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MartinRees_2005G-_这是我们最后的世纪吗_
If you take 10,000 people at random , 9,999 have something in common: their interests in business lie on or near the Earth's surface. 如果你随机挑选出10000个人,其中的9999个人会有如下共性: 他们对商业的兴趣显而易见
random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地;
The odd one out is an astronomer , and I am one of that strange breed . 余下的那位怪人是天文学家,而我就是这个奇特物种中的一员。
odd:adj.古怪的;奇数的;n.奇数; astronomer:n.天文学家; breed:v.繁殖;孕育;培育(动植物);导致;以…方式教育;n.品种;
(Laughter) （笑声）
My talk will be in two parts. I'll talk first as an astronomer, and then as a worried member of the human race . 我的发言将分为两部分。首先作为一个天文学家发言 之后作为人类社会中忧心忡忡的一员
human race:n.人类;
But let's start off by remembering that Darwin showed how we're the outcome of four billion years of evolution . 让我们首先回顾达尔文所指出的: 我们人类只是40亿年进化的产物。
outcome:n.结果,结局;成果; evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进;
And what we try to do in astronomy and cosmology is to go back before Darwin's simple beginning, to set our Earth in a cosmic context . 我们进行天文学和宇宙学研究要做的 就是回溯到达尔文的理论原点 将我们的地球置于宇宙的背景中。
astronomy:n.天文学; cosmology:n.[天]宇宙论,[天]宇宙学; cosmic:adj.宇宙的; context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉;
And let me just run through a few slides. 请允许我展示几张图片。
run through:n.贯通;从头到尾读一遍;排练;
This was the impact that happened last week on a comet . 这是发生在上周的一次撞击彗星实验。
impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响; comet:n.[天]彗星;
If they'd sent a nuke , it would have been rather more spectacular than what actually happened last Monday. 倘若他们发射的是颗核弹的话,其景象将会更加壮观。 图片显示的是上周一的实景。
nuke:n.核武器;核能发电厂;核潜艇;vt.以核武器攻击;adj.核武器的; spectacular:adj.壮观的;壮丽的;令人惊叹的;n.壮观的场面;精彩的表演;
So that's another project for NASA. 那是NASA（美国国家航空航天局）的又一个项目。
That's Mars from the European Mars Express , and at New Year. 这张是在新年时由欧洲“火星快车号”探测器拍到的火星。
Mars:n.火星 Express:v.表达; adj.特快的; n.特快列车; v.使用快速服务;
This artist's impression turned into reality when a parachute landed on Titan , Saturn's giant moon. 艺术家的创想变成了现实, 当一个着陆装置降落在土星的巨大的卫星泰坦（土卫六）上。
impression:n.印象;影响;效果;感想; parachute:n.降落伞;vi.跳伞;空投; Titan:n.巨人;提坦;太阳神; giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的
It landed on the surface. This is pictures taken on the way down. 它降落在土卫六的表面。这张图片拍摄于着陆途中。
That looks like a coastline . 那些看起来像是海岸线。
coastline:n.海岸线;
It is indeed, but the ocean is liquid methane -- the temperature minus 170 degrees centigrade . 它们确实是,但“海洋”是液态的甲烷 - 温度是零下170摄氏度。
methane:n.[有化]甲烷;[能源]沼气; minus:prep.减,减去;n.负号,减号;不足;负数;adj.减的;负的; centigrade:adj.摄氏的;[仪]摄氏温度的;百分度的;
If we go beyond our solar system , we've learned the stars aren't twinkly points of light. 如果我们放眼到太阳系之外, 我们已经知道恒星并不是不断眨眼的光点。
solar system:[天]太阳系; twinkly:adj.闪耀的,耀眼的,微笑的;欣喜的;
Each one is like a sun with a retinue of planets orbiting around it, and we can see places where stars are forming, like the Eagle Nebula . We see stars dying. 每一颗恒星都像太阳,伴有若干行星环绕。 我们可以看到恒星形成的区域 像天鹰星云（M16）。我们还能看到衰竭的恒星。
retinue:n.随行人员;扈从; orbiting:v.[航][天]轨道运行;轨道运动;转圈(orbit的ing形式); Nebula:n.星云;角膜云翳;
In six billion years, the sun will look like that. 六十亿年后,太阳将变成这样。
And some stars die spectacularly in a supernova explosion , leaving remnants like that. 有些恒星在壮观的超新星爆发中消亡, 遗留下这样的残余。
spectacularly:adv.壮观地;引人注目地; supernova:n.超新星; explosion:n.爆炸;爆发;激增; remnants:n.残余;残留物(remnant的复数);adj.残存的;
On a still bigger scale , we see entire galaxies of stars. 在更大的范围里,我们看到恒星组成的星系。
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; galaxies:n.银河; (galaxy的复数)
We see entire ecosystems where gas is being recycled . 我们看到完整的生态系统,看到气体被回收利用。
ecosystems:n.生态系统(ecosystem的复数); recycled:n.再生纸;回收站;adj.[环境]回收利用的;可循环再造的;
And to the cosmologist , these galaxies are just the atoms , as it were , of the large-scale universe. 对于宇宙学家来说, 这些星系只不过是组成大规模宇宙空间的原子。
cosmologist:n.宇宙论者,宇宙学家; atoms:n.[物]原子(atom的复数); as it were:可以说是,似乎就是;好像; large-scale:adj.大规模的,大范围的;大比例尺的;
This picture shows a patch of sky so small that it would take about 100 patches like it to cover the full moon in the sky. 这张照片展示了一小片天空, 它是如此之小,需要用大约100块同样尺寸 拼接在一起才能遮住天空中的满月。
patches:n.斑点;小块;补丁;眼罩;v.打补丁;缝补;修补;(patch的第三人称单数和复数) full moon:n.满月;圆月;
Through a small telescope , this would look quite blank, but you see here hundreds of little, faint smudges . 用台稍小的天文望远镜,这个区域看似空无一物。 但是现在你能看到这里有成百个微小的暗淡色块。
telescope:n.望远镜;v.(使)叠套缩短;精简; 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; smudges:n.污迹;污点(smudge的复数);
Each is a galaxy , fully like ours or Andromeda , which looks so small and faint because its light has taken 10 billion light years to get to us. 每个都是一个星系,类似我们的银河系或仙女星系。 它们看似微小和暗淡是因为 它们发出的光经历了上百亿光年才到达这里。
galaxy:n.银河;[天]星系;银河系;一群显赫的人; Andromeda:n.[天]仙女座;安德洛墨达(希腊神话中的埃塞俄比亚公主);
The stars in those galaxies probably don't have planets around them. 那些星系中的恒星可能没有行星环绕。
The scant chance of life there -- that's because there's been no time for the nuclear fusion in stars to make silicon and carbon and iron, the building blocks of planets and of life. 存在生命的可能性甚微 - 因为在那无足够的时间 允许恒星进行核聚变,产生行星和生命所必需的 构造元素,如硅、碳和铁等。
scant:adj.不足的;缺乏的;勉强够的;vt.减少;节省;限制; nuclear fusion:na.核聚变;核融合;"atomicfusion"的变体; silicon:n.[化学]硅;硅元素; carbon:n.[化学]碳;碳棒;复写纸;adj.碳的;碳处理的; building blocks:(儿童玩的)积木;建筑砌块;堆积木;建筑砖块;基石;
We believe that all of this emerged from a Big Bang -- a hot, dense state. So how did that amorphous Big Bang turn into our complex cosmos ? 我们相信所有这一切都源于一次大爆炸 - 一个极热、极密态。那么,那个无定形的大爆炸是如何 演变成我们复杂的宇宙的呢？
emerged:v.(从隐蔽处或暗处)出现;暴露;露出真相;显现;(emerge的过去分词和过去式) Bang:n.猛敲; v.猛敲; v.正好; dense:adj.稠密的;浓厚的;愚钝的; amorphous:adj.无定形的;无组织的;[物]非晶形的; complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施; cosmos:n.宇宙;和谐;秩序;大波斯菊;
I'm going to show you a movie simulation 16 powers of 10 faster than real time , which shows a patch of the universe where the expansions have subtracted out. 我将播放一段模拟影片, 播放速度是实际时间的10的16次方倍速, 演示宇宙的一小部分如何在膨胀中延展开来。
simulation:n.仿真;模拟;模仿;假装; real time:adj.实时的;接到指示立即执行的; expansions:n.[数]扩展(expansion的复数形式); subtracted:n.无进位加减法器;v.减去;去掉(subtract的过去分词);
But you see, as time goes on in giga-years at the bottom, you will see structures evolve as gravity feeds on small, dense irregularities , and structures develop. 你可以看到,底部显示的时间以十亿年为单位, 随着引力逐渐作用于细微的不均匀密度分布, 空间物质结构缓慢地演化出来。
structures:n.结构; v.建造(structure的第三人称单数形式); evolve:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成; irregularities:n.不齐,不规则;谬误;不法行为;
And we'll end up after 13 billion years with something looking rather like our own universe. 于是在历经130亿年之后 大致有形似我们的宇宙般的结构显露出来。
And we compare simulated universes like that -- 这样可以供我们对两者进行比较 -
compare:v.比较;对比;n.比较; simulated:adj.假装的; v.假装; (simulate的过去式和过去分词) universes:语义层;此生彼世;
I'll show you a better simulation at the end of my talk -- with what we actually see in the sky. 在我的发言结束时我会向大家展示一个更好的模拟 - 用我们实际从天空看到的样子。
Well, we can trace things back to the earlier stages of the Big Bang, but we still don't know what banged and why it banged. 好吧,我们可以追溯到大爆炸后的早期场景, 但我们仍然不知道到底是什么爆炸了以及为什么会爆炸。
trace:追溯,追踪 banged:v.猛敲;砰的关上;猛摔;砰地一扔;(bang的过去分词和过去式)
That's a challenge for 21st-century science. 那将是21世纪科学面临的挑战。
If my research group had a logo , it would be this picture here: an ouroboros, where you see the micro-world on the left -- the world of the quantum -- and on the right the large-scale universe of planets, stars and galaxies. 如果我的研究小组要选择个徽标的话,将会是这张图片: 一条首尾相连的环形衔尾蛇,在左边是微观世界 - 即量子世界 - 而在右边是 宏观的宇宙包括行星,恒星和星系。
logo:n.标志; quantum:n.量子论;额;美国昆腾公司(世界领先的硬盘生产商);
We know our universes are united though -- links between left and right. 我们知道宇宙万物是联系在一体的 - 这张图片的左边连结到右边
united:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式)
The everyday world is determined by atoms, how they stick together to make molecules . 寻常世界决定于原子, 即它们是如何结合在一起组成分子。
determined:adj.决定了的:v.决定;(determine的过去分词和过去式) stick together:在一起;团结一致;互相支持; molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数);
Stars are fueled by how the nuclei in those atoms react together. 恒星利用原子核的相互作用来提供燃料。
nuclei:n.核心,核子;原子核(nucleus的复数形式); react:v.起反应;回应;(对食物等)有不良反应,过敏;起化学反应;
And as we've learned in the last few years, galaxies are held together by the gravitational pull of so-called dark matter : particles in huge swarms , far smaller even than atomic nuclei. 我们近年来已了解到星系也是由 所谓的暗物质的引力作用连系在一起。 暗物质粒子比原子核要小很多,且大量密集。
gravitational:adj.[力]重力的,[力]引力的; so-called:adj.所谓的;号称的; dark matter:n.暗物质(根据一些理论,指太空中不反射光的物质); particles:n.微粒,粒子;粒子系统;碎木料(particle的复数形式); swarms:n.(昆虫等)群;[蜂]蜂群(swarm的复数);v.蜂拥;云集(swarm的第三人称单数); atomic:adj.原子的,原子能的;微粒子的;
But we'd like to know the synthesis symbolized at the very top. 但是我们还需了解图上部的结合体（即蛇吞尾）的象征意义。
synthesis:n.综合,[化学]合成;综合体; symbolized:象征,作为…的象征(symbolize的过去式和过去分词);
The micro-world of the quantum is understood. 微观的量子世界已被了解。
On the right hand side, gravity holds sway . Einstein explained that. 右边的宏观世界中引力支配一切,爱因斯坦也已给出了解答。
sway:n.影响;摇摆;摆动;统治;v.摇动;说服;使相信;使动摇;
But the unfinished business for 21st-century science is to link together cosmos and micro-world with a unified theory -- symbolized, as it were, gastronomically at the top of that picture. (Laughter) 而二十一世纪科学尚需完成的任务 是将宏观宇宙和微观量子世界用 一个统一理论联系起来 - 正如在图的上部 以美食的角度所象征的那样。（笑声）
unified:adj.统一的;一致标准的;v.统一;使一致(unify的过去分词); gastronomically:adv.从美食法角度;从烹饪法角度;
And until we have that synthesis, we won't be able to understand the very beginning of our universe because when our universe was itself the size of an atom, quantum effects could shake everything. 在我们找到那样的统一理论之前, 我们无法理解宇宙最开端时的情况, 因为当宇宙的尺度同一个原子大小相仿时, 量子效应可以摧毁一切。
And so we need a theory that unifies the very large and the very small, which we don't yet have. 所以我们需要一个将极大和极小统一起来的理论, 目前我们还没能找到。
unifies:vt.统一;使相同,使一致;
One idea, incidentally -- and I had this hazard sign to say I'm going to speculate from now on -- 顺便提一句,有一个想法是 - 我用这个警示标识表明我在此开始进行的是推测 -
incidentally:adv.顺便;偶然地;附带地; hazard:n.危害;危险;v.试着提出;大胆猜测;冒…的风险;使处于危险中; speculate:v.推测;猜测;推断;投机;做投机买卖; from now on:从今以后;从现在起;
- is that our Big Bang was not the only one. 即我们最初的大爆炸并非唯一的一个。
One idea is that our three-dimensional universe may be embedded in a high-dimensional space, just as you can imagine on these sheets of paper. 我们的三维宇宙,可能是 嵌入在一个更高维度的空间里, 就像你可以想象一下这几张纸。
three-dimensional:adj.三维的;立体的;真实的; embedded:adj.嵌入式的;植入的;内含的;v.嵌入(embed的过去式和过去分词形式); high-dimensional:高维的; sheets:n.床单;被单;薄片,薄板;(sheet的复数)
You can imagine ants on one of them thinking it's a two-dimensional universe, not being aware of another population of ants on the other. 其中一张纸上的蚂蚁 认为纸就是它们的二维宇宙, 而它无从知晓其它纸张（二维宇宙）上的别的蚂蚁。
two-dimensional:adj.二维的;缺乏深度的;
So there could be another universe just a millimeter away from ours, but we're not aware of it because that millimeter is measured in some fourth spatial dimension, and we're imprisoned in our three. 所以可能存在另一个宇宙,距离我们的只有一毫米远, 但我们却不能感知它,因为那一毫米距离 是某个四维空间维度的尺寸, 而我们被禁锢在我们的三维空间里。
millimeter:n.毫米; measured:adj.缓慢谨慎的; v.测量; (measure的过去分词和过去式) spatial:adj.空间的;存在于空间的;受空间条件限制的; imprisoned:v.监禁;关押;(imprison的过去分词和过去式)
And so we believe that there may be a lot more to physical reality than what we've normally called our universe -- the aftermath of our Big Bang. And here's another picture. 所以我们相信应该有更多的物理事实 存在于我们通常称为宇宙的地方之外。 而宇宙是大爆炸的产物。这里有另一张图片。
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; aftermath:n.后果;余波;
Bottom right depicts our universe, which on the horizon is not beyond that, but even that is just one bubble , as it were, in some vaster reality. 在其右下角描述的是我们的宇宙, 也就是远端众多泡沫中的一个, 但那也不过是更广阔现实中的一个泡沫。
depicts:vt.描述;描画; horizon:n.地平线;(欲望、知识或兴趣的)范围; bubble:n.泡;气泡;肥皂泡;一点感情;v.起泡;冒泡;洋溢着(某种感情);
Many people suspect that just as we've gone from believing in one solar system to zillions of solar systems, one galaxy to many galaxies, we have to go to many Big Bangs from one Big Bang. 很多人猜想随着我们开始相信 不止有一个太阳系而是有无数的其他类太阳系, 不止有一个银河系而是有很多其他星系, 我们甚至应该考虑不止有一个大爆炸而是许多大爆炸。
suspect:n.犯罪嫌疑人;v.怀疑;不信任;adj.可疑的; zillions:n.庞大的数字;无法计算的大数字;adj.无限数的; Bangs:n.刘海; v.猛撞;
Perhaps these many Big Bangs displaying an immense variety of properties. 或许这许多大爆炸展示出 极其多样的物理特性。
displaying:v.陈列;展出;展示;显露(display的现在分词) immense:adj.巨大的,广大的;无边无际的;非常好的; variety:n.多样;种类;杂耍;变化,多样化;
Well, let's go back to this picture. 好吧,让我们回到这张图片。
There's one challenge symbolized at the top, but there's another challenge to science symbolized at the bottom. 在其上部有一个符号化了的科学挑战。 而在其下部同样有一个符号化了的科学挑战。
You want to not only synthesize the very large and the very small, but we want to understand the very complex. 除了用理论来一统极大和极小两个世界, 我们还要理解其中的复杂性。
synthesize:vt.合成;综合;vi.合成;综合;
And the most complex things are ourselves, midway between atoms and stars. 而宇宙中最复杂的东西就是我们自己, 我们处于原子和恒星之间。
midway:n.中途;娱乐场;adj.中途的;adv.中途;
We depend on stars to make the atoms we're made of. 我们依赖恒星制造组成我们身体的各类原子。
We depend on chemistry to determine our complex structure. 我们依赖化学反应来决定我们的复杂结构。
We clearly have to be large, compared to atoms, to have layer upon layer of complex structure. 相对于原子来说,我们是庞大的, 具有多层的复杂结构;
compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词) layer:n.层,层次; vt.把…分层堆放; vi.形成或分成层次;
We clearly have to be small, compared to stars and planets -- otherwise we'd be crushed by gravity. And in fact, we are midway. 相对于恒星和行星来说,我们又是微小的, 否则会被引力压垮。事实上,我们处于中间。
crushed:v.压坏;压伤;挤压变形;(crush的过去分词和过去式)
It would take as many human bodies to make up the sun as there are atoms in each of us. 要用每个人体内的原子数目那么多的人数 加在一起才能达到太阳的质量级。
The geometric mean of the mass of a proton and the mass of the sun is 50 kilograms, within a factor of two of the mass of each person here. 太阳质量和质子质量的几何平均数 是50千克, 和在座的每个人的体重是一个数量级。
geometric mean:n.几何平均;等比中数; mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集; proton:n.[物]质子; factor:n.因素;要素;[物]因数;代理人;v.做代理商;v.把…作为因素计入;
Well, most of you anyway. 当然,至少是大多数人
The science of complexity is probably the greatest challenge of all, greater than that of the very small on the left and the very large on the right. 对人的复杂性的科学研究可能是最具挑战的, 比图左边的微观世界 和图右边的宏观世界都更具挑战性。
complexity:n.复杂性;难以理解的局势
And it's this science, which is not only enlightening our understanding of the biological world, but also transforming our world faster than ever. 正是这样的科学研究, 不仅在启迪我们对生物世界不断加深了解, 而且也在更加快速地转变着我们的世界。
enlightening:adj.富有启发性的;v.启发;开导;阐明;(enlighten的现在分词) biological:adj.生物学的;生物的;与生命过程有关的;加酶的;n.[药]生物制品; transforming:v.使改变形态;使改变外观(或性质);使改观;(transform的现在分词)
And more than that, it's engendering new kinds of change. 以至于还产生了全新的改变。
engendering:引起;
And I now move on to the second part of my talk, and the book "Our Final Century" was mentioned. 现在我将进入我演讲的第二部分, 前面有人已提到了“我们最后的世纪”这本拙作。
If I was not a self-effacing Brit . I would mention the book myself, and I would add that it's available in paperback . 如果我不是一个谦逊的英国人的话,我会自己提到这本书, 而且还会告诉大家它有平装版。
self-effacing:adj.谦让的;谦逊的;不出风头的; Brit:n.小鲱鱼;海中微生物; paperback:n.平装书;简装书;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And in America it was called "Our Final Hour" 在美国这本书被称作“我们最后的一小时”
because Americans like instant gratification . 因为美国人更注重及时行乐。
instant:n.瞬间; adj.立即的; conj.同"assoonas"; gratification:n.满意;喜悦;使人满意之事;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But my theme is that in this century, not only has science changed the world faster than ever, but in new and different ways. 我的主旨是在最近这个世纪里, 科学不仅比以往更快地改变着世界, 而且以新的与以往不同的方式。
Targeted drugs, genetic modification , artificial intelligence , perhaps even implants into our brains, may change human beings themselves. And human beings, their physique and character, has not changed for thousands of years. 定向药物,基因改良,人工智能, 甚至大脑植入等等新科技 将改变人类自身的样子。而人类的 体型和性格等物理特质近千年来都保持着不变。
genetic:adj.基因的;遗传学的; modification:n.修改;改进;改变; artificial intelligence:n.人工智能; implants:n.移植物;埋植剂(implant的复数);v.灌输(implant的第三人称单数); physique:n.体格,体形;
It may change this century. 在本世纪中改变即将来临。
It's new in our history. 这将是历史的新的一页。
And the human impact on the global environment -- greenhouse warming, mass extinctions and so forth -- is unprecedented , too. 同时人类给全球环境带来的冲击 - 温室效应, 大规模杀伤武器等等 - 也是史无前例的。
global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的; greenhouse:n.温室;暖房; extinctions:n.[生物]灭绝(extinction的复数);消失;废除; unprecedented:adj.空前的;无前例的;
And so, this makes this coming century a challenge. 因此,新世纪将是人类面临的挑战。
Bio- and cybertechnologies are environmentally-benign in that they offer marvelous prospects , while, nonetheless , reducing pressure on energy and resources . 生物和网络技术为更好的改变环境 提供了美妙的前景, 得以减轻我们在能源方面的压力。
marvelous:adj.了不起的;非凡的;令人惊异的;不平常的; prospects:n.可能性; v.探矿; (prospect的第三人称单数和复数) nonetheless:adv.尽管如此,但是; resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数);
But they will have a dark side. 但是它们也有其负面性。
In our interconnected world, novel technology could empower just one fanatic , or some weirdo with a mindset of those who now design computer viruses, to trigger some kind on disaster . 在如今相互连通的世界里,新奇的科技将使得 一个狂热分子, 或者若干个精神状态古怪的人能编制计算机病毒, 造成某种程度上的灾难。
interconnected:adj.连通的;有联系的;v.互相连接(interconnect的过去式); novel:adj.新奇的;异常的;n.小说; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; empower:vt.授权,允许;使能够; fanatic:n.狂热入迷者;盲信者;盲信;adj.狂热的;盲信的; weirdo:n.古怪的人,奇怪的人; mindset:n.心态;倾向;习惯;精神状态; trigger:n.触发器; v.触发; disaster:n.灾难,灾祸;不幸;
Indeed, catastrophe could arise simply from technical misadventure -- error rather than terror. 确实的是,仅仅是技术事故都将导致严重的灾难 - 灾难往往是无心而为的结果。
catastrophe:n.大灾难;大祸;惨败; arise:v.出现;发生;产生;起身; technical:adj.工艺的,科技的;技术上的;专门的; misadventure:n.灾难;不幸遭遇;
And even a tiny probability of catastrophe is unacceptable when the downside could be of global consequence . 而当后果可能是全球性的灾难时, 哪怕是非常小的概率也是无法被接受的。
probability:n.可能性;机率;[数]或然率; unacceptable:adj.不能接受(或允许、同意)的; downside:n.下降趋势;底侧;adj.底侧的; consequence:n.结果;重要性;推论;
In fact, some years ago, Bill Joy wrote an article expressing tremendous concern about robots taking us over, et cetera . 事实上在几年前,比尔乔伊在一篇文章中 表达了对机器人将取代我们的极大关注,等等。
expressing:v.表示;表达;表露;显而易见;(express的现在分词) tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的; concern:v.涉及,关系到;使担心;n.关系;关心;关心的事; et cetera:na.以及其他;
I don't go along with all that, but it's interesting that he had a simple solution . 我并不完全同意他的观点, 但让人感兴趣的是他给出了一个简单的解决方案。
go along with:赞同;陪…一起去; solution:n.解决方案;溶液;溶解;解答;
It was what he called fine-grained relinquishment. 他称之为精选的放弃。
fine-grained:adj.细粒的;有细密纹理的;
He wanted to give up the dangerous kind of science and keep the good bits. Now, that's absurdly naive for two reasons. 他想要做的是有选择地保留那些好的科技,而放弃那些 可能导致危险的。然而,两个理由可以说明这是很幼稚的。
absurdly:adv.荒谬地;愚蠢地;悖理地; naive:adj.天真的,幼稚的;
First, any scientific discovery has benign consequences as well as dangerous ones. 第一,任何科学发现都有其有益的后果, 也有其危险的一面。
scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; benign:adj.良性的;和蔼的,亲切的;吉利的; consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数); as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且;
And also, when a scientist makes a discovery, he or she normally has no clue what the applications are going to be. 其二,当一个科学家做出一项发现时, 他/她通常并不知道会产生哪些应用。
clue:n.提示;迹象;(纵横填字谜、游戏或问题的)提示词语;v.提示;为…提供线索;
And so what this means is that we have to accept the risks if we are going to enjoy the benefits of science. 所以这意味着我们不得不承担风险 如果我们希冀于享受科技带来的利益。
We have to accept that there will be hazards . 我们不得不接受科技可能带来危害。
hazards:n.危害;[安全]危险;障碍(hazard的复数);v.使冒危险;赌(hazard的三单形式);
And I think we have to go back to what happened in the post-War era, post-World War II, when the nuclear scientists who'd been involved in making the atomic bomb 在这里让我们回顾一下战后发生的事情, 在二战后,当那些参与研制 原子弹的科学家们
post-War:adj.战后的; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词)
in many cases were concerned that they should do all they could to alert the world to the dangers. 一直关切地认为他们应该尽其所能地 警告世界核武器的危险性。
concerned:adj.有关的;关心的;v.关心;与…有关;(concern的过去时和过去分词) alert:n.警报; adj.警觉的; v.向…报警;
And they were inspired not by the young Einstein, who did the great work in relativity , but by the old Einstein, the icon of poster and t-shirt, who failed in his scientific efforts to unify the physical laws. 他们所受的启发并非来自于年轻时的爱因斯坦 - 即发明相对论时的他 - 而是老年时的爱因斯坦, 他的招牌式海报和T恤衫, 老年的他未能实现统一物理定律的愿望。
inspired:adj.受到启发的; v.鼓舞; (inspire的过去分词和过去式) relativity:n.相对论;相关性;相对性; poster:n.海报;巨幅装饰画;发布消息的人; unify:vt.统一;使相同,使一致;
He was premature . But he was a moral compass -- inspiration to scientists who were concerned with arms control . 他的理论尚未成熟。但是他却是一个道德楷模 - 激励着那些关心进行军备控制的科学家们。
premature:adj.早产的;不成熟的;比预期早的;n.早产儿;过早发生的事物; 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; 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 concerned with:关心;涉及;忙于;与…有关; arms control:n.军备控制;
And perhaps the greatest living person is someone I'm privileged to know, Joe Rothblatt. 我有幸认识也许是尚在世的 最伟大的人之一 - 乔洛特布拉德。
privileged:adj.有特权的; v.给予特权; (privilege的过去式和过去分词)
Equally untidy office there, as you can see . 正如你看到的那样,他的办公室也很凌乱。
untidy:adj.不整洁的,凌乱的; v.使不整洁; as you can see:正如你所看到的;你是知道的;
He's 96 years old, and he founded the Pugwash movement. 他已经96岁了,正是他发起了帕格沃什运动。
He persuaded Einstein, as his last act, to sign the famous memorandum of Bertrand Russell. 他成功地劝说爱因斯坦最终 在著名的伯特兰·罗素备忘录上签字。
persuaded:v.劝说;说服;使信服;使相信;(persuade的过去式和过去分词) memorandum:n.备忘录;便笺;
And he sets an example of the concerned scientist. 他也为有责任心的科学家们树立了楷模。
And I think to harness science optimally , to choose which doors to open and which to leave closed, we need latter-day counterparts of people like Joseph Rothblatt. 我认为如果想最好地驾驭科学, 也就是说选择开启哪些门而不去碰哪些门, 我们需要当代的像乔帕格沃什这样的科学家。
harness:vt.治理; n.马具; optimally:adv.最佳;最适宜; latter-day:adj.近代的;现代的;当今的; counterparts:n.(契约)副本(counterpart的复数);相对物;相对应的人; Joseph:n.连帽大氅;
We need not just campaigning physicists , but we need biologists , computer experts and environmentalists as well. 我们不仅需要参加竞选的物理学家, 还需要有生物学家,计算机专家和 环境保护者们共同参与。
physicists:n.物理学家;机械唯物论者(physicist的复数); biologists:n.生物学家(biologist的复数); environmentalists:n.环保人士;环保主义者;(environmentalist的复数形式)
And I think academics and independent entrepreneurs have a special obligation because they have more freedom than those in government service, or company employees subject to commercial pressure. 我认为专业学者和无党派企业家们 有着特殊的义务,因为他们和政府部门工作人员 或者那些有商业压力的公司雇员们 相比有着更大的自由度。
academics:n.学术水平;学术知识;专业学者; independent:adj.独立的; n.无党派议员(或候选人等); entrepreneurs:n.企业家;(entrepreneur的复数) obligation:n.义务;责任;职责;(已承诺的或法律等规定的)义务; commercial:adj.贸易的;商业的;赢利的;以获利为目的的;n.(电台或电视播放的)广告;
I wrote my book, "Our Final Century," as a scientist, just a general scientist. But there's one respect, I think, in which being a cosmologist offered a special perspective , and that's that it offers an awareness of the immense future. 我以一个科学家的身份写的“我们最后的世纪”这本书, 一个普通意义上的科学家。但是作为一个宇宙学家 我同时也有着一个特别的视角, 也就是对更广阔未来的洞察力。
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; awareness:n.意识,认识;明白,知道;
The stupendous time spans of the evolutionary past are now part of common culture -- outside the American Bible Belt , anyway -- 进化发展的巨大时间跨度 现在已经是人类的共识 - 至少是超出了美国圣经带地区-
stupendous:adj.惊人的;巨大的; spans:n.[建]跨度;一段时间(span的复数);v.跨越;持续;贯穿(span的第三人称单数); evolutionary:adj.进化的;发展的;渐进的; Bible Belt:n.(美国南部和中西部有着较强基督教信仰基础的)《圣经》地带;
(Laughter) （笑声）
but most people, even those who are familiar with evolution, aren't mindful that even more time lies ahead. 但是大多数人,就算是那些熟悉进化理论的人, 也常常会忽视有更多的时间摆在我们的前面。
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友; mindful:adj.留心的;记住的;警觉的;
The sun has been shining for four and a half billion years, but it'll be another six billion years before its fuel runs out. 太阳已经照耀了45亿年, 直到它的燃料耗尽还会有60亿年的时间。
On that schematic picture, a sort of time lapse picture, we're halfway. 在这张时间似乎是永恒的图解上,我们处于中途。
schematic:adj.图解的;概要的;n.原理图;图解视图; lapse:n.(一时的)走神,判断错误;
And it'll be another six billion before that happens, and any remaining life on Earth is vaporized . 还有60亿年时间 地球上的一切生命才会蒸发。
vaporized:汽化了的;
There's an unthinking tendency to imagine that humans will be there, experiencing the sun's demise , but any life and intelligence that exists then will be as different from us as we are from bacteria . 人们总是不加考虑地认为那时人类还会存在, 去见证太阳的终结, 事实上如果那时尚存智慧生命的话 也会和我们有极大的不同,就像我们和细菌之间的不同。
unthinking:adj.无思考能力的;不留心的;欠考虑的; tendency:n.倾向,趋势;癖好; demise:n.死亡,终止;转让;传位;vt.遗赠;禅让; bacteria:n.[微]细菌;
The unfolding of intelligence and complexity still has immensely far to go, here on Earth and probably far beyond. 智能生命和复杂性的演变 还有更远的路要走,不止在地球上,还在更遥远的地方。
unfolding:v.(使)展开;打开;展示;透露;(unfold的现在分词) immensely:adv.极大地;无限地;广大地;庞大地;
So we are still at the beginning of the emergence of complexity of our Earth and beyond. 所以我们只是处在复杂性演变的开端, 在地球上和地球之外。
at the beginning of:在…的开始; emergence:n.出现,浮现;发生;露头;
If you represent the Earth's lifetime by a single year, say from January when it was made to December, the 21st-century would be a quarter of a second in June -- a tiny fraction of the year. 如果用一年来代表地球的整个历史进程, 也就是说把地球诞生视为一月直到它毁灭为十二月, 21世纪相当于六月份中四分之一秒的时间 - 这象征性的一年中的短短一瞬。
represent:v.代表;表现;描绘;回忆;再赠送; fraction:n.分数;小部分;小数;少量;
But even in this concertinaed cosmic perspective, our century is very, very special. 然而就算是从这一特殊视角来看, 我们现在的世纪也是非常非常特殊的。
The first when humans can change themselves and their home planet. 它是首个人类可以改变自身和其家园的世纪。
As I should have shown this earlier, it will not be humans who witness the end point of the sun, it will be creatures as different from us as we are from bacteria. 我前面曾指出的一点是, 人类将不能见证太阳的最后生命时刻, 那时的生物与我们的差别将和我们现在与细菌间的差别一样悬殊。
witness:n.证人;目击者;证据;v.目击;证明;为…作证; creatures:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人(creature的复数)
When Einstein died in 1955, one striking tribute to his global status was this cartoon by Herblock in the Washington Post. 当爱因斯坦在1955年去世时, 一部漫画被用来表达对他全球地位的特别敬意, 漫画作者是华盛顿邮报的赫布洛克。
tribute:n.礼物;[税收]贡物;颂词;(尤指对死者的)致敬,悼念,吊唁礼物; status:n.地位;状态;情形;重要身份;
The plaque reads, "Albert Einstein lived here." 漫画中的文字是:“爱因斯坦曾生活在这里”。
plaque:n.匾;血小板;饰板;
And I'd like to end with a vignette , as it were, inspired by this image. 受这张漫画的启发,我用下面的文字来结束我的发言。
vignette:n.装饰图案; vt.把…印放为虚光照,晕映; n.Vignette)人名; n.梗概,简介,花絮;
We've been familiar for 40 years with this image: the fragile beauty of land, ocean and clouds, contrasted with the sterile moonscape on which the astronauts left their footprints . 四十年来我们已熟悉了这幅图片: 柔美的陆地,海洋和云层 与贫瘠的月面形成对比, 而宇航员已在月面留下了足迹。
fragile:adj.脆的;易碎的; contrasted:比较;对比; sterile:adj.不育的;无菌的;贫瘠的;不毛的;枯燥乏味的; moonscape:n.月球表面;月面景色; footprints:n.脚印;足迹;空间量,面积;(通信卫星)覆盖区;(footprint的复数)
But let's suppose some aliens had been watching our pale blue dot in the cosmos from afar , not just for 40 years, but for the entire 4.5 billion-year history of our Earth. 让我们假想某些外星生物一直在观察着我们的暗蓝小点（地球）, 它们在遥远的某处,不只观察了四十年, 而是历经地球发展史的整个45亿年。
suppose:v.推断:假定:假设:设想: afar:adv.遥远地;在远处;
What would they have seen? 它们会看到过哪些景象呢？
Over nearly all that immense time, 在几乎整个漫长的时间流逝中,
Earth's appearance would have changed very gradually . 地球表面的景象变化非常缓慢。
appearance:n.外貌;外观;外表; gradually:adv.渐渐地;逐步地;
The only abrupt worldwide change would have been major asteroid impacts or volcanic super-eruptions. 仅有的全球范围的剧烈变动 不过是由大的陨石撞击或超级火山喷发所引起。
abrupt:adj.生硬的;突然的;唐突的;陡峭的; worldwide:adj.全世界的;adv.在世界各地; asteroid:n.[天]小行星;[无脊椎]海盘车;小游星;adj.星状的; impacts:n.影响; v.有影响,有作用; volcanic:adj.火山的;猛烈的;易突然发作的;n.火山岩;
Apart from those brief traumas , nothing happens suddenly. 除去这些剧烈变动,一切都发生的较为平缓。
traumas:n.外伤;精神创伤(trauma的复数);
The continental land masses drifted around. 大陆板块缓慢地漂移。
continental:adj.大陆的;大陆性的;n.欧洲人; masses:n.民众;大量(mass的复数);包块;v.集中;聚集(mass的三单形式); drifted:v.漂流;漂移;缓缓移动;缓慢行走;(drift的过去分词和过去式)
Ice cover waxed and waned . 冰盖交替覆盖和消融。
waxed:v.给…打蜡;用蜡除去…上的毛;(wax的过去分词和过去式) waned:vi.衰落;变小;亏缺;退潮;消逝;n.衰退;月亏;衰退期;缺损;
Successions of new species emerged, evolved and became extinct. 新的物种交替产生,进化直至灭绝。
Successions:n.连续;继位;继承权;[生态]演替; species:n.[生物]物种;种类; evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式)
But in just a tiny sliver of the Earth's history, the last one millionth part, a few thousand years, the patterns of vegetation altered much faster than before. 但在地球历史的短短一瞬, 其百万分之一的时间部分,也就不过是近几千年里, 植被产生了比以往快得多的变化。
millionth:n.百万分之一;第一百万;adj.百万分之一的;第一百万的; vegetation:n.植被;植物,草木;呆板单调的生活; altered:adj.改变了的:v.(使)改变,更改,改动:(alter的过去分词和过去式)
This signaled the start of agriculture. 这标志着人类农业的开端。
signaled:v.以动作向…示意;用信号发出,用信号通知;向…发信号(signal的过去分词);
Change has accelerated as human populations rose. 变化随着人类人口数量的增加而加快了速度。
accelerated:v.(使)加速;加速;加快(accelerate的过去分词和过去式)
Then other things happened even more abruptly . 接下来某些更加显著的变化发生了。
abruptly:adv.突然地;唐突地;
Within just 50 years -- that's one hundredth of one millionth of the Earth's age -- the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere started to rise, and ominously fast. 在短短的50年时间里 - 那不过是地球年纪的一亿分之一 - 大气中的二氧化碳含量开始升高, 而且是噩兆般的快速。
carbon dioxide:二氧化碳; atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格; ominously:adv.恶兆地;不吉利地;
The planet became an intense emitter of radio waves -- the total output from all TV and cell phones and radar transmissions . And something else happened. 地球开始发射出强烈的电磁波 - 其来源是所有的电视,手机 和雷达信号传输。另外还有一些景象出现了。
intense:adj.强烈的;紧张的;非常的;热情的; emitter:n.发射器,发射体; output:n.(人、机器、机构的)产量;输出;输出功率;输出量;v.输出; radar:n.雷达; transmissions:n.传输;传染;播送;发射;广播;传动装置(transmission的复数)
Metallic objects -- albeit very small ones, a few tons at most -- escaped into orbit around the Earth. 金属物体 -尽管个头不大,最多重几吨 - 被发射到了地球的轨道中（指人造卫星）。
Metallic:adj.金属的,含金属的; albeit:conj.虽然;即使;
Some journeyed to the moons and planets. 有些甚至被发射到月球或其他行星。
journeyed:n.旅行;行程;vi.旅行;
A race of advanced extraterrestrials watching our solar system from afar could confidently predict Earth's final doom in another six billion years. 地球外的高等生物 在遥远的地方观察我们的太阳系的话, 可以肯定地预期在60亿年的时间内地球将毁灭。
advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式) extraterrestrials:外星人(extraterrestrial的复数); confidently:adv.自信地;安心地; predict:v.预报;预言;预告; doom:n.厄运;毁灭;劫数;死亡;v.使…注定失败(或遭殃、死亡等);
But could they have predicted this unprecedented spike less than halfway through the Earth's life? 但是他们是否能预期这种不到地球寿命的一半时 发生的史无前例的生命活动高潮呢？
predicted:v.预言;预告;预报;(predict的过去分词和过去式) spike:n.长钉,道钉;钉鞋;细高跟;vt.阻止;以大钉钉牢;用尖物刺穿;
These human-induced alterations occupying overall less than a millionth of the elapsed lifetime and seemingly occurring with runaway speed? 这些由人类主导的改变 虽然只是发生在生命历程中的不到百万分之一的时段内, 却有着惊人的改变速度。
alterations:n.改变;变更;服装修改(alteration的复数); occupying:v.占用;使用;居住;占领;占据;(occupy的现在分词) overall:v.全部; n.外套; adj.全面的; elapsed:v.时间过去;消逝(elapse的过去分词); seemingly:adv.看来似乎;表面上看来; occurring:n.事件;事故;事变; runaway:adj.逃亡的;逃走的;n.逃跑;逃走的人;
If they continued their vigil , what might these hypothetical aliens witness in the next hundred years? 如果他们持续地监视下去, 这些假想中的外星生物将会 在今后的一百年当中看到些什么呢？
vigil:n.守夜;监视;不眠;警戒; hypothetical:adj.假设的;爱猜想的;
Will some spasm foreclose Earth's future? 会否在一阵发作中丧失了地球的未来？
spasm:n.[临床]痉挛;抽搐;一阵发作; foreclose:vt.阻止;排除;取消抵押品赎回权;vi.取消抵押品赎回权;
Or will the biosphere stabilize ? 又或者整个生物圈稳定下来？
biosphere:n.生物圈; stabilize:vt.使稳固,使安定;vi.稳定,安定;
Or will some of the metallic objects launched from the Earth spawn new oases , a post-human life elsewhere ? 再或者由一些从地球发射出的金属物体 将人类生命后的新的绿洲传播到其它地方？
launched:v.发射;发起;开展;开始;(launch的过去式和过去分词) spawn:n.卵;菌丝;产物;vt.产卵;酿成,造成;大量生产;vi.产卵;大量生产; oases:n.绿洲(oasis的复数形式); elsewhere:adv.在别处;到别处;
The science done by the young Einstein will continue as long as our civilization . But for civilization to survive, we'll need the wisdom of the old Einstein -- humane , glob al and farseeing. 由年轻的爱因斯坦所做出的科学研究将随着人类文明 的发展而持续下去。但是人类文明若想得以持续存在, 我们需要老年爱因斯坦般的智慧 - 仁爱,全球观和远见卓识。
as long as:conj.只要;长达;如果;既然; civilization:n.文明;文明社会;文明世界;(特定时期和地区的)社会文明; , glob:n.一滴;水珠;一团;
And whatever happens in this uniquely crucial century will resonate into the remote future and perhaps far beyond the Earth, far beyond the Earth as depicted here. 在这个至为关键的世纪里无论发生什么 都将在遥远的未来产生共鸣,而且可能远远超出地球的范围, 远远超出在这里所描述的地球。
uniquely:adv.独特地;珍奇地; crucial:adj.重要的;决定性的;定局的;决断的; resonate:vt.共鸣;共振;vi.共鸣;共振; remote:adj.偏远的;偏僻的;遥远的;久远的; depicted:vt.描述;描画;
Thank you very much. 非常感谢。
(Applause) （掌声）