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VictorVescovo_2019-_海底世界是什么样的——我们如何到达那里_-
David Biello: So Victor , what have you been up to? 大卫·比尔洛（VB）: 维克多,你最近在忙什么？
Victor:n.胜利者;获胜者;adj.胜利(者)的;
Victor Vescovo: That's the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and I guess I read too much Jules Verne as a young boy, and so for the last four years I've led a team to design and build 维克多·维斯科沃（VV）: 这是大西洋的底部, 可能是因为年轻时读了 太多的儒勒·凡尔纳的作品, 所以在过去四年, 我带领了一支团队设计并建造了
Atlantic:adj.大西洋的;巨人阿特拉斯的;n.大西洋;
what is now the most advanced and deepest diving submersible on the planet, and I have the ability to personally pilot it too. 现在世界上最先进 并且可以下潜最深的潜水器, 并且我个人也有驾驶它的能力。
advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式) diving:n.潜水;跳水;跳水运动;v.下潜;跳水;潜水;(dive的现在分词) submersible:adj.能潜水的;能沉入水中的; personally:adv.个人;亲自;本人;就本人而言;
So this was us in December of last year, for the first time -- the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. 所以这是我们在去年12月时, 第一次到达大西洋海底。
DB: And nobody's seen that before right? DB:之前没有人到过那里吗？
That's just you. 除了你。
VV: No. Well, now everybody else. VV:没有,现在每个人都看到了。
DB: Who does that? DB:谁做到的？
Like -- 比如——
VV: Well, I think everyone has seen the developments in the last 10, 15 years. VV:我想大家都看到了 过去10年、15年的发展。
You have a bunch of people that have the means to explore outer space, like SpaceX or Blue Origin -- those guys -- and we're going the other direction. 有一群人拥有了探索 外太空的方法, 比如SpaceX或者Blue Origin—— 那些人—— 那么我们就选择另外的方向。
a bunch of:一群;一束;一堆; explore:v.探索:探测:探险: outer:adj.外面的,外部的;远离中心的;n.环外命中; Origin:n.起源;起因;源头;出身;
So it's a wonderful era of private individuals spending their resources to develop technologies that can take us to places that have never been explored before, and the oceans of the world is -- 这是一个非凡的时代, 对个人来说,他们可以花费资源 来发展科技,把我们带去 之前从未被探索过的地方, 并且海洋世界是——
era:n.新时期;纪元;年代;新时代; individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); explored:v.探索;勘探;考察;探险;(explore的过去式和过去分词)
it's almost a cliché to say it's 70 percent of our entire planet, and of that, 95 percent is unexplored . 用一句陈词滥调的说法就是, 海洋占据了地球70%的面积, 并且它的95%都是未被探索过的。
unexplored:adj.[地质]未勘查过的;
So what we're trying to do with our expedition is to build and prove out a submersible that can go to any point on the bottom of the planet to explore the 60 percent of this planet that is still unexplored. 所以我们和探险队正在尝试的就是 建造并且证明可以到达 这个地球底部任何一点的潜水艇, 去探索地球60%仍未被探索的地方。
expedition:n.远征;探险队;迅速;
DB: You need a pretty cool tool to do that, right? DB:你需要一个非常酷的工具 来完成这个,对吗？
VV: Right. VV:是的。
Now the tool is the submarine , the Limiting Factor . 这个工具就是潜水器, 叫做Limiting Factor.
submarine:n.潜艇;adj.水下的;海底的v.用潜艇攻击;驾驶潜艇; 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;
It's a state-of-the-art vessel supported by the support ship, the Pressure Drop. 它是一艘最先进的船, 由支援舰Pressure Drop提供支持。
state-of-the-art:adj.最先进的;已经发展的;达到最高水准的; vessel:n.器皿;轮船;脉管;大船;
It has a two-person titanium sphere, 90 millimeters-thick, that keeps it at one atmosphere , and it has the ability to dive repeatedly down to the very deepest point of the ocean. 它有一个容纳两人 的钛球体,90毫米厚, 使它维持在一个标准大气压, 同时它有着反复下潜到 海洋最深点的能力。
titanium:n.[化学]钛(金属元素); atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格; dive:n.潜水;跳水;俯冲;猛冲;v.猛冲;(头朝下)跳入水中;[体]跳水(运动); repeatedly:adv.反复地;再三地;屡次地;
DB: So like the SpaceX of ocean exploration ? DB:所以就像是 海洋探险界的SpaceX？
exploration:n.探索;勘探;探险;[医]探查术;
VV: Yeah, it's kind of the SpaceX of ocean exploration, but I pilot my own vehicles . VV:是,类似海洋探险界的SpaceX, 但是我驾驶我自己的交通工具。
vehicles:n.车辆;飞行器;运行工具;(vehicles是vehicle的复数)
(Laughter) （笑声）
DB: Are you going to take Elon or...? DB:那你会带上Elon或者……？
Elon:n.埃伦(可溶性显影剂粉末);
VV: Yeah, I could take someone down there. VV:是,我可以带些人下去那里。
So, Elon, if you're listening, 所以,Elon,如果你在听,
I'll give you a ride in mine if you give me a ride in yours. 我可以让你搭个便车, 如果你也让我搭个你的便车。
(Laughter) （笑声）
DB: So tell us what it's like down there. DB:向我们描述一下 海底的样子吧。
I mean, we're talking about a place where the pressure is so intense that it's like putting an Eiffel Tower on your toe . 我们讨论的地方压力如此之大, 那感觉就像是将一座埃菲尔铁塔 放在你的脚尖上。
intense:adj.强烈的;紧张的;非常的;热情的; toe:n.脚趾;鞋头;v.用脚趾踩;用脚尖踢;
VV: It's more than that. VV:比那严重多了,
It's about 16,000 psi. 大约是每平方英寸一万六千磅 。
So the issue is that we have this titanium sphere that allows us to go down to these extreme depths and come up repeatedly. 关键在于我们的这个钛球体 可以让我们反复下潜到 极限的深度并且升上来。
issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行; 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;
That's never been done before. 这之前从来没有人做到过。
The Challenger Deep has been dived twice, once in 1960 and once in 2012 by James Cameron, and they went down and came back up and those were experimental craft . 极限潜水曾经有过两次尝试, 分别在1960年和2012年 由詹姆斯·卡梅隆实现, 他们下降并且返回, 使用的是实验性的船。
dived:v.(使)潜水;俯冲;(使)跳水;急剧下降;钻研(dive的过去式和过去分词); experimental:adj.实验的;根据实验的;试验性的; craft:n.工艺;船;手艺;飞行器;v.(尤指用手工)精心制作;
This is the first commercially certified submersible that can go up and down thousands of times with two people, including a scientist. 这是第一次商业认证的潜水器, 可以搭载两人上升并且下降数千次, 其中包括了一名科学家。
commercially:adv.商业上;通商上; certified:adj.被证明了的; v.(尤指书面)证明,证实; (certify的过去式和过去分词)
We're very proud that we took down the deepest-diving British citizen in history just three weeks ago, Dr. Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University who was down with us on the Java Trench . 我们非常骄傲, 因为三周前我们拿下了 历史上下潜最深的英国人的记录, 纽卡斯尔大学的艾伦?杰米逊博士 和我们一起下降到爪哇海沟。
Newcastle:n.纽卡斯尔(英国港市); Trench:n.沟,沟渠;战壕;堑壕;vt.掘沟;vi.挖战壕;侵害;
DB: So, not too much freaks you out, is what I'm guessing. DB:我猜,这不会让你感到害怕。
freaks:n.狂热爱好者; v.(使)强烈反应,震惊,畏惧; (freak的第三人称单数和复数)
VV: Well, it's a lot different to go diving. VV:这和潜水太不一样了。
If you're claustrophobic , you do not want to be in the submarine. 如果你有幽闭恐惧症, 你并不想在潜水器里面。
claustrophobic:adj.患幽闭恐怖症的;导致幽闭恐怖症的;n.幽闭恐怖症患者;
We go down quite a distance and the missions typically last eight to nine hours in a confined space. 我们需要下降很长一段距离, 而任务通常在一个狭窄的空间里 持续八到九个小时。
missions:n.任务; v.给…交代任务; (mission的复数) typically:adv.代表性地;作为特色地; confined:adj.狭窄的; v.限制(confine的过去式和过去分词);
It's very different from the career I had previously which was mountain climbing where you're in open spaces, the wind is whipping , it's very cold. 这和我之前的职业都非常不一样, 比如攀岩,你在一个开阔的空间, 风呼啸而过,非常冷。
career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历; previously:adv.先前;以前; whipping:n.鞭打,鞭笞(作为惩罚); v.鞭打; (whip的现在分词)
This is the opposite. It's much more technical . 潜水则完全相反,技术含量更高。
technical:adj.工艺的,科技的;技术上的;专门的;
It's much more about precision in using the instruments and troubleshooting anything that can go wrong. 它涉及更多的是精确地使用仪器 并且排解一切可能的故障。
precision:n.精度,[数]精密度;精确;adj.精密的,精确的; instruments:n.器械;仪器;器具;手段(instrument的复数) troubleshooting:n.解决纷争;发现并修理故障;v.检修(troubleshoot的ing形式);当调解人;
But if something really goes wrong in the submersible, you're not going to know it. 但如果在潜水器里真有什么出错了, 你也不会知道了。
(Laughter) （笑声）
DB: So you're afraid of leaks is what you're saying. DB:所以你是指你担心漏水。
leaks:n.泄漏; v.漏水; (leak的第三人称单数)
VV: Leaks are not good, but if it's a leak that's happening, it's not that bad because if it was really bad you wouldn't know it, again, but -- you know, fire in the capsule , that wouldn't be good either, but it's actually a very safe submersible. VV:漏水的确不是什么好事, 但是如果发生了, 也不算太糟糕,因为真正糟糕的是 你什么都不知道,但是—— 比如小容器里发生火情, 同样也不是什么好事, 但是这实际上是个 非常安全的潜水器。
capsule:n.太空舱;荚;航天舱;(装药物的)胶囊;adj.简略的;小而结实的;v.节略;
I like to say I don't trust a lot of things in life, but I do trust titanium, I trust math and I trust finite element analysis , which is how you figure out whether or not things like this can survive these extraordinary pressures and conditions. 我更愿意说我并不相信 生活里的很多事情, 但是我确实相信钛,我相信数学, 并且我相信有限元分析, 能帮你算出 是否存在这样的东西,可以 在极限压力和条件下存活。
finite:adj.有限的;限定的;n.有限之物; element:n.元素;要素;原理;成分;自然环境; analysis:n.分析;分解;验定; whether or not:是否…; extraordinary:adj.非凡的;特别的;离奇的;临时的;特派的;
DB: And that sphere is so perfectly machined, right? DB:所以这个球体是一个 非常完美的机器,是吗？
This is a truly unique craft. 这确实是一个独一无二的工艺。
unique:adj.独特的,稀罕的;[数]唯一的;n.独一无二的人或物;
VV: That was the real trick -- is actually building a titanium sphere that was accurate to within .1 percent of machine. VV:这里真正的技术是—— 制造一个钛球体, 精确到小于0.1%的加工精度。
accurate:adj.精确的;
Titanium is a hard metal to work and a lot of people haven't figured it out, but we were very fortunate . 钛是一种需要处理的硬质金属, 很多人都没解决这个问题, 我们卓越的团队能够制造出
fortunate:adj.幸运的;交好运的;吉利的;
Our extraordinary team was able to make an almost perfect sphere, which when you're subjecting something to pressure, that's the strongest geometry you can have. 近乎于完美的球体, 当你对东西施加压力时, 这是你能有的最牢固的几何结构。
geometry:n.几何学;几何结构;
When I'm in the submersible and that hatch closes, 当我在潜水器里关闭舱门时,
hatch:n.孵化;舱口;v.孵;策划;孵化;
I'm confident that I'm going to go down and come back up. 我坚信我将会下去并返回来。
confident:adj.自信的;确信的;
DB: And that's the thing you double-check -- that the hatch is closed? DB:这是你需要再三检查的事情—— 舱门有没有关闭？
double-check:v将…仔细检查,复核;n.复核;第二次检查;
VV: There are only two rules in diving a submarine. 第一是安全关闭舱门。
Number one is close the hatch securely . 第一是安全关闭舱门。
securely:adv.安全地;牢固地;安心地;有把握地;
Number two is go back to rule number one. 第二是看第一条。
DB: Alright so, Atlantic Ocean: check. DB:那么,大西洋:完成。
Southern Ocean: check. 南大洋:完成。
VV: No one has ever dived the Southern Ocean before. VV:在这之前没有人潜入过南大洋。
I know why. 我知道原因。
It's really, really hostile . 它的确很不友好。
hostile:adj.敌意的; n.敌对分子;
The weather is awful. 天气非常的糟糕。
The word collision comes to mind. 让人想到“相撞”这个词。
collision:n.抵触;碰撞(或相撞)事故;
But we did that one, yes. 但是我们做到了,是的。
Glad that's over -- DB: Yeah -- 非常高兴我们完成了—— DB:是的——
VV: Thank you. VV:谢谢。
(Applause) （鼓掌）
DB: It's like you're racing through it. DB:就像在赛跑一样。
And now the Indian Ocean, as Kelly mentioned. 像凯利提到的,现在是印度洋。
VV: Yeah, that was three weeks ago. VV:是的,那是三周前。
We were fortunate enough to actually solve the mystery. 我们非常幸运地真正 解开了这个谜团。
If someone had asked me three weeks ago, "What is the deepest point in the Indian Ocean?" -- no one really knew. 如果有人在三周前问我, “印度洋最深的点在哪里？” 没有人真正清楚。
There were two candidates, one off of Western Australia and one in the Java Trench. 有两个备选的地点是, 一个在西澳大利亚附近, 另一个在爪哇海沟里。
We have this wonderful ship with a brilliant sonar . 我们有一艘非常棒的船 和非常出色的声纳。
sonar:n.声纳;声波定位仪(等于asdic);
We mapped both of them. 我们将两个点都绘制了出来。
We sent landers down to the bottom and verified . 我们把着陆器送下底部去确认。
landers:n.着陆舱;[矿]司罐工人;(输送金属用的)斜槽;(landers是lander的复数) verified:adj.已查清的,已证实的;
It's actually in the center portion of the Java Trench, which is where no one thought it was. 那个点实际上是 在爪哇海沟的中央部分, 是一个过去没人认为 是最深处的点。
portion:n.部分;(食物的)一份;分担的责任;v.把…分成若干份(或部分);
In fact, every time we've completed one of our major dives , we have to run off to Wikipedia and change it because it's completely wrong. 事实上,每次我们完成 主要的下潜时, 我们都不得不赶紧 去维基百科更改一下, 因为百科上面完全是错误的。
dives:n.富豪; Wikipedia:维基百科;
(Laughter) （笑声）
DB: So it probably takes longer to get down there than the time you're able to spend down there? DB:那么你下去的时间 比你在下面待的时间更长些吗？
VV: No, we actually spend quite a bit of time. VV:没有,事实上我们 在下面待了挺长时间的。
I have four days of oxygen supply in the vessel. 我们给船舱准备了 四天的氧气供量。
If I'm down there for four days, something's gone so wrong I'm probably not going to use it, but it's about three hours down to the deepest part of the ocean and then we can spend usually three or four hours and then another three hours up. 如果我去下面四天, 发生什么差错我可能就用不到它了, 但下降到海洋最深的部位 大概需要三个小时, 然后我们通常花 三到四个小时在那里, 然后再用3个小时返回上升。
So you don't want to stay in there for more than 10 or 11 hours. 所以你不会想要待在里面 超过10到11个小时,
It can get a little tight. 会觉得有点憋闷。
DB: Alright, so the bottom of the Indian Ocean. DB:好的,所以 印度洋的底部也去过了。
And this is something that no one besides you has ever seen before -- 这是除了你以外 没有人见过的景象——
besides:adv.此外;而且;prep.除…之外;
VV: This is actually imagery from one of our robotic landers. VV:这是从我们其中一个 机器人着陆器传送的图像。
imagery:n.像;意象;比喻;形象化; robotic:adj.机器人的,像机器人的;自动的;n.机器人学;
On the bottom right you can actually see a robust assfish -- that's what it's actually called. 在底部右边你还可以 看见一只强壮的深鼬鱼—— 这就是它本来的名字。
robust:adj.强健的;健康的;粗野的;粗鲁的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But you can see from the left a creature that's never been seen before. 但是你可以从左边 看见一种从来没有见过的生物。
creature:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人;
It's actually a bottom-dwelling jellyfish called a stalked ascidian , and none of them have ever looked like this before. 它其实是一种居住在 海底的水母,叫做跟踪海鞘, 这种形态十分罕见。
bottom-dwelling:底栖生物; jellyfish:n.水母;[无脊椎]海蜇;软弱无能的人; stalked:v.偷偷接近,潜近(猎物或人); (stalk的过去分词和过去式) ascidian:n.海鞘类;
It actually has a small child at the bottom of its stalk, and it just drifted across beautifully. 其实在它的肉茎下面 有一个小水母, 它飘过的样子非常美。
drifted:v.漂流;漂移;缓缓移动;缓慢行走;(drift的过去分词和过去式)
So every single dive we have gone on, even though we're only down there for a couple of hours, we have found three or four new species because these are places that have been isolated for billions of years 所以我们进行的每一次下潜, 尽管我们只在下面待上几个小时, 却发现了三到四种新的物种, 因为这些地方已经隔离了数十亿年,
species:n.[生物]物种;种类; isolated:adj.偏远的; v.隔离,孤立,脱离;
and no human being has ever been down there to film them or take samples. 人类从来没有到达过这里 去拍摄它们或者取样。
And so this is extraordinary for us -- 这就是我们的非凡之处——
(Applause) （鼓掌）
So what we are hoping -- the main objective of our mission is to build this tool. 所以我们希望的是—— 我们的主要目的是打造这个工具。
objective:n.目标; adj.客观的;
This tool is a door, because with this tool, we'll be able to make more of them potentially and take scientists down to do thousands of dives, to open that door to exploration and find things that we had no idea even existed. 这个工具就是一扇门, 因为有了这个工具, 我们能够发展壮大, 一次又一次带科学家下去, 打开这扇门来进行勘探, 发现我们甚至想象不到的生物。
potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地;
DB: And so more people have been to space than the bottom of the ocean. DB:所以去过宇宙的人 比去过海底的人多。
You're one of three. 你是三个人中的一员。
You're going to up that number, you're going to give it away. 你将会增加这个人数, 你将会把这个工具分享出去。
VV: Yeah, three people have dived to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. VV:是的,有三个人 下潜到了太平洋海底。
The USS Trieste in 1960 with two individuals. 1960年美国的 里雅斯特号带着两个人。
James Cameron in 2012 with his Deep Sea Challenger -- thank you, Jim, great sub. 2012年詹姆斯·卡梅隆和他的深海挑战号—— 谢谢你,詹姆斯,非常棒。
This is a third-generation technology . 这是第三代的技术。
technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
We're not only going to try and go down, actually in two weeks, but we're going to try and do it multiple times, which has never been done before. 实际上在接下来的两周内, 我们不但会试着下潜, 我们还会多尝试几次, 这是以前从来没有被尝试过的。
multiple:adj.数量多的;多种多样的;n.倍数;
If we can do that, we'll have proven the technology and that door will not just go open, it will stay open. 如果我们能够做到, 我们将会证明这个技术
(Applause) （鼓掌）
DB: Fantastic . Good luck. DB:太了不起了。祝你好运。
Fantastic:奇异的,空想的
VV: Thank you very much. DB: Thank you. VV:谢谢。 DB:谢谢。
VV: Thank you all. VV:谢谢大家。
(Applause) （鼓掌）