了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

is that galaxies, instead of moving away from us on average,
正直奔我们而来
would begin to be moving towards us on average.
整个宇宙看起来就像 它正在过来找我们
The whole universe would look like it was coming to get us.
空间越缩越小
As space contracts further,
物质密度增大 引力越来越强
the density of matter increases, gravity gets stronger,
温度飙升 大坍塌走向高♥潮♥
temperatures soar as the crunch gathers momentum.
星系开始碰撞
Galaxies begin to collide,
气体云开始碰撞
gas clouds begin to collide,
地球遭到其它行星撞击
planets slam into the earth.
黑洞们大跳死亡之舞
Black holes will execute a death dance around each other.
当然 温度继续飙升
Temperatures, of course, will continue to skyrocket.
物质、空间、时间发生向心聚爆
Matter, space, and time implode
宇宙万物被压缩成
until everything in the universe is compressed
一个质量无限大、温度无限高、 压力无限高的小点
into a tiny speck of infinite mass, heat, and pressure.
在大坍塌的最后阶段
For the last stages of the big crunch,
星系碰撞并形成一个原始的原子
galaxies will collide and form a primordial atom.
生命不复存在
And then, life as we know it will be impossible.
我们回到了宇宙初开那一刻
We're back to where it all began,
回到了大爆♥炸♥
back at the Big Bang.
我们生活的宇宙不复存在
The universe that we live in will cease to exist.
有人认为大坍塌预示一个新的开始
But some believe a big crunch could herald a new beginning.
我们不知道大坍塌的终点会是什么样
We don't know what the end point of a big crunch would be,
因为物理学定律在这里失效
because the laws of physics break down.
有可能 的确 哲学上乐观地认为
It's possible, and indeed, philosophically very pleasant,
大坍塌以某种方式终结宇宙的演化
to imagine that that crunch would somehow end up evolving
进入又一次的大扩张 你会有一个循环的宇宙
into an expansion again, and you could have a cyclic universe
永远循环下去
which goes on forever.
也许在那一点 会产生另一个大爆♥炸♥
Perhaps at that point, we will recreate another Big Bang.
可以想像 当万物在大坍塌里相会
It's conceivable that as everything comes together
某种力量会阻止他们维持原状
in the crunch, something sort of keeps it from just continuing
并使它们处于 一种高热、高密、均匀的状态
and pushes out in a hot, dense, smooth state,
从另一方面来说 这看起来像一场大爆♥炸♥
and from the other side, it looks like a Big Bang,
新的宇宙产生了
and a new universe has been created.
我们的大爆♥炸♥也许就是别人的大坍塌
Our Big Bang might have been someone else's big crunch.
然而就在科学家们谈论
But just when scientists came to terms
暗物质的大坍塌时 宇宙以更大的弧线
with dark matter's big crunch, the universe threw them
抛给他们另一个球
another, even bigger curve.
某种幽灵般的力量似乎正使我们
Some ghostly force seemed to be sending us hurtling toward
冲向一个完全不同的死法
a completely different death.
我的博士后奖学金获得者 把结果显示给我
My postdoctoral scholar showed me the results.
我几乎从椅子上掉下来
I nearly fell off my chair.
引力和膨胀争夺宇宙控制权的战争
Gravity and expansion battle for control
持续了一百四十亿年
of our universe for 14 billion years,
膨胀将宇宙向外推
expansion pushing it outwards,
引力将宇宙向里拉
gravity pulling it in.
暗物质躲在角落里
With dark matter in its corner,
引力似乎不可避免地会成为胜利者
gravity seems to be the inevitable winner.
特殊的物质会把宇宙拖进大坍塌
The extra mass will drag the universe into a big crunch,
直到一个令人震惊的发现
until a stunning discovery
彻底改变了我们对宇宙的了解
revolutionizes our understanding of the universe.
大约一九九零年 两个研究团队决定测量
Around 1990, two teams of researchers decided to measure
宇宙膨胀的过程
the expansion history of the universe
来确定膨胀是否在慢下来
to determine whether it's been slowing down so much
以致最终发生大坍塌
that it'll eventually have a big crunch,
或者膨胀并没有慢下来
or whether it hasn't been slowing down much
它将不断地膨胀下去
and will eternally expand.
天文学家亚历克斯.菲利彭科 隶属一个团队
Astronomer Alex Filippenko was on one team.
索尔.珀尔马特领导另一个团队
Saul Perlmutter led the other.
我们第一次认识到有可能
We realized that it was possible for the first time
直接测量
to go and actually make a direct measurement
宇宙膨胀过去慢下来多少
of how much the universe had been slowing down in the past.
两个团队都想测量
Both teams want to measure
遥远星系的离去速度
the speed of distant galaxies.
但是因为星系太暗 并且太远
But because the galaxies are too dim and too far away,
他们就寻找更亮一些的星系
they look for something brighter.
距离地球数十亿光年 一颗恒星爆♥炸♥了
Billions of light years from earth, a star detonates.
这是一颗超新星
This is a supernova,
一颗濒死恒星辉煌的最后喘息
a dying star's brilliant final gasp.
它燃烧的亮度 比太阳还亮五十亿倍
It burns brightly, 5 billion times brighter than the sun,
维持的时间却很短暂
but briefly.
珀尔马特和菲利彭科
Perlmutter and Filippenko have a window
有一到二周的测量窗口
of just one or two weeks to measure
测量该超新星所在的星系 远离我们而去的速度
how much the galaxy it sits in is slowing down
慢了多少
as it moves away from us.
两个团队找寻这样的超新星 找了八年
The teams look for supernovas for eight years.
他们测量42星系 但结果似乎不可能
They measure 42, and the results seem impossible.
我们在图表上绘制多个点
We plotted the points on the graphs,
但毫无意义
and it didn't make any sense.
它们压根儿就没慢下来
They were not slowing down at all.
实际上它们在加速
They were actually speeding up.
两个团队的发现令世界大吃一惊
What both groups found stunned the world.
在剩下的四十到五十亿年中
In the last 4 or 5 billion years,
宇宙实际上在加速膨胀
the universe has actually been speeding up in its expansion.
一个正在加速的宇宙
An accelerating universe,
受某种神秘力量的驱使
propelled by something mysterious.
长久以来 我们一直在争论
For so long, we've been arguing whether the universe would
宇宙是永远膨胀下去 还是坍塌回原点
expand forever or collapse back in on itself,
但没有人想到答案会是
but nobody thought the answer was going to be
宇宙在加速
that the universe was accelerating,
每时每刻都在加速
going faster and faster all the time.
加速令科学家们困惑
The acceleration bewilders the scientists.
似乎推♥翻♥了物理学定律
It seems to defy the laws of physics.
想像我有一个棒球
Imagine I've got a baseball
我把它直接向上抛
and I throw it straight up.
棒球离开手后 通常它会慢下来
And instead of slowing down once it leaves my hand,
但这次情况有所不同
which is what normally it will do,
起初它开始减速
it begins to slow down at first,
但随后它加速跑远了
but then it starts speeding away.
不知何故 它在获得能量
Somehow, it's getting energy.
新能量似乎无中生有
The new energy seemed to be coming from nothing,
从真空而来
the vacuum of space.
真空这个词对科学家来说 意味着彻底空的空间
The word "vacuum" to a scientist means completely empty space,
真空没有粒子 没有温度
no particles there at all, no temperature,
更谈不上能量
no energy to speak of.
但空间和时间有固有的能量
But there's an intrinsic energy in space and time.
空的空间有能量 这能量制♥造♥
Empty space has energy, and that energy produces
引力排斥 一种反引力
a gravitational repulsion, a kind of anti-gravity.
没有线索显示 这股力量是什么或者它如何运行
Without a clue what this force is or how it works,
科学家们能做的就是 给它起个名字 -- 暗能量
all scientists can do is give it a name, dark energy.
我们也可以称它为：我不知道的能量
We could have called it we-don't-know energy.
我们可以为它任意命名
We could have called it anything.
我们不知道它是什么 暗的或不暗的
But we don't know what it is, and dark or not,
它是物理学领域最大的谜
it's the biggest mystery in physics.
太空总署调校它最好的太空望远镜
NASA calibrates its finest space telescopes
测量那里有多少暗能量
to measure how much dark energy is out there,
结果是令人兴奋的
and the result is mind-blowing.
暗能量 占据了宇宙总质量的三分之二
It dominates the mass of the universe by nearly 3-to-1.
空间膨胀得越快
And the more space expands,
那儿的暗能量似乎就越多
the more dark energy there seems to be.
暗能量是无中生有的能量
Dark energy is the energy of nothing,
它有排斥的属性
and it's repulsive.
因此 暗能量排斥星系
Therefore, as this dark energy repels galaxies,
暗能量越多 那儿的真空就越多
there's more of it, there's more vacuum.
真空越多 排斥力就越强
And so there's more repulsion,
或许这就是 宇宙此刻正在加速的原因
and perhaps that's the reason why the universe is accelerating
而不是减速
right now rather than slowing down.
暗能量似乎否定了大坍塌理论
Dark energy seems to kill the big crunch theory,
但科学家们还不确定
but scientists aren't yet sure how dark energy,
暗能量、膨胀、空间 是如何建立联♥系♥的
expansion, and space are connected.
如果宇宙的体积扩大一倍
If a volume of space doubles in size,
里面的暗能量也扩大一倍吗？