《时代经典用词》科技篇 天文学、地质学

quasar
类星体
But that theory received a jolt from another astronomical discovery announced this week.
但是，在本周，那个理论因一项新的天文发现而受到抨击。
Scientists from Caltech,Princeton,and the Institute for Advanced Study have detected the most distant quasar(an exceptionally bright starlike object)everspotted.
那就是加州理工学院、普林斯顿大学以及高等研究学院的科学家发现一个截至目前为止最远的类星体
Since the light arriving from the quasars began its journey billions of years ago.
来自类星体的光从数十亿年前就开始了它们的旅程，所以在宇宙诞生初期，
there must have been more iron when the universe was young than there is now
一定比现在拥有更多的铁
an astonishing conclusion,since iron is manufactured in stars and should have been scarce in the early universe.
这是一项惊人的结论，因为铁是在星球内部制造产生的，在宇宙初期应该比较稀少才对
Bolton's major achievement was his 1984 identification of certain radio waves as emanating from other galaxies.
波顿的主要成就，是在1948年辨识出某些无线电波系发自其他星系。
He also played a crucial role on the team that first identified quasars
他同时也在埋首发现类星体的研究小组中扮演着重要的角色，
the distant radiant bodies believed to be the cores of young galaxies.
类星体是一些遥远的发光体，都认为是早期星系的核心。
SETI
探索宇宙生命智慧计划
While some astronomers searched for planets
当某些天文学家在找寻行星的时候，
others tried to detect intelligent alien life directly
有些人却试图直接探索宇宙具有智慧的生命。
In 1960,astronomer Frank Drake started Project Ozma,an attempt to look seriously for radio signals from alien civilization.
在1960年，天文学家德雷克开始进行Ozma计划，企图仔细找寻宇宙文明所发出的无线电信号。
It was the first in what became a series of experiments in SETI,the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
这是后来一连串探索宇宙生命智慧计划当中的第一个，
Several are still going on,but so far without success.
有几个计划尚在进行当中，但到目前为止尚无所获。。
Supernova
超新星
While computer tricks have helped the Hubble get a good look at a distant supernova and storms on Saturn,
尽管电脑技术已给帮助哈伯观测卫星看清楚了远处的超新星及土星的暴风团，
the telescope's accomplishments have fallen fas short of expectations,and its crppled condition has grown progressively worse.
但是这个太空望远镜的成绩比原先预期的要差得多，而且它的故障问题越来越严重。
Not that PSR2224+65 is in any sense an ordinary star.
这并不表示PSR2224+65是一颗普通的星球。
It is a pulsar,the superdense ash left behind when a star exploded-about a million years ago in the phenomenon known as a supernova.
实际上它是个脉冲星，是大约100万年前，在所谓的超新星现象中发生星球爆炸后遗留下来的超级紧密的灰渣
Said Simon & Schuster publisher Jack McKeown
西蒙·舒斯特出版公司的麦克寇恩说：
Booksellers are telling us it's the fastest-selling book they've ever experienced
书商告诉我们，这是他们所经历售最快的书籍，
Enthused Matthew Goldberg,merchandise manager for the Doubleday chain
而双日连锁书局的经理高柏格很兴奋扭亏为盈托运费说
It's not only hot it's supernova hot."
这不只是热门，根本是超级热门。
white dwarf
白矮星
Not only was NASA's Hubble repair mission an unqualified success
美国航空暨太空总署的哈伯卫星修复计划完全成功
(boosting the agency's chances of getting funding for its next big project,the space station.)
but astronomers now have a scientific tool of unprecedented power
不仅如此，天文学家也有了一项前所未有的观测利器。
Discoveries black holes white dwarfs,new solar systems could pour in for years to come.
有关黑洞、白矮星及新太阳系的发现在未来将纷至沓来。

A Shot Across the Earth's Bow
地球小心
1.At the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory,
在亚利桑那大学史都华天文台中，
Timothy Spahr,26,peered through a stereoscopic microscope,shook his head and looked again.
26岁的史巴尔向立体影像显微镜里瞄了一眼，摇摇头，再重看一次。
In the combined image of two telescopic photos he had shot 30minutes apart a few nights earlier
那是前几天晚上他用望远镜间隔30分钟拍下的两张照片的合成影像
a bright dot with a small tail stood out starkly against the background of fixed stars
在繁多的恒星衬托这下，有一个拖着小尾巴的大光点，相当突出。
"I was extremely excited,heart pounding and all that stuff,"saysSpahr,
“我非常兴奋、心砰砰跳……等等感觉全涌上心头，”史巴尔说。
a graduate student from the University of Florida who was wurveying the skies for undiscovered asteroies.
他是佛罗里达大学的研究生，来这里扫瞄天空，寻找新的小行星。
He immediately shot and developed a second set of photos,and was shocked to see that in just two days the dot had doubled in size and speed.
他立即再拍了一组照片，冲洗出来后大吃一惊：仅仅两天的功夫，光点的大小和速度都增加了一倍。
To Spahr,it seemed apparent that a large asteroid was barreling toward Earth.
史巴尔立即人定有颗大体积的小行星正向地球冲来。
2."My own feelings went from disbelief to excitement to downrightfear,"
我自已的感觉先是不相信，然后是兴奋，最后就完全是恐惧，
says Spahr's survey partner,Carl Hergenrother,23,
史巴尔的研究伙伴，23岁的赫根若瑟说
an Arizona undergraduate who verified the find with a 230cm telescope atop nearby Kitt Peak,
他是亚利难能可贵那大学的大学生，在附近的凯特峰顶上用一具230厘米直径的望远镜证实了这项发现。
"It was scary,because there was the possibility that we were confirming the demise of some city somewhere,or some state or small country."
“很吓人，因为我们有可能正在证实某处有个城市，甚至一个州或者一个小国家，即将毁灭。
3.Well,not quite.Early last week,four days after Spahr spotted it ,
还好不尽属实。上个礼拜初，在史巴尔发现之后的第四天。
his celestial interloper whizzed by Earth,missing the planet by 450620km
这个星际入侵者在地球左近呼啸而过，只差450620公里就击中
a hairbreadth in astronomical terms.
这在天文学上算是间不容发的距离。
Perhaps half a kilometer across,it was the largest object ever observed to pass that close to Earth.
它直径约半公里，是目前观测以的以如此相近距离通过地球的最大物体。
4.Duncan Steel,an Australian astronomer,has calculated that
澳大利亚天文学家斯蒂尔计算过
if the asteroid had struck Earth,it would have hit at some 93450km/h
如果这个小行星撞上地球，速度大约是每小时93450公里。
The resulting explosion,scientists estimate,would have been in the 3000-to-12000-megaton range.
科学家估计产生的爆炸威力大约在3000到1200个兆吨级之间。。
That,says astronomer Eugene Shoemaker,a pioneer asteroid and comet hunter
寻找小行星与慧星的前辈天文学家舒梅克说：
"is like taking all of the U.S. and Soviet nuclear weapons,putting them in one pile and blowing them all up."
“威力相当于把美、苏的核武器通通放在一堆引爆。
5.For many astronomers,last week's near-miss of asteroid 1996JAI,as it has been officially designated,was a kind of warning shot across Earth's bow.
许多天文学家认为，上周这颗正式命名为1996JAI的小行星险些命中地球，无异是一枚飞越船头的警示性炮击
They have been trying to convince the would-with only modest success-that asteroids like this one represent a clear and present danger.
他们一直想说服世人，像这样的小行星代表明确而且是当前的危机
To meet that threat,they have proposed a network of computer-monitored telescopes
为了应付这个威胁，他们提议设立一套由电脑监控的望远镜网
that would seek out threatening asteroids or comets in plenty of time to fend them off with appropriately designed long-range missiles. 

以及早找出有威胁性的小行星或彗星，然后用特别设计的远程导弹把它们挡开。
6.As astronomer Steel dryly noted in an E-mail message sent to colleagues around the world
天文学家斯蒂尔发了一封电子邮件信息给世界各地的同行在其中他以就事论事的口吻说：
"It might be a useful point to make that this object was discovered only...days before closest approach
“有一点或许应该提出：这个物体仅在最接近地球之前数天发现，
so that if it had been on a collision course with Earth,we would not have had time to do anything much about it.
如果它的路线是和地球相撞，我们也不会有多少时间来应付。”
7.It's also worth pointing out that
还有一点也应该提出
1996JAl is hardly unique.
1996JAl绝非独一无二的。
Neighboring space teems with many more so-called Near Earth Objects,asteroids and comets with orbits that pass close to Earth's path around the sun.
在附近的太空中充斥着所谓的“近地体”（NEO），也就是小行星与彗星，其轨道和地球环绕太阳的轨道有接近之处。
More than 100NEOS big enough to cause the kind of worldwide disaster that wiped out the dinosaurs(a kilometer across or larger)have already been identified and charted.
已经有100多个庞大的NEO被辨认出来，绘入图表。这些NEO的大小（直径1公里以上）足以造成像从前消灭掉恐龙的那种世界大灾难。
But Eleanor Helin,an astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California,notes that an estimated 2000 more of these mountain-size hulks may be luking undetected out there,
加州帕萨迪那市喷气推进实验室的天文学家海琳则表示，估计另处还有2000个像座小山大小的庞然巨物可能潜伏在太空中尚未探测出来。
to say nothing of a few hundred thousand smaller but still worricome boulder-size objects.
至于说体积较小，但仍有巨石规模，很令人担心的物体，那就更不用提了，有几十万个。
8.By identifying most of these asteroids and plotting their orbits asronomers insist
天文学家坚称，只要把这些小行星大部分辨识出来，测绘其轨迹，
they could predict many years in advance if any were destined to strike Earth.
就可预测多年后哪一些会撞上地球。
Most of the large ones,they say,could be cataloged within a decade,given the necessary funding,
他们表示，比较大的差不多都可以在10年内编列成目录，只要经费不缺。
But budgets are tight in the U.S.,congressional support is lacking,
可是美国的预算很紧，国会并不支持，
and NASA has opted to continue only its relatively modest $1 million annual support for three independent groups with telescopes specifically dedicated to NEO hunting.
航太总署也决定只继续供应相当有限有一年100万美元的援助给三个独立的团体这些团体的望远镜是专门用来寻找NEO的。
These teams are headed by Tom Gehrels at the University of Arizona,Helin at J.P.L. and Shoemaker at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff,Arizona.
分别是葛罗斯主持的亚利桑那大学小姐，海琳在喷气推进实验室的小组，以及舒梅克在亚利桑那州旗竿市罗威尔天文台的小组。
9.Even with NASA's support,the NEO hunters have had to scrounge from industry and other donors for much of their equipment
虽然有航太总署援助这些搜寻NEO的团体还是得向工业界与捐赠者多方寻求赞助，大部分的设备都是这样来的。
"Times have been very lean in this past year,"says Helin."There've been times when I was receiving no salary at all."
海琳说：“这一年来实在很不景气，有时候我完全领不到薪水。”
Despite the travails,however,Shoemaker is confident that
虽然困难重重，舒梅克却有信心，
improving technology will enable astronomers,even at the current level of funding,to identify perhaps 50% of the NEOs in the next decade.
技术的改良会让天文学家即使以目前的经费水平也能在10年内辨认出大约50%的NEO
10.And what if one of them is found to be on a collision course with Earth?
如果发现有一颗小行星会和地球相撞该怎么办？
Scientists at the national laboratories at Livermore,California,and Los Alamos,New Mexico,have devised a number of ingenious plans that given enough warning time,could protect Earth from a threatening NEO. 

加州利物摩市与新墨西哥阿拉莫市两处国家实验室的科学家设计了几种巧妙的计划。只要有足够的预警时间，就能保护地球免于NEO的威胁。
Their defensive weapons of choice include long-distance missiles with conventional or,more likely,nuclear warheads that could be used either to nudge an asteroid into a safe orbit or blast it to smithereens.
他们精选的防卫武器包括远程导弹配上传统弹头，可以把小行星推上安全的轨道，或者炸得粉碎。
11.Many people-including some astronomers-are understandably nervous about putting a standby squadron of nucleartipped missiles in place
要部署一个大队的核弹头导弹备用，当然会让许多人很紧张——包括一些天文学家在内。
Hence the latest strategy,which in some cases would obviate the need for a nuclear defense
所以才提出了最新的策略，在有些状况可以不必动用核武器，
propelling a fusillade of cannonball-size steel spheres at an approaching asteroid.
发射一连串如炮弹大小的钢球去撞击来袭的小行星。
In a high-velocity encounter with a speeding NEO,explains Gregory Canavan,a senior scientist at Los Alamos,
阿拉莫市的资深科学家卡纳凡解释说：他飞驰的小行星高速撞击之下
"the kinetic energy of the balls would change into heat energy and blow the thing apart."
钢球的动能会转变成热能，把小行星炸开来
12.Some astronomers oppose any immediate defensive preparations
有些天文学家不赞成立即展开防御准备，
citing the high costs and low odds of a large object's striking Earth in the coming decades.
表示成本太高，而且在往后的几十年有大型物体撞上地球的机率甚低。
But at the very least,Shoemaker contends,NEO detection should be accelerated
舒梅克则辨称，最低限度也得加快NEO的探测的脚步。
"There's this thing called the 'iggle factor'in Congress,"he says.
他说：“国会中有所谓的笑料存在。
"people in Congress and also at the top level in NASA still don't take it seriously.
国会议员和航空暨航天总署高层官员还是不盒正视这个问题。
But we should move ahead.It's a matter of prudence."
可是我们应该未雨绸缪，这才是审慎的作法。”
13.The world,however,still seems largely unconcerned with the danger posed by large bodies hurtling in from space
可是世人好像还是漠不关心，对从宇宙飞来的巨大物体造成的危险不甚在意
despite the spectacle two years ago of Comet Shoemaker-levy 9 riddling the planet Jupiter with mammoth explosions
尽管两年前曾发生舒梅克-李维9号彗星扫射木星，造成大爆炸的奇观。
It remains to be seen whether last week's record nearmiss has changed any minds.
上周破记录的近距离擦肩而过，是不是能改变一些人的想法，还有待观察。