and buildings across more than 500 square kilometres. However, actual impacts aren't as common as near-misses. For example, the asteroid Apophis raised alarms after it was discovered in 2004 because it was estimated to be around the size of a cruise ship. Even scarier, in 1994, the comet named Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter, and, if it had hit Earth, all life would have been wiped out, just like the dinosaurs were.小行星足够大，可以完整地穿透我们的大气层并摧毁一座城市，这种情况可能每百年就会发生一次。 1908 年，一颗小行星在西伯利亚上空爆炸，造成 500 多平方公里的人员和建筑物受伤。 然而，实际影响并不像未遂事件那样常见。 例如，小行星阿波菲斯在 2004 年被发现后就引发了警报，因为据估计它的大小与一艘游轮差不多。 更可怕的是，1994年，名为舒梅克-利维9号的彗星撞上了木星，如果它撞上了地球，所有生命都会被消灭，就像恐龙一样。So, it's safe to enjoy admiring the night sky because the chances of you being hit by an asteroid are very, very small, even if they're not zero.所以，欣赏夜空是安全的，因为你被小行星撞击的可能性非常非常小，即使它们不为零。

Everyone knows that dogs are supposed to be our best friends. Could it be that they know what we are thinking? Whether it's getting excited at the prospect of a walk or knowing that tasty food is coming soon, are our dogs reading our minds?每个人都知道狗应该是我们最好的朋友。 难道他们知道我们在想什么吗？ 无论是对散步的前景感到兴奋，还是知道美味的食物即将到来，我们的狗会读懂我们的心思吗？Now, by mind-reading we're not talking about knowing our deepest thoughts in detail, but various psychologists have suggested that dogs might have a theory of mind. What this means is that they are aware that other creatures, like humans, are able to see and understand things in different ways. In various experiments it appears that dogs are able to identify who is paying them attention. They are more likely to ask for food from someone if there is a reason that the human would know where the dog treats are. If dogs have been forbidden food by someone, they are more likely to try and get it quietly.现在，我们所说的读心术并不是要详细了解我们最深层的想法，但许多心理学家都认为狗可能有一种心理理论。 这意味着他们意识到其他生物，比如人类，能够以不同的方式看待和理解事物。 在各种实验中，狗似乎能够识别谁在关注它们。 如果人类有理由知道狗的食物在哪里，他们更有可能向某人索要食物。 如果有人禁止狗吃东西，它们更有可能尝试悄悄地得到它。As well as these behavioural studies, there are other things that show how dogs are able to relate closely to humans. Brain imaging studies have shown not only that canine brains react to human voices, but that they also show an emotional response to those human sounds which demonstrate strong feelings, such as laughing or crying. Brain scan studies have also shown that human faces also provoke an emotional response in dogs. Other studies have shown that sweat from people feeling scared could make dogs feel more stressed than sweat from happy people.除了这些行为研究之外，还有其他一些研究表明狗如何能够与人类建立密切的关系。 脑成像研究表明，犬类的大脑不仅会对人类的声音做出反应，而且还会对那些表现出强烈感情的人类声音表现出情绪反应，例如笑或哭。 脑部扫描研究还表明，人脸也会引起狗的情绪反应。 其他研究表明，感到害怕的人流的汗比快乐的人流的汗会让狗感到更大的压力。There is some debate about whether dogs have evolved to respond to human emotions as they have become domesticated or whether this behaviour is a learned reaction to stimuli. Experiments like those described above have also been carried out on wolves that have been raised by humans, who may have learned to respond to their carer's behaviour, but do not have the genes of a domesticated species. Wolves did show some abilities to respond to human emotions, but were less able to pick up more subtle clues.关于狗是否在被驯化后进化到能够对人类情绪做出反应，或者这种行为是否是对刺激的后天反应，存在一些争议。 类似上述的实验也在人类饲养的狼身上进行，这些狼可能已经学会了对照顾者的行为做出反应，但不具备驯化物种的基因。 狼确实表现出了一些对人类情绪做出反应的能力，但它们不太能够捕捉到更微妙的线索。Whether it's learned or innate, dogs' ability to read human emotions and intentions are one reason that we have included them in our lives for centuries. It's also why they have been successful as assistance dogs, helping their owners to get through everyday life.无论是后天习得的还是天生的，狗解读人类情感和意图的能力是几个世纪以来我们将它们融入我们生活的原因之一。 这也是它们作为协助犬取得成功的原因，帮助主人度过日常生活。

The real beauty of inhalers is how they get these medications into your lungs. They work by suspending, or aerosolizing, medications into the air to be easily inhaled. Each type of inhaler does this in a slightly different way.吸入器真正的妙处在于，它能将药物高效地送入肺部。它的原理是将药物悬浮在空气中，或将其雾化成可吸入的微粒。而不同类型的吸入器实现这一过程的方式略有不同。Dry powder inhalers require a person to breathe in to aerosolize a powder medication.干粉吸入器需要使用者主动吸气，使粉末状药物被雾化并吸入肺部。Nebulizers, on the other hand, use either ultrasonic vibrations or compressed air to turn liquid medication into a mist.雾化器则利用超声波震动或压缩空气，将液态药物转化成细微的雾状颗粒。The pressurized metered-dose inhaler works a lot like hairspray. This medicine is dissolved in a fluid called a propellant, and it's under high pressure. This causes the fluid and medication mixture to shoot out in a fast-moving mist.加压定量吸入器（MDI）的工作方式与喷发胶非常相似。药物被溶解在一种称为推进剂的液体中，并处于高压状态。当按下装置时，药液与药物的混合物会以高速喷出，形成可吸入的雾气。But this mist can sometimes be hard to coordinate with breathing. So there’s one more device, called a soft mist inhaler, that administers doses at lower speeds, without the use of a propellant.不过，这种喷雾有时需要与呼吸动作配合，操作并不总是容易。因此，又出现了一种称为“软雾吸入器”的装置，它不使用推进剂，而是以较低速度释放药物，使吸入更加平稳自然。Asthma and COPD each affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year. But thanks to inhalers, what once kept Proust confined to a cork-lined room, can now be treated in a few short puffs.哮喘和COPD每年都影响着全球数以亿计的人口。但多亏了吸入器，这种曾让普鲁斯特困于软木包裹房间、饱受折磨的疾病，如今只需几次轻轻吸入，就能得到有效控制。

In chronic bronchitis, the airway’s lining is inflamed and produces more mucus to trap incoming smoke or dust particles. And the little hairs lining the airways that normally help push the mucus out are often damaged, so the mucus gets stuck. During a COPD attack, rescue inhalers open the airways, just as they do for asthma.在慢性支气管炎中，气道的内壁会发炎，并分泌出更多的黏液来捕捉进入的烟雾或灰尘颗粒。而那些原本排列在气道上的微小毛发（纤毛），通常负责将黏液向外排出，却常常受到损伤，导致黏液堆积无法排出。当COPD（慢阻肺）发作时，急救型吸入器可以像治疗哮喘一样，帮助打开气道。Preventative inhalers are used daily to stop asthma and COPD symptoms before they even start. They often contain both a corticosteroid, which reduces inflammation, and a long-acting bronchodilator.预防型吸入器则是每天使用，用来在哮喘或COPD症状出现之前就加以控制。它们通常同时含有糖皮质激素（可减少炎症）和长效支气管扩张剂。In fact, one class of bronchodilators for patients with COPD is related to the compounds in thorn apples. These drugs block signals from the nerves that tell the airway muscles to contract. Those same nerve signals are thought to be responsible for increasing mucus in the lungs, so these drugs may help clear the airways as well.事实上，用于治疗COPD患者的一类支气管扩张剂，其化学成分与曼陀罗中的化合物有关。这类药物通过阻断神经向气道肌肉发出的收缩信号来起作用。而这些神经信号也被认为会促进肺部黏液的增加，因此这种药物可能还能帮助清除气道。

So how do they work? When you take a breath, air travels through your lungs using tubes called airways, or bronchi. The airways funnel to sacs, called alveoli, where your red blood cells absorb all the oxygen your body needs.那么，它们是如何起作用的呢？当你吸气时，空气通过称为气道或支气管的管道进入肺部。气道最终通向被称为肺泡的气囊，红血球就在这里吸收身体所需的全部氧气。But if you have asthma, the muscles around your airways may tighten, the lining of your airways may get inflamed, and your lungs may make too much of the mucus they use to trap dust and germs. Essentially, this clogs the pipes and makes it difficult to exhale.但如果你患有哮喘，气道周围的肌肉可能会收缩，气道内壁可能发炎，而肺部可能会产生过多的黏液——这种黏液原本用于捕捉灰尘和病菌。结果就像管道被堵住一样，使呼气变得困难。Rescue inhalers deliver a medication called a bronchodilator that quickly relaxes these muscles, making it easier to breathe. These bronchodilators are short acting, lasting around four hours.急救型吸入器会输送一种名为“支气管扩张剂”的药物，它能迅速放松这些肌肉，使呼吸变得顺畅。这类支气管扩张剂属于短效药物，作用时间大约为四小时。Rescue inhalers can be used for COPD, too. COPD is a catch-all term to describe the most common breathing conditions, like emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which people often have at the same time.急救型吸入器同样可以用于治疗慢性阻塞性肺病（COPD）。COPD 是一个总称，用来描述最常见的呼吸系统疾病，如肺气肿和慢性支气管炎，这两种疾病往往会同时出现。In emphysema, repeated exposure to smoke or irritating particles breaks the inner walls of the alveoli. Because there's less surface area for blood and oxygen to interact, less oxygen makes its way to your bloodstream, causing you to constantly feel out of breath.在肺气肿中，长期接触烟雾或刺激性颗粒会破坏肺泡的内壁。由于血液与氧气交换的表面积减少，进入血液的氧气也随之减少，因此患者会持续感到呼吸困难。

Early 20th century writer, Marcel Proust, finished his magnum opus “In Search of Lost Time” from bed— in a cork-lined room to keep allergens out. Proust suffered from severe asthma. At the time, there weren’t great treatments. When breathlessness set in, he’d burn powders that filled the space with smoke and fumes. Or, for a quick fix, he’d smoke a doctor-recommended anti-asthma cigarette. These powders and cigarettes commonly contained thorn apple, which can open your airways. However, both were clearly terrible ideas. Smoking and fumes bring damaging, carcinogenic toxins into your lungs.二十世纪初的作家马塞尔·普鲁斯特，在床上完成了他的鸿篇巨著《追忆似水年华》——他住在一个用软木塞包裹的房间里，以隔绝过敏原。普鲁斯特患有严重的哮喘，而当时并没有有效的治疗方法。当他呼吸困难时，会燃烧一些粉末，使房间充满烟雾和气味；或者，为了快速缓解，他会抽医生推荐的“抗哮喘香烟”。这些粉末和香烟通常含有曼陀罗成分，可以帮助打开气道。然而，这两种做法显然都是糟糕的主意——吸入烟雾会把有害的致癌毒素带入肺部。Thankfully, today we have inhalers— simple but powerful devices that deliver lung medications straight to the source and without the nasty side effects of smoke inhalation.幸运的是，如今我们有了吸入器——这种简单而强大的装置能将药物直接输送到肺部病灶处，而不会产生吸入烟雾带来的副作用。Inhalers are mainly used to treat two conditions: asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. And there are two main types: preventative inhalers and rescue inhalers. Preventative inhalers can be used every day to control symptoms. There are also rescue inhalers, which are great in an emergency, but using them regularly can be dangerous.吸入器主要用于治疗两种疾病：哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺病（COPD）。吸入器分为两大类：预防型吸入器和急救型吸入器。预防型吸入器可以每天使用，以控制症状；而急救型吸入器在紧急情况下非常有用，但若经常依赖使用则可能带来危险。

The major supermarkets have imposed their own voluntary ban on selling high-caffeine drinks to the under-16s, but this isn't the case in many smaller stores. Plans to prohibit their sale to children in England were published by the last government but then shelved. Now they're being revived by ministers.英格兰各大主要超市已经开始在店内自主实施禁令，不再向 16 岁以下的未成年人售卖咖啡因含量高的饮料，但许多小型商超并没有这样做。禁止在英格兰向未成年人售卖能量饮料的计划由上一届政府发布，但随后被搁置。现在政府大臣们正着手恢复这一计划。The ban will apply to drinks containing more than 150 milligrams of caffeine per litre. Some drinks contain almost three times this amount. By contrast, a standard cola contains about 120 milligrams per litre. The British Soft Drinks Association said under its code of practice members didn't market or promote the sale of energy drinks to under-16s.该禁令将涵盖咖啡因含量超过每升 150 毫克的饮料。有些饮料中的咖啡因含量几乎达到了这个量的三倍。相比之下，普通的可乐饮料每升含约 120 毫克咖啡因。英国软饮料协会称，根据该协会的行业准则要求，协会的成员企业并没有向 16 岁以下的未成年人推销或宣传能量饮料。In Scotland, there are restrictions at public sector sites. In Wales and Northern Ireland, ministers are considering a ban.在苏格兰，公共部门负责的场所内对能量饮料的售卖有所限制。在威尔士和北爱尔兰，政府大臣们也在考虑实施禁令。

How much pocket money did you get as a child, if any? Was it a regular, weekly allowance, or just occasional one-off payments for chores? Parents around the world have different ideas about the dos and don'ts of pocket money. How much should parents give? Should they track what their children spend money on? And where is the balance between teaching children valuable life lessons and simply spoiling them?您小时候得到了多少零用钱？ 这是常规的，每周的津贴，还是偶尔的一次杂务付款？ 世界各地的父母对零用钱的零用钱有不同的想法。 父母应该给多少？ 他们应该跟踪孩子花钱吗？ 教孩子有价值的生活课程和简单地破坏他们之间的平衡在哪里？Giving children pocket money offers more than just disposable income – it can provide lessons in financial literacy. One of the first things children can learn is that money is finite – once it is spent, there's no more until the next allowance. This awareness can help children learn how to budget and make good financial decisions. For example, they might spend weeks saving up for something big and exciting, rather than spending small amounts immediately. Making money mistakes while the amounts are relatively small can prepare children for when they start handling larger sums of money as adults.2给儿童零用钱不仅提供可支配收入，还可以提供金融知识的课程。 孩子们可以学到的第一件事是金钱是有限的 - 一旦花费了，直到下一个津贴才有。 这种意识可以帮助儿童学习如何预算和做出良好的财务决策。 例如，他们可能会花几个星期的钱为大而激动人心的东西，而不是立即花费少量。 犯金额的时候犯错误，而年龄相对较小，可以为孩子们开始处理成年人时的大笔钱时做好准备。Some parents link pocket money to household chores, teaching kids that hard work and good behaviour is rewarded. Louise Hill is the CEO of GoHenry – a money management service for children. She says that earning through chores encourages financial independence and "ultimately gives much more satisfaction rather than instant gratification". The downside of this, however, is that kids may only help around the house when they receive payment, rather than seeing it as their shared responsibility. In their adolescence, young people may transition to a more lucrative way of earning pocket money – part-time work such as babysitting.一些父母将零用钱与家务联系起来，教孩子努力工作和良好行为得到回报。 路易斯·希尔（Louise Hill）是Gohenry的首席执行官 - Gohenry（儿童资金管理服务）。 她说，通过琐事赚钱会鼓励财务独立性，并“最终给予更多的满足感，而不是即时的满足感”。 但是，不利的是，孩子们在收到付款时只能在房屋周围有所帮助，而不是将其视为他们的共同责任。 在青春期，年轻人可能会过渡到一种更有利可图的赚钱方式 - 兼职工作，例如保姆。Pocket money used to mean exactly that – coins or notes that children could keep in their pocket. And when they're young, seeing physical cash is a good way for them to understand money. But in today's digital world, families are increasingly going cashless. Online money management services are emerging in the market, many of them offering a combination of prepaid debit cards and an app that both child and parent can use to track spending. Some even offer gamified money lessons and the option to set up pots to fulfil savings goals. This modern approach is just another way children can be prepared for adult life, where many transactions are digital.零用钱曾经是确切的意思 - 硬币或指出孩子可以放在口袋里。 当他们年轻时，看到实物现金是他们了解金钱的好方法。 但是在当今的数字世界中，家庭越来越无现金。 在线货币管理服务正在市场上出现，其中许多提供了预付费借记卡以及孩子和父母可以用来跟踪支出的应用程序的组合。 有些人甚至提供游戏的金钱课程，并可以选择设置锅以实现储蓄目标。 这种现代方法只是儿童可以为成人生活做好准备的另一种方式，那里的许多交易都是数字化的。There's no perfect formula when it comes to pocket money, and a lot will depend on family situation and finances. Ultimately, learning to spend wisely, save and even give generously can help children build a healthy relationship with money that can continue into adulthood.关于零用钱，没有完美的公式，很大程度上取决于家庭状况和财务状况。 最终，学会明智地花费，储蓄甚至慷慨地付出可以帮助孩子与可以持续成年的金钱建立健康的关系。

Simply put, to make better digital cameras, you need image sensors with higher numbers of larger photosites. Engineers know this. In fact, it’s basically how they’ve made the best cameras humanity have: giant telescopes that take photos of deep space. But phones don't even have as much sensor space as a standard DSLR camera, let alone the surface area of a massive telescope. In fact, most phone camera sensors are no larger than a pea.简单来说，要制造更好的数码相机，就需要拥有更多、更大的感光元件（photosites）的图像传感器。工程师们对此心知肚明。事实上，人类迄今为止制造出的最强大“相机”——那些拍摄深空的巨型望远镜——正是基于这一原理。然而，手机的传感器面积远小于单反相机，更不用说庞大的望远镜镜面了。实际上，大多数手机相机的传感器都不过豌豆大小。Fortunately, these devices have a technological trick to compensate for their cameras’ tiny size: powerful processors. When you snap a picture on your phone, this pocket-computer starts running complex algorithms, which often begin by secretly taking a string of photos in rapid succession. The algorithms then manipulate these pictures, using math to perfectly align them and identify their best parts before combining the images into one high-quality photo. The end result is an image with less noise, wider dynamic range, and higher resolution than its sensors should be able to achieve.幸运的是，手机拥有一种可以弥补摄像头尺寸不足的技术手段——强大的处理器。当你按下快门拍照时，这个掌上电脑会立即运行复杂的算法，通常会在你毫无察觉的情况下快速连拍多张照片。然后算法会对这些照片进行数学运算，精确对齐每一张图像，挑选出最优部分，再将它们融合成一张高质量的照片。最终生成的图像噪点更少、动态范围更宽、分辨率也远超传感器本身的物理极限。This approach is known as computational photography, and advances here are likely how phone companies will continue to advertise increasingly better cameras without improving their image sensors. Today, these algorithms often leverage machine learning, where phones learn to improve your shots based on patterns found in massive photo databases. For example, night mode prioritizes dynamic range and noise reduction, while portrait mode tells your phone to focus on a central subject and blur the background. Machine learning also allows our phones to do the opposite, unblurring faces to grab quick candid shots. And newer programs can even help you remove unwanted elements altogether.这种方法被称为计算摄影（computational photography）。未来，手机厂商很可能会继续依靠这项技术来宣传“更好的相机”，而不必真正提升传感器硬件。如今，这些算法常常借助机器学习（machine learning），让手机从海量图片数据库中学习如何自动优化你的照片。比如，夜景模式会优先增强动态范围、减少噪点；人像模式则让手机聚焦于主体人物并虚化背景。而机器学习还能反向操作，让手机“去模糊”人脸，从而捕捉自然瞬间。更先进的程序甚至能帮你直接移除照片中不想要的元素。So, with the help of software, even phones with the smallest cameras can snap crisp, detailed photos of loved ones, spectacular views, and of course, lots and lots of food.因此，在强大软件的加持下，即使是最小的手机摄像头，也能拍出清晰细腻的照片——无论是所爱之人的笑容、壮丽的风景，还是那一盘盘令人垂涎的美食。

When the Visualphone VP210 hit the market in 1999, it advertised a never-before-seen feature: a camera. With only 0.11 megapixels and storage for 20 photos, the Visualphone is a relic compared to modern devices sporting three distinct cameras, each with up to 100 times more resolution. But while this technology has improved dramatically in the 21st century, engineers are rapidly approaching a hard limit on phone camera quality.1999年，当Visualphone VP210上市时，它宣传了一项前所未有的功能——摄像头。这个摄像头仅有0.11百万像素，最多能储存20张照片。与当今配备三颗摄像头、分辨率高出上百倍的智能手机相比，Visualphone简直就是古董。然而，尽管这项技术在21世纪突飞猛进，工程师们如今正迅速接近手机相机质量的硬性极限。To understand this limit, we first need to know how phone cameras work. Just like any other digital camera, when your phone takes a picture, light enters through its lens. This lens focuses the light onto an image sensor covered in a grid of photosites— microscopic light sensors roughly 100 times smaller than a grain of sand. There are millions of these sensors, and each one is covered by a red, green, or blue filter, allowing it to measure how much of that color is in the light hitting its location. Then these measurements are simplified, rounding them to less detailed numbers. This stepsacrificessome data, thus lowering the final images’ quality, but it’s essential for the camera’s processor. This computer can only handle so much information as it decrypts the three sets of color data to assemble a digital recreation of the image.要理解这个极限，我们首先得了解手机摄像头的工作原理。和其他数码相机一样，当手机拍照时，光线会通过镜头进入。镜头将光线聚焦到一个图像传感器上，这个传感器表面覆盖着由光敏单元（photosites）组成的网格——这些微型感光元件比一粒沙子小约100倍。这样的感光元件有上百万个，每一个上面都有红、绿或蓝的滤光片，使它能够测量到达该位置的光线中对应颜色的强度。接着，这些测量值会被简化，四舍五入成较粗略的数字。这一步虽然会牺牲部分数据，从而降低最终图像的质量，但却是摄像头处理器运作所必需的。因为这个微型计算机在解读三组颜色数据、重建数字图像的过程中，所能处理的信息量是有限的。While the quality of this final photo depends on every part of the camera, nothing determines the look of a digital picture more than the image sensor. And engineers judge the quality of image sensors based on their performance in three areas. The first is resolution, or level of detail. Sensors with higher numbers of photosites offer better resolution, as the camera can collect more granular light data. Second and third are dynamic range and noise. Dynamic range is the span from light to dark within a single photo, and noise is the graininess that can come from poor lighting, long exposure times, or an overheating camera. Both these factors can be improved by using larger photosites, which can capture more light overall. This wider range of data helps processors better measure the intensity of the incoming light, adding contrast and reducing noise.虽然最终照片的质量取决于相机的每一个部分，但决定数码图像观感的关键因素，莫过于图像传感器。工程师通常从三个方面评估传感器的质量。第一是分辨率，即细节的清晰程度。拥有更多感光元件的传感器能提供更高的分辨率，因为它能收集更细微的光线数据。第二和第三是动态范围与噪点。动态范围指的是一张照片中从最亮到最暗的跨度，而噪点则是由于光线不足、曝光时间过长或摄像头过热而产生的颗粒感。这两者都可以通过使用更大的感光元件来改善，因为更大的感光面积能捕捉到更多光线。更宽的数据范围让处理器能更准确地判断光线强度，从而提升对比度并减少噪点。

So we ended up taking the car back, it was no longer functional, and we decided to place it in an art gallery in Los Angeles. And at this gallery, actually, I got to attend the opening, and at the opening I observed something that I totally did not expect to see, which was purchasers of the key had flown in from all over the country, not just to see the thing that they had touched and interacted with show up in a gallery, but they were actually there to meet each other for the first time. I watched them taking photos and sharing stories of their own individual escapades with the car, and I took a step back and realized this project was never about the car. It was never about the keys. It was about the people. Like, it really was about the friends you make along the way.最后我们把那辆车收回来了，它已经无法使用了，于是我们决定把它放在洛杉矶的一家艺术馆里。开幕那天我也有幸参加，结果我看到了一个完全没预料到的场景——那些曾经买过钥匙的人从全美各地飞来，不只是为了看他们曾经触碰和互动过的东西出现在画廊里，而是为了第一次彼此见面。我看到他们拍照、分享自己和这辆车的冒险故事。那一刻我退后一步，意识到这个项目从来不是关于车，也不是关于钥匙，而是关于人，关于一路上你结交的朋友。And now if you see the car, you'll see it outside, I mean, it looks nothing like it did when we started out. The faux wood paneling is gone, regrettably, but now it's covered in paint, drawings, scribbled messages from complete strangers to other total strangers. It's no longer a car. Now it's a rallying point for this weird little random community that sprang up out of nowhere and gave this thing a life of its own.如果你现在看到那辆车，你会发现它完全不像最初的样子了。人造木板装饰已经没了，虽然有点遗憾，但如今车身上覆盖着涂鸦、画作，以及陌生人写给陌生人的随手留言。它已经不再是一辆车，而成了一个奇怪而随机的社区的聚集点，这个社区凭空出现，却让它拥有了自己的生命。And with that, I'd like to invite each and every one of you to reach under your seat. Because I've placed -- Sorry, sorry, sorry.说到这里，我想邀请在座的每一位伸手到你们的座位下面。因为我放了——啊，对不起，对不起，对不起。They told me not to do that. I did it anyways. This is my first and last TED Talk. Whatever.他们曾经告诉我不要这么做。但我还是做了。这是我第一次也是最后一次TED演讲。随便吧。Anyways, we all know that keys, they start cars just like ATM machines are supposed to dispense cash. Just like Big Red Boots are supposed to be shoes. But in the case of the bad idea, none of these ended up being what they appeared to be on the surface. They ended up taking a life of their own, and they all became something else entirely, for better or for worse. And to me, that's the most exciting thing about it all.总之，我们都知道钥匙是用来发动汽车的，就像ATM机是用来吐钞票的，就像大红靴子理应是鞋子一样。但在“坏点子”的案例里，它们最后都不是表面上看起来的那个东西。它们有了自己的生命，完全变成了别的东西，不论好坏。而对我来说，这正是其中最令人兴奋的地方。I'm not necessarily saying that bad ideas are good ideas. All I'm saying is give yourself a chance to explore the thing that makes you uncomfortable, because you just never know what might happen.我并不是在说坏点子就是好点子。我想说的只是：给自己一个机会去探索那些让你感到不舒服的事物，因为你永远不知道会发生什么。

When you open Pandora's box of bad ideas, clearly the sky's the limit. So let's keep pushing it. I got three minutes.当你打开“坏点子”的潘多拉魔盒时，很明显，没有什么是不能尝试的。所以让我们继续往前推。我还有三分钟。This is a big fruit loop. I don't -- there's not much else to say. It's real. It's about the size of a dinner plate. It takes a lot of milk to put down, but I assure you, it's just as good as the original.这是一个巨大的麦圈。我没什么别的好说的。它是真的，大小差不多有一只餐盘那么大。需要很多牛奶才能吃下去，但我保证，它的味道和原版一样好。This is what we call an Alexagate. It's an electronics device armed with seven ultrasonic speakers at its base that blasts white noise into the mic of any Alexa device to keep it from eavesdropping on you when you're not using it.这是我们称之为 Alexagate 的东西。它是一种电子设备，底部装有七个超声波扬声器，会向 Alexa 设备的麦克风发射白噪音，从而防止 Alexa 在你不用的时候偷听你。And then this one is a life-size sculpture that keeps track of and counts the number of times anyone has touched it. Because if you ever go to a gallery or museum, you know you're not supposed to touch the art. So this is supposed to discourage people touching the art.然后这是一个真人大小的雕塑，它会记录并统计每个人触碰它的次数。因为如果你去过美术馆或博物馆，你就知道艺术品是不能随便碰的。而这个作品的目的，就是让人们更不敢去碰艺术品。Right. Actually, I wanted to wrap up the story about the car because it is real. If you take a second later, it's parked outside. It's here on the loop, so go find it. The car was real. The 5,000 keys were real. We released this to the world in the fall of 2022, and for the following nine months, we actually got to watch this thing change hands hundreds, if not thousands of times, mostly via very peaceful communal meetups and the occasional Grand Theft Auto, which I can't really talk too much about here.好的。实际上，我想把关于那辆车的故事收尾，因为它是真的。等会儿你们可以去看看，它就停在外面，在这附近，所以自己去找吧。车是真的，5,000 把钥匙也是真的。我们在 2022 年秋天把它释放到这个世界里，在接下来的九个月里，我们真的看到它几百次，甚至上千次易手，大多数情况是很和平的社区聚会，当然偶尔也会有“侠盗猎车”的场景出现——不过这个我在这里不能细说。Over that nine months, it started in New York, it made its way down to Philadelphia, it stayed in Philadelphia for a few days. Grand Theft Auto. And then eventually made its way across the Midwest to the West Coast, where nine months later, I mean, the GPS stopped. We kind of assumed that the project was over. Which is OK. It had a glorious life. But then one day I get a call, and it's a call from a tow pound. And the tow pound is saying, "Hey, we're pretty sure that we have your car because it is registered under your name. But it's such a weird thing because people keep showing up and claiming the car, and they all have keys that work."在那九个月中，它最初出现在纽约，然后一路到费城，在费城停留了几天（期间发生了一次“侠盗猎车”事件）。后来，它又穿过中西部，一直到了西海岸。九个月后，GPS 信号消失了，我们就以为这个项目结束了。没关系，它已经有过辉煌的一生。但某天我接到一个电话，来自一个拖车场。拖车场的人说：“嘿，我们很确定有一辆车是你的，因为它登记在你的名下。但怪事是，不断有人来认领这辆车，而且他们手里都有能开的钥匙。”

I'm glad you guys think it's funny. I thought it was horrifying. So it wasn't enough for us to just make this. We had to put it in the right place. Does it go outside our studio in Brooklyn? Do we put it in Times Square? My colleagues and I conferred for a little bit, and we realized there's only one place that this thing can ever go. It's Art Basel Miami.很高兴你们觉得这件事好笑。但在我看来，它其实挺可怕的。所以，光是做出这台机器还不够，我们必须把它放在合适的地方。是放在布鲁克林的工作室门口？还是放在时代广场？我和同事们商量了一下，最后发现，这东西唯一合适的地方就是 迈阿密巴塞尔艺术展。So we take it to Miami. Somehow, we get our way into a gallery and we get into a booth. And on day one, people were actually a little bit hesitant to engage, which I totally get it. It's a little bit shady. It's participatory, I understand. But eventually people would muster up the courage to swipe their card. They would clock in at like 100 dollars in their bank account balance, maybe 1,200 dollars in their bank account balance. By the end of the day, however, someone ended up swiping and clocked in at 12,000 dollars in their bank account balance. And then things started to get a little bit weird.于是我们把它运到迈阿密。不知怎么的，我们成功挤进了一家画廊，弄到一个展位。第一天，人们其实有点犹豫，不太敢尝试，我完全理解——它看起来确实有点阴间操作，而且是参与式的。但最终，人们还是鼓起勇气刷了卡。有人显示账户里有 100 美元，有人显示 1,200 美元。但到了当天结束时，有人刷卡显示账户里有 12,000 美元，事情开始变得微妙起来。The next day, a famous celebrity DJ named Diplo showed up with his entire entourage, pulled out his debit card, swiped it in the machine, clocked in at three million dollars in his bank account, and shot to the top of the leaderboard. And honestly, the rest is kind of hazy because a crowd amassed so huge around the ATM machine for the following three days that the art fair actually assigned five extra security guards not to protect the ATM machine, but to keep the crowd from bumping into the artworks of the neighboring galleries, which was actually very funny.第二天，一位著名的明星 DJ —— Diplo 带着他的随行人员出现在展会。他掏出借记卡，在机器上刷了一下，结果账户余额显示 三百万美元，直接登上排行榜首位。接下来的情况有点模糊了，因为在随后的三天里，这台 ATM 机前聚集了庞大的人群，以至于艺术博览会不得不额外安排五个保安——不是为了保护这台 ATM 机，而是为了防止人群撞到隔壁画廊的艺术品。这件事本身就很搞笑。But the most interesting thing that I got to observe here was this unexpected crowd dynamic where when people with astonishingly low bank accounts would swipe their cards, in front of this captive audience, by the way -- and I'm talking really low, like two dollars, concerningly low --但对我来说，最有趣的观察点在于，那些账户余额极低的人刷卡时，意外引发的人群反应。注意，我说的是真的很低，比如只有 两美元，低到令人担心的程度——而且是在一群观众面前公开显示的时候。They would swipe, they would get ranked at the bottom, and then they would turn around to face the audience, and the audience would lose their minds -- they were cheering and screaming and celebrating and clapping and taking pictures. And it was sincere. It was actually like this wholesome "one of us"-like celebration, which was not anything that we expected.↳他们刷完卡，显示在排行榜最底端，然后转过身面对观众。观众却沸腾了——欢呼、尖叫、庆祝、鼓掌、拍照，而且是发自内心的。那感觉就像一种真诚的“你是我们中的一员”的集体庆祝，这完全出乎我们的意料。And then to sort of wrap up that week, the funny thing is, a buyer ended up acquiring the ATM machine as a sculpture for a whopping 75,000 dollars. But the funny thing to me is, I don't think that person ever realized that the artwork was not the ATM machine. The artwork was the act of people engaging with the ATM machine. The actual artwork was the relationships that people developed with one another via the ATM machine.到了那周的尾声，最有趣的是，有人最后以 7.5 万美元 的高价把这台 ATM 当作雕塑买走了。但在我看来好笑的是，我不觉得那位买家意识到：真正的艺术作品并不是这台 ATM 机本身，而是人们与这台 ATM 的互动。真正的艺术，是人们通过这台机器彼此之间建立的关系。See, when we made this thing originally, we were pretty sure it was going to reflect all the worst parts of humanity at Art Basel Miami. But we were wrong. It ended up just being a random crowd of total strangers having a great time together in one big awkward, shared moment of financial transparency.你要知道，当我们最初制作这个东西时，我们确信它会在迈阿密巴塞尔艺术展上揭露人性最糟糕的一面。但我们错了。最后它却成了一个随机的陌生人群体，在一种巨大而尴尬、却共同的“财务透明时刻”中，一起度过了愉快的时光。Oh, I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet. So.哦，我还没讲完呢，我真的还没讲完。好了

So you've probably figured out by now that I'm not actually here to sell you keys to a car. Today I'm here to talk to you about bad ideas. The kind of ideas that typically die on the vine because reason or work colleagues get in the way. But to me, these are the most exciting ideas because you just never know what might happen.你们大概已经猜到了，我其实不是来卖车钥匙的。今天我想谈的是“坏点子”。这种点子通常在一开始就会被扼杀，因为理性思考或同事的否决会把它挡在路上。但在我看来，这些恰恰是最令人兴奋的点子，因为你永远不知道它们最终会变成什么。Take these crazy-looking shoes, for example. I think it was like the spring of 2023. My colleagues and I were sketching out the initial prototypes of the Big Red Boot. I remember us being equal parts terrified because, of course, like, who's going to wear these, much less spend money on them? But at the same time, the moment that we put on the initial prototypes ourselves --就拿这双长得很疯狂的鞋子来说吧。我记得那大概是 2023 年的春天，我和同事们在画 Big Red Boot 的最初原型。当时我们既兴奋又害怕，因为很自然的想法就是——谁会穿这种鞋？更别提花钱去买了。但与此同时，当我们自己第一次穿上原型鞋的那一刻——We were filled with such a chaotic sense of glee that we were like, you know what, we just got to do it. So we committed to making a couple hundred pairs, we priced them at 350 dollars and we just prayed that there would be a few hundred people out there in the world who would spend money on these crazy-looking things.我们心里涌起了一种混乱却强烈的喜悦感，于是我们想：“算了，不管了，干吧！”于是我们决定做几百双，把价格定在 350 美元，只能祈祷世界上会有几百个人愿意花钱买下这种看起来疯狂的东西。So a week before the drop, we leaked this image through a friend's Instagram account. Again, just hoping that people don't hate it, or even worse, that they don't ignore it. In hindsight, we needn't have worried. The algorithm smiled quite fondly upon the Big Red Boot, and all of a sudden this thing was everywhere. Like, I don't even, I can't even. It's basically like a blur. I don't understand what happened.在正式发售前一周，我们通过一个朋友的 Instagram 账号泄露了这张照片。再次，只是希望人们不要讨厌它，更不要完全无视它。结果回过头来看，我们根本不需要担心。算法很“宠爱”这双 Big Red Boot，突然之间，它火遍了各个角落。老实说，我甚至都说不清楚是怎么回事，一切都像是一阵模糊的旋风。All of a sudden, people were wearing them courtside at NBA games. I saw Lil Wayne wearing them in amusicvideo. I remember my dad calling me and saying, "Hey, Gabe, there's a professional WWE wrestler wearing your boots on live pay-per-view TV. And he just curb stomped another guy."转眼之间，人们穿着它出现在 NBA 球场边。我看到 Lil Wayne 在一支音乐录影带里穿着它。我还记得我爸打电话告诉我：“嘿，Gabe，有个职业 WWE 摔跤选手在付费直播里穿着你的靴子，他刚刚用它踩翻了另一个人。”It's incredible. And yet we almost didn't do it. This is almost where it ended. Just as an internal project on the cutting room floor. People told us it was not a great business decision. And honestly, I get it. But what started as a bad idea ended up becoming a very interesting idea.这太不可思议了。但我们差点就没做这件事，差点它就停留在内部项目阶段，被放在角落里废弃。很多人告诉我们，这不是一个很好的商业决策。说实话，我理解他们的想法。但一个最初的坏点子，最终却变成了一个非常有趣的点子。Here's another one. The idea was an ATM machine. Totally normal, functional, operational, extremely legal ATM machine, with one catch. Attached to the ATM machine, as you see, is a digital leaderboard that ranks people based on the amount of money in their remaining account balances.再来一个例子。这次的点子是一台自动取款机。完全正常、功能齐全、合法合规的 ATM 机，但有一个特别之处：在 ATM 机上安装了一块电子排行榜，它会根据用户账户的剩余余额多少来对他们进行排名。