科学家提出宇宙暗物质说

EarthSky

Barry Barish wants to build the largest science instrument in history to aid in his search for dark matter. Barish, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology, explained that dark matter is a unique kind of matter – stuff – believed to make up a significant portion of the universe.
加州理工学院的物理学家巴里·巴里斯希望建造史上最大的科学仪器来协助他研究暗物质。他认为暗物质是一种很独特的物质材料，在宇宙中占很大比重。

Barry Barish: Twenty-five percent of the universe is made up of dark matter. All the things, like us, make up one percent or less.

巴里·巴里斯：暗物质占宇宙组成的25%，而我们自身则占1%或更少。

The trouble is, dark matter has never been directly observed, with a telescope or any other device. To see dark matter, said Dr. Barish, scientists will have to build the world's biggest particle accelerator. Barish is leading the effort to design this instrument, called the International Linear Collider.

问题是我们不能用望远镜或其他设备直接观察暗物质。巴里斯博士说，科学家们必须建造世界最大的粒子加速器才能观察到暗物质。巴里斯是设计这种称为“国际直线对撞机”仪器的带头人。

Barry Barish：It's a machine that will collide electrons and positrons.

巴里·巴里斯：这是对撞电子和正电子的机器。

These charged particles will slam into each other inside a tunnel 30 kilometers – or about 19 miles – long. Dr. Barish said this is what's needed to create the right test conditions to observe dark matter. He added that the International Linear Collider is still in the planning stages, and he thinks it might be 2025 before it's built.

这些带电粒子在长达30千米（或大约19英里）的隧道里对撞。巴里斯博士说这样做才能为观察暗物质创造合适的测试条件。他补充道，“国际直线对撞机”目前仍处在规划阶段，估计2025能建造完成。

If we can finally see dark matter, Barry added, we'll have a new way to look at the universe really that involves a whole set of elements, particles, that we really don't have on our shelf yet.

巴里斯博士说，如果我们最终观察到了暗物质，我们将以全新的角度看待宇宙，宇宙那些未知的成分和粒子将进入我们的视野。