VOA慢速英语2016 引力波存在证明爱因斯坦是正确的

Gravitational Waves Detected, Einstein Is Right 引力波存在证明爱因斯坦是正确的

尽管花费了100年时间，最终科学家还是证明了爱因斯坦的理论是正确的，引力波确实存在

The waves were predicted as part of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity nearly 100 years ago. It was the theory of the physics behind the workings of our world and the universe.

爱因斯坦在100年前的广义相对论中预言了引力波存在，相对论广泛适用于地球和宇宙规律

The idea was that the waves are like ripples 2 in space, caused by some of the violent and energetic processes in the Universe. For example, two black holes crashing into each other.

宇宙间碰撞和能量转换会造成太空中形成涟漪般的波纹，例如两个黑洞相互碰撞就会形成引力波

Now a group of scientists, including ones from from CalTech, MIT and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration 3 finally found the gravitational waves.

由加州理工大学、麻省理工大学和LIGO科学协会科学家终于发现了引力波存在

David Reitze is the executive director of the LIGO observatory 4 at CalTech.

David Reitze 是 LIGO 天文台在加州理工学院主管

“We have detected gravitational waves. We did it! (applause)”

“我们成功测得引力波，我们做到了”

Reitze spoke 5 with others at a press conference in Washington, DC this past week. The scientists announced they were able to see ripples in the fabric 6 of spacetime.

上周，Reitze在华盛顿举行的会议上向众人宣布了这一消息，科学家已经能够探测到在宇宙空间中形成的波纹图案

This is what the waves sounded like. Listen for the “chirp” sound at the end:

这就是引力波发出的声音，听起来像鸟叫

What are these gravitational waves? Well, imagine throwing a rock into a pond. When the rock hits the flat surface of the water, it creates ripples or waves. Spacetime is like the surface of the water. So that means gravitational waves are like the ripples moving out from where the rock hits the water.

什么是引力波？如果向池塘扔一块石头，石头会引起水面泛起一阵阵涟漪，时空就像水面一样，而引力波的波形就和石头扔进池塘形成的波纹一样

It might be hard to understand, but those gravitational waves expand and contract space and time as they move through space. And when they get to the Earth, the waves pass through, and contract and expand the planet as the wave goes by.

这听起来有些难以理解，但是引力波会逐渐扩大和时空相互练习，当引力波到达地球时，会直接穿过地球，继续和其他星球联系

It was Einstein who said these gravitational waves should be observable.

所以爱因斯坦说引力波一定可以探测到

But these are not huge waves. They are very, very small, which is why it took so long to find them. You cannot see them with your eyes. They are smaller than the size of an atom.

但是引力波波长很小，因此很难观测到，肉眼根本无法看到引力波波长，引力波波长比原子直径还小

How did the scientists find them?

那么，科学家是怎么发现的？

They used a giant scientific tool called LIGO—which stands for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. The billion-dollar LIGO project is two L-shaped observatories 7. One is in Louisiana and one in Washington state.

他们使用了一种巨大的科学仪器叫做LIGO，也就是镭射引力波干涉仪，价值数百亿美元。一个有两台这样的仪器，一台位于路易斯安那州一台位于华盛顿

Their job was to watch for these gravitational waves. They have been looking on and off since 2002.

主要工作就是探测引力波，从2002年起一直在工作

For years, scientists have been watching two black holes in another galaxy 8 faraway. The two were spinning around each other, moving closer and closer together. When they finally crashed into each other, it was with such power and force, that gravitational waves rang throughout the universe, like a giant bell.

数年来，科学家一直在观测另外星系的两个黑洞动态。两个黑洞一直告诉旋转并相互靠拢，当两个黑洞碰撞时候，瞬间爆发出巨大能量，形成引力波向宇宙间扩散，好像巨大的钟被敲响一样

Those waves, traveling at the speed of light, finally reached the Earth, some 1.3 billion years later. They are the same waves that the scientists announced this past week.

引力波波速以光速最终到达地球，大约花了13亿年事件，科学家在上周观察到了这段引力波

The National Science Foundation tweeted that each of the black holes was thought to be 29 to 36 times the mass of our sun.

美国国家科学基金会表示：两个黑洞质量至少是太阳的29到36倍

So, what does this discovery mean?

这一发现意味着什么？

Abhay Ashtekar is a Penn State physicist 9, who was not on the discovery team. He said:

Abhay Ashtekar是宾夕法尼亚州立大学物理学家表示:

“Our understanding of the heavens changed dramatically.”

“我们对宇宙的理解霎时间改变了许多”

Words in This Story

gravitational wave - n. a distortion or movement like a ripple 1 in the space, caused by violent and energetic processes in the Universe.

ripple – n. a small wave or series of waves

black hole - n. in space, an object with so much mass, nothing, not even light can escape its gravity.

ripple in the fabric of space-time – phrase: wave moving through space

atom –n. the smallest particle of a substance that can exist by itself or be combined with other atoms to form a molecule 10

galaxy –n. any one of the very large group of stars that make up our universe

bell - n.  a hollow object, typically made of metal, that sounds a clear musical note when struck