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BrianCox_2008-_cern的超级对撞机_
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This is the Large Hadron Collider . |
这就是大型强子对撞机 |
Hadron:n.[高能]强子(参与强相互作用的基本粒子); Collider:n.对撞机;碰撞机;
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It's 27 kilometers in circumference; it's the biggest scientific experiment ever attempted . |
它周长27公里 是有史以来开展过最大的科学实验 |
scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; attempted:adj.未遂的;v.努力;尝试;试图;(attempt的过去分词和过去式)
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Over 10,000 physicists and engineers from 85 countries around the world have come together over several decades to build this machine. |
超过10000名物理学家和工程师 来自全球85个国家 共同在几十年的时间里 建造了这部机器 |
physicists:n.物理学家;机械唯物论者(physicist的复数);
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What we do is we accelerate protons -- so, hydrogen nuclei -- around 99.999999 percent the speed of light. |
我们用它将质子—— 也就是氢原子核—— 的运动速度加到 光速的99.999999% |
accelerate:v.加快;加速;n.接受速成教育的学生; protons:n.[物]质子;氢核(proton的复数); hydrogen:n.氢;氢气; nuclei:n.核心,核子;原子核(nucleus的复数形式);
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Right? At that speed, they go around that 27 kilometers 11,000 times a second. |
了解?以这种速度,他们每秒 环绕27公里的轨道11000次 |
And we collide them with another beam of protons going in the opposite direction. |
然后我们使它与另一束 来自相反方向的质子相撞 |
beam:n.光线; v.发射(电波);
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We collide them inside giant detectors . |
我们使质子在巨型探测器内对撞 |
giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的 detectors:n.探测器;侦测设备(detector的复数);
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They're essentially digital cameras. |
探测器基本上就是数码相机 |
essentially:adv.本质上;本来; digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键;
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And this is the one that I work on, ATLAS . |
而这是我所任职的那台,ATLAS |
ATLAS:n.地图集;寰椎;
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You get some sense of the size -- you can just see these EU standard-size people underneath . |
你可以得到些尺寸上的概念 你可以看到这些欧洲标准尺寸 的人在那下面 |
underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的;
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(Laughter) |
(笑) |
You get some sense of the size: 44 meters wide, 22 meters in diameter , 7,000 tons. |
你能有点概念:44米长 直径22米,重7000吨。 |
diameter:n.直径;对径;放大率;放大倍数;
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And we re-create the conditions that were present less than a billionth of a second after the universe began -- up to 600 million times a second inside that detector -- immense numbers. |
我们所要重塑的 是宇宙形成十亿分之一秒后的状态 每秒制造大约6亿次这一状态 在这个探测器内部——天文数字 |
re-create:v.再创造;改造; billionth:adj.十亿分之一的;第十亿的;n.十亿分之一;第十亿; immense:adj.巨大的,广大的;无边无际的;非常好的;
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And if you see those metal bits there -- those are huge magnets that bend electrically-charged particles , so it can measure how fast they're traveling. |
如果你看到那里的那些小金属块 它们是巨型磁铁,用于弯折 带电粒子 使探测器能够测算出粒子运动的速度 |
magnets:n.磁铁;磁石;吸铁石;有吸引力的人(或地方、事物);(magnet的复数) particles:n.微粒,粒子;粒子系统;碎木料(particle的复数形式);
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This is a picture about a year ago. |
这是大概一年前的照片 |
Those magnets are in there. |
有那些磁铁在上面 |
And, again, an EU standard-size real person, so you get some sense of the scale . |
再一次重申,有一个欧洲标准身高的人 在那里给你一些尺寸上的概念 |
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;
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And it's in there that those mini-Big Bangs will be created, sometime in the summer this year. |
这就是那些迷你大爆炸将要被批量制造的地方 在今年夏天的时候 |
Bangs:n.刘海; v.猛撞;
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And actually, this morning, I got an email saying that we've just finished, today, building the last piece of ATLAS. |
事实上,今天早晨,我收到一封邮件 说我们今天刚刚完成 建造ATLAS的最后一个环节 |
So as of today, it's finished. I'd like to say that I planned that for TED, but I didn't. So it's been completed as of today. |
就是说今天,我们竣工了。我想说 这是我特意为TED安排的 但实际上不是。不过无论怎样,它完成了 |
(Applause) |
(鼓掌) |
Yeah, it's a wonderful achievement. |
没错,这是项伟大的成就 |
So, you might be asking, "Why? |
那,你可能会问,“为什么? |
Why create the conditions that were present less than a billionth of a second after the universe began?" |
为什么要制造那个 宇宙形成十亿分之一秒后的状态?” |
Well, particle physicists are nothing if not ambitious . |
嗯,如果没有野心就当不成粒子物理学家 |
ambitious:adj.野心勃勃的;有雄心的;热望的;炫耀的;
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And the aim of particle physics is to understand what everything's made of, and how everything sticks together. |
而粒子物理学的目标就是要了解 所有一切是从何而来,又如何组建 |
And by "everything" I mean, of course, me and you, the Earth, the Sun, the hundred billion suns in our galaxy and the hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. |
当然,所谓“一切”,我的意思是 我和你,地球,太阳 我们银河系中的几千亿个太阳 和存在在可观测的宇宙中 的那几千亿个银河系 |
galaxy:n.银河;[天]星系;银河系;一群显赫的人; galaxies:n.银河; (galaxy的复数) observable:adj.显著的;觉察得到的;看得见的;n.[物]可观察量;感觉到的事物;
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Absolutely everything. |
绝对是一切事物 |
Absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地;
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Now you might say, "Well, OK, but why not just look at it? |
现在你可能会说,“那,好吧,但是干嘛不直接观察它? |
You know? If you want to know what I'm made of, let's look at me." |
明白么?如果你想知道我是拿什么做的,那我们就来看看我。“ |
Well, we found that as you look back in time, the universe gets hotter and hotter, denser and denser, and simpler and simpler. |
嗯,我们发现,当你回溯时间, 宇宙会越来越热 越来越致密,越来越单一 |
denser:adj.密集的; (dense的比较级)
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Now, there's no real reason I'm aware of for that, but that seems to be the case. |
现今为止我不能告诉你我为什么知道这个 不过事实貌似就是如此 |
So, way back in the early times of the universe, we believe it was very simple and understandable . |
所以,回到宇宙形成初期 我们认为它是非常简单易懂的 |
understandable:adj.可以理解的;可以了解的;
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All this complexity , all the way to these wonderful things -- human brains -- are a property of an old and cold and complicated universe. |
所有繁复的衍生,所有这些美妙的事物—— 包括人脑——都是 一个古老,苍凉而又精密的宇宙的产物 |
complexity:n.复杂性;难以理解的局势 complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式)
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Back at the start, in the first billionth of a second, we believe, or we've observed , it was very simple. |
在宇宙的起点,第一个十亿分之一秒 我们相信,或者我们发现,它是非常纯粹的 |
observed:adj.观察的;观测的;v.观察;遵守;注意到(observe的过去分词形式);
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It's almost like ... |
这就好像 |
imagine a snowflake in your hand, and you look at it, and it's an incredibly complicated, beautiful object. But as you heat it up, it'll melt into a pool of water, |
想象你手里有一片雪花 当你观察它,会发现它是如此精致 如此美丽的事物。但当你散发出热量 它就会融化成一小滩水 |
snowflake:n.雪花;雪片莲;雪巫; incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地; melt:v.融化;(使)软化;
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and you would be able to see that actually it was just made of H20, water. |
这时你就能看到其实它不过是 H2O,水形成的 |
So it's in that same sense that we look back in time to understand what the universe is made of. |
同样道理可以解释为什么我们从初始状态 开始认知宇宙的形成 |
And as of today, it's made of these things. |
如今我们发现,它由这些形成 |
Just 12 particles of matter, stuck together by four forces of nature. |
12种物质微粒 在4种自然力的作用下结合在一起 |
The quarks , these pink things, are the things that make up protons and neutrons that make up the atomic nuclei in your body. |
夸克,这些粉色的东西,是构成质子和中子的粒子 质子和中子组成你身体里的原子核 |
quarks:n.[高能][天]夸克(quark的复数形式); neutrons:n.[核]中子(neutron的复数); atomic:adj.原子的,原子能的;微粒子的;
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The electron -- the thing that goes around the atomic nucleus -- held around in orbit , by the way , by the electromagnetic force that's carried by this thing, the photon . |
电子——那个绕着 原子核运动的东西—— 被制约在一个由电磁力控制的轨道上 而电磁力由这个东西携带,光子 |
electron:n.电子; nucleus:n.核,核心;原子核; orbit:n.轨道;眼眶;势力范围;生活常规;vi.盘旋;绕轨道运行;vt.绕…轨道而行; by the way:顺便说一下; electromagnetic:adj.电磁的; photon:n.[物]光子;辐射量子;见光度(等于lightquantum);
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The quarks are stuck together by other things called gluons. |
将夸克结合在一起的东西叫做胶子 |
And these guys, here, they're the weak nuclear force, probably the least familiar . |
然后是这些家伙,这儿,他们是弱核力 大概是最不为人所知的 |
nuclear:adj.原子能的;[细胞]细胞核的;中心的;原子核的; familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友;
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But without it the sun wouldn't shine. |
但是如果没有它们太阳就不会发光 |
And when the sun shines, you get copious quantities of these things called neutrinos pouring out. |
当太阳发光的时候,大量的 中微子被放射出来 |
copious:adj.丰富的;很多的;多产的; quantities:n.数量;数目;大量;大宗;(quantity的复数) neutrinos:n.中微子(neutrino的复数); pouring:v.倾倒;倾泻;连续流出;倒出;喷发;(pour的现在分词)
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Actually, if you just look at your thumbnail -- about a square centimeter -- there are something there are something like 60 billion neutrinos per second from the sun, passing through every square centimeter of your body. |
事实上,如果你看向你的指甲—— 大概一平方厘米的面积——那儿大概有 每秒大概有600亿个中微子 来自太阳,穿过 你身上的每一个平方厘米 |
thumbnail:n.拇指指甲;极小的东西;短文;adj.极小的,极短的;
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But you don't feel them because the weak force is correctly named. |
但是你感觉不到他们,因为 弱力这个名字不是白起的 |
weak force:n.弱力(宇宙四种基本力之一,产生于原子中的粒子之间);
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Very short range and very weak, so they just fly through you. |
非常短暂非常微弱 所以它们可以直接穿过你 |
And these particles have been discovered over the last century, pretty much. |
这些粒子被发现的过程 几乎持续了上世纪整整一世纪 |
The first one, the electron, was discovered in 1897, and the last one, this thing called the tau neutrino, in the year 2000. Actually just -- |
第一个,电子,是1897年被发现的 然而最后一个,这个叫做陶子微中子的东西 是2000年被发现的。其实—— |
I was going to say, just up the road in Chicago. I know it's a big country, |
我刚才想说,就是在马路那头的芝加哥,但是我反应过来了 |
America, isn't it? |
美国超大的,是吧? |
Just up the road. |
就在马路那头 |
Relative to the universe, it's just up the road. |
相对宇宙来说就在马路那头 |
Relative:adj.相对的;有关系的;成比例的;n.亲戚;相关物;[语]关系词;亲缘植物;
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(Laughter) |
(笑) |
So, this thing was discovered in the year 2000, so it's a relatively recent picture. |
所以,这整套东西是2000年被完整发现的 可以说是一个非常年轻的成就 |
relatively:adv.相当程度上;相当地;相对地;
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One of the wonderful things, actually, I find, is that we've discovered any of them, when you realize how tiny they are. |
我发现这之中一个非常美妙的事 实际上是,无论发现任何一个都是一样,当你意识到它们竟是如此的微小 |
You know, they're a step in size from the entire observable universe. |
就好像,它们的数量级 基本等同于整个可观测的宇宙的数量级 |
So 100 billion galaxies, 13.7 billion light years away -- a step in size from that to Monterey , actually, is about the same as from Monterey to these things. |
就是说,1000亿个银河系 137亿光年的距离—— 和康乐区(加州一小镇)相比的数量级差 实际上就差不多是康乐区和这些小东西相比的数量级差 |
light years away:光年以外;似水流年;个光年已过去; Monterey:n.蒙特利(美国一座城市);
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Absolutely, exquisitely minute, and yet we've discovered pretty much the full set. |
完全的,极致的微小 但我们几乎还是全部发现了它们 |
exquisitely:adv.精致地;精巧地;敏锐地;
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So, one of my most illustrious forebears at Manchester University, Ernest Rutherford , discoverer of the atomic nucleus, once said, "All science is either physics or stamp collecting ." |
嗯,我有一个著名的前辈 在曼彻斯特大学,鄂尼斯特,拉特福德 原子核的发现者 曾经说:所有的科学不是物理 就是集邮 |
illustrious:adj.著名的,杰出的;辉煌的; forebears:n.祖先(forebear的复数); Rutherford:n.卢瑟福(英国物理学家,化学家); discoverer:n.发现者; stamp collecting:n.集邮;
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Now, I don't think he meant to insult the rest of science, although he was from New Zealand , so it's possible. |
呃,我不认为他是故意羞辱 其它的科学 不过他是新西兰人,所以也说不准 |
insult:v.侮辱;辱骂;损害;n.侮辱;凌辱;无礼; Zealand:西兰岛(丹麦最大的岛)
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(Laughter) |
(笑) |
But what he meant was that what we've done, really, is stamp collect there -- |
但是他的意思其实是,我们所做的一切 其实就是在集邮—— |
OK, we've discovered the particles, but unless you understand the underlying reason for that pattern -- you know, why it's built the way it is -- really you've done stamp collecting -- you haven't done science. |
好,我们发现了这些粒子 但是除非你明白了这背后 这现象的原理——就是,为什么它们如此集结—— 那你所做的就是集邮——你没有把它总结成科学 |
underlying:adj.根本的; v.构成…的基础; (underlie的现在分词)
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Fortunately , we have probably one of the greatest scientific achievements of the 20th century that underpins that pattern. |
幸运的是,我们总结出来了 可能是20世纪最伟大的科学成就之一 这现象背后的理论 |
Fortunately:adv.幸运地; underpins:v.加强,巩固,构成;加固(墙)基;(underpin的第三人称单数)
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It's the Newton's laws, if you want, of particle physics. |
如果你愿意,可以把它想成 粒子物理界的牛顿定律 |
It's called the " standard model" -- beautifully simple mathematical equation . |
它叫做”标准模型“——漂亮简单的数学等式 |
standard:n.标准;水准;旗;度量衡标准;adj.标准的;合规格的;公认为优秀的; mathematical:adj.数学的,数学上的;精确的; equation:n.方程式,等式;相等;[化学]反应式;
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You could stick it on the front of a t-shirt, which is always the sign of elegance . |
你可以把它贴在T恤胸前 显示你是一个文化人 |
elegance:n.典雅;高雅;
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This is it. |
这就是它 |
(Laughter) |
(笑) |
I've been a little disingenuous , because I've expanded it out in all it's gory detail. |
我有点不老实,因为我把它展开了 所有血淋淋的细节 |
disingenuous:adj.虚伪的;不诚实的;不老实的;狡猾的; expanded:adj.扩充的;展开的;vt.扩大(expand的过去式); gory:adj.血淋淋的;残酷的;
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This equation, though, allows you to calculate everything -- other than gravity -- that happens in the universe. |
不过这个等式,允许你计算任何事—— 除了引力——只要是在这个宇宙里的 |
So you want to know why the sky is blue, why atomic nuclei stick together -- in principle , you've got a big enough computer -- why DNA is the shape it is. |
假设你想知道为什么天是蓝的,为什么原子核结合在一起—— 理论上来说,如果你有一台足够强大的电脑—— 为什么DNA是这样的 |
stick together:在一起;团结一致;互相支持; in principle:大体上,原则上;
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In principle, you should be able to calculate it from that equation. |
原则上讲,你应该可以通过这个等式计算出来 |
But there's a problem. |
但是这有一个问题 |
Can anyone see what it is? |
谁能看出来是什么? |
A bottle of champagne for anyone that tells me. |
谁告诉我问题在哪奖一瓶香槟 |
champagne:n.香槟酒;香槟酒色;
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I'll make it easier, actually, by blowing one of the lines up. |
我把难度降低点儿吧, 把其中的一行放大 |
Basically , each of these terms refers to some of the particles. |
基本上,这上面每一个参数 都代表一个粒子 |
Basically:adv.主要地,基本上; refers:v.谈及;提到;提及;涉及;描述;(refer的第三人称单数)
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So those Ws there refer to the Ws, and how they stick together. |
就是说,那些W就代表弱力,还有粒子是如何结合的 |
These carriers of the weak force, the Zeds, the same. |
同样道理这些Z代表弱力的携带者 |
But there's an extra symbol in this equation: H. |
但是这个等式里多了一个符号,H |
extra:adj.额外的:n.额外的事物:adv.额外:另外: symbol:n.象征;符号;标志;
|
Right, H. |
对,H |
H stands for Higgs particle. |
H代表希格斯介子 |
Higgs particles have not been discovered. |
我们还没发现希格斯介子 |
But they're necessary -- they're necessary to make that mathematics work. |
但是它们是必要的—— 没有它们等式就无法成立 |
mathematics:n.数学;数学运算;
|
So all the exquisitely detailed calculations we can do with that wonderful equation wouldn't be possible without an extra bit. |
所以,所有理论上用这个美妙等式 所能做出的精确计算 都不能缺少这关键的一点 |
So it's a prediction -- a prediction of a new particle. |
所以这是个推论 对一个新粒子的预测 |
prediction:n.预报;预言;
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What does it do? |
它是干什么的? |
Well, we had a long time to come up with good analogies . |
嗯,我们花了很长时间去想拿什么跟它类比才合适 |
come up with:提出;想出;赶上; analogies:n.类比;类推法;
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And back in the 1980s, when we wanted the money for the LHC from the UK government, |
上世纪80年代,当时我们想向英国政府 申请资金继续在LHC的工作 |
Margaret Thatcher , at the time, said, "If you guys can explain, in language a politician can understand, what the hell it is that you're doing, you can have the money. |
撒切尔夫人,当时她当政,跟我们说 “如果你们能用 政治家听的懂的语言解释清楚 你们在搞什么鬼东西,我就拨给你们钱, |
Thatcher:n.盖屋匠; politician:n.政治家;(蔑)政客;(美)政治贩;
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I want to know what this Higgs particle does." |
我想知道这个希格斯介子是干嘛的。” |
And we came up with this analogy and it seemed to work. |
于是我们想出了这个比较合适的类比 |
analogy:n.类比;类推;类似;
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Well, what the Higgs does is, it gives mass to the fundamental particles. |
这样,希格斯介子是干嘛的呢?它给予基本粒子质量 |
mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集; fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的;
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And the picture is that the whole universe -- and that doesn't mean just space, it means me as well, and inside you -- the whole universe is full of something called a Higgs field. |
也就是说整个宇宙—— 不光是太空,也包括我,还有你—— 整个宇宙都充斥着这种叫做希格斯场的东西 |
Higgs particles, if you will. |
希格斯介子,如果你绕不过来 |
The analogy is that these people in a room are the Higgs particles. |
这个比方是这样的:这些在屋子里的人 他们就是希格斯介子 |
Now when a particle moves through the universe, it can interact with these Higgs particles. |
当一个粒子穿过宇宙 它就会与希格斯介子发生联系 |
interact:v.互相影响;互相作用;n.幕间剧;幕间休息;
|
But imagine someone who's not very popular moves through the room. |
但是假设一个不怎么受欢迎的人穿过这个房间 |
Then everyone ignores them. They can just pass through the room very quickly, essentially at the speed of light. They're massless . |
那样所有人都会无视他。它们(粒子)就能很快的穿过空间 基本以光速穿过。它们没有质量 |
ignores:v.忽视;对…不予理会;不予理睬;(ignore的第三人称单数) pass through:穿过;经历;经验;遭受; massless:adj.无质量的;
|
And imagine someone incredibly important and popular and intelligent walks into the room. |
但是如果是一个无比重要 人气爆高智慧超群的人 穿过这个房间 |
intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的
|
They're surrounded by people, and their passage through the room is impeded . |
她就会被人们团团围住,前进的路也障碍重重 |
impeded:v.阻碍;阻止;(impede的过去分词和过去式)
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It's almost like they get heavy. They get massive . |
就好像它们(粒子)变沉重了,变大了 |
massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的;
|
And that's exactly the way the Higgs mechanism works. |
这就是希格斯介子的工作机制 |
mechanism:n.机制;原理,途径;进程;机械装置;技巧;
|
The picture is that the electrons and the quarks in your body and in the universe that we see around us are heavy, in a sense , and massive, because they're surrounded by Higgs particles. |
也就是说电子和夸克 这些组成我们和我们可见的宇宙的粒子 之所以重,或者在某种意义上说,大 是因为它们被希格斯介子所包围 |
electrons:n.[物]电子(electron的复数形式); in a sense:在某种意义上;
|
They're interacting with the Higgs field. |
它们与希格斯场产生联系 |
interacting:v.交流;沟通;合作;相互影响;(interact的现在分词)
|
If that picture's true, then we have to discover those Higgs particles at the LHC. |
如果这推论是真的 那么我们就必须在LHC发现这些希格斯介子 |
If it's not true -- because it's quite a convoluted mechanism, although it's the simplest we've been able to think of -- then whatever does the job of the Higgs particles we know have to turn up at the LHC. |
如果不是——因为这是一个非常繁复的机制 虽然它已经是我们能想到的最简单的一个—— 那无论这个担任希格斯介子角色的东西是什么 我们知道它都会 出现在LHC |
convoluted:adj.复杂的;费解的;旋绕的;v.盘绕;缠绕(convolute的过去分词);
|
So that's one of the prime reasons we built this giant machine. |
这就是我们建造这个庞然大物的主要原因之一 |
prime:adj.主要的; v.极好地; n.初期; v.使准备好;
|
I'm glad you recognize Margaret Thatcher. |
你们能认出撒切尔太好了 |
recognize:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;
|
Actually, I thought about making it more culturally relevant , but -- |
真的,我还想我应该找个更具文化共通性的—— |
culturally:adv.从文化角度,文化意义上;在人文学方面; relevant:adj.相关的;切题的;中肯的;有重大关系的;有意义的,目的明确的;
|
(Laughter) |
(笑) |
anyway. |
随便啦 |
So that's one thing. |
所以这基本上 |
That's essentially a guarantee of what the LHC will find. |
是LHC一定能获得的成果之一 |
guarantee:n.保证;担保;保证人;保证书;抵押品;v.保证;担保;
|
There are many other things. You've heard many of the big problems in particle physics. |
还有很多别的东西,你一定听说过 很多别的粒子物理领域中的大课题 |
One of them you heard about: dark matter , dark energy. |
其中你听过暗物质,暗能量 |
dark matter:n.暗物质(根据一些理论,指太空中不反射光的物质);
|
There's another issue , which is that the forces in nature -- it's quite beautiful, actually -- seem, as you go back in time, they seem to change in strength. |
这是另外一个课题 就是自然力——这个现象非常奇妙—— 当你回到过去,就能看到 它们的力度会随着时间推移而变化 |
issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行;
|
Well, they do change in strength. |
对,它们真的会变 |
So the electromagnetic force, the force that holds us together, gets stronger as you go to higher temperatures. |
就像电磁力,把我们结合在一起的力 温度越高越强 |
The strong force , the strong nuclear force, which sticks nuclei together, gets weaker. And what you see is the standard model -- you can calculate how these change -- is the forces -- the three forces, other than gravity -- almost seem to come together at one point. |
而强力,或者说核力,使原子核结合在一起的力 温度越高越弱。在这里你看到的是标准模型—— 你可以计算出这些力如何变化—— 除了引力以外的三种力—— 它们几乎相交于一点 |
strong force:n.强力(宇宙四种基本力之一,将原子核各部分结合在一起);
|
It's almost as if there was one beautiful kind of super-force, back at the beginning of time. |
就好像那里有一种美妙的 超级自然力,形成于时间之始 |
at the beginning of:在…的开始;
|
But they just miss. |
但它们还是岔开了 |
Now there's a theory called supersymmetry , which doubles the number of particles in the standard model. |
现在有一种理论叫做“超对称性理论” 它将标准模型中的粒子数翻倍 |
supersymmetry:n.[高能]超对称性;
|
Which, at first sight , doesn't sound like a simplification . |
这乍一看不像是在简化问题 |
at first sight:乍一看;初看之下; simplification:n.简化;简化的事物;
|
But actually, with this theory, we find that the forces of nature do seem to unify together, back at the Big Bang. |
但事实是,当我们这样做 我们发现这三个自然力 似乎真的在宇宙大爆炸的时候融为一体 |
unify:vt.统一;使相同,使一致;
|
Absolutely beautiful prophecy . The model wasn't built to do that, but it seems to do it. |
无比完美的预言。建这个模型的时候人们没有想到 能够得到的如此巨大的回报 |
prophecy:n.预言;预言书;预言能力;
|
Also, those supersymmetric particles are very strong candidates for the dark matter. |
还有,这些超对称粒子 非常有可能就是暗物质 |
So a very compelling theory that's really mainstream physics. |
一个非常迷人的理论 这是目前的主流物理 |
compelling:adj.引人入胜的; v.强迫; (compel的现在分词) mainstream:n.主流;
|
And if I was to put money on it, I would put money on -- in a very unscientific way -- that that these things would also crop up at the LHC. |
如果我要给现代物理投资,我肯定投给它—— 用一个非科学的方式表达我的意思—— 而这些问题的答案也会在LHC得到 |
unscientific:adj.不科学的,不符合科学原理的;非学术的;无科学知识的;
|
Many other things that the LHC could discover. |
LHC还能发现很多其它东西 |
But in the last few minutes, I just want to give you a different perspective of what I think -- what particle physics really means to me -- particle physics and cosmology . |
但是在最后的几分钟里,我只想给你们 提供一个不同的角度 关于我认为粒子物理 到底意义何在——粒子物理和宇宙学 |
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; cosmology:n.[天]宇宙论,[天]宇宙学;
|
And that's that I think it's given us a wonderful narrative -- almost a creation story, if you'd like -- about the universe, from modern science over the last few decades. |
这就是我认为它们给了我们一个美妙的 诠释——你可以把它想成 一个关于宇宙形成的故事—— 这诠释来自于近几十年的现代科学 |
narrative:n.叙述;故事;讲述;adj.叙事的,叙述的;叙事体的; creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物;
|
And I'd say that it deserves , in the spirit of Wade Davis' talk, to be at least put up there with these wonderful creation stories of the peoples of the high Andes and the frozen north. |
而它至少能够 ——本着韦德讲话的精神—— 与那些意义深远的关于安第斯高山人和北方冰原人们 的开拓事迹相比肩 |
deserves:v.值得;应得;应受;(deserve的第三人称单数) Wade:vi.跋涉;vt.涉水;费力行走;n.跋涉;可涉水而过的地方; Andes:n.安第斯山脉;
|
This is a creation story, I think, equally as wonderful. |
我想,这是一个同样伟大的故事 |
The story goes like this: we know that the universe began 13.7 billion years ago, in an immensely hot, dense state, much smaller than a single atom. |
故事是这样的:我们知道 宇宙形成于137亿年前 起始于一个极度高温致密的状态 体积远比一个原子更小 |
immensely:adv.极大地;无限地;广大地;庞大地;
|
It began to expand about a million billion billion billion billionth of a second -- I think I got that right -- after the Big Bang. |
在大爆炸 10亿亿亿亿亿分之一秒后 开始扩张——我觉得我没记错数据—— |
Gravity separated away from the other forces. |
引力与其它力分隔开来 |
The universe then underwent an exponential expansion called inflation . |
宇宙开始进入一个 呈指数级扩张的阶段,叫做暴涨期 |
underwent:v.经验;遭遇(undergo的过去式); exponential:adj.指数的;n.指数; expansion:n.扩张;膨胀;扩展;扩大; inflation:n.膨胀;通货膨胀;夸张;自命不凡;
|
In about the first billionth of a second or so, the Higgs field kicked in, and the quarks and the gluons and the electrons that make us up got mass. |
在大约十亿分之一秒后 希格斯场形成,然后夸克 胶子和电子这些基本粒子 获得了质量 |
The universe continued to expand and cool. |
宇宙继续扩展,冷却 |
After about a few minutes, there was hydrogen and helium in the universe. That's all. |
大概几分钟以后 氢和氦出现在宇宙中。就是这样 |
helium:n.[化学]氦(符号为He,2号元素);
|
The universe was about 75 percent hydrogen, 25 percent helium. It still is today. |
宇宙由75%的氢和 25%的氦形成,直到今天仍是这样 |
It continued to expand about 300 million years. |
它继续扩张了大约 3亿年 |
Then light began to travel through the universe. |
光线开始穿过宇宙空间 |
It was big enough to be transparent to light, and that's what we see in the cosmic microwave background that George Smoot described as looking at the face of God. |
此时的宇宙已经大到足以透明 而这就是我们所看到的宇宙微波背景 乔治斯穆特所说的 直视上帝的面孔 |
transparent:adj.透明的;显然的;坦率的;易懂的; cosmic:adj.宇宙的; microwave:n.微波; described:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的过去分词和过去式)
|
After about 400 million years, the first stars formed, and that hydrogen, that helium, then began to cook into the heavier elements . |
大约4亿年后,第一颗星形成 然后氢啊氦啊,开始结合 形成重元素 |
elements:n.要素;基本部分;少量;一群;(element的复数)
|
So the elements of life -- carbon , and oxygen and iron, all the elements that we need to make us up -- were cooked in those first generations of stars, which then ran out of fuel, exploded , threw those elements back into the universe. |
于是生命元素—— 碳,氧和铁 所有我们生命所必须的元素—— 在第一代恒星中孕育而成 但此时恒星寿命已尽,它们爆炸 将那些元素重新抛回宇宙 |
carbon:n.[化学]碳;碳棒;复写纸;adj.碳的;碳处理的; exploded:adj.分解的; v.爆炸; (explode的过去分词和过去式)
|
They then re-collapsed into another generation of stars and planets. |
它们再次挤压,形成新一代的 恒星和行星 |
And on some of those planets, the oxygen which had been created in that first generation of stars could fuse with hydrogen to form water, liquid water on the surface. |
在其中的一些行星上,那些在第一代恒星上 形成的氧元素与氢元素结合 形成了水。星球表面的液态水 |
first generation:adj.出生在美国的;原件第一代; fuse:n.保险丝;导火线;v.(使)融合,熔断;熔接;
|
On at least one, and on maybe only one of those planets, primitive life evolved , which evolved over millions of years into things that walked upright and left > fo otprints |
在其中至少一个,或许是唯一一个行星上 初态生命诞生 它们经过几百万年的进化 学会了直立行走并且于 |
primitive:adj.原始的,远古的;简单的,粗糙的;n.原始人; evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式)
|
about three and a half million years ago in the mud flats of Tanzania, and eventually left a footprint on another world. |
350万年前在坦桑尼亚的泥原上留下了脚印 直到最终 踏上了另一颗星球的表面 |
eventually:adv.最后,终于;
|
And built this civilization , this wonderful picture, that turned the darkness into light, and you can see the civilization from space. |
他们建立了文明 这一光辉的图景 用电光照亮黑暗 使这世界能够瞭然于宇宙 |
civilization:n.文明;文明社会;文明世界;(特定时期和地区的)社会文明;
|
As one of my great heroes, Carl Sagan, said, these are the things -- and actually, not only these, but I was looking around -- these are the things, like Saturn V rockets, and Sputnik , and DNA, and literature and science -- these are the things that hydrogen atoms do when given 13.7 billion years. |
就像我的一位偶像,卡尔撒甘所说 这些——事实上不止这些 当我环视四周——这些东西 神农五号运载火箭,伴侣号卫星 DNA,文学,科学——这些就是 一粒被赋予了137亿年时间的氢原子 所造就的世界 |
Saturn:n.[天]土星;农业之神(罗马神话中的一个形象); Sputnik:n.人造卫星(前苏联制造); literature:n.文学;文献;文艺;著作; atoms:n.[物]原子(atom的复数);
|
Absolutely remarkable . |
绝对的神奇 |
remarkable:adj.卓越的;非凡的;值得注意的;
|
And, the laws of physics. Right? |
还有,就是物理定律,对吧? |
So, the right laws of physics -- they're beautifully balanced. |
所以,真正的物理定律 都精妙地平衡 |
If the weak force had been a little bit different, then carbon and oxygen wouldn't be stable inside the hearts of stars, and there would be none of that in the universe. |
如果弱力有一点点偏差 那么就不能形成星球内部 稳定的氧和碳 宇宙里就不会存在任何星球 |
stable:n.马厩;牛棚;adj.稳定的;牢固的;坚定的;vi.被关在马厩;赶入马房;
|
And I think that's a -- a wonderful and significant story. |
我认为这是一个 辉煌壮美的故事 |
significant:adj.重大的;有效的;有意义的;值得注意的;意味深长的;n.象征;有意义的事物;
|
50 years ago I couldn't have told that story, because we didn't know it. |
50年前我是无法讲述这个故事的 因为那时我们不知道一切是怎么回事 |
It makes me really feel that that civilization -- which, as I say, if you believe the scientific creation story, has emerged purely as a result of the laws of physics, and a few hydrogen atoms -- then I think, to me anyway, it makes me feel incredibly valuable . |
这让我越来越笃定的认为 文明的发展—— 前提是,如果你相信 科学的创始学说—— 完全是物理定律和几个氢原子的 演化结果 于是我认为,至少对我自己来说 这文明无比珍贵 |
emerged:v.(从隐蔽处或暗处)出现;暴露;露出真相;显现;(emerge的过去分词和过去式) purely:adv.完全;仅仅; as a result:结果; valuable:adj.有价值的;贵重的;可估价的;n.贵重物品;
|
So that's the LHC. |
这就是LHC |
The LHC is certainly, when it turns on in summer, going to write the next chapter of that book. |
当LHC在这个夏天被启动, 它必将会书写这文明发展的崭新篇章 |
And I'm certainly looking forward with immense excitement to it being turned on. |
而我也会怀着无比激动的心情 期待着这一天的到来 |
excitement:n.兴奋;刺激;令人兴奋的事物;
|
Thanks. |
谢谢 |
(Applause) |
(鼓掌) |