国家地理 火星生命

Believe it or not, astrobiologist Penny Boston is searching for life on Mars by dropping deep into this heart of darkness.

不管你信不信，天体生物学家潘妮·波士顿正在深入黑暗的腹地寻找火星生物。

This is a lava¹ tube, a subterranean² cave formed by underground lava flows during volcanic³ eruptions⁴ that occurred thousands of years ago.

这是熔岩管，一种隐蔽洞穴，由千年前火上爆发时期的地下岩浆流形成。

And Boston has someone she wants us to meet.

波士顿想让我们见识一下某种东西。

"Sometimes they are in crevices⁵. Sometimes they are kinda hard to see." Is this one, the scary monster reveals itself?

“有时，它们在裂缝中。有时它们很难发现。”这个东西，这个可怕的怪物会自己现身么？

"Ah! There is one." Actually no. This is an extremophile. "We are looking for what we astrobiologyists call extremophiles in this environment.

“啊！在那里。”并不会。这是一种极端微生物。“我们正在此环境中寻找天体生物学家口中的极端微生物。

That means that they are organisms that are living in very difficult conditions.

这意味着它们是生活在极端艰难环境中的生物体。

In this particular case, these organisms are living in a very cold cave right around freezing.

在这里，这些生物体生活在非常寒冷的洞穴中。

They are making their living without benefit of sunlight and there is almost nothing to eat in this cave."

它们在没有阳光的地方生存，洞穴中几乎没有食物。

In recent years, scientists have discovered tenacious⁶ microorganisms living in all forms of extreme environments. So if on Earth, why not on Mars?

近些年，科学家们发现存活在各种极端环境中的顽强生物体。所以如果地球上可以有，为什么火星上不能有呢？

"We think that Mars is covered with lava tubes.

“我们认为火星上很有多熔岩洞。

We believe that by looking at organisms that live in these extreme circumstances on Earth, we can learn a lot about what to look for on Mars;

我们相信，通过在地球上的这些极端环境中寻找生物体，我们可以了解要在火星中寻找什么。

and that, similar Martian organisms may be able to persist on Mars in places very similar to this lava tube."

并且相似的火星生物体或许能够在火星的相似熔岩洞中生存。”

To find out, Dr. Boston has created her own little Mars environment biospheres,

为了查明这一点，波士顿博士创造了自己的小型火星环境生物圈，

essentially⁷ exposing a range of microscopic⁸ Earth life forms to various elements to be expected on Mars.

本质上是将一系列微观地球生命形态暴露于各种火星元素下。

"They have been subjected to Mars-like levels of high ultraviolet radiation, and Mars-like temperature cycles.

“它们经历了类似火星的紫外线辐射，以及火星温度循环。

We have given them atmosphere compositions from very low levels of carbon dioxide with nothing else to,

我们给了它们各种大气挑战，从非常低的二氧化碳量

perhaps, 1/10 the density⁹ of Earth's atmosphere, and tested them under those conditions."

到地球大气密度的1/10，并在那些环境下，对它们进行测试。”

And so far, she's isolated¹⁰ 36 different strains of organism that thrive quite happily.

到目前为止，她分离出了36种顽强繁育的不同生物体。

So in theory at least, life could survive the harsh conditions of Mars except for one problem.

至少在此理论中，生命可以在火星的艰难环境中生存，除了一个问题。

"There is one thing for sure that we know, and that is that all forms of life on our planet require liquid water.

“有一件事我们非常确信，地球上的所有生命形式都需要液态水，

We don't know if that's going to be true on other planets. But we think that where there is going to be life, there is going to have to be water."

我们不知道在其他星球是否也这样。但是我们认为，有生命的地方，一定有水。”

1 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

2 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

3 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• 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。

4 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句

5 crevices   

n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It has bedded into the deepest crevices of the store. 它已钻进了店里最隐避的隙缝。 来自辞典例句
• The wind whistled through the crevices in the rock. 风呼啸着吹过岩石的缝隙。 来自辞典例句

6 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

9 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。