What are monsters?

怪獸是什麼？

Scary, unnatural things?

可怕的、不自然的東西？

Yes, but they're more than that and we knew that back when we named them.

沒錯，但在我們幫他們命名的時候我們就知道他們不只這樣了

The word monster comes from the same root word

怪物(monster)這個字的字源與

as demonstrate and demonstrative.

示威、指示的單字來源一樣

Monere, meaning to teach, to instruct, to warn.

Monere(拉丁文)，蘊含著教育、指示、警告的意味

Monsters, like dinosaurs

比如恐龍之類的怪物

and the stories we tell about them have a lot to tell us

以及這些流傳著跟他們有關的故事其實有許多要告訴我們的事情

about ourselves, about the past and about the future.

關於我們自己、關於過去與未來

This Vsauce1 video is not an ordinary video,

這部Vsauce1影片並不是一部普通的影片

it is a dinosaur-dinary video

這是一部恐龍百科的影片

built not just out of me talking,

它不只包括我一個人的談話

but also world-famous paleontologist and technical adviser to every Jurassic Park film

也包括每部侏儸紀電影裡的世界知名的古生物學家以及科技顧問

Jack Horner

Jack Horner

and the hilarious Chris Pratt.

以及最好笑的Chris Pratt

First things first, scientists have so far broken Earth's history down into 22 periods.

首先，目前為止科學家已經把地球歷史分為22個時期

The Jurassic period has come and gone,

而侏儸紀時代出現又滅絕

but the one we live in today is called the Quaternary.

但我們今天生活的這個時代稱為第四紀

Jurassic World is the movie that you're in. Yes. The thing that we're filming right now

侏儸紀世界是一部你有演的電影。沒錯。我們現在在拍的這部是

Quaternary World. Quaternary World. We are organisms from the Quaternary.

第四紀世界。第四紀世界。我們是第四紀的生物

Quaternary Park would be, well, basically like Universal Studios or something.

第四紀公園大概是，嗯，基本上會像是環球影城之類的吧

Exactly. Actually, literally any place on Earth right now.

沒有錯。事實上就是 現在地球上的任何地方

Dinosaurs,

恐龍

fossils. Yeah. Dinosaur, fossil.

化石。對，恐龍，化石

Fossil, fossil fuel. Wow. Is it safe to say that

化石、石油。哇，這樣說好嗎

our cars run on the ghosts of dinosaurs?

我們的車是靠著恐龍的鬼魂在跑的

That question sounds mind-blowing,

這個問題聽起來非常令人驚訝！

but is it true? Are we really fuelling our cars with dinosaur remains?

但這是真的嗎？我們是否真的用恐龍遺骸來幫我們的車加油呢？

Well, I asked paleontologist Jack Horner

我問了古生物學家Jack Horner

and his answer is worth beginning from the bottom or rather

而他的答案指出是來自地底的，或者應該說

from things that come out of bottoms.

從“底下”出來的東西

You'll see what I mean. Okay, so this.

你等等會知道我再說什麼。好的，所以這個

Let me guess what this is. Okay. Yeah, it looks like coal almost. Well, they are, it's

讓我猜猜這個是什麼。 好，恩這看起來幾乎像是木炭。 他們是

actually a coprolite. What's a coprolite?

這其實是糞化石。 什麼是糞化石？

Fossilised dung. Dung?

石化的糞便。 糞便？

Oh, so this is plant material that was eaten

噢，所以這是被吃過的植物

Eaten. Turned into poop. Yes. And then preserved

被吃過，然後變成糞便。 沒錯，然後他們被保留了下來

so that I could hold it today. Yes, exactly.

所以我今天才可以拿著它。 沒錯。

That's a dinosaur poop. This is dinosaur poop.

那是恐龍大便！這是恐龍大便！

Yes. It smells like a rock. Sometimes when we break open

是的，它聞起來像石頭。 有時候我們會打開

somebody's things that are... that have a...

某些人的東西，而那些是......那有......

have a very high concentration plant material you actually can smell it.

有非常濃郁的植物在內，而你可以完全聞到那個味道

Really? What does it smell like?

真的嗎？ 恩...那聞起來像什麼？

Mmmh, rotting wood.

恩...腐爛的木頭

After this long it still has an odor of rotting? It can, yes.

過了這麼久還是可以有腐爛的味道嗎？ 是的，它可以

So, we can probably learn a lot.

所以，我們應該可以學到很多。

We can learn more about the dinosaur from that right there than we can from the bone from its body

比起來自恐龍身上的骨頭，我們可以從那個東西學到更多關於恐龍的事情

That is amazing. Because we can determine,

這真是太棒了。 因為我們可以判定

we can determine exactly what it was eating

我們可以精準的判定他之前正在吃什麼

and and and we can

而且我們可以

look at how it's chopped up, so you can tell a lot about

看出它是如何被吃掉的，這樣就可以看出很多

exactly how they process the food. So, from the

關於他們如何消化食物。 所以從

scientific perspective of learning about dinosaurs

科學的觀點來看恐龍

poop is not crappy at all.

糞便其實一點也不奇怪

Yes.

沒錯

Thanks for laughing at that. Now, at any point would that turn into oil?

謝謝你笑了。 現在，有任何可能它們會變成石油嗎？

No, oil does not come from dinosaur poop.

不會，石油並不來自於恐龍糞便

Does it come from dinosaurs at all?

那有任何成分來自恐龍嗎？

It doesn't come from dinosaurs at all. They come from microorganisms and oceans.

石油完全跟恐龍沒有關係。它們來自微生物以及海洋。

If you took all of the dinosaurs that ever lived

如果你蒐集所有曾經存在過的恐龍

and... and, you know, squished them up

然後..然後，你知道，把它們壓扁

in order to get the oil out of them,

來從他們身上榨出石油

we'd probably go through that oil in, you know, couple of days.

我們大概可以用那些石油，你知道到，大概幾天而已吧

No kidding! I mean the microorganisms from the ocean,

沒有在開玩笑！ 我指的是這些來自海洋的微生物

from the oceans over these millions of years produced...

已經在海洋生成了超過幾百萬年

I mean, the biomass is just incredible compared to the dinosaurs.

我只能說這些生物跟恐龍比起來真的是太不可思議了

Compared to the dinosaurs.

跟恐龍比起來

So there could be a tiny molecule of oil in every thousand gallons or more

所以每千加侖的石油中，可能只有非常非常的分子

that's from a dinosaur. No, you really not even gonna...

是來自恐龍。 不，那甚至不......

That's not even going to happen as well. Basically, all of the oil reserves we have

那甚至不會發生。 基本上，我們現在所有的石油儲存

are in

都在

in sedimentary rocks, produced in oceans.

在沉積石裡，生成在海洋中

So we don't put dinosaur ghosts into our cars,

所以我們不會把恐龍的鬼魂放進我們的車裡

but don't feel lonely. There are actual living dinosaurs with us today.

但不用覺得寂寞。 現代其實有真正活著的恐龍。

There are dinosaurs still around today.

直到現在其實恐龍都還在我們身邊

Dinosaurs never went extinct.

恐龍從未滅絕。

What? Elaborate, alright, fine I will. So, dinosaurs...

甚麼？ 好啦我會仔細說明。所以恐龍......

Yeah, that's what I meant. Dinosaurs are not a species, that was called a clade.

對，那就是我說的。 恐龍不是一個物種，其實是一種生物支序

They're from the clade dinosauria. And the clade is just some

他們來自於恐龍分支。 而分支只是一些

organism and all of its descendants. Okay. Okay?

生物體以及他們的後代。 Okay, Okay?

Dinosaurs came in all different types, right? -mhm

恐龍有不同的類型，對吧？

All of these things were called dinosauria -mhm

而所有的類型都被稱為恐龍類

and then a huge extinction event happened, 65 million years ago.

然後在六千五百萬年前，發生了大規模的滅絕

Yup. Giant rock hit Earth -yeah

沒錯。 巨大的石頭撞上地球

and like almost all of them, all the ones, died

然後幾乎所有的生物都死了

except for a few.

除了僅存的一些

And you know what this one was, this little branch?

而你知道剩下來這一個小小的分支是甚麼嗎？

That's what clade means, by the way - branch.

順帶一提這就是生物分支的意思─分支

Aardvark. Aardvark. No? Uhh,

土豬！ 土豬。 不是嗎？

I do. I know what it was. What? Halibut.

我知道了，我知道是什麼了。 什麼？ 大比目魚

Just for the halibut I will say correct.

如果是大比目魚我會說沒錯啦

That's a dumb joke, that's a joke that's been made a bunch.

那是一個很蠢的笑話。那個笑話被用過太多次了

I've never heard it before. Really? You just said "halibut" like

我之前從來沒聽過。 真的？ 你剛剛把「大比目魚」這個字念得像

"hell of it." Yeah. Yeah. Classic. Now figure this trout.

「隨便啦管它的」(英文音近) 沒錯，經典。 好現在我們來看這條鱒魚

Wow.

哇

Dude.

老兄

The answer is birds.

答案是鳥類

Technically birds aren't just descended from dinosaurs, they literally are dinosaurs.

技術上來說，鳥類不僅是恐龍的後代，他們根本就是恐龍

Exactly. You know, to determine how things are related to one another

沒錯。你知道，要決定甚麼東西跟另一個東西有相關時

we look at the characteristics that they share

我們會去看他們的共同特徵

and when you think about birds and the characteristics

然後當你去想想鳥類以及他們的的特徵

that we think of as being bird characteristics, they are feathers,

我們覺得鳥的特徵包括，牠們有羽毛

hollow bones, the wishbone,

中空的骨頭、叉骨

um you know, you can go on and on, but those are just a few of them

你知道的，你可以再列出很多，但那些都只是一小部分

and it turns out dinosaurs have them as well, so

然後我們發現恐龍也有這些同樣的特徵

dinosaurs had these characteristics before birds.

恐龍在鳥類之前就有這些特徵了

The hypothesis is that birds are dinosaurs.

假說認為，鳥類就是恐龍

The meteor impact that killed off the dinosaurs

當時隕石衝撞殺死恐龍

didn't kill off all of them.

但並沒有殺死全部。

It killed off the, what we call the non-avian dinosaurs and

隕石害死了那些我們稱作非鳥類的恐龍

and the avian dinosaurs we still have with us.

而那些鳥類的恐龍依然在我們身邊。

In Jurassic World, the park's decision-makers create dinosaurs

在侏儸紀世界裡,公園的決策者創造的恐龍

that have appearances that bring in tourists,

是呈現出能夠吸引遊客樣貌

not appearances that are historically accurate.

而不是呈現了它們歷史中正確的樣貌

For example, they didn't put feathers on any of their dinosaurs,

比如，他們沒有把任何的恐龍加上羽毛

although it is believed that many dinosaurs

雖然事實相信許多的恐龍

had feathers.

都有羽毛

It's believed that the velociraptor probably

事實認為迅猛龍大概

actually looked more like this.

看起來比較像這樣

And as far as the reality of creating a park like Jurassic World,

而既然事實上創造了像是侏儸紀世界的公園

Horner had this to say.

Horner想說

Everything about it is fictional,

所有東西都是科幻的

we can't bring dinosaurs back by cloning them.

我們無法透過複製把恐龍帶回現代

If we make dinosaurs, which,

如果我們做出恐龍

I hope we are able to do one of these days,

這是一件我希望我們能夠在近代做到的事

it will be retro engineering from a bird,

應該是要從鳥類身上進行復原工程

in other words going backwards from a bird.

換句話說我們要從鳥類往後推

They're still going to be fictional creatures

但牠們還會是科幻的生物

because they're not going to be historical dinosaurs.

因為牠們不會是歷史上真的存在過的恐龍

They'll be things we made. They'll be things we make, yeah, that's right.

牠們就只是我們創造出來的東西。 牠們會是我們創造出來的東西，沒錯，對啊

Why are we so thrilled by the idea of bringing back un-extincting non-avian dinosaurs?

為什麼我們要對於把沒有滅絕、非鳥類恐龍帶回來這件事情如此興奮呢

You know what? That actually brings up an even bigger question.

你知道嗎？ 這其實表現出更大的問題

Why are dinosaurs so fascinating to kids?

為何恐龍對於小孩而言會如此迷人？

Dinosaurs are terrifying and we love to be scared,

恐龍是可怕的而且我們喜歡被嚇

but Dracula and ghosts and all this stuff,

但是德古拉跟其他鬼魂還有那些東西

it's a little, it's a little not real.

都有一點點，一點點不真實

But dinosaurs? We've got their fossils. Right. You know?

但是恐龍呢？ 我們有牠們的化石欸。對吧。你知道的。

We've got the fact that, no, these really were on Earth,

我們掌握這個事實，不，這些真的都曾經在地球上

they really were walking around right here.

它們真的曾經在這裡走來走去

Why is it so awesome when they flip out and start killing people?

為什麼當牠們抓狂然後開始殺人會是一件這麼令人振奮的事?

Watching something flip out and kill people is thrilling.

看著某個東西抓狂然後殺人是一件興奮的事。

It's morbid curiosity, but the more intense the flip out,

這是病態的好奇。 但抓狂的情況越是激烈

the more exciting it is to see the flip undone,

觀看如何壓制這樣的抓狂就越是興奮

to see humans prevail in the end.

去看人們如何在最後的到壓倒性的勝利

No matter how beastly and huge dinosaurs were,

不管恐龍有多們的兇猛或巨大

the fact remains that they went extinct.

牠們最終滅絕的事實還是無法改變。

They are a reminder that

牠們提醒我們

sooner or later the universe will beat everything.

遲早宇宙都會打敗所有東西

A meteor impact, like the one that

隕石撞擊，就像那個

killed off all the non-avian dinosaurs will happen again

殺了所有非鳥類恐龍的實情可能再次發生

in about the next 100 million years or so, but we might stand a fighting chance.

大約就在往後的一億年之類的，但我們可能可以掌握對抗的機會

We have technology, and we have the ability to predict,

我們擁有科技以及預測的能力

and possibly even avoid, a similar fate involving us.

還有甚至有可能去避免相同的命運發生在我們身上。

Outer space may seem distant

外太空可能感覺很遙遠

and sometimes irrelevant to pressing earthly concerns,

而且有時候感覺跟地球危機不太相關

but let's not forget what Larry Niven said,

但我們不要忘記Larry Niven說過的

"The dinosaurs went extinct because they didn't have a space program."

「恐龍會滅絕是因為牠們沒有太空計畫」

And as always, thanks for watching.

還有最後，感謝觀看