-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
In Southwest China, A 'Very Large Eyeball' Peers Into Deep Space
play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0004:17repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser1 to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
For centuries before the modern age, China was on the cutting edge of science. The country is investing heavily today to try to reclaim2 some of that former glory. And one example is the world's largest radio telescope. NPR's Anthony Kuhn paid it a visit.
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE3: From above, the telescope looks like a giant, silver dish nestled among the jagged, green mountains of southwest China's Guizhou Province. I'm standing4 on the edge of it with the project's lead scientist, Zhu Ming.
ZHU MING: (Through interpreter) The circular beam we're looking at is a support structure. It supports a network of more than 2,000 cables. The cables are covered with more than 4,400 panels. The cables can be pulled to adjust the shape of the dish.
KUHN: That allows it to track an object as the Earth turns. It can stay fixed5 on a certain object that it's looking at like a pulsar or something. Is that right?
ZHU: Yes.
KUHN: Scientists used satellites to scour6 the country for just the right location for the dish, Zhu says.
ZHU: (Through interpreter) You've got a town just two or three miles from here. And the signals from the cellphones, microwave ovens, cars, cameras and digital devices there would all be too great, if not for these mountains.
KUHN: Now I get it. The natural environment here is sort of like a giant egg cup. You've got these beautiful, karst mountains blocking out all the interference, all the noise, all the radiation. Wow, I'm really hearing that sound of the wind.
ZHU: Yes (laughter).
KUHN: It's an amazing sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF WIND BLOWING THROUGH RADIO TELESCOPE)
KUHN: The dish's aluminum7 panels are full of holes. When the wind blows through them, it generates an eerie8, buzzing roar that seems straight out of a sci-fi flick9 soundtrack.
(SOUNDBITE OF WIND BLOWING THROUGH RADIO TELESCOPE)
KUHN: Not far from the dish is its control center. Here, supercomputers process the data, the radio traffic of the universe picked up by the telescope. Zhu Ming says that the telescope will help discover thousands of new galaxies10 and observe the hydrogen clouds from which stars and planets are born. Before that, though, a lot of work is required to calibrate11 and focus the telescope. While they do that, they'll be observing a special kind of star called a pulsar.
ZHU: (Through interpreter) For our test observations, we're looking at pulsars. Pulsars pulsate12 at precise intervals13, like a light in a lighthouse.
KUHN: That allows you to both measure time and space.
ZHU: Yeah.
KUHN: Right? It helps you to calculate distances and positions and to look backward in time...
ZHU: Yes.
KUHN: ...To see what the universe used to look like.
ZHU: Yes.
KUHN: Scientists will also use the telescope to study gravitational radiation and other phenomena14 that could hold the key to time travel. They'll also scan the universe for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.
PETER QUINN: It's obviously a very large eyeball.
KUHN: Peter Quinn is the director of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research at the University of Western Australia, which helped build the telescope's receivers. He and other foreign scientists will have access to some of the project's data. Quinn says that telescope-building has recently entered a golden age, producing tools that are many times more powerful than those of a generation or so ago. But he adds that making scientific breakthroughs requires more than just technology; it also takes human curiosity and a good bit of luck.
QUINN: The most enduring characteristic of telescopes seems to be that they always find things we don't expect.
KUHN: One unexpected consequence is that in order to scan the heavens, local government had to move about 9,000 people here on Earth. Farmer Shen Minghua lives in a village just outside the entrance to the telescope. He says the local government is giving residents the lowest possible compensation for their land. He says some who did not cooperate were beaten or jailed.
SHEN MINGHUA: (Through interpreter) Our ancestors have lived here for generations. Now they've built this observatory15 here. It's good for the nation, but not for us ordinary folks. Folks have to move elsewhere. They have no homes and no way to make a living.
KUHN: The farmers are challenging their relocation in court. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Pingtang County, Guizhou Province.
1 browser | |
n.浏览者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 reclaim | |
v.要求归还,收回;开垦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 scour | |
v.搜索;擦,洗,腹泻,冲刷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 aluminum | |
n.(aluminium)铝 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 eerie | |
adj.怪诞的;奇异的;可怕的;胆怯的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 flick | |
n.快速的轻打,轻打声,弹开;v.轻弹,轻轻拂去,忽然摇动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 galaxies | |
星系( galaxy的名词复数 ); 银河系; 一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 calibrate | |
校准;使合标准;测量(枪的)口径 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 pulsate | |
v.有规律的跳动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 phenomena | |
n.现象 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 observatory | |
n.天文台,气象台,瞭望台,观测台 | |
参考例句: |
|
|