万物简史 第285期:砰!(20)

 　　Hildebrand traveled to the site and decided¹ fairly swiftly that they had their crater². 希尔德布兰德来到该地，很快就得出结论，他们找到了想要找的大坑。

　　By early 1991 it had been established to nearly everyone's satisfaction that Chicxulub was the impact site. 到1991年初，已经确定它就是撞击的现场，几乎令每个人都感到很满意。

　　Still, many people didn't quite grasp what an impact could do. 然而，许多人仍然不大理解撞击到底会产生什么后果。

　　As Stephen Jay Gould recalled in one of his essays: 斯蒂芬·杰伊·古尔德在一篇短文中说：

　　"I remember harboring some strong initial doubts about the efficacy of such an event... “起先，我对这样的事件的威力仍然抱有强烈的怀疑态度……

　　Why should an object only six miles across wreak³ such havoc⁴ upon a planet with a diameter of eight thousand miles?" 一个直径只有10公里的物体，怎么会对一个直径1.3万公里的行星造成这么大的破坏？”

　　Conveniently a natural test of the theory arose when the Shoemakers and Levy⁵ discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, 这真是踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费工夫，对该理论进行一次自然测试的机会很快就来到了。苏梅克和列维发现了苏梅克-列维9号彗星，

　　which they soon realized was headed for Jupiter. 而且他们很快意识到，它正向木星飞去。

　　For the first time, humans would be able to witness a cosmic collision—and witness it very well thanks to the new Hubble space telescope. 人类首次能亲眼目睹宇宙里的一次撞击──而且多亏了新的哈勃太空望远镜，看得非常清楚。

　　Most astronomers⁶, according to Curtis Peebles, expected little, particularly as the comet was not a coherent sphere but a string of twenty-one fragments. 据柯蒂斯·皮布尔斯说，大多数天文学家不抱多大希望，尤其因为彗星不是个紧密的球体，而是一连串21个碎块。

　　"My sense," wrote one, "is that Jupiter will swallow these comets up without so much as a burp." “我觉得，”有人写道，“木星没打个嗝就会把这些彗星吞吃了。”

　　One week before the impact, Nature ran an article, "The Big Fizzle Is Coming," 撞击之前的一个星期，《自然》杂志刊登了一篇题为《大失败即将到来》的文章，

　　predicting that the impact would constitute nothing more than a meteor shower. 预言撞击只不过会是一场流星雨。

　　The impacts began on July 16, 1994, went on for a week and were bigger by far than anyone—with the possible exception of Gene⁷ Shoemaker—expected. 撞击于1994年7月16日开始，持续了一个星期，其威力之大超出任何人的预料──有可能尤金·苏梅克是个例外。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

3 wreak   

v.发泄；报复

参考例句：

• She had a burning desire to wreak revenge.她复仇心切。
• Timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.怯懦的人总是把满腹牢骚向温和的人发泄。

4 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

5 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

6 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。