WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.754 --> 00:00:06.072
It's probably something most of us never think about -- where do corks come from?
這可能是我們大多數人從來沒思考過的事——軟木塞是哪裡來的？

2
00:00:06.817 --> 00:00:08.798
And the simple answer is Portugal.
答案很簡單，就是葡萄牙。

3
00:00:09.010 --> 00:00:18.159
Now, this is one of my favorite stories, an absolutely beautiful place and an invention that's maximized the cork harvest.
這是我最喜歡的報導之一，一個風景優美的地方和一項讓軟木塞收成發揮到最大價值的發明。

4
00:00:19.474 --> 00:00:21.987
Quercus suber, that's its Latin name,
Quercus suber，這是拉丁文的名稱，

5
00:00:22.535 --> 00:00:31.611
the species of western Mediterranean oak tree that has given us something very special for thousands and thousands of years, namely, cork.
這種地中海西部的橡樹數千年來給了人們一個非常特別的東西，也就是軟木塞。

6
00:00:32.434 --> 00:00:39.905
Now, scientists have been able to extract more from it, namely give us more cork for our bark.
如今科學家已經有辦法採掘出更多，也就是說樹皮能生產出更多軟木塞。

7
00:00:43.635 --> 00:00:45.033
Do you like cork?
你喜歡軟木塞嗎？

8
00:00:45.566 --> 00:00:48.623
I love cork. It's a fascinating material.
我愛軟木塞。那是個迷人的材料。

9
00:00:50.076 --> 00:00:53.954
Cork is impermeable, buoyant, elastic, fire-resistant.
軟木塞不會透水、能漂浮、有彈性、耐火燒。

10
00:00:54.551 --> 00:00:58.991
Professor Helena Pereira fell in love with it and this landscape as a child.
海倫娜．皮瑞拉教授小時候就愛上了它和這片景色。

11
00:00:59.474 --> 00:01:02.169
Her research is now helping sustain its future.
她的研究現在正協助延續這裡的未來。

12
00:01:04.455 --> 00:01:08.527
Cork can only be harvested from mature trees every nine years.
軟木塞只能從熟齡樹木上每九年採收一次。

13
00:01:10.941 --> 00:01:14.184
You have to be deft, surgical with an ax.
你必須很熟練，如外科手術般精確地使用斧頭。

14
00:01:15.111 --> 00:01:17.942
The trunk itself shouldn't be touched, only the bark.
樹幹本身不應該被動到，只有樹皮。

15
00:01:18.826 --> 00:01:24.811
Two men strip this tree in just ten minutes. The yield, a pile of cork worth about $100.
兩位男子十分鐘就把這棵樹採割好了。收穫量呢，一堆價值約一百美元的軟木塞。

16
00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:28.977
There is a little bit of snobbery in the cork industry.
軟木塞業有那麼一點勢利。

17
00:01:29.356 --> 00:01:33.791
Corks for fine wine are literally punched from the raw materials.
好酒用的軟木塞其實是從原料上沖壓出來的。

18
00:01:34.419 --> 00:01:37.185
They're an integral part of how a good wine ages.
它們是好酒熟成醇化的重要部份。

19
00:01:37.782 --> 00:01:44.625
Reconstituted corks from granules are rather less pleasing on [to] the eye, and they're only used for lesser wines.
用碎粒重組的軟木塞比較不好看，而且只給品質較差的酒使用。

20
00:01:46.191 --> 00:01:53.326
Professor Pereira and her colleagues discovered a way of getting more cork from the granules left over from the raw bark.
皮瑞拉教授和她的同袍找到方法，可以原料樹皮剩下的碎粒做出更多軟木塞。

21
00:01:55.078 --> 00:02:02.828
At a cellular level, cork is a honeycomb of hexagonal prisms, millions of them, all a little warped and bendy.
就細胞的層面來看，軟木塞是六角柱組成的蜂巢狀組織，有幾百萬個六角柱，全都有點彎曲柔韌。

22
00:02:03.462 --> 00:02:08.892
By adding a little moisture and some intense heat, they were able to stretch the cells.
加上一點水分和些許高溫，他們就可以延展那些細胞。

23
00:02:09.766 --> 00:02:16.964
We expanded the cells so they became straight, and they increased in volume, of course.
我們延展細胞讓它們變直，當然體積也增加了。

24
00:02:17.367 --> 00:02:25.227
And the increase is quite heavy. The best case is we had over 80 percent increase.
這個增量的效果卓著。我們做過最佳的案例，增加程度超過百分之八十。

25
00:02:25.786 --> 00:02:35.766
Equally surprising was the way they did it in the lab by moistening the granules in a special container and then simply popping them into the microwave.
同樣令人驚訝的是他們在實驗室裡用的方法，用一個特殊容器增加碎粒的濕度，然後就把它們放進微波爐裡。

26
00:02:38.378 --> 00:02:41.750
A few minutes later, and hey presto, bigger cork granules.
幾分鐘後，嘿，轉眼間，軟木塞碎粒變大了。

27
00:02:43.252 --> 00:02:48.342
On the left, the granules before. And on the right, after they were microwaved.
左邊是處理前的碎粒。右邊則是微波過的。

28
00:02:48.857 --> 00:02:51.179
Did you have to buy a domestic microwave?
你們採購了家用微波爐嗎？

29
00:02:52.201 --> 00:02:57.228
In fact, yes. In fact, yes. It was. We started with a domestic microwave, yes.
其實，是的。真的，沒錯。就是這樣。我們剛開始是用家用微波爐，沒錯。

30
00:02:57.461 --> 00:03:03.012
This expanded granular cork has more and more applications, most obviously for insulation.
這個延展過的碎粒軟木塞的應用方法愈來愈多，最常見的是用來絕緣。

31
00:03:05.807 --> 00:03:08.916
In the factory, they rain down in their millions.
在這座工廠裡，它們以數百萬計的數量如雨落下。

32
00:03:09.968 --> 00:03:17.130
The leading Portuguese producer, Amorim, is reasserting its market share against competition from plastic and metal bottle tops.
葡萄牙領先業界的製造商阿木瑞再度奠定軟木塞的市場佔有率，與塑膠和金屬瓶塞競爭抗衡。

33
00:03:17.617 --> 00:03:20.476
Turnover last year was over $600 million.
去年的營業額超過六億美元。

34
00:03:21.539 --> 00:03:26.279
Outside in the sun, the factory's stockyard is full of cork planks.
在室外的陽光下，工廠的欄圈裡堆滿了軟木塞板。

35
00:03:26.826 --> 00:03:31.924
Making the most of the harvest has helped reinvigorate an ancient industry.
充分利用收成有助於重新活化一個古老的產業。

36
00:03:33.756 --> 00:03:42.605
Science is helping us preserve this landscape -- the same beauty, the same sounds -- outside and in.
科學幫助我們保存這片景色——同樣的美景，同樣的聲音——裡外皆然。