陨石是“天外来客”，含有大量的“天外信息”，具有很高的科研价值。不过让很多人想不到的是，最容易找陨石的地方竟然是南极洲。
Hunting meteorites in Antarctica
by Jason Daley
Meteorites – bits of space rock and iron that don't completely burn up in our thick atmosphere – fall pretty uniformly across the surface of the Earth. The problem is lots of them just plunk into the ocean, and those over land are difficult to find. That's why researchers travel to Antarctica to search for meteorites, where the little black rocks sit like pepper specks on top of the icy landscape.
meteorite /ˈmiːti(ə)raɪt/ n. 陨石
burn up 烧光、烧完
atmosphere /ˈætməsfɪə(r)/ n. 大气、大气层
uniformly /ˈjuːnɪfɔːmli/ adv. 均匀分布地（由uniform加后缀-ly变成副词）
surface /ˈsɜːfɪs/ n. 表面
plunk /plʌŋk/ v. 重重落下
researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的后缀-er）
Antarctica /ænˈtɑːktɪkə/ n. 南极洲
pepper /ˈpepə(r)/ n. 胡椒粉
speck /spek/ n. 小点、微粒
landscape /ˈlændskeɪp/ n. 景色
About two-thirds of all meteorites scientists have found come from the southern continent, but researchers recently noticed something – over the years they've found far fewer iron meteorites from the icy domain than they would expect.★ That's why the University of Manchester and British Antarctic Survey recently tested meteorite-hunting gear to try and find the missing chunks of iron.
continent /ˈkɒntɪnənt/ n. 大陆、大洲
domain /dəˈmeɪn/ n. 领土、区域
★ 这句话里scientists have found是省略了引导词的定语从句，修饰前面的meteorites
Manchester /ˈmæntʃestə(r)/ n. 曼彻斯特（英国中部城市）
survey /ˈsɜːveɪ/ n. 勘测、测绘
hunt /hʌnt/ v. 寻找、搜寻
gear /ɡɪə(r)/ n. 装备
chunk /tʃʌŋk/ n. 块
The team hypothesize that metal meteorites heat differently than the rocky meteorites, which pop out of the ice when they warm up. The iron bits begin to rise toward the surface of the ice, but when they encounter sunlight they conduct more heat, melting the ice around them and slipping deeper into the ice, a theory they outlined in a 2016 paper in the journal Nature Communications.
hypothesize /haɪˈpɒθəsaɪz/ v. 提出假说
heat /hiːt/ v. 变热
rocky /ˈrɒki/ adj. 石头的、岩石的（由rock加后缀-y变成形容词）
pop /pɒp/ v. 弹出
warm up 变热、温度升高
encounter /ɪnˈkaʊntə(r)/ v. 遇到
sunlight /ˈsʌnlaɪt/ n. 太阳光（由sun和light组成）
conduct /kənˈdʌkt/ v. 传导
melt /melt/ v. 融化
slip /slɪp/ v. 滑落
theory /ˈθɪəri/ n. 理论
outline /ˈaʊtlaɪn/ v. 概述、略述
paper /ˈpeɪpə(r)/ n. 论文
journal /ˈdʒɜːn(ə)l/ n. 期刊
According to his calculations, Geoff Evatt, one of the project's leaders and an applied mathematician at the University of Manchester, believes that many of the iron chunks should be sitting about 30 centimeters under the ice. "Having turned those initial ideas into firm scientific reasoning, we now have the opportunity to put our mathematical hypothesis to the most extreme of tests!" he says.
calculation /ˌkælkjuˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 计算（由calculate加后缀-ion变成名词）
project /ˈprɒdʒekt/ n. 项目
applied mathematician /ˌmæθməˈtɪʃ(ə)n/ 应用数学家
centimeter /ˈsentɪˌmiːtə(r)/ n. 厘米
turn A into B 把A变成B
initial /ɪˈnɪʃ(ə)l/ adj. 最初的、开始的
firm /fɜːm/ adj. 稳固的、坚实的
reason /ˈriːz(ə)n/ v. 推理、推断
opportunity /ˌɒpəˈtjuːnəti/ n. 机会
mathematical /mæθˈmætɪk(ə)l/ adj. 数学的
hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθəsɪs/ n. 假说
extreme /ɪkˈstriːm/ adj. 极端的
Finding them shouldn't be too hard, technologically. A simple metal detector could do the trick. The problem is covering the vast sub-zero expanse, where the team believes there is only one iron meteorite per square kilometer.
technologically /ˌteknəˈlɒdʒɪkli/ adv. 技术上（由technological加后缀-ly变成副词）
detector /dɪˈtektə(r)/ n. 探测器（由detect加上表示人或物的后缀-or）
do the trick 达到目的
cover /ˈkʌvə(r)/ v. 涵盖
vast /vɑːst/ adj. 巨大的、广大的
sub- /sʌb/ 前缀，意思是“低于”（sub-zero指温度低于零度）
expanse /ɪkˈspæns/ n. 广阔区域
square kilometer 平方公里
Between December 2018 and February 2019, the researchers experimented with new meteorite-hunting gear, in the hopes of launching a full-scale expedition in 2020. Using a system similar to a modified landmine detector, the team can drag an array of metal detecting panels behind a snowmobile at 14 kilometers per hour.
launch /lɔːntʃ/ v. 开始、启动
scale /skeɪl/ n. 规模（full-scale指尽最大努力的）
expedition /ˌekspəˈdɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 探险
modify /ˈmɒdɪfaɪ/ v. 修改
landmine /ˈlændmaɪn/ n. 地雷
array /əˈreɪ/ n. 一系列、一大排
detect /dɪˈtekt/ v. 探测、侦测
panel /ˈpæn(ə)l/ n. 平板
snowmobile /ˈsnəʊməˌbiːl/ n. 机动雪橇、雪地机动车
The team tested the system at an area of compressed blue ice called Sky-Blu in western Antarctica and came back with a big haul. They collected 36 space rocks, ranging in size from small melons to small flecks.
compress /kəmˈpres/ v. 压缩
haul /hɔːl/ n. （经过努力后得到的）收获
melon /ˈmelən/ n. 甜瓜、香瓜
fleck /flek/ n. 微粒、小片
The gear will go to the Arctic for further tweaking before being deployed for the full mission. While it would be awesome if the team could uncover lots of buried meteorites next year, Evatt says just discovering one hidden iron rock would make him happy, and could unlock entire new worlds of data.
the Arctic /ˈɑːktɪk/ 北冰洋
tweak /twiːk/ v. 微调
deploy /dɪˈplɔɪ/ v. 部署
mission /ˈmɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 使命、重要任务
awesome /ˈɔːsəm/ adj. 极好的
uncover /ʌnˈkʌvə(r)/ v. 发现（由cover加上表示否定的前缀un-）
discover /dɪˈskʌvə(r)/ v. 发现（由cover加上表示否定的前缀dis-）
unlock /ʌnˈlɒk/ v. 解锁、解开（由lock加上表示否定的前缀un-）
entire /ɪnˈtaɪə(r)/ adj. 全部的、整个的
data /ˈdeɪtə/ n. 数据
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