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StephenPetranek_2015-_你的孩子也许就将在火星生存。请看他们如何生存。_
Strap yourselves in, we're going to Mars . 大家做好准备 我们要去火星。
Strap:v.用带子系(或捆、扎、扣)好;包扎;给…打绷带;n.带子; Mars:n.火星
Not just a few astronauts -- thousands of people are going to colonize Mars. 不仅仅是一些宇航员 成千上万的人准备殖民火星。
colonize:vt.将…开拓为殖民地; vi.开拓殖民地;
And I am telling you that they're going to do this soon. 相信我,这将发生在不久的将来。
Some of you will end up working on projects on Mars, and I guarantee that some of your children will end up living there. 你们当中的一些人将留在火星工作, 我保证你们的孩子也将一直留在那里。
guarantee:n.保证;担保;保证人;保证书;抵押品;v.保证;担保;
That probably sounds preposterous , so I'm going to share with you how and when that will happen. 这可能听起来很荒谬 所以我将和各位分享这如何发生,何时发生。
preposterous:adj.荒谬的;可笑的;
But first I want to discuss the obvious question: 首先我想讨论一个显而易见的问题:
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的;
Why the heck should we do this? 我们为什么要这么做？
heck:n.(英口)同"hell",表示略微烦恼或吃惊;
12 years ago, 12年前,
I gave a TED talk on 10 ways the world could end suddenly. 我在TED进行了一场关于十种世界突然毁灭的方式的演讲。
We are incredibly vulnerable to the whims of our own galaxy . 我们在宇宙的奇思妙想面前真的难以置信的脆弱。
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地; vulnerable:adj.易受攻击的,易受…的攻击;易受伤害的;有弱点的; whims:虚妄;禅病; galaxy:n.银河;[天]星系;银河系;一群显赫的人;
A single, large asteroid could take us out forever. 单单一颗略大的小行星就可以让我们永远消失。
asteroid:n.[天]小行星;[无脊椎]海盘车;小游星;adj.星状的;
To survive we have to reach beyond the home planet. 为了生存,我们必须有后备的星球。
Think what a tragedy it would be if all that humans have accomplished were suddenly obliterated . 试想如果人类所创造的所有成就瞬间消失 那将是多大的悲剧啊。
tragedy:n.悲惨的事;不幸;灾难;悲剧作品; accomplished:adj.完成的;有技巧的;有学问的;v.完成;(accomplish的过去分词和过去式) obliterated:v.涂去;消灭…的痕迹;使消失;除去;(obliterated是obliterate的过去分词)
And there's another reason we should go: exploration is in our DNA. 还有一个原因: 我们生而勇于探索。
exploration:n.探索;勘探;探险;[医]探查术;
Two million years ago humans evolved in Africa and then slowly but surely spread out across the entire planet by reaching into the wilderness that was beyond their horizons . 两百万年前起源于非洲的人类 缓慢却坚定地探索着望不到尽头的荒野 最终足迹遍布了整个星球。
evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式) spread out:冒火;喷火; wilderness:n.荒野;(草木丛生的)荒地;荒芜的地方;杂草丛生处; horizons:n.地平线;范围,眼界;(horizon的复数)
This stuff is inside us. 这是我们的灵魂。
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
And they prospered doing that. 而且他们成功了。
prospered:vi.繁荣,昌盛;成功;vt.使…成功;使…昌盛;使…繁荣;
Some of the greatest advances in civilization and technology came because we explored . 因为我们不停的探索,文明和科技都取得了 长足的进步。
civilization:n.文明;文明社会;文明世界;(特定时期和地区的)社会文明; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; explored:v.探索;勘探;考察;探险;(explore的过去式和过去分词)
Yes, we could do a lot of good with the money it will take to establish a thriving colony on Mars. 当然我们可以用钱 搞定很多事情去建立一个蒸蒸日上的火星殖民地。
establish:v.创立;设立;建立;确立;使立足;查实; thriving:v.兴旺发达;繁荣;旺盛;茁壮成长;(thrive的现在分词) colony:n.殖民地;移民队;
And yes we should all be taking far better care of our own home planet. 当然,我们也应该更好地管理和爱护我们自己的星球。
And yes, I worry we could screw up Mars the way we've screwed up Earth. 当然,我担心就像我们搞砸了地球一样,我们可能也会搞砸火星。
screwed:v.用螺丝固定;旋紧;拧紧;拧上去;(screw的过去分词和过去式)
But think for a moment, what we had when John F. Kennedy told us we would put a human on the moon. 不过先想一想, 当肯尼迪总统向所有人宣布我们可以把一个人类送到月球上时,
He excited an entire generation to dream. 他点燃了整代人的梦想。
Think how inspired we will be to see a landing on Mars. 试想为了登陆火星我们将受到多么大的鼓舞。
inspired:adj.受到启发的; v.鼓舞; (inspire的过去分词和过去式)
Perhaps then we will look back at Earth and see that that is one people instead of many and perhaps then we will look back at Earth, as we struggle to survive on Mars, and realize how precious the home planet is. 也许孤身一人时, 会回想地球的时光。 也许我们在火星顽强生存时, 会回想地球的美好, 会意识到家的宝贵。
precious:adj.宝贵的;珍贵的;矫揉造作的;
So let me tell you about the extraordinary adventure we're about to undertake . 下面我来介绍我们将进行的神奇旅程。
extraordinary:adj.非凡的;特别的;离奇的;临时的;特派的; adventure:n.冒险;奇遇;经历;冒险游戏;v.探险;以…冒险;大胆进行;闯; undertake:v.承担;从事;负责;承诺;
But first, a few fascinating facts about where we're going. 首先, 介绍一下我们将要去的地方的奇妙之处。
fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词)
This picture actually represents the true size of Mars compared to Earth. 这张照片真实的反应了地球和火星的大小对比。
represents:v.代表;维护…的利益;相当于;(represent的第三人称单数) compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词)
Mars is not our sister planet. 火星不是我们的姊妹星球,
It's far less than half the size of the Earth, and yet despite the fact that it's smaller, the surface area of Mars that you can stand on is equivalent to the surface area of the Earth that you can stand on, because the Earth is mostly covered by water. 它比地球尺寸的一半还要小得多, 不过虽然火星小一些, 在火星上表面人类可以活动的面积 和在地球上差不多大, 因为地球主要被水覆盖。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; equivalent:adj.等价的,相等的;同意义的;n.等价物,相等物;
The atmosphere on Mars is really thin -- 100 times thinner than on Earth -- and it's not breathable , it's 96 percent carbon dioxide . 火星的大气层非常稀薄, 只有地球的厚度的百分之一, 而且火星上不能呼吸,96%的空气是二氧化碳。
atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格; breathable:adj.可以吸入的,可以呼吸的; carbon dioxide:二氧化碳;
It's really cold there. 火星非常冷。
The average temperature is minus 81 degrees, although there is quite a range of temperature. 平均气温零下63摄氏度, 昼夜温差也非常大。
minus:prep.减,减去;n.负号,减号;不足;负数;adj.减的;负的;
A day on Mars is about as long as a day on Earth, plus about 39 minutes. 火星上的一昼夜的长短和地球上差不多, 比地球长大约39分钟。
as long as:conj.只要;长达;如果;既然;
Seasons and years on Mars are twice as long as they are on Earth. 火星上的每个季节和每年的时间都是地球上的两倍长。
And for anybody who wants to strap on some wings and go flying one day, 对那些想插上翅膀在火星上飞的人来说,
Mars has a lot less gravity than on Earth, and it's the kind of place where you can jump over your car instead of walk around it. 火星的重力比地球小很多, 所以是个好选择。 不用绕过你的车你可以直接跳过去。
Now, as you can see , Mars isn't exactly Earth-like, but it's by far the most livable other place in our entire solar system . 如你所见,火星并不是像地球, 但是这是整个太阳系里除地球外最适合居住的地方了。
as you can see:正如你所看到的;你是知道的; livable:adj.适于居住的;生活过得有价值的; solar system:[天]太阳系;
Here's the problem. 不过有个问题。
Mars is a long way away, a thousand times farther away from us than our own moon. 去火星路途遥远 是地月距离的一千倍。
The Moon is 250,000 miles away and it took Apollo astronauts three days to get there. 月亮在四十万公里外 阿波罗号载着宇航员去那里要三天的时间。
Apollo:n.阿波罗(太阳神);美男子;
Mars is 250 million miles away and it will take us eight months to get there -- 240 days. 火星在四亿公里以外 要八个月我们才能到达, 也就是240天。
And that's only if we launch on a very specific day, at a very specific time, once every two years, when Mars and the Earth are aligned just so, so the distance that the rocket would have to travel will be the shortest. 而且我们每年只有两次机会, 趁地球和火星 成一条线的的时候 在这个特殊的日子特殊的时间降落, 因为这时候火箭运行的距离才是最短的。
launch:v.发射(导弹,火箭等); n.发射; specific:adj.特殊的,特定的;明确的;详细的;[药]具有特效的;n.特性;细节;特效药; aligned:adj.对齐的;均衡的;v.结盟(align的过去式);使成一直线;
240 days is a long time to spend trapped with your colleagues in a tin can. 所有人在火箭里待240天简直就是度日如年。
trapped:adj.受困的;受限制的;v.使落入险境;使陷入困境;(trap的过去分词和过去式) colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
And meanwhile , our track record of getting to Mars is lousy . 而且翻看过去我们去火星的记录也不是很理想。
meanwhile:adv.同时,其间;n.其间,其时; track record:n.径赛成绩记录;过去的成绩或成就; lousy:adj.非常糟的;极坏的;恶劣的;
We and the Russians, the Europeans , the Japanese, the Chinese and the Indians, have actually sent 44 rockets there, and the vast majority of them have either missed or crashed. 我们、俄罗斯人、欧洲人、日本人 中国人和印度人 一共发射了44只火箭, 大部分都消失或者坠毁了。
Europeans:n.欧洲人(European的复数); majority:n.大部分:大多数:多数票:成年人:
Only about a third of the missions to Mars have been successful. 只有三分之一的火箭成功到达了火星。
missions:n.任务; v.给…交代任务; (mission的复数)
And we don't at the moment have a rocket big enough to get there anyway. 而且我们现在也没有可以到达火星的足够大的火箭。
We once had that rocket, the Saturn V. 我们曾经有一只叫做土星五号的大火箭。
Saturn:n.[天]土星;农业之神(罗马神话中的一个形象);
A couple of Saturn Vs would have gotten us there. 几只土星五号就可以把我们送过去。
It was the most magnificent machine ever built by humans, and it was the rocket that took us to the Moon. 那是人类迄今为止制造的最大的机器, 它也正是带我们去月球的那只火箭。
magnificent:adj.高尚的;壮丽的;华丽的;宏伟的;
But the last Saturn V was used in 1973 to launch the Skylab space station , and we decided to do something called the shuttle instead of continuing on to Mars after we landed on the Moon. 但是在最后一只土星五号火箭1973年把宇宙空间站送上太空后 继续登陆火星, 转而开始研发航天飞机。
space station:n.太空站;航天站;宇宙空间站; shuttle:n.穿梭班机、公共汽车;梭;梭子;v.频繁往来;往返运送
The biggest rocket we have now is only half big enough to get us anything to Mars. 目前我们所拥有的最大火箭 只有当时的一半大。
So getting to Mars is not going to be easy and that brings up a really interesting question ... 所以去火星并不容易。 那么问题来了
how soon will the first humans actually land here? 第一批人类登陆火星还要多久？
Now, some pundits think if we got there by 2050, that'd be a pretty good achievement. 一些专家认为进展顺利的话, 2025年我们可以成功登陆火星。
pundits:权威(pundit的复数);
These days, NASA seems to be saying that it can get humans to Mars by 2040. 最近NASA似乎认为2040年前就可以送人类登陆火星。
Maybe they can. 也许他们可以做到。
I believe that they can get human beings into Mars orbit by 2035. 我认为他们可以在2035年之前就把人送入火星轨道。
orbit: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;
But frankly, 但是坦白说,
I don't think they're going to bother in 2035 to send a rocket to Mars, because we will already be there. 我不认为他们在2035年还会操心发射火箭到火星的事情, 因为我们已经在那里了。
bother:v.烦扰,打扰;使…不安;操心,麻烦;n.麻烦;烦恼;
We're going to land on Mars in 2027. 我们将要在2027年登陆火星。
And the reason is this man is determined to make that happen. 因为 有人下决心做到这件事。
determined:adj.决定了的:v.决定;(determine的过去分词和过去式)
His name is Elon Musk , he's the CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX. 他叫埃隆·马斯克特斯拉和SpaceX公司的CEO。
Elon:n.埃伦(可溶性显影剂粉末); Musk:n.麝香;麝香鹿;麝香香味;
Now, he actually told me that we would land on Mars by 2025, but Elon Musk is more optimistic than I am -- and that's going a ways -- so I'm giving him a couple of years of slack . 实际上他跟我说2025年前我们就可以登陆火星, 但是埃隆·马斯克比我要乐观, 这是他的行事方式, 所以我多给他两年作为缓冲。
optimistic:adj.乐观的;乐观主义的; slack:adj.松弛的;疏忽的;不流畅的;v.松懈;减弱;n.煤末;峡谷;adv.马虎地;缓慢地;
Still ... 不过,
you've got to ask yourself, can this guy really do this by 2025 or 2027? 大家可能会怀疑, 这个人真的可以在2025年到2027年间做到么？
Well, let's put a decade with Elon Musk into a little perspective . 我们先看一下有埃隆·马斯克的十年是如何发展的。
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的;
Where was this 10 years ago? 十年前是怎样的？
That's the Tesla electric automobile . 这是特斯拉电动汽车。
electric:n.供电;adj.电的;用电的;电动的;发电的; automobile:n.汽车;v.开汽车;坐汽车;adj.自动的;
In 2005, a lot of people in the automobile industry were saying, we would not have a decent electric car for 50 years. 2005年很多汽车产业的人表示 50年后我们才会有一辆高级的电动汽车。
decent:adj.正派的;得体的;相当好的;
And where was that? 十年前的火箭产业呢？
That is SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, lifting six tons of supplies to the International Space Station. 这是SpaceX的猎鹰9号运载火箭 满载六吨物资去往国际空间站。
Falcon:n.[鸟]猎鹰;[鸟]隼;
10 years ago, 十年前,
SpaceX had not launched anything, or fired a rocket to anywhere. SpaceX还没有发射过任何火箭。
launched:v.发射;发起;开展;开始;(launch的过去式和过去分词)
So I think it's a pretty good bet that the person who is revolutionizing the automobile industry in less than 10 years and the person who created an entire rocket company in less than 10 years will get us to Mars by 2027. 所以我认为 一个用不到十年时间 颠覆整个汽车产业 并且白手起家创造整个火箭产业的人 是可以在2027年前带我们上火星的。
bet:n.打赌;赌注;预计;估计;v.下赌注(于);用…打赌;敢说;八成儿; revolutionizing:vt.发动革命;彻底改革;宣传革命;vi.革命化;从事革命;
Now, you need to know this: governments and robots no longer control this game. 你要知道: 政府和机器人不再是太空飞行的掌控者,
Private companies are leaping into space and they will be happy to take you to Mars. 私人公司跳跃式的发展进入太空, 他们很乐意带我们去火星。
leaping:adj.跳跃的,跳跃而行的;n.跳跃;v.跳跃(leap的ing形式);
And that raises a really big question. 不过随之而来的问题是
Can we actually live there? 我们真的可以在火星生存么？
Now, NASA may not be able to get us there until 2040, or we may get there a long time before NASA, but NASA has taken a huge responsibility in figuring out how we can live on Mars. NASA也许直到2040年才可以把我们送到火星, 也许我们在NASA之前就已经到达火星了, 但是NASA需要解决我们在火星如何生存的问题。
Let's look at the problem this way. 我们换个方式看这个问题。
Here's what you need to live on Earth: food, water, shelter and clothing. 这是在地球上生存的必需品: 食物、水、住所和衣物。
And here's what you need to live on Mars: all of the above, plus oxygen. 这是在火星上生存的必需品: 上面的所有加上氧气。
So let's look at the most important thing on this list first. 我们先说单子上最重要的东西。
at the most:至多,不超过;
Water is the basis of all life as we know it, and it's far too heavy for us to carry water from the Earth to Mars to live, so we have to find water if our life is going to succeed on Mars. 我们都知道水是生命之源, 从地球带水去火星是不可能的, 所以想要成功殖民火星我们必须找到水源。
And if you look at Mars, it looks really dry, it looks like the entire planet is a desert. 乍一看火星是很干燥的, 整个行星就像一个大沙漠,
But it turns out that it's not. 但实际上并非如此。
The soil alone on Mars contains up to 60 percent water. 仅仅火星上的泥土就包含60%的水。
And a number of orbiters that we still have flying around Mars have shown us -- and by the way , that's a real photograph -- that lots of craters on Mars have a sheet of water ice in them. 仍然盘旋在火星上空的人造卫星的照片告诉我们, 顺便说一句这是一张真实照片, 很多火星环形山中间都被冰所覆盖。
orbiters:n.人造卫星;盘旋物; by the way:顺便说一下; craters:n.[地质]火山口; v.形成坑; sheet:n.薄板;床单;纸张;报纸;v.覆盖;展开;给…铺床单;铺开;adj.片状的; water ice:na.水冰;(英)=sherbet;
It's not a bad place to start a colony. 在这里殖民就不错。
Now, here's a view of a little dig the Phoenix Lander did in 2008, showing that just below the surface of the soil is ice -- that white stuff is ice. 这是2008年凤凰号火星登录器进行的小小的挖掘的照片, 可以看到地表下就是冰, 白色的就是冰,
Phoenix:n.凤凰;死而复生的人; Lander:n.着陆器;出铁槽;把钩工人;
In the second picture, which is four days later than the first picture, you can see that some of it is evaporating . 第二张图 拍摄于第一张图之后四天, 你可以看到部分冰升华了。
evaporating:adj.蒸发作用的;v.蒸发(evaporate的ing形式);
Orbiters also tell us that there are huge amounts of underground water on Mars as well as glaciers . 卫星也告诉我们 火星地下水和冰山资源 都非常丰富。
as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且; glaciers:n.[地理][水文]冰川(glacier的复数);[地理][水文]冰河;
In fact, if only the water ice at the poles on Mars melted , most of the planet would be under 30 feet of water. 实际上如果所有火星两级的冰融化了, 火星上绝大部分地方都会被9米深的水所覆盖。
poles:n.极点(pole的复数形式);雪杖;杆位次数; melted:v.(使)熔化,融化;(使)软化,变得温柔;(melt的过去分词和过去式)
So there's plenty of water there, but most of it's ice, most of it's underground, it takes a lot of energy to get it and a lot of human labor. 所以水资源很丰富。 不过大多数是冰大多数在地下, 需要大量人力和能源去开采和挖掘。
This is a device cooked up at the University of Washington back in 1998. 这个仪器是1998年由华盛顿大学 提出的设想。
device:n.装置;策略;图案;
It's basically a low-tech dehumidifier . 基本上这是一个低科技除湿器。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; low-tech:adj.低技术的; dehumidifier:n.减湿剂;干燥器;
And it turns out the Mars atmosphere is often 100 percent humid. 事实上火星大气100%是非常潮湿的,
So this device can extract all the water that humans will need simply from the atmosphere on Mars. 这个装置可以仅仅从大气中吸取水分 来满足人类需求。
extract:v.提取;取出;摘录;榨取;n.汁;摘录;榨出物;选粹;
Next we have to worry about what we will breathe. 接下来我们要考虑如何呼吸。
Frankly, I was really shocked to find out that NASA has this problem worked out. 坦白地说我发现 NASA已经找到了解决方案时我惊呆了。
This is a scientist at MIT named Michael Hecht. 这位在MIT的科学家叫做迈克尔·赫克特。
And he's developed this machine, Moxie . 他制造了这个机器,莫克西。
Moxie:n.精力;勇气;
I love this thing. 我爱这个机器
It's a reverse fuel cell, essentially , that sucks in the Martian atmosphere and pumps out oxygen. 它本质上是一个反向燃料电池, 吸收火星的大气释放氧气。
reverse:n.反面; v.颠倒; adj.相反的; essentially:adv.本质上;本来; sucks:v.吮吸;吸;咂;啜;抽吸;抽取;(suck的第三人称单数) Martian:adj.火星的;n.火星人; pumps:n.[机]泵; v.用泵送;
And you have to remember that CO2 -- carbon dioxide, which is 96 percent of Mars' atmosphere -- 96%的火星大气成分二氧化碳 基本上可以转化成为
CO2 is basically 78 percent oxygen. 78%的氧气。
Now, the next big rover that NASA sends to Mars in 2020 is going to have one of these devices aboard , and it will be able to produce enough oxygen to keep one person alive indefinitely . 2020年下一个NASA发射的巨型探测器 将会携带这些装置去火星, 它可以制造足够一个人 一生取之不尽的氧气。
rover:n.漫游者; n.(Rover)人名; n.罗孚(汽车品牌); devices:n.[机][计]设备;[机]装置;[电子]器件(device的复数); aboard:adv.在飞机上;[船]在船上;在火车上;prep.在…上; indefinitely:adv.不确定地,无限期地;模糊地,不明确地;
But the secret to this -- and that's just for testing -- the secret to this is that this thing was designed from the get-go to be scalable by a factor of 100. 神奇的是, 这只是在试验阶段, 神奇的是这个装置从一开始被设计成 可以扩展到100倍大小的规模。
get-go:n.开始;开端; scalable:adj.可攀登的;可去鳞的;可称量的; 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;
Next, what will we eat? 接下来我们吃什么？
Well, we'll use hydroponics to grow food, but we're not going to be able to grow more than 15 to 20 percent of our food there, at least not until water is running on the surface of Mars and we actually have the probability and the capability of planting crops. 我们用水培法种植作物, 不过我们的种植规模不能 超过我们粮食需求的15-20%。 除非火星表面已经被水覆盖 并且我们有可能也有能力种植作物。
hydroponics:n.水栽培,水耕法;[植]溶液培养学; probability:n.可能性;机率;[数]或然率; capability:n.才能,能力;性能,容量;
In the meantime , most of our food will arrive from Earth, and it will be dried. 否则在此期间, 食物大多是干燥后 从地球运输过来。
In the meantime:在此期间;于此际;
And then we need some shelter. 接下来,我们需要住处
At first we can use inflatable , pressurized buildings as well as the landers themselves. 一开始我们可以住在充气密封建筑里 和着陆器本身之中。
inflatable:adj.膨胀的,可充气的;得意的; pressurized:adj.加压的; v.逼迫; (pressurize的过去式和过去分词) landers:n.着陆舱;[矿]司罐工人;(输送金属用的)斜槽;(landers是lander的复数)
But this really only works during the daytime. 但是这只在白天才能实现。
There is too much solar radiation and too much radiation from cosmic rays . 太阳辐射和宇宙射线太多了,
radiation:n.辐射;放射线;放射疗法; cosmic rays:n.宇宙线;
So we really have to go underground. 所以我们必须躲进地下。
Now, it turns out that the soil on Mars, by and large , is perfect for making bricks. 已经证实火星上的土壤 基本上很适合制造砖块。
by and large:大体上,总的来说;
And NASA has figured this one out, too. NASA也发现了这个特点,
They're going to throw some polymer plastic into the bricks, shove them in a microwave oven , and then you will be able to build buildings with really thick walls. 他们在砖块里掺入一些聚合塑料, 然后在微波炉里挤压, 这样你就可以用这些非常厚实的砖块建造房屋了。
polymer:n.[高分子]聚合物; shove:v.猛推;乱挤;推撞;乱放;n.猛推; microwave:n.微波; oven:n.炉,灶;烤炉,烤箱;
Or we may choose to live underground in caves or in lava tubes, of which there are plenty. 或者我们可以选择在火星上大量的洞穴和熔岩洞 里面居住。
lava:n.火山岩浆;火山所喷出的熔岩;
And finally there's clothing. 最后是衣物。
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
On Earth we have miles of atmosphere piled up on us, which creates 15 pounds of pressure on our bodies at all times, and we're constantly pushing out against that. 在地球我们有厚厚的大气堆在我们身上, 一直给予我们身体15磅的压力。 我们已经习惯抵抗这部分压力了。
piled:v.堆放;叠放;放置;装入;拥挤;(pile的过去分词和过去式) constantly:adv.不断地;时常地;
On Mars there's hardly any atmospheric pressure. 火星上几乎没有大气压力,
hardly any:几乎没有; atmospheric:adj.大气的,大气层的;
So Dava Newman, a scientist at MIT, has created this sleek space suit. 所以达瓦·纽曼, 这个MIT的科学家, 制造了这个光滑的宇航服。
sleek:adj.圆滑的;井然有序的;vt.使…光滑;掩盖;vi.打扮整洁;滑动;
It will keep us together, block radiation and keep us warm. 它可以让我们连在一起, 抵抗射线,并且保持体温。
So let's think about this for a minute . 所以仔细想一下,
for a minute:一会儿;
Food, shelter, clothing, water, oxygen ... 有了食物、住所、衣物、水源和氧气,
we can do this. 万事俱备。
We really can. 前途是光明的,
But it's still a little complicated and a little difficult. 但是道路是曲折的。
complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式)
So that leads to the next big -- really big step -- in living the good life on Mars. 接下来要解决的问题是 一个重要的问题: 如何在火星很好的生活。
And that's terraforming the planet: making it more like Earth, reengineering an entire planet. 答案是地球化这个星球: 让它更像地球一些, 重新改造整个星球。
terraforming:n.地球化;土地改造;外星环境地球化;v.使地球化(terraform的ing形式); reengineering:n.企业再造;再造工程;重建;v.再设计;重新建造(reengineer的ing形式);
That sounds like a lot of hubris , but the truth is that the technology to do everything I'm about to tell you already exists. 听起来好像过于狂妄了, 可是实际上 所有所需要的科技我们已经有了。
hubris:n.傲慢;狂妄自大;
First we've got to warm it up. 首先我们先把气候变暖,
Mars is incredibly cold because it has a very thin atmosphere. 因为大气层稀薄火星非常的冷。
The answer lies here, at the south pole and at the north pole of Mars, both of which are covered with an incredible amount of frozen carbon dioxide -- dry ice. 解决方案是, 火星的南极北极 都覆盖着 大量的固态二氧化碳 也就是干冰。
south pole:n.南极; north pole:n.北极; incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的;
If we heat it up, it sublimes directly into the atmosphere and thickens the atmosphere the same way it does on Earth. 如果我们加热它们, 它们会直接升华 并增加大气层的厚度,和地球的情况一样。
sublimes:adj.庄严的; n.崇高; vt.使…纯化; vi.升华; directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就; thickens:vt.使变厚;使模糊;使…变复杂;vi.变浓;变厚;变得模糊;变粗;变复杂;
And as we know, 我们都知道,
CO2 is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas . 二氧化碳是非常强大的温室气体。
potent:adj.有效的;强有力的,有权势的;有说服力的; greenhouse gas:n.温室气体(尤指二氧化碳);
Now, my favorite way of doing this is to erect a very, very large solar sail and focus it -- it essentially serves as a mirror -- and focus it on the south pole of Mars at first. 这是我非常喜欢的一个办法,建造一块非常非常大的太阳光反射器 使它聚焦 太阳光反射器本质上就是一面镜子 把焦点一开始对在火星的南极
erect:vt.使竖立;建造;安装;adj.竖立的;笔直的;因性刺激而勃起的;vi.直立;勃起;
As the planet spins , it will heat up all that dry ice, sublime it, and it will go into the atmosphere. 随着星球自转镜子会加热并升华所有的干冰 二氧化碳会进入到大气之中。
spins:n.[物]旋转; v.[物]旋转(spin的三单形式);
It actually won't take long for the temperature on Mars to start rising, probably less than 20 years. 实际上火星的气温 很快就会开始升高, 大概不到20年就可以。
Right now, on a perfect day at the equator, in the middle of summer on Mars, temperatures can actually reach 70 degrees, but then they go down to minus 100 at night. 现在, 如果是夏天中的大晴天 在火星的赤道上 气温可以达到将近21摄氏度。 但是在晚上马上下降到零下73摄氏度。
(Laughter) （笑声）
What we're shooting for is a runaway greenhouse effect : enough temperature rise to see a lot of that ice on Mars -- especially the ice in the ground -- melt. 我们为增强火星的温室效应而努力: 让火星升温这样很多火星上的冰, 尤其是地下的冰融化 。
runaway:adj.逃亡的;逃走的;n.逃跑;逃走的人; greenhouse effect:n.温室效应; especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分;
Then we get some real magic. 接下来就是见证奇迹的时刻。
As the atmosphere gets thicker, everything gets better. 大气层变厚之后一切都会好起来。
We get more protection from radiation, more atmosphere makes us warmer, makes the planet warmer, so we get running water and that makes crops possible. 我们受到更少的辐射, 大气更厚,温度升得更高, 我们还获得了流动的水资源, 人类才有可能耕种。
Then more water vapor goes into the air, forming yet another potent greenhouse gas. 然后越来越多的水蒸气进入空气中这是另一种强大的温室气体。
It will rain and it will snow on Mars. 火星上会下雨,会下雪,
And a thicker atmosphere will create enough pressure so that we can throw away those space suits. 等大气再厚一点会制造足够的压力, 我们就可以脱下那些宇航服了。
throw away:adj.信口开河的;用后可扔的;n.废品;
We only need about five pounds of pressure to survive. 只要有五磅左右的压力我们就可以生存。
Eventually , Mars will be made to feel a lot like British Columbia. 最后火星的感觉会很像英属哥伦比亚。
Eventually:adv.最后,终于;
We'll still be left with the complicated problem of making the atmosphere breathable, and frankly that could take 1,000 years to accomplish. 我们最后只剩下一个复杂的问题: 就是如何制造可以呼吸的大气。 实话说可能要1000年才可以做到。
But humans are amazingly smart and incredibly adaptable . 但是人类是非常聪明的,适应能力也极强。
adaptable:adj.适合的;能适应的;可修改的;
There is no telling what our future technology will be able to accomplish and no telling what we can do with our own bodies. 谁也不知道将来我们的科技会发展到什么程度, 我们的身体可以进化到什么程度。
In biology right now, we are on the very verge of being able to control our own genetics , what the genes in our own bodies are doing, and certainly, eventually, our own evolution. 现在的生物学 马上就可以控制我们自己的基因, 控制每个基因在做什么, 当然, 最终控制我们的进化。
biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学; verge:vi.濒临,接近;处在边缘;n.边缘; genetics:n.遗传学; genes:n.基因;(gene的复数)
We could end up with a species of human being on Earth that is slightly different from the species of human beings on Mars. 最终地球上的人类, 也许和火星上的人类有一些小小的不同。
species:n.[生物]物种;种类; slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地;
But what would you do there? How would you live? 但是我们在火星做什么？怎么生活呢？
It's going to be the same as it is on Earth. 就像在地球一样,
Somebody's going to start a restaurant, somebody's going to build an iron foundry . 有人开饭店, 有人铸铁,
foundry:n.铸造,铸造类;[机]铸造厂;
Someone will make documentary movies of Mars and sell them on Earth. 有人拍摄火星的纪录电影, 卖给地球的人,
Some idiot will start a reality TV show. 一些笨蛋开拍一些真人秀。
idiot:n.笨蛋,傻瓜;白痴; reality TV:n.(电视)真人秀;
(Laughter) （笑声）
There will be software companies, there will be hotels, there will be bars. 那里将会有软件公司, 酒店,酒吧。
This much is certain: it will be the most disruptive event in our lifetimes, and I think it will be the most inspiring . 有一点是确定的: 这将是我们人生中最重大的转折, 同时也将是最振奋人心的事件。
disruptive:adj.破坏的;分裂性的;制造混乱的; inspiring:adj.鼓舞人心的;灌输的;v.鼓舞;激发;使感悟;(inspire的现在分词)
Ask any 10-year-old girl if she wants to go to Mars. 问一个十岁的女孩儿是否愿意去火星。
Children who are now in elementary school are going to choose to live there. 现在上小学的孩子可以选择是否去那里居住。
elementary school:小学;
Remember when we landed humans on the Moon? 想想我们登月的时候
When that happened, people looked at each other and said, "If we can do this, we can do anything." 发生了什么？大家看着彼此说: “如果我们成功,人类将所向披靡。”
What are they going to think when we actually form a colony on Mars? 那么如果我们真的殖民火星我们将会怎么想呢？
Most importantly, it will make us a spacefaring species. 更重要的是, 这将使我们成为航天物种。
spacefaring:航天旅行,外层空间旅行;宇宙旅行;
And that means humans will survive no matter what happens on Earth. 这意味着无论地球发生什么我们都不会灭绝。
no matter what:不管什么…;
We will never be the last of our kind. 我们这一代绝不会灭亡。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）