Now, usually when I mention suspended animation,

今天我想跟大家談談我在"暫停生命"的研究

people will flash me the Vulcan sign and laugh.

通常, 當我提到"暫停生命"時

But now, I'm not talking about gorking people out

人們多是像我比出向外星人致敬的手勢並大笑

to fly to Mars or even Pandora,

我並不是要將人類瞬間

as much fun as that may be.

傳輸到火星或其他地方

I'm talking about

即使那會是多麼有趣

the concept of using suspended animation

而我在說的概念

to help people out in trauma.

是利用暫停生命

So what do I mean

幫助人們能脫離傷害

when I say "suspended animation"?

所以到底什麼是我的本意

It is the process by which

當我說"暫停生命"呢?

animals de-animate,

那是一種程序能使

appear dead

動物暫時不動

and then can wake up again without being harmed.

就像死亡

OK, so here is the sort of big idea:

但又能無害地被救醒

If you look out at nature,

好吧!這就是大致上的概念

you find that

在自然界中

as you tend to see suspended animation,

能找到的

you tend to see immortality.

關於暫停生命

And so, what I'm going to tell you about

就似乎是"不死"

is a way to tell a person who's in trauma --

所以 我打的比方就是

find a way to de-animate them a bit

在極度創傷中的人們

so they're a little more immortal

能暫停一下他們的生命

when they have that heart attack.

例如 心臟病發時

An example of an organism or two

他們可以稍稍的"不死"

that happens to be quite immortal

一兩個關於有機生命體

would be plant seeds

能有著不死的能力

or bacterial spores.

就是植物種子

These creatures are

或是細菌孢子

some of the most immortal life forms on our planet,

它們都是些

and they tend to spend most of their time

地球上能"不死"的代表

in suspended animation.

他們絕大部分時間是處於

Bacterial spores are thought now by scientists

暫停生命的狀態

to exist as individual cells

細菌孢子已被科學家認為

that are alive, but in suspended animation

能以個別細胞單獨存在

for as long as 250 million years.

它們以假死的狀態活著

To suggest that this all, sort of, about little, tiny creatures,

長達2億5千萬年之久

I want to bring it close to home.

若質疑這些例子多是小細胞

In the immortal germ line

我也能帶些更貼近的例子

of human beings --

在人類身體"不死"

that is, the eggs that sit in the ovaries --

的例子中 就是

they actually sit there in a state of suspended animation

卵子於卵巢中

for up to 50 years in the life of each woman.

會處於一不死的狀態

So then there's also my favorite example

長達50年之久

of suspended animation.

也有我最喜歡

This is Sea-Monkeys.

關於"暫停生命"的例子

Those of you with children,

就是豐年蝦

you know about them.

有小孩的

You go to the pet store or the toy store,

你們一定知道這東西

and you can buy these things.

到寵物或是玩具痁

You just open the bag, and you just dump them

可以買到這些

into the plastic aquarium,

打開包裝帶 將它們倒入

and in about a week or so, you'll have little shrimps swimming around.

壓克力水族缸

Well, I wasn't so interested in the swimming.

大約一週後 就會看到小蝦子四處游動

I was interested in what was going on in the bag,

我對游泳並不關心

the bag on the toy store shelf

我只對袋子的狀態有興趣

where those shrimp sat

一直待在販售架上的包裝袋

in suspended animation indefinitely.

卻是讓蝦子

So these ideas of suspended animation

處於無限期的暫停生命狀態

are not just about cells and weird, little organisms.

所以 有關"暫停生命"

Occasionally, human beings

並不只僅限於細胞 或是小型有機生命體

are briefly de-animated,

甚至 包含人類自己

and the stories of people who are briefly de-animated

都有可能短暫的暫停生命

that interest me the most

在那些許多有關人類能短暫停止生命的故事中

are those having to do with the cold.

我最感興趣的是那些

Ten years ago, there was a skier in Norway

與低環境溫度有關的

that was trapped in an icy waterfall,

例如 10年前 挪威的滑雪者

and she was there for two hours before they extracted her.

被困在結冰的瀑布中

She was extremely cold,

她待在其中兩個小時 才被救出

and she had no heartbeat --

她是完全的冰封

for all intents and purposes she was dead, frozen.

沒有心跳脈搏

Seven hours later,

就當時情況而言 她確實死了，被冰凍著

still without a heartbeat,

七個小時後

they brought her back to life, and she went on to be

仍然 沒有心跳

the head radiologist

最後他們還是將她救回 而且她後來成為

in the hospital that treated her.

輻射治療之專家

A couple of years later --

就服務於那所救她的醫院

so I get really excited about these things --

就在意外發生的幾年後 --

about a couple of years later,

我一直對這些事感到興奮

there was a 13-month-old, she was from Canada.

隔了幾年

Her father had gone out in the wintertime; he was working night shift,

一個13個月大的加拿大女嬰

and she followed him outside in nothing but a diaper.

她的父親需要於冬季值夜班出門

And they found her hours later,

她卻跟著他 只穿了尿片

frozen, lifeless,

數小時後 他們找到她

and they brought her back to life.

結凍的無生命跡象

There was a 65-year-old woman

她最後被救回

in Duluth, Minnesota last year

另外 一個65歲的老婦人

that was found frozen and without a pulse

去年於明尼蘇達州

in her front yard one morning in the winter,

冬季的一個早晨在她的院子

and they brought her back to life.

被發現受凍且無心跳

The next day, she was doing so well, they wanted to run tests on her.

醫院也把她救活回來

She got cranky and just went home.

第二天 她的狀況出奇的好 醫院想多做些測試

(Laughter)

她十分不耐煩 就直接回家去了

So, these are miracles, right?

(觀眾笑)

These are truly miraculous things that happen.

所以是有奇蹟的 對吧!

Doctors have a saying

這些都是無法置信的奇蹟發生

that, in fact, "You're not dead until you're warm and dead."

醫生有這樣的說法

And it's true. It's true.

唯有當你是死時有體溫, 才是確實死去

In the New England Journal of Medicine,

這真的是這樣 真的

there was a study published that showed

在新英格蘭醫學期刊上

that with appropriate rewarming,

有研究顯示

people who had suffered without a heartbeat for three hours

經過適當的回溫

could be brought back to life without any neurologic problems.

即使經過三小時的無心跳

That's over 50 percent.

是可能被救復活 也無神經功能上的損傷

So what I was trying to do is think of a way

有超過50%的成功率

that we could study

所以 我想做的事

suspended animation

是能研究

to think about a way

暫時停止生命

to reproduce, maybe,

設計一套程序

what happened to the skier.

或是重新呈現

Well, I have to tell you something very odd,

在那位滑雪者身上發生的事

and that is that being exposed to low oxygen

恩，我得告訴你們一些奇怪的事情

does not always kill.

就是 處於缺氧環境下

So, in this room, there's 20 percent oxygen or so,

也不一定致命死亡

and if we reduce the oxygen concentration,

在這個屋內 氧氣含量約為20%

we will all be dead.

如果我們降低氧氣含量

And, in fact, the animals we were working with in the lab --

我們會缺氧而死

these little garden worms, nematodes --

事實上 實驗室中的動物實驗

they were also dead when we exposed them to low oxygen.

如這些庭園中的蚯蚓 線蟲

And here's the thing that should freak you out.

當我們將它放在低氧狀態，它們一樣死亡

And that is that, when we lower the oxygen concentration further

然後接下來是會嚇到你的事

by 100 times, to 10 parts per million,

就是，當我們再繼續降低氧氣比例

they were not dead,

100倍以下 也就是 10ppm時

they were in suspended animation,

它們不會死

and we could bring them back to life without any harm.

反而是處於一暫時停止生命的狀態

And this precise oxygen concentration,

我們能回復它們的生命 而無任何傷害

10 parts per million,

而這奇特地含氧濃度

that caused suspended animation,

10ppm

is conserved.

能促使它們暫停生命

We can see it in a variety of different organisms.

是 屢試不爽的

One of the creatures we see it in

我們也見到多種生物有如此特性

is a fish.

其中一種就是

And we can turn its heartbeat on and off by going in and out

魚類

of suspended animation like you would a light switch.

我們能啟動或停止它的心跳

So this was pretty shocking to me,

就像是利用電源開關式地進進出出"暫停生命"的狀態

that we could do this.

這就是非常令我感到震驚的

And so I was wondering, when we were trying

我們居然能夠做到如此程度

to reproduce the work with the skier,

因此我在想，我們何時可以

that we noticed that, of course,

複製那滑雪者的情況

she had no oxygen consumption,

我們留意到

and so maybe she was in a similar state of suspended animation.

她確實是處於缺氧狀態

But, of course, she was also extremely cold.

所以她也就暫時 處於一類似暫停生命的狀態

So we wondered what would happen

同時 她也處於極低溫狀態

if we took our suspended animals and exposed them to the cold.

也就聯想到

And so, what we found out

將我們的實驗動物 也置於低溫

was that, if you take animals

所以 我們發現

that are animated like you and I,

若我們將動物

and you make them cold -- that is, these were the garden worms --

或就是你我一般的動物

now they're dead.

直接處於低溫狀態 就像 庭園蚯蚓

But if you have them in suspended animation,

它們會死去

and move them into the cold, they're all alive.

但程序若是 將他們先處於 暫停生命狀態

And there's the very important thing there:

再移動到低溫狀態 它們全都能活下來

If you want to survive the cold,

這是重要的一點:

you ought to be suspended. Right?

若想要存活於低溫狀態

It's a really good thing.

一定要先處於暫停生命狀態

And so, we were thinking about that,

這是非常好的一點

about this relationship between these things,

所以 我們就想像

and thinking about whether or not that's what happened to the skier.

連結所有可能因素

And so we wondered: Might there be some agent

猜想 那滑雪者所有與眾不同的情境

that is in us, something that we make ourselves,

所以我們猜測 可能有一機制

that we might be able to regulate our own metabolic flexibility

能夠自然地讓我們

in such a way as to be able to survive

有改變生命狀態的彈性

when we got extremely cold, and might otherwise pass away?

讓我們能遇到低溫狀態還能存活下來的方式

I thought it might be interesting to sort of hunt for such things.

不然只有死亡一途

You know?

我對搜尋如此的機制感到興趣

I should mention briefly here

你知道嗎?

that physiology textbooks that you can read about

我該在此簡短聲明

will tell you that this is a kind of heretical thing to suggest.

生理學教科書

We have, from the time we are slapped on the butt

只會稱這樣的企圖是邪教

until we take our last dying breath --

我們從出生被打屁股時

that's when we're newborn to when we're dead --

直到死前的最後一口呼吸

we cannot reduce our metabolic rate

那就是 從生到死

below what's called a standard,

我們都不能改變我們的代謝速率

or basal metabolic rate.

低於所謂的標準值

But I knew that there were examples

或稱為基本的代謝速率

of creatures, also mammals,

但我同時知道一些

that do reduce their metabolic rate

生物實例 也是哺乳動物

such as ground squirrels and bears,

能降低代謝速率

they reduce their metabolic rate

如松鼠 熊

in the wintertime when they hibernate.

他們能降低代謝速率

So I wondered: Might we be able to find some agent or trigger

於冬天休眠狀態

that might induce such a state in us?

所以 我希望能找到一些機制或觸發

And so, we went looking for such things.

能引起我們自然地進入此狀態

And this was a period of time when we failed tremendously.

於是我們四處找這樣的東西

Ken Robinson is here. He talked about the glories of failure.

那時就是我們遭遇極度失敗的階段

Well, we had a lot of them.

Ken Robinson 在這裡談到輝煌的失敗

We tried many different chemicals and agents,

我們也有過好多的輝煌失敗

and we failed over and over again.

我們試過很多的化學元素與機制

So, one time, I was at home

而一直是失敗接著失敗

watching television on the couch

直到有一天 我在家

while my wife was putting our child to bed,

看電視

and I was watching a television show.

而我太太正哄著孩子入睡

It was a television show --

我看著一個電視節目

it was a NOVA show on PBS --

是個電視節目

about caves in New Mexico.

NOVA製作的PBS節目

And this particular cave was Lechuguilla,

有關於新墨西哥州的洞穴

and this cave is incredibly toxic to humans.

那次特別介紹 Lechuguilla 洞穴

The researchers had to suit up just to enter it.

這個洞穴對人類而言是有致命毒性

It's filled with this toxic gas,

研究人員需要穿著特殊裝備才能進入

hydrogen sulfide.

它充滿著致命毒氣

Now, hydrogen sulfide is curiously present in us.

硫化氫

We make it ourselves.

但是 硫化氫又能奇妙的存於我們的體內

The highest concentration is in our brains.

我們會自然而然地製造硫化氫

Yet, it was used

最濃的地方是在我們的腦部

as a chemical warfare agent in World War I.

硫化氫被用來做

It's an extraordinarily toxic thing.

第一次世界大戰的化學武器

In fact, in chemical accidents,

是個對人類毒性極高的氣體

hydrogen sulfide is known to --

在化學意外事故中

if you breathe too much of it, you collapse to the ground,

硫化氫被用來做一直被認為

you appear dead,

若吸入過多 會倒地不起

but if you were brought out into room air, you can be reanimated without harm,

呈現死亡狀態

if they do that quickly.

但實際上若能再帶回正常空氣 是能夠復活而無任何傷害

So, I thought, "Wow, I have to get some of this."

一切都要快速進行

(Laughter)

所以 哇! 我想弄些那氣體

Now, it's post-9/11 America,

(觀眾笑)

and when you go into the research institute,

那時是 911恐怖攻擊之後的美國

and you say, "Hi.

所以 當你走進一研究單位

I'd like to buy some concentrated,

說: "嗨!

compressed gas cylinders

我想買些高濃度的

of a lethal gas

壓縮氣體鋼瓶

because I have these ideas, see,

而且是致命氣體

about wanting to suspend people.

就只因為我有這些想法

It's really going to be OK."

想要暫停人們的生命

So that's kind of a tough day,

而且 一定會成功的"

but I said, "There really is

可想而知 那時是相當難進行的

some basis for thinking why you might want to do this."

但我強調 有著強烈

As I said, this agent is in us,

的基本動機促使我們要做這樣研究

and, in fact, here's a curious thing,

因為 那樣的機制(毒物)是存在體內的

it binds to the very place inside of your cells

更奇怪的是

where oxygen binds, and where you burn it,

硫化氫被用來做 在我們的細胞內

and that you do this burning to live.

與氧氣 是同樣的鍵結方式

And so we thought, like in a game of musical chairs,

這樣的鍵結氧化燃燒 使細胞存活

might we be able to give a person

所以 我們聯想到 "搶椅子遊戲"

some hydrogen sulfide,

我們是否可以給人

and might it be able to occupy that place

一些 硫化氫

like in a game of musical chairs where oxygen might bind?

它 能取代 鍵結

And because you can't bind the oxygen,

就像搶椅子遊戲般 取代氧氣鍵結

maybe you wouldn't consume it,

因為細胞 不能連結氧氣

and then maybe it would reduce your demand for oxygen.

所以 不用氧化燃燒

I mean, who knows?

也就降同時降低對氧氣的需求

So -- (Laughter)

我猜想的

So, there's the bit about the dopamine

所以 (笑)

and being a little bit, what do you call it, delusional,

有些像多巴胺

and you might suggest that was it.

或有些像是妄想

And so, we wanted to find out

都是可被質疑的

might we be able to use

所以，我們要證實