返回首页

DaveBrain_2015X-_行星维持生命存在的要素_
I'm really glad to be here. 我真的很高兴能来这里。
I'm glad you're here, because that would be a little weird . 我也很高兴你们能来这里, 要不然会有点奇怪。
weird:adj.奇怪的;奇异的;离奇的;n.命运;宿命;命运女神;
I'm glad we're all here. 我很高兴我们都在这里。
And by "here," I don't mean here. 我说的「这里」,不是现场这里。
Or here. 或这里。
But here. 却是这里。
I mean Earth. 我指的是地球。
And by "we," I don't mean those of us in this auditorium , but life, all life on Earth -- 而且我说的「我们」,不是这座大礼堂里的各位, 而是生命, 地球上所有的生命──
auditorium:n.礼堂,会堂;观众席;
(Laughter) （笑声）
from complex to single-celled, from mold to mushrooms to flying bears. 从复合体到单细胞, 从霉菌到蘑菇, 到飞天熊都是。
complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施; mold:n.模具;模型;霉菌;类型;v.用可塑材料塑成;浇铸;发霉;
(Laughter) （笑声）
The interesting thing is, 有趣的是,
Earth is the only place we know of that has life -- 8.7 million species . 地球是我们知道唯一有生命的地方── 八百七十万种生物。
species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
We've looked other places, maybe not as hard as we should or we could, but we've looked and haven't found any; 我们找过其它地方, 可能找得还不够勤快, 但是我们找过,没有发现任何生物。
Earth is the only place we know of with life. 地球是我们所知唯一有生命的地方。
Is Earth special? 地球得天独厚吗？
This is a question I've wanted to know the answer to since I was a small child, and I suspect 80 percent of this auditorium has thought the same thing and also wanted to know the answer. 这个问题的答案 我从小时候就想知道, 而且我猜礼堂里八成的人 都想过同样的事,也想知道答案。
suspect:n.犯罪嫌疑人;v.怀疑;不信任;adj.可疑的;
To understand whether there are any planets -- out there in our solar system or beyond -- that can support life, the first step is to understand what life here requires. 要知道是否有别的行星── 无论是在我们的太阳系还是其它地方── 能支持生命, 第一步要了解在这里生命的要素是什么。
solar system:[天]太阳系;
It turns out, of all of those 8.7 million species, life only needs three things. 事实证明,这八百七十万种物种 只需要三件事就能维持生命。
On one side, all life on Earth needs energy. 那边那张照片,地球上所有的生命都要能量,
Complex life like us derives our energy from the sun, but life deep underground can get its energy from things like chemical reactions . 像我们这样的复合生物体要从太阳取得能量, 地下深处的生物 则从化学反应取得能量。
derives:源于;得自(derive的第三人称单数); chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; reactions:n.反应;回应;抗拒;生理反应;副作用(reaction的复数)
There are a number of different energy sources available on all planets. 地球上有很多种能量来源 可供大家使用。
sources:n.来源;出处;起源;根源;原因;v.(从…)获得(source的第三人称单数和复数)
On the other side , all life needs food or nourishment . 另外那一边照片, 所有的生命都需要食物或营养。
On the other side:另一面;在另一边; nourishment:n.食物;营养品;滋养品;
And this seems like a tall order , especially if you want a succulent tomato. 这听起来像是无理的要求,尤其在你想要一颗多汁的番茄时。
a tall order:苛求;艰巨的任务;过高要求; especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分; succulent:adj.多汁的;多水分的;多汁性的;n.肉质植物;多汁植物;
(Laughter) （笑声）（译注:一般超市的番茄都很干）
However, all life on Earth derives its nourishment from only six chemical elements , and these elements can be found on any planetary body in our solar system. 然而,地球上所有的生命 只要六种化学元素就能取得营养, 而这些元素可在 我们的太阳系中 每一个行星体上找到。
elements:n.要素;基本部分;少量;一群;(element的复数) planetary:adj.行星的;
So that leaves the thing in the middle as the tall pole , the thing that's hardest to achieve. 所以这让中间这项成了高不可及、 很难拿到的东西。
pole:n.磁极;电极;柱子;杆子;v.用篙撑船;摆船;
Not moose , but water. 不是麋鹿,是水。
moose:n.[脊椎]驼鹿;麋;[复数moose];
(Laughter) （笑声）
Although moose would be pretty cool. 虽然麋鹿也满酷的。
(Laughter) （笑声）
And not frozen water, and not water in a gaseous state, but liquid water. 不是冰冻的水,也不是气状的水,而是液态水。
gaseous:adj.气态的,气体的;无实质的;
This is what life needs to survive, all life. 这是生命要生存都需要的东西。所有的生命。
And many solar system bodies don't have liquid water, and so we don't look there. 许多太阳系没有液态水, 所以我们不去那里找。
Other solar system bodies might have abundant liquid water, even more than Earth, but it's trapped beneath an icy shell , and so it's hard to access, it's hard to get to, it's hard to even find out if there's any life there. 有些太阳系可能有大量液态水, 甚至可能多过地球, 但是都困在冰层底下, 所以很难拿到,很难接近, 甚至很难发现那里到底有没有生命。
abundant:adj.丰富的;充裕的;盛产; 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) beneath:prep.在…之下;adv.在下方; shell:n.壳;炮弹;壳层;骨架;v.脱壳;剥壳;采集贝壳;用壳体包被;short.shewill;
So that leaves a few bodies that we should think about. 这样只剩下几座星体我们应该考虑。
So let's make the problem simpler for ourselves. 所以我们来为自己简化一下问题。
Let's think only about liquid water on the surface of a planet. 我们只要想想在星球表面的液态水就好。
There are only three bodies to think about in our solar system, with regard to liquid water on the surface of a planet, and in order of distance from the sun, it's: Venus , Earth and Mars . 这样我们的太阳系里只剩三座星体可想, 考虑行星表面是否有液态水, 与太阳的距离依次是金星、地球及火星。
Venus:n.[天]金星;维纳斯(爱与美的女神); Mars:n.火星
You want to have an atmosphere for water to be liquid. 你要有大气层使水能维持液态。
atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格;
You have to be very careful with that atmosphere. 你必须非常小心考虑大气层。
You can't have too much atmosphere, too thick or too warm an atmosphere, because then you end up too hot like Venus, and you can't have liquid water. 你不能有太大的大气层,太厚或太温暖都不行, 因为这样会像金星一样太热, 而且没有液态水。
But if you have too little atmosphere and it's too thin and too cold, you end up like Mars, too cold. 但是如果你的大气层太少,而且太薄太冷, 结果就会像火星一样太冷。
So Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold, and Earth is just right. 所以金星太热,火星太冷, 地球则是刚刚好。
You can look at these images behind me and you can see automatically where life can survive in our solar system. 看看我后面的照片,你自然会看到 我们的太阳系哪里有生命可以存活。
images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数) automatically:adv.自动地;机械地;无意识地;adj.不经思索的;
It's a Goldilocks-type problem, and it's so simple that a child could understand it. 这是典型的《金发女孩与三只熊》问题, 而且这太简单了,小孩都能理解。
However, 然而,
I'd like to remind you of two things from the Goldilocks story that we may not think about so often but that I think are really relevant here. 我要提醒各位两件事, 是《金发女孩与三只熊》故事中,常常被我们忽略 但我认为非常切题的事。
remind:v.提醒;使想起; Goldilocks:n.金发姑娘,金凤花; 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;
Number one: if Mama Bear's bowl is too cold when Goldilocks walks into the room, does that mean it's always been too cold? 第一: 金发女孩走进屋时,如果熊妈妈碗里的粥太冷, 那是指粥早就冷了？
Or could it have been just right at some other time? 还是曾有刚刚好的时间？
When Goldilocks walks into the room determines the answer that we get in the story. 金发女孩走进屋的时间决定了 故事的答案。
determines:v.查明;测定;准确算出;决定;裁决;安排;(determine的第三人称单数)
And the same is true with planets. 行星也一样。
They're not static things. They change. 行星不是静态的东西。它们一直在改变。
static:adj.静止的; n.[物]静电(干扰);
They vary . They evolve . 它们变化,它们演化。
vary:vi.变化;变异;违反;vt.改变;使多样化;变奏; evolve:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;
And atmospheres do the same. 大气层也一样。
atmospheres:n.[心理]气氛(atmosphere的复数形式); v.使有…的氛围(atmosphere的单三形式);
So let me give you an example. 我举一个例子。
Here's one of my favorite pictures of Mars. 这是我很爱的一张火星照片。
It's not the highest resolution image, it's not the sexiest image, it's not the most recent image, but it's an image that shows riverbeds cut into the surface of the planet; riverbeds carved by flowing, liquid water; riverbeds that take hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of years to form. 这既非最高解析度,也并非最美, 更不是最新的照片, 但这张照片显示河床切过行星表面; 被流动、液态水切割出的河床; 河床要上百、上千甚至上万年才能形成。
resolution:n.解决;分辨;解析;决议; sexiest:最性感的(sexy的最高级); riverbeds:n.河床; carved:v.雕刻;刻;把(熟肉)切成块;(carve的过去分词和过去式)
This can't happen on Mars today. 现在的火星不可能发生这件事。
The atmosphere of Mars today is too thin and too cold for water to be stable as a liquid. 现在的火星大气层太薄太冷, 水因而不能维持液态。
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;
This one image tells you that the atmosphere of Mars changed, and it changed in big ways. 这一张照片告诉我们火星的大气改变了, 而且改变很大。
And it changed from a state that we would define as habitable , because the three requirements for life were present long ago. 它从我们定义的适居状态变成现在的样子, 因为生命三大要素在很久以前曾经出现过。
define:v.定义;使明确;规定; habitable:adj.可居住的;适于居住的;
Where did that atmosphere go that allowed water to be liquid at the surface? 本来能让水在地表维持液态的大气去了哪里？
Well, one idea is it escaped away to space. 嗯,有人说它逃逸到宇宙。
Atmospheric particles got enough energy to break free from the gravity of the planet, escaping away to space, never to return. 大气粒子有足够的能量 逃脱此行星的重力, 散逸到太空,一去不返。
Atmospheric:adj.大气的,大气层的; particles:n.微粒,粒子;粒子系统;碎木料(particle的复数形式);
And this happens with all bodies with atmospheres. 这种现象在有大气的星体上都会发生。
Comets have tails that are incredibly visible reminders of atmospheric escape. 彗星的尾巴 正是大气逃逸绝佳的视觉提醒。
Comets:n.[天]彗星(comet的复数); incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地; visible:adj.明显的;看得见的;现有的;可得到的;n.可见物;进出口贸易中的有形项目; reminders:n.引起回忆的事物;提醒人的事物;通知单,提示信;(reminder的复数)
But Venus also has an atmosphere that escapes with time, and Mars and Earth as well. 但是金星的大气也会随时间逃逸, 火星及地球也一样。
It's just a matter of degree and a matter of scale . 这只是程度及规模的问题。
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;
So we'd like to figure out how much escaped over time so we can explain this transition . 所以我们要找出逃逸的速率, 才能解释这种转变。
transition:n.过渡;转变;变革;变迁;v.经历转变过程;过渡;
How do atmospheres get their energy for escape? 大气怎么得到逃逸所需的能量？
How do particles get enough energy to escape? 粒子怎么得到足以逃逸的能量？
There are two ways, if we're going to reduce things a little bit. 如果我们简化一下来看,有两种方式。
Number one, sunlight . 第一,阳光。
sunlight:n.日光;
Light emitted from the sun can be absorbed by atmospheric particles and warm the particles. 从太阳射出的光被大气粒子吸收, 使粒子增温。
emitted:adj.射出的;v.排放(emit的过去分词);发散; absorbed:adj.被…吸引住; v.吸收(液体、气体等); (absorb的过去分词和过去式)
Yes, I'm dancing, but they -- 是,我是在跳舞,不过它们──
(Laughter) （笑声）
Oh my God, not even at my wedding. 天啊,我在自己的婚礼上都没跳。
(Laughter) （笑声）
They get enough energy to escape and break free from the gravity of the planet just by warming. 它们得到足够的能量逃逸 并挣脱重力,这一切只要增温就够了。
A second way they can get energy is from the solar wind. 得到能量的第二种方法是太阳风。
These are particles, mass , material, spit out from the surface of the sun, and they go screaming through the solar system at 400 kilometers per second, sometimes faster during solar storms, and they go hurtling through interplanetary space towards planets and their atmospheres, and they may provide energy for atmospheric particles to escape as well. 这些是从太阳表面噴出的粒子、团块及物质, 而且它们在太阳系里 以每秒 400 公里的速率呼啸而过, 在太阳风暴期间有时候还更快, 而且它们飞驰通过行星际空间, 朝着行星及其大气飞去, 因而它们也可以提供能量 让大气粒子逃逸。
mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集; hurtling:adj.飞奔的,疾驰的;v.急飞,猛烈碰撞,猛掷(hurtle的ing形式); interplanetary:adj.太阳系内的;行星间的;
This is something that I'm interested in, because it relates to habitability . 这就是我感兴趣的东西, 因为这跟适居性有关。
habitability:n.可居住;适于居住;
I mentioned that there were two things about the Goldilocks story that I wanted to bring to your attention and remind you about, and the second one is a little bit more subtle . 我曾说过金发女孩的故事中有两件事 我要你们注意并提醒你们一下, 第二件事更微妙一点。
subtle:adj.微妙的;精细的;敏感的;狡猾的;稀薄的;
If Papa Bear's bowl is too hot, and Mama Bear's bowl is too cold, shouldn't Baby Bear's bowl be even colder if we're following the trend ? 如果熊爸爸碗里的粥太烫了, 而熊妈妈的粥太冷了, 那熊宝宝的粥不就应该更冷了, 如果我们顺着趋势想？
trend:n.趋势;动向;趋向;动态;v.走向;趋向;
This thing that you've accepted your entire life, when you think about it a little bit more, may not be so simple. 你一辈子都没怀疑过的这件事, 仔细一想后可能没那么简单。
And of course, distance of a planet from the sun determines its temperature. 当然,行星的温度取决于它与太阳的距离。
This has to play into habitability. 这就与适居性有关。
But maybe there are other things we should be thinking about. 但是我们可能还必须考虑其它事。
Maybe it's the bowls themselves that are also helping to determine the outcome in the story, what is just right. 可能碗本身 也会决定这个故事的结局, 也就是「刚刚好」的问题。
outcome:n.结果,结局;成果;
I could talk to you about a lot of different characteristics of these three planets that may influence habitability, but for selfish reasons related to my own research 我可以跟大家讲很多 这些特性可能也会影响适居性, 但是我有私心,因为那跟我的研究有关系,
characteristics:n.特征;特点;品质;(characteristic的复数) influence:n.影响;势力;感化;有影响的人或事;v.影响;改变;
and the fact that I'm standing up here holding the clicker and you're not -- 而且站在这里拿着遥控器的是我,不是你们──
clicker:n.排字工头;鞋匠工头;站在店外招徕顾客者;遥控器;
(Laughter) （笑声）
I would like to talk for just a minute or two about magnetic fields. 所以我只跟你们讲一两分钟就好, 来谈一下磁场。
magnetic:adj.像磁铁的;有磁性的;磁的;富有吸引力的;
Earth has one; Venus and Mars do not. 地球有磁场;金星及火星没有。
Magnetic fields are generated in the deep interior of a planet by electrically conducting churning fluid material that creates this big old magnetic field that surrounds Earth. 磁场在行星内部深处产生, 由导电的液态物质环绕流动 而产生这个环绕地球的巨大古老磁场。
generated:v.产生;引起;(generate的过去式和过去分词) interior:n.内部;内陆;内地;里面;adj.内部的;里面的; electrically:adv.电力地;有关电地; conducting:v.组织;安排;实施;指挥;引导;导游(conduct的现在分词) churning:n.搅乳;一次提制的奶油;v.搅拌(churn的现在分词); fluid:adj.流动的;流畅的;不固定的;n.流体;液体; magnetic field:磁场;
If you have a compass , you know which way north is. 如果你有罗盘,你会知道哪边是北边。
compass:n.罗盘;指南针;圆规;范围;界限;v.理解;领悟;将…包围;成功办到
Venus and Mars don't have that. 金星与火星没有这个。
If you have a compass on Venus and Mars, congratulations, you're lost. 如果你在金星及火星上用罗盘, 恭喜喔！你迷路了。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Does this influence habitability? 这会影响适居性吗？
Well, how might it? 又怎么影响？
Many scientists think that a magnetic field of a planet serves as a shield for the atmosphere, deflecting solar wind particles around the planet in a bit of a force field-type effect having to do with electric charge of those particles. 许多科学家认为行星的磁场 就像大气层的防护罩, 使在行星四周的太阳风粒子偏转, 有点像（星际争霸战）力场防护罩效应, 因为跟这些粒子的电荷有关。
shield:n.盾;防护物;保护者;v.遮蔽;包庇;避开;保卫; deflecting:v.偏斜,转向,;引开;阻止;(deflect的现在分词)
I like to think of it instead as a salad bar sneeze guard for planets. 我喜欢把它比喻为沙拉吧上面挡噴嚏的防护罩。
sneeze:vi.打喷嚏;n.喷嚏;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And yes, my colleagues who watch this later will realize this is the first time in the history of our community that the solar wind has been equated with mucus . 是的,以后看这片的同僚会发现, 这是史上头一遭有人在我们这行 把太阳风等同为黏液。
colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数); community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体; equated:vt.使相等;视为平等;vi.等同; mucus:n.粘液;黏液;
(Laughter) （笑声）
OK, so the effect, then, is that Earth may have been protected for billions of years, because we've had a magnetic field. 好吧,所以这个效应,就是地球可以受到保护 几十亿年, 因为我们有磁场。
Atmosphere hasn't been able to escape. 大气至今无法逃脱。
Mars, on the other hand , has been unprotected because of its lack of magnetic field, and over billions of years, maybe enough atmosphere has been stripped away 另一方面,火星没有受到保护, 因为它没有磁场, 所以几十亿年来, 可能已经揭掉了够多的大气,
on the other hand:另一方面; unprotected:adj.无保护的;未设防的;v.无保护;(unprotect的过去式和过去分词); stripped:adj.剥去的;v.剥夺;脱衣;把…剪成条状;(strip的过去式和过去分词)
to account for a transition from a habitable planet to the planet that we see today. 使这个原本适居的行星转变为 今天我们看到的样子。
account for:对…负有责任;对…做出解释;说明…的原因;导致;(比例)占;
Other scientists think that magnetic fields may act more like the sails on a ship, enabling the planet to interact with more energy from the solar wind than the planet would have been able to interact with by itself. 其他科学家认为磁场的 作用可能更像船上的帆, 让行星能与太阳风的能量产生更多交互作用, 比自身的交互作用还要更多。
enabling:adj.授权的;v.使能够;授权给(enable的现在分词); interact:v.互相影响;互相作用;n.幕间剧;幕间休息;
The sails may gather energy from the solar wind. 帆可以聚集风的能量。
The magnetic field may gather energy from the solar wind that allows even more atmospheric escape to happen. 磁场可以聚集太阳风的能量, 让更多大气逃逸。
It's an idea that has to be tested, but the effect and how it works seems apparent . 这个理论还需要证明, 但是其影响及作用方式 看起来很明显。
apparent:adj.显然的;表面上的;
That's because we know energy from the solar wind is being deposited into our atmosphere here on Earth. 那是因为我们知道 太阳风的能量会注入地球上的大气层。
deposited:v.存放;储存;放置(deposit的过去分词);adj.存放的;堆积的;
That energy is conducted along magnetic field lines down into the polar regions , resulting in incredibly beautiful aurora . 那股能量顺着磁力线传导, 向下导入两极, 产生炫丽无比的极光。
conducted:v.组织;安排;实施;执行;指挥;带领;引导;(conduct的过去分词和过去式) polar:adj.极地的;南极(或北极)的;n.极线;极面; regions:n.地区;地域;行政区;左近;(region的复数) aurora:n.[地物]极光;曙光;
If you've ever experienced them, it's magnificent . 如果你曾看过极光,那真是壮丽！
magnificent:adj.高尚的;壮丽的;华丽的;宏伟的;
We know the energy is getting in. 我们知道能量进来了。
We're trying to measure how many particles are getting out and if the magnetic field is influencing this in any way. 我们试着测量有多少粒子跑出去, 还有磁场是否以任何方式影响这一点。
influencing:v.影响;对…起作用;支配;左右(influence的现在分词)
So I've posed a problem for you here, but I don't have a solution yet. 所以我丢了一个问题给各位, 但是我还没有答案。
posed:v.造成;引起;产生;提问;质询;摆好姿势;(pose的过去分词和过去式)
We don't have a solution. 我们没有解答。
But we're working on it. How are we working on it? 但是我们正在找。怎么找呢？
Well, we've sent spacecraft to all three planets. 嗯,我们送了几艘太空船到这三个行星上。
spacecraft:n.[宇]宇宙飞船;航天器;
Some of them are orbiting now, including the MAVEN spacecraft which is currently orbiting Mars, which I'm involved with and which is led here, out of the University of Colorado . 有些已经在轨道上环绕了, 包括目前正在环绕火星的 MAVEN（火星大气与挥发物演化任务）太空船, 我有参与这项计画, 而且由此地的科罗拉多大学领导。
orbiting:v.[航][天]轨道运行;轨道运动;转圈(orbit的ing形式); MAVEN:n.内行,专家; currently:adv.当前;一般地; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) Colorado:n.科罗拉多;[城]科罗拉多州;科罗拉多河;
It's designed to measure atmospheric escape. 我们用它测量大气逃逸。
We have similar measurements from Venus and Earth. 我们对金星及地球也做了类似的测量。
measurements:n.测量值,尺寸(measurement的复数);
Once we have all our measurements, we can combine all these together, and we can understand how all three planets interact with their space environment, with the surroundings . 一旦我们收及到所有的测量数据, 我们就能把这些综合起来,我们就能了解 这三个行星如何与太空环境, 与它们周边的环境交互作用,
surroundings:n.周围的环境;环境;(surrounding的复数)
And we can decide whether magnetic fields are important for habitability or not. 我们就能决定磁场对适居性的重要与否。
Once we have that answer, why should you care? 一旦我们有了答案,我们为什么要在意？
I mean, I care deeply ... 我是说,我很在意──
And financially as well, but deeply. 财务上我也很在意啦！不过真的很在意。
financially:adv.财政上;金融上;
(Laughter) （笑声）
First of all , an answer to this question will teach us more about these three planets, 首先,这个问题的答案 会教我们更多这三个行星的事,
First of all:adv.首先;
Venus, Earth and Mars, not only about how they interact with their environment today, but how they were billions of years ago, whether they were habitable long ago or not. 金星、地球及火星, 不只是它们如何与现今的环境交互作用, 还有几十亿以前的交互作用, 很久以前的适居性如何。
It will teach us about atmospheres that surround us and that are close. 它会教我们很多 环绕及靠近我们的大气层的事。
But moreover , what we learn from these planets can be applied to atmospheres everywhere, including planets that we're now observing around other stars. 此外,我们从这几个行星学到的, 可以应用到别处的大气层, 包括我们正在观察的几个行星,它们环绕着其它恒星。
moreover:adv.而且;此外; applied:adj.应用的;实用的;v.应用;使用;申请,请求;(apply的过去分词和过去式) observing:adj.观察的;注意的;观察力敏锐的;v.观察;遵守(observe的现在分词);
For example, the Kepler spacecraft, which is built and controlled here in Boulder , has been observing a postage stamp-sized region of the sky for a couple years now, and it's found thousands of planets -- in one postage stamp-sized region of the sky that we don't think is any different from any other part of the sky. 举个例子,克卜勒太空望远镜, 就在波德这里建造并控制, 已经观察了邮票大小的天空 好几年了, 它发现了数千个行星── 就在邮票大小的一小片天空中, 这片天跟其它部分的天空没什么不同。
Kepler:na.Kepler; Boulder:n.卵石,大圆石;巨砾; postage:n.邮资,邮费;
We've gone, in 20 years, from knowing of zero planets outside of our solar system, to now having so many, that we don't know which ones to investigate first. 在 20 年内,我们从以为 太阳系以外没有行星, 到现在我们知道有这么多, 甚至不知道该从哪一个开始调查起。
investigate:v.调查;研究;审查;
Any lever will help. 任何方法都有幫助。
lever:n.杠杆;控制杆;v.用杠杆撬动;把…作为杠杆;
In fact, based on observations that Kepler's taken and other similar observations, we now believe that, of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy alone, on average, every star has a t least one planet. 其实,从克卜勒太空望远镜 及其它类似的观测所发现的来看, 我们现在相信 光是在我们银河系的二千亿颗星星里, 每颗星平均都至少有一个行星。
observations:n.观察,观察值;观察结果;(observation的复数形式); Milky Way:na.[天]银河;
In addition to that, estimates suggest there are somewhere between 40 billion and 100 billion of those planets that we would define as habitable in just our galaxy. 除此之外, 估计这些行星中还有约四百亿到一千亿颗, 仅仅在我们的银河！
In addition to:除…之外; estimates:n.估计;估价;估计的成本;v.估价;估算(estimate的第三人称单数和复数)
We have the observations of those planets, but we just don't know which ones are habitable yet. 我们有这些行星的观测, 但是我们还不知道哪一个是适合居住的。
It's a little bit like being trapped on a red spot -- 这就跟困在 TED这块红地毯上一样,
(Laughter) （笑声）
on a stage and knowing that there are other worlds out there and desperately wanting to know more about them, wanting to interrogate them and find out if maybe just one or two of them are a little bit like you. 在舞台上, 你知道还有其它的世界存在, 极度想要更了解他们, 想调查并找出是不是有一两个 和自己有点像。
desperately:adv.拼命地;绝望地;不顾一切地;极度地; interrogate:v.讯问;审问;盘问;查询;
You can't do that. You can't go there, not yet. 你做不了这件事,你去不了那里,还不行。
And so you have to use the tools that you've developed around you for Venus, Earth and Mars, and you have to apply them to these other situations, and hope that you're making reasonable inferences from the data, 所以你必须使用你手边 还必须将它们应用在这些不同的状况下, 希望自己能从数据做出合理的推断,
apply:v.申请;涂,敷;应用;适用;请求; reasonable:adj.合理的,公道的;通情达理的; inferences:n.[数]推断,[数]推论(inference复数形式);
and that you're going to be able to determine the best candidates for habitable planets, and those that are not. 希望自己能选出最好的 适居行星,还要找出不合适的。
In the end, and for now, at least, this is our red spot, right here. 最终,至少目前, 这是我们的红地毯,就在这里。
This is the only planet that we know of that's habitable, although very soon we may come to know of more. 这是目前我们所知唯一适居的行星, 虽然我们可能很快就会发现还有其它的。
But for now, this is the only habitable planet, and this is our red spot. 但是目前,这是唯一适居的行星, 这就是我们的红地毯。
I'm really glad we're here. 我真的很高兴我们都在这里。
Thanks. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）