VOA慢速英语--科学家们对潜在新的自然力量感到激动

Have you ever heard of a muon?

A muon is a very small particle similar to an electron. Electrons and protons are parts of the atoms that make up all matter.

Muons were discovered during an experiment in 1936. Until now, most physicists² have only been able to study muons for an extremely short period of time: two microseconds. There are one million microseconds in one second.

But scientists are using new technology to study these particles for a longer period of time than in the past. And with that extra time, they think they have made an exciting discovery. By watching the muons, they found that these particles do not behave as predicted.

Scientists have developed a group of expectations, or rules, in the years that they have studied particles that are smaller than an atom. That group of rules is called the Standard Model.

Scientists agreed on the Standard Model about 50 years ago. The Standard Model lets physicists make assumptions³ about the way extremely small particles move. Over time, experiments have proved that the assumptions of the Standard Model are correct.

However, results of two different recent tests in Europe and America have scientists thinking again about their ideas.

The scientists who work at the research center called Fermilab, near Chicago, Illinois have done 8.2 billion tests with muons. They send them around a 14-meter magnetic track. The special track keeps the muons from disappearing for longer than usual, so they can be studied. The tests showed scientists that the muons were behaving differently than the Standard Model predicted.

In tests going on at a research center near Geneva, Switzerland, scientists crash particles known as "beauty quarks" into each other. The Standard Model says these crashes should produce an equal number of electrons and muons each time. However, researchers looked at data over several years and found 15 percent more electrons than muons resulted from the collisions. They had expected nearly an equal number of both particles.

The physicists are excited to be able to question the Standard Model. They think it means an important discovery might be coming in the near future.

However, they say the information from the experiments still requires a lot of study. It will take another one or two years before they can make a firm statement.

David Kaplan is a physicist¹ at Johns Hopkins University. He said if the experiments turn out to be correct, they could upset the world of particle physics.

What the early data show is that there is an unknown particle or force acting⁴ on the muons. Aida El-Khadra who works at Fermilab said it would be the first big discovery in this part of physics in about 10 years.

Chris Polly is one of the leaders of the project at Fermilab. He said there could be a "sea of background particles" that have not yet been discovered. He called them: "monsters we haven't yet imagined."

Alexey Petrov is a particle physicist at Wayne State University in Michigan. He said the news of the discovery is "tantalizing⁵."

Both groups doing the experiments want people to understand that their findings need to be confirmed with more tests. In 2011, physicists thought they found something that made them question the Standard Model. They said another particle, known as a neutrino, was traveling faster than the speed of light. But after careful reexamination, they found the result came from loose electrical wiring in the experiment.

Sheldon Stone of Syracuse University is working on the project in Switzerland. Because of the problem in 2011, he said the scientists are being extra careful.

"We're kind of confident," about the results, he said. "But you never know."

Words in This Story

exciting –adj. causing feelings of interest and enthusiasm : causing excite

assume –v. to think that something is true or probably true without knowing that it is true

spin –v. to think that something is true or probably true without knowing that it is true

track –n. a structure that is often circular that lets something go around it in a set path

monster –n. a strange or horrible imaginary creature

tantalize⁶ –v. to cause (someone) to feel interest or excitement about something that is very attractive, appealing, etc.

confident –adj. having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something : having confidence

1 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

2 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

3 assumptions   

假定，臆断( assumption的名词复数 )； （责任的）承担； （他人债务的）承继； [the A-][基督教]1)。 圣母升天

参考例句：

• Their reasoning was based on a set of unstated assumptions. 他们的推理是以一系列未说明的假定为基础的。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions. 你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

6 tantalize   

vt.使干着急，逗弄

参考例句：

• The boy would come into the room and tantalize the dog with his feed.那个男孩会到房间里拿狗食逗弄狗。
• He tried to tantalize me by revealing that the Soviet Union was prepared to discuss a package deal.他想要逗弄我，于是就露出口风说，苏联愿意讨论一揽子交易。