与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

必须被包裹在岩石里
have to be encased in rock.
岩石在极寒、极热、破坏性辐射的环境中
The rock provides protection from extreme cold,
为生命提供保护
heat, and damaging radiation.
这道屏障需要比这个球大一点
The shield needs to be a little bigger than this ball.
为了让恒星系之间共享岩石
In order for solar systems to share rocks,
必须得发生两件事
two things have to happen.
其一是一个恒星系必须从紧邻的地方
The first is that the solar systems have to eject rocks
发射岩石
from their immediate vicinity.
其二是另一个恒星系
And the second thing is that another solar system
必须捕获它们
has to capture them.
一个足够大的小行星或彗星撞击
A large enough impact from an asteroid or a comet
可以轻易地♥产♥生足够的能量
could easily produce enough energy
向恒星系之外发射碎片
to shoot debris out of a solar system.
但是它能不能击中环绕另一颗恒星公转的行星
But whether it can hit a planet orbiting another sun
可就不那麽确定了
is much less certain.
太空实在太空了
Space is relentlessly empty,
使得恒星系之前的岩石转移
which makes rock transfer between solar systems
非常困难
very difficult.
在我们的银河系中，恒星系之间的平均距离
There's an average of four to five light-years
约为4到5光年
between solar systems in our galaxy.
如果你从那麽远的地方发射太空岩石
Even if you could launch a space rock that far,
有多大把握才能击中
what are the chances of hitting another planet
30万亿英里之外的另一颗行星呢？
up to 30 trillion Miles away?
呐，让我们作一个简单的类比
Okay, let's consider a simple analogy.
每一位长曲棍球运动员都代表了一个恒星系
Each of these lacrosse players will represent a solar system,
球代表携带生命的岩石
and the ball will represent a life-bearing rock.
运动员们来回掷球
As the players throw the ball back and forth to each other,
就像是岩石
it's like a rock being transferred
在恒星系之间的传播
from one solar system to another.
让我们看看会发生什麽吧
Let's see what happens.
假设一个长曲棍球场的长度代表了一光年
Suppose the length of a lacrosse field represents a light-year.
即便运动员可以把球投到四五个球场以外那麽远
Even if a player could throw a ball four or five fields away,
一名运动员随便投出一个球
consider how unlikely it would be for that player
正好落在了队友的口袋里
to toss a ball blindly
想想这得有多麽不现实
and have it land in the pocket of a teammate.
距离还不是唯一的因素
And distance isn't the only factor.
银河系中的恒星系
Solar systems in our galaxy
还在彼此环绕着
are also flying around each other
以120倍声速飞行
120 times faster than the speed of sound.
也就是说队友还得全速地奔跑
So now the teammate has to be running full speed.
就算外星岩石的轨道对准了目标
Even when an alien rock's trajectory is on target,
它的速度之快也让新的恒星系的引力
it's almost always moving too fast for gravity
很难抓住它
in the new solar system to catch it.
想象一下
Imagine the difficulty
在跑动时，用一个漏掉的网去接住
in catching a speeding lacrosse ball from hundreds of yards
几百码之外的长曲棍球会有多难
away while running and with a broken net.
不出意外地
Not surprisingly,
当弗瑞德用数字计算
when Fred ran the numbers calculating the distance
地球和其他恒星系之间的距离
between earth and other solar systems,
还要考虑上恒星和行星的运动
factoring in the movements of stars and planets,
看起来这麽远的岩石
it seemed impossible that an alien rock
永远都不可能到达地球
could ever find earth from so far away.
但弗瑞德随即发现，他遗漏了什么事情
But then Fred realized something he'd missed,
这件事情突然使外星生命降临于此的可能性
something that suddenly made it a lot more likely that aliens
变大了许多
could have landed here.
45亿年之前
Four and a half billion years ago,
跟现在很不一样
things were a lot different.
其他的恒星
Alien suns
以及环绕它们的行星充斥着地球的夜空
and their surrounding planets crowded earth's night sky.
邻近的恒星系统
Neighboring solar systems
之间的距离仅仅是它们今天距离的十分之一
were roughly 10 times closer than they are today.
现在，长曲棍球运动员之间只有几十码了
Now the lacrosse players can be dozens of yards from each other
而不是几百码
instead of hundreds.
在太阳系
In the early part
进化的早期
of the evolution of the solar system,
太阳系处在一个密集的集群中
the solar system was living in a dense cluster.
那时候的恒星系相互环绕的速度
And solar systems back then were moving around each other
比今天慢了40倍
40 times more slowly than today.
在长曲棍球场上
On the lacrosse field,
完成一个传球就简单得多了
that makes completing a pass a lot simpler.
如果运动员们都挨得很近，移♥动♥得很慢
If the players are close together and moving slowly,
把球从一个人传给另一个人
it's easy for them to pass the ball from one person
就很容易了
to the other.
如果弗瑞德是对的，数十亿年前
If Fred is right, billions of years ago,
我们的地球
our home planet
处在可以捕捉古老外星生物的位置上
would've been in position to snare ancient alien organisms.
有人在地球上播种了生命吗？
Could they have seeded life on earth?
这位生物学家认为，有
This biologist thinks they did
并且时至今日仍然在降临
and that they're still raining down on us today.
他说他已经找出证据证明外太空的有机体
He says he has proof that organisms from outer space
现在就存在于我们的大气层中
are in our atmosphere right now.
也许几十亿年之前
The seeds of life on earth
遥远的外星世界就在地球上
may have arrived billions of years ago
播撒下了生命的种子
from a distant alien world.
如果生命通过躲藏在陨石中
But if life got here by hiding on a meteorite
从天而降
fallen from the sky...
会不会现在仍然在降落呢
Could it still be raining down on us right now?
密尔顿·韦恩莱特是英国谢菲尔德大学
Milton Wainwright is a microbiologist
的一名微生物学家
at the university of sheffield in england.
他相信他已经找到了证据
He believes he's found evidence
表明地外生命像雨水一样从天而降
that extraterrestrial life falls like rain from the heavens.
有生源说的基本理念是生命来自于太空
So the basic idea of panspermia is that life came from space.
地球上本没有生命
There was no life on earth.
生命是由小行星和彗星投递下来的
That life was delivered by asteroids and comets.
现在，新有生源说
Now, Neo-panspermia, Neo meaning new, uh,
认为此时此刻生命仍然源源不断地
suggests that life is continuing to come from space
从太空而来
at this very minute.
2013年，密尔顿和他的团队从16英里高的平流层中
In 2013, Milton and his team collected samples
采集了一些样本
from the stratosphere some 16 Miles up.
这比商用客机飞行的高度还要高三倍
That's three times higher than commercial jetliners fly.
低一点的大气层中充满了生命
The lower atmosphere is full of life,
但密尔顿认为平流层也一样
but Milton thinks the stratosphere is, too.
他受到争议的主张
His controversial claim
认为平流层包含了外太空的生命形式
is that it contains life forms from outer space.
批判者认为这些生命原料来自于地表
The suggestion by the critics is this material is going up
而不是太空
and not coming down from space.
它们只是地球上的原料
It's just earth material.
有几点原因让我们认为这是错误的
Now, there's a number of reasons why we think that's wrong.
作为反击，密尔顿表示他的样本
Milton counters that his samples
太高了，风是吹不上去的
came from far too high to have been blown upward by the wind.
物理学告诉我们，我们的粒子
Physics tells us that the particles
太大了，无法到达平流层
we have are too big to reach the stratosphere.
这是物理原理
Now, that's just physics.
你总不能跟物理学争论吧
And you can't argue with physics.
你总不能跟牛顿定律争论吧
You can't argue with Newton's laws.
但密尔顿明白，说服怀疑者的唯一方法
But Milton is aware that the only way he's going
就是找到更多的外星生命
to convince the skeptics is to find more aliens.
如果微生物或者其他任何生命是来自于太空的
If microorganisms or any life is coming in from space,
我们必须出去抓到它们
we have to go out and catch it.
这正是密尔顿正在做的事情
And that's exactly what Milton is doing.
他和他的团队正在执行一系列的
He and his team are conducting a new series
高空任务
of high-altitude missions.
好了，一路顺风，平流层采样侠！
Yep. Bon voyage, stratosphere sampler.
哇哦！
Whoa!
这个团队大约要等90分钟，直到气球
The team waits for about 90 minutes while the balloon
爬升到8万英尺的高度
climbs 80,000 feet.
到了那儿之后，里面装载的抽屉就打开了
Once there, a drawer mounted inside the payload opens.
这就是平流层中发生的事情
So this is what happens in the stratosphere.
抽屉打开
The drawer opens.
样本采集于电子显微镜的载物台上
The samples are collected on electron microscope stubs.