casually watching a video on YouTube

用一台過去幾十年的人類完全無法製造出來的強大電腦

on a computer more powerful than anything humanity could build a few decades ago.

愜意的觀看 YouTube 影片

Тhis progress and all the wonderful machines you take for granted

這些你視為理所當然的科技進步和美妙機器

are built on a few rare and precious materials

是由數種稀少且珍貴的材料製作的

with names like Terbium, Nneodymium or Tantalum.

例如 鋱、釹、鉭

Getting these rare materials from the ground into your devices is ugly

把這些稀有材料從土裡裝進你的裝置的過程

The mining industry is responsible for air and water pollution

其實是很醜陋的

and the destruction of entire landscapes.

這些礦業造成了空氣和水資源的污染

Dangerous chemicals like cyanide, sulphuric acid or chlorine are used to extract the resources,

也破壞了地貌

harming biodiversity, workers and locals.

用來分離這些資源的氰化物、硫酸、氯等危險化學物質

And rare resources are also political tools, when countries restrict access to them to get their way.

也會破壞生物多樣性、工人、地方百姓

But what if we could replace the mining industry on earth,

當國家限制這些稀缺資源的取得時

with a clean process that can't harm anyone?

它們也被拿來當成政治工具

Well, we can; all we need to do is look up.

但如果我們可以用乾淨又無害的流程

(catchy introductory music by Kurzgesagt)

來取代地球上的採礦業呢?

Asteroids are millions of trillions of tons of rocks, metals, and ice.

嗯... 很可以喔！

Leftovers from the cloud that became the planet 4.5 billion years ago.

我們所需要做的只是 - 向上看

They can be as small as a meter or proto-planets the size of entire countries.

等 登等登等

Most of them are concentrated in the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt

等 登等登等等

while hundreds of thousands more do their own thing between the planets.

等等登

As space travel is becoming more feasible

小行星是數百萬兆(10^18)噸的石頭、金屬和冰塊

scientists and economists have been begun looking at the resources found in these asteroids.

四十五億年前沒能變成真行星所剩餘的星雲

Even relatively small metallic asteroids

它們可以小至一公尺

may contain trillions worth of industrial and precious metals like platinum.

或大至一個國家的大小

And bigger asteroids like 16 Psyche could contain enough iron nickel to

多數存在在小行星帶和柯伊伯帶裡面

cover the world's metal needs for millions of years.

但也有數十萬個待在行星之間

At current market prices the rare raw materials alone would be worth quadrillions of dollars.

當太空旅行變得更加可行

Well, not really. But technically.

科學家和經濟學家便開始關注小行星上的資源了

For example, there are more than 20 million tons of gold in the ocean's water

即便相對較小的金屬小行星

worth roughly 750 trillion U.S. dollars.

也可能包含價值數萬億美元的工業用貴金屬

But filtering out the gold would be so expensive that you'd lose money selling it.

例如白金

Right now asteroid mining has exactly this problem.

而大些的小行星例如16號靈神星

It's too expensive to replace mining on Earth.

包含的鐵和鎳

Billions of dollars worth of valuable resources in space are worthless

可能就足夠地球用數百萬年了

if it costs trillions to get them.

根據現在的市值，單單這些原礦就價值

What makes it so hard?

1,000,000,000,000,000 (10^15) 美元了

The principals behind mining an asteroid are simple.

理論上是醬拉

The basic idea is to choose an asteroid

但實際賺不了那麼多

move it to a place where it's easy to process,

舉例來講好了

and then take it apart to turn into useful products.

海裡面大概有個兩百萬噸的黃金

Unfortunately all of this collides with fundamental problems humans have yet to solve

大概值 750兆美元吧

Going to space is expensive.

但要把這些黃金給濾出來要花超多錢 越挖越賠，傻了才挖

It costs thousands of dollars in rocket fuel for each kilogram, just to reach a low earth orbit.

目前的太空挖礦其實也是一樣的問題

Going further out into deep space costs thousands more.

比起地球挖礦，挖起來太貴了

We need cheaper space travel to make asteroid mining profitable.

如果要花幾兆鎂才能挖的話

One solution is to switch from classical rockets to electric spaceships.

那只值幾十億鎂的太空資源也沒什麼用

We already use electrical rocket engines for many of the space probes on science missions.

人生怎麼這麼難？

In principal, we only need to build bigger ones.

太空挖礦背後的原理其實很簡單啊

While electrical engines are not powerful enough to fly to space

啊不就選一顆小行星

they require only a tiny amount of fuel to go very far once they're in space.

搬到方便做事的地方

This means we don't need to spend a lot of money on fuel

然後把它拆開，轉做成實用的產品

only to transport fuel into space.

不幸的是，代誌沒那簡單

This doesn't solve the whole cost problem-

這些大膽的想法有些人類還沒解決的基本問題

but it makes it easier to start our first mission.

去太空太貴了

Now that we have an electric asteroid-mining spaceship,

光是去低空軌道的燃料

we need to find the right asteroid and get it there.

每公斤就要幾千鎂了

We've already successfully visited asteroids with space probes

去到更深的太空

and even collected samples.

就要再多花個幾千塊

Still, to make it easier and cheaper

我們需要更便宜的太空交通，才能讓太空礦業獲利

our first targets will probably be near-Earth asteroids.

其中一個解法是

Asteroids that orbit, well, near Earth.

把傳統化學火箭轉變成電動太空船

After a few months of travel

我們已經在不少太空探測器和太空任務上使用電動火箭引擎了

our spaceship finally arrives at an asteroid.

從原則上，我們只需建造更大的就好了

Weirdly formed, littered with small impact craters,

然而電力推進系統

it hasn't changed much for billions of years.

並不足以提供足夠的動力抵達太空

The first thing that needs to be done is to secure the asteroid and stop it from spinning.

但只要一點點燃料

There are multiple ways to do this,

就能在太空裡面飛很遠了

like vaporizing material with a laser

這代表我們不用只為了把燃料送上太空

or stopping the rotation with thrusters.

而花太多油錢

Once we have a stable asteroid, we need to wait.

這樣還沒辦法解決整個成本問題

Orbital mechanics are complicated,

不過至少讓我們要踏出的第一步簡單一些了

but if you push something in the right direction at exactly the right moment,

現在我們有了一台電動太空礦船

you can move very big things with very little force.

下一步就是找顆適合的小行星來挖

So, we wait for exactly the right moment.

我們已經成功的讓一些太空探測器登陸小行星

Our ship fires its thrusters and nudges the asteroid into a trajectory that takes it near our Moon.

甚至還收集了一些樣品

The Moon is useful because we can borrow

但為了讓這事更簡單便宜些

its gravitational pull to put the asteroid in a stable orbit around Earth,

我們的第一個目標應該是靠近地球的小行星

which saves even more fuel.

至少軌道要夠近

Again, the trip takes months.

經過幾個月的太空旅行，我們的太空船終於到達

But all the time since our ship was launched has not been wasted.

這顆奇形怪狀、佈滿隕石坑的小行星

The first space mining and processing equipment has been installed in orbit,

它在數十億年來從未被動過

and is now carefully moving towards the asteroid.

要做的第一件事情

The processor works very differently than on Earth.

就是保全這顆行星並讓它停止轉動

Giant mirrors focus sunlight and heat up asteroid rock

有幾種方法

to boil out the gases.

例如用雷射來蒸發它表面的物質產生反作用力

Grinders break up the dried rocks into gravel and dust,

或是在它旋轉的反方向裝上推進器

and centrifuges separate dense from light elements.

當它穩定下來後，我們必須等待

Even if we only extract 0.01% of the asteroid's mass in precious metals,

軌道運動很複雜

this is still several times more than you'd get from the same amount of ore

但如果我們在正確的時機用正確的角度推

on the ground.

就能用小小的力量～ 推動大大的夢想～

But what now? How do we get our precious metals safely back to ground?

所以我們就等待著一個對的時機

There are a few ways, like loading it into reusable rockets

我們的船點燃推進器

that return to Earth from space.

把小行星輕推到靠近月亮的軌道

Or if our processor contains 3-D printers,

月亮很實用

we can print a faster and cheaper delivery system.

我們可以藉由它的重力吸引，把小行星放到穩定的地球軌道

Heat shielded capsules filled with gas bubbles.

這樣還能省更多燃料

These can just be dropped into the oceans where ships tow them away.

同樣，這個也是要花幾個月

This could be the starting point of humanity's first real steps

但這些時間不是白費的

towards colonizing the solar system.

第一套挖掘和作業設備已經在軌道上安裝完畢

As our infrastructure and experience grows,

現在正被小心的移近小行星

our missions get more and more sophisticated.

這些程序和地球挖礦會很不一樣

Parts and fuel produced on asteroids

巨大的鏡子聚焦陽光 並加熱小行星上的岩石

don't have to be launched from Earth at all.

把氣體蒸發掉 （在太空的低溫下以固態存在）

The first mining operation makes the second one easier, and so on.

研磨機把乾燥的岩石打成碎石和沙塵

While the space industry grows

離心機把稠密和輕的物質分開

and precious materials become cheaper,

即便我們只提取了小行星質量 0.01% (萬分之一)的貴金屬

eventually we could stop mining on Earth.

還是比我們在地上能挖到的多數倍

Even the idea of toxic mining down here

但挖出來之後呢？

might become something weird and anachronistic,

要怎麼把這些貴金屬安全的放到地球上？

like having an open fire in your living room.

這又有幾個方法了

Landscapes ravaged by pollution will heal,

例如裝進可回收利用的火箭來返回地球

while the technological wonders we're used to

或是我們的礦機內建 3D 列印機

get cheaper and less toxic to make.

可以列印又快又便宜的運送系統

None of this is science fiction.

用氣體泡泡填充的阻熱膠囊

We don't need fancy materials or new physics

這些膠囊可以直接丟進海裡

to make asteroid mining happen.

等船來拖走

We could start building this future today.

這可能會是人類邁向殖民太陽系的出發點

All we need is an initial ... push!

當我們的基礎設施和經驗累積

Maybe you could also use a little nudge,

我們的任務就越來越精妙複雜了

not to pursue anything as ambitious as asteroid mining,

零件和燃料

just to try something new and fun.

都不見得需要從地球發送了

Let us give you some tailwind there.

第一個任務的運作讓第二個變簡單，以此類推

We partnered with Skillshare,

當太空工業發展、貴金屬變便宜

an online learning community

最終我們可能可以停止在地球上挖礦

with thousands of classes in all kinds of creative skills

甚至現在這些有毒的礦業

like graphic design, music, photography, illustration and animation.

在未來會變得奇怪過時

They have something for every skill level,

就像現在沒人會在客廳生營火了

so no matter from where you're starting,

被蹂躪的地貌也會恢復

there'll be tons of things for you to explore!

我們用的科技奇蹟

If you'd like to take a glimpse behind the scenes of our animations,

也會更加便宜 更加無害

for example, we've made a couple of Skillshare

這些都不是什麼科幻設定

classes that teach you how we animated

我們不需要什麼神奇材料或新的物理學讓小行星挖礦成真

scenes from our videos,

我們大可現在就開始建造

with video lessons classes and hands-on projects.

我們所需要只是一個原始的...推力

Or if you'd rather come up with your own characters to breathe life into,

或許你也可以推它一把

we recommend 'Character Illustration: from Concept to Final Artwork' by Matt Kaufenberg.

這不是說去追求跟太空挖礦一樣野心勃勃的計劃

But it doesn't really matter what you pick,

去試試新奇有趣的東西就可以了

as long as you get started, improve your skills and have some fun.

讓我們助你一臂之力

Unlimited access to all classes is only $10/month with an annual premium membership.

我們與 SkillShare 合作

But we have a treat for the first 1000 Kurzgesagt viewers to click

它是個擁有數千堂各種創作技巧課程的學習社群

the link in the description:

圖像設計、音樂、攝影、描繪和動畫

you'll get a two-month trial for free!

他們在各個技能等級都有教學內容

If you want to leave your comfort zone by exploring new skills

所以不論你的基礎為何

and support Kurzgesagt, give it a try!

都還是有大量的資料供你探索

*bird quacks*

例如如果你想看看我們動畫的幕後製作

[Music]

我們也做了幾堂我們影片的 SkillShare 製作教學課程