but bear with me.

但請包容我一下

Now, I am an entomologist.

因為 我是個昆蟲學家

I confess to that.

我自首

And, when I look at the planet,

嗯 當我在檢視地球時

the reason I'm an entomologist

我之所以成為一位昆蟲學家

is because out of the 1.9 million species

是因為生存在地球上的

that are described on planet Earth,

一百九十萬的物種

over 1 million of them are insects.

有超過一百萬種是昆蟲

And I truly believe as a scientist today

且身為科學家的我現在深信

we live in the best of times

我們生存在最美好的時代

because here we are enjoying TED,

因為我們可以享受 TED

and Facebook,

臉書 Facebook

and YouTube,

YouTube

and this wonderful theater,

這個很棒的劇場

healthcare,

健康保健

longer life spans.

更長的壽命

But we also live in the worst of times

但我們也同時生存在最差的時代

because we are on a planet with 7 billion people

因為地球上有七十億人口

with a lot of problems.

且問題叢生

And for those of us who look at biodiversity,

我們這些了解生物多樣性的人

it's a heart-wrenching and wonderful time all together

同時感到心痛跟歡欣

because we see the links between nature and people,

因為我們可以感受到自然跟人類之間的連結

and we're losing them at the same time.

同時我們也正在失去這個關係

Both honeybees and humans originate in East Africa.

蜜蜂和人類都是由東非起源

And, here in Kenya, a wonderful relationship exists

在此處 肯亞 存在著一個美好的關係

where a bird called a honeyguide, up there,

有一種鳥稱為嚮蜜鴷 在右上角

has this interesting phenomenon

有個有趣的現象

where it actually leads either humans,

它會引導人類

which it's done for thousands of years,

數千年來皆如此

77,000 year old paintings from Tanzania,

由 7 萬 7 千年前坦尚尼亞的壁畫可見

and the honey badger

還有蜜獾

to the wild honeybee colony.

來到野生的蜜蜂群

Now, for a long time we thought this relationship

長久以來 我們認為這種關係

first evolved between the honeyguide

起初是從嚮蜜鴷

and the honey badger.

和蜜獾開始發展

But it turns out that it actually evolved

但其實 這個關係的起源是

between the human and the honeyguide,

是人類 嚮蜜鴷

and the badger's a parasite.

而蜜獾只是寄生蟲

Now, when we look at bees,

我們再來看看蜜蜂

there is this amazing diversity out there,

存在著不可思議的多樣性

20,000 species.

共有兩萬個物種

And one in three bites of food that we eat

我們所吃的食物裡有三分之一

is thanks to an insect pollinator.

要感謝授粉昆蟲

So one of the things I'm working on

因此其中一件我正在研究的事情就是

is looking at those links

了解這些關係

between nature and sustainable human life.

介於人類和其賴以生存的大自然之間的關係

And here are just a few of the beautiful bees

這裡有一些美麗的蜜蜂

that we have in Kenya,

是生長在肯亞國內

in fact, not far from Nairobi.

事實上 距離奈洛比並不遠

Now, how many of you like coffee?

現在 有多少人喜歡咖啡

Yeah, I actually can't drink it

我自己其實不能喝咖啡

because if I do, my hands shake,

因為一旦我喝了咖啡 我的手就會顫抖

and I can't pick up ants and bees.

如此一來我就不能拿起螞蟻和蜜蜂了

Chocolate?

巧克力呢？

I love chocolate, the darker the better,

我超愛巧克力 越黑越好

so I really like chocolate.

我非常喜歡巧克力

Now the thing is, without insect pollinators,

但你們知道嘛？ 如果沒有授粉昆蟲

there would be very little coffee

那咖啡產量會變得非常少

and no chocolate on the planet.

且在地球上會沒有巧克力

Could you imagine that?

你們可以想像嘛？

That's really scary!

那是非常可怕的事情！

Now, I want to show you

我來告訴大家

out of thousands of examples

生活中有上千種例子

that I could have brought here today

今天我會舉出其中一部分

to show you how insects are connected to your life,

讓你們知道昆蟲和你們之間的關係

to every single human being on the planet.

和地球上每個人類之間的關係

Here are two colleagues and friends.

這是我兩位同事和朋友

Domina is a farmer in Mwanza

多米那是姆萬紮區的一位農夫

in western Tanzania,

姆萬紮區位於坦尚尼亞西部

and Peter is from the Kerio Valley

這個是來自於奇力歐谷的彼得

in northwestern Kenya.

奇力歐谷是在肯亞的西北部

Now, Domina grows pigeon feed, cow feed,

多米那種植鴿子的飼料 牛的飼料

a whole wide range of legumes.

還有一大片豆類植物

And she feeds her family,

她靠此養活整個家庭

she survives in a very remote area

她生活在相當偏遠的區域

based off of these amazing crops,

靠著這些驚人的作物

legumes, a lot of traditional vegetables,

豆類 許多傳統的蔬菜維生

and all of them are pollinated

而這些全部都需要授粉

by these different wild bee species.

只是藉由不同種類的野生蜜蜂

Now, Peter grows five varieties of mango on his farm,

而彼得在他的農場上 種植了五種不同的芒果

and he actually paid for his education

他學費的來源是

by growing and selling mangoes.

靠著芒果的種植跟銷售

And I really like mangoes

我非常喜歡芒果

and so it's really a great pleasure working on the farm

所以在那個農田上工作 對我來說是一種享受

with five different varieties of mango.

那裡有五種不同的芒果

And if you look at all these different fruits and crops here,

這些不同的水果和作物

one thing that connects us to biodiversity

和我們的共通點就是生物多樣性

and one thing we do as a scientist,

我們身為科學家

we write papers.

專門寫論文

We do research, and we write papers.

我們作研究 然後寫論文

Nobody ever reads them,

但沒有人會去讀

but here's one of my papers.

這是我其中一份論文

It's on the African violet.

是關於非洲紫羅蘭的

This is in the U.S.

這是在美國

This florist sells about 10,000 dollars worth

這個花商每年銷售價值高達一萬美元的

of violets a year.

紫羅蘭

It's worth about 6 billion dollars in trade.

紫羅蘭在全球貿易上佔有六十億美元

It originates in East Africa,

發源地在東非

and we never knew what pollinated it.

我們先前從未知道它們透過什麼授粉

Well, I went off and studied this.

因此 我當時就前往去研究這個主題

One thing to say about pollinators

關於授粉昆蟲的一大重點

is it comes done to being about sex.

也就是性生活

And how many of you like sex?

有多少人喜歡性生活的？

Where are we, the Vatican?

這裡是哪裡 梵蒂岡？（開玩笑）

So what happens when insects help plants have sex

那麼當昆蟲幫助植物進行性行為之時

is there's really good sex.

那就是相當圓滿的性行為

This is an example of really good sex.

我舉個相當圓滿的性行為例子

So basically the bee comes along,

當蜜蜂靠近時

it vibrates the flower

會使得花朵震動

at a specific frequency, 11 to 12 hertz,

振動的頻率會在 11 到 12 赫茲

pollen is released,

就會釋放出花粉

and the plant survives in the wild.

也因此植物才能在大自然中繁衍

This is one of the world's most endangered plants.

這是世界上瀕臨絕種的植物之一

We go up into the deserts of northern Kenya,

在北肯亞的沙漠中

which are now very famous

現在非常出名的地方

because of the discovery of oil.

因為在那裡發現了石油

But I will tell you a little different story.

但我要說的故事有點不同

These animals, the camel,

這些動物 駱駝

which allow life in this very remote community,

讓人能在非常遙遠的區域生活

are browsing off of a shrub called indigofera,

以一種稱為槐藍屬的灌木為食

and indigofera is 100% dependent on bee pollination.

而槐藍屬的植物是 100% 依賴蜜蜂的授粉行為

So all these wild bees produce the indigofera,

也就是說野生的蜜蜂使得 槐藍屬的植物繁衍

which the camels and goats eat.

也讓駱駝跟山羊有食物可吃

And we look at a community like this,

我們再來看看像這樣的群落

Nalaray, northern Samburu,

北山布魯的那拉瑞

and people will look at these children

當人們看這些兒童時

and say they are poor.

會說他們很貧窮

And I disagree

我不同意

because over lunch we collected 30 different bee species

因為只在午餐時間內我們 就收集到三十種不同的蜜蜂

in the Acacia where they had their lunch

就在他們吃午餐的皂莢樹上

and 400 pollinator species in the Acacia tortilis

而這皂莢樹上有四百種授粉昆蟲

where their classroom is located.

皂莢樹就是他們的教室所在

So I want to leave you with a radical piece of technology

我想委託給大家一個激進的技術

called the bee hotel

我們稱之為蜜蜂飯店

that you can innovate and build for yourself.

你可以自己創建以及架構

Create a habitat where bees can nest and live

一個蜜蜂可以築巢並且生活的棲息地

in your own backyard.

就在你家的後院

But more importantly, please create space

但更重要的是 在你們的心中

in your hearts for insects.

要留一部分給昆蟲

Spend five minutes a day with them if you can.

如果可以 一天花五分鐘與他們相處

And I believe that if the one lesson

我相信 有一件事

we can learn from insects

我們可以從昆蟲身上學到

is that meek shall inherit the Earth.

就是 「溫柔的人必承受地土」（聖經）