VOA慢速英语2012 IN THE NEWS - Scientists May Have Found 'God Particle'

 

IN THE NEWS - Scientists May Have Found 'God Particle'

新闻报道 - 科学家们可能发现了“上帝粒子”

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。

This week, scientists in Switzerland reported a big discovery about a very small particle. They think they have finally found a Higgs boson, or what some people call the "God particle." It could answer some basic questions about the universe and the creation of planets and life. Rolf Heuer is the director-general of CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, which reported the find.

本周，身处瑞士的科学家报告了有关一种非常微小的粒子的大发现。他们认为自己终于找到了希格斯玻色子，也就是一些人所说的“上帝粒子”。这种粒子可以回答有关宇宙，以及行星和生命形成的一些基本问题。罗尔夫·豪雅是欧洲核子研究中心总干事。

ROLF HEUER: "I think we have a success today. We have a discovery. We have discovered a new particle, a boson -- most probably a Higgs boson, but we have to find out which kind of Higgs boson this is. Does it have the properties which we expect from the Standard Model? If not, what are its properties and where do they point to?"

豪雅：“我认为我们今天成功了。我们有了发现。我们发现了一种新粒子，一种玻色子，它最可能是希格斯玻色子，但我们必须找出它属于希格斯玻色子的哪种类型。它是否具备我们根据标准模型预测的那些属性？如果不具备这些属性，它的属性是什么？又指向何方？”

In particle physics, the Standard Model is sometimes called "a theory of almost everything" that affects how subatomic particles interact and affect each other. Subatomic means smaller than an atom.

在粒子物理学中，标准模型有时被称为影响到亚原子粒子如何互相作用和影响的“万有理论” 。亚原子是指比原子还小。

Scientists believe the Higgs boson could explain how matter gets its mass. Mass is the amount of material in an object that gives it weight in the presence of gravity.

科学家认为，希格斯玻色子可以解释物质如何获得其质量。质量是物体中在重力下赋予其重量的的物质总量。

The subatomic particle that scientists have found fits the description of the Higgs boson predicted by physicist¹ Peter Higgs. Scientists have been searching for it for forty-five years. Peter Higgs attended the event at CERN on Wednesday but did not want to say much about the findings.

科学家发现的这种亚原子粒子符合物理学家彼得·希格斯（Peter Higgs）预言的希格斯玻色子的描述。45年来科学家们一直在寻找这种粒子。希格斯出席了欧洲核子研究中心的活动，但对这一发现不想说太多。

PETER HIGGS: "I think it is not appropriate for me to answer any detailed² questions at this stage. This is an occasion celebrating an experimental achievement, and I should congratulate the people involved."

希格斯：“我认为这一阶段我不适合回答任何细节问题。这是庆祝这一实验成果的时刻，我应该祝贺所有参与者。” 

Theorists believe the Higgs boson existed only during the first millionth of a millionth of a second after the Big Bang. That was the huge explosion when the universe was created more than thirteen billions years ago. Physicists³ at CERN are trying to recreate the high energies that existed at the time of the Big Bang.

理论学家认为，希格斯玻色子只存在于宇宙大爆炸后的十万亿分之一秒，这是130亿年前宇宙形成时的大爆炸。欧洲核子研究中心的物理学家们正在试图重建宇宙大爆炸时期存在的高能量。

CERN has the world's biggest atom-smasher, the Large Hadron Collider. This ten-billion-dollar collider produces high-energy crashes to investigate mysteries like dark matter and the creation of the universe. The results presented Wednesday are based on findings collected last year and this year from two experiments, called Atlas⁴ and CMS.

欧洲核子研究中心拥有全球最大的原子加速器，即大型强子对撞机。这一价值100亿美元的对撞机能产生高能撞击来研究暗物质和宇宙形成之类的悬念。周三提出的这一结果是基于去年和今年两项实验的发现，这两项实验被称为ATLSA和CMS。

The scientists involved say more research must be done to be sure of their results. However, a spokesman for one of the experiment teams, Joe Incandela, says the boson is unlike any particle found so far.

参与的科学家表示必须进行更多实验来确定这一结果。然而，实验小组之一的发言人乔·因坎代拉（Joe Incandela）表示，玻色子不同于迄今发现的任何粒子。

JOE INCANDELA: "We are reaching into the fabric⁵ of the universe at a level we have never done before. This is telling us something. It is key to the structure of the universe. We are on the frontier now. We are at the edge of a new exploration and this could open up -- maybe we see nothing extraordinary, and we understand that maybe this is the only part of the story that is left. Or maybe we open up a whole new realm of discovery."

因坎代拉：“我们以一种从未达到的高度深入到了宇宙的结构。这告诉了我们一些东西，而它是宇宙结构的关键。我们现在处于前沿，处于一种全新探索的边缘。这可能会开辟---也许我们看上去没什么不寻常，但我们明白可能这是粒子物理学最后的悬念，又或者也许我们会开启一个全新的发现领域。”

CERN had been planning to shut down its atom-smasher for two years for maintenance work. But because of these results, it will keep the Large Hadron Collider in service for another two to three months.

欧洲核子研究中心曾计划关闭其原子加速器两年以便维护。但由于这些研究结果，该中心将保持大型强子对撞机继续工作2到3个月。

About two hundred people gathered at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in the United States at two o'clock in the morning to watch the announcement from Geneva. Fermilab's Robert Roser points out the scientists at CERN were careful to say they found a "Higgs-like" object.

200来人凌晨2点钟聚集在美国费米国立加速器实验室观看来自日内瓦的这次通告。费米实验室的罗伯特·罗瑟（Robert Roser）指出，欧洲核子研究中心的科学家们非常谨慎地表示他们发现类似希格斯玻色子的物体。

ROBERT ROSER: "It’s a subtle difference and so what they will do over the course of the many years, they will start to investigate all of its properties to see if it acts, if it smells, tastes, and behaves the way they expect it to."

罗瑟：“这有细微区别，所以在多年研究后他们将怎么做？他们将开始调查其所有属性，以确定其是否像他们预料的那样。”

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

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Contributing: Kane Farabaugh and Lisa Schlein

1 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

4 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

5 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。