2018年经济学人 太阳物理和古生物学:“石”事求是(1)

 

Science and Technology: Solar physics and paleontology: Set in stone

科技：太阳物理和古生物学：“石”事求是

An ancient forest reveals the sun’s behaviour 290m years ago.

远古树木向人们揭示二亿九千万年前的太阳活动情况。

Every 11 years or so, a new sunspot cycle begins.

每隔11年左右，太阳黑子就会迎来一个新的活动周期。

Sunspots are apparent blemishes¹ in the sun’s photosphere², the layer which emits its light.

太阳黑子是太阳光球层（即太阳向外发射能量的主要大气层）上的明显黑斑。

Though still hot (about 3,500°C) , they are cooler than their surroundings (about 5,500°C) and thus appear dark by contrast.

虽然其温度很高，可达到3500°C左右，但与大约5500°C的周围环境相比温度要低得多，所以显得更暗。

A cycle starts with spots appearing at mid-latitudes in both northern and southern hemispheres.

在活动周期开始时，黑子出现在太阳南北半球的中纬度上。

Over time, the spot-generating areas migrate towards the equator.

随着时间推移，产生黑子的区域不断向赤道移动。

As they do so, the amount of light and other radiation the sun emits first increases to a maximum and then decreases to a minimum,

随着时间推移，太阳发出的光能与其它辐射能逐渐达到峰值，随后不断减弱，直至黑子消失，

until the spots vanish and the cycle renews.

宣告一个完整的黑子活动周期结束。

On Earth, the increased illumination of solar maxima drives photosynthesis³, and thus plant growth.

在地球上，日光亮度的不断攀升在最大程度上促进了光合作用，从而加快植物生长。

That permits botaniststo use trees’ annual growth rings to work out what sunspot activity was like hundreds, and occasionally thousands, of years ago.

这一现象使得植物学家可以通过树木每年都会生长的年轮来判断数百甚至数千年前的太阳黑子活动情况。

Determining solar activity millions of years ago, though, has not been so easy.

但是想要推断几百万年前的黑子活动就不这么容易了。

But it is of interest to solar physicists⁴, who wonder how far back into the past the oscillations of the sun’s magnetic field that drive the cycle go,

既便如此，太阳物理学家依然对此兴趣盎然，他们想要知道这种由于太阳磁场振荡而导致的周期性现象到底始于何时，

and how they might have changed over the course of time.

以及其循环周期在漫长的岁月中是否发生了变化。

Now, Ludwig Luthardt and Ronny Rossler of the Natural History Museum of Chemnitz, in Germany, have cracked the problem.

目前，德国的开姆尼茨自然历史博物馆的两位研究人员，Ludwig Luthardt和Ronny Rossler已经解决了这个问题。

1 blemishes   

n.（身体的）瘢点( blemish的名词复数 )；伤疤；瑕疵；污点

参考例句：

• make-up to cover blemishes 遮盖霜
• The blemishes of ancestors appear. 祖先的各种瑕疵都渐渐显露出来。 来自辞典例句

2 photosphere   

n.光球

参考例句：

• The photosphere has a granular structure.光球还有颗粒结构。
• The chromosphere is a frothy layer churned up by gases in the photosphere.色球层在光球层气体的搅拌下是个多泡层。

3 photosynthesis   

n.光合作用

参考例句：

• In apple trees photosynthesis occurs almost exclusively in the leaves.苹果树的光合作用几乎只发生在叶内。
• Chloroplasts are the structures in which photosynthesis happens.叶绿体就是光合作用发生的地方。

4 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。