据外媒报道，近日，加拿大天文学家发现了来自15亿光年外太空深处的无线电讯号。
天文学家称，他们在3周内发现了约13次电讯爆发，其中有两个讯号来自大约15亿光年距离的同一个信号源。
据介绍，目前存在多种理论解释，但仍未清楚电波的具体源头及性质。不少吃瓜群众认为，可能来自外星人，也马上联想到《三体》中的“不要回复，不要回复，不要回复”。
Signals from space: Five theories on what they are
Mysterious signals have been picked up from distant galaxies. When fast radio bursts or FRBs, as they are called, reach Earth's telescopes they shine brightly for a few milliseconds, then disappear. Astronomers have detected dozens over the past decade - and have just announced they've found more of them, including a rare repeating signal.
相关背景
Fast Radio Burst, FRB 指的是“快速射电暴”。
In radio astronomy, a fast radio burst (FRB) is a high-energy astrophysical phenomenon of unknown origin manifested as a transient radio pulse lasting a few milliseconds on average.
快速射电暴是一种高能天体物理现象，呈现瞬态电波脉冲，仅维持数毫秒的爆发。(Wikipedia)
We don't know exactly what they are or where they're from, but here are five suspects:
一顆具有强劲磁性的中子星在快速旋转。
◉ A rapidly spinning neutron star (高速旋转的中子星)
When stars explode and die they can end up as rapidly spinning neutron stars. Astronomers think those found in a region with a high magnetic field might produce the strange signals.
spin
可作名词也可以作动词，动词可表示“（使）快速旋转”，英文解释为“to turn around and around very quickly, or to make something do this”，举个🌰：
The plane's propellers were spinning.
飞机的螺旋桨在快速旋转。
neutron star
表示“中子星”，英文解释为“A neutron star is a star that has collapsed under the weight of its own gravity.”
magnetic field
表示“磁场”，英文解释为“A magnetic field is an area around a magnet, or something functioning as a magnet, in which the magnet's power to attract things is felt.”
"Something like a neutron star fits the bill reasonably well actually," says Dr Ingrid Stairs, an astrophysicist from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. "But exactly what physics is going into producing this very energetic burst of radio waves we don't really know yet."
fill/fit the bill
表示“符合需要，正合适；与目的相符”，英文解释为“to be exactly what is needed in a particular situation; to be suitable for a particular purpose”，举个🌰：
That box will fill the bill nicely.
那只盒子正好合适。
This new software fits the bill.
这款新软件肯定符合要求。
◉ Two stars merging (两颗中子星相互碰撞)
Two neutron stars colliding with each other is another possibility. According to Shriharsh Tendulkar, an astronomer at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, this is one of the main theories, but the scenario only works for cosmic signals that are only seen once, as the stars are destroyed in the process.
cosmic
表示“宇宙的”，英文解释为“Cosmic means belonging or relating to the universe.”如：the cosmic laws governing our world 主宰我们世界的宇宙法则。
collide
表示“碰撞，相撞”，英文解释为“to hit something or someone that is moving in a different direction from you”，举个🌰：
Two trains collided head-on (= when they were moving directly towards each other ) .
两辆火车迎头相撞。
collide除了指物理上的碰撞，也可以表示“（不同的观念、想法等）碰撞（而产生有趣结果）”，举个🌰：
Istanbul is the place where East and West collide.
伊斯坦布尔是东西方文化交会的地方。
collide还有“（目标、观点或利益等）相抵触；相冲突”的意思，英文解释为“If the aims, opinions, or interests of one person or group collide with those of another person or group, they are very different from each other and are therefore opposed.”举个🌰：
The aims of the negotiators in New York again seem likely to collide with the aims of the warriors in the field.
纽约谈判者的目标看起来可能再次与战场上勇士们的目标相冲突。
和collide类似的表达有：
· crash表示“使…撞毁; 撞毁（撞车，坠机）”，英文解释为“If a moving vehicle crashes or if the driver crashes it, it hits something and is damaged or destroyed.”举个🌰：
Her car crashed into the rear of a van.
她的汽车撞毁了一辆面包车的尾部。
crash还表示“（发出巨响）猛撞，猛击”，英文解释为“to hit something or someone extremely hard while moving, in a way that causes a lot of damage or makes a lot of noise”，举个🌰：
We watched the waves crashing against the rocks.
我们看着海浪哗啦哗啦地冲击岩石。
· smash表示“（使）猛撞，猛击，猛掷”，英文解释为“to hit an object or surface violently, or to make something do this”，举个🌰：
A stolen car smashed into the bus.
一辆被偷的汽车猛地撞上了公共汽车。
The bottle smashed against a wall.
那瓶子撞到了一面墙上。
smash还表示“打碎; 破碎”，英文解释为“If you smash something or if it smashes, it breaks into many pieces, for example, when it is hit or dropped.”，举个🌰：
Someone smashed a bottle.
有人打碎了一个瓶子。
"It's a cataclysmic event - it doesn't work for fast radio burst repeaters," he says. Most of the fast radio bursts picked up by telescopes in the last decade or so are seen once then disappear. Yet, two elusive signals have been found that burst into life again and again - and for these, there must be a different explanation.
cataclysmic
cataclysmic /ˈkætəˌklɪzmɪk/ adj. 表示“大变动的；激烈的；剧烈的；泛滥的；灾害性的”，英文解释为“A cataclysmic event is one that changes a situation or society very greatly, especially in an unpleasant way.”
名词cataclysm表示“剧变；大灾难；大变动”（an event that causes a lot of destruction, or a sudden, violent change）。
elusive
表示“难以表述（或找到、达到、记起）的；困难的”，英文解释为“difficult to describe, find, achieve, or remember”，举个🌰：
The answers to these questions remain as elusive as ever.
这些问题的答案仍然是不得而知。
◉ Blitzar
A blitzar is a rapidly spinning neutron star which collapses under its own weight and forms a black hole. Again, this ends in the destruction of the star, so could not produce a repeating signal.
相关背景
Blitzars are a hypothetical type of astronomical object in which a spinning pulsar rapidly collapses into a black hole. They are proposed as an explanation for fast radio bursts (FRBs). The idea was proposed in 2013 by Heino Falcke and Luciano Rezzolla.
（Blitzar，科学家假象的一种天文现象）
◉ Black hole
Black holes are implicated in many theories - from a neutron star falling into a black hole to a collapsing black hole or dark matter hitting one.
◉ Alien life form
While some believe the signals are entirely natural in origin, others have speculated that they could be evidence of extra-terrestrial activity.
extraterrestrial
作形容词，表示“地球外的，宇宙的，外星的”，英文解释为“Extraterrestrial means happening, existing, or coming from somewhere beyond the planet Earth.”，举个🌰：
NASA has started a 10-year search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
美国航空航天局已经启动了一个为期10年的寻找外星生物的项目。
作名词直接可以表示“外星人，外星生物”（a creature that people think may exist on another planet）。
Dr Stairs sees this as highly unlikely. "They come from all over the sky pretty much and many different distances - they must be associated with many different galaxies," she told Newsday on BBC World Service.
Ingrid Stairs博士认为这种可能性极低，“这些讯号来自整个宇宙，距地球的距离不同”。
"It just seems completely inconceivable that there could be that many different alien civilisations all deciding to produce the same kind of signal in the same way - that just seems highly improbable."
“完全无法想象会有那么多不同的外星文明决定以同样的方式产生同样的信号，这似乎是极不可能的”。
来源：BBC
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