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ChrisFisher_2019X-_用激光雷达扫描整个地球_-
The most astounding place I've ever been is the Mosquitia Rain Forest in Honduras. 我去过的最震撼的地方。 是洪都拉斯的莫斯基蒂亚雨林。
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)
I've done archaeological fieldwork all over the world, so I thought I knew what to expect venturing into the jungle , but I was wrong. 我在世界各地都做过考古调查, 所以我以为我知道 丛林冒险会发生什么, 但是我错了。
archaeological:adj.[古]考古学的;[古]考古学上的; fieldwork:n.野外工作;现场工作;野战工事; venturing:v.敢于去(危险或令人不快的地方);小心地说,谨慎地做;(venture的现在分词) jungle:n.密林;尔虞我诈的环境;危险地带;
For the first time in my life, I might add. 我以前从没错过,真的。
(Laughter) （笑声）
First of all , it's freezing. 首先,太冷了。
First of all:adv.首先;
It's 90 degrees, but you're soaking wet from the humidity , and the canopy of trees is so thick that sunlight never reaches the surface. 气温虽然是32摄氏度, 但湿度很大,我浑身湿透, 因为树冠浓密 阳光永远不会到达地面。
soaking:adj.湿透的;湿淋淋的;n.浸湿;浸透;v.浸泡;浸湿;湿透;(soak的现在分词) humidity:n.[气象]湿度;湿气; canopy:n.天篷;华盖;遮篷;苍穹;vt.用天蓬遮盖;遮盖; sunlight:n.日光;
You can't get dry. 我一直就湿漉漉的。
Immediately, I knew that I hadn't brought enough clothing. 我马上意识到衣服没带够。
That first night, I kept feeling things moving underneath my hammock , unknown creatures brushing and poking against the thin nylon fabric . 第一个晚上,我老觉得 吊床下面有东西, 在薄薄的尼龙布下面 蹭来蹭去。
underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的; hammock:n.吊床;吊铺;吊带;vt.睡吊床; creatures:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人(creature的复数) poking:v.捅;推;戳;探;露出;伸出;探出;(poke的现在分词) nylon:n.尼龙,[纺]聚酰胺纤维;尼龙袜; fabric:n.织物;布料;(社会,机构等的)结构;
And I could barely sleep through all the noise. 而我根本无法睡着,因为噪音很大。
barely:adv.仅仅,勉强;几乎不;公开地;贫乏地;
The jungle is loud. It's shockingly loud. 丛林里很吵,令人震惊的吵。
shockingly:adv.怕人地,非常地;不正当地;
It's like being downtown in a bustling city. 就像在繁华都市的市中心。
downtown:n.市区;闹市区;adv.在市区;在热闹街上;到闹市区;adj.闹市区的; bustling:adj.熙熙攘攘的;忙乱的;
As the night wore on, 随着夜晚过去,
I became increasingly frustrated with my sleeplessness , knowing I had a full day ahead. 失眠使我越来越沮丧, 因为知道明天有很多事儿要干。
increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; frustrated:adj.失意的,挫败的;泄气的;v.挫败;阻挠;(frustrate的过去式和过去分词) sleeplessness:n.失眠;
When I finally got up at dawn , my sense of unseen things was all too real. 当我终于在黎明时分起床。 发现我对那些看不见的东西 的感知都十分真实。
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; dawn:n.黎明;开端;vt.破晓;出现;被领悟; unseen:adj.看不见的,未看见的;未经预习的;n.(事前未看过原文的)即席翻译;
There were hoofprints , paw prints, linear snake tracks everywhere. 有蹄印、爪印, 还有蛇爬过的痕迹。
hoofprints:na.蹄印;(hoofprints是hoofprint的复数); paw:v.抓;猥亵地乱摸;动手动脚;动手挑逗;n.(动物的)爪;(人的)手; linear:adj.线的,线型的;直线的,线状的;长度的; tracks:n.小道;足迹;车辙;轨道;v.追踪;跟踪;(track的第三人称单数和复数)
And what's even more shocking, we saw those same animals in the daylight , and they were completely unafraid of us. 最令人震惊的是, 在白天我们看到了那些留下印记的动物, 它们一点都不怕我们。
daylight:n.日光; unafraid:adj.不怕的;无畏的;
They had no experience with people. 它们没有和人相处的经验。
They had no reason to be afraid. 没有理由害怕。
As I walked toward the undocumented city, my reason for being there, 当我走向这个未被记录的城市, 也就是我此行的目的地,
undocumented:adj.无事实证明的;无正式文件的;
I realized that this was the only place that I had ever been where I didn't see a single shred of plastic. 我发现这是我去过的地方里 唯一一个看不到一点塑料的地方。
shred:n.碎片;少量剩余;最少量;破布;v.切成条状;用碎纸机撕毁;
That's how remote it was. 这地方就是这么偏远。
remote:adj.偏远的;偏僻的;遥远的;久远的;
Perhaps it's surprising to learn that there are still places on our planet that are so untouched by people, but it's true. 知道我们的星球上 仍有一些地方没被人类踏足, 也许会让人感到惊讶, 但这是事实。
untouched:adj.未受影响的;未改变的;未触动过的;不受感动的;
There are still hundreds of places where people haven't stepped for centuries or maybe forever. 仍有数百个地点,上千年来没有人去过, 甚至从来没有人去过。
It's an awesome time to be an archaeologist . 现在是当考古学家的绝好时代。
awesome:adj.令人敬畏的;使人畏惧的;可怕的;极好的; archaeologist:n.考古学家;
We have the tools and the technology to understand our planet like never before. 我们有工具和技术 去前所未有地了解我们的地球。
technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
And yet, we're running out of time. 但是,我们快没时间了。
The climate crisis threatens to destroy our ecological and cultural patrimony . 气候危机有可能摧毁 我们的生态和文化遗产。
crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的; ecological:adj.生态的,生态学的; cultural:adj.与文化有关的;文化的;与艺术、文学、音乐等有关的; patrimony:n.遗产;祖传的财物;继承物(特征,性格等);教会的财产;
I feel an urgency to my work that I didn't feel 20 years ago. 我觉得我的工作很紧迫, 而这种紧迫感在20年前是没有的。
urgency:n.紧急;催促;紧急的事;
How can we document everything before it's too late? 我们要如何记录下这一切,趁还来得及？
I was trained as a traditional archaeologist using methodologies that have been around since the '50s. 我受训成为一名传统的考古学家, 用的是上世纪50年代以来的方法。
traditional:传统的,惯例的, methodologies:n.[经]方法论(methodology的复数形式); have been around:见识(很)多;世故(很)深;遍布全球;世故深;遍布各地;
That all changed in July of 2009 in Michoacán, Mexico. 这一切都在2009年7月 的墨西哥米切肯州发生了变化。
I was studying the ancient Purépecha Empire, which is a lesser known but equally important contemporary of the Aztec. 我正在研究古代的普雷佩查帝国, 它与阿兹特克王朝同一时期,同样重要, 却不那么出名。
lesser:adj.较少的;次要的;更小的;adv.较少地;更小地;不及; contemporary:n.同时代的人;同时期的东西;adj.当代的;同时代的;属于同一时期的;
Two weeks earlier, my team had documented an unknown settlement , so we were painstakingly mapping, building foundations by hand -- hundreds of them. 两个星期前,我的团队 记录了一个未知的定居点, 我们精心还原建筑物的地基,徒手操作, 有好几百个之多。
settlement:n.协议:处理:结算:定居点; painstakingly:adv.煞费苦心地;费力地; foundations:n.基础;地基;基金会;粉底;(foundations是foundation的复数)
Basic archaeological protocol is to find the edge of a settlement so you know what you're dealing with, and my graduate students convinced me to do just that. 考古的基本规则是 找到定居点的边缘, 这样你就对这个定居点心里有数, 我的研究生们就让我去做这件事。
protocol:n.协议;草案;礼仪;vt.拟定;vi.拟定; convinced:adj.坚信; v.使确信; (convince的过去分词和过去式)
So I grabbed a couple of CLIF Bars, some water, a walkie , and I set out alone on foot, expecting to encounter "the edge" in just a few minutes. 于是我拿了几个巧克力棒, 一些水,一个对讲机, 就一个人步行出发了, 我觉得走到“边缘”,也就几分钟的事吧。
grabbed:v.抓住;攫取;抓住,夺得;(grab的过去分词和过去式) walkie:n.步行式; encounter:v.遭遇,邂逅;遇到;n.遭遇,偶然碰见;
A few minutes passed. 几分钟过去了。
And then an hour. 然后一个小时过去了。
Finally, I reached the other side of the malpais. 终于,我到达了熔岩区的另一头。
Oh, there were ancient building foundations all the way across. 而这一路上都是古建筑地基。
It's a city? 这是个城市吗？
Oh, shit. 我的天啊。
(Laughter) 真的是个城市。
It's a city. （笑声）
Turns out that this seemingly small settlement was actually an ancient urban megalopolis , 26 square kilometers in size, with as many building foundations as modern-day Manhattan, an archaeological settlement so large that it would take me decades to survey fully, the entire rest of my career , 原来这个看似很小的定居点, 其实是一个古老的巨大城市, 面积26平方公里, 拥有和现代曼哈顿一样多的建筑地基, 这个定居点如此之大, 我需要几十年的时间才能完全调查清楚, 这几乎要贯穿我剩下的职业生涯,
seemingly:adv.看来似乎;表面上看来; urban:adj.城市的;都市的;城镇的;都市音乐的; megalopolis:n.特大都市;人口稠密地带; modern-day:adj.当代的;今日的; survey:n.调查;测量;审视;纵览;vt.调查;勘测;俯瞰;vi.测量土地; career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历;
which was exactly how I didn't want to spend the entire rest of my career -- 然而,我并不想在这干到退休啊,
(Laughter) （笑声）
sweating, exhausted , placating stressed-out graduate students -- 汗流浃背,精疲力尽, 安抚压力过大的研究生们,
exhausted:adj.筋疲力尽的; v.使筋疲力尽; (exhaust的过去分词和过去式) placating:vt.抚慰;怀柔;使和解; stressed-out:adj.不堪重负的;承受巨大压力的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
tossing scraps of PB and J sandwiches to feral dogs, which is pointless , by the way , because Mexican dogs really don't like peanut butter . 把吃剩的花生果酱三明治 扔给野狗, 扔了也白扔, 因为墨西哥狗真的不喜欢花生酱。
tossing:v.扔,抛,掷;甩;(使)摇摆,挥动,颠簸;(toss的现在分词) scraps:n.残羹剩饭;刮屑(scrap的复数); feral:adj.野生的;凶猛的;阴郁的; pointless:adj.无意义的;钝的;不尖的;不得要领的; by the way:顺便说一下; peanut butter:n.花生酱;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Just the thought of it bored me to tears. 光想想都无聊得可怕。
bored:adj.无聊的;厌倦的;烦闷的;v.使厌烦;钻,凿,挖;(bore的过去分词和过去式)
So I returned home to Colorado , and I poked my head through a colleague's door. 所以当我回到科罗拉多州, 跟我的同事说,
Colorado:n.科罗拉多;[城]科罗拉多州;科罗拉多河; poked:v.捅,杵;推;捅;戳;探;伸出;探出(poke的过去分词和过去式)
'" Dude , there's gotta be a better way." “伙计,我们得想想更好的办法。”
Dude:n.男人,小伙子;(非正式)花花公子;
He asked if I had heard of this new technology called LiDAR -- 他问我有没有听过一种新科技 叫LiDAR（激光雷达）——
LiDAR:n.激光雷达;激光定位器;
Light Detection And Ranging. 是“光探测和测距”的缩写。
Detection:n.侦查,探测;发觉,发现;察觉;
I looked it up. 我查了查。
LiDAR involves shooting a dense grid of laser pulses from an airplane to the ground's surface. 激光雷达从飞机上向地面 发射密集的激光脉冲。
involves:v.包含;需要;牵涉;牵连;影响;(使)参加,加入(involve的第三人称单数) dense:adj.稠密的;浓厚的;愚钝的; grid:n.网格;格子,栅格;输电网; pulses:n.[电子]脉冲(pulse的复数); v.使跳动; airplane:n.飞机;
What you end up with is a high-resolution scan of the earth's surface and everything on it. 你会得到一张高清扫描图, 包含了地形和地表上所有的一切。
high-resolution:n.高分辨率;
It's not an image, but instead it's a dense, three-dimensional plot of points. 它不是一张图片, 而是高密度的三维点阵图。
three-dimensional:adj.三维的;立体的;真实的; plot:n.情节;阴谋;布局;小块土地;v.密谋;暗中策划;(在地图上)标出;绘制(图表);
We had enough money in the scan, so we did just that. 我们有钱做扫描, 于是我们就做了。
The company went to Mexico, they flew the LiDAR and they sent back the data. 公司去了墨西哥, 飞了激光雷达, 把数据发了回来。
Over the next several months, I learned to practice digital deforestation , filtering away trees, brush and other vegetation to reveal the ancient cultural landscape below. 在之后的几个月, 我学会了数字砍伐森林, 滤除树木、灌木和其他植被, 让底下的古文化景观显露出来。
digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键; deforestation:n.采伐森林;森林开伐; filtering:v.[化工]过滤,滤除(filter的ing形式); vegetation:n.植被;植物,草木;呆板单调的生活; reveal:v.显示;透露;揭露;泄露;n.揭露;暴露;门侧,窗侧; landscape:n.景观;乡村风景画;(文件的)横向打印格式;v.对…做景观美化;美化…的环境;
When I looked at my first visualization , 当我看着第一幅成品图,
visualization:n.形象化;清楚地呈现在心;
I began to cry, which I know comes as quite a shock to you, given how manly I must seem. 我哭了起来, 我知道你们非常震惊, 因为我看起来是个硬汉。
manly:adj.男子气概的;强壮的;适于男人的;adv.雄赳赳地;
(Laughter) （笑声）
In just 45 minutes of flying, the LiDAR had collected the same amount of data as what would have taken decades by hand: every house foundation, building, road and pyramid, incredible detail, representing the lives of thousands of people who lived and loved and died in these spaces. 在短短45分钟的飞行中, 激光雷达收集的数据量, 如果靠人力来做,需要花数十年时间, 每一间房子的地基, 建筑物,道路和金字塔, 难以置信的细节, 反映了成千上万人的生活, 他们在这里经历生老病死、人间百态。
incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的; representing:v.代表;维护…的利益;等于;相当于;(represent的现在分词)
And what's more, the quality of the data wasn't comparable to traditional archaeological research. 更重要的是,数据的质量 是传统的考古研究没法比的。
comparable to:可比较的,比得上的;
It was much, much better. 它要好的太多。
I knew that this technology would change the entire field of archaeology in the coming years, and it did. 我认为这项技术会改变整个考古学, 这一天很快就会到来, 事实也的确如此。
archaeology:n.考古学;考古学的;
Our work came to the attention of a group of filmmakers who were searching for a legendary lost city in Honduras. 我们的工作引起了一群电影制作人的注意, 他们在洪都拉斯 寻找一座传说中的失落城市。
filmmakers:n.制片人(filmmaker的复数); legendary:adj.传说的,传奇的;n.传说集;圣徒传;
They failed in their quest , but they instead documented an unknown culture, now buried under a pristine wilderness rain forest, using LiDAR. 他们的探索失败了, 但因为使用激光雷达, 他们证实了一个被埋在原始荒野雨林下, 从未有人踏足的文化。
quest:n.追求;寻找;vi.追求;寻找;vt.探索; pristine:adj.原始的,古时的;纯朴的; wilderness:n.荒野;(草木丛生的)荒地;荒芜的地方;杂草丛生处;
I agreed to help interpret their data, which is how I found myself deep in that Mosquitia jungle, plastic-free and filled with curious animals. 我答应帮助解析他们的数据, 这也是为什么我会身处莫斯基蒂亚雨林深处, 这里人迹罕至,充满好奇的动物。
interpret:v.诠释;说明;口译;把…理解为; curious:adj.好奇的,有求知欲的;古怪的;爱挑剔的;
Our goal was to verify that the archaeological features we identified in our LiDAR were actually there on the ground, and they were. 我们的目标是验证那些通过激光雷达 发现的考古特征 真的存在于地面上, 它们真的存在。
verify:vt.核实;查证; identified:v.确认;认出;找到;发现;说明身份;(identify的过去式和过去分词)
Eleven months later, I returned with a crack team of archaeologists sponsored by the National Geographic Society and the Honduran government. 11个月后,我带领 一支精锐的考古队回来了, 由国家地理学会和洪都拉斯政府 提供赞助。
crack:v.使破裂;打开;变声;n.裂缝;声变;噼啪声;adj.最好的;高明的; archaeologists:n.[古]考古学家(archaeologist的复数); sponsored:adj.(活动或比赛)为慈善筹款而举办的; v.赞助(活动、节目等); (sponsor的过去式和过去分词) Geographic:adj.地理的;地理学的;
In a month, we excavated over 400 objects from what we now call the City of the Jaguar . 一个月内,我们从现在被称为 “美洲豹之城“的地方 挖掘出超过400件文物。
excavated:v.发掘;挖掘(excavate的过去式,过去分词); Jaguar:n.捷豹(汽车品牌);
We felt a moral and ethical responsibility to protect this site as it was, but in the short time that we were there, things inevitably changed. 我们觉得,保护这个地方不受破坏, 是我们的道德责任, 但就在我们在那停留的短时间内, 很多事情不可避免地改变了。
moral:n.寓意;品行;教益;adj.道德的;道义上的;道德上的;品行端正的; ethical:adj.伦理的;道德的;凭处方出售的;n.处方药; site:n.地点;位置;场所;v.设置;为…选址; short time:adj.短暂的;快速的(shorttime的变形); inevitably:adv.不可避免地;必然地;
The tiny gravel bar where we first landed our helicopter was gone. 我们第一次降落直升机的 那片小河滩已经不见了。
gravel:n.碎石;砂砾;vt.用碎石铺;使船搁浅在沙滩上;使困惑;
The brush had been cleared away and the trees removed to create a large landing zone for several helicopters at once. 我们清理灌木丛,砍掉树木, 为的是修建一片大点的降落场, 能让几架直升机同时降落。
Without it, after just one rainy season, the ancient canals that we had seen in our LiDAR scan were damaged or destroyed. 没有这些植被, 仅仅过了一个雨季, 我们在激光雷达扫描中 见到的古代运河, 已经被损害甚至被摧毁了。
And the Eden I described soon had a large clearing, central camp, lights and an outdoor chapel . 而我所说的伊甸园 很快就有了一大片空地, 中心营地, 灯光 和一个户外小教堂。
described:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的过去分词和过去式) outdoor:adj.户外的;露天的; chapel:n.小礼拜堂,小教堂;礼拜;adj.非国教的;
In other words, despite our best efforts to protect the site as it was, things changed. 换句话说,尽管我们尽了最大努力 来保护遗址的原貌, 还是有很多事情改变了。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱;
Our initial LiDAR scan of this City of the Jaguar is the only record of this place as it existed just a few years ago. 我们对“美洲豹之城” 最初的激光雷达扫描, 是唯一能还原它几年前样子的记录。
initial:adj.最初的; n.(名字的)首字母; v.用姓名的首字母作标记(或签名)于;
And broadly speaking, this is a problem for archaeologists. 总体上说, 这对考古学家来说是一个问题。
broadly:adv.明显地;宽广地;概括地;露骨地;粗鄙地;
We can't study an area without changing it somehow , and regardless , the earth is changing. 我们研究一片区域, 就不可避免地会改变它, 不管怎样,地球都在改变。
somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; regardless:adj.不管的; v.不顾后果地;
Archaeological sites are destroyed. 考古遗址被破坏。
sites:n.网站(site的复数);遗址,举办地点;v.使...位于(site的单三形式);
History is lost. 历史被丢失。
Just this year, we watched in horror as the Notre Dame Cathedral went up in flames. 就在今年,我们惊恐地看着 巴黎圣母院被烧毁。
horror:n.恐惧;厌恶;震惊;对某事物的强烈畏惧(或憎恨); Dame:n.夫人;年长妇女; Cathedral:n.大教堂;
The iconic spire collapsed , and the roof was all but destroyed. 标志性的尖塔倒塌了, 屋顶全部被摧毁。
iconic:adj.图标的,形象的; spire:n.[建]尖顶;尖塔;螺旋;vi.螺旋形上升;vt.给…加塔尖; collapsed:v.倒塌,坍塌;倒下,昏倒;坐下;(collapse的过去分词和过去式)
Miraculously , the art historian Andrew Tallon and colleagues scanned the cathedral in 2010 using LiDAR. 神奇的是,艺术史学家 安德鲁·塔伦和他的同事, 在2010年用激光雷达 扫描了这座大教堂。
Miraculously:adv.奇迹般地;神奇地;非凡地;出乎意料地; colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
At the time, their goal was to understand how the building was constructed . 当时的目标是了解 这座建筑物是如何建造的。
constructed:v.修建;建造;组成;编制,绘制;(construct的过去分词和过去式)
Now, their LiDAR scan is the most comprehensive record of the cathedral, and it'll prove invaluable in the reconstruction . 现在,他们的激光雷达扫描是 对大教堂最全面的记录, 这对重建十分宝贵。
comprehensive:adj.综合的;广泛的;有理解力的;n.综合学校;专业综合测验; invaluable:adj.无价的;非常贵重的; reconstruction:n.再建,重建;改造;复兴;
They couldn't have anticipated the fire or how their scan would be used, but we're lucky to have it. 他们不可能预料到这场大火, 也不知道扫描图会派上什么用场, 但我们何其幸运能拥有它。
anticipated:adj.预期的; v.预期; (anticipate的过去式和过去分词)
We take for granted that our cultural and ecological patrimony will be around forever. 我们理所当然地认为, 我们的文化和生态遗产 将永远存在。
take for granted:认为…理所当然;
It won't. 它们不会的。
Organizations like SCI-Arc and Virtual Wonders are doing incredible work to record the world's historic monuments , but nothing similar exists for the earth's landscapes . 南加利福尼亚州建筑学院和 虚拟奇迹这样的组织 正在做很棒的工作, 他们记录世界历史古迹, 但还没有人去记录地球景观。
Organizations:n.组织,构造,有机体(organization的复数);组织机构; Virtual:adj.[计]虚拟的;实质上的,事实上的(但未在名义上或正式获承认); historic:adj.有历史意义的;历史上著名的; monuments:n.遗迹;纪念物;不朽的功业;有永久价值的作品(monument的复数形式); landscapes:n.风景; v.从事庭园设计;
We've lost 50 percent of our rain forests. 我们已经损失了50%的雨林。
We lose 18 million acres of forest every year. 我们每年损失73000平方公里森林。
And rising sea levels will make cities, countries and continents completely unrecognizable . 上升的海平面将使城市、国家和大陆 变得无法辨认。
continents:n.[地理]大陆,大洲(continent复数); unrecognizable:adj.未被承认的;无法认出的;
Unless we have a record of these places, no one in the future will know they existed. 除非我们有这些地方的记录, 否则未来不会有人知道它们的存在。
If the earth is the Titanic , we've struck the iceberg , everyone's on deck and the orchestra is playing. 如果地球是泰坦尼克号, 我们已经撞上冰山, 所有人都在甲板上, 然后乐团在演奏。
Titanic:adj.巨大的;强大的;极端重要的;四价钛的; iceberg:n.[地理]冰山;显露部分; deck:n.甲板;舱面;层面;一副(为52张);v.装饰;打扮;布置;用力击倒; orchestra:n.管弦乐队;乐队演奏处;
The climate crisis threatens to destroy our cultural and ecological patrimony within decades. 气候危机有可能在几十年内 摧毁我们的文化和生态遗产。
But sitting on our hands and doing nothing is not an option . 我们不能无动于衷地坐着, 什么也不做。
option:n.选择;可选择的东西;
Shouldn't we save everything we can on the lifeboats ? 我们难道不应该尽全力救下每一个人吗？
lifeboats:n.[船][安全]救生艇(lifeboat的复数);
(Applause) （掌声）
Looking at my scans from Honduras and Mexico, it's clear that we need to scan, scan, scan now as much as possible, while we still can. 看着我在洪都拉斯和墨西哥做的扫描, 很明显我们需要扫描,扫描,扫描 现在就做,越多越好, 趁我们还来得及。
That's what inspired the Earth Archive , an unprecedented scientific effort to LiDAR-scan the entire planet, starting with areas that are most threatened. 这就是地球档案的灵感来源, 这是一次前所未有的科学努力, 用激光雷达扫描整个地球, 从最受威胁的地区开始。
inspired:adj.受到启发的; v.鼓舞; (inspire的过去分词和过去式) Archive:n.档案馆;档案文件; unprecedented:adj.空前的;无前例的; scientific:adj.科学的,系统的;
Its purpose is threefold . 它的使命有三种。
threefold:adj.三倍的;三重的,有三部分的;adv.三重地,三倍地;
Number one: create a baseline record of the earth as it exists today to more effectively mitigate the climate crisis. 第一:创建一个地球现状的基本档案 来更有效地缓和气候危机。
baseline:n.基线;底线; mitigate:vt.使缓和,使减轻;vi.减轻,缓和下来;
To measure change, you need two sets of data: a before and an after. 要测量变化,你需要两组数据: 之前和之后。
Right now, we don't have a high-resolution before data set for much of the planet, so we can't measure change, and we can't evaluate which of our current efforts to combat the climate crisis are making a positive impact . 现在,我们没有高分辨率的“之前”的数据, 地球大部分地区的都没有, 所以我们无法衡量变化, 我们也无法测量 目前为了对抗环境破坏 所做的努力, 哪些是有实质效果的。
evaluate:v.评价;评估;估计; combat:v.战斗;防止;减轻;与…搏斗;n.战斗;搏斗;打仗; positive:adj.积极的;[数]正的,[医][化学]阳性的;确定的;n.正数;[摄]正片; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
Number two: create a virtual planet so that any number of scientists can study our earth today. 第二:创造一个虚拟地球, 这样任何科学家都可以 研究我们今天的地球。
Archaeologists like me can look for undocumented settlements . 像我一样的考古学家可以 寻找没有被发现过的遗址。
settlements:n.协议:处理:结算:定居点;(settlement的复数)
Ecologists can study tree size, forest composition and age. 生态学家可以研究树木的大小, 森林成分和年龄。
Ecologists:n.生态学家(ecologist的复数); composition:n.成分;作文;构成;创作;
Geologists can study hydrology , faults, disturbance . 地质学家可以研究水文、 断层、扰动。
Geologists:n.[地质]地质学家(geologist的复数形式); hydrology:n.水文学,水文地理学; disturbance:n.干扰;骚乱;忧虑;
The possibilities are endless . 有无数种可能性。
endless:adj.无止境的;连续的;环状的;漫无目的的;
Number three: preserve a record of the planet for our grandchildren's grandchildren, so they can reconstruct and study lost cultural patrimony in the future. 第三:为我们的子孙后代 保存地球的记录, 让他们可以在未来 重组和研究那些遗失的文化遗产。
preserve:vt.保存;保护;维持;腌;禁猎;n.保护区;禁猎地;加工成的食品;
As science and technology advance, they'll apply new tools, algorithms, even AI to LiDAR scans done today, and ask questions that we can't currently conceive of. 随着科学和技术的发展, 他们会使用新的工具和算法, 甚至人工智能来做激光雷达扫描, 并提出我们目前无法想到的问题。
apply:v.申请;涂,敷;应用;适用;请求; currently:adv.当前;一般地; conceive:v.想出;想象;构想;设想;怀孕;
Like Notre Dame, we can't imagine how these records will be used. 和圣母院一样, 我们无法想象这些记录会被如何使用。
But we know that they'll be critically important. 但是我们知道他们会变得非常重要。
critically:adv.精密地;危急地;批评性地;用钻研眼光地;
The Earth Archive is the ultimate gift to future generations, because the truth be told, 地球档案是一份给子孙后代的终极礼物, 因为实话实说,
ultimate:adj.最终的;极限的;根本的;n.终极;根本;基本原则;
I won't live long enough to see its full impact, and neither will you. 我有生之年无法看到它的全部影响, 你们也不能。
That's exactly why it's worth doing. 这正是值得我们去做的原因。
The Earth Archive is a bet on the future of humanity . 地球档案是一个人类对未来的赌注。
bet:n.打赌;赌注;预计;估计;v.下赌注(于);用…打赌;敢说;八成儿; humanity:n.人类;人道;仁慈;人文学科;
It's a bet that together, collectively , as people and as scientists, that we'll face the climate crisis and that we'll choose to do the right thing, not just for us today but to honor those who came before us and to pay it forward to future generations who will carry on our legacy . 这是一个共同的赌注, 所有人, 无论是普通人还是科学家, 我们都将面临气候危机, 我们选择做正确的事情, 不仅仅为今天的自己 也为了向前辈致敬, 并将这份遗产传承下去, 交给我们的后代。
collectively:adv.共同地,全体地; legacy:n.遗赠,遗产;
Thank you. 谢谢大家。
(Applause) （掌声）