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This smells of cut grass. Now, this is the skeleton of the molecule.
它聞起來就像割下來青草。這就是分子的骨架。
If you dress it up with atoms, hydrogen atoms -- that's what it looks like when you have it on your computer -- but actually it's sort of more like this,
如果再給它配上其他原子，比如說氫原子，在電腦上模擬看上去是這樣，但實際上看上去是這樣的，
in the sense that the atoms have a certain sphere that you cannot penetrate. They repel.
就某種意義來說原子有某種不為人們所理解的性質。他們相互排斥。
OK, now. Why does this thing smell of cut grass, OK?
好了，現(xiàn)在。為什么這個東西聞起來像割下來的青草呢？
Why doesn't it smell of potatoes or violets?
為什么聞起來不像土豆或者紫羅蘭？
Well, there are really two theories.
有兩種理論。
But the first theory is: it must be the shape.
第一種理論認為：一定是形狀在起作用。
And that's a perfectly reasonable theory in the sense that almost everything else in biology works by shape.
這是一個完美的理論因為在生物領域形狀在幾乎所有東西中都起著一定作用。
Enzymes that chew things up,
酶用來消化，
antibodies, it's all, you know, the fit between a protein and whatever it is grabbing, in this case a smell.
抗生素是用來做什么的你們都知道，蛋白質和它抓住的東西配成一對，在這種情況下它抓住的是氣味。
And I will try and explain to you what's wrong with this notion.
我會試著解釋為什么這個概念是錯誤的。
And the other theory is that we smell molecular vibrations.
一個理論是我們聞到的是分子的震動。
Now, this is a totally insane idea.
這是一個離譜的想法。
When I first came across it in the early '90s,
九十年代初我第一次接觸到這個理論的時候，
I thought my predecessor, Malcolm Dyson and Bob Wright, had really taken leave of their senses,
覺得我的前輩麥肯戴森和鮑勃懷特肯定是失去理智了，
and I'll explain to you why this was the case.
我待會會解釋為什么我是這樣的想的。
However, I came to realize gradually that they may be right -- and I have to convince all my colleagues that this is so, but I'm working on it.
但是，我逐漸意識到他可能是對的，我必須說服我所有的同事這個理論是對的，我正在努力這樣做。
