国家地理-2008-07-17 Atom Smasher Safe 粒子对撞实验可能毁灭地球？

The most powerful atom smasher ever built could make some bizarre discoveries, such as new forces of nature or even extra dimensions of space, after it's switched on in August.

 The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, basically consists of a ring of supercooled magnets 17 miles in circumference¹ attached to huge barrel-shaped detectors². The ring which straddles the French and Swiss borders at the CERN center is buried 330 feet underground. But some have fears. Will it spawn³ a black hole that could swallow Earth or spit out particles that could turn the planet into a hot dead clump⁴?

LHC is only going to reproduce what nature does every second and has been doing for billions of years, and all those astronomical⁵ bodies including the Earth and the Sun. They are still here. So though there really is no problem, but okay, if people are concerned about it, we'll certainly discuss (it).

The safety of the collider, which will generate energies 7 times higher than its most powerful rival at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory here in Chicago, has been debated for years.

When you collide two particles, it nearly seems like colliding two mosquitoes. These will be incredibly small black holes with no more energy than a mosquito. Very likely these things are not going to be made at all. If they are made, then they’re surely going to decay.

A lawsuit⁶ was filed against CERN and its US partners in a Hawaiian court on March 21st, but a ruling has yet to be made.

I think obviously we have no concern at all. There is a huge community of scientists who know what they are talking about and are sleeping quite soundly concerning LHC. But nevertheless this creates problems in the general public where LHC is concerned and we have to answer to that.

The machine, which has been called the largest scientific experiment in history, isn't expected to begin test rounds until August, and ramping⁷ up to full power could take months.

 【BACKGROUND】

CERN(欧洲核子研究中心)是世界上最大的粒子物理研究实验室.它成立于 1954 年,位于日内瓦的西北部,法国与瑞士边界的侏罗山脚下.这里有 6 台粒子加速器供科学家和研究人员使用,这些加速器位居世界最大科学仪器之列.基本粒子经这些装置加速后获得极高的能量,然后撞击在一起.通过粒子探测器记录的碰撞情况可以了解宇宙爆炸之后的物质实况.

1 circumference   

n.圆周，周长，圆周线

参考例句：

• It's a mile round the circumference of the field.运动场周长一英里。
• The diameter and the circumference of a circle correlate.圆的直径与圆周有相互关系。

2 detectors   

探测器( detector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
• This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者，这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技

3 spawn   

n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产

参考例句：

• The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
• These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。

4 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

5 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

6 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

7 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？