了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S05E06

Part 3 April 18, 2021, 7:47 p.m.

所以会有一个奇怪的泡泡
So you're gonna have a strange bubble
从这个地方发出来
emanating from this location,
同时释放出越来越多的能量
all the while giving out more and more energy,
这些能量又被用来制♥造♥更多的奇异子
which goes into creating more strangelets,
直到整个星球
until the entire planet is consumed
在奇异子爆♥炸♥中被吞噬
in the strangelet explosion.
剩下的碎片射向太空
The debris left over shoots out into space,
一群新形成的奇异子僵尸
a swarm of newly formed strangelet zombies,
准备摧毁他们所接触的一切
ready to destroy everything they touch.
一颗行星转变成奇异物质
One planet gets converted into strange matter,
然后是下一颗行星，然后是恒星
then the next planet, then the star,
然后是下一颗恒星
then the next star.
所以，通过这种方式，你可以得到整个奇异星系
So, in this way, you could have entire strange galaxies.
最终，奇异粒子可能会改变整个宇宙
Ultimately, strangelets could transform the entire universe.
所以……我们怎么还在这里？
So...how are we still here?
我们已经目睹了中子星的碰撞
We've witnessed neutron star collisions.
那么奇异粒在哪里呢？
So where are the strangelets?
一方面，我们不是由奇异粒子组成的
On the one hand, we're not made of strange stuff.
也许这并不存在，也不可能发生
Maybe it's not something that really exists or could happen.
但另一方面，宇宙真的很大
But on the other hand, space is really big.
如果任何来自附近最大星系的
It would take millions of years for any strange matter particle
奇异物质粒子以光速运行，那么它也需要
coming from the nearby largest galaxy to reach us
数百万年才能到达我们这里
if it's moving at the speed of light.
所以它可以发生，只是它还没有到达这里
So it could be happening, and it just hasn't made it here yet.
也许在宇宙遥远的地方，碰撞的中子星
Perhaps there are colliding neutron stars
已经释放出了奇异的小块
far across the cosmos, releasing strangelets.
只有未来会告诉我们
Only the future will tell.
但中子星并不是宇宙中
But neutron stars are not the only source
致命粒子的唯一来源
of lethal particles in the universe.
那里有数十亿个这样的星球
There are billions of them out there.
在我们银河系的中心就有一个
And there's one in the heart of our galaxy.
银河系…我们的家园星系
The milky way ... our home galaxy.
它的直径超过10万光年
It's over 100,000 light-years across
是非凡星云
and home to extraordinary nebulas
和数千亿颗恒星的家园
and hundreds of billions of stars.
这些恒星围绕着星系的中心
These stars orbit the center of the galaxy,
一个被称为人马座a星的
circling the supermassive black hole
超大质量黑洞
called sagittarius a-star.
它们看起来很迷人
They look stunning,
但它的光芒是致命的……
but their glow is pure lethality...
……必须把银河系的中心
...adding the heart of our galaxy
加入到我们最糟糕的宇宙之旅中
to our itinerary of worst places in the universe.
宇宙中最大的辐射工厂
The biggest factories of radiation in the universe
是恒星
are stars.
它们实际上是在核聚变反应中燃烧
They're actually burning through these nuclear reactions.
并产生了我们所熟悉的光
And that creates the light that we're familiar with.
恒星越大、质量越大，燃烧的温度就越高
The bigger and more massive the star is, the hotter it burns
辐射也就越危险
and the more dangerous the radiation.
银河系的核心是整个星系中恒星最活跃的地方
The galactic core is home to the most active stars of all.
如果我们想去参观
And should we visit,
我们就会被强烈的辐射所摧毁
we'd be blasted by a blizzard of intense radioactivity.
“辐射”这个词听起来很危险，也很糟糕
The word "radiation" sounds very dangerous, very bad.
但当你思考这个定义时
But when you think about the definition,
它就在我们身边
it's all around us.
辐射实际上是某种形式的光
Radiation is really any form of light.
所以现在，我释放出热量
So right now, I'm giving off heat.
我是一个有温度的东西这就是辐射
I'm a warm thing. That's radiation.
只是有些形式的辐射
It's just that some forms of radiation
对我们非常有益，而有些则不然
are very benign and good for matter, and some aren't.
有些能量比较低而有些能量则很高
Some has lower energy. Some has higher energy.
当你开始获得越来越高的能量时
And when you start getting to higher and higher energies,
就会变得越来越危险
that can get more and more dangerous
因为当你的细胞吸收了这些能量，就会被破坏
because as your cells absorb that energy, it can damage them.
这种辐射叫做电磁辐射
This type of radiation is called electromagnetic radiation.
最强的x射线和伽马射线非常强
And the most powerful x-rays and gamma rays are so strong,
可以导致辐射性的疾病
they can cause radiation sickness
某些情况下，甚至死亡
and, in some cases, death.
还有一种辐射
There's another kind of radiation,
叫做宇宙射线……
called cosmic rays ...
以接近光速运动的
tiny, subatomic particles
微小亚原子粒子
that move at near the speed of light.
新的研究表明
New research suggests
能量最大的宇宙射线并非来自恒星
the most energetic cosmic rays don't come from stars.
它们来自超大质量的黑洞
They come from supermassive black holes.
人们一想到黑洞
When people think about black holes,
就会觉得它们是黑暗的
the whole idea is that they're dark.
它们实际上吸收光
They actually absorb light.
但可能让你惊讶的是
But what might surprise you
当物质落入黑洞时
is that as stuff falls into a black hole,
它会变得越来越热
it gets hotter and hotter.
它甚至会被导向黑洞上方的
It even gets directed into extremely high-energy jets
高能喷射流
above the black hole.
当物质落入黑洞时
As this material falls into the black hole,
就会形成这个圆盘
it forms into this disk.
然后被巨大的风被吹走
And a tremendous wind is blown away
因为这个圆盘太热了
because this disk is so hot.
它发射出亚原子粒子
It's blasting out subatomic particles.
所以这不是来自黑洞内部的物质
So this isn't matter from inside the black hole.
但当物质落入其中
But as stuff falls in,
它就会成为宇宙中最强的辐射
it becomes the most intense radiation in the universe.
超大质量黑洞
Supermassive black holes
就像涡轮增压的粒子加速器
act like turbocharged particle accelerators.
它们非常热并从两极
They superheat and blast particles
喷射出粒子
in jets from their poles.
艾斯勒: 这些喷气机非常强大
Isler: These jets are extremely powerful.
由于非常强大，
They are so powerful
所以可以将粒子加速到
that they are able to accelerate particles
光速的99.99%
to 99.99% of the speed of light.
这真的是太快了
That's really fast.
接近了加速的上限
It's perilously close to the upper limit
会非常危险
to which things can be accelerated.
这些加速粒子就是宇宙射线
These accelerated particles are cosmic rays.
宇宙射线是我们所知的
Cosmic rays are the most energetic particles
宇宙中能量最大的粒子
we know of in the universe.
它们甚至可能只是一个质子
They might even just be a single proton.
但它们被加速到如此之高的速度
But these have been accelerated to such high speeds
以至于其中每一颗的都是
that one of these can pack the wallop
可以达到每小时100英里的快球
of a 100-mile-an-hour fastball.
它们就像微小的宇宙子弹
These are like tiny cosmic bullets.
如果你被它击中
And if you get hit by one,
它会把你细胞里的DNA炸开
it can actually blow apart the DNA in your cell
或者把细胞本身炸开
or blow apart the cell itself.
我们的太阳的日球层
Our sun's heliosphere
会使大部分的宇宙射线发生偏转
deflects most of the cosmic rays coming our way.
但在这个磁保护气泡之外
But outside this magnetic protective bubble,
我们就会很脆弱
we'd be vulnerable.
即使是宇宙飞船也保护不了我们
Even a spaceship might not protect us.
如果要保护自己免受粒子辐射
To protect yourself from particle radiation,
你必须小心
you have to be careful.
你可能会想，“好吧，我就用一大块铅
You might think, "well, I'll just use a big sheet of lead,
那就行了”
and that'll do it."
然而结果却让事情变得更糟
And it turns out that makes things worse.
行星科学家丹·杜尔达
Planetary scientist Dan durda explains.
他把气球钉在一块板上代表细胞
He staples balloons to a board to represent cells.
杜尔达: 我感觉有点像弗兰肯斯坦
Durda: I feel a little bit like Frankenstein.
我这里放置了一个“身体”，由一个个“细胞”组成
I'm assembling a body here, cell by cell.
一块1/2英寸厚的钢板
A 1/2-inch-thick sheet of steel
代表了航♥天♥器的保护层
represents the protective hull of the spacecraft.
一颗来♥复♥枪♥子弹……宇宙射线
A rifle bullet ... the cosmic ray.
德尔达: 我要向我们的太阳系
Durda: I'm gonna fire this galactic cosmic ray