VOA慢速英语2020 “大材也能小用”—巨型机器搜寻宇宙最小物质（在线收听）

The unusual substance known as antimatter may have appeared in many films about space and the future.

被称为反物质的不寻常物质可能出现在许多关于太空和未来的电影中。 

But it is what real scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, work on almost every day.

但这是欧洲核研究组织的科学家们几乎每天都在做的工作。 

Their research is part of efforts to find out what the universe is made of -- and how it works.

他们的研究是为了弄清宇宙是由什么组成的，以及宇宙是如何运作的。 

Based in Geneva, Switzerland,CERN has 23 member nations and includes scientists and other employees from many more countries.

该组织总部设在瑞士日内瓦，有23个成员国，包括来自更多国家的科学家和其他雇员。 

Their research laboratory is a ring-shaped underground structure.

他们的研究实验室是一个环形的地下结构。 

It is 27 kilometers around and crosses the border between Switzerland and France.

它周长27公里，横跨瑞士和法国的边界。 

In the structure lies the Large Hadron Collider.In this huge machine, the parts of atoms called protons are made to crash into one another with extreme force.

该机器中有一个大型强子对撞机。在这个巨大的机器中，被称为质子的原子部分被制造出来，以极大的力量相互撞击。

This creates antimatter and other elements.

这就产生了反物质和其他元素。 

But just because physicists can make antimatter does not mean they understand everything about it.

但物理学家能够制造反物质，并不意味着他们了解它的一切。 

Antimatter is as old as the universe. It is part of its creation, in an event often called the "Big Bang."

反物质和宇宙一样古老。这是宇宙形成的一部分，通常被称为“大爆炸”。 

Ludivine Ceard is a physicist with CERN.She discussed one of the theories behind the research.

露德温·西尔德是欧洲核研究组织的物理学家。她讨论了这项研究背后的一个理论。 

"We have this theory that says right after the Big Bang, there was creation in equal amount between matter and antimatter," she told VOA.

她对美国之音说:“我们有一种理论认为，就在大爆炸之后，物质和反物质产生了等量的物质。” 

"If the difference between the two is only the charge, they should have just recombined and left nothing but radiation."

“如果两者之间的差异只是电荷，它们应该重新结合，只留下辐射。” 

Ceard added, "However, we are here…So it means at some point, matter took over the antimatter."

西尔德补充道：“然而，我们现在在这里……所以这意味着在某个时刻，物质替代了反物质。” 

This, Ceard said, shows scientists that there are differences between matter and antimatter that they do not yet know.

西尔德说，这向科学家们表明，物质和反物质之间存在着他们还不知道的差异。 

Searching for those differences is one of the tasks for the people at the Compact Muon Solenoid, or CMS.

寻找这些差异是紧凑介子螺线管(CMS)工作人员的任务之一。 

That is one of four main experiment sites around the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

这是欧洲核研究组织大型强子对撞机周围四个主要实验场所之一。 

A muon is one of the so-called elementary particles, one with no smaller parts.

介子是所谓的基本粒子之一，且不能再分。 

It is similar to an electron, but heavier. And although it is extremely small, the machine built to study it is very large.

它与电子相似，但更重。虽然它非常小，但用来研究它的机器非常大。 

To create muons and antimatter, groups of protons race around a circular structure in two beams,moving in opposite directions at almost the speed of light.

为了制造出介子和反物质，需要将一组质子分成两束，围绕一个圆形结构进行竞赛，以几乎光速的速度向相反的方向运动。

When the physicists are ready,the beams are focused and made to hit each other in just the right place.

当物理学家们准备就绪，光束就会被聚焦，并在正确的位置相互撞击。 

Rende Steerenberg leads the group in charge of seeing those crashes happen.

雷德·斯泰伦伯格领导的小组负责观察这些过程的发生。 

"On either end of the experiments we will switch on focusing magnets so that the beam squeezes," he said.

他说:“在实验的两端，我们将打开聚焦磁铁，使光束压缩。” 

This increases the chances of the beams hitting each other.

这增加了光束相互撞击的几率。 

Even with 100 billion protons in a group moving in one direction and 100 billion protons moving the other way, only 50 protons are likely to connect.

即使一群质子中有1000亿个质子朝一个方向移动，1000亿个质子朝另一个方向移动，也只有50个质子可能会连接在一起。

Right now, however, the chance of a collision is zero.

然而现在，碰撞的几率为零。 

That is because the machine and the experiments around it are in the middle of a two-year work suspension for repairs and improvements.

这是因为这台机器和它周围的实验正处于为期两年的维修和改进停工期间。 

This happens every three years. But there is still plenty of work to do.

这种情况每三年发生一次。但仍有大量工作要做。 

The CMS project includes about 4,000 scientists from more than 50 countries.

CMS项目有来自50多个国家的约4000名科学家参与其中。 

Patricia McBridge is a representative of the CMS project.She said the suspension does not mean scientists get free time.

Patricia McBridge是CMS项目的代表。她说暂停并不意味着科学家们有了空闲时间。 

"I would say that for us its an opportunity," she said."Were looking at ways of making the detector better, repairing things, putting in new detectors, and preparing for the future runs which … will be running until, we hope…2035."

“我想说，对我们来说，这是一个机会，”她说。“我们正在寻找使探测器更好的方法，修复东西，安装新的探测器，并为未来的运行做准备，我们希望它能运行到2035年。”

Im Pete Musto.

皮特·穆斯托报道。