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HonorHarger_2011S-_声音中宇宙的历史_
Space, we all know what it looks like. 太空, 我们都知道它是什么样子。
We've been surrounded by images of space our whole lives, from the speculative images of science fiction to the inspirational visions of artists to the increasingly beautiful pictures made possible by complex technologies . 太空的景象围绕着 我们整个生活, 从科幻小说中 推测的景象 到艺术家充满灵感的想象 再到可能由复杂科技制作出来的 越来越多的美丽图片。
images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数) speculative:adj.投机的;推测的;思索性的; science fiction:科幻小说; inspirational:adj.鼓舞人心的;带有灵感的,给予灵感的; visions:n.愿景; v.想像; increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施; technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数);
But whilst we have an overwhelmingly vivid visual understanding of space, we have no sense of what space sounds like. 但我们对太空 有一个无法抗拒的美丽的 视觉理解的同时, 我们对太空听起来是什么样的却一无所知。
whilst:conj.同时;时时,有时;当…的时候; overwhelmingly:adv.压倒性地;不可抵抗地; vivid:adj.生动的;鲜明的;鲜艳的; visual:adj.视觉的,视力的;栩栩如生的;
And indeed, most people associate space with silence. 实际上,多数人都认为太空是寂静的。
associate:v.联合:联想:交往:adj.非正式的:副的:联合的:n.伙伴:同事:
But the story of how we came to understand the universe is just as much a story of listening as it is by looking. 但我们 对宇宙的认识过程中 倾听和察看所占的比重 是同样多的。
And yet despite this, hardly any of us have ever heard space. 然而尽管如此, 我们却几乎没人聆听过太空的声音。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; hardly any:几乎没有;
How many of you here could describe the sound of a single planet or star? 各位中有多少人 能描绘一下 一个行星或恒星的声音？
describe:v.描述;形容;把…称为;画出…图形;
Well in case you've ever wondered, this is what the Sun sounds like. 如果你们想知道的话, 这是太阳的声音。
(Static) （静电声）
(Crackling) （噼啪声）
(Static) （静电声）
(Crackling) （噼啪声）
This is the planet Jupiter . 这是木星的声音。
Jupiter:n.[天]木星;朱庇特(罗马神话中的宙斯神);
(Soft crackling) （轻轻的噼啪声）
And this is the space probe Cassini pirouetting through the ice rings of Saturn . 这是航天探测器卡西尼号 旋转着通过土星冰环时收到的声音。
space probe:na.航天探测器; pirouetting:vi.(芭蕾舞)以脚尖旋转;n.(芭蕾舞)脚尖旋转; Saturn:n.[天]土星;农业之神(罗马神话中的一个形象);
(Crackling) （噼啪声）
This is a a highly condensed clump of neutral matter, spinning in the distant universe. 这是中子物质高度压缩 的重击声, 在遥远的宇宙中不停地旋转回放。
highly:adv.高度地;非常;非常赞许地; condensed:adj.压缩的,精简的; v.(由气体)冷凝; (condense的过去式和过去分词) clump:n.丛;笨重的脚步声;土块;v.形成一丛;以沉重的步子行走; neutral:n.中立国; adj.中立的; spinning:n.纺纱(手艺):纺线v.(使)旋转:纺线:纺纱;(spin的现在分词) distant:adj.遥远的;远处的;久远的;
(Tapping) （敲打声）
So my artistic practice is all about listening to the weird and wonderful noises emitted by the magnificent celestial objects that make up our universe. 因此我的艺术实践 就是到处倾听 这些组成我们宇宙的 由这些壮丽的天体所发出的 神秘的神奇的噪声。
artistic:adj.艺术的;风雅的;有美感的; weird:adj.奇怪的;奇异的;离奇的;n.命运;宿命;命运女神; emitted:adj.射出的;v.排放(emit的过去分词);发散; magnificent:adj.高尚的;壮丽的;华丽的;宏伟的; celestial:adj.天上的,天空的;n.神仙,天堂里的居民;
And you may wonder, how do we know what these sounds are? 各位也许想知道, 我们是怎么知道这些声音的呢？
How can we tell the difference between the sound of the Sun and the sound of a pulsar ? 我们如何区分 太阳的声音 和脉冲星的声音？
pulsar:n.脉冲星;
Well the answer is the science of radio astronomy . 答案是 射电天文学。
radio astronomy:n.射电天文学;电波天文学;
Radio astronomers study radio waves from space using sensitive antennas and receivers, which give them precise information about what an astronomical object is and where it is in our night sky. 射电天文学家们 用灵敏的天线和接收器 研究来自太空的无线电波, 这能给他们准确信息, 了解一个天体是什么 在夜空中的何处。
astronomers:天文学家; sensitive:adj.敏感的;感觉的;易受影响的;n.敏感的人;有灵异能力的人; antennas:n.[电讯]天线,[动]触角(antenna的复数形式); precise:adj.准确的;确切的;精确的;明确的; astronomical:adj.天文的,天文学的;极大的;
And just like the signals that we send and receive here on Earth, we can convert these transmissions into sound using simple analog techniques . 正如那些我们在地球上 发送和接收的信号一样, 我们使用简单的模拟技术 就能把这些电波转换为声音。
convert:v.转换; n.改变宗教(或信仰、观点)的人; transmissions:n.传输;传染;播送;发射;广播;传动装置(transmission的复数) analog:n.[自]模拟;类似物;adj.[自]模拟的;有长短针的; techniques:n.技巧;技艺;工艺;技术;(technique的复数)
And therefore, it's through listening that we've come to uncover some of the universe's most important secrets -- its scale , what it's made of and even how old it is. 因此,通过倾听 我们揭开了 一些宇宙中最终要的秘密 -- 它的规模,它由什么组成 甚至是它的年龄。
uncover:v.揭开盖子;发现;揭露;揭发; 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 today, I'm going to tell you a short story of the history of the universe through listening. 因此今天,我要通过聆听向各位讲述 一个关于宇宙历史的小故事。
short story:短篇小说(指一万字以内的小说);
It's punctuated by three quick anecdotes , which show how accidental encounters with strange noises gave us some of the most important information we have about space. 其穿插的 三段轶事 展示了与奇怪声音的偶然相遇 是怎样给我们 带来了关于太空的一些 最重要的信息的。
punctuated:vt.不时打断;强调;加标点于;vi.加标点; anecdotes:n.奇闻轶事(anecdote的复数); accidental:n.偶然;[乐]临时符;adj.不测的;非本质的; encounters:v.遭遇(encounter的第三人称单数);邂逅;n.遭遇战(encounter的复数);相见;
Now this story doesn't start with vast telescopes or futuristic spacecraft , but a rather more humble technology -- and in fact, the very medium which gave us the telecommunications revolution that we're all part of today: the telephone. 这一故事并不以 天文望远镜 或是宇宙飞船开始, 而是以一种更不起眼的方式 -- 实际上,这种方式 带来了我们正置身其中的 远距离通信的革命: 电话。
telescopes:n.望远镜; v.套叠; (telescope的第三人称单数) futuristic:adj.未来派的;未来主义的; spacecraft:n.[宇]宇宙飞船;航天器; humble:adj.谦逊的; vt.使谦恭; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; medium:n.(传播信息的)媒介;手段;工具;方法;adj.中等的;中号的; telecommunications:n.电信;电讯; revolution:n.革命;旋转;运行;循环;
It's 1876, it's in Boston , and this is Alexander Graham Bell who was working with Thomas Watson on the invention of the telephone. 1876年,在波士顿, 这是亚历山大·格拉汉姆·贝尔, 他与托马斯·沃森一起 发明了电话。
Boston:n.波士顿(美国城市);
A key part of their technical set up was a half-mile long length of wire, which was thrown across the rooftops of several houses in Boston. 他们技术的关键部分是 一条半英里长的电线, 它穿越了波士顿中 数座房屋的屋顶。
technical:adj.工艺的,科技的;技术上的;专门的; half-mile:半英里;半英里赛跑; rooftops:n.屋顶;adj.屋顶上的;
The line carried the telephone signals that would later make Bell a household name . 这条传输电话信号的电线 后来让贝尔家喻户晓。
household name:n.家喻户晓的名字;
But like any long length of charged wire, it also inadvertently became an antenna. 但如同任何长度的带电导线一样, 它也意外地成为了 天线。
inadvertently:adj.非故意地,无心地;
Thomas Watson spent hours listening to the strange crackles and hisses and chirps and whistles that his accidental antenna detected . 托马斯·沃森 花费许多时间来倾听 奇怪的爆裂声、嘶嘶声 唧唧声和哨声 这些都是由他的天线检测到的。
crackles:v.发出爆裂声; n.细碎爆裂声; hisses:vi.发出嘘声;发嘘声;n.嘘声;嘶嘶声; chirps:n.啾啾; whistles:n.哨子; v.吹口哨; (whistle的第三人称单数和复数) detected:v.发现;查明;侦察出;(detect的过去分词和过去式)
Now you have to remember, this is 10 years before 现在请各位注意, 这是在海因里希·赫兹
Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves -- 15 years before Nikola Tesla's four-tuned circuit -- nearly 20 years before Marconi's first broadcast . 证实无线电波存在之前十年 -- 在尼古拉·特斯拉发明四调谐电路前十五年 -- 在马尔科尼的第一次发明电报之前要近二十年。
Hertz:n.[物]赫兹(频率单位); circuit:n.环行路线;电路;线路;巡回赛;v.巡回;周游; broadcast:v.广播; n.广播节目; adj.[无线]播音的;
So Thomas Watson wasn't listening to us. 因此托马斯·沃森不是在听人为的声音。
We didn't have the technology to transmit . 我们还没有发射这种信号的 技术。
transmit:v.传送;发射;播送;传播;传染;
So what were these strange noises? 那这些奇怪的噪声是什么呢？
Watson was in fact listening to very low-frequency radio emissions caused by nature. 沃森实际上在听的是 由自然界发出的极低频的 无线电信号。
low-frequency:adj.低频的;低周波的; emissions:n.(光、热、气等的)发出,排放;排放物;散发物;(emission的复数)
Some of the crackles and pops were lightning , but the eerie whistles and curiously melodious chirps had a rather more exotic origin . 有些爆裂声和砰砰声是闪电, 但是奇异的哨声 和旋律美妙的唧唧声 则更多的是来自外层空间。
lightning:n.闪电;adj.闪电般的;飞快的;突然的 eerie:adj.可怕的;怪异的; curiously:adv.好奇地;奇妙地; melodious:adj.悦耳的;旋律优美的; exotic:adj.异国的;外来的;异国情调的; origin:n.起源;起因;源头;出身;
Using the very first telephone, 其实沃森使用
Watson was in fact dialed into the heavens. 最早的电话 拨通了通往天际的电话。
As he correctly guessed, some of these sounds were caused by activity on the surface of the Sun. 正如他所猜中的那样, 其中一些声音是由 太阳表面的活动产生的。
It was a solar wind interacting with our ionosphere that he was listening to -- a phenomena which we can see at the extreme northern and southern latitudes of our planet as the aurora . 他聆听的是 太阳风和地球电离层的 交互作用 -- 这是个神奇的现象 就像我们能在地球的南极和北极所看到的 极光一样。
interacting:v.交流;沟通;合作;相互影响;(interact的现在分词) ionosphere:n.[地物]电离层; phenomena:n.现象(phenomenon的复数); extreme:adj.极端的;极度的;偏激的;尽头的;n.极端;末端;最大程度;极端的事物; latitudes:n.[地理]纬度,某一纬度地区(latitude的复数形式); aurora:n.[地物]极光;曙光;
So whilst inventing the technology that would usher in the telecommunications revolution, 因此在发明了这项 引发了远距离通信革命的技术的同时,
usher:v.引入;引领;引导;把…引往;n.引座员;(法院的)传达员,门卫;男傧相;
Watson had discovered that the star at the center of our solar system emitted powerful radio waves. 沃森发现了 我们太阳系中心的恒星 发射出强大的无线电波。
solar system:[天]太阳系;
He had accidentally been the first person to tune in to them. 他意外地成为了 第一个收听到它们的人。
accidentally:adv.意外地:偶然,偶然地; tune:n.曲调;和谐;心情;v.调整;使一致;为…调音;调谐;
Fast-forward 50 years, and Bell and Watson's technology has completely transformed global communications. 快进五十年, 贝尔和沃森的技术 完全改变了 全球通信。
Fast-forward:n.快进功能;adj.进展迅速的;vi.快进;vt.使快进; transformed:v.使改变形态;使改变外观(或性质);(transform的过去分词和过去式) global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的;
But going from slinging some wire across rooftops in Boston to laying thousands and thousands of miles of cable on the Atlantic Ocean seabed is no easy matter. 但从在波士顿 跨越数个屋顶的电线 到铺设于大西洋海底 数千英里长的线缆 这不是件容易的事。
slinging:v.(随便地)扔,丢;挂;吊;遣送;押往;驱逐;(sling的现在分词) cable:n.电缆; v.打电报; (用锚链,缆索等)系住; Atlantic:adj.大西洋的;巨人阿特拉斯的;n.大西洋; seabed:n.海底;海床;
And so before long , 因此不久后,
before long:不久以后;
Bell were looking to new technologies to optimize their revolution. 贝尔就在寻找新的技术 以优化他们的这次重大变革。
optimize:vt.使最优化,使完善;vi.优化;持乐观态度;
Radio could carry sound without wires. 无线电波不需电线就能携带声音。
But the medium is lossy -- it's subject to a lot of noise and interference . 但载体会有损耗 -- 由于许多噪音和干扰。
lossy:adj.有损耗的; interference:n.干扰,冲突;干涉;
So Bell employed an engineer to study those noises, to try and find out where they came from, with a view towards building the perfect hardware codec , which would get rid of them so they could think about using radio for the purposes of telephony . 因此贝尔雇佣了一名工程师 来研究这些噪音, 尝试弄清楚它们从何而来, 朝着建立完美硬件解码的前景努力, 这将摆脱掉这些噪音, 这样他们就能考虑把无线电波 用于电话通信用途。
employed:v.雇用:应用:运用:使用(employ的过去分词和过去式) hardware:n.计算机硬件;五金器具; codec:n.编码解码器;多媒体数字信号编解码器; telephony:n.电话(学);电话制造;
Most of the noises that the engineer, Karl Jansky, investigated were fairly prosaic in origin. 工程师卡尔·央斯基 调查的多数噪音的 来源都相当平淡无奇。
investigated:v.侦查;调查;研究;(investigate的过去分词和过去式) fairly:adv.相当地;公平地;简直; prosaic:adj.平凡的,乏味的;散文体的;
They turned out to be lightning or sources of electrical power. 可能是闪电 或是电源。
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) electrical:adj.有关电的;电气科学的;
But there was one persistent noise that Jansky couldn't identify , and it seemed to appear in his radio headset four minutes earlier each day. 但有一个央斯基无法识别的 持续的噪音, 这一噪音似乎 在他的无线电耳机中 每天早出现四分钟。
persistent:adj.固执的,坚持的;持久稳固的; identify:v.识别:鉴定:确认:发现: headset:n.耳机;头戴式受话器;
Now any astronomer will tell you, this is the telltale sign of something that doesn't originate from Earth. 如今任何一名天文学家都能告诉你, 这是讯号并非源自 地球的明显标识。
telltale:adj.报警的;泄密的;搬弄是非的;n.迹象;指示器;搬弄是非者; originate:vt.引起;创作;vi.发源;发生;起航;
Jansky had made a historic discovery, that celestial objects could emit radio waves as well as light waves. 央斯基历史性地发现了 天体能够发出无线电波 及光波。
historic:adj.有历史意义的;历史上著名的; as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且;
Fifty years on from Watson's accidental encounter with the Sun, 自从 沃森无意中收听到太阳声音的五十年后,
Jansky's careful listening ushered in a new age of space exploration : the radio astronomy age. 央斯基的仔细倾听 开启了太空探索的新纪元: 射电天文学时代。
ushered:n.引座员,带位员; vt.引导,招待; vi.作招待员; exploration:n.探索;勘探;探险;[医]探查术;
Over the next few years, astronomers connected up their antennas to loudspeakers and learned about our radio sky, about Jupiter and the Sun, by listening. 在后续数年间, 天文学家把天线连到扩音器上, 了解我们的无线电波的天空, 了解木星和太阳, 通过聆听。
loudspeakers:扬声器;扩音器;
Let's jump ahead again. 让我们再往前跳一段时间。
It's 1964, and we're back at Bell Labs . 这是1964年, 我们回到贝尔实验室。
Labs:n.实验室;实验大楼;(lab的复数)
And once again, two scientists have got a problem with noise. 再一次, 两名科学家遇到了一个与噪音有关的问题。
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were using the horn antenna at Bell's Holmdel laboratory to study the Milky Way with extraordinary precision . 阿诺·彭齐亚斯和罗伯特·威尔逊 用喇叭形天线 在贝尔的霍尔姆德尔实验室 以非凡的精度研究 银河系。
horn:n.喇叭,号角;角;v.装角于; laboratory:n.实验室,研究室; Milky Way:na.[天]银河; extraordinary:adj.非凡的;特别的;离奇的;临时的;特派的; precision:n.精度,[数]精密度;精确;adj.精密的,精确的;
They were really listening to the galaxy in high fidelity . 他们确实在以高保真度 倾听着银河系。
galaxy:n.银河;[天]星系;银河系;一群显赫的人; high fidelity:n.高保真;高保真度;
There was a glitch in their soundtrack . 他们的音轨上有个小故障。
glitch:n.小故障;失灵;[电子]短时脉冲波干扰; soundtrack:n.声带;声道;声迹;电影配音;
A mysterious persistent noise was disrupting their research. 一个神秘的持续噪音 干扰了他们的研究。
mysterious:adj.神秘的;不可思议的;难解的; disrupting:v.扰乱;使中断;打乱;(disrupt的现在分词)
It was in the microwave range, and it appeared to be coming from all directions simultaneously . 这一噪音处于微波频段, 它同时出现 在各个方向。
microwave:n.微波; simultaneously:adv.同时地;
Now this didn't make any sense, and like any reasonable engineer or scientist, they assumed that the problem must be the technology itself, it must be the dish. 这在当今没有任何意义。 如同任何明智的工程师或科学家一样, 他们假设问题处在他们的技术上, 问题一定在蝶盘状天线上。
reasonable:adj.合理的,公道的;通情达理的; assumed:adj.假定的;假设的;v.假定;假设;认为;承担;(assume的过去分词和过去式)
There were pigeons roosting in the dish. 有鸽子在碟盘状天线上安家。
pigeons:n.鸽子(pigeon的复数);杂波; roosting:n.栖木;鸟窝;群栖的禽鸟;vi.栖息;安歇;vt.使…栖息;为…提供歇息处;
And so perhaps once they cleaned up the pigeon droppings , get the disk kind of operational again, normal operations would resume . 也许一旦他们清理了鸽子粪便, 仪器就能重新运转, 恢复正常。
droppings:n.鸟兽的粪便;滴下物(dropping的复数); operational:adj.操作的;运作的; resume:n.简历;v.继续;重返;
But the noise didn't disappear . 但噪音并没有消失。
disappear:v.消失;失踪;不复存在;
The mysterious noise that Penzias and Wilson were listening to turned out to be the oldest and most significant sound that anyone had ever heard. 彭齐亚斯和威尔逊 聆听的神秘噪音 成了人们听到过的 最古老最重要的声音。
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;
It was cosmic radiation left over from the very birth of the universe. 它是宇宙诞生之时 遗留下来的宇宙辐射。
cosmic:adj.宇宙的; radiation:n.辐射;放射线;放射疗法;
This was the first experimental evidence that the Big Bang existed and the universe was born at a precise moment some 14.7 billion years ago. 这是最初的实验证据, 它证实了宇宙大爆炸的存在, 证实了宇宙诞生于147亿年前的 某个确切时刻。
experimental:adj.实验的;根据实验的;试验性的; evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; Bang:n.猛敲; v.猛敲; v.正好;
So our story ends at the beginning -- the beginning of all things, the Big Bang. 那么我们的故事就要在 这个最开始结束了 -- 一切一切的开始,宇宙大爆炸。
at the beginning:首先;从一开始;起初;从头开始;
This is the noise that Penzias and Wilson heard -- the oldest sound that you're ever going to hear, the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang. 这就是彭齐亚斯和威尔逊听到的噪音 -- 你能听到的最古老的声音, 自宇宙大爆炸后留下的 宇宙射线背景辐射。
(Fuzz) （滋滋声）
Thanks. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）