演講MP3+雙語文稿:你的身體是在恒星的壯麗死亡中鍛造出來的

聽力課堂TED音頻欄目主要包括TED演講的音頻MP3及中英雙語文稿，供各位英語愛好者學(xué)習(xí)使用。本文主要內(nèi)容為演講MP3+雙語文稿:你的身體是在恒星的壯麗死亡中鍛造出來的，希望你會喜歡！

【演講人】Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz

【演講主題】《你的身體是在恒星的壯麗死亡中鍛造出來的》

【演講文稿-中英文】

翻譯者 Wanting Zhong 校對 Jingdan Niu

We are all atomicallyconnected.Fundamentally, universally.But what does that mean?

我們?nèi)加稍舆B接在一起。這是放之四海皆準的基本規(guī)律。但這是什么意思呢？

I'm an astrophysicist, andas such,it is my responsibility to trace the cosmic historyof everysingle one of your atoms.In fact, I would saythat one of thegreatest achievements of modern astronomyis the understanding of how ouratoms were actually put together.While hydrogen and helium weremadeduring the first two minutes of the big bang,the origin ofheavy elements,such as the iron in your blood, the oxygen we're breathing,thesilicone in your computers,lies in the life cycle of stars.

作為一個天體物理學(xué)家， 我的職責(zé)是，追溯構(gòu)成你的每一個原子的宇宙歷史。事實上，我應(yīng)該這么說：現(xiàn)代天文學(xué)最偉大的成就之一是理解我們的原子是怎樣組裝的。雖說氫和氦是在大爆炸的最初兩分鐘誕生的，重元素的起源，比如說血液中的鐵， 呼吸出的氧，電腦里的硅，都棲身于恒星的 整個生命周期之中。

Nuclear reactions take lighter elements and transform them into heavier ones,and that causes stars to shineand ultimately explode,therefore enriching the universe with these heavy elements.So without stellar deaththerewould be no oxygenor other elements heavier than hydrogen and helium,andtherefore, there would be no life.There are more atoms in ourbodiesthan stars in the universe.And these atoms are extremelydurable.The origins of our atomscan be traceable to stars thatmanufactured them in their interiorsand exploded them all across theMilky Way,billions of years ago.And I should know this,because I am indeed a certified stellar mortician.

核反應(yīng)將較輕的元素 轉(zhuǎn)換成更重的元素，這使得星辰閃耀，最終爆發(fā)，從而讓宇宙充滿了重元素。如果沒有恒星的死亡，也就不會有氧，或者其他比氫和氦更重的元素，生命也就無從誕生。我們身體中原子的數(shù)量比宇宙中星星的數(shù)量還多。而這些原子極其耐久。我們的原子的起源可以追溯到數(shù)十億年前， 它們在恒星的內(nèi)部被制造出來，隨后在爆炸中噴射到銀河的各個角落。而我理應(yīng)對此了如指掌，因為我是名副其實 受認證的星星葬儀師。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And today, I want to takeyou on a journey that starts in a supernova explosionand ends with theair that we're breathing right now.So what is our body madeof?Ninety-six percent consists of only four elements:hydrogen,carbon, oxygen and nitrogen.Now the main character of this cosmic tale isoxygen.Not only is the vast majority of our bodies made ofoxygen,but oxygen is the one element fighting to protect life onearth.The vast majority of oxygen in the universewas indeedproduced over the entire history of the universein these supernovaexplosions.These supernova explosions signal the demise of very massivestars.And for a brilliant month,one supernova explosion can bebrighter than an entire galaxycontaining billions of stars.That istruly remarkable.

今天，我想帶領(lǐng)大家踏上一段旅程， 由超新星爆炸開始，在我們此刻呼吸的空氣中結(jié)束。我們的身體是由什么構(gòu)成的？其中 96% 的組織僅由四種元素構(gòu)成：氫、碳、氧、氮。這個宇宙故事的主角是氧。氧不僅是我們身體的主要成分，也是在地球上努力保護 生命的那個元素。宇宙中絕大部分的氧確實是在整個宇宙的歷史中， 在這些超新星爆炸時制造出來的。這些超新星爆炸 宣告著非常巨大的恒星的逝去。在這光輝炫目的一整個月中，一次超新星爆炸可能比包含了數(shù)十億星星 的整個星系還要明亮。這真的令人嘆為觀止。

That is because massivestars burn brighterand have a spectacular death, compared to otherstars.Nuclear fusion is really the lifeblood of all stars,includingthe sun,and as a result is the root source of all the energy onearth.You can think of stars as these fusion factorieswhich arepowered by smashing atoms togetherin their hot and dense interiors.Now, stars like our sun,which are relatively small,burn hydrogen into helium,but heavier stars of about eight times the mass of the suncontinue this burning cycleeven after theyexhausted their helium in their cores.

那是因為比起其他星星， 巨大的恒星燃燒得更加耀眼，死亡得也更加輝煌。核聚變可以說是 所有恒星的命脈，包括太陽，因此也是地球上所有能源的根源。你可以把恒星想象成核聚變工廠，在它們灼熱而致密的內(nèi)部， 互相沖撞的原子為工廠提供著動力。比較小的恒星，比如我們的太陽，燃燒氫形成氦，但質(zhì)量是太陽大約八倍 的更重的恒星即使在耗盡了內(nèi)核的氦之后，依然繼續(xù)這個燃燒的循環(huán)。

So at this point,themassive star is left with a carbon core,which, as you know, is thebuilding block of life.This carbon core continues to collapseand asa result, the temperature increases,which allows further nuclearreactions to take place,and carbon then burns into oxygen,into neon, silicon, sulphurand ultimately iron.And iron is the end.Why?Becauseiron is the most bound nuclei in the universe,which means that we cannotextract energy by burning iron.So when the entire core of the massivestar is made of iron,it's run out of fuel.And that's an incrediblybad day for a star.

那么這時，巨大的恒星 只剩下一個碳核心，我們都知道，碳也是生命的基石。這個碳核心繼續(xù)坍縮，造成溫度升高，進而導(dǎo)致更多核反應(yīng)發(fā)生，碳進一步燃燒成為氧，成為氖、硅、硫，最終形成鐵。鐵是整個過程的終點。為什么？因為鐵是宇宙中 結(jié)合得最穩(wěn)定的原子核，也就是說我們無法 通過燃燒鐵獲取能量。當大恒星的整個內(nèi)核充滿了鐵，它就耗盡了燃料。對于一顆恒星來說， 那可是相當糟糕的一天。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Without fuel, it cannotgenerate heat,and therefore gravity has won the battle.The ironcore has no other choice but to collapse,reaching incredibly highdensities.Think of 300 million tonsreduced to a space the size of asugar cube.At these extreme high densities, the core actually resistscollapse,and as a result,all of this infalling material bounces offthe core.And this dramatic bounce,which happens in a fraction of asecond or so,is responsible for ejecting the rest of the star in alldirections,ultimately forming a supernova explosion.So, sadly, fromthe perspective of an astrophysicist,the conditions in the centers ofthese exploding starscannot be recreated in a laboratory.

沒有燃料，它就無法產(chǎn)生熱量，因此引力便在這場戰(zhàn)斗中勝出。鐵核心除了坍縮， 達到異常高的密度之外別無選擇。想象一下三億噸的質(zhì)量壓縮成一塊方糖的大小。在這極高的密度下， 核心其實會反抗坍縮，結(jié)果就是，所有這些墜落的物質(zhì) 會從核心反彈。而這戲劇性的反彈，發(fā)生在不到一秒的彈指間，它導(dǎo)致恒星的其余部分 朝所有方向噴射出去，最終形成了超新星爆炸。從一個天體物理學(xué)家 的角度來說，遺憾的是，這些爆炸的星星的內(nèi)部條件無法在實驗室內(nèi)重現(xiàn)出來。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Now, thankfully for humanity, we're notable to do that.

不過對于人類來說，這是值得慶幸的事。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But what does thatmean?That means that as astrophysicists,we have to rely onsophisticated computer simulationsin order to understand these complexphenomena.These simulations can be used to really understand how gasbehavesunder such extreme conditions.And can be used to answerfundamental questionslike, "What ultimately disrupted the massivestar?""How is it that this implosion can be reversed into anexplosion?"There's a huge amount of debate in the field,but weall agree that neutrinos,which are these elusive elementaryparticles,play a crucial role.Yeah?I'm about to show you oneof those simulations.

但這意味著什么？這意味著作為天體物理學(xué)家，我們不得不依賴復(fù)雜的計算機模擬，以理解這些復(fù)雜的現(xiàn)象。我們可以通過這些模擬理解 在這種極端條件下氣體的表現(xiàn)如何。我們也可以通過模擬， 回答一些基本的問題，比如說，“歸根結(jié)底， 大恒星是怎么被瓦解的？”“這樣的向心爆炸是怎樣被逆轉(zhuǎn) 變成向外爆炸的？”這個領(lǐng)域中有大量爭論，但我們達成的共識是，中微子，也就是某種 難以捉摸的基本粒子，在其中扮演了至關(guān)重要的角色。聽上去如何？下面我要給大家演示 其中一個模擬。

So neutrinos are producedin huge numbers once the core collapses.And in fact,they areresponsible for transferring the energy in this core.Like thermalradiation in a heater,neutrinos pump energy into thecore,increasing the possibility of disrupting the star.In fact, forabout a fraction of a second,neutrinos pump so much energythat thepressure increases high enough that a shock wave is producedand the shockwave goes and disrupts the entire star.And it is in that shock wave whereelements are produced.So thank you, neutrinos.

中微子是在恒星內(nèi)核坍縮時 大量產(chǎn)生的。事實上，它們擔(dān)負著在內(nèi)核中 傳遞能量的職責(zé)。就像暖氣機中的熱輻射一樣，中微子將能量朝內(nèi)核中泵送，增加了恒星被破壞的可能。事實上，在幾分之一秒的時間內(nèi)，中微子輸送的能量如此龐大，使得壓力升高到 足以產(chǎn)生沖擊波，而沖擊波進一步將整顆恒星破壞。正是在這個沖擊波之中， 各種元素誕生了。中微子，謝謝你們。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Supernovas shinebright,and for a brief period of time,they radiate more energy thanthe sun will in its entire lifetime.That point of light that you seethere,which was certainly not there before,burns like a beacon,clearlyindicating the position where the massive star has died.In a galaxy likeour own Milky Way,we estimate that about once every 50 years,amassive star dies.This implies that somewhere in theuniverse,there's a supernova explosion every second or so.Andthankfully for astronomers,some of them are actually found relativelyclose to earth.

超新星非常耀眼，在一段短暫的時間里，它們輻射出的能量 比太陽在生命周期內(nèi)釋放的還多。你們在那里看到的光點，之前絕對不存在，它現(xiàn)在像燈塔一樣熊熊燃燒，清楚地標示著 巨大恒星死去的位置。在一個像我們的銀河系 一樣的星系里，我們估計大約每 50 年就有一顆大恒星死亡。這意味著大約每一秒鐘，宇宙中的某處就有一次超新星爆發(fā)。對于天文學(xué)家來說，謝天謝地的是，其中一些的發(fā)生位置 離地球相對比較近。

Various civilizationsrecorded these supernova explosionslong before the telescope wasinvented.The most famous of all of themis probably the

早在天文望遠鏡被發(fā)明之前， 許多文明已經(jīng)對這些超新星爆炸有所記載。其中最著名的當屬誕生了蟹狀星云的 那場超新星爆炸。對吧？韓國和中國的天文學(xué)家 在 1054 年記錄了這顆超新星，基本可以肯定美國原住民 也對此進行了記錄。這次超新星爆炸發(fā)生在距離地球 約 5600 光年的地方。它如此明亮，天文學(xué)家們在白晝也能看到它。在大約兩年的時間里， 它在夜空中裸眼可見。

Fast forward 1,000 yearsor so later, and what do we see?We see these filaments that were blastedby the explosion,moving at 300 miles per second.These filaments areessential for us to understandhow massive stars die.The image thatyou see therewas assembled by the Hubble Space Telescopeover a spanof three months.

向前快進約 1000 年， 我們看到了什么？我們看到這些因爆炸 迸發(fā)的光絲，以每秒 300 英里的速度移動。這些光絲對于我們理解 大恒星如何死亡至關(guān)重要。大家看見的這幅圖像，是由哈勃天文望遠鏡耗時三個月收集的。

 

 

And it is incredibly important to astronomersbecause it ultimately carries the chemical legacyof the star that exploded.The orange filaments that you seethere are the tattered remains of the star,and are made primarily ofhydrogen,while the blue and red filaments that you seeare the freshlysynthesized oxygen.So studying supernova remnants, like the CrabNebula,allowed astronomers to firmly concludethat the vast majorityof oxygen on earth was produced by supernova explosionsover the historyof the universe.And we can estimatethat in order to assemble all theatoms of oxygen in our body,it took on the order of a 100 millionsupernova.So every bit of you, or at least the majority of it,came from one of these supernova explosions.

它對于天文學(xué)家非常重要，因為歸根結(jié)底， 它承載的是發(fā)生爆炸的星體的化學(xué)遺產(chǎn)。這些橘色的光絲 是那顆恒星殘破的遺骸，主要由氫構(gòu)成，而藍色和紅色的光絲，是新鮮生成的氧。因此，研究像蟹狀星云那樣的 超新星的殘留物，能讓天文學(xué)家得出堅定的結(jié)論：地球上絕大部分氧元素 都是在宇宙的歷史長河中由超新星爆炸產(chǎn)生的。我們可以估算，為了組裝我們身體里 所有的氧原子，需要上億的超新星。因此大家的全身上下， 至少是其中的絕大部分，都來自這些超新星爆炸中的一個。

So now you may bewondering,how is it that these atomsthat were generated in suchextreme conditionsultimately took residence in our body?So I wantyou to follow the thought experiment.Imagine that we're in the Milky Way,and a supernova happens.It blasted tons and tons of oxygenatomsalmost into empty space.A few of them were able to be

那么現(xiàn)在各位可能會納悶，這些在如此極端條件下產(chǎn)生的原子，最終是怎樣在我們的身體里定居的？我想讓各位進行一個思想實驗。想象一下我們在銀河里， 一場超新星爆炸開始了。它將無數(shù)氧原子轟進了空空如也的太空。其中少數(shù)被聚集成為星云。45 億年前，某種東西擾亂了那片星云， 使其土崩瓦解，在它的中心形成了太陽和太陽系。因此太陽、行星，和地球上的生命都仰賴這個美麗的循環(huán)：恒星誕生、恒星死亡、恒星重生。這個過程循環(huán)往復(fù)， 將宇宙中的原子回收再利用。因此，天文學(xué)和化學(xué)是緊密聯(lián)系的。

We are life forms thathave evolved to inhale the waste products of plants.But now you knowthat we also inhale the waste products of supernova explosions.

我們這種生命形態(tài)，演化到 要依靠植物的廢棄產(chǎn)物來呼吸。不過現(xiàn)在大家也了解了，我們同時也呼吸著 超新星爆炸的廢棄產(chǎn)物。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So take a moment,inhale.An oxygen atom has just gone into your body.It is certainthat that oxygen [atom]remembers that it was in the interior of astarand it was probably manufactured by a supernova explosion.Thisatom may have traveled the entire solar systemuntil it splashed onearth,long before reaching you.When we breathe,we use hundredsof liters of oxygen every day.So I'm incredibly lucky to be standing infront of this beautiful audience,but I'm actually stealing your oxygenatoms.

所以花點時間，深吸一口氣吧。一個氧原子剛剛進入了你的身體?？梢钥隙ǖ氖?，那個氧原子記得 它曾身處某顆恒星的內(nèi)部，也記得它很可能是在一場 超新星爆炸中被制造出來的。這個原子或許歷經(jīng)了 跨過整個太陽系的跋涉，才濺落在地球上，又過了很久很久 才和你相遇。我們呼吸時，每天都消耗掉數(shù)百升氧。所以我今天非常幸運 能站在這群美妙的觀眾面前，但我其實是在偷你們的氧原子。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And because I'm speakingto you,I'm giving you some of them back, that once resided in me.Sobreathing, yeah,participates in this beautiful exchange ofatoms.And you can then ask,"Well, how many atoms in our bodyonce belonged to Frida Kahlo?"

而因為我在和你們交談，我會歸還給你們一些 曾經(jīng)住在我體內(nèi)的氧原子。所以沒錯，通過呼吸，參與到這場美麗的原子交換之中。接下來你就可以發(fā)問，“那么，我們體內(nèi)有多少原子曾經(jīng)屬于 弗里達·卡羅【注：墨西哥女畫家】？”

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

About 100,000 ofthem.100,000 more probably belonged to Marie Curie,100,000 more toSally Ride,or whoever you want to think of.So breathing is not onlyfilling our lungs with cosmic history,but with human history.

大約有 10 萬個。還有 10 萬個或許曾屬于居里夫人，另外 10 萬個曾屬于薩莉·萊德， 【注：第一位進入太空的美國女性】或者任何一位你想起的人。所以呼吸為我們的肺部充滿的 不僅是宇宙的歷史，也是人類的歷史。

I would like to end my talk by sharing a myththat is very close to my heart.A myth fromthe Chichimeca culture,which is a very powerful Mesoamericanculture.And the Chichimecas believethat our essence was assembledin the heavens.And on its journey towards us,it actually fragmentedinto tons of different pieces.So my abuelo used to say,"One of the reasons you feel incompleteis because you are missing your pieces."

我想分享一個 藏在我內(nèi)心的傳說，以此結(jié)束這次演講。一個來自奇奇梅克文化的傳說， 【注：墨西哥北部的游牧民族】這是一種非常強大的中美洲文化。奇奇梅克人相信我們的本質(zhì)是在天上組裝的。而在朝我們前進的路途上，它破裂成了無數(shù)不同的碎片。我的祖父曾經(jīng)說過，“你感到自己不完整的原因之一是因為你確實確實了一些東西。”

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"But don't be fooledby that.You've been given an incredible opportunity ofgrowth.Why?Because it's not like those pieces were scattered onearthand you have to go and pick them up.No, those pieces fell intoother people.And only by sharing them you will become morecomplete.Yes, during your life,there's going to be individuals thathave these huge piecesthat make you feel whole.But in your quest ofbeing complete,you have to treasure and share every single one of thosepieces."

“但不要為此所欺騙。你獲得了難以置信的成長機會。為什么？因為那些碎片并不是 散落在地球各處，你要去把它們撿起來。不，那些碎片落在了別人身上。只有通過分享碎片， 你才會變得更加完整。沒錯，在一生之中，你會遇見擁有巨大碎片的人，他們會讓你感到完整。但在你追尋完整的旅途中，你必須珍視并分享每一片碎片。”

Sounds a lot like the story of oxygen tome.

我覺得這聽起來很像氧原子的故事。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Which started in theheavens in a supernova explosion,and continues today,within theconfines of our humanity.Our atoms in our body have embarked on an epic odyssey,with time spans from billions of years to mere centuries,all leading to you,all of you,witnesses of the universe.

氧原子的故事在天空中 伴隨著超新星爆炸開始，并持續(xù)至今，在人類的界限之內(nèi)繼續(xù)書寫。我們身體里的原子 踏上了一場史詩般的長途冒險，歷時橫跨數(shù)十億年 到僅僅幾個世紀，全都指引向你的身邊，你們所有人身邊，你們是宇宙的見證人。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（掌聲）