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CarolynPorco_2009U-_土星的卫星可以孕育生命么_
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| Two years ago here at TED |
两年前,就在这儿,TED |
| I reported that we had discovered at Saturn, with the Cassini Spacecraft , an anomalously warm and geologically active region at the southern tip of the small Saturnine moon |
我宣布我们通过卡西尼探测器 对土星的探测 在一颗较小的土星卫星的南端, 发现了一块异常温暖的地质运动活跃区域 |
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Spacecraft:n.[宇]宇宙飞船;航天器; geologically:adv.从地质学角度; region:n.地区;范围;部位; tip:n.小窍门,小费;v.给…小费;使倾斜; Saturnine:adj.忧郁的;阴沉的;铅中毒的;沉默寡言的;
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| Enceladus, seen here. |
这颗卫星就是木卫二,请看图。 |
| This region seen here for the first time in the Cassini image taken in 2005. This is the south polar region. |
在这张卡西尼号于2005年拍摄的图片中, 我们第一次看到该区域。这是土卫二的南极地区。 |
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polar:adj.极地的;南极(或北极)的;n.极线;极面;
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| With the famous tiger-stripe fractures crossing the south pole . |
南极地区横布着著名的虎皮纹裂痕 |
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fractures:v.(使)断裂,折断,破裂;(使)分裂;(fracture的第三人称单数) south pole:n.南极;
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| And seen just recently in late 2008, here is that region again, now half in darkness because the southern hemisphere is experiencing the onset of August and eventually winter. |
这是2008年晚些时候拍摄的图片 我们又可以看到这个区域 该区域有一半处于阴影中,因为此时南半球 刚刚进入8月份 并将逐渐进入冬季。 |
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recently:adv.最近;新近; hemisphere:n.半球; onset:n.开始,着手;发作;攻击,进攻; eventually:adv.最后,终于;
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| And I also reported that we'd made this mind-blowing discovery -- this once-in-a-lifetime discovery of towering jets erupting from those fractures at the south pole, consisting of tiny water ice crystals accompanied by water vapor and simple organic compounds like carbon dioxide and methane . |
并且我还宣布了我们的一项令人兴奋的发现 这项发现真是一生难求。 这些高耸的喷射流 是从我们之前看到的南极的裂痕区域喷发出来的。 含有微小的冰晶 一起喷发出来的还有水蒸汽 以及简单的有机化合物,比如二氧化碳和甲烷 |
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mind-blowing:adj.使兴奋的;引起幻觉的; once-in-a-lifetime:千载难逢(的好机会); erupting:v.爆发;(岩浆、烟等)喷出;突然发生;爆发;(erupt的现在分词) consisting:v.由…组成;由…构成;在于;存在于(consist的现在分词) water ice:na.水冰;(英)=sherbet; crystals:n.[晶体]晶体(crystal的复数形式);石英晶体; accompanied:v.陪同;陪伴;与…同时发生;为…伴奏;(accompany的过去式和过去分词) vapor:n.蒸汽;烟雾;vt.使…蒸发;使…汽化;vi.蒸发;吹牛;沮丧; organic:adj.有机的;不使用化肥的;绿色的;有机物的;n.分子有机体; compounds:n.混合物,化合物;大院(compound的复数形式); carbon dioxide:二氧化碳; methane:n.[有化]甲烷;[能源]沼气;
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| And at that time two years ago |
而且两年前 |
| I mentioned that we were speculating that these jets might in fact be geysers , and erupting from pockets or chambers of liquid water underneath the surface. |
当时我说我们推测 这些喷射流可能实际上是 从充满液态水的地面凹陷处 或者地表以下的腔室中喷射出来的间歇泉 |
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speculating:v.推测;猜测;推断;投机;(speculate的现在分词) geysers:n.[水文]间歇泉;[水文]间歇喷泉(geyser的复数形式); chambers:n.内庭(chamber的复数); 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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| But we weren't really sure. |
但是我们那时候无法确定。 |
| However, the implications of those results of a possible environment within this moon that could support prebiotic chemistry, and perhaps life itself, were so exciting that in the intervening two years we have focused more on Enceladus. |
但是,那些结果显示 该卫星内存在 一个可能能够支持生命起源前化学物质 或者生命本身的环境 我们非常兴奋,所以在接下来的两年中 我们对木卫二给予了更多的关注。 |
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implications:n.蕴涵式;暗指,暗示;含蓄,含意;卷入(implication的复数); intervening:adj.介于中间的;v.介入(intervene的ing形式);
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| We've flown the Cassini Spacecraft by this moon now several times. |
我们操控卡西尼探测器 飞经该卫星好几次。 |
| Flying closer and deeper into these jets, into the denser regions of these jets, so that now we have come away with some very precise compositional measurements . |
每次都离这些喷射流更贴近 得以进入这些喷射流密度更高的区域 这样一来,我们就取得了一些 非常准确的成分测量数据。 |
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denser:adj.密集的; (dense的比较级) regions:n.地区;地域;行政区;左近;(region的复数) precise:adj.准确的;确切的;精确的;明确的; compositional:adj.组成的;创作的;作曲的; measurements:n.测量值,尺寸(measurement的复数);
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| And we have found that the organic compounds coming from this moon are in fact more complex than we previously reported. |
我们发现 该卫星喷射出的有机化合物 事实上比先前我们报道的要更加复杂 |
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complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施; previously:adv.先前;以前;
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| While they're not amino acids, we're now finding things like propane and benzene , hydrogen cyanide , and formaldehyde . |
它们不是氨基酸 我们现在发现了 丙烷和苯 氢氰酸,以及甲醛等化合物 |
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amino:adj.氨基的;n.[化学]氨基; propane:n.[有化]丙烷; benzene:n.[有化]苯; hydrogen:n.氢;氢气; cyanide:n.[无化]氰化物; formaldehyde:n.蚁醛,[有化]甲醛;
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| And the tiny water crystals here now look for all the world like they are frozen droplets of salty water. |
而且,这些微小的冰晶 看起来非常像是 冰冻的盐水滴 |
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for all the world:无论如何; droplets:n.[流]液滴(droplet的复数);飞沫;
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| Which is a discovery that suggests that not only do the jets come from pockets of liquid water, but that that liquid water is in contact with rock. |
该发现表明 不仅这些喷射流是从 液态水凹坑里喷射出来的 而且这些液态水还跟岩石有接触。 |
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contact:n.接触,联系;v.使接触,联系;
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| And that is a circumstance that could supply the chemical energy and the chemical compounds needed to sustain life. |
这种情况下, 就能产生保证维持生命的化学能 以及化合物。 |
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circumstance:n.环境,情况;事件;境遇; chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; sustain:v.支持;支撑;遭受;证实;
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| So we are very encouraged by these results. |
因此,这些结果使我们深受鼓舞。 |
| And we are much more confident now than we were two years ago that we might indeed have on this moon, under the south pole, an environment or a zone that is hospitable to living organisms . |
我们比两年之前更加有信心, 我们可能真的会 在这个卫星的南极下面 发现适合生命有机体存在的环境或者区域 |
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confident:adj.自信的;确信的; hospitable:adj.热情友好的;(环境)舒适的; organisms:n.[生物]生物体(organism的复数);[生物]有机体;
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| Whether or not there are living organisms there, of course, is an entirely different matter. |
当然,那里是否存在生命有机体 就是另外一个问题了 |
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Whether or not:是否…;
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| And that will have to await the arrival, back at Enceladus, of the spacecrafts , hopefully some time in the near future, specifically equipped to address that particular question. |
这个问题只能等到 将来发射的探测器再次造访土卫二时来解答 ,这些探测器将携带研究该问题的设备。 但愿在不远的将来就能实现 |
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await:v.等候;等待;期待; spacecrafts:n.[航]宇宙飞船,航天器; specifically:adv.特别地;明确地;
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| But in the meantime I invite you to imagine the day when we might journey to the Saturnine system, and visit the Enceladus interplanetary geyser park, just because we can. |
与此同时,我邀请大家跟我一起憧憬这样一个时刻: 我们一起畅游于土星体系中 并参观土卫二上的行星际间歇泉公园 只因我们可以做到。 |
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in the meantime:在此期间;于此际; journey:n.旅行;行程;vi.旅行; interplanetary:adj.太阳系内的;行星间的;
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| Thank you. |
谢谢 |
| (Applause) |
（鼓掌） |