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SarahTStewart_2019S-_一个解释月球起源的新理论_-
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Nobody likes to make a mistake. |
没人喜欢犯错。 |
And I made a whopping one. |
而我却犯了个惊天大错。 |
whopping:adj.巨大的;天大的;adv.非常地;异常地;v.猛打;抽出(whop的ing形式);
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And figuring out what I did wrong led to a discovery that completely changes the way we think about the Earth and Moon. |
但弄清误点的过程 则让我有了一个发现, 它完全改变了我们对 地球和月球的看法。 |
I'm a planetary scientist, and my favorite thing to do is smash planets together. |
我是一个行星科学家, 我最爱做的事是:让行星相撞。 |
planetary:adj.行星的; smash:v.粉碎; n.破碎; adj.了不起的;
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In my lab, I can shoot at rocks using cannons like this one. |
在我的实验室中,我可以用 这样的大炮击射岩石。 |
cannons:n.大炮; v.炮击;
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In my experiments, I can generate the extreme conditions during planet formation . |
在实验中,我能模拟 行星形成时的极端环境。 |
generate:v.产生;引起; 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; formation:n.形成;编队;组成;队形;
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And with computer models, I can collide whole planets together to make them grow, or I can destroy them. |
借助电脑模型,我可以 让所有的行星互相撞击, 让它们重生, 也可让它们毁灭。 |
collide:vi.碰撞;抵触,冲突;vt.使碰撞;使相撞;
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I want to understand how to make the Earth and the Moon and why the Earth is so different from other planets. |
我想弄明白地球 和月球是如何形成的, 而且地球为何 与其他行星如此不同。 |
The leading idea for the origin of the Earth and Moon is called the " giant impact theory. |
有关地球月球起源的主流观点 是“大碰撞理论”。 |
origin:n.起源;起因;源头;出身; giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的 impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
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'" The theory states that a Mars-sized body struck the young Earth, and the Moon formed from the debris disk around the planet. |
该理论认为,一个火星大小的 天体撞击了年轻的地球, 而环绕行星周围的 碎屑盘形成了月球。 |
debris:n.碎片,残骸;
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The theory can explain so many things about the Moon, but it has a huge flaw : it predicts that the Moon is mostly made from the Mars-sized planet, that the Earth and the Moon are made from different materials. |
该理论能解释 有关月球的许多事, 但它有一个巨大的瑕疵: 它预言月球的大部分构成 来自那个火星大小的行星, 即地球和月球 是由不同物质组成的。 |
flaw:n.瑕疵,缺点; v.使生裂缝,使有裂纹; vi.生裂缝; predicts:vt.预报,预言;预知;vi.作出预言;作预料,作预报;
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But that's not what we see. |
但这与我们的发现大相径庭。 |
The Earth and the Moon are actually like identical twins. |
地球与月球其实 像一对孪生子。 |
identical:adj.同一的;完全相同的;n.完全相同的事物;
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The genetic code of planets is written in the isotopes of the elements . |
行星的基因秘钥写在 它们的元素同位素中, |
genetic code:n.遗传密码; isotopes:n.[核]同位素(isotope的复数);核素; elements:n.要素;基本部分;少量;一群;(element的复数)
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The Earth and Moon have identical isotopes. |
而地球与月球 拥有相同的同位素。 |
That means that the Earth and Moon are made from the same materials. |
这说明地球和月球 是由相同物质构成的。 |
It's really strange that the Earth and the Moon are twins. |
地球和月球竟然是孪生子?这太怪了。 |
All of the planets are made from different materials, so they all have different isotopes, they all have their own genetic code. |
所有行星都由不同的物质构成, 所以它们都有不同的同位素, 它们的基因秘钥也不一样。 |
No other planetary bodies have the same genetic relationship. |
没有任何其他行星天体 有同样的基因关系。 |
Only the Earth and Moon are twins. |
只有地球和月球是孪生子。 |
When I started working on the origin of the Moon, there were scientists that wanted to reject the whole idea of the giant impact. |
当我开始研究月球起源时, 已经有科学家尝试摈弃 “大碰撞理论”。 |
reject:v.排斥;拒收;拒绝接受;不予考虑;n.废品;次品;不合格者;被剔除者;
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They didn't see any way for this theory to explain the special relationship between the Earth and the Moon. |
他们认为,该理论完全无法解释 地球与月球之间的特殊关系。 |
We were all trying to think of new ideas. |
我们都在尝试找到新的想法。 |
The problem was, there weren't any better ideas. |
但问题是,没有什么更好的想法, |
All of the other ideas had even bigger flaws . |
所有其他的想法漏洞更大。 |
flaws:n.[材]缺陷;[力]裂缝(flaw的复数);v.有裂纹;使有裂缝(flaw的单三形式);
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So we were trying to rescue the giant impact theory. |
因此,我们试图 去拯救“大碰撞理论”。 |
rescue:n.救援;抢救;营救;获救;v.抢救;营救;援救;
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A young scientist in my group suggested that we try changing the spin of the giant impact. |
团队中的一位年轻科学家 建议我们尝试 改变大碰撞中的自转: |
spin:v.旋转;纺纱;吐丝;纺线;n.头晕;(快速)旋转;常用于英式英语;晕头转向;
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Maybe making the Earth spin faster could mix more material and explain the Moon. |
也许将地球自转的速度提高后, 岩屑盘可以混入更多物质, 并解释月球的成因。 |
The Mars-sized impactor had been chosen because it could make the Moon and make the length of Earth's day. |
选中火星大小的撞击物 是因为它能够形成月球, 并形成地球上一天的时长。 |
People really liked that part of the model. |
人们非常喜欢模型的这一部分。 |
But what if something else determined the length of Earth's day? |
但是,倘若地球一天的时长 是由其他因素导致的呢? |
what if:如果…怎么办? determined:adj.决定了的:v.决定;(determine的过去分词和过去式)
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Then there would be many more possible giant impacts that could make the Moon. |
那么,很多其他可能的 大碰撞都有可能生成月球。 |
impacts:n.影响; v.有影响,有作用;
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I was curious about what could happen, so I tried simulating faster-spinning giant impacts, and I found that it is possible to make a disk out of the same mixture of materials as the planet. |
我很好奇会发生什么情况, 所以,我模拟了行星转速 加快后的大碰撞实验, 发现的确有可能 产生与行星物质相同的岩屑盘。 |
curious:adj.好奇的,有求知欲的;古怪的;爱挑剔的; simulating:n.模拟;假装; mixture:n.混合;结合体;混合物;集合体;
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We were pretty excited. |
我们都非常兴奋, |
Maybe this was the way to explain the Moon. |
也许,这可以解释月球起源。 |
The problem is, we also found that that's just not very likely. |
问题是,我们也发现 这种可能性极小, |
Most of the time, the disk is different from the planet, and it looked like making our Moon this way would be an astronomical coincidence , and it was just hard for everyone to accept the idea that the Moon's special connection to Earth was an accident. |
因为多数情况下,岩屑盘 与行星的物质是不一样的, 若如此形成了月球, 看起来像是天文巧合。 大家很难接受 月球和地球的特殊关系 仅仅是一个巧合。 |
astronomical:adj.天文的,天文学的;极大的; coincidence:n.巧合,巧事;同时存在;并存;相同;
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The giant impact theory was still in trouble, and we were still trying to figure out how to make the Moon. |
“大碰撞理论”依然无法解释, 我们仍在尝试 搞清月球的成因, |
Then came the day when I realized my mistake. |
直到有一天,我发现自己弄错了。 |
My student and I were looking at the data from these fast-spinning giant impacts. |
我和学生在研究行星高速 自转时大碰撞所产生的数据。 |
On that day, we weren't actually thinking about the Moon, we were looking at the planet. |
那一天,我们其实 没思考有关月球的事, 我们在观察那个行星。 |
The planet gets super-hot and partially vaporized from the energy of the impact. |
因为碰撞所产生的能量, 那个星球会变得超级热, 并会部分蒸发。 |
partially:adv.部分地;偏袒地; vaporized:汽化了的;
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But the data didn't look like a planet. |
但数据显示,不像是行星, |
It looked really strange. |
它看起来十分奇怪。 |
The planet was weirdly connected to the disk. |
行星以一种奇怪的方式 与岩屑盘联结着。 |
weirdly:adv.古怪地;
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I got that super-excited feeling when something really wrong might be something really interesting. |
我忽然有了那种 超级兴奋的感觉: 当某件事看起来很不对劲时, 极有可能是个有趣的发现。 |
In all of my calculations, |
在所有的计算中, |
I had assumed there was a planet with a separate disk around it. |
我都假设行星被一个 分离的岩屑盘所环绕。 |
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)
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Calculating what was in the disk as how we tested whether an impact could make the Moon. |
把计算岩屑盘的成分 作为测试大碰撞 是否生成月球的方法。 |
But it didn't look that simple anymore. |
但它看起来却不再那么简单, |
We were making the mistake of thinking that a planet was always going to look like a planet. |
我们犯的错在于 认为行星总是 其终极状态的样子, |
On that day, I knew that a giant impact was making something completely new. |
直到那天,我才意识到大碰撞 创造出一种全新的天体。 |
I've had eureka moments. This was not one of them. |
我有过很多次“恍然大悟”的时刻, 但这次却不是。 |
eureka:int.有了!;找到了!;
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I really didn't know what was going on. |
我完全不知道到底发生了什么。 |
I had this strange, new object in front of me and the challenge to try and figure it out. |
在我面前的是这个奇怪的新型天体, 我的挑战则是弄清它是什么。 |
What do you do when faced with the unknown? |
当你面对未知物时, 你会怎么做? |
How do you even start? |
你该如何着手? |
We questioned everything: What is a planet? |
我们质疑所有事情: 什么才是行星? |
When is a planet no longer a planet anymore? |
什么情况下, 行星就不再是行星了? |
We played with new ideas. |
我们玩索各种 脑洞大开的新想法。 |
We had to get rid of our old way of thinking, and by playing, I could throw away all of the data, all of the rules of the real world, and free my mind to explore . |
我们得摒弃旧的思考方式, 因为“玩”的性质, 我可以忘却所有数据、 扔掉所有现实中的 条条框框、 让我的思想去自由地探索。 |
throw away:adj.信口开河的;用后可扔的;n.废品; explore:v.探索:探测:探险:
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And by making a mental space where I could try out outrageous ideas and then bring them back into the real world to test them, I could learn. |
我先在大脑中创建一个 让自己任意遐想的空间, 然后再在现实世界中 去测试这些想法, 并从中学习。 |
mental:adj.精神的;脑力的;疯的;n.精神病患者; outrageous:adj.粗暴的;可恶的;令人吃惊的;
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And by playing, we learned so much. |
通过玩索,我们受益匪浅。 |
I combined my lab experiments with computer models and discovered that after most giant impacts, the Earth is so hot, there's no surface. |
我把实验与电脑模型结合起来, 发现在多数大碰撞之后, 地球会变得滚烫,没有地表。 |
There's just a deep layer of gas that gets denser and denser with depth. |
地球只有一层厚厚的气体, 愈深密度愈高, |
layer:n.层,层次; vt.把…分层堆放; vi.形成或分成层次; denser:adj.密集的; (dense的比较级)
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The Earth would have been like Jupiter . |
这时的地球其实像木星一样, |
Jupiter:n.[天]木星;朱庇特(罗马神话中的宙斯神);
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There's nothing to stand on. |
表面没有任何固体。 |
And that was just part of the problem. |
但这只是问题的一部分, |
I wanted to understand the whole problem. |
而我想搞清整个问题。 |
I couldn't let go of the challenge to figure out what was really going on in giant impacts. |
我放手不了这个 弄清大碰撞到底 发生了什么的挑战, |
It took almost two years of throwing away old ideas and building new ones that we understood the data and knew what it meant for the Moon. |
为此,我花了大约两年的时间 去摒弃老思维, 并筑建新理论, 这些理论基于理解实验数据、 和弄清它对月球的影响。 |
I discovered a new type of astronomical object. |
我发现了一种新型天文物体, |
It's not a planet. |
它不是行星, |
It's made from planets. |
但它来自于行星。 |
A planet is a body whose self-gravity is strong enough to give it its rounded shape. |
行星,是受强大自引力作用 而呈球状的星体。 |
It spins around all together. |
它作为一个整体进行自转。 |
spins:n.[物]旋转; v.[物]旋转(spin的三单形式);
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Make it hotter and spin it faster, the equator gets bigger and bigger until it reaches a tipping point . |
温度越高,自转速度就越快, 赤道会越变越大, 直至到达临界点。 |
tipping point:n.(个案积累终成大趋势的)引爆点;
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Push past the tipping point, and the material at the equator spreads into a disk. |
一旦过了临界点, 在赤道附近的物质 会向外扩散形成岩屑盘, |
It's now broken all the rules of being a planet. |
此时,它也不再遵循 行星的所有规律。 |
It can't spin around together anymore, its shape keeps changing as it gets bigger and bigger; the planet has become something new. |
它再也无法自转, 随着不断变大, 其形状也会不断变化, 行星变成了一种全新的天体。 |
We gave our discovery its name: synestia. |
我们给这个发现起了个名字: 索内斯蒂亚(synestia), |
We named it after the goddess Hestia, the Greek goddess of the hearth and home, because we think the Earth became one. |
用女神赫斯提亚来命名它, 她是古希腊神话中的家炉之神, 因为我们认为地球 就变成了这样的角色。 |
hearth:n.灶台;炉边;炉床;壁炉地面;
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The prefix means "all together," to emphasize the connection between all of the material. |
词首“syn”意味着“一起”, 强调了所有物质之间的联结。 |
prefix:n.前缀;vt.加前缀;将某事物加在前面; emphasize:v.强调;重视;着重;使突出;
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A synestia is what a planet becomes when heat and spin push it over the limit of a spheroidal shape. |
当热量和转速将行星推越了 球型天体的极限后, 行星就变成了索内斯蒂亚。 |
Would you like to see a synestia? |
你们想看看索内斯蒂亚吗? |
In this visualization of one of my simulations , the young Earth is already spinning quickly from a previous giant impact. |
这是其中的一个模拟视频, 因为之前的一次碰撞, 年轻的地球在快速自转。 |
visualization:n.形象化;清楚地呈现在心; simulations:n.[计]模拟(simulation的复数);[计]仿真; spinning:n.纺纱(手艺):纺线v.(使)旋转:纺线:纺纱;(spin的现在分词) previous:adj.以前的;早先的;过早的;adv.在先;在…以前;
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Its shape is deformed , but our planet would be recognizable by the water on its surface. |
地球有些变形,但根据地表的水, 我们还认得出它是地球。 |
deformed:adj.畸形的; v.使...残缺,使...变形(deform的过去式和过去分词形式); recognizable:adj.可辨认的;可认识的;可承认的;
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The energy from the impact vaporizes the surface, the water, the atmosphere , and mixes all of the gases together in just a few hours. |
大碰撞带来的能量 让地球表层、水、大气层 、 完全蒸发, 在短短几小时中, 所有的气体混合起来。 |
vaporizes:vi.蒸发;vt.使…蒸发; atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格; mixes:n.混淆;调拌料(mix的复数);v.混合(mix的第三人称单数);
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We discovered that many giant impacts make synestias, but these burning, bright objects don't live very long. |
我们发现许多大碰撞 会产生索内斯蒂亚, 但这些燃烧着的 炽热天体寿命不长。 |
They cool down , shrink and turn back into planets. |
它们会降温,缩小, 并再次变回行星。 |
cool down:冷却;平静下来; shrink:v.收缩;减少;退缩;畏缩;n.精神病学家;心理学家; turn back:往回走;阻挡;翻回到;
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While rocky planets like Earth were growing, they probably turned into synestias one or more times. |
在类似地球这样的 岩石行星在成长过程中, 可能会一次或数次 变成索内斯蒂亚。 |
rocky:adj.岩石的;多岩石的;困难的;难以维持的;
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A synestia gives us a new way to solve the problem of the origin of the Moon. |
索内斯蒂亚为我们解决 月球起源提供了新途径, |
We propose that the Moon formed inside a huge, vaporous synestia. |
我们提出,月球形成于一个 巨型、气化的索内斯蒂亚内部。 |
propose:v.建议;提议;求婚;打算;
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The Moon grew from magma rain that condensed out of the rock vapor. |
月球形成于 岩石蒸汽凝结 而产生的岩浆雨。 |
magma:n.[地质]岩浆;糊剂; condensed:adj.压缩的,精简的; v.(由气体)冷凝; (condense的过去式和过去分词)
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The Moon's special connection to Earth is because the Moon formed inside the Earth when Earth was a synestia. |
月球与地球间的特殊联系 是因为月球形成于地球内部,那时,地球还是一个索内斯蒂亚。 |
The Moon could have orbited inside the synestia for years, hidden from view. |
月球在索内斯蒂亚内部 可能已公转了许久, 但我们无法观察到它。 |
orbited:n.轨道;眼眶;势力范围;生活常规;vi.盘旋;绕轨道运行;vt.绕…轨道而行;
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The Moon is revealed by the synestia cooling and shrinking inside of its orbit. |
而当索内斯蒂亚冷却缩小 到月球公转轨道以内时, |
revealed:v.揭示;显示;露出;(reveal的过去分词和过去式) shrinking:v.(使)缩水,收缩,缩小,退缩;(shrink的现在分词)
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The synestia turns into planet Earth only after cooling for hundreds of years longer. |
月球才出现在我们的视线中, 只有经历了几百年的冷却后, 索内斯蒂亚才会变成地球。 |
In our new theory, the giant impact makes a synestia, and the synestia divides into two new bodies, creating our isotopically identical Earth and Moon. |
在我们的新理论中, 大碰撞形成了索内斯蒂亚, 而索内斯蒂亚分成两个新天体, 就是同位素相同的地球与月球。 |
Synestias have been created throughout the universe. |
索内斯蒂亚在宇宙各处都在发生, |
throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及;
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And we only just realized that by finding them in our imagination : |
通过想象他们的存在,我们 才刚刚意识到这个现象: |
imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物;
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What else am I missing in the world around me? |
在我周围的世界中, 我还遗漏了什么? |
What is hidden from my view by my own assumptions ? |
我自己的臆测 还妨碍我看到什么其他信息? |
assumptions:n.假定;假设;承担;获得;(assumption的复数)
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The next time you look at the Moon, remember: the things you think you know may be the opportunity to discover something truly amazing. |
下一次你赏月时, 请记住: 你认为自己知道的事,也许正是让你发现真正 令人惊讶事情的好机会。 |