如何建造戴森球——終極巨型結構：英語精讀講義

Human history is told by the energy we use.

人類歷史是一部能源使用史。

At first, 表達脈絡

起初，

we had to use our muscles.

我們只能使用肌肉力量。

Then we learned to control fire.

後來我們學會了控制火。

We industrialized the world using coal and oil

我們利用煤炭和石油實現了世界的工業化，

and entered the atomic age when we learned how to split a nucleus. 文化背景

並在掌握了原子核分裂技術後進入了原子時代。

At each step,

在每一個階段，

we increased our energy harvest to a scale never seen before

我們對能源的獲取都達到了前所未有的規模，

and advanced as a species.

並作為一個物種不斷進步。

Currently,

如今，

we're slowly transitioning to renewables 用詞

我們正緩慢地向可再生能源過渡，

and if we're lucky,

如果運氣好的話，

fusion energy will become viable in the future.

未來核聚變能源將會變得可行。

As humanity progresses further,

隨著人類的進一步發展，

if we don't destroy ourselves or our habitat,

如果我們沒有自我毀滅或破壞我們的棲息地，

we will likely gain complete control of our planet's resources.

我們很可能會完全掌控地球的資源。

At that stage,

到了那個階段，

we'll probably begin to look outwards for new places to expand into. 片語搭配

我們可能會開始向外尋找新的擴張家園。

But space is hard

但探索太空很艱難，

and establishing a serious human presence in the solar system 片語搭配

要在太陽系中建立重要的人類基地

will require ungodly amounts of energy. 用詞

將需要極其龐大的能量。

Luckily,

幸運的是，

we know where to find it.

我們知道去哪裡尋找。

The sun,

那就是太陽，

the ultimate source of energy. 用詞

終極的能量源。

A furnace 100 quintillion times more powerful 慣用語

它是一個比我們最高效的核反應堆

than our most efficient nuclear reactor.

強大10億億倍的火爐。

It shines with the energy of a trillion nuclear bombs per second.

它的輻射能量相當於每秒引爆一萬億顆核彈。

So,

那麼，

how do we get this energy?

我們該如何獲取這種能量？

Not some of it, 表達脈絡

不是獲取一部分，

all of it.

而是全部。

If we want to collect the most energy physically possible,

如果我們想要收集物理上可能收集到的最大能量，

we'll have to build the largest,

我們就必須建造宇宙中最大的、

most ambitious structure in the universe,

最雄心勃勃的結構，

the Dyson sphere. 文化背景

戴森球。

A megastructure that encompasses a whole star

這是一種能包圍整顆恆星的巨型結構，

to capture its power output.

用於捕獲其輸出的能量。

For an intelligent species,

對於一個智慧物種來說，

building a Dyson sphere is a technological leap

建造戴森球在技術上的飛躍

on a par with the discovery of fire for our ancestors. 慣用語

堪比我們祖先對火的發現。

The transition from a planetary species

它是從行星物種

to an interstellar species.

向星際物種的過渡。

It would usher in an age of exploration and expansion 片語搭配

它將開啟一個探索和擴張的新時代，

on a scale we can barely imagine. 片語搭配

其規模遠遠超出我們的想像。

So,

那麼，

what would it look like?

戴森球究竟是什麼樣的？

A solid shell enveloping the sun

用一個實心外殼包裹住太陽，

is probably not the way to go. 慣用語

可能行不通。

A large rigid body like that

因為這樣巨大的剛體

would be vulnerable to impacts, 片語搭配

極易受到撞擊的影響，

possibly shattering.

可能發生碎裂。

It would be liable to drift 文法

它還容易發生漂移，

and could crash straight into the sun.

甚至直接墜入太陽。

A more viable design for a Dyson sphere might be a Dyson swarm, 文化背景

戴森球更可行的設計可能是戴森雲，

an enormous set of orbiting panels

這是一組龐大的軌道面板群，

that collect the sun's power and beam it elsewhere. 用詞

收集太陽能並將其傳輸到其他地方。

Such a swarm would give humanity basically unlimited energy.

這樣的雲帶基本能為人類提供無限的能源。

But building it won't be easy.

但是建造它並不容易。

The sun is very big,

太陽非常巨大，

so we need a lot of satellites.

所以我們需要大量的衛星。

If each satellite is a square kilometer,

如果每顆衛星是一平方公里，

we'd need around 30 quadrillion to surround the sun.

我們大約需要3億億顆衛星才能包圍太陽。

Even if they're built as lightly as possible,

即使它們被建得盡可能輕，

we need about 100 quintillion tons of material.

我們也需要大約100億億噸的材料。

And then we need the energy to actually put the parts together

此外，我們還需要將這些部件組裝起來

and deliver them to their positions around the sun.

並把它們送到環繞太陽指定位置的能量。

On top of all that, 表達脈絡

最重要的是，

we need to have a permanent infrastructure set up in space 片語動詞

我們需要在太空中建立永久的基礎設施

to start building.

以開始建造。

Let's assume for the purposes of this video 表達脈絡

在本影片中我們暫且假設

that our descendants will take care of that 片語動詞

我們的後代會解決這個問題，

and want to create the megastructure.

並希望創造出這個巨型結構。

We can sort the challenges into three main categories: 片語搭配

我們可以將挑戰分為三個主要類別：

materials,

材料、

design,

設計、

and energy.

和能源。

To get the vast amounts of raw materials required for our Dyson swarm, 片語搭配

為了獲得戴森雲所需的巨大數量的原材料，

we'll have to largely disassemble a whole planet.

我們將不得不在很大程度上拆解整顆行星。

Of the planets available,

在所有可用的行星中，

Mercury is the best candidate.

水星是最好的候選者。

It's the closest to the sun

它離太陽最近，

and very metal rich. 用詞

並且金屬含量非常豐富。

Close to the sun

離太陽近

also means less moving stuff around.

也意味著減少了物資運輸的距離。

And Mercury has no atmosphere

而且水星沒有大氣層，

and only about a third of the surface gravity of Earth,

表面引力只有地球的三分之一左右，

making it comparatively easy to launch material into space. 文法

這使得將材料發射到太空中相對容易。

Next,

接下來，

we should consider the design of our swarm.

我們應該考慮戴森雲的設計。

Simpler is better. 文法

越簡單越好。

Conventional solar panels are far too intricate 文法

傳統的太陽能電池板太過複雜，

and short-lived. 用詞

且壽命較短。

Our satellites need to operate without repairs or intervention

我們的衛星需要在無維修或人為干預的情況下，

for astronomically long times 慣用語

運行一段極長的時間，

and they need to be cheap to produce.

並且生產成本必須低廉。

They're most likely going to be enormous mirrors,

它們很可能是巨大的鏡子，

which refocus sunlight to central collecting stations,

將陽光重新聚焦到中央收集站，

like in concentrated solar power on Earth.

就像地球上的聚光太陽能發電一樣。

To build and launch them efficiently,

為了高效地製造和發射它們，

they must be incredibly light,

它們必須極其輕盈，

made of little more than polished metal foil 片語搭配

只是用拋光金屬箔

bound to some supports. 用詞

綁在某些支架上製成。

And last,

最後，

we need the energy to build and launch the swarm itself.

我們需要能量來建造和發射戴森雲本身。

Taking apart a planet and launching things into space 片語動詞

拆解一顆行星並將物體發射到太空

requires an enormous amount of energy.

需要極其龐大的能量。

For example,

例如，

if we used all the fossil fuels and uranium on Earth

如果我們耗盡地球上所有的化石燃料和鈾，

and we were perfectly efficient,

並且達到完美的效率，

we could only launch as much mass as Mount Everest into space. 文法

我們最多只能將相當於珠穆朗瑪峰質量的物體發射到太空。

A rather meager accomplishment 表達脈絡

這點成就是相當微不足道的，

compared to planetary disassembly.

與拆解行星相比。

To get the energy needed to build a Dyson sphere,

為了獲得建造戴森球所需的能量，

it's almost as if you're going to need the power output of a Dyson sphere. 文法

你幾乎需要相當於一個戴森球的能量輸出。

But that's okay.

但這沒關係。

There's plenty of sunlight to be had on Mercury, 文法

水星上有充足的陽光，

so let's get to work. 片語搭配

讓我們開工吧。

Humans are expensive to keep alive

維持人類生存的代價很高，

and are very sensitive to the environment.

並且對環境非常敏感。

So,

所以，

we'd want to automate as much as possible. 文法

我們希望盡可能實現自動化。

Ideally,

理想情況下，

we'd have a small crew of controllers

我們會有少量控制人員，

who oversee an army of autonomous machines 慣用語

監督一支自動機器大軍

doing the actual work.

去執行實際的建造工作。

There are four major pieces of technology required:

這項工程需要四項主要技術：

solar collectors,

太陽能收集器、

miners,

採礦機、

refiners,

提煉設備、

and launch equipment.

和發射設備。

The solar collectors

太陽能收集器

are going to give us the energy

將為我們提供

we need to disassemble the planet.

拆解這顆行星所需的能量。

To start,

一開始，

maybe we deploy something like 1 square kilometer of them,

也許我們可以部署大約1平方公里的收集器，

either as mirrors

無論是作為反射鏡

or as traditional solar panels.

還是傳統的太陽能電池板。

They'll provide the energy to run our miners,

它們將為我們的採礦機提供運轉的能源，

which strip mine the surface of the planet, 用詞

採礦機在地表進行露天開採，

and our refiners,

也為提煉設備提供能源，

which extract valuable elements

提煉出有價值的元素，

and fabricate them into our swarm satellites. 片語搭配

並將它們製造成我們的雲衛星。

To get them into space,

為了將它們送入太空，

we need a creative and efficient solution.

我們需要一種有創意且高效的解決方案。

Rockets are too expensive

火箭太過昂貴，

and difficult to deorbit and reuse. 用詞

而且難以脫離軌道並重複使用。

Instead,

相反，

we'll want to use a sort of railgun, 語氣意圖

我們希望使用一種電磁軌道砲，

a long electromagnetic track,

這是一條長長的電磁軌道，

which launches our satellites at high speeds.

能以極高的速度發射我們的衛星。

Our swarm satellites would be packed tight for launch, 片語搭配

我們的雲衛星在發射時會被緊緊打包，

unfurling like an enormous origami 慣用語

一旦進入軌道，就會像巨大的摺紙一樣展開。

once in orbit. 文法

就像展開的巨大摺紙。

From this point, 表達脈絡

從此以後，

we can take advantage of exponential growth, 講解

我們就可以利用指數增長的優勢，

using the energy of the existing parts of the swarm

利用已有戴森雲部分的能量，

to build more infrastructure on Mercury

在水星上建設更多的基礎設施，

and launch new panels faster and faster. 文法

並以越來越快的速度發射新面板。

Each panel provides the energy to build another.

每個面板都能提供建造另一個面板的能量。

Those two work together to build the next two.

兩個面板協同工作以建造接下來的兩個。

Four become eight,

4變8，

eight become 16,

8變16，

and so on. 表達脈絡

以此類推。

Within just about 60 doubling times, 用詞

在大約60次翻倍時間內，

the sun would be completely surrounded by solar panels.

太陽就會完全被太陽能電池板包圍。

And this can happen quickly.

而且這可能會發生得非常快。

If a square kilometer of solar collectors takes a month to build,

如果一平方公里的太陽能收集器需要一個月來建造，

we could be done in a decade,

我們可能在十年內就能完成，

if only our infrastructure on the planet's surface

只要我們在該行星表面的基礎設施

can keep up with the quickly growing budget of energy. 片語動詞

能跟上快速增長的能源預算即可。

Even collecting 1% of the sun's energy

即使只收集到太陽能量的1%，

is an unbelievable change in our species' energy budget. 用詞

對於我們這個物種的能源總量來說，也是不可思議的改變。

We could create the infrastructure to beam basically unlimited amounts of energy around the solar system for all sorts of projects:

我們可以建立向整個太陽系發送近乎無限能量的基礎設施，用於各種項目：

colonies on other worlds,

在其他世界建立殖民地、

terraforming planets,

地球化改造行星、

constructing more megastructures,

建造更多巨型結構，

or even traveling to other stars.

甚至前往其他恆星的旅行。

It could be the start of an interstellar civilization.

這可能是星際文明的開端。

Based on physics alone, 表達脈絡

僅從物理學角度來看，

this is not just possible, 文法

這不僅僅是可能的，

but easy.

而且很容易。

It's such a simple process

這個過程是如此簡單，

and such a necessary step for any species to expand beyond their home planet,

並且是任何物種向母星之外擴張的必經之路，

that many astronomers think

以至於許多天文學家認為

there are probably Dyson spheres already out there in the Milky Way.

銀河系中可能已經存在戴森球了。

We haven't spotted any yet,

雖然我們還沒發現任何一個，

but they could be there.

但它們可能就在那裡。

It's far from certain that humanity will ever get to this point. 片語搭配

人類能否達到這一步還遠未可知。

Our attention is too often focused on short-term political gains 片語搭配

我們的注意力往往過多地集中在短期的政治利益上，

and conflicts that will not matter in the long run. 慣用語

以及從長遠來看無關緊要的衝突。

But if we survive the challenges we've set ourselves, 片語搭配

但如果我們能度過我們自己製造的挑戰，

we could potentially become the first species in the universe

我們就有可能成為宇宙中第一個

to create a structure with the scope of a star.

創造出恆星級規模結構的物種。

If we do it,

如果我們做到了，

the only limitation left 表達脈絡

剩下的唯一限制

will be our own imagination.

將只有我們自己的想像力。