TED演讲:创造历史的黑洞图像(1)

Shep, thank you so much for coming. I think your plane landed literally¹ two hours ago in Vancouver.

克里斯·谢普，感谢你的到来。我听说你乘坐的航班两个小时前刚到达温哥华。

Such a treat to have you. So, talk us through how do you get from Einstein's equation to a black hole?

非常高兴今天你能来这里。那么，给我们讲讲你是如何从爱因斯坦方程式中提取黑洞信息的？

Over 100 years ago, Einstein came up with this geometric theory of gravity which deforms² space-time.

100多年前，爱因斯坦提出了引力的几何理论，这个理论改变了时空。

So, matter deforms space-time, and then space-time tells matter in turn how to move around it.

所以，物质改变了时空，而时空反过来规定了物质的运行规律。

And you can get enough matter into a small enough region that it punctures⁴ space-time,

你可以将足够多的物质聚集到一个非常小的空间里撞击时空，

and that even light can't escape, the force of gravity keeps even light inside.

即使是光也无法逃离，引力的作用会使得光困在里面。

And so, before that, the reason the Earth moves around the Sun is not because the Sun is pulling the Earth as we think,

在那之前，地球之所以围绕太阳公转的理由并不是我们以为的太阳吸引着地球，

but it's literally changed the shape of space so that we just sort of fall around the Sun.

而是字面意义上的太阳改变了宇宙的形状，所以地球可以说是正在向太阳靠近并公转。

Exactly, the geometry of space-time tells the Earth how to move around the Sun.

没错，时空的几何结构规定了地球围绕太阳公转的轨道。

You're almost seeing a black hole puncture³ through space-time,

你几乎能看到一个黑洞穿过时空，

and when it goes so deeply in, then there's a point at which light orbits the black hole.

当它进入很深的时候，在某个时刻光就会围绕黑洞运转。

And so that's, I guess, is what's happening here. This is not an image,

我猜这就是现在我们所看到的景象。这不是一张照片，

this is a computer simulation of what we always thought, like, the event horizon around the black hole.

这是电脑模拟下我们所想象的在黑洞周围的事件视界。

Until last week, we had no idea what a black hole really looked like.

直到上周，我们才知道黑洞的真实样貌。

The best we could do were simulations like this in supercomputers,

我们所能做的就是用超级电脑构建类似的模拟场景，

but even here you see this ring of light, which is the orbit of photons.

但即使是现在，你看到的这个光圈，其实是光子的运行轨道，

That's where photons literally move around the black hole,

它展现了光子围绕黑洞的运行轨道，

and around that is this hot gas that's drawn⁵ to the black hole, and it's hot because of friction⁶.

在它的周围是高热气体，被拉近黑洞，它们之所以很热是因为摩擦。

All this gas is trying to get into a very small volume, so it heats up.

这些气体试图压缩体积，所以它们的温度会上升。

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 deforms   

使变形，使残废，丑化( deform的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Bad rheumatoid arthritis deforms limbs. 严重的类风湿性关节炎会造成四肢变形。
• The specimen deforms under a tensile stress applied parallel to the fibres. 试样在平行于纤维的张应力作用下发生变形。

3 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

4 punctures   

n.（尖物刺成的）小孔( puncture的名词复数 )；（尤指）轮胎穿孔；（尤指皮肤上被刺破的）扎孔；刺伤v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的第三人称单数 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气

参考例句：

• My car has had two punctures this week. 这个星期我的汽车轮胎被戳破两次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• SCULLY: Needle punctures, maybe. An animal bite. Electrocution of some kind. 针刺的，也许。动物的咬伤。某种电击。 来自互联网

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。