纪录片《火星任务》 第36期 地外生命

Even in the best-case scenario¹,

即使在最好的情况下

the environment on early Mars

早期火星的环境

would still have been pretty hostile.

依然非常恶劣

So to understand if extraterrestrial life could have formed,

想了解地外生命是否曾经出现

astrobiologists like Lewis Dartnell need to find out

刘易斯·达特内尔等天体生物学家要找出

the most extreme conditions

生命可以存活的

in which life could still survive.

最极端条件

They do it by looking for the limits of life here on Earth.

他们要在地球上 探索生命的极限

Searching out harsh, dangerous environments,

搜索危险 恶劣的环境

places where we used to think life could never exist.

我们曾经认为 那里不会有生命存在

A lot of what we're trying to do

我们的主要目标

is understand the limits of terrestrial organisms.

是弄清地球生物的极限

What's the survival envelope of Earth life,

地球生命的生存极限在哪里

so places that are very hot and acidic

是炎热且酸性的土地

or are very cold and dry, like Antarctica,

还是严寒干旱的土地 比如南极洲

or some very high-pressure, very high temperature places,

又或者是高温高压的地方

like the black smokers²

像是海底"黑烟囱"

and the hydrothermal vents³ on the sea floor.

和海床上的深海热泉

1 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

2 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

3 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。