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发表于 2010-3-28 23:53:03
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本帖最后由 hawkwolf 于 2010-3-29 00:06 编辑
In 2006, a NASA spacecraft returned to Earth with samples that scientists hoped might contain cosmic dust, a byproduct of star formation. They let the public look for the elusive particles online. A squinting citizen might have just found one.
2006年, 美国宇航局(NASA)的一个航天器带着样本返回地球,科学家们希望在这样本里能包含有宇宙尘埃,一种恒星形成时的副产品.他们让公众在线搜寻这些难以捉摸的颗粒.一位眼尖的老百姓恐怕恰好发现了一个.
The particles in question are pieces of interstellar dust, a substance containing atoms formed during the birthing of the sun and our neighbouring planets. Don Brownlee, a researcher at the University of Washington, likens the dust to a “library of what was in the early solar system.”
以上所述的颗粒(宇宙尘埃)是星际尘埃的一部分,一种包含在太阳和我们临近的行星形成之初时产生的一些原子的物质.
Don Brownlee,一个华盛顿大学的研究人员,称这类星尘是"解读早期太阳系的百科全书".
You would assume that the first cosmic dust would be discovered in a laboratory by some crazy-haired scientist, but the distinction may go to a Canadian man named Bruce Hudson. Hudson was a participant in Stardust@home, a program that anyone with an internet connection use a virtual microscope to scour the samples for these particular particles. Scientists are currently analysing Hudson’s find and are “cautiously optimistic” that it is the first cosmic dust ever to be returned to Earth.
你一定会猜测这第一个宇宙尘埃肯定是在实验室里,被某个留着怪诞发型的科学家发现的. 这个形象倒可以留给一个名叫 Bruce Hudson 的加拿大人. Hudson 是 Stardust@home 项目的参与者,这个项目让对此感兴趣的任何人,通过Internet网络连接,使用一个虚拟显微镜从样本里搜寻这些特殊粒子.目前,科学家们正在检验Hudson的发现并对这第一个返回地球的宇宙尘埃持有"谨慎的乐观".
If Hudson’s particle is indeed interstellar dust, the discovery could give unprecedented insight into the formation of our solar system and the processes by which our universe recycles its materials. It also goes to show that armchair astronomers can really make significant scientific contributions.
如果哈德森粒子(Hudson’s particle)是真正的星际尘埃,这个发现可以让我们史无前例地洞悉我们的太阳系的形成和我们的宇宙是通过什么方式来循环利用它的物质的.这也说明"电脑椅上的天文学家"也能真正作出重大的科学贡献.
So good work, Bruce Hudson. Now get busy on SETI@home. [BBC via PopSci]
干得太棒了,Bruce Hudson. 现在忙于在家搜寻地外文明. |
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