宇宙中最危險的物質——奇異星解析：英語精讀講義

Neutron stars are the densest things that are not black holes.

中子星是除了黑洞以外密度最大的天體。

In their cores,

在它們的內核中，

we might find the most dangerous substance in existence,

我們可能會發現已知最危險的物質：

strange matter.

奇異物質。

A bizarre thing so extreme that it bends the rules of the universe 文法

這種怪異的物質如此極端，以至於它扭曲了宇宙的法則，

and could infect and destroy everything it comes into contact with. 片語搭配

並且可能感染並摧毀它接觸到的一切。

Or it could teach us about how the universe began.

或者它可以教導我們宇宙是如何開始的。

Maybe both.

也許兩者皆是。

To understand how extreme strange matter really is, 表達脈絡

為了理解奇異物質到底有多極端，

we first need to get a few basics.

我們首先需要了解一些基礎知識。

What is a neutron star

什麼是中子星，

and how does strange matter break the rules of the universe?

奇異物質又是如何打破宇宙法則的？

To get all of this into one video,

為了把這一切都塞進一部影片裡，

we'll grossly oversimplify a few things, 用詞

我們會把一些事情嚴重簡化，

but we'll provide you with further reading if you want more details. 片語搭配

但如果你想了解更多細節，我們會為你提供進一步的閱讀資料。

A neutron star is what remains after a very massive star explodes in a supernova. 文法

中子星是一顆質量極大的恆星在超新星爆炸後留下的殘骸。

When this happens,

當這種情況發生時，

the star's core collapses under its own gravity

恆星的內核在其自身重力下塌縮，

with such a strong inward force that it squeezes nuclei and particles together violently. 文法

產生強大的向內拉力，將原子核和粒子劇烈地擠壓在一起。

Electrons are pushed into protons,

電子被壓入質子中，

so they merge and turn into neutrons.

於是它們合併變成了中子。

All the nothing inside of atoms

原子內部所有的空隙

is suddenly completely filled with particles that really don't want to be close to each other,

突然被完全填滿，這些粒子其實並不想彼此靠近，

but have no choice. They desperately push back against gravity, 片語動詞

但卻別無選擇。它們拚命抵抗重力，

against the collapse.

抵抗塌縮。

If gravity wins,

如果重力贏了，

they will become a black hole.

它們就會變成黑洞。

If they win,

如果粒子贏了，

they become a neutron star.

它們就會變成中子星。

This makes neutron stars like giant atomic nuclei

這使得中子星就像巨大的原子核，

the size of a city, 表達脈絡

只有一座城市那麼大，

but holding the mass of our sun.

卻擁有我們太陽的質量。

And here,

而在這裡，

things get weird. 表達脈絡

事情變得詭異起來。

The environment in the core of neutron stars

中子星內核的環境

is so extreme that the rules of nuclear physics change.

極其極端，以至於核物理學的法則發生了改變。

And this could lead to a strange and extremely dangerous substance.

這可能會導致一種極其危險的奇異物質的誕生。

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. 慣用語

但我們先別說得太遠。

We first need to know the rules

我們首先需要知道規則，

before we learn how they can be broken.

然後才能了解規則是如何被打破的。

Protons and neutrons,

質子和中子，

the particles making up the nuclei of atoms, 片語動詞

這些構成原子核的粒子，

are made up of smaller particles called quarks.

是由被稱為夸克的更小粒子組成的。

Quarks really don't want to be alone.

夸克非常不想獨處。

They are what we call confined. 文法

它們處於我們所說的「禁閉」狀態。

You can try to separate them,

你可以嘗試把它們分開，

but the harder you pull, 文法

但你拉得越用力，

the harder they try to pull themselves back together. 片語動詞

它們就越用力把自己拉回一起。

If you use a lot of energy,

如果你使用大量的能量，

they just use this energy to create new quarks.

它們只會利用這些能量創造出新的夸克。

Quarks only exist together as the building blocks of other particles

夸克只作為其他粒子的組成部分共同存在，

and have never been observed by themselves.

從未被單獨觀察到過。

They come in many types, 片語搭配

它們有很多種類，

but only two appear to make stable matter.

但似乎只有兩種能構成穩定的物質。

The up and down quarks

也就是上夸克和下夸克，

found in protons and neutrons.

存在於質子和中子中。

All other quarks seem to decay away quickly. 片語動詞

所有其他的夸克似乎都會迅速衰變。

But this may be different inside neutron stars.

但這在中子星內部可能有所不同。

The forces operating in their cores are so extreme

其內核中運作的力是如此極端，

that they are actually similar to the universe shortly after the Big Bang.

以至於它們實際上與大霹靂後不久的宇宙相似。

Neutron star cores are like fossils, 慣用語

中子星的內核就像化石，

which can let us peer back in time to the beginning of everything.

可以讓我們回頭一窺萬物起源時的時光。

So learning how quarks behave inside a neutron star

因此，了解夸克在中子星內部的行為，

is a way of understanding the very nature of the universe itself.

是一種了解宇宙本質的方法。

One hypothesis is that inside a neutron star core, 表達脈絡

有一種假說認為，在中子星內核中，

protons and neutrons deconfine.

質子和中子解除了禁閉。

All the particles crammed shoulder-to-shoulder 慣用語

所有肩併肩擠在一起的粒子

dissolve and melt into a sort of bath of quarks. 慣用語

溶解並融化成了某種夸克浴。

Uncountable numbers of particles

無法計數的粒子

become one giant thing made purely from quarks,

變成了一個完全由夸克組成的巨大物體，

quark matter.

即夸克物質。

A star made from this is called a quark star,

由此構成的星體被稱為夸克星，

though from the outside

儘管從外面看，

it may not look any different than a regular neutron star. 文法

它可能看起來和普通的中子星沒有任何不同。

Now we can finally talk about the most dangerous substance. 表達脈絡

現在我們終於可以談談最危險的物質了。

If the pressure inside a quark star is great enough,

如果夸克星內部的壓力足夠大，

it may get stranger, 表達脈絡

它可能會變得更加「奇異」，

literally.

字面意思上的。

In the cores of neutron stars,

在中子星的內核中，

some of the quarks may be converted into strange quarks.

一些夸克可能會轉化為奇異夸克。

Strange quarks have bizarre nuclear properties

奇異夸克具有怪異的核子特性，

and they are heavier

它們更重，

and for the lack of a better word, 語氣意圖

而且由於找不到更好的詞來形容，

stronger.

它們「更強」。

If they turn up, 片語動詞

如果它們出現，

they could create strange matter.

就可能會創造出奇異物質。

Strange matter might be the ideal state of matter,

奇異物質可能是物質的理想狀態，

perfectly dense, 表達脈絡

完美緻密，

perfectly stable,

完美穩定，

indestructible.

堅不可摧。

More stable than any other matter in the universe.

比宇宙中的任何其他物質都要穩定。

So stable that it can exist outside neutron stars. 文法

穩定到它可以存在於中子星外部。

If this is the case, 片語搭配

如果真是這樣，

we have a problem.

那我們就有麻煩了。

It might be infectious.

它可能具有傳染性。

Every piece of matter it touches

它接觸到的每一塊物質

might be so impressed by its stability 慣用語

都可能會被它的穩定性所折服，

that it would immediately turn it into strange matter too.

從而立即也變成奇異物質。

Protons and neutrons would dissolve and become part of the quark bath,

質子和中子會溶解並成為夸克浴的一部分，

which frees energy and creates more strange matter.

釋放能量並創造出更多的奇異物質。

The only way to get rid of it 講解

擺脫它的唯一方法

would be to throw it into a black hole.

就是把它扔進黑洞。

But then again, 表達脈絡

不過話說回來，

who cares?

誰在乎呢？

All of it is inside neutron stars.

所有這些都在中子星內部。

Except when neutron stars collide with other neutron stars or black holes,

除非當中子星與其他中子星或黑洞相撞時，

they spew out tremendous amounts of their insides, 片語動詞

它們會噴射出大量內部物質，

some of which could include little droplets of strange matter called strangelets.

其中可能包括被稱為「奇異子」的奇異物質小液滴。

Strangelets are as dense as the core of a neutron star. 文法

奇異子和中子星的內核一樣緻密。

They could be really small,

它們可能非常小，

maybe even subatomic,

甚至可能是次原子等級的，

but even the largest strangelets wouldn't be any bigger than a rocket. 文法

但即便最大的奇異子也不會比火箭更大。

These strangelets would drift through the

這些奇異子會在

galaxy for millions or billions of years

星系中漂浮數百萬或數十億年，

until they meet a star or planet by chance. 片語搭配

直到它們偶然遇到恆星或行星。

If one were to strike Earth, 文法

如果有一顆撞擊了地球，

it would immediately start converting it into strange matter.

它就會立刻開始將地球轉化為奇異物質。

The more it converts, 文法

它轉化的越多，

the more it would grow.

增長得就越大。

Ultimately,

最終，

all of the atoms making up Earth 片語動詞

構成地球的所有原子

would be converted.

都會被轉化。

Earth would become a hot clump of strange matter

地球會變成一團熾熱的奇異物質，

the size of an asteroid.

只有小行星那麼大。

If a strangelet strikes the Sun,

如果奇異子擊中了太陽，

it would collapse into a strange star,

它就會塌縮成一顆奇異星，

eating through it like fire through a dry forest. 慣用語

像大火燒乾枯的森林一樣把它吞噬殆盡。

This would not change the Sun's mass much,

這不會太大改變太陽的質量，

but it would become way less bright,

但它的亮度會大幅降低，

so Earth would freeze to death.

因此地球會被凍死。

And like a tiny virus, 慣用語

就像微小的病毒一樣，

we'd have no way to see a strangelet coming. 文法

我們根本無法預見奇異子的到來。

Worse still, 表達脈絡

更糟的是，

some theories suggest strangelets are more than common

一些理論認為奇異子極其常見，

outnumbering all stars in the galaxy.

甚至比星系中的所有恆星都要多。

These strangelets could have formed very early after the Big Bang, 文法

這些奇異子可能在大霹靂後很早的時候就形成了，

when it was as hot and dense as a neutron star core everywhere.

那時宇宙各處的溫度和密度都像中子星內核一樣。

They might be clumping around the gravity of galaxies

隨著宇宙的膨脹和演化，

as the universe expanded and evolved.

它們可能聚集在星系的重力周圍。

Strangelets could even be so numerous and massive 文法

奇異子甚至可能數量如此龐大、質量如此之大，

that they might actually be the dark matter

以至於它們可能正是我們認為的、

we suspect holds galaxies together. 片語動詞

將星系凝聚在一起的暗物質。

But then again, 表達脈絡

不過話說回來，

maybe not.

也許並非如此。

This is speculation,

這些都只是推測，

and the Earth and Sun and planets haven't been consumed in a wildfire of strangelets in the past few billion years,

而地球、太陽和行星在過去的幾十億年裡也沒有被奇異子的野火吞噬，

so the odds seem good that it won't happen anytime soon. 片語搭配

所以看起來在短期內它也不會發生。

Understanding these strange objects today

了解今天這些奇特的天體，

may be the key to understanding the birth of our universe 片語搭配

可能是理解我們宇宙誕生之謎的關鍵，

and why it grew to look the way it does now.

以及了解它為何演變成現在這副模樣的原因。

When scientists first started playing with magnets and wires

當科學家第一次開始玩弄磁鐵和電線，

and thinking about electrons,

並思考電子的時候，

they had no idea how technology would evolve in the next 100 years. 片語搭配

他們根本不知道技術在接下來的 100 年裡會如何發展。

The scientists thinking about the cause of neutron stars

如今思考中子星的成因

and strange matter today

和奇異物質的科學家們，

may be setting up humans for a future beyond our wildest imaginations. 講解

也許正在為人類鋪設一個超出我們最狂野想像的未來。

Or maybe not.

或者也許不是。

Time will tell. 慣用語

時間會證明一切。