国家地理:送给外星人的地图(1)

A half century ago astronomers¹ designed a map that would point to Earth from anywhere in the galaxy². Then they sent it into space, reasoning that any aliens smart enough to intercept³ a spacecraft could decode⁴ the map and uncover its origin. Many movies and TV shows have used variations on this theme as a plot point, but we didn't borrow it from science fiction. It's reality.

半个世纪前，天文学家设计了一幅可以从银河系任何地方指向地球的地图。然后他们把这幅地图发送至太空，推论任何聪明到能拦截宇宙飞船的外星人，都有能力破解这幅地图并找出它来自哪里。许多电影和电视节目都使用了这个主题的变体作为情节，但我们没有从科幻小说中借用。这是现实。

Truth is, this tale has been part of my family's lore⁵ since before I was born. Growing up, I'd heard stories about the map and seen its depiction⁶ on multiple interstellar spacecraft, and several years ago, I found the original, penciled-in pathway to Earth where my parents had stashed⁷ it.

事实上，在我出生前，这个故事就已经是我家族历史中的一页。我在成长过程中听了关于这幅地图的故事，也在多艘星际宇宙飞船上看到复制的地图，在几年前，我从父母收藏这张地图的地方挖出这张以铅笔绘制、通往地球路径的最早版本。

That was an exciting find! Then came the buzzkill: This original map won't be good for much longer, cosmically speaking. The signposts it uses will disappear within tens of millions of years, and even if they don't, the map would point toward our home for only a fraction of the 200 to 250 million years it takes the sun and other nearby stars to spin once around the Milky⁸ Way.

那真是令人兴奋！然后扫兴的事情来了：以宇宙的时间尺度来说，这幅原始地图即将失效。它所使用的路标将在千万年内消失，而就算这些路标没有消失，这幅地图能指向我们家园的时间，也只占太阳和其他邻近恒星绕行银河系一周（约需2亿至2亿5000万年）的一小段时间而已。

Sure, the chances of aliens intercepting⁹ the map are astronomically¹⁰ improbable -- but if that did happen, an outdated¹¹ map would be useless rather than helpful. And that wasn't the goal.

当然，外星人拦截到这幅地图的机会很渺茫，但若真的发生，一幅过时的地图将派不上用场。而这并不是本来的目标。

1 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

3 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

4 decode   

vt.译（码），解（码）

参考例句：

• All he had to do was decode it and pass it over.他需要做的就是将它破译然后转给他人。
• The secret documents were intercepted and decoded.机密文件遭截获并被破译。

5 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

6 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

7 stashed   

v.贮藏( stash的过去式和过去分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她有一大笔钱存在几个不同的银行账户下。
• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她在不同的银行账户上秘密储存了一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

9 intercepting   

截取（技术），截接

参考例句：

• The police had been intercepting my mail, ie reading it before it was delivered. 警方一直截查我的邮件。
• We've been intercepting radio transmissions from Moscow. 我们已从莫斯科拦截到无线电信号。

10 astronomically   

天文学上

参考例句：

• The bill was astronomically high. 账单上的金额高得没谱儿。
• They have only been read as the multitude read the stars, at most astrologically, not astronomically. 它们之被群众阅读，有如群众之阅览繁星，至多是从星象学而不是从天文学的角度阅览的。

11 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。