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PenelopeBoston_2006-_火星可能有生命存在_
The career that I started early on in my life was looking for exotic life forms in exotic places, and at that time I was working in the Antarctic and the Arctic, and high deserts and low deserts. 我在生涯早期开展的工作 是从奇异的地方寻找奇异的生命形式 南极、北极、 莫哈韦沙漠以及科罗拉多沙漠都是我当时工作过的地点
career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历; exotic:adj.异国的;外来的;异国情调的; Antarctic:adj.南极(地方)的;n.南极地区;网络释义:南极的;南极区;南极地带的;
Until about a dozen years ago, when I was really captured by caves, and I really re-focused most of my research in that direction. 直到十几年前我才被洞穴的魅力所吸引 并真正将我的研究集中到这一方向
captured:adj.捕获的;被俘的;v.捕获;占领;引起;(capture的过去式和过去分词)
So I have a really cool day job-- I get to do some really amazing stuff . 于是我有了非常酷的日常工作--着手处理一些令人惊奇的事物
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
I work in some of the most extreme cave environments on the planet. 我在这个星球上最极端的洞穴环境中工作
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;
Many of them are trying to kill us from the minute we go into them, but nevertheless , they're absolutely gripping , and contain unbelievable biological wonders that are very, very different from those that we have on the planet. 其中的许多在我们进入的那一刻起就威胁着我们的生命 但是它们绝对引人入胜 并且拥有令人难以置信的生物奇观 这些生物与地表上的普通生物具有很大很大的不同
nevertheless:adv.然而,不过;虽然如此;conj.然而,不过; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; gripping:adj.激动人心的; v.紧抓; (grip的现在分词) unbelievable:adj.(非正式)难以置信的;不可信的 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;
Apart from the intrinsic value of the biology and mineralogy and geo-microbiology that we do there, we're also using these as templates for figuring out how to go look for life on other planets. 该类洞穴不仅可以使我们获得生物学 矿物学和地质微生物学方面的内在价值 还可以作为模板 来帮助我们研究怎样去寻找 其它行星上的生命
intrinsic:adj.本质的,固有的; biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学; mineralogy:n.矿物学;矿物学书籍; templates:n.模板;范本(template的复数);属性单元;
Particularly Mars , but also Europa , the small, icy moon around Jupiter . 特别是火星以及木卫二-- 一颗小的、被冰面覆盖的木卫上的生命
Particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; Mars:n.火星 Europa:n.欧罗巴(腓尼基王阿革诺耳之女);[天]木卫二; Jupiter:n.[天]木星;朱庇特(罗马神话中的宙斯神);
And perhaps, someday, far beyond our solar system itself. 甚至,也许某一天,寻找太阳系外的生命
solar system:[天]太阳系;
I'm very passionately interested in the human future, on the Moon and Mars particularly, and elsewhere in the solar system. 我对人类在月球、火星 以及太阳系其它角落的未来 有着特别浓厚的兴趣
passionately:adv.热情地;强烈地;激昂地; elsewhere:adv.在别处;到别处;
I think it's time that we transitioned to a solar system-going civilisation and species . 我想现在是我们过渡为 一个横跨太阳系的种族和文明的时候了
transitioned:v.过渡;转变;变迁;(transition的过去式和过去分词) species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
And, as an outgrowth of all of this then, 而作为一种过渡的可能后果
outgrowth:n.结果;副产物;自然的发展;分枝;
I wonder about whether we can, and whether we even should, think about transporting Earth-type life to other planets. 我想知道我们是不是能,甚至是不是应该 考虑将地球上的生命运送至其它行星
transporting:v.运输,运送,输送;传播;(transport的现在分词)
Notably Mars, as a first example. 火星显然是第一个要考虑的例子
Notably:adv.显著地;尤其;
Something I never talk about in scientific meetings is how I actually got to this state and why I do the work that I do. 我从未在学术会议上提及的一些事情 是我怎样达到现在的状况 以及我做这种工作的初衷是什么
scientific:adj.科学的,系统的;
Why don't I have a normal job, a sensible job? 为什么我不去找一个正常点的工作,一个实际点的工作？
sensible:adj.明智的; n.可感觉到的东西;
And then of course, I blame the Soviet Union. 当然,我要把这归咎于前苏联
Soviet:adj.苏维埃的;苏联的;n.苏维埃(前苏联的各级代表会议);苏联人;
Because in the mid-1950s, when I was a tiny child, they had the audacity to launch a very primitive little satellite called Sputnik , which sent the Western world into a hysterical tailspin . 因为在1950年代中期 当我还是个小孩的时候 苏联人大胆得发射了一颗 被称作伴侣号的原始的小卫星 这一壮举使西方世界陷入了歇斯底里般的混乱
audacity:n.大胆;厚颜无耻; launch:v.发射(导弹,火箭等); n.发射; primitive:adj.原始的,远古的;简单的,粗糙的;n.原始人; Sputnik:n.人造卫星(前苏联制造); hysterical:adj.歇斯底里的;异常兴奋的; tailspin:n.混乱;旋尾降落;慌乱;vi.(飞机)打着尾旋坠落;
And a tremendous amount of money went into the funding of science and mathematics skills for kids. 于是,大量的资金 被投入到教育中 以提高孩子们的数学和科学素养
tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的; funding:n.基金;资金;提供资金;v.为…提供资金;拨款给;(fund的现在分词) mathematics:n.数学;数学运算;
And I'm a product of that generation, like so many other of my peers . 就像许多我的同行一样 我也是那一代的产品之一
peers:n.平辈,同事(peer的复数);v.凝视;比得上(peer的三单形式);
It really caught hold of us, and caught fire, and it would be lovely if we could reproduce that again now. 这样的教育限制了我们,令我们恼火 如果我们现在能回炉重造的话会比较不错
reproduce:v.繁殖;复制;再现;生育;
Of course, refusing to grow up -- 当然,拒绝长大使我一直保持
- even though I impersonate a grown-up in daily life, but I do a fairly good job of that -- but really retaining that childlike quality of not caring what other people think about what you're interested in, is really critical . 孩子般的特质--不会在乎其他人 对你所感兴趣的事物的看法 这是非常重要的 不过,在日常生活中 我还是相当善于扮演一个成年人的角色
impersonate:vt.扮演;模仿;拟人,人格化; fairly:adv.相当地;公平地;简直; retaining:adj.留住的;定位的;使固定的;v.保留(retain的现在分词); childlike:adj.天真烂漫的;孩子似的; critical:adj.鉴定的;[核]临界的;批评的,爱挑剔的;危险的;决定性的;评论的;
The next element is the fact that 另一个元素是
element:n.元素;要素;原理;成分;自然环境;
I have applied a value judgement and my value judgment is that the presence of life is better than no life. 我将自己的价值判断应用在工作中 这种价值判断便是生命的出现 要好于没有生命
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) value judgement:n.(根据主观意见的)价值判断; judgment:n.判断;裁判;判决书;辨别力; presence:n.存在;出席;参加;风度;仪态;
And so, life is more valuable than no life. 也就是有生命比没有生命更加更加珍贵
valuable:adj.有价值的;贵重的;可估价的;n.贵重物品;
And so I think that that holds together a great deal of the work that people in this audience approach . 并且我相信,这样的价值判断 与在做的观众大部分的工作 是紧密结合的
a great deal of:大量; approach:n.方法;路径;v.接近;建议;着手处理;
I'm very interested in Mars, of course, and that was a product of my being a young undergraduate when the Viking Landers landed on Mars. 我对火星确实很感兴趣 这是一个我在读本科时的创作 那时候海盗号探测器已经在火星着陆
undergraduate:n.本科生; Viking:n.维金人,北欧海盗; Landers:n.着陆舱;[矿]司罐工人;(输送金属用的)斜槽;(landers是lander的复数)
And that took what had been a tiny little astronomical object in the sky, that you would see as a dot, and turned it completely into a landscape , as that very first primitive picture came rastering across the screen. 这将原本看起来 仅仅是天空中一个小小天体的 你们看做一个小点的东西 彻底得变成了一幅景观图 当最原始的图像 像光栅一样划过屏幕的时候
astronomical:adj.天文的,天文学的;极大的; 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;
And when it became a landscape, it also became a destination, and altered , really, the course of my life. 在它变为一幅景观图的同时 它也成为了一个目的地 并且改变了我的人生轨迹
altered:adj.改变了的:v.(使)改变,更改,改动:(alter的过去分词和过去式)
In my graduate years I worked with my colleague and mentor and friend, Steve Schneider , at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, working on global change issues . 在我的毕业年 我与我的同事、导师兼朋友,斯蒂夫·斯内德一起 在国家大气研究中心 进行关于全球变化问题的研究
colleague:n.同事,同僚; mentor:n.指导者,良师益友;vt.指导; Schneider:n.西装店;裁缝店; Atmospheric:adj.大气的,大气层的; global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的; issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数)
We've written a number of things on the role of Gaia hypothesis -- whether or not you could consider Earth as a single entity in any meaningful scientific sense, and then, as an outgrowth of that, 我们写了大量的东西 都是是关于盖亚假说（能否在重要科学的意义上 将地球看做一个独立存在的实体） 的作用 后来,顺理成章的
Gaia:n.盖亚(希腊神话中的大地女神,等于Gaea); hypothesis:n.假设; whether or not:是否…; entity:n.实体;存在;本质; meaningful:adj.严肃的;重要的;重大的;意味深长的;
I worked on the environmental consequences of nuclear war. 我又研究了核战争对环境的产生的后果
consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数); nuclear:adj.原子能的;[细胞]细胞核的;中心的;原子核的;
So, wonderful things and grim things. 有令人惊奇研究也有令人感到恐惧的研究
grim:adj.冷酷的;糟糕的;残忍的;
But what it taught me was to look at Earth as a planet with external eyes, not just as our home. 但这些研究教会了我采用外部的视角 将地球看做一颗行星,而不仅仅是我们的家园
external:n.外部;外观;形式;外部情况;adj.外部的;外面的;外界的;外来的;
And that is a wonderful stepping away in perspective , to try to then think about the way our planet behaves , as a planet, and with the life that's on it. 这是一种思考方法上的进步 可以帮助我们理解 地球作为一个普通行星 以及作为一个具有生命的行星的特质
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; behaves:v.表现;表现得体;有礼貌;(behave的第三人称单数)
And all of this seems to me to be a salient point in history. 同时我认为这样的进步 也是一个历史转折点
salient:adj.显著的;突出的;跳跃的;n.凸角;突出部分;
We're getting ready to begin to go through the process of leaving our planet of origin and out into the wider solar system and beyond. 人类已经正在准备 踏上征程,离开地球 去征服广袤的太阳系甚至更远的地方
process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的; origin:n.起源;起因;源头;出身;
So, back to Mars. 让我们回到火星
How hard is is going to be to find life on Mars? 在火星上找到生命是多难的一件事？
Well, sometimes it's really very hard for us to find each other, even on this planet. 有时候我们会觉得在地球上想要找的彼此 都不是一件容易的事
So, finding life on another planet is a non-trivial occupation and we spend a lot of time trying to think about that. 所以想要在其他行星发现生命 的难度可想而知 而且我们也花了大量的时间来思考这个问题
non-trivial:adj.非平凡的;面对较重大; occupation:n.职业;占领;占用;工作;
Whether or not you think it's likely to be successful, sort of depends on what you think about the chances of life in the universe. 一个人对是否可能成功找到火星生命的判断 某种程度取决于其对宇宙 生命存在几率的看法
I think, myself, that life is a natural outgrowth of the increasing complexification of matter over time. 我个人认为 生命是物质随着时间的推移 而逐渐复化的自然结果
So, you start with the Big Bang and you get hydrogen , and then you get helium , and then you get more complicated stuff, and you get planets forming -- and life is a common, planetary-based phenomenon , in my view. 比如,从大爆炸开始首先形成了氢气 然后是氦气,后来又有了一些更复杂的东西 直到行星最终形成 从我的观点看来,生命只是一种以行星为基础的普通现象
Bang:n.猛敲; v.猛敲; v.正好; hydrogen:n.氢;氢气; helium:n.[化学]氦(符号为He,2号元素); complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式) phenomenon:n.现象;杰出的人;非凡的人(或事物);
Certainly, in the last 15 years, we've seen increasing numbers of planets outside of our solar system being confirmed, and just last month, a couple of weeks ago, a planet in the size-class of Earth has actually been found. 当然,在过去的十五年中 我们看到 越来越多的系外行星被确认存在 就在上个月,几个星期之前 一个地球大小的行星 刚刚被发现
And so this is very exciting news. 这是个令人兴奋的消息
So, my first bold prediction is that, is that in the universe, life is going to be everywhere. 所以,我第一个大胆的预测是 在宇宙中生命无处不在
bold:adj.大胆的,英勇的;黑体的;厚颜无耻的;险峻的; prediction:n.预报;预言;
It's going to be everywhere we look -- where there are planetary systems that can possibly support it. 凡是在我们视野内的 行星系统都有可能支持生命的存在
planetary:adj.行星的;
And those planetary systems are going to be very common. 而此类的行星系统将会是非常常见的
So, what about life on Mars? 那么火星上的生命呢？
Well, if somebody had asked me about a dozen years ago what I thought the chances of life on Mars would be, 如果有人十几年前问我 关于火星上存在生命的机率有多大的问题
I would've probably said, a couple of percent. 我当时可能会回答有百分之几
And even that was considered outrageous at the time. 尽管在当时这种机率被认为大得有点惊人
outrageous:adj.粗暴的;可恶的;令人吃惊的;
I was once sneeringly introduced by a former NASA official , as the only person on the planet who still thought there was life on Mars. 我曾经被一位前任NASA官员 轻蔑得介绍为 地球上唯一还认为 火星上有生命存在的人
sneeringly:adv.嘲笑地;轻蔑地; official:adj.官方的;正式的;公务的;n.官员;公务员;高级职员;
Of course, that official is now dead, and I'm not, so there's a certain amount of glory in outliving your adversaries . 当然,那位官员现在已经死了,而我还没有 所以比我的对手活得长 还是相当值得骄傲的一件事
outliving:vt.比…活得长;比…经久;经受住;渡过…而存在; adversaries:敌手;
But things have changed greatly over the last dozen years. 但在过去的十几年中 很多东西都发生了巨大的变化
greatly:adv.很,大大地;非常;
And the reason that they have changed is because we now have new information. 之所以发生这么大变化的原因是 我们现在有了新的信息
The amazing Pathfinder mission that went in '97, and the MER Rover missions that are on Mars as we speak now and the European Space Agency's Mars Express , has taught us a number of amazing things. 令人惊喜的97年开拓者任务 以及火星探索任务 该任务在此时还在火星进行着 还有欧洲空间局的火星快车号 带给我们许许多多惊奇的发现
Pathfinder:n.探路者,探险者;开拓者,开创者; Rover:n.漫游者; n.(Rover)人名; n.罗孚(汽车品牌); missions:n.任务; v.给…交代任务; (mission的复数) Express:v.表达; adj.特快的; n.特快列车; v.使用快速服务;
There is sub-surface ice on that planet. 这其中就包括火星地下冰的发现
sub-surface:n.地下;次表面;
And so where there is water, there is a very high chance of our kind of life. 哪里有水 哪里就非常有可能存在着类似我们这样的生命
There's clearly sedimentary rocks all over the place ? 在一个登陆车所在的古老的海床上
sedimentary:adj.沉淀的;
one of the landers is sitting in the middle of an ancient seabed , and there are these amazing structures called blueberries , which are these little, rocky concretions that we are busy making biologically in my lab right now. 到处都明显的存在着沉积岩 以及一种被称作蓝莓的奇异结构 这些小而硬的凝结物即是 我的实验室内正在紧锣密鼓生物合成的 也是这种物质
seabed:n.海底;海床; structures:n.结构; v.建造(structure的第三人称单数形式); blueberries:n.蓝莓(blueberry的复数); v.采集越橘或乌饭树浆果(blueberry的三单形式); rocky:adj.岩石的;多岩石的;困难的;难以维持的; concretions:n.结石;凝固;凝固物; biologically:adv.生物学上,生物学地;
So, with all of these things put together , 将这些东西都放在一起
put together:..放在一起;组合;装配;
I think that the chances of life are much greater than I would've ever thought. 我有理由认为生命存在的机率 远远大于我曾经的预测
I think that the chance of life having arisen on Mars, sometime in its past, is maybe one in four to maybe even half and half. 我认为在曾经某个时期火星上产生过生命的机率 大概在1/4到1/2之间
arisen:v.出现;发生;兴起;(人早上)起来;(arisen是arise的过去分词)
So this is a very bold statement . 这是个非常大胆的立场
statement:n.声明;陈述,叙述;报表,清单;
I think it's there, and I think we need to go look for it, and I think it's underground. 我认为生命的确在那里,并且是在地下 而我们需要去寻找它
So the game's afoot , and this is the game that we play in astro-biology. 好戏正在上演,戏台就是天体生物学
afoot:adj.在进行中的;徒步的;准备中;adv.在进行中,在准备中;
How do you do you try to get a handle on extraterrestrial life? 接下来的问题是我们该如何驾驭外星生命？
handle:n.[建]把手;柄;手感;口实;v.处理;操作;运用;买卖;触摸; extraterrestrial:adj.地球外的;n.天外来客;
How do you plan to look for it? 如何谋划寻找过程？
How do you know it when you find it? 当我们发现生命后如何才能得知？
Because if it's big and obvious , we would've already found it -- it would've already bitten us on the foot, and it hasn't. 因为如果生命够大够明显的的话,我们早就已经发现它了 -如果可能它早就能咬到我们的脚了
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的;
So, we know that it's probably quite cryptic . 所以也许那里的生命很隐秘
cryptic:adj.神秘的,含义模糊的;[动]隐藏的;
Very critically , how do we protect it, if we find it, and not contaminate it? 还有非常关键的一点是当我们发现生命了之后 怎样保护它并免于污染它？
critically:adv.精密地;危急地;批评性地;用钻研眼光地; contaminate:v.污染;玷污,毒害(人的思想或品德);
And also, even perhaps more critically, because this is the only home planet we have, how do we protect us from it, while we study it? 也许更关键的一点,由于地球 是我们唯一的家园 我们该怎样在研究外星生命的同时保护自己？
So why might it be hard to find? 那么为什么那里的生命可能很难被发现？
Well, it's probably microscopic , and it's never easy to study microscopic things, although the amazing tools that we now have to do that allow us to study things in much greater depth, at much smaller scales than ever before. 当然,这种生命可能是显微尺度的 想要研究这种生命也绝非易事 即使我们现在有先进的工具 让我们能比以前更加深入得研究 尺寸异常微小的生物
microscopic:adj.微观的;用显微镜可见的;
But it's probably hiding, because if you are out sequestering resources from your environment, that makes you yummy , and other things might want to eat you, or consume you. 这些生命也有可能隐藏在暗处 而我们对它们来说相当美味 所以有可能被他们吃掉
sequestering:vt.使隔绝;使隐退;没收,扣押; resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); yummy:好吃的,美味的 consume:v.消耗;吃;毁灭;烧毁;
And so, there's a game of predator-prey that's going to be, essentially , universal , really, in any kind of biological system. 在任何生物系统中 这种捕食与被捕食的关系 都是本质上存在的
predator-prey:捕食者-食饵; essentially:adv.本质上;本来; universal:adj.普遍的;全体的;全世界的;共同的;
It also may be very, very different in its fundamental properties ? 这种生命也许在内在属性上也与我们有本质区别
fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的;
its chemistry, or its size. 无论是化学成分还是体积大小
We say small, but what does that mean? 我们说它小,但具体有多小？
Is it virus-sized? Is it smaller than that? 跟病毒差不多大？还是比病毒更小？
Is it bigger than the biggest bacterium ? We don't know. 亦或是比最大的细菌还大？天知道
bacterium:n.[微]细菌;杆菌属;
And speed of activity, which is something that we face in our work with sub-surface organisms , because they grow very, very slowly. 还有它们的活力,这也是我们在研究 地下生物时所遇到的问题 因为它们的生长速度是异常之慢
organisms:n.[生物]生物体(organism的复数);[生物]有机体;
If I were to take a swab off your teeth and plate it on a petri plate, within about four or five hours, I would have to see growth. 如果我从你的牙上擦下来点东西 并放在培养皿上 大概过4、5个小时我们就肯定会看到这些生物的生长
swab:n.药签,[外科]拭子; vt.打扫,擦拭;
But the organisms that we work with, from the sub-surface of Earth, very often it's months -- and in many cases, years -- before we see any growth whatsoever . 但对我们研究的地下 生物来说 历时数月甚至数年才能观察到生长现象 是常事
whatsoever:pron.无论什么;
So they are, intrinsically , a slower life-form . 所以他们从本质上将属于慢速生命形式
intrinsically:adv.本质地;内在地;固有地; life-form:n.生物;
But the real issue is that we are guided by our limited experience, and until we can think out of the box of our cranium and what we know, then we can't recognise what to look for, or how to plan for it. 但其实真正的问题在于 我们都习惯于被自己的经验所引导 直到我们能冲破思想的樊篱后 我们才能意识到我们要找的是什么 或者怎样为其制定计划
limited:adj.有限的; n.高级快车; v.限制; (limit的过去分词和过去式) think out:解决;仔细考虑;发现; cranium:n.颅;[解剖]头盖; recognise:v.认识;认出;承认;意识到;(正式)认可;
So, perspective is everything and, because of the history that I've just briefly talked to you about, 所以正确的思考方法是一切的前提 并且,正如我之前简介的自己的那段经历
briefly:adv.简要地;简短地;暂时地;
I have learned to think about Earth as an extraterrestrial planet. 我已经学会在思考问题的时候 将地球看做一个普通的地外行星
And this has been invaluable in our approach to try to study these things. 这已经成为我们研究相关问题的一个非常宝贵的手段
invaluable:adj.无价的;非常贵重的;
This is my favorite game on airplanes : where you're in an airplane and you look out the window, you see the horizon . 这是我乘飞机时喜欢的的一个游戏 在飞机上,从舷窗眺望 你可以看到地平线
airplanes:n.(美)[航]飞机(airplane的复数); horizon:n.地平线;(欲望、知识或兴趣的)范围;
I always turn my head on the side, and that simple change makes me go from seeing this planet as home, to seeing it as a planet. 这时候我总是将头靠在一侧 这一小小的改变会让我 看地球的角度从自己的家 变换到一个行星
It's a very simple trick, and I never fail to do it when I'm sitting in a window seat. 这是个非常简单的戏法,令我乐此不疲 当我坐在靠窗的座位的时候
Well, this is what we apply to our work. 当然我们也把这应用与我们的工作
apply:v.申请;涂,敷;应用;适用;请求;
This shows one of the most extreme caves that we work in. 这幅照片展示的是我们工作过的最极端的洞穴
This is Cueva de Villa Luz in Tabasco , in Mexico, and this cave is saturated with sulfuric acid . 这是位于墨西哥塔巴斯科州的光明洞 洞内充满了硫酸
Villa:n.别墅;郊区住宅; Tabasco:n.塔巴斯科(墨西哥东南部的州);塔巴斯科辣酱油; saturated:adj.饱和的;渗透的;深颜色的;v.使渗透,使饱和(saturate的过去式); sulfuric acid:n.硫酸;
There is tremendous amounts of hydrogen sulfide coming into this cave from volcanic sources and from the breakdown of evaporite -- minerals below the carbonates in which this cave is formed -- and it is a completely hostile environment for us. 火山以及分解的蒸发石 --一种藏在洞穴主要成分: 碳酸盐之下的矿物 产生大量的硫化氢气体 这使洞穴环境变得对人类极其不利
sulfide:n.[化学]硫化物; volcanic:adj.火山的;猛烈的;易突然发作的;n.火山岩; breakdown:n.分解;损坏;分类;(关系)破裂;adj.专门修理故障的; minerals:n.矿物;矿产,矿产品(mineral的复数);矿物质; hostile:adj.敌意的; n.敌对分子;
We have to go in with protective suits and breathing gear , and 30 parts per million of H2S will kill you. 要想进入洞穴,我们必须穿着保护服以及呼吸装置 否则百万分之三十的硫化氢就会要了我们的命
protective:adj.防护的;关切保护的;保护贸易的; gear:n.齿轮; v.适合;
This is regularly several hundred parts per million. 而洞穴里的硫化氢浓度高达百万分之几百
regularly:adv.经常地;有规律地;定期的
So, it's a very hazardous environment, with CO as well, and many other gases. 除此之外那里还有一氧化碳等气体 所以那里的环境的确异常危险
hazardous:adj.有危险的;冒险的;碰运气的;
These extreme physical and chemical parameters make the biology that grows in these places very special. 这些极端的物理化学参数 会使得生长在这里的生物变得异常
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; parameters:n.决定因素;规范;范围;(parameter的复数)
Because contrary to what you might think, this is not devoid of life. 也许与你们想象的相反,那里不是生命的禁区
contrary:adj.相反的;对立的;adv.相反地;n.相反;反面; devoid:adj.缺乏的;全无的;
This is one of the richest caves that we have found on the planet, anywhere. 这是我们发现的 地球上生命种类最丰富的洞穴之一
It's bursting with life. 简直可以说是塞满了生命
bursting:adj.充满的;渴望的;v.爆炸;猛然打开;突然开始(burst的现在分词);
The extremes on Earth are interesting in their own right, but one of the reasons that we're interested in them is because they represent , really, the average conditions that we may expect on another planets. 地球上的各种极端本身就是很吸引人的 但我们之所以对其感兴趣的原因之一 是这些环境极端恶劣的洞穴可以为我们呈现 我们想象中的其他星球的普通环境
extremes:n.极端不同的感情;极端;极度;极限;(extreme的复数) represent:v.代表;表现;描绘;回忆;再赠送;
So, this is part of the ability that we have, to try to stretch our imagination , in terms of what we may find in the future. 这使我们具有部分 扩展自我想象力 用以预测未来可能的发现的能力
stretch:v.伸展;延伸;伸出;舒展;n.伸展;弹性;舒展;一片;adj.有弹力的; imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物;
There's so much life in this cave, and I can't even begin to scratch the surface of it with you. 太多太多的生命生存在于这个洞穴里 覆盖了整个洞穴 以至于我们都不能看到它原来的表面
scratch the surface of:浅尝即止;
But one of the most famous objects out of this are what we call Snottites, for obvious reasons. 其中一种著名的物体 我们叫它“鼻涕”
This stuff looks like what comes out of your two-year-old's nose when he has a cold. 因为这玩艺儿看起来像是从感冒了两年的人的鼻子里流出来的东西
And this is produced by bacteria who are actually making more sulfuric acid, and living at pHs right around zero. 这其实是一种细菌的产物 它们可以产生硫酸 并且生活在pH为零左右的环境中
bacteria:n.[微]细菌;
And so, this stuff is like battery acid. 所以那些“鼻涕”其实是些类似蓄电池酸液的东西
battery:n.[电]电池,蓄电池;n.[法]殴打;n.[军]炮台,炮位;
And yet, everything in this cave has adapted to it. 事实上这里所有的生物都已经适应了洞穴内的环境
adapted:adj.适于…的; v.使适应,使适合; (adapt的过去分词和过去式)
In fact, there's so much energy available for biology in this cave, that there's actually a huge number of Cave Fish. 这里有大量的能量 满足各种生物的需求 甚至可以养活许多的洞穴鱼类
And the local Zoque Indians harvest this twice a year, as part of their Easter week celebration and Holy week celebration. 当地的索克人 每两年收割一次这种东西 作为复活节周和圣周庆祝活动的一部分
Holy week:n.圣周(基督教指复活节前的一周);
This is very unusual for caves. 这对于洞穴来说是非常常见的
In some of the other amazing caves that we work in -- this is in Lechuguilla cave in New Mexico near Carlsbad, and this is one of the most famous caves in the world. 有一些令人惊奇的洞穴 比如这个在新墨西哥州卡尔斯巴德附近的墨西哥龙舌兰洞 是世界上最著名的洞穴之一
It's 115 miles of mapped passage, it's pristine , it has no natural opening and it's a gigantic biological, geo-microbiological laboratory . 它有着115英里长的通道 保持着原始的面貌,没有天然洞口 是一个巨大的生物学及 地质微生物学实验室
pristine:adj.原始的,古时的;纯朴的; gigantic:adj.巨大的,庞大的; laboratory:n.实验室,研究室;
In this cave, great areas are covered by this reddish material that you see here, and also these enormous crystals of selenite that you can see dangling down. 在这个洞穴中,一种淡红色的物质 覆盖了你可以看到的大片地域 你还可以在这里看到悬挂着的 亚硒酸盐的巨大晶体
reddish:adj.微红的;略带红色的; enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的; crystals:n.[晶体]晶体(crystal的复数形式);石英晶体; selenite:n.[无化]亚硒酸盐;透明石膏; dangling:v.悬垂;悬挂;提着;来回摆动着;(dangle的现在分词)
This stuff is produced biologically. 这种东西是由生物合成的
This is the breakdown product of the bedrock , that organisms are busy munching their way through. 这是基岩分解后的产物 上面有生物在忙着大快朵颐
bedrock:n.[地质]基岩;根底;基本原理; munching:vt.用力咀嚼;大声咀嚼;vi.用力咀嚼;大声咀嚼;n.用力的咀嚼;
They take iron and manganese minerals within the bedrock and they oxidise them. 它们将铁和锰带入基岩 并将其氧化
manganese:n.[化学]锰;
And every time they do that, they get a tiny little packet of energy. 每当它们这样做的时候,都会得到一点点能量
And that tiny little packet of energy is what they use, then, to run their life processes . 这些能量就是它们所用来 维持自己生命活动的
processes:n.过程; v.处理(process的第三人称单数形式);
Interestingly enough, they also do this with uranium and chromium , and various other toxic metals. 足够有趣的是,它们还会利用 铀和铬,以及其他一些毒性金属来完成相同过程
Interestingly:adv.有趣地; uranium:n.[化学]铀; chromium:n.[化学]铬(24号元素,符号Cr); toxic:adj.有毒的;中毒的;
And so, the obvious avenue for bio-remediation comes from organisms like this. 像生物治理这样重要的 净化环境的手段 便需要依赖类似这样的生物来进行
avenue:n.途径;(城镇的)大街;林荫道(尤指通往大住宅者);选择; bio-remediation:生物修复;
These organisms we now bring into the lab, and you can see some of them growing on petri plates, and get them to reproduce the precise biominerals that we find on the walls of these caves. 我们现在将这些生物带进了实验室 将它们放在培养皿上 引导它们正确的进行生物矿物质的生产 这些矿物就是在洞穴壁上发现的
precise:adj.准确的;确切的;精确的;明确的;
So, these are signals that they leave in the rock record. 这些是它们留在岩石上的信号物质
Well, even in basalt surfaces in lava-tube caves, which are a by-product of volcanic activity, we find these walls totally covered, in many cases, by these beautiful, glistening silver walls, or shiny pink or shiny red or shiny gold. 即使是在由火山活动形成的 熔岩管洞穴内的玄武岩的表面 在很多情况下 我们都可以发现 有漂亮、闪耀的银色、亮粉 亮红、两金色的物质覆盖
basalt:n.[岩]玄武岩;黑陶器; by-product:n.副产品;附带产生的结果;意外收获; glistening:adj.闪亮的;闪耀的;白花花的;v.反光,闪耀(glisten的现在分词形式); silver:n.银; v.给…镀(或包)银; adj.银色的; shiny:adj.闪亮的;光亮的;反光的;有光泽的;
And these are mineral deposits that are also made by bacteria. 这些都是由细菌产生的 矿物质沉淀形成的
deposits:n.[金融]存款; v.[地质]沉积(deposit的单三形式);
And you can see in these central images here, scanning electron micrographs of some of these guys -- these are gardens of these bacteria. 你们可以看到中间的这些图片 这些是通过扫描电子显微得到的图像 这里简直就是细菌的后花园
images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数) electron:n.电子; micrographs:n.显微照片,显微图;微动描记器;
One of the interesting things about these particular guys is that they're in the actinomycetes and streptomycetes groups of the bacteria, which is where we get most of our antibiotics . 一件关于这些特别的小家伙们的有意思的事是 它们属于放线菌和链霉菌类 我们就是从它们身上得到 大部分的抗生素的
antibiotics:n.抗菌素;抗生素(如青霉素);(antibiotic的复数)
The sub-surface of Earth contains a vast biodiversity . 地球的表面之下 存在着惊人的生物多样性
biodiversity:n.生物多样性;
And these organisms, because they're very separate from the surface, make a vast array of novel compounds . 由于这些生物 与表面隔离 所以它们产生的一系列化合物都是新型的
array:n.数组,阵列;排列,列阵;大批,一系列;衣服;v.排列,部署;打扮; novel:adj.新奇的;异常的;n.小说; compounds:n.混合物,化合物;大院(compound的复数形式);
And so, the potential for exploiting this for pharmaceutical and industrial chemical uses is completely untapped , but probably exceeds most of the rest of the biodiversity of the planet. 可见利用这些化合物 来发展制药和化工业的潜力 还完全没有被开发出来 也许它们在这方面的潜力要超出 地球上其他生物的总和
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的; exploiting:v.利用…为自己谋利;剥削;压榨;运用;发挥;(exploit的现在分词) pharmaceutical:adj.制药(学)的;n.药物; industrial:adj.工业的,产业的; n.工业股票; untapped:adj.未开发的;未使用的;塞子未开的; exceeds:v.超过;胜过;
So, lava-tube caves-- 熔岩管洞穴--
I've just told you about organisms that live here on this planet. 我刚才已经为你们讲解的微生物所存在的地方
We know that on Mars and the Moon there are tons of these structures. 我们已经知道在火星和月球上 有很多这样的结构
We can see them. 我们可以看到它们
On the left you can see a lava tube forming at a recent eruption -- Mount Etna in Sicily -- and this is the way these tubes form. 在左边你可以看到熔岩管道正在形成 于西西里埃特纳火山最近的一次喷发中 这正是此类管道形成的途径
lava:n.火山岩浆;火山所喷出的熔岩; eruption:n.爆发,喷发;火山灰;出疹; Mount:n.山;坐骑;山峰;衬纸板;v.登上;爬上;攀登;准备;
And when they hollow out, then they become habitats for organisms. 当它们变得中空时 正是生物栖息地形成之时
hollow:n.孔; v.挖; adj.中空的; v.彻底; habitats:n.[生态]栖息地;(动植物的)[经]产地(habitat的复数形式);
These are all over the planet Mars, and we're busy cataloguing them now. 这些管道在火星随处可见 我们现在正忙着对它们进行编目
cataloguing:v.列入目录;编入目录;记载,登记;(catalogue的现在分词)
And so, there's very interesting cave real estate on Mars, at least of that type. 所以火星上有,至少是这种的 有趣的洞穴房子
real estate:n.房地产;不动产;
In order to access these sub-surface environments that we're interested in, we're very interested in developing the tools to do this. 为了能够得到 我们所感兴趣的类似的地下环境 我们非常乐意开发相关的工具
You know, it's not easy to get into these caves. 要知道想要进入这些洞穴可不是易事
It requires crawling , climbing, rope-work, technical rope-work and many other complex human motions in order to access these. 需要进行爬行,攀爬 缆绳作业 以及其他一些复杂的活动 才可以到达这样的地方
crawling:v.爬行;匍匐行进;(crawl的现在分词) technical:adj.工艺的,科技的;技术上的;专门的; complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施;
We face the problem of, how can we do this robotically? 我们面临的问题是怎样才能利用机器人完成？
Why would we want to do it robotically? 我们为什么要让机器人来干这样的活呢？
Well, we're going to be sending robotic missions to Mars long in advance of human missions. 那是因为 经过长期的载人火星任务后 我们将会将机器人送上火星
robotic:adj.机器人的,像机器人的;自动的;n.机器人学; in advance of:超过;在…前面;
And then, secondly, getting back to that earlier point that I made about the preciousness of any life that we may find on Mars, we don't want to contaminate it. 就像前面我所提到的 我们要珍惜我们在火星上可能发现的任何生命 而不去污染它们
preciousness:n.珍贵;过分讲究;
And one of the best ways to study something without contaminating it is to have an intermediary . 最好的避免污染同时又对其进行研究的办法 就是借助机器人这样的中间人
contaminating:v.污染;弄脏;玷污,毒害,腐蚀(人的思想或品德);(contaminate的现在分词) intermediary:adj.中间的;媒介的;中途的;n.中间人;仲裁者;调解者;媒介物;
And in this case, we're imagining intermediary robotic devices that can actually do some of that front-end work for us, to protect any potential life that we find. 在这个案例中 我们假象出的机器人设备 可以为我们完成一些 前端的工作 从而可以保护潜在的生命
devices:n.[机][计]设备;[机]装置;[电子]器件(device的复数); front-end:adj.前端的;
I'm not going to go through all of these projects now, but we're involved in about half-a-dozen robotic development projects, in collaboration with a number of different groups. 我不会一一介绍所有这些项目 但是我们现在跟其他很多组织一起合作 参与在数个机器人的开发项目中
involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) collaboration:n.合作;勾结;通敌;
I want to talk specifically about the array that you see on the top. 我现在想向你们详细介绍 上面的这一系列
specifically:adv.特别地;明确地;
These are hopping microbot swarms . 这些是微型机器人群
hopping:adj.很活跃的;忙忙碌碌的;v.单脚跳行;齐足(或双足)跳行;(hop的现在分词) microbot:n.超小型机器人;微型机器人;超小型工业机器人; 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);
I'm working on this with the Field and Space Robotics Laboratory and my friend Steve Dubowsky at MIT, and we have come up with the idea of having little, jumping bean-like robots that are propelled by artificial muscle, which is one of the Dubowsky Lab's specialties -- are the EPAMs, or artificial muscles . 我和我MIT的朋友史蒂夫·杜波夫斯基 同地面空间机器人实验室一道在做这方面的工作 我们有了一个想法 去制造一种由人造肌肉驱动的 可跳跃的 豆型小机器人 人造肌肉或EPAMs 都是杜波夫斯基实验室的专长
Robotics:n.机器人学; come up with:提出;想出;赶上; propelled:adj.推进的;v.推动;驱使(propel的过去分词); artificial:adj.人造的;仿造的;虚伪的;非原产地的;武断的; specialties:n.特别;专长;特性(specialty的复数); muscles:n.肌肉(muscle的复数);
And these allow them to hop. 并且使这些机器人具有跳跃的能力
They behave with a swarm behavior, where they relate to each other, modeled after insect swarm behavior, and they could be made very numerous . 我们仿照蜂群的行为 来打造这些机器人 使它们 具备相应的蜂群行为 而且它们可以被无数地制造出来
numerous:adj.许多的,很多的;
And so, one can send a thousand of them, as you can see in this upper left-hand picture, a thousand of them could fit into the payload bay that was used for one of the current MER Rovers . 就像你们从左上方这张图上看到的那样 我们可以将成千上万的这样的机器人送上火星 目前火星探测者使用的有效载重仓 可以装载一千个这样的机器人
as you can see:正如你所看到的;你是知道的; upper:adj.上面的;内陆的;n.靴面;兴奋剂; left-hand:adj.左手的;左侧的; payload:n.(导弹,火箭等的)有效载荷,有效负荷; (工厂,企业等)工资负担; Rovers:n.巡游者;海上掠夺;
And these little guys -- you could lose many of them. 这些小家伙即使损失很多也无所谓
If you send a thousand of them, you could probably get rid of 90 percent of them and still have a mission. 由于数量巨大 使得失去其中的90%也依然可以完成任务
And so, that allows you the flexibility to go into very challenging terrain and actually make your way where you want to go. 这样就可以允许我们具有 进入富有挑战性地形的灵活性 并且正确地到达我们想要去的地方
flexibility:n.灵活性;弹性;适应性; terrain:n.[地理]地形,地势;领域;地带;
Now, to wrap this up, I want to talk for two seconds about caves and the human expansion beyond Earth as a natural outgrowth of the work that we do in caves. 现在来总结一下,我想花几秒钟讲下 洞穴和人类在地球外的扩张之间的关系 作为一项我们在洞穴方面工作的成果
wrap:v.缠绕;隐藏;掩护;包起来;缠绕;穿外衣;n.外套;围巾; expansion:n.扩张;膨胀;扩展;扩大;
It occurred to us a number of years ago that caves have many properties that people have used and other organisms have used as habitat in the past. 若干年前我们就想到 过去,作为人类 及其它一些生物的栖息地 洞穴有很多特性
occurred:v.发生;出现;存在于;出现在;(occur的过去分词和过去式)
And perhaps it's time we started to explore those, in the context of future Mars and the Moon exploration . 也许现在到了我们开始开发这些特性的时候了 特别是在未来火星和月球探索的背景下
explore:v.探索:探测:探险: context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉; exploration:n.探索;勘探;探险;[医]探查术;
So, we have just finished a NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts Phase II study, looking at the irreducible set of technologies that you would need in order to actually allow people to inhabit lava tubes on the Moon or Mars. 所以,我们刚刚建立了一个第二阶段先进概念研究NASA学会 着眼于不可或缺的技术 用于使 人类可以在月球或火星 的熔岩管内生活
Institute:v.开始(调查);制定;创立;提起(诉讼);n.学会,协会;学院; Advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式) Phase:n.阶段;时期;月相;(月亮的)盈亏;v.分阶段进行;逐步做; irreducible:adj.[数]不可约的;不能削减的;不能复归的; technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); inhabit:v.居住在;栖居于;
It turns out to be a fairly simple and small list, and we have gone in the relatively primitive technology direction. 似乎这是项比较简单、工作量小的工作 我们已经在 相对原始的科技方向上有所进展
relatively:adv.相当程度上;相当地;相对地; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
So, we're talking about things like inflatable liners that can conform to the complex topological shape on the inside of a cave, foamed-in-place airlocks to deal with this complex topology , various ways of getting breathing gases made from the intrinsic materials of these bodies. 我们说的是可充气的衬层 可与洞内复杂的拓扑形状 相吻合 现场发泡过度气压舱可以用来解决复杂的拓扑 宇航服的内部材料 可以采用多种方法取得供人呼吸的气体
inflatable:adj.膨胀的,可充气的;得意的; liners:n.[航]班机,[水运]班轮(liner的复数);衬层;挂面层; conform:v.遵守;相一致;顺从;相符合; topological:adj.拓扑的;[解剖]局部解剖学的;[地理]地志学的; topology:n.拓扑学;地志学;局部解剖学;
And the future is there for us to use these lava-tube caves on Mars. 未来在等着我们去 利用这些火星上的熔岩洞
And right now we're in caves, and we're doing science and recreation , but I think in the future we'll be using them for habitat and science on these other bodies. 马上我们就可以在洞穴里进行科学以及娱乐活动 但我认为在未来我们会 穿着宇航服来利用它们作为栖息和科学研究的地点
recreation:n.娱乐;消遣;娱乐活动;游戏;
Now, my view of what the curent status of potential life on Mars is that it's probably been on the planet, maybe one in two chances. 现在,我关于火星目前 潜在生命的状况的观点是 生命可能存在于那个星球 大概有1/2的机率
status:n.地位;状态;情形;重要身份;
The question as to whether there is life on Mars that is related to life on Earth has now been very muddied , because we now know, from Mars meteorites that have made it to Earth, that there's material that can be exchanged between those two planets. 火星上的生命 是否与地球上的生命有联系 现在还是很模糊的一个问题 因为现在我们从 到达地球的火星陨石得知 这两个星球上的物质是可以进行交换的
muddied:adj.泥泞的;模糊的;vt.使污浊;把…弄糊涂;vi.变得泥泞; meteorites:n.[地质]陨石(meteorite的复数形式);[天]陨星;
One of the burning questions, of course, is if we go there and find life in the sub-surface, as I fully expect that we will, is that a second genesis of life? 一个急待解决的问题是 如果我们到了火星并在地下发现了生命 就想我所期望的那样 那么这会是生命的第二个起源么？
genesis:n.发生;起源;
Did life start here and was it transported there? 生命是在地球发源 然后经传播到达火星的？
transported:v.(用交通工具)运输,运送,输送;(transport的过去分词和过去式)
Did it start there and get transported here? 还是在那里起源然后传播到我们这里的？
This will be a fascinating puzzle as we go into the next half-century, and where I expect that we will have more and more Mars missions to answer these questions. 进入下半个世纪后这将成为一个具有吸引力的难题 我希望我们 会有越来越多的火星探索任务来回答这些问题
fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词) puzzle:n.谜;疑问;智力游戏;不解之谜;v.迷惑;使困惑;
Thank you. 谢谢