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AndresRuzo_2014G-_我如何找到传说中亚马逊的沸水河_
As a boy in Lima , my grandfather told me a legend of the Spanish conquest of Peru. 身为利马的小男孩, 爷爷曾告诉我 西班牙人征服秘鲁的传说。
Lima:n.利马(秘鲁首都); legend:n.传奇;说明;图例;刻印文字; conquest:n.征服;占领;占领(或征服)的地区;(爱情或性方面)被俘虏的人;
Atahualpa, emperor of the Inca , had been captured and killed. 印加国王阿塔瓦尔帕,被俘虏并遭到杀害。
Inca:n.印加;印加人; captured:adj.捕获的;被俘的;v.捕获;占领;引起;(capture的过去式和过去分词)
Pizarro and his conquistadors had grown rich, and tales of their conquest and glory had reached Spain and was bringing new waves of Spaniards, hungry for gold and glory. 皮泽洛和他带领的征服者得到财富。 他们的事迹与榮耀传回西班牙, 吸引一波波渴望黄金和榮誉的西班牙人。
conquistadors:n.征服者(conquistador的复数形式);
They would go into towns and ask the Inca, "Where's another civilization we can conquer ? Where's more gold?" 他们涌到城镇问印加人: 「哪里还有我们能征服的文明？哪里还有更多的黄金？」
civilization:n.文明;文明社会;文明世界;(特定时期和地区的)社会文明; conquer:v.占领;攻克;征服;击败,战胜;对付,克服,控制;很受欢迎
And the Inca, out of vengeance , told them, "Go to the Amazon . 于是印加人出于报复,告诉他们: 「去亚马逊吧。
vengeance:n.复仇;报复;报仇; Amazon:亚马逊;古希腊女战士;
You'll find all the gold you want there. 你会找到你想要的黄金。
In fact, there is a city called Paititi -- El Dorado in Spanish -- made entirely of gold." 那里有一个叫帕蒂蒂的城市,西班牙语叫做 El Dorado, 完全是由黄金打造而成。」
Dorado:n.剑鱼;
The Spanish set off into the jungle , but the few that return come back with stories, stories of powerful shamans , of warriors with poisoned arrows, of trees so tall they blotted out the sun, 西班牙人于是出发前往丛林, 但只有几个人回来,他们带回了许多故事。 传说那里有强大的萨满巫师, 手持毒箭的战士, 树林高耸成荫,蔽不见日,
jungle:n.密林;尔虞我诈的环境;危险地带; shamans:n.萨满教巫医(Shaman的复数); warriors:n.(尤指旧时的)武士,勇士,斗士(warrior的复数) blotted:adj.沾上污渍的;v.弄脏;玷污;模糊不清(blot的过去分词形式);
spiders that ate birds, snakes that swallowed men whole and a river that boiled. 有吃鸟的蜘蛛,可以吞掉一整个人的蛇, 和一条沸腾的河流。
spiders:n.蜘蛛(spider的复数) swallowed:v.吞下;咽下;吞没;淹没;侵吞(swallow的过去分词和过去式)
All this became a childhood memory. 这些故事,成为我的童年回忆。
childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期
And years passed. 时光流逝,
I'm working on my PhD at SMU, trying to understand Peru's geothermal energy potential , when I remember this legend, and I began asking that question. 现在我在南卫理公会大学攻读博士学位, 试着了解秘鲁的地热潜能。 我记起这个传说, 开始思考这个问题:
geothermal:adj.[地物]地热的;[地物]地温的; potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
Could the boiling river exist? 那沸腾的河流真的存在吗？
I asked colleagues from universities, the government, oil, gas and mining companies, and the answer was a unanimous no. 我问过很多大学的同行、 政府部门、 石油、天然气及煤矿公司, 答案一致是否定的。
colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数); unanimous:adj.全体一致的;意见一致的;无异议的;
And this makes sense. 这言之有理。
You see, boiling rivers do exist in the world, but they're generally associated with volcanoes . 你知道,世界上确实有沸腾的河流, 但通常跟火山有关。
generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地; associated:adj.有关联的; v.联想; (associate的过去分词和过去式) volcanoes:n.火山爆发,火山;火山群(volcano复数);
You need a powerful heat source to produce such a large geothermal manifestation . 只有强劲的热力源头 才能产生这么大的地热现象。
source:n.来源;水源;原始资料; manifestation:n.表现;显示;示威运动;
And as you can see from the red dots here, which are volcanoes, we don't have volcanoes in the Amazon, nor in most of Peru. 你们可以看到这些红点代表火山。 亚马逊流域没有火山, 而大部分的秘鲁地区也没有。
as you can see:正如你所看到的;你是知道的;
So it follows: We should not expect to see a boiling river. 由此看来,我们不可能见到一条沸腾的河流。
Telling this same story at a family dinner, my aunt tells me, "But no, Andrés, I've been there. I've swum in that river." 一次家庭聚餐,我提到这个故事, 我的姑姑告诉我: 「但是安德烈,我以前去过那里,还在河里游泳过。」
(Laughter) （笑声）
Then my uncle jumps in. 这时叔叔插嘴说:
'"No, Andrés, she's not kidding. 「安德烈,她不是在开玩笑。
You see, you can only swim in it after a very heavy rain, and it's protected by a powerful shaman. 你要知道只有在豪雨之后,你才能在这条河里游泳。 有一位强大的萨满保?着这条河。
Your aunt, she's friends with his wife." 你的姑姑就是他妻子的友人。」
(Laughter) （笑声）
You know, despite all my scientific skepticism , 尽管我对此的科学根据存疑,
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; skepticism:n.怀疑论;怀疑的态度;
I found myself hiking into the jungle, guided by my aunt, over 700 kilometers away from the nearest volcanic center, and well, honestly, mentally preparing myself to behold the legendary "warm stream of the Amazon." 我发现自己跟着姑姑的指引,深入丛林, 而最近的火山中心远在 700 公里之外。 坦白说,我有心理准备, 看到传说中的「亚马逊暖水流」。
volcanic:adj.火山的;猛烈的;易突然发作的;n.火山岩; mentally:adv.精神上,智力上;心理上; behold:v.看;注视;把...视为;int.瞧;看呀; legendary:adj.传说的,传奇的;n.传说集;圣徒传;
But then ... 但是随即,
I heard something, a low surge that got louder and louder as we came closer. 我听到一些声音。 初时一阵低涌, 后来我们走近时 声音越来越大。
surge:n.汹涌;大浪,波涛;汹涌澎湃;巨涌;v.汹涌;起大浪,蜂拥而来;
It sounded like ocean waves constantly crashing, and as we got closer, I saw smoke, vapor , coming up through the trees. 好像海浪持续打在岸上。 我们接近时,烟雾与水汽穿过树林而来。
constantly:adv.不断地;时常地; vapor:n.蒸汽;烟雾;vt.使…蒸发;使…汽化;vi.蒸发;吹牛;沮丧;
And then, I saw this. 接着我看见了这个。
I immediately grabbed for my thermometer , and the average temperatures in the river were 86 degrees C. 我立刻拿出温度计, 当时河的平均温度 是摄氏 86 度。
grabbed:v.抓住;攫取;抓住,夺得;(grab的过去分词和过去式) thermometer:n.温度计;体温计;寒暑表;
This is not quite the 100-degree C boiling but definitely close enough. 还不到沸点的摄氏 100 度, 但绝对够接近了。
definitely:adv.清楚地,当然;明确地,肯定地;
The river flowed hot and fast. 这条河流又烫又湍急,
I followed it upriver and was led by, actually, the shaman's apprentice to the most sacred site on the river. 萨满的学徒带我顺着河往上游前行, 到了河流最神圣的地方。
upriver:adj.上游的;向水源的;adv.在上游;从上游;向上游;n.上游区域; apprentice:n.学徒;生手;vt.使…当学徒;vi.当学徒; site:n.地点;位置;场所;v.设置;为…选址;
And this is what's bizarre -- 超乎寻常的是,
bizarre:adj.奇异的(指态度,容貌,款式等);
It starts off as a cold stream. 源头的水流是冷的,
And here, at this site, is the home of the Yacumama, mother of the waters, a giant serpent spirit who births hot and cold water. 直到这个地点, 传说中蛇神 (Yacumama) 之家, 这条巨蛇之灵是所有水流之母, 孕育了热水和冷水。
giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的 serpent:n.蛇(尤指大蛇或毒蛇);狡猾的人;
And here we find a hot spring, mixing with cold stream water underneath her protective motherly jaws and thus bringing their legends to life. 在这里,我们发现了一道混合着冷水流的温泉, 就在巨蛇母亲保护着的下頜。 就像是传说成真。
mixing:n.混合;混频;录音;v.混合,掺和,融合;调配;配制;相容;(mix的现在分词) underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的; protective:adj.防护的;关切保护的;保护贸易的; motherly:adj.母亲的;慈母般的; legends:n.传说; (legend的复数)
The next morning, I woke up and -- 到了第二天早上,我一觉醒来…
(Laughter) （笑声）
I asked for tea. 我想要一杯茶,
I was handed a mug , a tea bag and, well, pointed towards the river. 有人给我一个马克杯和茶包, 然后指着那条河。
mug:n.指圆筒形;啤酒杯;(非正式)傻瓜;(非正式)脸;v.抢劫;做鬼脸;
To my surprise, the water was clean and had a pleasant taste, which is a little weird for geothermal systems. 让我感到意外的是,河水很干净,有很好的味道, 这对于地热系统来说不太寻常。
weird:adj.奇怪的;奇异的;离奇的;n.命运;宿命;命运女神;
What was amazing is that the locals had always known about this place, and that I was by no means the first outsider to see it. 神奇的是, 当地人一直都知道这地方, 而我肯定不是第一个知道的外人。
by no means:决不; outsider:n.外人;无取胜希望者;
It was just part of their everyday life. 这不过是他们生活的一部分,
They drink its water. 喝河流的水、
They take in its vapor. 吸入那
They cook with it, clean with it, even make their medicines with it. 利用河水煮食、 清洁洗净, 甚至用它来制药。
I met the shaman, and he seemed like an extension of the river and his jungle. 我和那位萨满见面, 他像是这条河流与这片树林的一部分。
extension:n.延长;延期;扩大;伸展;电话分机;
He asked for my intentions and listened carefully. 他问我为何而来, 并且仔细听我回答。
intentions:n.目的,意向,意图;打算;(intention的复数)
Then, to my tremendous relief -- 然后,让我如释重负的是
tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的; relief:n.救济;减轻,解除;安慰;浮雕;
I was freaking out, to be honest with you -- a smile began to snake across his face, and he just laughed. ──坦白说,我原本非常紧张── 一抹微笑像蛇爬过他的面孔,然后他笑了。
freaking:adj.该死的,他妈的;v.(使)强烈反应,畏惧;(freak的现在分词)
(Laughter) （笑声）
I had received the shaman's blessing to study the river, on the condition that after I take the water samples and analyze them in my lab, wherever I was in the world, that I pour the waters back into the ground so that, as the shaman said, the waters could find their way back home. 我得到萨满的祝福来硏究这条河, 只要我取得的河水样本 在实验室分析过后, 无论我在世界哪里, 都要把水再洒回到地上, 萨满说, 这样河水才能找到回家的路。
analyze:v.对…进行分析,分解(等于analyse); pour:v.倒; n.流出; (已熔金属的)一次浇注量;
I've been back every year since that first visit in 2011, and the fieldwork has been exhilarating , demanding and at times dangerous. 自从 2011 年第一次探访以来,我每年都回去。 实地考察令人振奋, 过程艰辛,有时甚至危险。
fieldwork:n.野外工作;现场工作;野战工事; exhilarating:adj.令人兴奋的; v.使高兴; (exhilarate的现在分词)
One story was even featured in National Geographic Magazine. 国家地理杂志曾为其中一个故事做过专题,
Geographic:adj.地理的;地理学的;
I was trapped on a small rock about the size of a sheet of paper in sandals and board shorts, in between an 80 degree C river and a hot spring that, well, looked like this, close to boiling. 当时我被一块纸张大小的石头卡住了, 身上只穿着沙滩裤和凉鞋。 我那时身处在摄氏 80 度的河流 和一道温泉之间,就像这样,接近沸腾。
trapped:adj.受困的;受限制的;v.使落入险境;使陷入困境;(trap的过去分词和过去式) sheet:n.薄板;床单;纸张;报纸;v.覆盖;展开;给…铺床单;铺开;adj.片状的; sandals:n.凉鞋;(sandal的复数)
And on top of that, it was Amazon rain forest. 在这之上的是亚马逊雨林,
Pshh, pouring rain, couldn't see a thing. 滂沱大雨,伸手不见五指。
pouring:v.倾倒;倾泻;连续流出;倒出;喷发;(pour的现在分词)
The temperature differential made it all white. It was a whiteout . 温差让周围变得白蒙蒙,简直是雪盲。
differential:adj.微分的;差别的;特异的;n.微分;差别; whiteout:n.临时性失明(因暴露于恶劣环境而引起的);乳白天空(极地的一种大气光象);
Intense . 真令人紧张。
Intense:adj.强烈的;紧张的;非常的;热情的;
Now, after years of work, 如今,经过多年的考察,
I'll soon be submitting my geophysical and geochemical studies for publication . 不久我会发表相关的地球物理与化学硏究成果。
submitting:v.提交,呈递;顺从;屈服;投降;表示;主张;(submit的现在分词) geophysical:adj.地球物理学的; publication:n.出版物;发表;公布;发行;
And I'd like to share, today, with all of you here, on the TED stage, for the first time, some of these discoveries. 今天我想在 TED 的讲台上与你们分享, 我第一次公开的部分发现。
Well, first off, it's not a legend. 首先,这些故事不是传说。
Surprise! 想不到吧！
(Laughter) （笑声）
When I first started the research, the satellite imagery was too low-resolution to be meaningful . 最初我进行研究时, 卫星影像的解析度非常低,根本幫不上忙,
imagery:n.像;意象;比喻;形象化; low-resolution:低分辨率; meaningful:adj.严肃的;重要的;重大的;意味深长的;
There were just no good maps. 可以说是没有地图可言。
Thanks to the support of the Google Earth team, 多谢 Google 地球团队,
Google:谷歌;谷歌搜索引擎;
I now have this. 我现在有了这样的画面。
Not only that , the indigenous name of the river, Shanay-timpishka, "boiled with the heat of the sun," 此外,河流之名Shanay-timpishka 的原意是 「以太阳之热沸腾」,
only that:只是;要不是; indigenous:adj.本土的;土著的;国产的;固有的;
indicating that I'm not the first to wonder why the river boils, and showing that humanity has always sought to explain the world around us. 显然我并非第一个好奇河水为何沸腾的人, 也显示人类向来在想办法解释 我们身处的世界。
indicating:v.表明;显示;象征;暗示;(indicate的现在分词) humanity:n.人类;人道;仁慈;人文学科; sought:v.seek(寻求、寻找)的过去式和过去分词形式;
So why does the river boil? 所以,那条河是怎么沸腾的？
(Bubbling sounds) （水沸腾声）
It actually took me three years to get that footage . 其实我花了三年才得到这段影片。
footage:n.英尺长度;连续镜头;以尺计算长度;
Fault-fed hot springs. 地壳裂缝的温泉,
As we have hot blood running through our veins and arteries , so, too, the earth has hot water running through its cracks and faults. 就如我们身体 同样地,地球也有热流穿过它的裂缝和断层。
veins:n.[解剖]静脉(vein的复数); v.使有脉络; arteries:n.[解剖]动脉(artery的复数);v.给…提供动脉(artery的单数第三人称); cracks:n.裂纹; v.破裂; (crack的第三人称单数和复数)
Where these arteries come to the surface, these earth arteries, we'll get geothermal manifestations : fumaroles, hot springs and in our case, the boiling river. 当动脉接近地壳,这些大地的动脉, 会展现地热的特质: 火山噴气孔、温泉,以及我们看到的,沸腾的河流。
manifestations:n.临床表现(manifestion的复数);显示;证明;
What's truly incredible , though, is the scale of this place. 真正惊人的地方,是这里的范围有多大。
incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的; scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢;
Next time you cross the road, think about this. 下次过马路时,你可以想想看。
The river flows wider than a two-lane road along most of its path. 这条河多数的流域
two-lane:双车道;
It flows hot for 6.24 kilometers. 长达 6.24 公里都是滚烫的水。
Truly impressive . 真令人敬畏。
impressive:adj.感人的;令人钦佩的;给人以深刻印象的;
There are thermal pools larger than this TED stage, and that waterfall that you see there is six meters tall -- and all with near-boiling water. 那里有比这个 TED 讲台还大的热水池, 你现在看到的瀑布, 有六公尺高, 而且全部都是接近沸腾的河水。
waterfall:n.瀑布;瀑布似的东西;
We mapped the temperatures along the river, and this was by far the most demanding part of the fieldwork. 我们记录了河水各处的温度, 这是实地考察最难的部分。
And the results were just awesome . 我们得到的结果实在太棒了。
awesome:adj.令人敬畏的;使人畏惧的;可怕的;极好的;
Sorry -- the geoscientist in me coming out. 对不起,我的地球科学家本性又来了。
geoscientist:n.地学科学家;
And it showed this amazing trend . 结果显示很惊人的变化。
trend:n.趋势;动向;趋向;动态;v.走向;趋向;
You see, the river starts off cold. 你看河水最先是冷的,
It then heats up, cools back down, heats up, cools back down, heats up again, and then has this beautiful decay curve until it smashes into this cold river. 接着加热、冷却、再加热、再冷却, 再加热,产生这个漂亮的衰减曲线, 直到它汇流进冷水河里。
decay:v.(使)腐烂;破败;(力量、影响等)衰弱;n.腐烂;腐朽;衰退; curve:n.曲线;弯曲;曲面;弧线;v.(使)沿曲线移动;呈曲线形; smashes:n.思迈斯类(朱力普中一种较淡的饮料);
Now, I understand not all of you are geothermal scientists, so to put it in more everyday terms: 我了解不是每个人都是地热学家, 所以用一般的说法形容:
Everyone loves coffee. 每个人都喜欢咖啡,
Yes? Good. 是吧？很好。
Your regular cup of coffee, 54 degrees C, an extra-hot one, well, 60. 通常一杯咖啡的温度是摄氏 54 度。 热一点的是 60 度。
So, put in coffee shop terms, the boiling river plots like this. 所以用咖啡店的说法, 沸水河的图示,像是这样。
coffee shop:na.咖啡店;(一般的)小餐馆; plots:n.情节; v.划分;
There you have your hot coffee. 这里你得到一杯热咖啡,
Here you have your extra-hot coffee, and you can see that there's a bit point there where the river is still hotter than even the extra-hot coffee. 这里你得到一杯很烫的咖啡, 你可以看到在某些区段 河流比很烫的咖啡还烫。
And these are average water temperatures. 这些是平均水温。
We took these in the dry season to ensure the purest geothermal temperatures. 我们在旱季做测量,以确保贴近地热的温度。
ensure:vt.保证,确保;使安全;
But there's a magic number here that's not being shown, and that number is 47 degrees C, because that's where things start to hurt, and I know this from very personal experience. 另外有一个魔法数字,还没有提到。 这数字是是摄氏 47 度。 高过这个温度,有受伤的危险。 我从亲身的经历学到这一点。
personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词;
Above that temperature, you don't want to get in that water. 超过这个温度,你不会想要进到河里去。
You need to be careful. 你要非常小心,
It can be deadly . 有可能会致命。
deadly:adj.致命的;非常的;死一般的;adv.非常;如死一般地;
I've seen all sorts of animals fall in, and what's shocking to me, is the process is pretty much the same. 我看过各式各样的动物掉进去, 让我惊讶的是,牠们被煮熟的过程都差不多。
process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
So they fall in and the first thing to go are the eyes. 当牠们掉入热水后,第一个变化的是眼睛。
Eyes, apparently , cook very quickly. They turn this milky-white color. 显然,眼睛很容易熟,马上就变成乳白色。
apparently:adv.显然地;似乎,表面上;
The stream is carrying them. 流水承载着牠们,
They're trying to swim out, but their meat is cooking on the bone because it's so hot. 动物试图要游出来,但高温切骨, 实在太烫了。
So they're losing power, losing power, until finally they get to a point where hot water goes into their mouths and they cook from the inside out. 所以牠们渐渐失去动力,渐渐失去动力, 直到热水淹进嘴巴, 牠们就从里到外被煮熟了。
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
(Laughter) （笑声）
A bit sadistic , aren't we? 我们都有点虐待倾向,是吧？
sadistic:adj.虐待狂的;残酷成性的;
Jeez. 天啊。
Leave them marinating for a little longer. 把这些先放一边。
marinating:v.腌,浸泡(食物);(食物)腌,浸泡;(marinate的现在分词)
What's, again, amazing are these temperatures. 回到这个,惊人的高温,
They're similar to things that I've seen on volcanoes all over the world and even super-volcanoes like Yellowstone. 类似的情况在世界各处的火山都可见到, 甚至是黄石公园这样的超级火山。
But here's the thing: the data is showing that the boiling river exists independent of volcanism . 但特别的地方是: 这些资料显示,这条沸水河的存在 独立于火山活动。
independent of:不依赖…的;不受…支配的; volcanism:n.[地质]火山作用;
It's neither magmatic or volcanic in origin , and again, over 700 kilometers away from the nearest volcanic center. 它的起源既不是岩浆,也不是火山, 它离最近的火山可是有 700 公里远。
magmatic:adj.岩浆的; origin:n.起源;起因;源头;出身;
How can a boiling river exist like this? 怎么会有这样的一条沸水河存在呢？
I've asked geothermal experts and volcanologists for years, and I'm still unable to find another non-volcanic geothermal system of this magnitude . 过去几年来,我问过地热和火山专家, 仍无法在另一个非火山的地热系统里, 找到同样等级的系统。
volcanologists:n.火山学家; magnitude:n.大小;量级;[地震]震级;重要;光度;
It's unique . 它独一无二,
unique:adj.独特的,稀罕的;[数]唯一的;n.独一无二的人或物;
It's special on a global scale. 是世界级的特别。
global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的;
So, still -- how does it work? 那么,这是怎么发生的？
Where do we get this heat? 热能从哪里来？
There's still more research to be done to better constrain the problem and better understand the system, but from what the data is telling us now, it looks to be the result of a large hydrothermal system. 我们的研究还没有结束, 尚待进一步厘清问题,了解这个系统。 但从目前的资料来看, 看起来这是由一个广大的热液系统所造成。
constrain:v.约束;限制;强迫;强制; hydrothermal:adj.[地质]热液的;热水的;
Basically , it works like this: 简单来说,
Basically:adv.主要地,基本上;
So, the deeper you go into the earth, the hotter it gets. 越深入地心,温度就越烫。
We refer to this as the geothermal gradient . 我们把这种现象称为地温梯度。
refer:v.参考;涉及;提到;查阅; gradient:n.[数][物]梯度;坡度;倾斜度;adj.倾斜的;步行的;
The waters could be coming from as far away as glaciers in the Andes , then seeping down deep into the earth and coming out to form the boiling river after getting heated up from the geothermal gradient, all due to this unique geologic setting. 水流可能来自遥远的安第斯山脉冰川, 再往下渗透深入到地球 回到地表形成这条沸水河, 热力来自地温梯度, 一切源于这种独特的地质背景。
glaciers:n.[地理][水文]冰川(glacier的复数);[地理][水文]冰河; Andes:n.安第斯山脉; seeping:v.渗;渗透;(seep的现在分词) geologic:adj.地质的;地质学上的;
Now, we found that in and around the river -- this is working with colleagues from National Geographic, Dr. Spencer Wells, and Dr. Jon Eisen from UC Davis -- 在河中,以及其周边,我们有一些发现。 透过许多伙伴的努力, 包括国家地理杂志的韦尔斯博士, 和加州大学戴维斯分校的乔恩·艾森博士。
we genetically sequenced the extremophile lifeforms living in and around the river, and have found new lifeforms, unique species living in the boiling river. 我们将各种嗜极端生物做基因体定序, 这些生物生长在河流的四周,我们也发现新生物, 是住在沸水河的独特物种。
genetically:adv.从遗传学角度;从基因方面; sequenced:[数][计]序列; species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
But again, despite all of these studies, all of these discoveries and the legends, a question remains: 但同样的,这所有研究、发现,和传说的背后, 仍留下一个问题:
What is the significance of the boiling river? 沸腾河流为什么重要？
significance:n.意义;重要性;意思;
What is the significance of this stationary cloud that always hovers over this patch of jungle? 这片常年云雾缭绕, 隐蔽在丛林深处的一方寸土,为什么重要？
stationary:adj.固定的;静止的;定居的;常备军的;n.不动的人;驻军; hovers:盘旋; patch:n.补丁;小片;眼罩;色斑;v.修补;打补丁;缝补;
And what is the significance of a detail in a childhood legend? 一个儿时传说的细节,为什么重要？
To the shaman and his community , it's a sacred site. 对萨满和他的村落而言,这是一块圣地;
community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
To me, as a geoscientist, it's a unique geothermal phenomenon . 对我,一个地质学家而言, 这是独一无二的地热现象;
phenomenon:n.现象;杰出的人;非凡的人(或事物);
But to the illegal loggers and cattle farmers, it's just another resource to exploit . 但对非法伐木者和养牛户而言, 这仅是另一个可剥削的资源。
illegal:adj.不合法的;非法的;n.非法移民;非法劳工; loggers:n.伐木工人(logger的复数形式); resource:n.资源;资料;才智;财力;v.向…提供资金(或设备); exploit:v.利用…为自己谋利;剥削;压榨;运用;发挥;
And to the Peruvian government, it's just another stretch of unprotected land ready for development. 对秘鲁政府,它只是另一个 未经保护的土地,等着被开发。
stretch:v.伸展;延伸;伸出;舒展;n.伸展;弹性;舒展;一片;adj.有弹力的; unprotected:adj.无保护的;未设防的;v.无保护;(unprotect的过去式和过去分词);
My goal is to ensure that whoever controls this land understands the boiling river's uniqueness and significance. 我的目标是确保无论谁控制了这块土地, 都能了解沸腾河流的独特性与重要性。
whoever:任何人:无论是谁: uniqueness:n.独特性;独一无二;单值性;
Because that's the question, one of significance. 因为,那就是我们讨论 关于重要性的提问。
And the thing there is, we define significance. 对于世间万物, 我们定义了事物的重要性,
define:v.定义;使明确;规定;
It's us. We have that power. 那是我们,我们有这个力量,
We are the ones who draw that line between the sacred and the trivial . 我们是做出决定的那群人, 决定事物是神圣亦或微不足道。
trivial:adj.不重要的,琐碎的;琐细的;
And in this age, where everything seems mapped, measured and studied, in this age of information, 在这个时代, 看似万物都已被组织、测量,以及研究过了。 在这个资讯的时代,
measured:adj.缓慢谨慎的; v.测量; (measure的过去分词和过去式)
I remind you all that discoveries are not just made in the black void of the unknown but in the white noise of overwhelming data. 我想提醒各位,所谓的探索, 不只发生在黑暗虚无的未知当中, 也发生在生活的嘈杂与铺天盖地的资料中。
remind:v.提醒;使想起; void:adj.空的;无效的;无人的;n.空虚;空间;空隙;v.使无效;排放; white noise:n.白噪声(整个频道范围内的噪声); overwhelming:adj.势不可挡的; v.压倒; (overwhelm的现在分词)
There remains so much to explore . 世上还有很多待发掘的事物。
explore:v.探索:探测:探险:
We live in an incredible world. 我们住在一个不可思议的世界。
So go out. 所以出走吧！
Be curious . 抱着好奇心。
curious:adj.好奇的,有求知欲的;古怪的;爱挑剔的;
Because we do live in a world where shamans still sing to the spirits of the jungle, where rivers do boil and where legends do come to life. 因为我们生活的这个世界, 萨满们仍为丛林里的神灵唱歌, 那里真的有沸腾的河流, 那里的传说会走进真实人生。
Thank you very much. 谢谢各位。
(Applause) （掌声）