了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

Galactic, cosmic radiation
会破坏航♥天♥员的细胞
Will rip through the cells of our human cargo...
液化它们的身体。
...Liquefying their bodies.
唯一的希望就是设法帮助飞船抵挡住辐射
The only hope is to somehow shield the spacecraft.
在科幻小说中
In science fiction,
宇宙飞船会制♥造♥
Starships create a protective magnetic bubble
类似地球磁场一样的磁力防护罩
Similar to the magnetic field that protects the earth.
但磁力防护罩
But a deflector shield
需要极大的能量才能维持完好
Would take a huge amount of energy to sustain.
而且和任何电气装置一样 容易出现故障
And like any electrical device, it would be prone to failure.
最安全的选择反而是用低科技含量的
The safest option is to go low-tech,
方法给宇宙飞船加上厚厚的实体防护层
Coating the ship with a thick layer of physical shielding.
要做防护层并不简单
Shielding is not a simple problem.
不是说你只要
It's not just a matter
使用很多铅就可以了
Of bringing a bunch of lead or anything like that.
事实上 你会发现如果你这么做
In fact, what you find is that if you do something like that,
会发现铅会吸收辐射
It absorbs the radiation,
然后会以更危险的形式重新放射出来
And then it re-emits it in a more dangerous form.
用金属是不行的
Metals won't work.
但科学家们想出了一个绝妙的方案
But scientists have come up with a brilliant alternative.
事实上 阻挡宇宙射线的最好盾牌之一
In fact, one of the best shields from cosmic rays
是非常简单的 水就可以
Is something simple ... Water.
当你进入星际空间探险时
And it's actually something you need to bring with you
一定会携带水
As you venture into interstellar space.
水的氢原子会吸收高能量粒子
The hydrogen atoms in water absorb high-energy particles.
只有水量足够大 也能阻挡伽马射线
And, in sufficient volume, water can also block gamma rays.
方舟的生活舱会有
The living quarters of the ark
装满宇宙飞船用水的厚厚外层
Will have a thick outer skin filled with the ship's water
接着外♥围♥还有一层
And, outside that, a second skin
里面装着核聚变燃料氢
Filled with the ship's hydrogen supply for its fusion engines.
如果我们的航♥天♥员不会受到辐射的伤害
Our astronauts are now safe from radiation sickness.
再加上人工重力 他们的身体会保持强壮
And with artificial gravity, their bodies will stay strong.
现在最致命的威胁
The deadliest threat now...
是它们的伙伴
Each other.
宇宙大灾难
A cosmic catastrophe
总有一天会将我们从地球上消灭
Will one day wipe us from the face of the earth.
为了拯救人类 我们需要殖民外星球
To save mankind, we'll need to escape to the stars
使用太空方舟来寻找一个新的家园
In a giant space ark in search of a new home.
在人造重力和富含氢的屏蔽层的保护下
Its precious human cargo will be kept in top physical condition
宝贵的人类先锋的身体情况良好
With artificial gravity and hydrogen-rich shielding.
但是 他们的精神的健康呢
But what about their ental health?
人其实是太空旅行中
One of the biggest challenges for people in space
最大的挑战之一
Are the people.
将人放进密闭狭小的空间
Taking people, putting them in a tin can
让他们身临险境
In an incredibly dangerous environment,
还要他们和平共处处几个月或几年
Having them get along with each other for months or years
并且活着度过旅程
And stay alive through the journey
这将是个艰难无比的挑战
Is going to be an enormous challenge.
我们知道要出潜艇任务的人
We know when people go on submarines,
必须先接受严格的测试
That they have to be very carefully tested.
而这些潜艇的任务
And those submarines go out for missions
当然不会长达数年
That certainly don't last years.
如果我们要展开新的文明
We can't start a new civilization
船员就不能因为无聊而起内讧
With a crew ravaged by cosmic boredom, infighting,
或是得精神疾病
And mental illness.
如果可能的话
It would be better
让航♥天♥员失去意识
If the entire crew were unconscious.
其实可能是一种解决办法
One possibility ... Which, of course, again,
科幻小说再次提供了可能的方法
Is a possibility in science fiction ...
那就是让航♥天♥员从头睡到尾
Is to have people be asleep during most of it.
能不能让人陷入昏迷
Could you put people into an induced coma
再及时唤醒他们来执行科学任务
And then wake them up in time to go do their science mission?
这可能比让你告诉航♥天♥员
It might be an easier thing to do
好了接下来的10年你坐着不动
Than to say, "well, now you just sit still
这样要容易得多
For the next 10 years."
目前最接近让人接近
The closest we've come to suspended animation
冬眠的科技
In today's world
是把人类胚胎储存在液态氮里
Is storing human embryos in liquid nitrogen.
但是 我们真的能够
But could we really save the human race
用试管婴儿包住人类命脉？
With test-tube babies?
由于太空旅行障碍重重
Because of the enormous hurdles facing space travel,
有些人有着超前的理论
Some people have advanced the idea,
为什么我们一定要把人类送入外太空？
"Well, why do we have to send humans into outer space?
为什么不用胚胎或精♥子♥和卵细胞？
Why not send embryos or sperm and egg cells?"
理论上 我们可以运送冷冻胚胎
In theory, we could transport frozen embryos
跨越遥远的空间距离
Across vast distances of space,
这样就不需要准备食物
Side-stepping the need for food
或复杂的生命支持系统
Or complicated life-support systems.
冰冻胚胎可以承受
They could withstand
严酷的太空旅行和失重状态
The rigors of space travel and weightlessness,
但他们要怎么社会化
But how will they be socialized?
你把宝宝单独放在一个空间
You put a baby in a single place alone,
他们没办法识字 也无法生存
They don't learn how to read. They wouldn't survive, in fact.
我们是群居动物 依赖性很强
We're very dependent. We are social beings.
我们要开♥发♥智能机器人
We would have to develop intelligent robots
来孵化胚胎
To hatch the embryos
然后教婴儿怎么做人
And then teach them what it means to be human.
可以预见 或许在100年后
It's conceivable that perhaps 100 years into the future,
我们会有机器人保姆
We will have robot nannies
它们可以植入社会互动规则
That can incorporate the laws of social interaction.
机器人能养育小孩吗
Could a robot really raise a child?
或者在我们急于拯救人类
Or, in our rush to save humanity,
结果反而忘记了做人的意义
Will we wind up forgetting what it means to be human?
冰冻胚胎或许是太大的赌注
Raising human embryos may be too much of a gamble.
或许我们可以在不影响
So could we freeze adults instead
航♥天♥员的健康下冰冻航♥天♥员
Without affecting their health?
这是一个更大的挑战 但大自然已经有类似的机制
It's a much bigger challenge, but nature has almost solved it.
地球有很多动物
A lot of animals on earth
当情况变的糟糕时
Will go into suspended animation or hibernation
会进入假死或休眠状态
When conditions get bad.
有些动物的休眠期非常长
And in some cases, they can stay that way for a long time.
阿♥拉♥斯加林蛙
The alaskan wood frog
在冬天可以活在冰里
Survives whole winters frozen in ice.
在零下的低温里
At subzero temperatures,
它的代谢减慢并停止运作
Its metabolism slows and effectively shuts down.
当冰融化 林蛙就会复苏
When the ice thaws, the frogs reanimate...
然而若无其事的跳走
...And hop off as though nothing happened.
人类是否也能办到这件事？
Could humans ever do the same thing?
如果你把活人冰冻起来
When you freeze somebody alive,
冰晶会在人体内形成
There are ice crystals which form
开始膨胀 细胞会被撑破
Which begin to expand, rupturing the cells,
变成一堆糊状
And turn cells into mush.
阿♥拉♥斯加林蛙为何不怕冰冻？
So how do the frogs survive the deep freeze?
答案是在它们的血液里有防冻剂
The answer is they have an antifreeze in their blood,
那是葡萄糖
And that is glucose.
即使其身体内部变成冰
So even though their surrounding environment is solid ice,
它们的细胞也不会结冰
Inside, their cells are liquid.
人类的问题在于
The problem with humans is,
这么大量的防冻液会害死人的
That amount of antifreeze would kill us.
冰冻人类是行不通的
Deep-freezing humans isn't going to work.
但也许我们不用降低到这种低温
But to hibernate, we may not have to chill that low.
在匹兹堡的
In pittsburgh,
外科医生已经开♥发♥出一种突破性的技术
Surgeons have developed a groundbreaking technique
使用冰过的生理盐水
Using chilled saline solution
快速将病人的体温下降到
To rapidly lower their patients' body temperature
冰点以上几度
To just a few degrees above freezing.
在这种温度下 细胞停止活动
At this temperature, cellular activity stops.
就像阿♥拉♥斯加林蛙一样
Just like the wood frogs,
顺利进入冬眠状态
The patients are effectively in suspended animation.
我们可以在手术室让人降温
In operating rooms, we can cool people down
让他么暂时陷入昏迷