火星上是否有生命存在 Life on Mars

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Sophie…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是苏菲。
And I’m Neil. Sophie – did you see the beautiful sky last night?
我是尼尔。苏菲，昨晚看到美丽的夜空了吗？
No, I went to bed early. Why?
没有，我睡得早。怎么了？
I was wondering if there was life out there.
我在想那是否有生命存在。
You mean life on other planets?That’s just science fiction, Neil.
你是指其他星球是否有生命存在？那只是科幻小说，尼尔。
It isn’t! People are fascinated by life on other planets for a good reason.
不是的！很多人相信其他星球有生命存在，这是有原因的。
You believe in little green men?
你相信有小绿人？
Not necessarily… but possibly.
不一定是小绿人，但有可能存在的。
Well, Mars is our closest neighbour in the solar system and the subject of today’s show. And that brings me on to our usual quiz question.How long is a day on Mars?Is it about…a) 5 hours?b) 25 hours?Or c) 45 hours?
火星是太阳系距我们最近的邻居了，这也是我们今天节目的主题。如往常一样，回答今天的问题吧。火星上一天有多长？a) 5 小时?b) 25小时?还是 c) 45小时?
And I think it must be c) 45 hours.Things are weird on other planets. And Mars is further from the sun than us… Mars may be our closest neighbour, but it’s hardly in our backyard, is it?
我觉得一定是c) 45小时。其他星球上的事物都很奇怪。火星与我们地球相比距太阳更远。火星可能是我们最近的邻居，但也不会和我们的后花园一样近，不是吗？
It is in astronomical terms, Neil – it’s visible to the naked eye – meaning without using instruments – and it’s reachable by spacecraft. Well, we’ll find out later on in the show whether you got the answer right or not.Now can you tell me Neil why people like you get excited about the possibility of life on Mars?
这是一个天文术语，叫做肉眼可见，是指不借助任何设备就可看见，我们乘坐宇宙飞船可以到达火星。好了，之后我们再看你回答得是否正确。你能告诉我为什么和你一样的人们对火星可能存在生命这么激动吗？
Well, Mars is similar to the Earth in some important ways which means if life developed on our planet, why not Mars?
在很多重要的方面，火星和地球相似，这意味着如果我们地球存在生命，火星上为什么不能存在呢？
That’s true.Its temperature is in the right zone – not too hot and not too cold.But actually we could find Mars pretty cold– an average temperature would be around minus 63 degrees Celsius compared to Earth’s 14 degrees Celsius.It’s also very arid – or dry.
这倒没错。火星有允许生命存在的温度，不太热也不太冷。但是我们还是会觉得火星温度低，火星平均气温达到零下63摄氏度，相比之下地球平均温度为14摄氏度。同时火星上太干燥了。
And it needs to be wet for life to develop, doesn’t it?
生命生长需要湿润的环境，是吗?
That’s right. Many scientists think that liquid water is essential for life!But there may have been water on the surface of Mars in the past.And recent research suggests that there may be water underground.Let’s hear some more about this from Professor John Zarnecki, who teaches Space Science at The Open University.
没错。许多科学家认为液态水是生命存在必不可少的条件！过去火星表面有可能存在水。最近的研究显示火星也许存在地下水。我们来听听英国开放大学空间科学的教授John Zarnecki的看法。
We are now seeing that in fact Mars probably does have water – not liquid water – that there is ice just below the surface and there’s even just recently tantalizing evidence that perhaps water does flow periodically... Now, and also coupled with the factthat here on Earth we’re finding that life in very primitive form exists in the most extreme environments,these are the so called ’extremophiles’ that exist at the bottom of the oceans… So life is much, much tougher.
我们如今观察到火星上有可能确实存在水，不是液态水，在其表层下存在冰，最近甚至有迷惑性的证据其显示地下水有周期性的流动。如今我们还在地球上发现了在极端条件下生存着原始生命类型这些生物也叫“极端微生物”，存在于海洋之下。所以这些生命生存的很艰难。
What does tantalizing mean, Sophie?
什么叫迷惑性呢？
It means something you want that’s almost, but not quite, within reach.So, scientists would love to think water flows on Mars but the evidence isn’t strong enough for this to be certain.The other interesting point the professor makes is that life may exist in the very harsh Martian environment – because primitive life exists in extreme places on Earth.
这是指非常接近，但不是完全确信。所以科学家们想相信火星上有水存在，但证据不是那么充足。教授提及的另一个有意思的地方是环境艰苦的火星也许会有生命存在，因为在地球的极端环境也有原始生命类型存在。
Extremophiles are organisms – or small creatures – that live in very extreme environmentsand can survive conditions that would kill most other organisms.But on Mars they would be living underground because the radiation – or light and heat – from the Sun would kill any organisms living on the surface of the planet.So why doesn’t the Sun’s radiation kill us then, Sophie?
极端微生物是生活在极端环境下的生物体或微生物，能在大多数生命体无法存活的环境下生存。但是在火星上也许它们要生活在地下，因为太阳辐射，或者说太阳的光和热会杀死火星表面所有的生物体。那为什么太阳辐射没有杀死我们呢？
The Earth has a strong magnetic field created by its hot molten core – or centre– and this protects us from the Sun’s harmful solar winds.
高温地核的熔融物质为地球创造了一个强烈的磁场，保护我们免受太阳风的伤害。
And what about Mars - why doesn’t it have a magnetic field?
那火星呢？为什么火星没有磁场？
It used to – 4 billion years ago. It’s possible that a massive collision with an asteroid might have heated up Mars’s core, disrupting the magnetic fields.
40亿年前是有的。也许是因为火星与其他小行星发生剧烈碰撞导致火星内核温度升高，扰乱了其磁场。
And if you disrupt a process you stop it from continuing normally.Now, to return to the subject of collisions, Sophie, I have something very interesting to tell you.
扰乱是指打断某个过程，使之不能正常继续。现在，回到碰撞这个话题上。我有很有意思的事告诉你。
Yes?
真的吗？
A meteorite – or a piece of rock from outer space – might’ve crashed into the Earth millions of years ago.That meteorite might have contained Martian life forms.So we might be descended from Martians!
几百万年前，来自外太空的石头，也就是陨石落在了地球上。这块陨石也许携带了火星生命形式。所以我们也许是火星人的后代！
That’s actually an interesting idea, Neil.But let’s listen to Professor John Zarnecki talking about interplanetary life.
这个观点很有意思。但是我们听听John Zarnecki 教授谈论星际内的生命。
If we do find traces of life on Mars we don’t know, do we - whether it evolved independently or was it perhaps seeded from Earth.It is possible that life forms from Earth travelled to Mars and perhaps existed there – or the other way round.
如果我们确实发现了火星生命存在的痕迹，我们无法确定该生命是自己进化而来还是从地球生命繁衍而来。有可能地球上的生命抵达了火星，在那生存下来，也有可能恰恰相反。
So life on Mars may have evolved – or developed – on its own.Or it might have arrived from Earth in a lump of rock…Or the other way round! So Martians might be humans or we might be Martians!One big interplanetary happy family, Sophie!
所以火星上的生命也可能是自己进化而来。也有可能是来自地球的岩石携带生命到达火星，从此在火星上繁衍开来。或者是相反的情况。所以火星人有可能是人类，我们有可能是火星人！这简直是星际间快乐的大家庭啊。
Well Neil, let’s hope you stay happy after you hear the answer to today’s quiz question.I asked: How long is a day on Mars?Is it … a) 5 hours? b) 25 hours? Or c) 45 hours?
让我们祈祷你听到今天问题的答案后还能这么开心。我问你：火星上的一天有多长？a) 5 小时?b) 25小时?还是 c) 45小时?
And I said c) 45 hours – they must have a long day over there.
我选的是c) 45小时。火星上的一天一定非常长。
And you were … wrong!The correct answer is b) because a day on Mars is slightly longer than here on Earth – it’s 25 hours. Anyway, can we at least hear the words we learned today?
你回答……错了！正确答案是b)，火星上的一天只比地球长一点，是25小时一天。好了，我们再听一下今天的单词吧？
They are:
今天听到的单词有：
the naked eye
肉眼
arid
干燥的
tantalizing
迷惑性的
extremophiles
极端微生物
organisms
生命体
radiation
辐射
core
地核
disrupt
扰乱
meteorite
陨石
evolved
进化
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. Join us again soon!
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。我们下次再会！
Bye.
再见。