美国国家公共电台 NPR In Southwest China, A 'Very Large Eyeball' Peers Into Deep Space

In Southwest China, A 'Very Large Eyeball' Peers Into Deep Space

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For centuries before the modern age, China was on the cutting edge of science. The country is investing heavily today to try to reclaim² some of that former glory. And one example is the world's largest radio telescope. NPR's Anthony Kuhn paid it a visit.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE³: From above, the telescope looks like a giant, silver dish nestled among the jagged, green mountains of southwest China's Guizhou Province. I'm standing⁴ on the edge of it with the project's lead scientist, Zhu Ming.

ZHU MING: (Through interpreter) The circular beam we're looking at is a support structure. It supports a network of more than 2,000 cables. The cables are covered with more than 4,400 panels. The cables can be pulled to adjust the shape of the dish.

KUHN: That allows it to track an object as the Earth turns. It can stay fixed⁵ on a certain object that it's looking at like a pulsar or something. Is that right?

ZHU: Yes.

KUHN: Scientists used satellites to scour⁶ the country for just the right location for the dish, Zhu says.

ZHU: (Through interpreter) You've got a town just two or three miles from here. And the signals from the cellphones, microwave ovens, cars, cameras and digital devices there would all be too great, if not for these mountains.

KUHN: Now I get it. The natural environment here is sort of like a giant egg cup. You've got these beautiful, karst mountains blocking out all the interference, all the noise, all the radiation. Wow, I'm really hearing that sound of the wind.

ZHU: Yes (laughter).

KUHN: It's an amazing sound.

(SOUNDBITE OF WIND BLOWING THROUGH RADIO TELESCOPE)

KUHN: The dish's aluminum⁷ panels are full of holes. When the wind blows through them, it generates an eerie⁸, buzzing roar that seems straight out of a sci-fi flick⁹ soundtrack.

(SOUNDBITE OF WIND BLOWING THROUGH RADIO TELESCOPE)

KUHN: Not far from the dish is its control center. Here, supercomputers process the data, the radio traffic of the universe picked up by the telescope. Zhu Ming says that the telescope will help discover thousands of new galaxies¹⁰ and observe the hydrogen clouds from which stars and planets are born. Before that, though, a lot of work is required to calibrate¹¹ and focus the telescope. While they do that, they'll be observing a special kind of star called a pulsar.

ZHU: (Through interpreter) For our test observations, we're looking at pulsars. Pulsars pulsate¹² at precise intervals¹³, like a light in a lighthouse.

KUHN: That allows you to both measure time and space.

ZHU: Yeah.

KUHN: Right? It helps you to calculate distances and positions and to look backward in time...

ZHU: Yes.

KUHN: ...To see what the universe used to look like.

ZHU: Yes.

KUHN: Scientists will also use the telescope to study gravitational radiation and other phenomena¹⁴ that could hold the key to time travel. They'll also scan the universe for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.

PETER QUINN: It's obviously a very large eyeball.

KUHN: Peter Quinn is the director of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research at the University of Western Australia, which helped build the telescope's receivers. He and other foreign scientists will have access to some of the project's data. Quinn says that telescope-building has recently entered a golden age, producing tools that are many times more powerful than those of a generation or so ago. But he adds that making scientific breakthroughs requires more than just technology; it also takes human curiosity and a good bit of luck.

QUINN: The most enduring characteristic of telescopes seems to be that they always find things we don't expect.

KUHN: One unexpected consequence is that in order to scan the heavens, local government had to move about 9,000 people here on Earth. Farmer Shen Minghua lives in a village just outside the entrance to the telescope. He says the local government is giving residents the lowest possible compensation for their land. He says some who did not cooperate were beaten or jailed.

SHEN MINGHUA: (Through interpreter) Our ancestors have lived here for generations. Now they've built this observatory¹⁵ here. It's good for the nation, but not for us ordinary folks. Folks have to move elsewhere. They have no homes and no way to make a living.

KUHN: The farmers are challenging their relocation in court. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Pingtang County, Guizhou Province.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

7 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

8 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

9 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

10 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

11 calibrate   

校准；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• Pesticide levels in food are simply too difficult to calibrate.食品中杀虫剂的含量很难精确测定。

12 pulsate   

v.有规律的跳动

参考例句：

• Hues of purplish,rose and amber begin to pulsate in the sky.淡紫色的、玫瑰色的和琥珀色的色调开始在天空中微微颤动起来。
• Building facades pulsate with millions of lights and glowing neon display.在千万灯光和霓虹灯的照耀下，建筑物的外墙规律地闪动着。

13 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

14 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

15 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。