As a photographer for National Geographic, I've portrayed it for many.

作為國家地理的一名攝影師，我對自然作過很多的描繪。

But five years ago, I went on a personal journey.

五年前我進行了一次私人旅行。

I wanted to visualize the story of life.

我想將生命的故事以視覺方式呈現。

It's the hardest thing I've ever attempted,

這是我嚐試做過的事情中最困難的 一件，

and there have been plenty of times when I felt like backing out.

有很多次我都想 撒手不幹了。

But there were also revelations.

但我也獲得一些出乎意料的成果

And one of those I'd like to share with you today.

今天我就想和你分享其中的一個。

I went down to a remote lagoon in Australia, hoping to see the Earth

我去了澳大利亞一個遙遠的潟湖 ，希望看到地球

the way it was three billion years ago,

在三十億年以前的樣子。

back before the sky turned blue.

回到之前天空還不是藍色的時代。

There's stromatolites down there --

那裡有疊藻層

the first living things to capture photosynthesis --

第一種進行光合作用的生物

and it's the only place they still occur today.

也是現在僅存的一處。

Going down there was like entering a time capsule,

走向那裡就像是進入了時間膠囊，

and I came out with a different sense of myself in time.

當我出來時時間感完全不一樣了。

The oxygen exhaled by those stromatolites

疊藻層所散發出的氧氣

is what we all breathe today.

正是我們今天所呼吸的。

Stromatolites are the heroes in my story.

疊藻層是我故事裡的英雄

I hope it's a story that has some resonance for our time.

我希望這個故事在今天也能引起一些共鳴。

It's a story about you and me, nature and science.

這是一個關於你和我，自然和科學的故事。

And with that said, I'd like to invite you for

正如上所說，我想邀請你

a short, brief journey of life through time.

來一次簡短的時光之旅。

Our journey starts in space, where matter condenses into spheres over time ...

我們的旅行從太空開始，在那裡隨著時間的流逝物質濃縮成了球體。

solidifying into surface, molded by fire.

凝固成表面，被火改造成各種形狀。

The fire gave way, Earth emerged -- but this was an alien planet.

當火退去時，地球出現了-但這時還像是一個外星球。

The moon was closer; things were different.

月亮離我們更近，情況開始不一樣了。

Heat from within made geysers erupt -- that is how the oceans were born.

地底的熱氣使得間歇泉噴湧而出-海洋就這樣形成了。

Water froze around the poles and shaped the edges of the Earth.

水在兩極附近凍結，形成了地球的邊界。

Water is the key to life, but in frozen form, it is a latent force.

水是生命的關鍵，即使是處於冰凍狀態，也是一種潛在的力量。

And when it vanishes, Earth becomes Mars.

而一旦它蒸發了，地球就變成如火星般。

But this planet is different -- it's roiling inside.

但這個星球與眾不同之處就在於，它的內部(岩漿)不斷攪拌。

And where that energy touches water, something new emerges: life.

在那裡能量遇到水，生命就由此產生了。

It arises around cracks in the Earth.

它上升並包圍了地球。

Mud and minerals become substrate; there are bacteria.

泥土和礦石墊作為基底，細菌在上面

Learn to multiply, thickening in places ...

繁殖，在那裡慢慢變厚。

Growing living structures under an alien sky ...

生命結構就在外星空下形成了。

Stromatolites were the first to exhale oxygen.

疊藻層是最先釋放氧氣的。

And they changed the atmosphere.

它們改變了大氣層。

A breath that's fossilized now as iron.

有些就被成為了鐵礦石。

Meteorites delivered chemistry, and perhaps membranes, too.

隕石釋放出化學物質，或許還有薄膜。

Life needs a membrane to contain itself

生命需要有東西來承載自己

so it can replicate and mutate.

這樣它才能複製和變異

These are diatoms, single-celled phytoplankton

這裡面有矽藻類，一種單細胞浮游生物

with skeletons of silicon ...

它們有著矽質的骨骼。

circuit boards of the future.

這就是未來的電路板。

Shallow seas nurtured life early on, and that's where it morphed

淺灘更早的孕育了生命，在這裡 它們變異

into more complex forms.

成為更高級的形式。

It grew as light and oxygen increased.

隨著光和氧氣的增多它們不斷成長。

Life hardened and became defensive.

生命變得堅強起來而且演變出自衛的功能。

It learned to move and began to see. The first eyes grew on trilobites.

它開始學著移動和觀看。三葉蟲最早長出眼睛

Vision was refined in horseshoe crabs,

馬蹄蟹重新定義視覺

among the first to leave the sea.

它也是第一個離開大海的生物。

They still do what they've done for ages, their enemies long gone.

至今它們依舊做著千百年來相同的事，但它們的敵人早已不復存在

Scorpions follow prey out of the sea. Slugs became snails.

蠍子跟隨它們的獵物也離開大海，蛞蝓演變成蝸牛。

Fish tried amphibian life. Frogs adapted to deserts.

魚開始嘗試兩棲生活。青蛙也適應了沙漠的氣候。

Lichens arose as a co-op. Fungi married algae ...

地衣連成一片。菌類和水藻一起生長。

clinging to rock, and eating it too ... transforming barren land.

它們依附在岩石上，也以此為食。改善著貧瘠的土地。

True land plants arose, leafless at first.

真正的陸上植物開始產生，首先是裸子植物。

Once they learn how to stay upright, they grew in size and shape.

一旦它們知道如何筆直的朝上生長，它們就長得更高更大。

The fundamental forms of ferns followed,

其次是基本形式的蕨類

to bear spores that foreshadowed seeds.

產生孢子，這是種子的前兆。

Life flourished in swamps.

生命在沼澤裡繁榮起來。

On land, life turned a corner. Jaws formed first; teeth came later.

在陸地上，生命也有了轉變。最開始是長出顎，接著是牙齒。

Leatherbacks and tuataras are echoes from that era.

大海龜和大蜥蜴就是那個時代的產物。

It took time for life to break away from water,

它們花費了畢生的時間來離開水，

and it still beckons all the time.

但仍然不時被大海召喚回去。

Life turned hard so it could venture inland.

生活變得艱難起來所以才到內陸冒險

And the dragons that arose are still among us today.

那時候崛起的恐龍現在仍在我們中間。

Jurassic Park still shimmers in part of Madagascar,

在馬達加斯加和巴西的中部侏羅紀公園

and the center of Brazil,

仍然閃爍著生命的光芒

where plants called "cycads" remain rock hard.

而蘇鐵依然頑強的攀附在岩石上存活著

Forests arose and nurtured things with wings.

森林長成並孕育出有雙翼的生物

One early form left an imprint, like it died only yesterday.

一個早期的形式留下了印記，好像昨天才去世。

And others fly today like echoes of the past.

像過去的回聲一樣 以另一形式回到今日。

In birds, life gained new mobility.

鳥類中，生命有了新的遷移。

Flamingos covered continents. Migrations got underway.

紅鶴遍佈各大洲。它們開始遠途遷徙。£

Birds witnessed the emergence of flowering plants.

鳥類見證了開花植物的出現。

Water lilies were among the first.

睡蓮作先鋒。

Plants began to diversify and grew, turning into trees.

植物開始多樣化和增長，變成樹木。

In Australia, a lily turned into a grass tree,

在澳大利亞，百合變成了草本植物，

and in Hawaii, a daisy became a silver sword.

而在夏威夷，菊花成為銀劍。

In Africa, Gondwana molded Proteas.

在非洲，山龍眼在岡瓦那大陸出現。

But when that ancient continent broke up, life got lusher.

但是，當這一古老的大陸解體，生命變得更加繁盛。

Tropical rainforests arose, sparking new layers of interdependence.

熱帶雨林產生，引發新層次的相互依存關係。

Fungi multiplied. Orchids emerged, genitalia shaped to lure insects ...

真菌繁殖 。蘭花的出現，他們用外生殖器形成用來吸引昆蟲。

a trick shared by the largest flower on Earth.

這是地球上最大的花慣用的一個手法。

Co-evolution entwined insects and birds and plants forever.

昆蟲，鳥類和植物永遠協同進化。

When birds can't fly, they become vulnerable.

當鳥不能飛，他們變得易受傷 。

Kiwis are, and so are these hawks trapped near Antarctica.

因此鷸鴕和這些鷹因此被困南極洲。

Extinction can come slowly, but sometimes it arrives fast.

滅絕有時來的很緩慢，但有時卻來得很快。

An asteroid hits, and the world went down in flames.

當小行星撞上來，整個世界陷入火海。

But there were witnesses, survivors in the dark.

但仍有生物在隨後暗不見天 日中僥倖存活下來

When the skies cleared, a new world was born.

當天空再度開朗，一個新的世界誕生了。

A world fit for mammals. From tiny shrews [came]

這是一個適合哺乳動物的世界。從習慣於黑暗的

tenrecs, accustomed to the dark.

小型鼩及無尾蝟

New forms became bats. Civets.

演變成為蝙蝠。果子狸。

New predators, hyenas, getting faster and faster still.

他們新的天敵，鬣狗跑得也是越來越快。

Grasslands created opportunities.

草原創造了機會。

Herd safety came with sharpened senses.

羊群為了安全生就了敏銳的感官。

Growing big was another answer, but size always comes at a price.

變得越來越大是另外一個答案，但規模總是是要付出代價的。

Some mammals turned back to water.

一些哺乳動物又回到水中。

Walruses adapted with layers of fat. Sea lions got sleek.

海象長出了幾層脂肪。海獅變得渾身圓滑。

And cetaceans moved into a world without bounds.

鯨類動物在世界各地無邊界的游動

There are many ways to be a mammal. A 'roo hops in Oz;

有很多方法變成哺乳動物。袋鼠在澳洲蹦跳。

a horse runs in Asia; and a wolf evolves stilt legs in Brazil.

馬出現在亞洲，在巴西狼變成了細長腿。

Primates emerge from jungles, as tarsiers first,

靈長目動物擺脫了叢林，眼鏡猴拔得頭彩，

becoming lemurs not much later.

狐猴不久也演化出來了。

Learning became reinforced. Bands of apes ventured into the open.

學習能力變得更強。一群猿冒險進入了空曠原野。

And forests dried out once more. Going upright became a lifestyle.

森林不斷地乾涸。往上發展成為一種生活方式。

So who are we? Brothers of masculine chimps,

那我們又是誰？雄黑猩猩的兄弟。

sisters of feminine bonobos? We are all of them, and more.

雌倭黑猩猩的姐妹。我們所有的人，還有更多。

We're molded by the same life force.

我們都是被同樣的生命力所塑造。

The blood veins in our hands

在我們的手中的血管

echoed a course of water traces on the Earth.

就像水在地球上的流過的痕跡。

And our brains -- our celebrated brains --

我們的大腦-我們著名的大腦-

reflect a drainage of a tidal marsh.

反映了潮汐沼澤的水域。

Life is a force in its own right. It is a new element.

生命是一種能支配自我的力量。這是一個新的因素。

And it has altered the Earth. It covers Earth like a skin.

它改變了地球。它像皮膚一樣的涵蓋地球。

And where it doesn't, as in Greenland in winter,

在生命沒有觸及的地方，比如冬季裡的格陵蘭島，

Mars is still not very far.

那裡的景象與火星也相去不遠。

But that likelihood fades as long as ice melts again.

但是，這很可能消失，只要冰融化了。

And where water is liquid, it becomes a womb

當水變成液體時，它成為一個子宮。

for cells green with chlorophyll -- and that molecular marvel

細胞因為有了葉綠素變成綠色-這個分子的奇跡

is what's made a difference -- it powers everything.

在於它改變了一切。

The whole animal world today lives on a stockpile

它是一切的動力。 現在的整個世界的動物生活

of bacterial oxygen that is cycled constantly

在細菌庫裡， 在這裡氧氣能通過

through plants and algae, and their waste is our breath,

植物和藻類不斷地循環， 它們消耗的正是我們呼出的東西，

and vice versa.

反之亦然。

This Earth is alive, and it's made its own membrane.

地球是有生命的，它形成了自己的细胞膜。

We call it "atmosphere." This is the icon of our journey.

我們稱它為大氣圈。這是我們這一旅程的標記。

And you all here today can imagine and will shape where we go next.

今天在這裡大家可以想像 並型塑我們未來的世界。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Thank you. Thank you.

謝謝。謝謝