国家地理粒子对撞实验可能毁灭地球?（打印版）

The most powerful atom smasher ever built could make some bizarre discoveries,

有史以来最有威力的核粒子加速器8月份开启以来，有一些奇异的发现，

such as new forces of nature or even extra dimensions of space, after it's switched on in August.

比如自然界新的力量甚至空间的多维性。

The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, basically consists of a ring of supercooled magnets 17 miles

这个巨大的粒子对撞机，或者简称LHC，基本构成是一个周长17英里的过冷的磁环，

in circumference attached to huge barrel-shaped detectors.

附着在一个巨大的桶形的探测器上。

The ring which straddles the French and Swiss borders at the CERN center is buried 330 feet underground. But some have fears.

该磁环位于法国和瑞士边境上的CERN中心，埋于地面以下330尺。但是有人有一些担忧。

Will it spawn a black hole that could swallow Earth or spit out particles that could turn the planet into a hot dead clump?

会不会产生黑洞并将地球吞噬？会不会分裂出粒子，让地球走向毁灭？

LHC is only going to reproduce what nature does every second and has been doing for billions of years,

LHC只是重塑过去自然界做的并且几十亿年以来一直在做的，

and all those astronomical bodies including the Earth and the Sun. They are still here.

和所有的天体，包括地球和太阳。现在地球和太阳仍然存在于宇宙中。

So though there really is no problem, but okay, if people are concerned about it, we'll certainly discuss it.

所以根本不会有任何问题。但是如果有人为这些担忧的话，我们在这里可以进行讨论。

The safety of the collider, which will generate energies 7 times higher

对撞机产生的能量是芝加哥的菲尔米国家加速器实验室

than its most powerful rival at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory here in Chicago, has been debated for years.

最有威力的对手的7倍。所以，几年以来，对于对撞机的安全性一直存在争议。

When you collide two particles, it nearly seems like colliding two mosquitoes.

当你让两个粒子碰撞的时候，几乎看上去就像两只蚊子相撞。

These will be incredibly small black holes with no more energy than a mosquito.

这个过程造成的黑洞小的不可思议，产生的能量不会超过一只蚊子。

Very likely these things are not going to be made at all. If they are made, then they're surely going to decay.

或者很可能根本就不会产生黑洞或者能量。即使产生了，也必定很快就消失了。

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

有关部门3月21日在夏威夷法庭对CERN和美国的合作伙伴提起诉，但是尚未判决。

I think obviously we have no concern at all.

我认为我们完全没必要担心。

There is a huge community of scientists who know what they are talking about and are sleeping quite soundly concerning LHC.

那里有大批科学家，他们知道他们在坦坤什么，关于LHC，他们安枕无忧。

But nevertheless this creates problems in the general public where LHC is concerned and we have to answer to that.

但是既然公众担忧可能会产生问题，我们就必须进行回答。

The machine, which has been called the largest scientific experiment in history,

该对撞机被称为有史以来最大的科学实验，

isn't expected to begin test rounds until August, and ramping up to full power could take months.

可能一直到8月份才会进行测试，充分发挥能量则需要几个月的时间。