VOA慢速英语2013 火星湖可能存在微生物

 

AS IT IS 2013-12-20 Martian Lake Possibly Supported Microbial Life 火星湖可能存在微生物

From VOA Learning English this is As It Is.

Hello. I’m Caty Weaver¹.  Climate researchers have found links between recent periods of extreme weather and the melting of Arctic ice. Their study suggests that very  fast warming in the Arctic could be affecting weather across the northern hemisphere. But, critics say there is no proof that this is happening.

“The jury’s still out on whether Arctic sea ice is influencing weather extremes.”

But first, we go back to Mars…Earlier this year, scientists announced they had found evidence that there was once water on Mars, and that that water might have  permitted life on the red planet. Now, we have an update on the story: iron and sulfur³ minerals found at the bottom of the ancient, dried-up lake suggest an even more  likely environment for life.

“In principle you would have microbes that could eat the rocks. And that is very common on Earth.”

Life on Mars, and climate changes on Earth: today, on As It Is.

Ancient Martian Lake Might Have Supported Life Meaningful minerals have been found in an ancient, former lake on Mars. Scientists say the finding is the best evidence  yet that conditions were right for life on the red planet.

Christopher Cruise reports.

Earlier this year, scientists reported evidence of water on Mars that could have made life possible.

Now there is new evidence from the Mars information-gathering vehicle called Curiosity. It has found iron and sulfur minerals in different chemical states at the  bottom of a former lake.

The different chemical states suggest that electrons could move around in that environment. Scott McLennan is a professor of geoscience at Stony⁴ Brook⁵ University. He  says this is an important discovery.

“If you can move electrons around you have basically got food.”

Professor McLennan is part of the Mars rover team that made the discovery.

“In principle, you would have microbes that could eat the rocks and eat the minerals. And that is very common on Earth. They are primitive⁶ life forms but they are  very, very well-known and very well-characterized.”

Such life forms are found in caves and deep-sea thermal⁷ vents⁸ on Earth. These are places that do not get the sunlight that is the root of all life on our planet’s  surface.

Hap² McSween is a planetary scientist. He says a recent series of papers have claimed there could be life on Mars, but he says this is the first time he has been  convinced of it.

Professor McSween is with the University of Tennessee. He was not involved in the new study. He says it is not the first time researchers have found water or important  minerals on Mars.

“But never the whole package.  And this place really does seem to have the whole package.”

The materials were gathered near the landing place of Curiosity. The area appears to have been a lake about four billion years ago -- more recently than scientists  once thought. Professor McSween notes that was around the time life was appearing on Earth.

“It could be that the two planets had emerging but very, very simplified life at the same time. But we are a long way from figuring out that this interesting lake  deposit actually has any evidence of life.”

The Mars rover is not able to look for fossil microbes that would answer the question about whether there was once life on Mars. Professor McLennan says material would  have to be transported to Earth for study.

Now, Curiosity is headed to Mt. Sharp -- a rock formation five kilometers tall. Professor McLennan says Mt. Sharp was the rover’s target from the beginning of the  mission. The finding of the ancient, possibly life-filled former lake was just a lucky change of plans.

I’m Christopher Cruise.

You are listening to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

Now here is Caty Weaver with some climate science news.

Study Links Arctic Melting and Extreme WeatherIce at the North Pole is disappearing at a worrying rate. Now scientists say they have found a link between the melting  and periods of extreme weather.

Jennifer Francis is a climate scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey⁹. She says ice around the North Pole has decreased by 50 percent in the past 30 years. But  there is more bad news…“And then if you take into account the thickness as well, we’ve lost almost three-quarters of the volume of the sea ice. So, it’s just an  unbelievable amount of change that’s going on the Arctic.”

At the same time, the northern hemisphere has had record-breaking heat waves, extreme dry periods and severe floods.

Scientists are trying to discover if there is a link between the Arctic melting and the severe weather.

Professor Francis and her team looked at 30 years of weather information and measurements of Arctic ice and snow cover in northern lands.

“What we found was, when there was less ice or less snow in any given year during the summertime, that that was more likely to occur at the same time as the  occurrences of heat waves.”

They published their findings in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The researchers say the loss of ice and snow is affecting the high winds called the jet stream. These winds push weather around the northern hemisphere. The jet stream  is driven by the difference in temperature between the Arctic and moderate climates. The bigger the difference, the faster the jet stream flows.

“If we warm the Arctic faster then it’s decreasing the temperature difference and causing the jet stream to get weaker.”

A weaker jet stream is wavier¹⁰, which makes it slower in its movement. So heat waves, cold periods and rainstorms last longer.

But not everyone is persuaded by this information. James Screen is a climate scientist at Britain’s University of Exeter. He says the new study only shows a few areas  of the planet where there is a link between sea ice loss and heat waves.

“…which implies either that the relationship is quite weak, or actually, it could be interpreted that the relationship doesn’t exist at all.”

Professor Screen says researchers have only just begun to study the effect of Arctic ice on weather.

“It’s a hot topic but there’s a lot of work to be done. The jury’s still out on whether the Arctic sea ice is influencing weather extremes.”

Experts say it is an important area of research because, they say, with current levels of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere, Arctic ice will continue  to melt.

And that’s our program for today. Thanks for joining us.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 hap   

n.运气；v.偶然发生

参考例句：

• Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
• May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。

3 sulfur   

n.硫，硫磺（=sulphur）

参考例句：

• Sulfur emissions from steel mills become acid rain.炼钢厂排放出的硫形成了酸雨。
• Burning may produce sulfur oxides.燃烧可能会产生硫氧化物。

4 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

5 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

6 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

7 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

8 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。

9 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

10 wavier   

adj.波状的，有波纹的，起伏的( wavy的比较级 )

参考例句：