Eight amazing science stories of 2017
选自BBC, 英文原文见http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41972289
并非字字句句的翻译，有翻译，有解释，有想象。
START：
Story 1:Star crash
其实科学也可以用浪漫来诠释，引力波就像是荷尔蒙……
In 2017, scientists detected Einstein's gravitational waves from a new source -the collision of two dead stars, or neutron stars. The first direct detection of these waves was announced in 2016, when the Advanced LIGO laboratories described the warping of space from the merger of two distant black holes. The result was hailed as the starting point for a new branch of astronomy, using gravitational waves to collect data about distant phenomena.
Telescopes from all over the world captured details of the neutron star merger as it unfolded. The outburst took place in a galaxy located roughly a thousand billion, billion km away in the Constellation Hydra. Some of the facts about these cataclysmic events are staggering. For example, neutron stars are so dense that a teaspoonful would weigh a billion tonnes. The team was also able to confirm that these collisions lead to the production of the gold and platinum that exists in the Universe.
让我们来倒推一下。当礼堂想起结婚进行曲，当新郎和新娘交换戒指的时候，顿一下，这枚黄金(gold)或者铂金(platinum)的戒指竟来源于古老宇宙的爱情。这久违的爱情来自于两颗中子星(neutron star)的激烈(cataclysmic events)碰撞(collision)，他们住在长蛇星座(Constellation Hydra)，如同封建时期的自由恋爱，他们的融合(merger)是爆炸性的(outburst)。在他们之前，其他的融合都是黑洞(black hole)的融合，如同封建时期的父母媒妁之约。在很远很远的地方的我们，试图去研究黑洞或者中子星的爱情，去探索他们释放出来的荷尔蒙--引力波(gravitational wave)。2016年，我们已经探测(detection)到黑洞之荷尔蒙之时空之涟漪(warping of space), 这一发现开辟了天文学的新领域(a new branch of astronomy)，利用引力波去收集来自遥远天际的数据。2017年，当真爱来临，我们举起望远镜(telescope)，收获了更多遥远的爱情之密码。
Story 2:Cassini's final bow
卡西尼飞船，粉身碎骨尤记使命
The Cassini spacecraft arrived in the Saturn system in 2004. In the 13 years it was operational it transformed our understanding of the ringed planet and its moons. It discovered geysers spewing water-ice out into space from a sub-surface ocean on the icy satellite of Enceladus, spied seas and lakes of methane on Saturn's biggest moon Titan and watched as a giant storm encircled Saturn.
But with its fuel tanks running low, Nasa decided to destroy the satellite in Saturn's clouds rather than see it collide with a potential target in the search for life, such as Enceladus, and contaminate it with terrestrial microbes. On 15 September, Cassini hurtled into the giant plant's atmosphere and was torn apart. But it still managed to return data to Earth from its dive towards destruction.
美国宇航局制造的卡西尼飞船(Cassini spacecraft)曾于2004年开始探索土星以及土星的卫星们(saturn system)，小卡改变了我们对带环行星(ringed planet)及其卫星(moons)的认知。小卡于2017年9月15日结束了自己的使命，我们好像看到小卡在舞台上向众人深深的鞠了一躬(final bow)，依依不舍的告别了舞台。在小卡努力工作的这13年中，他发现了土卫二虽然被冰层覆盖(icy satellite of Enceladus)，但其地下海洋(sub-surface ocean)之喷泉却不停喷射着水冰(geysers spewing water-ice)，他发现了甲烷(seas and lakes of methane)湖,他还偶遇了被风暴侵袭(encircled)的土星。
“嘀嘀嘀……”，燃料告急(fuel tanks running low)，为了避免小卡在寻找生命时误撞(collide with)到土星家族的成员，继而使得他们被陆地微生物(terrestrial microbes)所污染(contaminate)，小卡冲入(hurtle into)土星大气层，支离破碎(torn apart)，即便如此，小卡还是完成了它的最后使命，在生死瞬间(from its dive towards destruction)成功向地球传输了数据。
Story 3:Paris pull-out
美国最终和巴黎气候协定分手
While he was on the campaign trail, Donald Trump said he would "cancel" the Paris climate agreement, taking the US out of the deal. But after winning the US election in November of that year, he made few public pronouncements on the topic of climate change. Reports emerged that Mr Trump's advisers were split on the issue, prompting some commentators to wonder whether the President might be convinced to stay in the process.
However, on 1 June, President Trump held a press conference in the White House's Rose Garden to announce America's withdrawal. Mr Trump said: "In order to fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord but begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or a really entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States."
As expected, the reaction from Democrats and other world leaders was damning. Former US President Barack Obama accused the Trump administration of "rejecting the future", while former Secretary of State John Kerry called the decision a "gross abdication of leadership".
特朗普竞选美国总统时(on the campaign trail)就在和她闹分手(out of the deal)，特朗普上任后分手闹剧却一度销声匿迹(made few public pronouncements)，特朗普的亲友团一直对她争议不断(spit on the issue)，她就是和美国最终分手(pull-out)的巴黎气候协定(Paris climate accord/agreement)。整个分手过程中特朗普的关键词就是“公平”(fair)，他宣称没有“公平”就没有复合。分手(withdrawal/withdraw)后，对特朗普的谴责声不断，有人说特朗普短视(rejecting the future)，有人说他彻底放弃了领导权(gross abdiction of leadership)。
Story 4:Multiple "Earths"
人类发现了多个类地行星
Of the 3,500 planets now documented to exist beyond our Solar System, some are pretty weird. For starters, there's J1407b, a distant world with rings that are 200 times larger than the ones around Saturn.
But this year, astronomers discovered a planetary system with seven Earth-sized planets. What's more, these worlds seem to be locked in a strange "resonance" as they orbit their host star. Intriguingly, three of the planets are in the habitable zone, where water can remain liquid on the surface. And where there's water, there is at least a chance for life.
我们已经发现了3500颗系外(beyongd our Solar System)行星，某些行星对我们来说极为诡异，比如，J1407b行星的光环(rings)比土星还大200倍。但今年天文学家的收获更甚于以往，他们发现了太阳系外的7颗如地球般大小的行星，这些行星不仅大小与地球相似，他们也同样围绕着一颗恒星转动(orbit their host star)，不仅如此，7颗行星中的3颗还存在着液态水。
Story 5:Recent relative
人类发现了更近的“血亲”
In July, researchers unveiled fossils of five early humans found in North Africa that showed our species - Homo sapiens - emerged at least 100,000 years earlier than previously recognised. The finds suggested that our species did not evolve in a single "cradle" in East Africa. Instead, modern humans may have been evolving in the same direction all over the continent.
And there was more big news in human evolution this year. When, in 2015, scientists unveiled the remains of 15 partial skeletons belonging to a new species of human, it made headlines around the world. At the time, researchers had been unable to say for sure how old the specimens of Homo naledi were, but some primitive traits suggested they could be as much as three million years in age.
This year, team leader Lee Berger announced the remains were just 200,000-300,000 years old. The findings suggested that far from being an ancestor of present-day people, Homo naledi may even have encountered very early members of our own species - Homo sapiens.
今年7月，科研人员在北非发现了5具“智人”(Homo sapiens)化石(fossils)，这一发现使得“智人”的起源(emerged)时间被刷新，比之前所认为的时间早了至少100,000年；起源(evolve)地也同时被刷新，从东非扩大至北非，按照这一趋势推测，整个非洲大陆都有可能成为“智人”的起源地。
上文只是抛砖引玉，人类衍化(human evolution)研究在2017年有更震惊的发现，2015年科学家通过15具古人类残骸(remains)宣布发现了人类的新近亲--Homo naledi，科学家们当时无法准确说出Homo naledi的历史年代，但通过一些基本线索(primitive traits)，科学家们推测这些残骸可能已有300万年的历史了，但今年，科学家们推翻了之前的推测，他们认为2015年发现的遗骸距今只有20到30万年的历史，所以，Homo naledi并非人类遥远的祖先(ancestor)，他们很有可能和“智人”属于同一时代。
Story 6:Dark skies
美全日食遮天蔽日
On 21 August, a giant shadow cast by the Moon swept across America, marking the first total solar eclipse since the country's founding in 1776 where totality made exclusive landfall in the US. It was also 99 years since a solar eclipse had crossed from the west to the east coast.
Millions of people gathered along the eclipse's path to witness the rare astronomical event.
And what an awesome event it was. Reporting from Madras, Oregon, the BBC's Pallab Ghosh said: "You can see that it's quarter past 10 in the morning, but it seems like night-time. We're just a few seconds away from the total eclipse... it looks like a smiley face in the sky."
After totality had passed, he added: "I got goosebumps; it just feels like a completely dream-like state."
2017年出现了只属于美国(exculsive landfall)的全日食(totality/total solar eclipse)，BBC记者的两个用词传达出看日食的体验:鸡皮疙瘩(goosebumps)和宛如梦境(dream-like state)。
Story 7:Visitor from beyond
地球之客之系外小行星
Though scientists had been predicting for years that we would be visited by an asteroid from interstellar space, 2017 was the first time we spotted one. Discovered by a team using Hawaii's Pan-Starrs telescope in October, they were soon sure that the object's speed and trajectory indicated an origin outside our Solar System. Named 'Oumuamua, after the Hawaiian for "a messenger from afar arriving first", the object quickly became the subject of an observing campaign with some of the most powerful telescopes in the world.
In many respects, it turned out to be not dissimilar to objects known from the furthest reaches of our Solar System - so-called Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) - complete with a reddish hue likely resulting from irradiation by cosmic rays over millions of years. One aspect of this cosmic wanderer wasn't so familiar, however: it's shape. Although the investigations are ongoing, 'Oumuamua seemed to be 10 times longer than it was wide, making it much more elongated than anything else in our Solar System.
漫漫星际间(interstellar space)，有一颗小行星(asteroid)于2017年造访了我们的地球之家，它是我们地球的第一位外系小行星客人，通过观测其速度和轨迹(trajectory)，科学家们得出这颗小行星的出身(origin)并非太阳系。从很多方面来讲，这颗小行星对我们来说并不陌生，它像极了柯伊伯带(Kuiper Belt:太阳系在海王星轨道外侧的黄道面附近、天体密集的中空圆盘状区域)的星体, 它身着红衣(complete with a reddish hue)，这身红衣很有可能是几百万年来宇宙射线(cosmic rays)辐射(irradiation)的结果。但从外形来讲，这颗小行星当之无愧于它天外来物的出身，它的长度是宽度的10倍，这比我们太阳系任何星体都更瘦长(elongated)。
Story 8:Giant iceberg
巨大的冰山逃逸
One of the biggest icebergs ever recorded broke away from Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf in July. But scientists had been following the development of a large crack for upwards of a decade. The giant block was estimated to cover an area of roughly 6,000 sq km - about a quarter the size of Wales.
The calving of bergs at the forward edge of the shelf is a very natural behaviour. However, scientists think that Larsen C is now at its smallest extent since the end of the last Ice Age, around 11,700 years ago. Future studies will be needed to understand how the shelf is responding to a warming climate.
全球变暖给南极带来了全新挑战。一座巨大冰山(iceberg)于2017年7月与南极(Antarctica)大陆冰架(ice shelf)Larsen C脱离, 这巨大的断裂(crack/calving)冰山是威尔士面积的四分之一，举中国城市例子的话，这逃逸的冰山面积已接近于一个上海市的面积了。
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