我们为何在此 Why are we here?
我们又来自何方 Where do we come from?
这些问题源远流长 These are the most enduring of questions
而人类天性就爱探索答案 and it's an essential part of human nature to want to find the answers.
追根溯源 And we can trace our
时间定格在几十万年前 人类文明出现之刻 ancestry back hundreds of thousands of years, to the dawn of humankind,
实际上 我们的故事将延伸至更早的年代 but, in reality, our story extends far further back in time.
从宇宙起源说起 Our story starts with the beginning of the universe.
宇宙起源于一百三十七亿年前 It began 13.7 billion years ago.
而今 宇宙中已形成逾千亿星系 And today, it's filled with over 100 billion galaxies,
每个星系中数千亿星球 each containing hundreds of billions of stars.
在本节目中 我将向大家讲述这个故事 In this series, I want to tell that story,
因为说到底 我们是宇宙的一部分 because, ultimately, we are part of the universe,
宇宙的故事 便是我们的故事 so its story is our story.
这集节目中我们要探讨构成人体的元素 This film is about the stuff that makes us
以及它们的来源 and where it all came from,
因为人类的起源 because understanding our own origins
与星球的起源息息相关 means understanding the lives of stars.
它们灾难般的毁灭 And how their catastrophic deaths
如何赋予宇宙新生 bring new life to the universe.
因为地球上的每座山岗 Because every mountain,
每块岩石 包括你我在内的芸芸众生 every rock on this planet, every living thing,
都将在宇宙的大熔炉中 every piece of you and me was forged
化为一体 in the furnaces of space.
宇宙的奇迹
星尘
这里是帕苏·帕提神庙 This is Pashupatinath,
位于尼泊尔首都加德满都 in the Nepalese capital city of Kathmandu.
来自印度及尼泊尔的印度教教徒 And Hindus come here from all over India and Nepal
都信奉湿婆神 那里就是湿婆神庙 to worship the god Shiva. That is Shiva's temple.
湿婆是毁灭之神 Now, Shiva is the god of destruction.
在印度教教义中 万物尽须毁灭 In the Hindu faith, everything has to be destroyed,
事物才能得以重生 so that new things can be created
这就是信徒们 and that's why pilgrims
来到湿婆庙脚下 come here to the banks of the Bagmati River,
这条巴尔玛蒂河边的原因 at the foot of Shiva's temple.
对毁灭与重生的信仰 The belief in this cycle of creation and destruction
让帕苏·帕提神庙显得格外意义非凡 lends Pashupatinath an added significance.
许多信徒 Many of these pilgrims
都会在弥留之际来到这里 will have come here at the end of their lives,
在此安息并火化 to die here and be cremated.
印度教相信灵魂转世 Hindus believe in reincarnation,
生与死构成永恒的循环 an eternal sequence of death and rebirth.
火葬能够释放灵魂 Cremation helps free the soul
为新生做好准备 so it's ready for the next life.
他们亦相信 They also believe
人类身体的物质基础 that the physical elements of the body
会回归世界 are released back to the world
这样他们就能进入下一世的轮回 so they can be recycled in the next stage of creation.
这个古老的信仰 It's an ancient belief that touches
暗合了宇宙运转的真谛 on a deeper truth about how the universe works.
世界上所有的 Every civilisation,
文明和宗教都有自己的创世说 every religion across the world, has a creation story.
用以描述我们来自何方 It tells of where we came from
如何到达人世 of how we came to be here
死后又将去往何处 and of what will happen when we die.
不过我所说的创世论与众不同 Well, I have a different creation story to tell
它完全遵循物理学以及宇宙学的规律 and it's based entirely on physics and cosmology.
告诉我们人体的组成和人类的诞生 It can tell us what we're made of and where we came from.
事实上 它诠释了世间万物的 In fact, it can tell us what everything in the world
组成和来源 is made of and where it came from.
同时也满足了人类试图探求 It also answers that most basic of human needs
更为宏观的事物的本性 to feel part of something much bigger,
因为若想讲完这个故事 because to tell this story
你必须了解宇宙的历史 you have to understand the history of the universe.
也就是说 寻求启蒙的道路 And it teaches us that the path to enlightenment
Path to Enlightenment 菩提道 又称成佛之路
不是探究自身的生与死 is not an understanding of our own lives and deaths,
而是星球的存或亡 but the lives and deaths of the stars.
我的创世论 My creation story
讲述的是宇宙如何造就我们人类 is the story of how we were made by the universe.
构成人体的每一个小原子 It explains how every atom in our bodies
并非在地球上形成 was formed, not on Earth,
而是在星球史诗般的生命循环中 but was created in the depths of space,
拜辽远的太空所赐 through the epic lifecycle of the stars.
想要理解这个理论 And to understand that story
我们要走进它们的生命历程 we will journey to the stars in all their stages of life.
这就是它们的诞生地--星云 This is where stars are born, a nebula -
也是恒星孕育场 许多新星在此浴火重生 a stellar nursery, where new stars burst into life.
这些恒星会燃烧几十亿年 Those stars will burn for billions of years,
贪婪地吸收能量 until their voracious hunger for fuel
直到发生爆炸 形成巨星 forces them to blow up, to become giants...
它的能量超过太阳数百倍 ..Hundreds of times the size of our sun.
继而当它们死亡时 And when they die,
将发生宇宙中最强烈的大爆炸 stars go out with the biggest bang in the universe.
但是想要了解星球创造人类的过程 But to understand how we came from the stars,
我们要先从地球上说起 we must begin our journey much closer to home.
这是尼泊尔的日出 Well, this is sunrise over Nepal
而远处那些就是世界上最高的山脉 and those are the tallest mountains
喜马拉雅山 in the world, the Himalayas.
这里的每座山峰海拔都超过6500米 Every one of those peaks is over 6,500 metres.
真是壮观的景象 What a spectacular sight.
但令人难以置信的是 But it's incredible to think that,
就在几千万年前 just a few tens of millions of years ago,
这片高山完全是另一副模样 those mountains were something very different.
喜马拉雅山脉原本并不是山 The Himalayas haven't always been mountains.
如果我们走近它仔细观察 We can find clues to their true origin
就能找到山脉起源的蛛丝马迹 by looking at them more closely.
这是喜马拉雅石灰岩 This is Himalayan limestone,
这片雄伟的山脉 the rock out of which much of this
就是由这样的石头构成的 magnificent mountain range is made.
如果你仔细查看 If you look closely,
就会发现一些白色颗粒状结构 you can see a kind of chalky granular structure,
那是因为石灰岩的主要成分 because limestone is made primarily
来自于生物尸体 out of the bodies,
比如海洋生物死后留下的空壳 the shells, of dead sea creatures
珊瑚和珊瑚虫等 它们死去以后 - coral and polyps - and when they die,
被巨大的水压挤压变形 they are put under immense pressures and squashed
最终形成沉积石灰岩 and eventually form limestone.
也就是说喜马拉雅山脉原本有生命存在 So the Himalayas were once living creatures.
这片山川的绝大多数石头 Much of the rock in the Himalayas was formed
都是在海底形成的 at the bottom of an ocean,
几百万年前 地壳被抬升 and then over millions of years, it was raised up,
形成了这些高耸入云的山峰 to become these vast peaks.
我们甚至在珠穆朗玛峰顶上找到了化石 We've even found fossils at the top of Mount Everest.
这是从诞生伊始至今 It's a beautiful example
地球上的物质无休止 of the endless recycling of the earth's resources
循环的真实写照 that has been going on since the dawn of time -
我们亦是其中的一份子 and we are part of that system.
我身体中的每个原子曾经都属于其他事物 Every atom in my body was once part of something else,
一棵古树或是一只恐龙 so an ancient tree or a dinosaur
或是一块岩石 事实上正是岩石 or a rock, in fact, definitely, a rock.
地球上的岩石之所以能够 And the reason that the rocks of the Earth
演化成生物 生物死后又回归泥土 can become living things and then living things will return
其原因就在于 to the rocks of the Earth is because everything
构成它们的要素别无二致 is made of the same basic ingredients.
那就是化学元素 Those ingredients are the chemical elements,
构成地球上一切事物的组成元件 the building blocks of everything on Earth.
比如氢 氦 锂 Elements like hydrogen, helium, lithium,
铍 硼 碳 氮 beryllium, borum, carbon, nitrogen,
氧 氟 氖 oxygen, fluorine, neon,
钠 镁... sodium, magnesium...
万事万物均由这些固定的化学元素构成 Everything in the world is made up of the same basic sets
只是其组合方式有所不同 of chemical elements, just assembled in different ways.
好比构成喜马拉雅山脉的 So these mountains, the Himalayas,
石灰岩--就是碳酸钙 are made of limestone - and that's calcium carbonate.
钙 碳 氧 Now, calcium, carbon and oxygen
是构成生物体不可或缺的元素 are three of the elements that are vital for life,
钙存在于我的牙齿与骨骼中 so calcium in my teeth and bones,
氧则是我呼吸的空气的主要成分 oxygen in the air that I breathe
还有碳元素在人体的有机分子中无处不在 and carbon in every organic molecule in my body.
你也许非常熟悉 Now, you're probably pretty
这些元素的化合物形式 familiar with those elements in their combined forms,
但却很少见到它们的单质 but you very rarely see the elements on their own.
有个充分的理由 There's a good reason
能够说明为什么很多元素 why many of the elements are not found
在自然界中罕有单质形式存在 in their raw forms in nature.
因为它们太活泼了 They're extremely reactive.
这是钠 This is sodium.
正如你所见 As you can see, it's a
它是一种银白色的活泼金属 silvery metal and it's also quite reactive.
事实上它已经活泼到当你把它丢进水中时 In fact, it's so reactive that when you drop it into water...
它会出现剧烈的 ..You get a violent,
几乎是爆炸性的反应 almost explosive, reaction,
令人惊异的是当钠与氯结合时 which is all the more surprising when you think that,
却会生成氯化钠 when combined with chlorine, this forms sodium chloride...
也就是生物不可或缺的盐 ..salt, which is vital for life.
太棒了 Excellent!
这就是我为什么喜爱化学 And that's why I love chemistry
几乎等同于物理学的原因 almost as much as physics!
这些元素的 It's this reactivity
活泼属性使之能够与其他元素 that enables the elements to combine with one another
化合成新的物质 to make new substances.
哪去了 该死的它哪去了 Where's it gone? Where the hell's it gone?!
就这样 That, in turn,
这些元素也造就了地球上物种的多样性 has allowed the Earth to develop its endless variety.
其中就包括人类 And that variety includes us.
所以 想要解释人类从何而来 So, to explain where we come from,
我们必须先弄清元素来自何方 we must also explain where the elements come from.
我们知道地球上的一切 We now know that the Earth
都是由九十二种化学元素构成 is made of 92 chemical elements
环视这个纷繁复杂的世界 and that's pretty amazing,
你会觉得这是件非常奇妙的事情 if you think of the complexity that we see around us.
我们还知道宇宙中 We also know that everything beyond Earth,
除地球以外的其他部分 everything we can see in the universe,
也都是由这九十二种元素构成 is made of those same 92 elements.
注意 我用的词不是"我们认为" And notice that I didn't say,"We think"
宇宙是由此构成 that's what they're made of.
我说的是"我们知道" I said, "We know"
宇宙是由它们构成的 That's what they're made of,
因为我们有证据可以证明这点 because we can prove it.
地球上发现的这些化学元素 The chemistry set we have on Earth
在其他星球上同样广泛存在 extends far beyond the planet.
我们登上月球 We have set foot on the moon
知道月球土壤中富含氦 银还有水 and know that it's rich in helium, silver and water.
太空机器人也成功着陆于 We have sent robot landers to our neighbouring planets
我们的邻居 火星 and discovered that Mars
它的土壤中含有大量铁元素 is rich in iron, which has combined
与氧气化合成我们最为熟悉的锈红色氧化铁 with oxygen to form its familiar rusty-red colour.
我们还知道金星稀薄的大气层中 And we know that Venus's thick atmosphere
含有丰富的硫元素 is full of sulphur.
我们的太空飞船甚至到达了 We've sent spacecraft to the edge of the solar system
位于太阳系边缘的海王星上 to discover that Neptune
并发现它充满有机分子 例如甲烷 is rich in organic molecules, like methane.
但宇宙的其他地方呢 But what of the rest of the universe?
看起来似乎 It seems impossible
难以得知其他星球的成分 that we could discover what the stars are made of,
因为它们实在太远了 because they're so far away.
即便是离地球最近的恒星 比邻星 Even the nearest star, Proxima Centauri,
其距离依然达到海王星的一万倍 is ten thousand times more distant than Neptune,
大约是四又五分之一光年 4.2 light years from Earth.
而最近的星系 仙女座星系 And the nearest galaxy, Andromeda,
距离达到二百五十万光年 is another 2.5million light years away.
但即使这些距离让人望而生畏 Yet despite these vast distances,
它们仍然能够传达给我们 these alien worlds are constantly sending us signals,
关于其构成的信息 telling us exactly what they're made of.
我们与这些遥远星球的唯一联系就是光 Our only contact with the distant stars is their light,
它们发出的光穿越太空到达地球 that has journeyed across the universe to reach us,
解读这些光芒是研究 and encoded in that light is the key
其成分的关键所在 to understanding what the universe is made of.
这得益于化学元素本身 And it's all down to a particular property
所特有的属性 of the chemical elements.
当你加热这些元素 You see, when you heat the elements,
或者点燃它们时 它们会放出光芒 when you burn them, then they give off light
不同元素有不同的焰色反应 and each element gives off its own unique set of colours.
这个是锶 它烧起来 so this is strontium and it burns...
伴有漂亮的洋红色 ..with a beautiful red colour.
钠是黄色的 Sodium is yellow.
钾是淡紫色的 Potassium is lilac.
而铜是蓝色的 And copper is blue.
每个元素都有其独一无二的颜色 Each element has its own characteristic colour.
正是这种特性告诉我们星球的元素成分 It's this property that tells us what the stars are made of.
但实际上并不仅是观察 But it's a little more complicated
每颗星所放射出的光彩 than simply looking at the colour of the light
那么简单 that each star emits.
要究其原因 You can see why,
只要看看离我们最近的星体 太阳 by looking at the light from our nearest star, the sun.
这是我们太阳光的光谱 This is a spectrum of the light taken from our sun
乍一看 非常眼熟 and, at first glance, it looks very familiar.
很像一个加宽版的彩虹 It looks like a stretched-out rainbow,
因为彩虹确实是这样的 because that's exactly what a rainbow is.
只是那个光谱是挂在天上的 It's the spectrum of the light from the sun in the sky.
如果你近距离观察它 But if you look a bit more closely,
你会发现这个光谱上有一些黑色的线 then you see that this spectrum is covered in black lines.
这就叫吸收谱线 These are called absorption lines.
太阳的每种元素 Each element within our sun
不仅发出一种固定的光 not only emits light of a certain colour,
它还会吸收某种固定的光 it also absorbs light of the same colour.
只要找出这些黑线在太阳光中的位置 By looking for these black lines in the sun's light,
我们就能列出一个 we can simply read off a list
其组成元素的表 跟条形码一样 of its constituent elements, like a bar code.
比如这两条位于光谱中 For example, these two black lines
黄色部分的黑线 是钠元素的 in the yellow bit of the spectrum are sodium.
你可以看到铁的 You can see iron.
这下面你能看到氢的 Right down here you can see hydrogen.
通过仔细精确地观察这些线 So, by looking at these lines in precise detail,
你就能弄清楚太阳里 you can work out exactly what elements are present
具体都有些什么 事实证明 in the sun and it turns out that
大概是百分之七十的氢 百分之二十八的氦 that's about 70% hydrogen, 28% helium
其余元素占百分之二 and 2% the rest.
不仅是太阳 对于天上 And you can do this, not only for the sun,
你能看到的任何星星 but for any of the stars
你都能这么做 you can see in the sky
这样你就能准确地推测其组成元素 and you can measure exactly what they're made of.
那颗星星就是北极星 So that star there is Polaris, the Pole Star,
你能看见它是因为 and you can see that because
晚上天上其他星星 all the other stars in the night sky
似乎都绕着它在旋转 appear to rotate around it.
它距我们有四百三十光年远 Now it's 430 light years away.
但通过观察光线 我们就知道了 But we know just by looking at the light
它跟太阳几乎有 that it has about the same
同样的重元素[除氢氦以外所有元素] heavy element abundance as our sun,
不过相较而言碳元素很少 氮元素却更多 but it's got markedly less carbon and a lot more nitrogen.
同样的道理也适用于其他恒星 And the same applies for other stars.
织女星 北方天空第二亮的恒星 Vega, the second brightest star in the northern sky,
金属含量只有太阳的三分之一 has only about a third of the metal content of our sun.
然而其他恒星却富含重金属 Whereas, other stars are metal-heavy.
天狼星 Sirius, the dog star,
含铁量是太阳的三倍 contains three times as much iron as the sun.
而比邻星的镁含量却很高 And Proxima Centauri is rich in magnesium.
纵观宇宙 尽管元素的数量 But although the quantities of the elements may vary,
不尽相同 wherever we look across space,
可元素还是那九十二种 we only ever find the same 92 elements
地球上也有的元素 that we find on Earth.
我们与这些恒星或星系 We are made of the same stuff
都由相同的物质组成 as the stars and the galaxies.
可这些物质是从哪里来的呢 But where did all this matter come from?
它又是如何组成 And how did it become
我们如今看到的广袤宇宙呢 the complex universe we see today?
为了探索我们的起源 In order to understand where we came from,
我们必须知道一些 we have to understand events
宇宙诞生之初的前几秒内 that happened in the first few seconds
所发生的大事件 of the life of the universe.
宇宙刚出现的时候 So when the universe began,
温度非常高 而且极度混沌稠密 it was unimaginably hot and dense.
我们根本没有 We, literally, don't have
科学术语来描述它 the scientific language to describe it,
不过它真的非常美丽 but it was, in a very real sense, beautiful.
那时没有丝毫组织结构或物质 There was no structure, there was certainly no matter.
从任何角度来看都是一样对称的 It was exactly the same whichever way you look at it.
通过观察这片美不胜收的地带中 We can get some idea of how the universe developed
水的各种形态 from this state of pure symmetry
我们可以了解到宇宙是如何 by looking at the behaviour of water
从绝对均匀状态中发展起来的 in this remarkable landscape.
这里是塔提奥地热间歇泉 These are the El Tatio geysers,
位于智利的安第斯山脉 high in the Chilean Andes.
随着热水沸腾着 As the boiling water bubbles up
从地底往上冒 through the ground to meet
遇到冰冷的空气 the freezing mountain air,
可以看到水的三种自然状态 water can be found in all three of its natural phases -
气态水 液态水和固态水 vapour, liquid and ice.
在最热的区域 In its hottest state, water is,
水跟早期宇宙一样 是未分化的一团 like the early universe, an undifferentiated cloud.
一旦冷却后 性态马上完全不同 But as it cools, it suddenly behaves very differently.
当你观察一团蒸汽时 You see, if you look at a cloud of steam,
它从任何方向看都是一样的 it looks the same from every direction,
但当它冷却后 but as it cools down,
当它遇到这片冰冷的玻璃时 as it lands on this plate of freezing cold glass,
它马上就凝固结晶了 then it immediately crystallises out.
转变成了固态水 也就是冰 It turns into solid water - ice.
随着冰晶的形成 As the ice crystals form,
水蒸气的均匀对称性就消失了 the symmetry of the water vapour disappears from view
逐渐形成了复杂而漂亮的冰晶结构 and complex, beautiful structure emerges.
同样 我们认为宇宙冷却时 In the same way, we think that the universe, as it cooled,
也将经历这一系列过程 went through a series of these events,
然后基础结构就形成了 where structure emerged.
其中最重要的 One of the most important
就是大爆炸后的十亿分之一秒 was about a billionth of a second after the Big Bang.
那一刻 宇宙最为重要的特征 In that moment, an important
对称性 被破坏了 part of the symmetry of the universe was broken.
这被称作是电弱对称性破坏 Known as electroweak symmetry breaking,
这一刻亚原子粒子 this was the moment when subatomic particles
首次吸收了大量物质 acquired mass - substance - for the first time.
其中就有夸克 Amongst them, were the quarks.
随着宇宙继续冷却 As the universe continued to cool,
那些夸克结合起来 those quarks joined together
形成更大更复杂的结构 to form larger, more complex structures,
即质子和中子 called protons and neutrons.
在宇宙还不到一分钟的生命中 Way before the universe was a minute old,
夸克就被藏在了 the quarks had been locked away
质子和中子内部 inside the protons and the neutrons
它们联手构建了原子核 and they were the building blocks of all atomic nuclei,
而原子核又是元素的组成元件 the building blocks of the elements.
同样的质子和中子伴随我们到如今 These same protons and neutrons are with us to this day.
他们形成了原子的核心 原子核 They form the hearts, the nuclei, of all atoms.
宇宙诞生后的几秒钟内 Just a few seconds after the beginning of the universe,
所有事物的核心部分 the fundamental building blocks of everything
就这样诞生了 had been created.
听起来很可笑 事实上组成我 It sounds ridiculous, the fact that everything you need
或地球上事物所需的一切 to make up me and everything on planet Earth
甚至天上的每个恒星或星系 and, in fact, every star and every galaxy
早在那时就有了 in the sky was there,
就在宇宙诞生后的一分钟内 after the first minutes in the life of the universe.
虽然难以相信 但我们有极有力的 It's almost unbelievable, but we have extremely strong
实验证据表明 experimental evidence to suggest
事情原本就是那样的 that that is the way that it is.
从那一刻起 从某种意义上说 But from that point on, it was just, in a sense,
就是一个将简单事物 a process of assembling
组合成更复杂事物的过程 those bits into more and more complex things.
这本身就是一件非常迷人的事 That is an incredibly fascinating story in itself.
为了说清楚这个过程 To tell that story,
我们先得深入了解原子 we must look deep inside the atom,
了解其中心 即原子核 to the nucleus at its centre.
在这里 我们会看清质子 Here, we can see how protons
和中子是如何组装 and neutrons are assembled,
形成九十二种不同的元素的 to build up the 92 different elements.
关于化学元素的组成 Now, the wonderful thing about
很奇妙的一点就是 the construction of the chemical elements
它非常简单 is that it's so simple.
我觉得你用儿童般的玩耍就可以解释 I suppose you could call it child's play.
把这些泡泡想象成宇宙的一套化学体系 So imagine these bubbles are my universal chemistry set...
一个泡泡就是一个单独的质子 ..and the single bubbles could just be single protons.
那就是最简单化学元素的原子核 That's the nucleus of the simplest chemical element.
只有一个质子的元素是氢 The element with a single proton in its nucleus is hydrogen
用氢你就能组合成其他的元素 and, from hydrogen, you can make all the other elements.
第一步就是将两个质子黏在一起 The first stage is to stick two protons together.
看那个 Ha-ha! Look at that!
那两个泡泡黏在一起了 That was two bubbles stuck together.
当你将两个质子黏一块时 Now what happens when you stick two protons together
其中一个质子就变成中子了 is one of the protons turns into a neutron.
这就叫做氘[氢的同位素] Now, that is called deuterium.
氘仍是一种氢元素 Deuterium is still a form of hydrogen,
因为它也只有一个质子 because it has only one proton in its nucleus,
正是质子个数决定元素种类 and it's the number of protons that defines the element.
只有当两个氘的原子核 It's only when two deuterium nuclei
结合起来时 才会形成新的元素 are combined that a new element is created.
将两个氘融合在一起 Take two deuteriums and fuse them together
就得到一个含有两个质子 and you get a nucleus for two protons
两个中子的原子核 and two neutrons.
那就是氦 第二简单的元素 That's helium, the second simplest element.
接下来 就只需要 Then, it's just a question
加上更多的质子和中子了 of adding more and more protons and neutrons.
这是个极其复杂的原子核 Well, there is an incredibly complicated nucleus.
有将近十二个黏在一起了 That's about 12 things stuck together,
所以这应该就是碳12 so that would be probably carbon 12,
包括六个质子和六个中子 which is six protons and six neutrons.
你还能继续 And you can carry on
创造出更多更复杂的元素 building more and more complex elements...
一直创造出宇宙中最重的元素 ..all the way up to the heaviest elements in the universe,
铀 或是更重的物质 to uranium and beyond.
简单而美丽的物理现象 Simple, and beautiful, physics.
构建元素这个过程 This process of building the elements
叫做核聚变 is called nuclear fusion.
它能让最简单材料 It allows the simplest of ingredients
构建出多种多样的大千宇宙 to create the infinite variety of the universe.
虽然泡泡这种形象化的比喻 But although this bubble metaphor
让构建新元素看起来很简单 makes creating new elements seem simple, it is,
不过实际上 这是很难实现的 in reality, incredibly difficult to achieve.
以至于自然界内只有一个地方 So difficult that there's only one place in nature
会出现这种情况 that it happens.
只有在太阳这类恒星上元素才会重新组装 It's in stars like our sun that the elements are assembled.
这是宇宙中唯一一个 They're the only places in the universe
不仅够热而且密度够大的地方 hot enough and dense enough
能让原子融合起来 to fuse atoms together.
即便在那种地方 Even then,
也只有一小部分 only a fraction of the star
能达到所需的极高的温度 reaches the extreme temperatures necessary.
太阳表面有六千摄氏度 The sun is 6,000 Celsius at its surface,
远远达不到融合所需的聚变能 not nearly hot enough to power fusion.
但在内核深处 But deep below,
在某些可以达到一千五百万度的地方 where the temperature reaches 15 million degrees,
太阳以高速率将氢融合成氦 the sun fuses hydrogen into helium at a furious rate.
每秒钟能烧掉六亿吨氢 Every second, it burns 600m tons of hydrogen.
这样能释放出大量的 As it does so, it releases the huge amounts
热量和光芒让我们星球的生机盎然 of heat and light that brings our planet to life.
正是这种将一种元素 It is this process of converting
转化成另一种的过程 让我们得以生存 one element into another that allows us to exist.
太阳用尽其全部能量 只是将氢 For all its power, the sun only converts hydrogen,
最简单的元素 the simplest element,
转化成氦 第二简单的元素 into helium, the next simplest.
但还有九十多种元素 But there are over 90 other elements
存在于宇宙之中 present in our universe,
他们都是哪来的呢 so where did they all come from?
如果更重的元素不是在太阳 If the heavier elements are not being
这样的恒星中创造出来的 made in stars like the sun,
那宇宙中一定有某个地方 then there must be somewhere else
能够将它们组合起来 in the universe where they are assembled.
知道这点很重要 It's important to know
因为正是这些氦 because it's the elements
以外的元素 让我们的世界多姿多彩 beyond helium that give our world its complexity,
而当说到地球和人类时 and when it comes to planet Earth and human beings,
有一种元素尤为重要 那就是碳 there's one element that is particularly important - carbon.
生命非常依赖于碳 Life is completely dependent on carbon.
我身体里含有 I mean, I'm made of about
数以亿计的碳原子 a billion billion billion carbon atoms,
其他人也一样 as is every human being out there,
地球上的其他生物也一样 every living thing on the planet.
想像一下这些碳原子的数量 Imagine how many carbon atoms that is.
碳元素到底从何而来 So where does all that carbon come from?
它来源于宇宙中唯一 Well, it comes from the only place
能形成各个元素的地方 恒星 in the universe where elements are made - stars.
为了让人类生存 恒星必须毁灭 But in order for us to live, a star must die.
在恒星的生命初期 Stars in the prime of their lives,
诸如太阳 其热量只够形成氦 like our sun, are only hot enough to make helium.
而重元素的形成 Forming the heavier elements
则需要更高的温度 requires much higher temperatures.
只有在恒星的生命期结束时 Temperatures that can only be reached
才能达到这样高的温度 at the end of a star's life.
遥望天际 Looking out into space,
你可能会觉得 you might think
宇宙是一成不变的 that the cosmos is a constant, unchanging place.
宇宙中的恒星永不消逝 That the stars will always be there.
但事实上 恒星 But in fact, the stars
只是天空中的"昙花一现" are only a temporary feature in the sky,
纵然它们会持续发光发热 and though they may burn brightly
数百万甚至数亿年 for many millions or billions of years,
它们生命期的长度 they can only live for
也只是取决于氢气可供燃烧的时间 as long as they have a supply of hydrogen to burn.
当恒星把氢气耗尽 它开始消亡 When a star runs out of hydrogen, it begins to die,
但并不是悄无声息的 but it doesn't go quietly.
与降低温度相反 Rather than cooling,
恒星变得更加炽热 the star becomes much hotter,
直至一刹那间的光芒四射 until there's a sudden flash.
随后它开始不断膨胀 Then the star starts to expand.
经过千万年的时间 Over tens of thousands of years,
恒星膨胀后的体积是先前的上千倍 it balloons to many hundreds of times its previous size.
但在这种膨胀的情况下 But in this bloated state,
恒星无法维持其表面温度 the star is unable to maintain its surface temperature.
随着温度的降低 它表现出 As it cools, it takes on
一颗即将消亡的恒星所特有的颜色 the characteristic colour of a dying star.
它变成了红巨星 It has become a red giant.
这些照片记录的是银河系中 These are pictures of a red
一颗名叫参宿四的红巨星 giant star in our galaxy, a star called Betelgeuse.
以宇宙的标准衡量它是我们最近的邻居 Now, it's one of our nearest neighbours in cosmic terms.
距离地球仅有六百光年之遥 It's only about 600 light years away,
但其有异常惊人的庞大体积 but it's the size that's astonishing.
如果太阳在这里 If you were to put the sun there,
那金星大约在这里 then Venus would be about there
而地球在这个位置 and the Earth about there,
火星在这里 事实上 and Mars here, and in fact you could
这颗恒星能容纳下太阳系中大如木星的 fit everything in the solar system all the way out to Jupiter
任何天体 inside the star.
因为它过于庞大 Now, because it's so big,
纵然有六百光年远 even though it is 600 light years away,
你仍能看清其表面的细节 you can see detail on its surface,
这些是参宿四表面的太阳黑子 so these, these are sunspots on the surface of Betelgeuse.
但真正有趣的地方 But it's not what's going
并不在于其表面 on on the surface that's really interesting.
为了弄清楚宇宙中的碳元素来自何方 To understand where carbon comes from in the universe,
我们必须 了解在这颗恒星的内核深处 we have to understand what's going on
都发生了什么 deep in the heart of the star.
假设里约热内卢的这间废旧监狱 Imagine this old prison in Rio
是如同参宿四一样 即将消亡的恒星 is a dying star like Betelgeuse.
外面是耀眼的恒星表层 Out there is the bright surface,
在星际中散发着光芒 shining off into space.
当我逐渐深入到监狱内部 As I descend deeper and deeper into the prison,
空气会变得 the conditions would become
越发炎热和稠密 hotter and hotter and denser and denser,
当深入到恒星的中心处就到了其内核 until down there in the heart in the star is the core,
一切生命所需的成分都是在这里形成的 and it's in there that all the ingredients of life are made.
在内核中 恒星正与 Deep in its core, the star is
其本身的重力抗争着 但这些都是徒劳的 fighting a futile battle against its own gravity.
当它绝望地试图 As it desperately tries
阻止其在自重下瓦解的进程时 to stop itself collapsing under its own weight,
新元素经过一系列的阶段逐渐形成 new elements are made in a sequence of separate stages.
第一阶段 Stage one
在仍有氢气供恒星燃烧的情况下进行 is while there is still a supply of hydrogen to burn.
当恒星在其内核 Whilst the star is burning
通过燃烧氢生成氦时 hydrogen to helium in the core,
会释放大量的能量 vast amounts of energy are released
这些能量会逃逸出去 and that energy escapes,
形成一种外部压力 literally creating an outward pressure
这种压力会与重力抗衡 which bounces the force of gravity and,
同时它会支撑恒星 维持其稳定 well, it holds the star up and keeps it stable.
但总有一天 内核中的氢会消耗殆尽 But eventually, the hydrogen in the core will run out
那时核聚变反应就会停止 and at that point the fusion reactions will stop,
也不会再释放出任何能量 no more energy will be released
外部压力也会消失不见 and that outward pressure will disappear.
到了那时 Now, at that point,
内核会开始迅速瓦解 the core will start to collapse very rapidly,
只留下一个 leaving a shell...
由氢和氦组成的空壳 ..of hydrogen and helium behind.
内核持续瓦解的同时 在空壳的下方 Beneath this shell, as the core collapses,
温度会再一次上升 the temperature rises again
当升到一亿度时 until, at 100 million degrees,
第二阶段开始了 stage two starts
氦原子核开始聚变 and helium nuclei begin to fuse together.
一次氦聚变会完成两件任务 A helium fusion does two things.
第一 它会释放更多的能量 Firstly, more energy is released
会中断内核瓦解 and so the collapse is halted.
第二 But secondly,
在此过程中会形成两种新元素 two more elements are produced in that process...
碳 ..carbon.
以及氧 这两种元素对生命极其重要 Oxygen. Two elements vital for life.
这解释了 So this
宇宙中的碳是从何而来的 is where all the carbon in the universe comes from.
组成我的手的每一个碳原子 Every atom of carbon in my hand,
组成地球上所有生物的 every atom of carbon
每一个碳原子 in every living thing on the planet
都是在即将消亡的恒星中心处形成的 was produced in the heart of a dying star.
但与恒星的生命期相比 But compared to the lifetime of the star,
碳和氧的形成 the creation process of carbon and oxygen
是在眨眼之间完成的 is over in a blink of an eye,
因为在约一百万年的跨度内 because in only about a million years
内核中的氦元素会消耗殆尽 the supply of helium in the core is used up
对于如太阳般大小的恒星来说 and for stars as massive as the sun,
到了那时核变会停止 that's where fusion stops,
这是因为没有足够的重力 because there isn't enough gravitational energy
继续挤压内核以及重启核变 to compress the core any further and restart fusion.
但对于如参宿四般庞大的恒星来说 But for massive stars like Betelgeuse,
核变还可以继续进行 the fusion process can continue.
当氦元素耗尽时 When the helium runs out,
重力作用再次占据主导 内核继续瓦解 gravity takes over again and the collapse continues.
此时温度再次上升 启动第三阶段 The temperature rises once more, launching stage three,
即将碳聚变成镁 in which carbon fuses into magnesium,
氖 纳以及铝 neon, sodium, and aluminium.
核变继续进行 And so it goes on.
内核瓦解之后是核变的下一阶段 Core collapse, followed by the next stage of fusion
会产生更多的元素 to create more elements,
每阶段都会比上一次温度更高 时间更短 each stage hotter and shorter than the last.
终于 到了最后的阶段 And, eventually, in
通常只会持续几天 在此期间 a final stage that lasts only a couple of days,
恒星的内核 the heart of the star
几乎统统转化为铁 is transformed into almost pure... iron,
其化学符号是Fe whose chemical symbol is Fe,
到此时核聚变完全停止 and this is where the fusion process stops.
在恒星数百万年的生命中 In its millions of years of life,
它制造出了所有的常见元素 the star has made all the common elements,
这些元素组成了地球上百分之九十九的物质 the stuff that makes up 99% of the Earth.
这时内核是由这些元素组成的实心球体 The core is now a solid ball of those elements
而这些元素一个压一个地层层排列 stacked on top of each other in layers.
其外部的壳由氢组成 On the outside, there's a shell of hydrogen.
氢下面是一层氦 Beneath it, a layer of helium.
随后是碳和氧 Then carbon and oxygen,
而其他的元素 and all the other elements,
依次排列 一直排到恒星的中心处 all the way down to the very heart of the star.
当聚变成固态铁时 And once that has fused into solid iron,
恒星只剩下几秒钟的生命 the star has only seconds left to live.
当恒星没有"燃料"时 它再也无法 When a star runs out of fuel, then it can no longer release
通过核聚变释放能量 energy through fusion reactions,
随后只会发生一件事 and then there's only one thing that can happen.
在与这所监狱崩塌所耗的 In about the same amount of time
大约相等的时间内 it takes this prison block to crumble,
整颗恒星就会瓦解 the entire star falls in on itself.
对于宇宙中大多数的恒星来说 This is the destiny
这就是等待着它们的命运 that awaits most of the stars in the universe.
但恒星的向心聚爆 Yet even the implosion of the star
只会形成最初的二十六种元素 only forges the first 26 elements.
在剩下的众多元素中 What of the remaining elements,
有些对生命极其重要 some of which are vital for life
有些人类视其为珍宝 and many of which we hold most precious.
这片树林位于加利福尼亚北部的边远地区 These are the remote forests of northern California.
一百年前 人们聚集在这片区域中 100 years ago, this whole area was teeming with people,
都在寻找同一种元素 all in search of one element.
他们当时聚集在这里的原因 And the reason they were here
仍然能在这座金矿中找到 can still be found in the Original Sixteen To One Mine.
这里曾处于加利福尼亚淘金热的中心地带 This once stood at the centre of the California gold rush
由于其独特的地质环境 and, thanks to a quirk of geology,
一百年过后的今天 它依然慷慨地 it continues to yield its precious bounty
馈赠给人们宝贵的财富 over 100 years later.
这个地方的独一无二之处 You know, the unique thing about
就在于它正巧坐落于 this place is that it sits right on the divide
北美板块与太平洋板块的分界处 between the North American plate and the Pacific plate.
你能看到岩石与石英间断裂的地方 You see a divide there between the rock and quartz,
在那上面能看到断裂处的最高处 then right up there you can see the top of it.
在两个断层间 形成了这种岩石和石英 Now, in between the faults, this rock, the quartz, formed.
一亿四千万年前 Then, 140 million years ago,
即侏罗纪时期 那时恐龙 in the Jurassic period, when the dinosaurs
就在我们头顶上面跑来跑去 were running around above our heads,
而热水会不断翻涌而出 涓涓流淌 hot water welled up and flowed,
这种水在石英的裂缝中 and that water deposited the gold
沉淀了块块黄金 through the seams of quartz,
所以所有矿工要做的就是 and so all the miners have to do...
所有淘金者要做的是 and ALL they have to do...
顺着石英的裂缝寻找黄金 is follow the seams of quartz,
经过千百年的时间 and over hundreds of years they've
他们找到了大量的黄金 found vast amounts of gold deposited there.
这就是人们为之大惊小怪的东西 This is what all the fuss is about.
这块黄金是从土壤中挖掘出来的 This is the gold as it comes out of the ground,
是块非比寻常的纯色黄金 and it's unusually pure as gold goes.
其纯度约在百分之八十五 This is about 85% pure gold,
而黄金也能以这种形式存在 but it could also be found like this,
这是在河中找到的天然块金 and this is a gold nugget that was found in a river,
在河床上发现的 这块黄金很重 on a river bed, and it's a heavy piece of gold.
大约在一盎司和一又二分之一盎司之间 It's between about one and one and a half ounces,
按照现在的价格 它价值约两千美元 which means that at today's prices it's worth about 2,000,
黄金的内在价值 and it's that inherent value
使得金矿的运作有利可图 that makes mines like this worth operating.
在衡量黄金的价值方面 But there's something a bit odd
有一些奇怪的地方 about the value we attach to gold.
纵观历史 人们历经千辛万苦 Throughout history, people have
竭尽所能都想得到的这块 gone to extraordinary lengths to get their hands
珍贵的物质 其实非常奇怪 on this most precious substance, which is strange,
因为它并没有特别的用处 because it isn't particularly useful for anything.
在人类的历史长河中 Most of the gold
冶炼成功的黄金 that's been extracted throughout human history
大多数都被制成了珠宝 has ended up as jewellery,
但有一点值得人们为它赴汤蹈火 but it has got one thing going for it
那就是它极其稀有 and that's that it is incredibly rare.
人类历史上挖掘出来的所有黄金 All the gold mined from the earth in all of human history
只能填满三个奥运会规格大小的游泳池 would only just fill three Olympic-size swimming pools.
正是黄金的罕见稀有使其价值连城 And it's that scarcity that makes gold valuable,
但金仅是众多稀有元素中的一种 but gold is just one of many rare elements.
在宇宙中 有六十多种元素 There are over 60 elements heavier
都重于铁元素 than iron in the universe
有些很有价值 如金 银及铂 and some are valuable, like gold, silver, platinum.
有些对生命很重要 如铜和锌 Some are vital for life, like copper and zinc,
有些很有用 如铀 锡及铅 and some are just useful, like uranium, tin and lead.
不过纵观整个宇宙 But across the universe,
这些元素的含量仅占众多重元素中 there are vanishingly small amounts
极其微小的一部分 of those heavy elements.
其稀少的原因在于 The reason for that scarcity
要创造出大量的重金属元素 is that creating substantial amounts of the heaviest elements
需要宇宙中一些很稀有的条件 requires some of the rarest conditions in the universe,
为了它们 我们得探寻更深远的空间 and we need to look far into space to find them.
在一个有着一千亿恒星的星系里 In a galaxy of 100 billion stars,
这些条件平均每百年 these conditions will exist on average
存在不到一分钟 for less than a minute in every century.
因为它们只产生于 That's because they're only created
那些最大的恒星 in the final death throes
临死前剧痛的瞬间 of the very largest stars...
那些恒星至少大于太阳的九倍 ..Stars of at least nine times the mass of our sun.
只有它们能达到极致般的温度 Only they can reach the extreme temperatures needed
用以产生大量重金属元素 to create large amounts of the heavy elements.
在恒星的中心深处 Deep in the heart of the star,
它的内核最终屈服于重力 the core finally succumbs to gravity.
以超高速度向内塌陷 It falls in on itself with enormous speed...
又被巨大的力量弹回 ..and rebounds with colossal force.
当冲击波与恒星外层相撞 As the blast wave collides with the outer layers of the star,
就产生了宇宙中最高的温度 it generates the highest temperatures in the universe
一千亿度 100 billion degrees.
这样的条件只能持续十五秒 these conditions last for just 15 seconds,
不过这足够形成黄金这样的重金属元素 but it's enough to form the heaviest elements like gold.
它被称为超新星 It's called a supernova...
宇宙中最为强力的爆炸 ..the most powerful explosion in the universe.
对我们来说 像婚戒黄金一样的珍宝 It's quite a thought that something as
实际上也可以在一颗遥远的 数百万光年 precious to us as the gold in a wedding ring was
甚至数亿光年远的恒星上产生 actually forged in the death of a distant star,
这真是一件非常神奇的事情 millions of light years away, billions of years ago.
不论超新星有多罕见 Despite the rarity of supernovae,
当它确实发生的时候 when they do happen,
它们就是空中最炫目的事件 they're the most dramatic events in the sky.
这是蜘蛛星云的图片 This is a picture of the Tarantula Nebula,
它是银河系的卫星星系 which is a cloud of gas and dust
大麦哲伦星云中 in the Large Magellanic Cloud,
一团云状的气体和尘土 which is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way,
这就是它在一年中任何 and this is what it looks like
清晰可见的繁星之夜下 观察到的样子 on any clear starry night of the year.
但是在1987年的一个晚上 But on one night in 1987,
蜘蛛星云却是这样 the Tarantula Nebula looked like that.
你可以看见一颗明亮的新星出现在空中 You can see that a new bright star has appeared in the sky.
这是一颗超新星的爆炸 This is a supernova explosion,
一颗巨大恒星的爆炸性死亡 the explosive death of a massive star,
它们是惊人的极端宇宙现象 and they're incredibly violent cosmic events,
就像这张图片表现的一样美丽 as this picture beautifully shows.
这是一个距离地球大约 This is a galaxy
五千五百万光年的星系 about 55 million light years away from Earth,
但那个星系里有一颗超新星爆炸 but this is a supernova explosion in that galaxy.
你可以看到它就像 You can see that it's shining as brightly
银河的核心一样闪亮 as the galactic core.
那个核心里也许有十亿个太阳 There may be a billion suns in that core,
但是一颗超新星就能像那一样明亮 and one supernova can shine as brightly as that.
但是为了真正欣赏到这些爆炸的规模 Yet to really appreciate the scale of these explosions,
我们需要近距离地 we would need to see one up close,
观察我们自己的星系 to see a star die in our own galaxy,
银河中一颗恒星的死亡 the Milky Way.
尽管每个星系中平均每个世纪 Although on average there's one big supernova
只有一颗大的超新星 in each galaxy every century,
自从现代科学诞生之后 there hasn't been one in the Milky Way
银河系只有过一颗 since the birth of modern science.
最近的一颗是在1604年 我们迟到太久了 The last was in 1604, so we're long overdue.
天文学家现在探索太空 Astronomers are now searching the
寻找最可能变成超新星的恒星 skies for the star that is most likely to go supernova.
在主要候选恒星中 And amongst the leading candidates
有个熟悉的名字 there's a familiar name.
这是猎户星座 This is the constellation of Orion
这是参宿四 and this is Betelgeuse,
我们知道它极不稳定 and we know it's extremely unstable
因为它在过去的十年里 because it's dimmed by about 15%
黯淡了百分之十五 in the last ten years.
现在 天文学家认为这颗星 Now, astronomers think that this star
随时可能变成超新星 could go supernova at any moment.
那意味着也许在未来百万年中的任何时候 That could mean any time in the next million years
也许就在明天 它就会爆炸 but equally it could explode tomorrow,
参宿四只有六百光年远 and Betelgeuse is only 600 light years away.
参宿四开始爆炸的时候将异常明亮 Now, when it goes, Betelgeuse will be incredibly bright.
它将是到目前为止 空中最亮的星 It'll be by far the brightest star in the sky.
它也许会像满月一样耀眼无比 It may shine as brightly as a full moon.
几乎是白天中的第二个太阳 It will be almost a second sun in the daylight.
在这一瞬间 In this single instant,
参宿四释放出的能量 Betelgeuse will release more energy
比太阳在整个生命过程中产生的都多 than our sun will produce in its entire lifetime.
当恒星被撕裂的时候 As the star is torn apart,
它会将自己生命过程中 it will fire out into space
创造的所有元素炸入空中 然后死去 all the elements that it created in its life and death.
这些元素将在宇宙中铺开形成一团星云 Those elements will spread out to become a nebula,
一团饱含着化学物质的云尘 a rich chemical cloud drifting through space.
在星云的中心将有一团小小的光 And at the heart of the nebula will be a tiny beacon of light,
一颗恒星的残余物 the remnant of a star.
一旦直径超过十五亿公里 Once more than a billion and a half kilometres across
就会被重力挤压变形 that has been crushed out of all recognition by gravity.
这是参宿四中子星 This is Betelgeuse, the neutron star.
这颗曾经耀眼的恒星 And it's how this once mighty star
就将这样结束自己的生命 will end its life.
现在 一旦参宿四消失 Now, once Betelgeuse has gone,
猎户星座看上去将会完全不同 the constellation of Orion will look very different.
空中那颗闪耀的鲜红色恒星 I mean there will just be a hole in the sky
曾经发光的地方将留下一个漆黑的小洞 where that brilliant bright red star once shone.
但是就在旧恒星的消亡中 But it's in the deaths
新的恒星产生了 of old stars that new stars are born
很像地球上死亡和重生的循环 and it's very much like the cycle of death and rebirth
只是发生在宇宙范围内 here on earth but played out on a cosmic scale
你今天可以在猎户星座中 and you can see that happening today
看到这样的事情发生 in the constellation of Orion
是因为在剑柄处 because in the sword handle
你可以看见猎户星云 you can see this - the Orion Nebula.
从肉眼看来不过是 Now, it's nothing more than
夜空中一个模糊的光斑 a misty patch of light in the night sky
但是如果你靠近它仔细观察 to the naked eye but if you look more closely,
你会看见那里正在发生很多事 you see that there is a lot more going on.
猎户星云是宇宙的奇迹之一 The Orion Nebula is one of the wonders of the universe.
明亮的光点隐藏在其云层中 Hidden in its clouds are bright points of light.
这些是新的恒星 These are new stars,
由超新星爆炸过程中 forming from the elements blown out
产生的元素形成 by supernova explosions.
新的恒星重生于消亡恒星的残余 New stars being born from the remains of dead ones.
在这个死亡又重生的宇宙循环中 and it's from this universal process
我们出现了 of death and rebirth that we emerged
因为在这样的一个星云中 because it was in a nebula just like this,
五十亿年前 five billion years ago,
我们的太阳诞生了 that our sun was formed.
在它周围形成了一个行星网络 Around it, a network of planets formed.
它们之中就有地球 Among them was the Earth.
我们今天在地球上发现的一切 Everything we find on the Earth today
也起源于那个星云 also originated in that nebula.
不过这也不能最终解释 But that is not the end of this story
宇宙是如何创造我们的 of how the universe created us.
因为当我们观察星云深处 Because when we look deep into the nebula,
我们不止看到单个元素 we don't just see individual elements.
我们还看到了更复杂的东西 We see greater complexity,
我们人类的起源 the seeds of our own existence.
这是猎户星云所发射出的光谱 Well, this is a spectrum of the light from the Orion Nebula
由赫歇尔太空望远镜拍摄的 taken by the Herschel space telescope,
这是一张摄于星际空间的照片 so it really is a picture of light from interstellar space.
你知道我不会无故给你看这样一张图 You know, I wouldn't normally show you a graph like this
这真是令人着迷 因为它捕捉的 but this is fascinating because what it shows
是那团气体云 猎户星云 is that that gas cloud, the Orion Nebula,
这不仅仅是一团充满化学元素的云尘 is not just a cloud of elements.
在外太空正发生复杂的化学反应 There's complex chemistry here happening
因为这张图上每个峰 in deep space because each peak on this graph
对应一种不同的分子 corresponds to a different molecule
我想有些分子特征峰 and there are some molecules present that I suppose
非常明显 are quite obvious.
这是水 这是二氧化硫 There's water and there's sulphur dioxide.
这里还有碳化合物 But there are also complex carbon compounds in here.
这是甲醇 So there's methanol,
这是氰化氢 there's hydrogen cyanide,
这里是甲醛 二甲醚 there's formaldehyde, there's dimethyl ether.
所以我们在这里看到的 So what we're seeing here
就是外太空正发生的复杂的碳化学反应 is complex carbon chemistry happening in deep space.
这种碳化学反应 That carbon chemistry
就是生命最初的化学起源 is the beginning of the chemistry of life.
还有个意外发现 And there is surprising evidence that this chemistry
这个化学过程也许直接影响了 may have had a direct impact
地球上的生命进化 on the evolution of life on Earth.
这个证据来自陨石 That evidence comes from meteorites,
陨石是太阳系诞生之初的残留部分 debris left over from the formation of the solar system
偶然与地球相撞所留下的碎片 that occasionally collides with the earth.
南美安第斯山脉高处的 One of the most productive places for finding meteorites
阿塔卡马沙漠 is the Atacama Desert
是发现陨石最多的地区之一 in the high Andes of South America.
这是枚陨石 This is a meteorite,
从地球以外的太阳系某处 a piece of rock that fell to earth from somewhere
掉下来的岩石碎片 out there in the solar system.
它肯定比你在这里见到的任何岩石都要古老 And it is certainly older than any rock you can see here.
它也许比你能在地球上 It's probably older than any rock
任何地方找到的岩石都更古老 you can find anywhere on earth
因为它来自于那团原始的气态云 because it formed from the primordial gas cloud,
那团四十五亿年前塌陷 that nebula that collapsed
继而锻造出了太阳和众多行星的星云 to form the sun and the planets over four and a half billion years ago.
所以它非常古老 So it's incredibly ancient.
这是一片 Now this is a slice,
陨石的横截面 a crosssection through a meteorite.
你看见这里那些小片的棕色区域吗 You see those little brown areas in there?
我们在那些区域里找到了氨基酸 Well, in those brown areas we found amino acids,
也就是蛋白质的组成元件 the building blocks of proteins,
而蛋白质是我 which are the building blocks of me,
是生命的组成元件 the building blocks of life,
它们是非常复杂的碳化合物 incredibly complex carbon compounds.
所以这就是开启你生命之路 So this says that the complex carbon chemistry
所需要的复杂的碳化学反应 you need to send you on the path to life
早在四十五亿年前 was happening out there in space
就在外太空发生了 four and a half billion years ago.
所以地球上的第一个氨基酸 So the first amino acids on earth,
生命最为基本的组成元件 the fundamental building blocks of life,
也许早就在太空深处形成 may have formed in the depths of space
被陨石传送到了地球 and been delivered to the earth on meteorites.
当我们注意太空的时候 When we look out into space,
我们也是在寻找自己的起源 we are looking into our own origins.
因为我们是恒星真正的孩子 Because we are truly children of the stars,
注入进我们身体的 and written into every atom
每一个原子和分子 and every molecule of our bodies
就是宇宙从大爆炸 is the entire history of the universe
到现在全部的历史 from the Big Bang to the present day.
我们的故事就是宇宙的故事 Our story is the story of the universe.
每个人 你所热爱的一切 And every piece of everyone, of everything you love,
你所憎恨的一切 of everything you hate,
你所拥有的最宝贵的东西 of the thing you hold most precious,
在宇宙生命最为伊始的几分钟内 was assembled by the forces of nature
由自然的力量合成 in the first few minutes of the life of the universe,
在恒星的中心转化 transformed in the hearts of stars
或者在它们燃烧的消亡中诞生 or created in their fiery deaths.
而当你去世的时候 And when you die,
这些碎片将回到宇宙中 those pieces will be returned to the universe
进入无限的死亡又重生的轮回之中 in the endless cycle of death and rebirth.
就那样成为宇宙的一部分是多么奇妙啊 What a wonderful thing it is to be a part of that universe!
多么摄人心魄的故事 And what a story.
多么瑰丽宏伟的篇章 What a majestic story.
Beatles: Across the Universe 披头士乐队 《穿越宇宙》
流言蜚语如同无尽的雨滴溢满纸杯 Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
它们急切切地穿越宇宙 悄悄溜走 They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
悲伤之池 欢喜之波 Pools of sorrow, waves of joy
在我跳脱的思维中悠悠漂荡 are drifting through my open mind,
笼罩着我 亲抚着我 possessing and caressing me...