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BrianCox_2010S-_我们为什么需要探索家_
We live in difficult and challenging economic times, of course. 现在我们处在 经济危机困难重重的时刻。
economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的;
And one of the first victims of difficult economic times, 这种情况下, 首当其冲的受害者,
I think, is public spending of any kind, but certainly in the firing line at the moment is public spending for science, and particularly curiosity-led science and exploration . 我认为是各种各种的公共开支, 但更加命悬一线的 是科学方面的公共开支, 特别是以好奇心为导向的科学 与探索。
firing line:na.第一线;[军]火线;前线部队; particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; exploration:n.探索;勘探;探险;[医]探查术;
So I want to try and convince you in about 15 minutes that that's a ridiculous and ludicrous thing to do. 因此我想用15分钟来说服你, （削减科学开支）是 相当愚蠢的。
convince:v.使确信;使相信;说服,劝说; ridiculous:adj.可笑的;荒谬的; ludicrous:adj.滑稽的;荒唐的;
But I think to set the scene, 为了叙述一下背景
I want to show -- the next slide is not my attempt to show the worst TED slide in the history of TED, but it is a bit of a mess . 我要给你们展示——我并不是要 让你们看到TED有史以来最糟糕的幻灯片, 但这是有点乱。
attempt:n.企图,试图;攻击;v.企图,试图;尝试; mess:n.混乱;餐厅;杂乱;肮脏;v.使不整洁;弄脏;弄乱;随地便溺;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But actually, it's not my fault; it's from the Guardian newspaper. 但这并不是我的错,这是从《卫报》那弄来的。
Guardian:n.[法]监护人,保护人;守护者;adj.守护的;
And it's actually a beautiful demonstration of how much science costs. 这很清楚的展示了, 科学的花费。
demonstration:n.示范;演示;论证;证明;
Because, if I'm going to make the case for continuing to spend on curiosity-driven science and exploration, 因为我要说服 继续给以好奇为导向的科学与探索提供资金,
curiosity-driven:好奇心驱动;
I should tell you how much it costs. 所以我得告诉你它的花费情况。
So this is a game called "spot the science budgets ." 这是个游戏,叫做”找出科学预算来“。
budgets:n.[财政]预算(budget复数形式);v.为…做预算(budget的第三人称单数形式);
This is the U.K. government spend. 这是英国政府开支图。
You see there, it's about 620 billion a year. 你看,一年一共是6千2百亿英镑。
The science budget is actually -- if you look to your left, there's a purple set of blobs and then yellow set of blobs. 科学预算在- 看左边,有个紫色的圈圈 还有黄色的圈圈。
purple:n.紫色;紫袍;v.变紫;使成紫色;adj.紫色的;华丽的文辞; blobs:n.斑点(blob的复数);v.溅污(blob的三单形式);
And it's one of the yellow set of blobs around the big yellow blob. 科学预算就是那个大黄圈圈 旁边的一个小圈圈。
It's about 3.3 billion pounds per year out of 620 billion. 是6千2百亿英镑中的 33亿英镑。
That funds everything in the U.K. 在英国,
funds:n.[会计]资金,现金(fund的复数);基金;v.资助(fund的三单形式);提供资金;
from medical research, space exploration, where I work, at CERN in Geneva, particle physics, engineering , even arts and humanities , funded from the science budget, 从医疗研究,空间探索, 我工作的地方,日内瓦的CERN,粒子物理学, 到工程,甚至是艺术和人文, 给这一切提供资金的,
particle:n.颗粒;[物]质点;极小量;小品词; engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词) humanities:n.人文学科(humanity的复数); funded:adj.提供资金的;v.提供资金;积存;提供资金偿付的本息;(fund的过去式);
which is that 3.3 billion, that little, tiny yellow blob around the orange blob at the top left of the screen. 就是那33亿英镑,那个小得不能再小的黄圈圈, 在屏幕左上角的橙色圈圈旁边。
So that's what we're arguing about. 这就是我们争论的对象。
That percentage , by the way , is about the same in the U.S. and Germany and France. 顺便一提,这个比率, 同美国,德国和法国是一样的。
percentage:n.百分比;百分率;利润的分成;提成; by the way:顺便说一下;
R&D in total in the economy , publicly funded, is about 0.6 percent of GDP. 全部科研在经济当中, 公共拨款的, 占GDP的百分之0.6.
economy:n.经济;节约;理财;
So that's what we're arguing about. 这就是我们所说的。
The first thing I want to say, and this is straight from "Wonders of the Solar System ," 首先我要说的是, 这是来自于“太阳系的奇观”,
Solar System:[天]太阳系;
is that our exploration of the solar system and the universe has shown us that it is indescribably beautiful. 我们对太阳系和宇宙的探索 展现给了我们无与伦比的美丽。
indescribably:adv.难以形容地;不明确地;
This is a picture that actually was sent back by the Cassini space probe around Saturn , after we'd finished filming "Wonders of the Solar System." 这张照片是 在我们拍完“太阳系的奇观”之后, 卡西尼号太空探测器在土星附近发回来的。
space probe:na.航天探测器; Saturn:n.[天]土星;农业之神(罗马神话中的一个形象);
So it isn't in the series . 因此它没有在那个系列里面。
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书;
It's of the moon Enceladus. 这是恩克拉多斯卫星。
So that big sweeping , white sphere in the corner is Saturn, which is actually in the background of the picture. 角落里那个巨大的白色的范围 就是土星, 是这张图片的背景。
sweeping:n.扫除; adj.影响广泛的; v.打扫; (sweep的现在分词) sphere:n.球;领域;球体;球形;v.使成球形;包围;把…放在球内;使处于天体之间;
And that crescent there is the moon Enceladus, which is about as big as the British Isles . 那里的新月形就是恩克拉多斯卫星, 差不多和不列颠诸岛一样大。
crescent:n.新月; adj.新月形的; vt.以新月形物装饰; Isles:群岛;
It's about 500 kilometers in diameter . 直径有500千米。
diameter:n.直径;对径;放大率;放大倍数;
So, tiny moon. 一个很小的卫星。
What's fascinating and beautiful ... 多么美丽,多么令人着迷——
fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词)
this an unprocessed picture, by the way, I should say, it's black and white , straight from Saturnian orbit . 顺便我要说下,这是张未经过处理的图片。 是黑白的,从土星轨道发过来的。
unprocessed:adj.未被加工的; black and white:adj.印刷的;黑白混合的;用笔写的; 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;
What's beautiful is, you can probably see on the limb there some faint , sort of, wisps of almost smoke rising up from the limb. 很美丽的地方是,又可以在这里看到 一些微弱的 像烟雾一样的鬼火 冉冉升起。
limb:n.肢,臂;分支;枝干;v.切断…的手足;从…上截下树枝; faint:n.昏厥;v.昏厥;adj.昏眩;(光,声,味)微弱的;微小的;可能性不大的; wisps:n.小捆; v.捆成小束(wisp的三单形式);
This is how we visualize that in "Wonders of the Solar System." 我们在“太阳系奇观”中就是这样用视觉展现的。
visualize:vt.形象,形象化;想像,设想;vi.显现;
It's a beautiful graphic . 多么漂亮的图片。
graphic:adj.形象的;图表的;绘画似的;
What we found out were that those faint wisps are actually fountains of ice rising up from the surface of this tiny moon. 我们发现了那些微弱的鬼火 其实在这个小卫星的表面上突起 的冰泉
fountains:n.[地质]喷泉;户外喷泉(fountain的复数);
That's fascinating and beautiful in itself, but we think that the mechanism for powering those fountains requires there to be lakes of liquid water beneath the surface of this moon. 它本身就很美丽和令人着迷, 但我们认为使那些冰泉运动的 背后的机械 要求在这个卫星的地面之下, 有液态水组成的湖泊。
mechanism:n.机制;原理,途径;进程;机械装置;技巧; beneath:prep.在…之下;adv.在下方;
And what's important about that is that, on our planet, on Earth, wherever we find liquid water, we find life. 这很重要,因为, 在我们的星球,地球上, 能够找到液态水的地方, 我们能找到生命。
So, to find strong evidence of liquid, pools of liquid, beneath the surface of a moon 750 million miles away from the Earth is really quite astounding . 因此,能找到足够的证据 证明离地球7亿5千万英里远的卫星 的地表之下有着液态水的存在 是相当惊人的。
evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; astounding:adj.令人震惊的;使大吃一惊的;v.使震惊;使大惊;(astound的现在分词)
So what we're saying, essentially , is maybe that's a habitat for life in the solar system. 我们基本上是说 也许这是太阳系里的又一个生命的摇篮。
essentially:adv.本质上;本来; habitat:n.[生态]栖息地,产地;
Well, let me just say, that was a graphic. I just want to show this picture. 这是张图片,我只是想要展示这张照片。
That's one more picture of Enceladus. 又是一张恩克拉多斯卫星的照片。
This is when Cassini flew beneath Enceladus. 这是卡西尼号飞到它下面时拍的。
So it made a very low pass, just a few hundred kilometers above the surface. 因此靠得很近, 离卫星表面只有几百千米。
And so this, again, a real picture of the ice fountains rising up into space, absolutely beautiful. 这也是一张冰泉的真实照片, 无比美丽。
absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地;
But that's not the prime candidate for life in the solar system. 但这不是太阳系最有可能有生命存在的星球。
prime:adj.主要的; v.极好地; n.初期; v.使准备好;
That's probably this place, which is a moon of Jupiter , Europa . 最有可能的是这个地方, 木星的一个卫星,欧罗巴。
Jupiter:n.[天]木星;朱庇特(罗马神话中的宙斯神); Europa:n.欧罗巴(腓尼基王阿革诺耳之女);[天]木卫二;
And again, we had to fly to the Jovian system to get any sense that this moon, as most moons, was anything other than a dead ball of rock. 同样,我们得飞到木星系统 才能了解这个卫星,同大多数卫星一样, 只不过是个没有生气的岩石球。
It's actually an ice moon. 它事实上是个冰球。
So what you're looking at is the surface of the moon Europa, which is a thick sheet of ice, probably a hundred kilometers thick. 看看欧罗巴卫星的地表, 是一层很厚的冰面,大概有一百千米深。
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;
But by measuring the way that 通过检测
Europa interacts with the magnetic field of Jupiter, and looking at how those cracks in the ice that you can see there on that graphic move around , we've inferred very strongly that there's an ocean of liquid surrounding the entire surface of Europa. 欧罗巴卫星是怎样 同木星的磁场相互作用的, 和研究你在这种图片上可以看见的 冰面上的裂缝 我们很肯定的推测 欧罗巴的整个地表下, 有着像海洋一样的液体环绕着。
interacts:vi.互动;相互作用(interact的三单形式);交互; magnetic field:磁场; cracks:n.裂纹; v.破裂; (crack的第三人称单数和复数) move around:v.走来走去;绕着…来回转; inferred:adj.推论的;推测出的;v.推测(infer的过去分词);
So below the ice, there's an ocean of liquid around the whole moon. 冰面之下,有着大量的液体。
It could be hundreds of kilometers deep, we think. 我们认为,可能有几百千米深。
We think it's saltwater , and that would mean that there's more water on that moon of Jupiter than there is in all the oceans of the Earth combined. 我们认为是咸水,就意味着 木星这颗卫星上的水, 比地球上所有海洋里的水还要多。
saltwater:adj.盐水的;海产的;
So that place, a little moon around Jupiter, is probably the prime candidate for finding life on a moon or a body outside the Earth, that we know of. 因此,木星周围的一个小卫星 可能是我们所知的 地球之外的 最有可能找到生命存在的星球。
Tremendous and beautiful discovery. 了不起的发现。
Tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的;
Our exploration of the solar system has taught us that the solar system is beautiful. 对太阳系的探索 让我们发现了太阳系的美丽。
It may also have pointed the way to answering one of the most profound questions that you can possibly ask, which is: "Are we alone in the universe?" 也为回答人们会问的最深远的问题之一 指明了道路。 这个问题就是,“宇宙里,我们是孤独的吗？”
profound:adj.深厚的;意义深远的;渊博的;
Is there any other use to exploration and science, other than just a sense of wonder? 除了让人们称奇之外,探索和科学 还有其他的作用吗？
Well, there is. 有的。
This is a very famous picture taken, actually, on my first Christmas Eve , 这是一张非常著名的照片, 在我的第一个圣诞夜是拍摄的,
Christmas Eve:圣诞夜,平安夜
December 24th, 1968, when I was about eight months old. 1968年的12月24日。 那时我大约只有八个月大。
It was taken by Apollo 8 as it went around the back of the moon. 是由阿波罗八号 绕到月亮背面时拍摄的。
Apollo:n.阿波罗(太阳神);美男子;
Earthrise from Apollo 8. 阿波罗八号上看到的地球升起来。
A famous picture; many people have said that it's the picture that saved 1968, which was a turbulent year -- the student riots in Paris, the height of the Vietnam War. 很著名的照片,很多人说过, 正是这张照片拯救了1968年, 那时动荡不安的一年—— 巴黎的学生暴乱, 越南战争的巅峰。
turbulent:adj.骚乱的,混乱的;狂暴的;吵闹的;激流的,湍流的; riots:n.暴动(riot的复数);v.骚乱(riot的第三人称单数形式);闹事;
The reason many people think that about this picture, and Al Gore has said it many times, actually, on the stage at TED, is that this picture, arguably , was the beginning of the environmental movement. 很多人这样评价这张照片, 戈尔在TED的讲台上多次说起 是因为这张照片,可以说是 环保运动的开端。
on the stage:在舞台上;现阶段;当演员; arguably:v.可论证地;
Because, for the first time, we saw our world, not as a solid, immovable , kind of indestructible place, but as a very small, fragile-looking world just hanging against the blackness of space. 因为,那是我们 第一次看见地球, 不是一个牢固的,固定的 不可摧毁的地方, 而是一个很小,看上去很脆弱的星球, 悬挂在一片漆黑的宇宙空间之中。
immovable:adj.不动的;固定的;不改变的; indestructible:adj.不可毁灭的,不能破坏的; blackness:n.黑色;阴险;
What's also not often said about the space exploration, about the Apollo program, is the economic contribution it made. 关于太空探索和阿波罗计划, 很少提起的是 它给经济作出的贡献。
contribution:n.捐款;捐资;定期缴款;贡献;促成作用;稿件;
I mean while you can make arguments that it was wonderful and a tremendous achievement and delivered pictures like this, it cost a lot, didn't it? 我是说,你可以论述它是多么美好 多么了不起的成就, 拍了这样的照片, 但它耗资巨大,不是吗？
Well, actually, many studies have been done about the economic effectiveness , the economic impact of Apollo. 事实上,有人做过了许多 经济效益的研究, 阿波罗计划的经济影响。
effectiveness:n.效力; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
The biggest one was in 1975 by Chase Econometrics . 最大的一次是在1975年由大通计量经济学进行的。
Econometrics:n.计量经济学;
And it showed that for every $1 spent on Apollo, 14 came back into the U.S. economy. 结果显示,花在阿波罗计划上的每一美元, 给美国经济带回了14美元。
So the Apollo program paid for itself in inspiration, in engineering, achievement and, I think, in inspiring young scientists and engineers 14 times over. 因此阿波罗计划 在激励方面, 在工程学成就方面 在鼓舞年轻的科学家和工程师方面, 收益比投资高出14倍。
inspiring:adj.鼓舞人心的;灌输的;v.鼓舞;激发;使感悟;(inspire的现在分词)
So exploration can pay for itself. 所以说,探索项目可以养活自己。
What about scientific discovery? 科学性探索如何呢？
scientific:adj.科学的,系统的;
What about driving innovation ? 鼓励创新呢？
innovation:n.创新,革新;新方法;
Well, this looks like a picture of virtually nothing. 这张照片看上去什么也没有。
virtually:adv.事实上,几乎;实质上;
What it is, is a picture of the spectrum of hydrogen . 它是一张氢气的 光谱图。
spectrum:n.光谱;频谱;范围;余象; hydrogen:n.氢;氢气;
See, back in the 1880s, 1890s, many scientists, many observers , looked at the light given off from atoms . 在19世纪80年代,90年代时, 许多科学家和观察员 检查原子释放出来的光,
observers:n.观察者(observer的复数); atoms:n.[物]原子(atom的复数);
And they saw strange pictures like this. 他们就看见了像这张一样的奇怪图片。
What you're seeing when you put it through a prism is that you heat hydrogen up and it doesn't just glow like a white light , it just emits light at particular colors, a red one, a light blue one, some dark blue ones. 把它透过棱镜时你看见的是, 你加热氢气,它并不会发出 白色的光, 它只发出特别的颜色的光, 一道红的,一道浅蓝的,一些深蓝色的。
prism:n.棱镜;[晶体][数]棱柱; glow:n.喜悦; v.发热; white light:n.白光; emits:发出;放射;发行(emit的动词单数第三人称形式);
Now that led to an understanding of atomic structure because the way that's explained is atoms are a single nucleus with electrons going around them. 这就使得人们了解原子的结构 因为按照这样解释 原子是周围带有电子的 单一核心。
atomic:adj.原子的,原子能的;微粒子的; structure:n.结构;构造;建筑物;vt.组织;构成;建造; nucleus:n.核,核心;原子核; electrons:n.[物]电子(electron的复数形式);
And the electrons can only be in particular places. 电子只在特定的位置。
in particular:尤其,特别;
And when they jump up to the next place they can be, and fall back down again, they emit light at particular colors. 他们跳到别的地方, 就会回到原地, 他们发出特定颜色的光。
And so the fact that atoms, when you heat them up, only emit light at very specific colors, was one of the key drivers that led to the development of the quantum theory , the theory of the structure of atoms. 当你加热原子时, 只会发出特定颜色的光, 原子的这一特性,成为 导向量子理论,原子结构理论发展的 一个关键因素。
specific:adj.特殊的,特定的;明确的;详细的;[药]具有特效的;n.特性;细节;特效药; quantum theory:n.量子理论;
I just wanted to show this picture because this is remarkable . 我想要展示这张了不起的图片。
remarkable:adj.卓越的;非凡的;值得注意的;
This is actually a picture of the spectrum of the Sun. 这是太阳的光谱图。
And now, this is a picture of atoms in the Sun's atmosphere absorbing light. 这张照片显示的是,太阳大气层的原子 吸收光。
atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格; absorbing:adj.引人入胜的;精彩的;v.吸收;吞并;同化;理解;(absorb的现在分词)
And again, they only absorb light at particular colors when electrons jump up and fall down, jump up and fall down. 他们只吸收特定颜色的光 而电子跳起来又落回去, 跳起来又落回去。
But look at the number of black lines in that spectrum. 但看看光谱图里黑线的数量。
And the element helium was discovered just by staring at the light from the Sun because some of those black lines were found that corresponded to no known element. 氦元素 是在研究太阳光时发现的。 因为一些那样的黑线, 与未知元素相对应。
element:n.元素;要素;原理;成分;自然环境; helium:n.[化学]氦(符号为He,2号元素); staring:adj.凝视的,目不转睛的;显眼的;v.凝视;盯着看;显眼;(stare的现在分词) corresponded:v.相一致;符合;类似于;相当于;通信;(correspond的过去分词和过去式)
And that's why helium's called helium. 这就是为什么氦元素叫做氦元素。
It's called " helios " -- helios from the Sun. 它被叫做“赫利俄斯”——来自太阳的赫利俄斯。
helios:n.赫利俄斯(太阳神);
Now, that sounds esoteric , and indeed it was an esoteric pursuit, but the quantum theory quic kly led to an understanding of the behaviors of electrons in materials like silicon, for example. 这听起来很深奥, 它也确实是很深奥的学问, 但是量子理论很快引导人们 理解物质里电子的行为, 比如说硅原子。
esoteric:adj.秘传的;限于圈内人的;难懂的;
The way that silicon behaves , the fact that you can build transistors , is a purely quantum phenomenon . 硅原子的行为, 以及你能用它制作晶体管, 是纯粹的量子现象。
behaves:v.表现;表现得体;有礼貌;(behave的第三人称单数) transistors:n.[电子]晶体管;晶体三极管(transistor的复数); purely:adv.完全;仅仅; phenomenon:n.现象;杰出的人;非凡的人(或事物);
So without that curiosity-driven understanding of the structure of atoms, which led to this rather esoteric theory, quantum mechanics , then we wouldn't have transistors, we wouldn't have silicon chips , we wouldn't have pretty much the basis of our modern economy. 所以如果没有 好奇心引导的对原子结构的了解—— 这使得人们有了更加深奥的理论,量子力学, 我们就没有晶体管,没有硅芯片, 没有我们现代经济赖以生存 的根基。
quantum mechanics:n.量子力学; chips:炸土豆条(chip的复数)
There's one more, I think, wonderful twist to that tale. 这个故事有了个奇妙的转折。
twist:v.捻;扭转;曲折;扭动;n.捻;拧;扭动;搓;
In "Wonders of the Solar System," 在“太阳系的奇观”中,
we kept emphasizing the laws of physics are universal . 我们一直强调物理学的定理是普遍存在的。
emphasizing:v.强调(emphasize的现在分词); universal:adj.普遍的;全体的;全世界的;共同的;
It's one of the most incredible things about the physics and the understanding of nature that you get on Earth, is you can transport it, not only to the planets, but to the most distant stars and galaxies . 物理学和你在地球上得到的对于自然界的认知 有很神奇的特性, 就是你可以把它应用到行星上, 甚至是最遥远的恒星和星系上。
incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的; transport:n.运输;输送;运送;运输机;v.输送;传播;使产生身临其境的感觉;(旧时)流放; distant:adj.遥远的;远处的;久远的; galaxies:n.银河; (galaxy的复数)
And one of the astonishing predictions of quantum mechanics, just by looking at the structure of atoms -- the same theory that describes transistors -- is that there can be no stars in the universe that have reached the end of their life that are bigger than, quite specifically , 1.4 times the mass of the Sun. 对量子力学 最令人震惊的预测是 只要看看原子的结构—— 描述过晶体管的同样理论—— 宇宙中, 没有一颗已死亡的恒星 的质量比太阳大,准确来说,大1.4倍。
astonishing:adj.令人十分惊讶的;v.使十分惊讶;使吃惊;(astonish的现在分词) predictions:n.预测,预言(prediction复数形式); describes:v.描述;形容;把…称为;画出…图形;(describe的第三人称单数) specifically:adv.特别地;明确地; mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集;
That's a limit imposed on the mass of stars. 这是恒星质量的最大限度。
imposed:adj.强加的;施加的;应用的;v.欺骗(impose的过去分词);把…强加于;
You can work it out on a piece of paper in a laboratory , get a telescope , swing it to the sky, and you find that there are no dead stars bigger than 1.4 times the mass of the Sun. 你可以在实验室里拿张纸算出来, 或者用个望远镜,对着天空 你就会发现,没有质量超过太阳1.4倍 的死亡恒星。
laboratory:n.实验室,研究室; telescope:n.望远镜;v.(使)叠套缩短;精简;
That's quite an incredible prediction. 这是个了不起的预测。
What happens when you have a star that's right on the edge of that mass? 如果有颗恒星达到了最大质量限度的边缘呢？
on the edge of:adv.几乎;濒于;在…边缘;
Well, this is a picture of it. 这是它的照片。
This is the picture of a galaxy , a common "our garden" galaxy with, what, 100 billion stars like our Sun in it. 这是一个星系的照片,一个普通的星系。 其中有1千亿 像太阳一样的恒星。
galaxy:n.银河;[天]星系;银河系;一群显赫的人;
It's just one of billions of galaxies in the universe. 它只是宇宙中数十亿星系中的一个。
There are a billion stars in the galactic core , which is why it's shining out so brightly . 星系的核心里有十亿颗恒星, 因此它光芒耀眼。
galactic:adj.银河的;乳汁的; core:n.核心;要点;果心;[计]磁心;vt.挖...的核; brightly:明亮地
This is about 50 million light years away , so one of our neighboring galaxies. 这是我们的一个隔壁星系, 离我们大概5千万光年远。
light years away:光年以外;似水流年;个光年已过去; neighboring:adj.邻近的;接壤的;v.邻近;使接近;位于…附近;(neighbor的现在分词)
But that bright star there is actually one of the stars in the galaxy. 但那颗明亮的星星 其实是星系中的一员。
So that star is also 50 million light years away. 这颗星星 也离我们5千万光年远。
It's part of that galaxy, and it's shining as brightly as the center of the galaxy with a billion suns in it. 它是星系的一部分,而它的光芒 同有着十亿颗太阳的星系中心 一样明亮耀眼。
That's a Type Ia supernova explosion . 这就是Ia型超新星爆炸。
supernova:n.超新星; explosion:n.爆炸;爆发;激增;
Now that's an incredible phenomena , because it's a star that sits there. 这是难以置信的现象, 因为这颗星星在那里。
phenomena:n.现象(phenomenon的复数);
It's called a carbon-oxygen dwarf . 它被成为白矮星。
dwarf:v.变矮小;n.侏儒,矮子;adj.矮小的;
It sits there about, say, 1.3 times the mass of the Sun. 它的质量是太阳的1.3倍。
And it has a binary companion that goes around it, so a big star, a big ball of gas. 它有颗联星,围绕它运转, 一颗大恒星,一颗大的气体球。
binary:adj.[数]二进制的;二元的,二态的; companion:n.同伴;伴侣;陪伴;手册;v.(与…)同行;(跟…)搭伴儿去;
And what it does is it sucks gas off its companion star, until it gets to this limit called the Chandrasekhar limit, and then it explodes . 于是,它从那颗联星上 吸收气体, 直到它达到钱德拉塞卡极限, 接着它就会爆炸。
sucks:v.吮吸;吸;咂;啜;抽吸;抽取;(suck的第三人称单数) explodes:v.爆炸,爆发;激增;
And it explodes, and it shines as brightly as a billion suns for about two weeks, and releases , not only energy, but a huge amount of chemical elements into the universe. 爆炸时,它会发出同十亿个太阳一样强烈的光 光会维持两个星期, 同时它不仅会释放出能量, 而且会释放大量的化学元素到宇宙空间。
releases:n.释放; vt.释放; chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; elements:n.要素;基本部分;少量;一群;(element的复数)
In fact, that one is a carbon-oxygen dwarf. 事实上,这颗就是白矮星。
Now, there was no carbon and oxygen in the universe at the Big Bang . 大爆炸时, 宇宙里没有碳元素和氧元素。
carbon:n.[化学]碳;碳棒;复写纸;adj.碳的;碳处理的; Bang:n.猛敲; v.猛敲; v.正好;
And there was no carbon and oxygen in the universe throughout the first generation of stars. 第一代恒星期间,宇宙里没有 碳元素和氧元素。
throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及; first generation:adj.出生在美国的;原件第一代;
It was made in stars like that, locked away and then returned to the universe in explosions like that in order to recondense into planets, stars, new solar systems and, indeed, people like us. 它们在那样的恒星里面, 封存起来,再通过那样的爆炸, 返回到宇宙空间, 重新凝聚成行星, 恒星,新的太阳系统 还有,像我们一样的人类。
explosions:n.[力]爆炸;爆发(explosion的复数);怒气大作;
I think that's a remarkable demonstration of the power and beauty and universality of the laws of physics, because we understand that process, because we understand the structure of atoms here on Earth. 我想,这是很好的展示了 物理学定理的力量,美,和普遍性, 因为我们理解这个过程, 因为我们知道 地球上原子的结构。
universality:n.普遍性;广泛性;一般性;多方面性;
This is a beautiful quote that I found -- we're talking about serendipity there -- from Alexander Fleming: "When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, 这是我找到的一段美丽的引文—— 出自于亚历山大·弗莱明,我们讲的是机缘巧合。 “1928年9月28日的黎明, 我刚醒来,
quote:v.引用;报价;举例说明;开价;为(企业的股份)上市;n.引用; serendipity:n.意外发现珍奇事物的本领;有意外发现珍宝的运气; dawn:n.黎明;开端;vt.破晓;出现;被领悟;
I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic ." 我自然没有打算通过发现世界上第一个抗生素 来改革整个医术界。”
revolutionize:vt.发动革命;彻底改革;宣传革命;vi.革命化;从事革命; antibiotic:adj.抗生的;抗菌的;n.抗生素,抗菌素;
Now, the explorers of the world of the atom did not intend to invent the transistor. 原子世界的探索者们 并没有打算发明晶体管。
explorers:n.探险者;勘探者;考察者;(explorer的复数) intend:v.打算;计划;想要;
And they certainly didn't intend to describe the mechanics of supernova explosions, which eventually told us where the building blocks of life were synthesized in the universe. 他们也没有打算 描述超新星爆炸的机制, 这一机制最终告诉我们 构建生命的基石 是在宇宙里合成的。
eventually:adv.最后,终于; building blocks:(儿童玩的)积木;建筑砌块;堆积木;建筑砖块;基石; synthesized:adj.合成的;综合的;v.合成(synthesize的过去分词);综合;
So, I think science can be -- serendipity is important. 我认为科学可以—— 机遇偶然很重要。
It can be beautiful. It can reveal quite astonishing things. 科学很美丽,可以揭露一些令人吃惊的事物。
reveal:v.显示;透露;揭露;泄露;n.揭露;暴露;门侧,窗侧;
It can also, I think, finally reveal the most profound ideas to us about our place in the universe and really the value of our home planet. 我想,它也可以, 最终向我们 揭露 关于我们在宇宙中的位置, 还有我们的家园的真正价值这样的终极问题。
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
This is a spectacular picture of our home planet. 这是一张地球的壮观照片。
spectacular:adj.壮观的;壮丽的;令人惊叹的;n.壮观的场面;精彩的表演;
Now, it doesn't look like our home planet. 它看起来不像是地球。
It looks like Saturn because, of course, it is. 看上去像土星,因为
It was taken by the Cassini space probe. 它是由卡西尼号太空探测器拍摄的。
But it's a famous picture, not because of the beauty and majesty of Saturn's rings, but actually because of a tiny, faint blob just hanging underneath one of the rings. 但这是张很著名的照片,不是因为 土星环的美丽和壮观, 而是因为悬挂在光环之下的 那一个小小的微弱的圆点。
majesty:n.威严;最高权威,王权;雄伟;权威; underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的;
And if I blow it up there, you see it. 如果我把那里放大,你就会看见。
It looks like a moon, but in fact, it's a picture of Earth. 它看起来像个卫星, 但事实上,那是地球。
It was a picture of Earth captured in that frame of Saturn. 那是土星的框架下拍摄到的地球。
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) frame:n.框架; v.设计; adj.有木架的;
That's our planet from 750 million miles away. 那是7亿5千万英里远之外看到的我们的地球。
I think the Earth has got a strange property that the farther away you get from it, the more beautiful it seems. 我认为地球有个奇怪的属性, 你离它越远, 它看上去越漂亮。
But that is not the most distant or most famous picture of our planet. 不过,这还不是最远或者最著名的地球照片。
It was taken by this thing, which is called the Voyager spacecraft . 它是由这个东西拍摄的,叫做旅行家飞船。
Voyager:n.航海者,航行者; spacecraft:n.[宇]宇宙飞船;航天器;
And that's a picture of me in front of it for scale . 这是我站在它前面,作为尺寸对比。
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;
The Voyager is a tiny machine. 旅行家号是个很小的机器。
It's currently 10 billion miles away from Earth, transmitting with that dish, with the power of 20 watts , and we're still in contact with it. 现在它离地球有100亿千里远, 用那个卫星盘以20瓦特的功率传输数据, 我们还在和它保持联系。
currently:adv.当前;一般地; transmitting:v.传送;输送;发射;传播;传染;(transmit的现在分词) watts:n.瓦特(功率单位); contact:n.接触,联系;v.使接触,联系;
But it visited Jupiter, Saturn, 它拜访了木星,土星,
Uranus and Neptune . 天王星和海王星。
Uranus:n.[天]天王星; Neptune:n.海王星;海神;
And after it visited all four of those planets, 它拜访完这四个行星之后,
Carl Sagan, who's one of my great heroes, had the wonderful idea of turning Voyager around and taking a picture of every planet it had visited. 我的偶像之一,卡尔 萨根, 有了个很棒的主意 把旅行家号调头 拍下它拜访过的星球的照片。
And it took this picture of Earth. 它拍了这张地球的照片。
Now it's very hard to see the Earth there, it's called the "Pale Blue Dot" picture, but Earth is suspended in that red shaft of light. 这上面很难看见地球,这张照片被称为“微弱蓝点”, 但地球悬挂在这道光线之中。
suspended:v.悬;挂;吊;暂停;中止;(suspend的过去式和过去分词) shaft:n.拍杆;[机]轴;箭杆;杆状物;v.利用;在…上装杆;
That's Earth from four billion miles away. 这是40亿英里远看到的地球。
And I'd like to read you what 我想读一段
Sagan wrote about it, just to finish, because I cannot say words as beautiful as this to describe what he saw in that picture that he had taken. 萨根写的文字,作为结束, 因为我无法说出像他那样优美的文字, 来形容在他拍摄的那张照片里 他所看见的情形。
He said, "Consider again that dot. 他说,“再看一下这个点吧。
That's here. That's home. That's us. 它在那里。那就是我们的家,我们的一切。
On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you've ever heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. 在它上面,有你爱的每个人、 你认识的每个人、你听说过的每个人。 历史上的每一个人, 都在它上面度过了自己的一生。
The aggregates of joy and suffering thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines , every hunter and forager , every hero and coward , every creator and destroyer of civilization , 所有我们的欢乐和痛苦, 所有言之凿凿的宗教、 意识形态和经济原理, 所有猎人和强盗,所有英雄和懦夫, 所有文明的创造者和毁灭者,
aggregates:n.总量; v.聚集; confident:adj.自信的;确信的; ideologies:意识形态; doctrines:主义;学说;教义;信条(doctrine的复数); forager:n.抢劫者;强征队员; coward:n.懦夫,懦弱的人;adj.胆小的,懦怯的; destroyer:n.驱逐舰;破坏者;起破坏作用的事物; civilization:n.文明;文明社会;文明世界;(特定时期和地区的)社会文明;
every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals , every corrupt politician , every superstar, every supreme leader, 所有的皇帝和农夫,所有热恋中的青年情侣, 所有的父母、满怀希望的孩子、 发明者和探索者, 所有精神导师,所有腐败的政治家, 所有“超级明星”,所有“最高领导人”,
morals:n.道德; corrupt:v.损坏;破坏;使腐化;使堕落;adj.贪污的;受贿的;腐败的;营私舞弊的; politician:n.政治家;(蔑)政客;(美)政治贩; supreme:adj.最高的;至高的;最重要的;n.至高;霸权;
every saint and sinner in the history of our species , lived there, on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam . 所有圣徒和罪人,从人类这个种族存在的第一天起 都生活在这颗遥远的尘埃上, 悬浮在太阳光中。
saint:n.圣人;圣徒;道德崇高的人;adj.神圣的;v.成为圣徒; sinner:n.罪人;有错者; species:n.[生物]物种;种类; mote:n.尘埃;微粒;小错; sunbeam:n.阳光,日光;快乐的人;
It's been said that astronomy's a humbling and character-building experience. 有人说,天文学会让人谦卑, 塑造人的性格。
humbling:adj.令人羞辱的;v.羞辱(humble的ing形式);使…谦恭;使…卑贱;
There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. 没有什么东西, 比这张从远处拍摄的地球的图片 更能够说明人类自负的愚昧徒劳。
folly:n.愚蠢;荒唐事;讽刺剧; conceits:n.自负;狂妄;幻想;vt.幻想;
To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." 对我而言,它强调了 我们有责任更好地相互交往, 并且要保护和珍惜这个微弱蓝点, 这是我们迄今所知的唯一家园。”
underscores:vt.划线于…下(underscore复数); preserve:vt.保存;保护;维持;腌;禁猎;n.保护区;禁猎地;加工成的食品; cherish:v.珍爱;怀有(感情等);抱有(希望等);
Beautiful words about the power of science and exploration. 多么优美的文字, 描述了科学与探索的力量。
The argument has always been made, and it will always be made, that we know enough about the universe. 一直有人,而且会永远有人认为, 关于宇宙,我们知道得够多了。
You could have made it in the 1920s; you wouldn't have had penicillin . 如果在20世纪20年代做出这样的结论,人们就不会发现青霉素。
penicillin:n.盘尼西林(青霉素);
You could have made it in the 1890s; you wouldn't have the transistor. 如果是在19世纪90年代,人们就不会发明晶体管。
And it's made today in these difficult economic times. 在现在经济困难的时期有人这样说了,
Surely, we know enough. 是的,我们知道的足够多了。
We don't need to discover anything else about our universe. 我们不需要继续探索宇宙了。
Let me leave the last words to someone who's rapidly becoming a hero of mine, 让我用一个人的话做最后的总结, 汉弗里·戴维,他很快成为了我的英雄,
Humphrey Davy , who did his science at the turn of the 19th century. 他在19世纪初做了科学研究。
Davy:n.戴维(男子名,David的昵称);
He was clearly under assault all the time. 他那时一直被人瞧不起。
assault:v.袭击;殴打;威胁;非议;(assault的现在分词)
'"We know enough at the turn of the 19th century. 我们都知道19世纪初时的事。
Just exploit it; just build things." 拼命开发,拼命建筑。
exploit:v.利用…为自己谋利;剥削;压榨;运用;发挥;
He said this, he said, "Nothing is more fatal to the progress of the human mind than to presume that our views of science are ultimate , that our triumphs are complete, that there are no mysteries in nature, and that there are no new worlds to conquer ." 他说,“对人类思想进步 造成致命危害的是 认为我们现在对科学的认知 达到极致了, 我们彻底成功了, 自然界再也没有神秘之处了, 再也没有新的世界让我们去征服了。“
fatal:adj.致命的;灾难性的;毁灭性的;导致失败的; presume:v.假定;推测;擅自;意味着; ultimate:adj.最终的;极限的;根本的;n.终极;根本;基本原则; triumphs:n.巨大成功; v.打败; (triumph的第三人称单数和复数) conquer:v.占领;攻克;征服;击败,战胜;对付,克服,控制;很受欢迎
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）