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？
And the simple answer is Portugal. 答案很簡單，就是葡萄牙。
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。
Quercus suber, that's its Latin name, Quercus suber，這是拉丁文的名稱，
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。
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。
Do you like cork? 你喜歡軟木塞嗎？
I love cork. It's a fascinating material. 我愛軟木塞。那是個迷人的材料。
Cork is impermeable, buoyant, elastic, fire-resistant. 軟木塞不會透水、能漂浮、有彈性、耐火燒。
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。
Her research is now helping sustain its future. 她的研究現在正協助延續這裡的未來。
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。
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。
The trunk itself shouldn't be touched, only the bark. 樹幹本身不應該被動到，只有樹皮。
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。
There is a little bit of snobbery in the cork industry. 軟木塞業有那麼一點勢利。
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。
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。
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。
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。
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。
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。
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。
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。
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。
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。
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。
Did you have to buy a domestic microwave? 你們採購了家用微波爐嗎？
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。
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。
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。
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。
Turnover last year was over $600 million. 去年的營業額超過六億美元。
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。
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。
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。