玄黄端现，太极混沌如鸡蛋，随着轰的一声, In the beginning, there was darkness. And then... BANG!
诞生了无尽膨胀的时间、空间和物质。 Giving birth to an endless expanding existence of time, space and matter.
现在所见超乎我们的想象，超越了客观认知极限， Now, see further than we've ever imagined beyond the limits of our existence,
那地方我们称之为“宇宙”。 in a place we call... THE UNIVERSE.
宇宙中只有我们吗? Are we alone in the Universe?
只有我们在观看奇妙的行星吗? Are we the only ones who look up at the stars and wonder,
“还有外族存在吗?” "Is anybody out there?"
今天科学家用不同的方法来确定答案， Today, scientists quest for the answer in different ways.
有的利用大型的无线电设备， Some with massive radio telescopes,
有的利用外层空间探测器。 some with interplanetarian, interstellar probes.
如果我们发现了外层空间的生命，那会是何种景象? If we find extraterrestrial life, what will it look like?
柔软糊状的组织? Soft and squishy?
或者我们最初接触的外星人。 Or will the first aliens we contact
不过是自我复制机体， simple be self-replicating machines,
它们的生物形体已经消亡数百万年? their biological creators having died off millions of years ago?
世界上最高级别的科学家在寻找答案， Some of the top scientists in the world probe for answers
寻找外星人。 in the search for E.T.
宇宙第一季第十三集
寻找外星人 Search For E.T
这个问题让无数人夜不能寐， It is the question that has kept many people awake at night
他们盯着星星， staring at the stars,
思考着各种可能性。 pondering the possibilities.
在一个星系里有数十亿颗行星， In a galaxy filled with a billion stars,
在宇宙中有数千亿个星系。 in a Universe filled with a hundred billion galaxies,
还有别的生命存在吗? are we alone?
广袤无垠的宇宙让人无法琢磨， The incredible vastness of the Universe is difficult to comprehend.
但是我们也有思路考虑。 But here is a way to consider it.
如果把太阳的大小浓缩成一个大理石， If you were to shrink the Sun down to the size of a marble,
把它放在曼哈顿的街上， and put it on a sidewalk in downtown Manhattan,
地球距离它只有四英尺远， the Earth would be a pinprick about 4 feet away,
火星距离它的位置在两英尺之外。 Mars would be 2 feet beyond that.
有望发现智能生命， The nearest other star,
离我们最近的星球。 where we might hope to find intelligent life,
半人马座阿尔法星， Alpha Centauri,
不会超过10英尺到100英尺之间， would not be 10 or 100 feet away,
也就是在华盛顿特区附近， it would be in Washington DC.
230英里的距离。 230 miles distant.
第二颗有生命体的星球可能就离我们有7000英里之遥， And another star might be as much as 7,000 miles away,
远在里约热内卢。 in Rio de Janeiro.
但是旅行家如果真的有机会 But if we ever did chance upon voyagers
到这些遥远的星球上探索， from these distant points in the Cosmos,
那到底会是何种景象? what would they look like?
是和地球一样吗? Would they be basically the same as us?
还是有着本质不同? Would they be fundamentally different?
很有可能，非常不同寻常， Could they be perhaps so strange and unusual
以至于和我们梦想抑或梦魇的景象， that they're unlike anything we ever dreamed
截然不同? or dreaded could exist?
很多人相信探寻外星生命， Many believe the quest for extraterrestrial life
一定先得对我们地表的生命进行严谨的审视， must really begin within a tense scrutiny of our terrestrial life,
以地球的生命为参考。 life on Earth, might have begun.
在50年代早期， And in the early 1950s,
芝加哥大学的两位化学家， two chemists at the University of Chicago
戏剧性地超前理解生命体的基本化学反应， advanced understanding of life's basic chemistry dramatically.
诺贝尔奖得主化学家 哈罗德·尤里， Nobel laureate chemist, Harold Urey,
还有他的学生斯坦利·L·米勒。 and graduate student, Stanley L. Miller,
炮制一批地球早期的“原生汤”， concocted a batch of primordial soup.
他们注入了甲烷、氨气、 They injected methane, ammonia,
氢气、还有液态水，将它们混合在一个圆底烧瓶中。 hydrogen and water, into a closed system of glass bulbs and tubes.
这些化学物质用来模拟地球早期环境， These chemicals are thought to have been commonplace on early Earth.
如果你把这些东西放入一个容器中， If you put all of these things into a container,
提供某种形式的能量， and supply some form of energy to do
就会产生化学反应， some kind of reactions,
他们做了什么? 产生了什么化学反应? what do they make? What kind of reactions go on?
米勒和尤里对混合物通电， Miller and Urey energized the mix with electrical sparks
模拟地球闪电， to simulate lightning.
实验结果... 一通电， The results were... well, electrifying.
他们实验室的墙上产生褐色污泥。 They got a brown sludge on the walls of their chamber.
当他们分析褐色污泥时， And when they started analysing that brown sludge
发现里面有很多有机物， there were lots of organic materials in it
甚至还有氨基酸。 and some of them were amino acids.
有些有机分子是蛋白质的基本成分， some of the precursors, the building blocks for proteins.
蛋白质当然也是生命的基石， Proteins, of course, are in turn the building blocks for life.
米勒和尤里的试验说明了 The Miller-Urey experiment had demonstrated
这些活体有机物分子， that the precursors of living organisms
可能是源于化学反应生成。 could have gotten their start from a chemical reaction.
而这种化学反应在地球很容易发生， And such reactions aren't limited to Earth.
甲烷、氨气、氢气、液态水， Methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water
在我们太阳系的星球上是非常富裕的。 are plentiful on other cosmic bodies within our own Solar System,
许多科学家相信这在整个宇宙可谓得天独厚。 and, many scientists believe, throughout the Universe.
著名天文学家卡尔·赛根 Indeed, noted astronomer Carl Sagan,
一谈起米勒-尤里实验， speaking of the Miller-Urey test,
称之为最有说服力的实验，能使科学家们相信 stated that no other single experiment had done more
整个宇宙有条件创造大量的生命。 to convince scientists that life is likely abundant in the Cosmos.
但基于水是关键中的关键， But the presence of water was key.
如此复杂的化学反应，不可能离开水这种媒介发生。 Such a chemical reaction could not have taken place without it.
水很容易将物质溶解在内， Water is very good at dissolving materials,
是最好的溶剂， much better than many other liquids.
由于水能溶解各种养分， And so you can dissolve all sorts of nutrients
和化学物再加上催化剂的作用， and chemical products, things that can act as catalysts,
这些化学反应就能产生生命， things that go through the chemical reactions of life.
所以水是储藏这些化学物的极佳液体。 So water is an excellent liquid for storing all those chemicals.
在地球上只要哪里有水， On Earth, where liquid water exists,
不管环境极端恶劣， no matter how extreme the environment,
生命总会以各种形式存活。 some form of life also resides.
深海就有各式各样的生命， It resides at ocean depths so great,
即便那里没有阳光照射， sunlight cannot reach them.
生命存活于地表下面数英里潮湿的岩石裂缝中， It resides in damp, rocky crevices miles beneath the Earth's surface.
甚至存在于拥有极高含盐量的 And it even resides in the extreme salinity
古老的加利福尼亚湖水中。 of an ancient Californian lake,
那里含盐量超过10%， with a salt content of above 10%.
那比海水的含盐量还高三倍。 That's three times the percent of salt in the ocean.
但地球上的生命同样还需要碳元素， But life on Earth also needs carbon,
而碳实际上就是米勒-尤里实验最重要的产物。 which was in fact the primary substance generated by the Miller-Urey experiment.
我们所知的各种生命体， All life forms as we know them,
是由大量的碳分子化合物所组成， consist, in large part, of carbon molecules.
生命体必须要有能力制造长链碳分子， Life needs some sort of ability to create long molecules
以记录生物信息。 that can store information.
碳原子能惊人地组织长链分子， Carbon is amazing at building long molecules.
比如说 DNA分子， So, for example, the DNA molecule
有数十亿个碱基对的长度。 is sort of a billion base pairs long.
如果你把细胞中的某个DNA分子展开成原子排列， If you stretched out a single DNA molecule from one of your cells,
那将有1码长。 it would be a yard long.
而这只是你细胞中的万亿分之一的DNA， From a single one of your trillion of cells.
所以生命体必须通过某种方法记录如此巨量的生物信息。 So you need something that can store the absolute huge amount of information
这样就有了各式各样的生物，比如狮子、人类、树木。 that it takes to build a creature like a lion, or a human or a tree.
但对于银河系内的其他星球或是银河系之外， But if life has taken hold elsewhere in our galaxy, or beyond,
上述推论还适用吗? would these conditions necessarily hold true?
外星生命体是否也基于水和碳? Would extraterrestrial life be water and carbon based?
只有DNA才能形成智能生命? 外星人看上去是否和我们一样? Would DNA shape intelligent life, and would the aliens look anythink like us?
也许他们和我们有一点点像， Maybe they would look a little bit like us,
但这得非常非常巧合。 but that would be very, very coincidental.
比方说一只跑到灌木丛后面的地松鼠， I mean, I just saw a ground squirrel running behind a bush over here,
它和我们居住在同一个星球， and he inhabits the same planet I do,
可能它70%的DNA和人类相同， probably 70% of his DNA is the same as mine.
但它一点也不像我，那么外星人怎会长的像人类? He doesn't look like me. So why would the aliens look like me?
他们很可能不像人类。 They probably wouldn't.
有一位科学家花了大量时间思考这个问题， A scientist who has spent time pondering such questions,
并渲染外星人可能的长相， and rendering speculative alien forms,
他就是罗伯特·赫特博士来自加州科技大学。 is Dr. Robert Hurt, at the California Institute of Technology.
科特主攻可视化科学， Hurt is a visualization scientist,
他利用史皮哲太空望远镜反馈的数据， who uses data returned by the Spitzer space telescope
渲染太空深处物体和演变的景象。 to render images of deep space objects and processes.
为了找到最佳的可视方法来解释复杂高端的科技概念， To try to find the best visual ways of explaining complex technical concepts
只有通过图像。 but through imagery.
这些图像是围绕着行星各种形式的恒星、 The planets that have been studied around other stars,
星体和星云的形成。 the ways that stars and nebulae form,
正在遥远的宇宙深处的星系里进行中， processes going on galaxies in the distant Universe.
遥远到宇宙大爆炸的边缘。 All the way out to the edge of the Big Bang.
在这个课题里，赫特博士决定利用 But for this programme, Dr. Hurt has agreed to use
已知的科学数据随机勾画出外星人的样子。 known scientific data to render a speculative alien life form.
他选择了木星来进行外星人刻画。 For his alien world, he's chosen Jupiter.
挑战很大，因为木星是一个巨大的气态星球， A real challenge, since Jupiter is essentially a giant gas ball.
在那里我们没有立足之地， Here we have a place where there is no land to speak of,
这里的大气主要是氢还有氦。 the atmosphere is made primarily of hydrogen and helium gas,
虽然大气里也富有有机物， though it's rich with organic compounds.
越深入大气层温度越暖， And as you go deeper into the atmosphere, it gets warmer
气压也远远增强。 and much higher pressures.
就当是一种空想实验， So, as a kind of thought experiment almost, we supposed ,
你能想象生活在那种环境里情况会怎么样? what would you imagine living in an environment like that?
参考目前已知的唯一生物模型， Referencing the only known model for life,
地球上的有机体。 living organisms on Earth,
赫特首先自问“地球上的生命必需物质是什么”? Hurt began by asking, "What does life on Earth need?"
你需要能量源，你需要化学物。 You need a source of energy, you need the chemicals
生物依靠这些成长，这些原料是生命的基础。 that life on Earth needs to build, the materials that's constructed from.
木星上最重要的能量源就是微弱的阳光， On Jupiter, a primary source of energy is faint radiation from the Sun,
照耀在木星大气层的顶层。 striking the top of the planet's atmosphere.
目前已知的唯一一种作为生命基础原料的来源， And the only known source of chemicals for use as building blocks for life
就是木星云毯上空旋转的有机化合物。 are the organic compounds swirling at the Jovian cloud blanket.
要勾画出可能的生命形式， In considering a potential life form
就要考虑到长期环境的影响。 that could take advantage of both long-term,
赫特博士想起来一条由卡尔萨根首次于70年代提出的理论: Dr. Hurt remembered an idea originally postulated by Carl Sagan in the 1970s:
“生命气球体”概念。 the notion of a sort of living gas balloon.
这种生物可以在木星大气层高处长期生存， Such a creature could remain aloft in the Jupiter's atmosphere indefinitely.
当然对木星而言也有一个问题， Of course, there's a problem in Jupiter,
木星大气层的主要组成部分，是我们已知的最轻气体: that Jupiter's atmosphere is already made of the lightest gas we know of:
氢。 hydrogen.
所以你不能给气球冲比氢气还轻的气体。 So, you can't really make a lighter- than-hydrogen balloon.
如果你想利用气球浮游在木星大气层上空的话， So if you want a balloon to be able to float in Jupiter's atmosphere,
所以你必须给气球内气体加热。 it actually has to be a hot air balloon.
赫特发明了一种外星有机体， Hurt has invented an extraterrestrial organism
与其说是动物还不如说是植物， that is really more plant than animal.
气球状的植物膨胀，以热空气提供浮力。 A balloon-like plant inflated and kept buoyant by hot air.
如果你想要靠自身产生热量的话， It's going to be really expensive in terms of biology
那将耗费大量的生物能。 to generate that heat yourself,
所以设想一下一个生物体表皮非常黑而且非常薄， so, instead, if we imagine a creature that has a very dark skin, very thin,
这样能利用太阳辐射在内部产生热量， that allows solar radiation to heat the gasses inside,
这样的话就能制造悬浮装置， you might be able to create something that will levitate,
至少白天能悬浮， at least during the daylight hours,
只要其吸收太阳能。 just by absorbing solar radiation.
夜晚植物就失去了热源。 At night, the plant would lose its heat source,
但赫特博士在生物设计方面允许这种瑕疵， but Dr. Hurt has allowed for this problem in the creature's design.
它还能自己成形像是降落伞那样， It also has a shape that is well adapted to act kind of like a parachute
当其不足以加热自身气体像气球那样漂浮时， that can ride thermals when it's not able to heat its own gasses
能驾驭热能， and float like a balloon.
所以在夜晚，它可能下沉到大气层低处。 So, in the night time, it might sink down lower into the atmosphere
但是一旦其吸收热能，还会再次上升，简直就像滑翔机。 but, by finding thermals, it could ride this up, like a glider almost.
在低纬度的生存时光实际上对这种生物极为有利， Time spent at lower altitudes would actually be beneficial for the creature.
那里养料颇丰。 It's here that its food is most plentiful.
我在植物底部设计了一种“悬空根”， I've given it a kind of air-root system that hangs at the bottom.
当它下降到大气层低处， When it sinks into the lower parts of the atmosphere,
屏幕就会显示并列出木星大气层中我们已知的 it can screen out, and pull up some of those organic compounds we know exist
有机化合物。 in the atmosphere of Jupiter.
当然赫特博士创造的木星气球植物 Of course, Dr. Hurt's creation of the Jovian-balloon plant,
纯属虚构，不过是自娱自乐罢了。 represents nothing more than an entertaining exercise in extreme,
虽然有满足科学基础和概率论， though science-based, speculation.
但是我们太阳系内未知星体上 But the possibility that some form of life might actually now exist
存在某种生命形式的可能性。 on other cosmic bodies in our Solar System,
对此许多太空生物学家和地质学家相当肯定， is very real to many astro-biologists and geologists.
比如说木星的邻居， And one such body is right next-door to Jupiter,
冰雪覆盖的木星卫星欧罗巴(木卫二)。 the ice-covered Jovian moon, Europa.
木卫二距离地球37亿英里， 370 million miles from Earth,
围绕着气体巨星--木星旋转， orbitting the giant gas planet Jupiter,
是太阳系中外星生命最有可能栖息的港湾。 is the most likely harbour for extraterrestrial life in our Solar System,
木卫二， Europa.
这个冰封的球体和月球差不多大小， It's an ice-covered ball, about the size of our Moon,
大致是地球体积的四分之一。 about 1/4 the size of Earth.
科学家们相信木卫二表面的冰层之下， Scientists believe the ice on Europa
整个星球都是液态水的海洋。 is covering a global ocean of liquid water.
铁证之一就是木卫二是电磁能的导体， A convincing indicator is that Europa is a conductor of electromagnetic energy.
它能感应木星的电磁场， It conducts the magnetic field generated by Jupiter.
这种传导是一种标志，至少我们认为如此。 This conduction is the signature, or we think it's the signature,
说明了木卫二被盐水海洋覆盖， of salty water inside Europa.
科学家们认为木卫二覆盖水层， It's believed that the water layer on Europa
其厚度达到100多英里。 might be as much as 100 miles thick.
别忘了木卫二体积和我们的月球差不多， Now, remember Europa is similar in size to the Earth's Moon,
那意味着，虽然木卫二是个小个子， so that means that, even though it's a smaller body,
但其拥有的水量比整个地球所有海洋 it actually has twice the amount of liquid water
水量总和的两倍还多。 of all of the oceans on Earth put together.
当然，液态水使得地球有条件创造生命， And, of course, liquid water is what makes life possible on Earth.
所以，科学家以此为参考探寻外星生命， So, scientists who make it their business to quest for extraterrestrial life,
并聚焦在木卫二的研究上。 are keenly focused on the study of Europa.
但是液态水 But how could liquid water,
在华氏零下32度就能结冰， which freezes at temperatures below 32,
如何能够在比地球到太阳距离还远5倍之遥处不结冰? exist on a moon five times as far away from the Sun as the Earth?
木卫二绕木星的轨道是椭圆形的， Europa orbits Jupiter in an eliptical pattern.
时而接近木星，时而远离木星。 Sometimes it's close to Jupiter, and sometimes is farther away.
接近木星时，被木星引力拉扯， When it's close to Jupiter it's stretched by Jupiter's gravity,
我们称之为潮汐效应。 it's an effect that we call tides,
远离木星时，拉扯的程度就小， and when it gets further away it's stretched less.
这意味着木卫二的星体时刻在运动着。 So it means that the body of Europa is continually worked.
拉扯造成的摩擦在星球内部产生热量， Friction caused by this stretching generates heat,
就好比反复擦橡皮时产生热量一样， just as a rubber ball heats up when it's squeezed repeatedly.
放大到行星规模，我们称之为潮汐加热的过程， At the planetary scale, this process is called tidal heating,
能够产生足够的热量，使得 and it creates enough heat, possibly, to keep H2O
木卫二地表下数英里的水保持液态。 miles below the surface of Europa, in liquid form.
这种拉扯效应， It also appears that this stretching
同样使得木星卫星的表面冰层碎裂。 causes fractures in the Jovian moon's icy crust.
试想一下如果你想要改变一个鸡蛋的形状， Imagine if you were trying to change the shape of an egg,
蛋壳会怎样? 蛋壳肯定会破裂。 what would happen to the shell? The shell would crack.
当我们观察木卫二的表面时， So when we look at the surface of Europa,
到处都发现线条。这些线条明显地 we see lines all over the place, which are almost certainly,
标记着冰层碎裂之处。 marking the locations of cracks.
这些裂缝频繁闭合， The cracks appear to open and close frequently.
这些裂缝潜在的作用 And the potential for these cracks
就是使得地下水和地表水相作用， to allow sub-surface water to interact with the surface,
强烈地暗示着木卫二上极有可能存在生命。 has important implications for the possibility of life on Europa.
海洋水冲进这些裂缝里， Water from the ocean is gonna rush up into the crack,
而当其冲出裂缝时 就会结冰... 慢慢开始结冰， and when it rushes up it's gonna freeze... start to freeze.
几小时后当裂缝闭合时， A few hours later, when the crack closes,
内部水就会被挤出表面， it's gonna squeeze that slush up to the surface.
所以木卫二表面到处可见这种线条。 So wherever we see these lines on Europa,
其实就是双脊，每条裂缝两边各一座脊。 there are double ridges, one ridge lining along each side of the crack.
大多数水毫无疑问隐藏在这些裂缝下， Most of the water, no doubt, sloshes back down out of the crack
形成地下海洋。 to the ocean below.
地下海洋携带着某些生命必需物质， It's likely to carry with it some of the building blocks for life
而这些物质就来自地表。 that have seeped down from the surface.
木卫二冰层的顶部含有氧气， The top of Europa's ice layer holds oxygen.
氧气是从冰川水分解而来。 It's been separated from the H2O in the ice
始作俑者就是木星磁场的带电粒子。 by charged particles in Jupiter's magnetic field.
还有木卫二表面极有可能含有有机物， In addition, the surface of Europa likely has organic compounds
有机物来自外来彗星。 that come down from comets and bits of comets,
这样地表就又含有另一种生命必需原料。 so again, the surface has another ingredient that's important for life.
亚利桑那大学的理查德·金伯格博士， Dr. Richard Grinberg, of the University of Arizona,
用图片描绘了潜在生命形式， has graphically depicted how potential lifeforms
如何利用木卫二冰层裂缝创造的 might take advantage of the ecosystem created by a crack
生态系统存活下来。 in Europa's icy crust.
虽然再往外几英尺， Although the outer few inches
由于辐射的关系，没有适宜生存的环境。 would not be a good place for life to live because of radiation,
但你只要往里仅仅几英尺， once you go down just a few feet,
生命就能免受辐射侵袭， life would be safe from radiation and also
还能吸收阳光，进行光合作用。 would get enough sunlight for photosynthesis.
假如那里有能够进行光合作用的高级有机物， So, you could have an organism at that level that photosynthesizes
就能和海洋互动， and it would be connected to the ocean
只要通过每天的潮起潮落。 by this tidal water that rushes up and down every day.
木卫二的自转周期远远长于地球， A day on Europa is much longer than a day on Earth,
大约是地球自转周期的3.5倍。 about 3.5 times the length of an Earth day.
能动型有机物就有时间到裂缝处探险。 Time for mobile organisms to venture into the fissure.
你能想象其他有机物依附在裂缝壁表面， You could imagine other organisms that grasp on to the walls of these cracks
沐浴着每天流过他们身边的水流， and just exploit the flow of ocean water coming past them every day.
伞状或水母状生物 Even molusc-like or jellyfish-like creatures
利用裂缝水流上升， might rise with the water into the cracks
以吸收地表处的养分。 to take in fresh nutrients from the surface.
木卫二被冰层覆盖的海洋，吸收能量和养料 Life in Europa's ice-covered oceans may also draw energy and nutrients
的来源不仅仅是冰层。 from a place other than the icy surface.
木卫二核心的剩余热量， It's possible that residual heat at Europa's core
能够产生深海热液喷口。 has resulted in deep-see hydrothermal vents.
在地球上，这些喷口处居住着各种奇异生物。 On Earth, such vents host multiple forms of exotic life.
喷出的水十分滚烫， What happens is that reducing water that's very hot
还有大量重金属也随地下水纷至沓来， and has lots of heavy metals, comes out through the ground water
好比海洋给自己输液而生命所依赖的。 and is injected into the ocean itself, and there's a huge gradient
化学物质的含量也有着明显梯度， in the chemical composition that life can feed off of.
这种化学能的来源， This chemical source of energy allows huge
使得大量的细菌和微生物能够存活下来。 populations of bacteriae and other very small lifeforms to exist,
还有一整套生态环境以此为食物链的基础， and there's a whole ecosystem, a whole food chain on top of that,
使得鱼，各种虫子在此繁荣昌盛。 leading up to fish, and various worms that thrive at those locations.
近年来有人提出往木卫二发射探测器， In recent years, talk has arisen of sending a lander to Europa
穿透冰层探寻生命。 that could penetrate the ice and probe for life.
但木卫二专家理查德深信， But Europa expert Richard Grinberg believes
探测器不穿透冰层，就能够探寻生命。 that a lander might uncover signs of life without penetrating the ice.
假如我们派航天飞船到木卫二探寻生命， If we send a spacecraft to Europa to look for life,
可能很轻易就能发现生命，简单的超乎想象。 it might be pretty easy to find it, easier than people have realized.
大多数计划只是盘算着我们如何能穿透... Most planning has considered how do we get through these...
数英里厚的冰层，到达海洋。 these miles of ice to get down to the ocean.
要么是钻孔，要么是融冰。 How do you drill through, or melt your way through.
其实没必要，如果你能着陆，在 It may not be necessary. If you can land in a place
地下海洋的排水口和排冰口， where liquid or ice has come up from the ocean recently,
你就能从这些冰块里找到生命信息。 you might find signs of organisms in that ice.
如果你地方挑的好，那里地质活动频繁， Or if you land really smart and find an active place,
甚至能够采样到相当新鲜的海洋水。 you might actually be able to sample real fresh, oceanic water.
而困难之处就是我们自己破坏了实验环境。 The risk in that case, some feel, would be contaminating the icy moon.
如果我们自己携带微生物， If we had micro-organisms
我们自己在飞船上沾上的微生物就会落到木卫二地表， that stowed away on a spacecraft that landed on the surface of Europa,
这些微生物又会流动到木卫二的液态水中， and those micro-organisms found their way into the liquid water of Europa,
结果我们在木卫二发现的生命， we might later discover life on Europa
其实是我们自己带过去的。 that was life that we had sent there.
但是太阳系的某处， But elsewhere in our Solar System,
在另一颗遥远的卫星上， on another distant moon,
我们不必担心地球携带物， earthly contamination isn't a danger.
因为那里的生命极端异样。 Life here would simply be too exotic.
自2004年 NASA的卡西尼惠更斯探测器， Since 2004, a NASA probe dubbed Cassini-Huygens
绕着土星旋转， has orbited Saturn,
多次经过土星最大的卫星：土卫六。 making multiple flybyes at Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
土卫六体型巨大， Titan is an enormous planetary body,
是太阳系第二大卫星， the second largest moon in the Solar System.
比我们的月球大50%。 50% larger than the Earth's Moon.
要不是土星的引力巨大，土卫六说不定还是一颗行星。 If it wasn't in orbit around Saturn, Titan would be a planet in its own right.
但最令人印象深刻的是，许多科学家相信土卫六， But most impressive of all, Titan, many scientists believe,
现在或者未来某个时刻， could now, or at some point in the future,
会是生命栖息之处。 be an abode for life.
土卫六的地质环境极其类似地球， The geology is very much like Earth's.
地球上的各种地质运动， All the processes that we have on Earth,
风、侵蚀、湖泊、 wind, erosion, lakes,
火山喷发、山脉崛起， vulcanism, mountain building,
撞击坑等等... impact craters...
我们都能在土卫六发现。土卫六的地质运动可谓丰富， we find them all on Titan, so Titan is very rich in terms of geology.
但是它离太阳的距离远至8亿4千英里， But at 840 million miles from the Sun,
九倍于地球。土卫六被牢牢地冰封， nine times farther than Earth, Titan is beyond freezing.
其地表的极端温度甚至达到华氏零下300度， The mean temperature on its surface is almost -300.
冷到土卫六的地表水全部被冰封。 It is so cold, and water on the surface of Titan is frozen
如此极端状况下，土卫六就是个岩石星球。 to such an extreme state, it behaves like rock.
惠更斯探测器拍下的模糊照片，里面的岩石其实就是水。 The rocks in this blurry photo taken by the Huygens lander, are in fact water.
如此的冷以至于地球上呈气态的碳氢化合物， It is so cold that hydrocarbons, that are gasses on Earth
比如甲烷和乙烷， such as methane and ethane,
在土卫六表面呈液态。 are in a liquid state on the surface of Titan.
卡西尼探测器飞过时正好拍下照片， The Cassini flybyes have spotted them.
我们能在其地表发现许多类似有机物的物质。 We're seeing a lot of what looks like organic materials on the surface,
我们也能看见许多巨大液体块， and we're seeing large bodies of liquid.
但这不是液态水而是液态甲烷， But it's not liquid water, it's liquid methane,
可能还混合着一些乙烷。 with possibly some ethane dissolved in it.
这些甲烷湖面积可以和大湖和小海洋相提并论。 There are huge lakes on the size of great lakes or small seas.
外星生物学家甚至开始异想天开， Astrobiologists are beginning to entertain the notion
说有机物能在这种湖泊里生存， that organisms could have developed in those lakes.
那种生命可谓极其异样。 Life could be very, very exotic.
我们思考过液态水中的生命形式， We have been thinking of life in terms of water and liquid water.
但是液态碳氢化合物中的生命形式又会怎么样呢? But, could there be life in liquid hydrocarbons?
也许 Perhaps.
地球上的生命能存活于某些极端环境， Life on Earth exists in some very difficult places,
你不敢想象那里竟会有生命， that you wouldn't expect to find life.
我们称这些有机物为嗜极生物。 And we call these organisms extremophiles,
那是因为他们存活于某些极端环境下， that's because they can live under extreme conditions.
比如说这里的莫诺湖，与世隔绝的湖， For example, here, on Mono Lake, very alcaline lake.
然而嗜极生物竟在这里被发现。 And yet, extremophiles have been found living here.
另一种可能性就是在土卫六历史的早期， Another possibility is that life formed
生命更容易诞生。 much earlier in Titan's history,
土卫六诞生时的巨大热量被保存着， when a great deal of heat from the initial formation of the moon remained.
那时候土卫六的状况和原始地球 At that time, conditions on Titan would've been very similar
十分类似， to those on primordial Earth.
有大量的液态水， There was a lot of water there,
大量的氮，还有其他等等。 there was a lot of nitrogen, a lot of other things.
一旦你有了液态水、氮、碳... So you've got warm water, nitrogen, carbon...
我们就联想到一系列化学反应， And we think some of these chemical processes
当初在地球上进行着， that went on on Earth to start generating
产生了后来的生物、准生物原料， the biological, pre-biological materials that later on would be
最终进化为生命， incorporated into life,
土卫六可能亦是如此。 that may have started on Titan also,
因为当时它在温暖的环境下，有着同样的化学原料。 with the same kind of chemicals present in a warm environment.
假设土卫六的核心现在还是热的， Some think it's possible that if Titan's core is still warm,
至少微生物能够在土卫六的 microbial life at least might still be present
地下深处存活。 deep below the moon's surface.
潮湿的岩石裂隙里还会存在活体有机物， Living organisms have been found surviving in damp rock crevices
就在地球地下2-3英里深处， 2 and 3 miles below the surface of the Earth.
如果你深入到土卫六地下，我说的“深入到”是指 If you go deep down into Titan, and when I say "deep down" I'm talking about
地下50公里或100公里，甚至地下200公里， 50 Km or 100 Km, maybe even a couple of hundred kilometers,
就像地球那样越往深处越热。 just like Earth, as you go downward, it gets warmer.
貌似土卫六的水中还含有 And it looks like probably at Titan there are materials
其他物质，比如氨能够当做抗冻剂。 mixed in with the water, such as ammonia, that can act as anti-freeze,
我们知道液态水是各种化学反应 and we know this liquid water is a wonderful medium
的极佳媒介，有些化学反应甚至能产生 for all kinds of chemical reactions, including the reactions that generate
氨基酸，还有其他准生物化学产物。 amino acids and other prebiotic chemicals.
虽然现在近距离观测土卫六受到限制， At present, though, close observation of Titan's surface is limited.
土卫六隐蔽在致密的氮气、甲烷构成的大气层下。 The moon is cloaked in a dense atmosphere of nitrogen and methane.
卡西尼探测器装备有红外成像装置， The Cassini probe is equipped with an infrared imager,
但是可见光波长下拍摄的照片， but photos shot in a visible wavelength
对实验分析更为有用。 are often much more useful to analysts.
你必须通过某种手段避开这个不透明大气层， You have to, somehow, get around this opaque atmosphere
它妨碍了你观察土卫六表面。 that's obscuring your view of the surface.
但若要仔细观察土卫六表面， But to really see what's going on on the surface,
特别是实实在在弄清楚 and notably to get a really firm idea of what
土卫六表面万物的组成， is the composition of all these different things that we see on the surface,
看样子我们只有亲自下去近距离观察。 it turns out we're going to have to go down there close to do that.
惠更斯探测器曾经降落到木卫六地表， The Huygens lander has touched down on the moon
并反馈了图像。 and sent back images.
但那个探测器不能移动， But the lander is not mobile.
当你降落到某个行星时， When you land on a planet,
的确就科学方面而言是一大进步。 of course, that brings tremendous advance in terms of science.
但这只是冰山一角， But it's only one spot.
比如说，假如你正好降落在沙哈拉沙漠， So, how much of the Earth would you know
你能对地球真正了解多少? if you landed on the Sahara Desert, for example?
你无法看见我们这里的任何生命。 You wouldn't see the kind of life that we see here.
想要探索土卫六广袤的地表，一种可能性 One possibility for exploring vast expanses of the Titan's surface
就是利用飞行物，类似地球上的热气球。 would be to use a craft that works much like a hot-air balloon on Earth.
NASA的喷气推进实验室研制出了一种气球飞行物， NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a balloon craft
既能用于土卫六的地表成像， that would carry both imaging gear and equipment
又能用于研究大气层。 for studying the Titan atmosphere.
工程师认为气球 Engineers considera a balloon
是执行该任务最稳妥的平台。 the most stable platform for such a mission.
如果气球在几小时内失去电子操控， If a balloon looses its electronic control for several hours,
没关系，你的显示屏上照样有信息， no big deal, you can have something on board
感觉就像你对气球说：“好的， that senses that and tells the balloon, "Ok.
凭你自己的上升-下降直觉，飞到一个安全的高度就好。 Close your ascent-descent valve and just go to a safe altitude,
原地待命，直到收到进一步指示”。 and sit there until you get further instructions."
虽然对我们太阳系的遥远卫星进行的复杂任务 But while complex missions to far-off moons within our Solar System
振奋人心，而且通常有科学远见， are exhilarating, and often return great scientific insight,
但想要发现更高级的外星生命形式， the promise of discovering more than primordial extraterrestrial life,
可能性微乎其微。 is slim at best.
要想找到智能、有科技能力的生命， The hope of finding intelligent, technology-producing life
我们就要把眼光放到太阳系外， seems greatest when we look beyond our Solar System
看看邻居恒星。 to neighbouring stars.
我们有生之年可能永远接触不到这种生命， While we may never encounter such lives
但对大多数宇宙学家而言， for most scientists who study the Universe
他们深信宇宙某处肯定还有高级生命。 the notion that it exists somewhere makes perfect sense.
生命趋向于进化，趋向于完美。 Life tends to evolve, to become more successful
有机物要完美，必要的一方面， and one of the things that makes organisms successful,
似乎就地球而言就是智能。 it seems, on Earth, is to become intelligent.
对我来说，其他星球上 So, it seems quite plausible to me that there are
也存在某种智能生物的看法似是而非。 creatures that have some sort of intelligence on other planets.
假如那些星球在我们太阳系形成前数十亿年前就诞生， If one of those starts out a billion years before our Solar System started out
比我们多花数十亿年进化文明， and it takes that one a billion years longer to get to that point,
他们此刻技术发达。 well, they're at the right time right now.
现在全球遍布射电望远镜， And at radiotelescope installations across the globe,
我们地球人在聆听他们， we earthlings are listening for them.
淘气的孩子们? Howdy doody boys and girls?
我们数十年来发出的信号了无音讯， We have been sending signals into the void for decades.
我们地球上的每个广播电台、每个收音电台、 Every broadcast on this planet, every FM radiowave,
每个电视信号 every television transmission
传到了广袤无垠的宇宙。 goes out into the infinite for all of eternity.
有什么人在倾听吗? Could anybody out there be listening?
如果有的话信号要传多远? And how long would it take our radio signals to cover the distance?
再回想一下前面那个类比， Let's consider once again the analogy
太阳是曼哈顿街上的一个大理石， where our Sun is a marble on a sidewalk in downtown Manhattan,
半人马座阿尔法星，离我们最近的恒星， Alpha Centauri, the closest other star,
也就是在华盛顿特区附近。 is a marble on a sidewalk in Washington DC,
第二远的恒星远在里约热内卢， and a more distant star is a marble in Rio de Janeiro.
从地球--曼哈顿街道的大理石。发射的火箭 A rocket launching from Earth, the marble in Manhattan,
要花7万5千年才能到达半人马座阿尔法星--华盛顿特区的大理石， would take 75,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri, the marble in DC.
火箭要花200万年才能到达里约热内卢的大理石， That same rocket would take 2 million years to reach the marble in Rio.
100光年远的那颗恒星。 A star 100 light years away.
幸运的是无线电波比火箭快得多， Fortunately, radio signals are much faster than rockets.
以光速前进着， They travel at the speed of light.
所以不用花7万5千年， So, rather than taking 75,000 years,
曼哈顿的信号要到达华盛顿特区 a signal travelling from the marble in Manhattan to the the one in DC,
只需花4.5年， would only take 4.5 years.
曼哈顿的信号要到里约热内卢 A signal travelling from the marble in Manhattan to the one in Rio,
可能要花个100年。 would take 100 years to make the journey.
地球早期的无线电差不多就是100年前发明的， Some of our earliest transmissions might now be getting close.
但是反馈呢? But what about the reverse?
外星文明是否会向地球回复信号， Could intelligent alien civilizations be sending pings toward Earth,
看看故人依旧在? to see if anyone is at home?
地球上的科学家还在倾听， Scientists on Earth are listening,
利用专为研究宇宙深处现象，比如恒星爆炸 using technology originally developed for studying distant cosmic phenomena,
的科技。 like exploding stars.
许多宇宙现象能产生电波，通过研究电波 Many phenomena produce radiowaves and by studying them,
我们就能了解到宇宙发生了什么及其原理。 we can also learn something about what's out there and how it works.
利用无线电天线研究宇宙的想法可以追溯到 So, using radio-antennas to study the Universe is an idea that goes back to
二次世界大战之前， before the Second World War.
如今我们用的巨大无线电天线叫做射电望远镜， The huge radio antennas used today, called radio telescopes,
相当发达灵敏度极高， are so advanced and so incredibly sensitive,
能够感应到跳蚤跳动的能量， they can easily detect the energy of a flee hopping.
简直就像大镜子，懂吗? They're just big reflectors, right?
无线电波传来， So the radiowaves that are coming down
降落到全球世界各地。 and falling on the ground all around us on the whole Earth, after all,
有些无线电波正好落到这些天线上， some of those radiowaves will fall on these antennas.
这样他们就从那面大镜子反射， So they bounce off that big mirror,
然后聚焦到一个非常灵敏的放大器上， then they get focused to a very sensitive amplifier,
然后信号就通过电缆传输， and then the signals are sent via cables
最终到达附近的一个控制室， back into a control room that's right nearby here,
在那里有极为灵敏的接收器分析传来的信号。 where they have sensitive receivers to analyse the radioenergy that's coming in.
赛斯博士是一名资深天文学家， Dr. Seth Shostak is a senior astronomer
在加利福尼亚 芒廷维尤的SETI研究所工作。 at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.
SETI是“搜寻地外文明计划”的简写， SETI is an acronym that stands for Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence.
SETI组织也使用射电望远镜， The SETI organisation also uses radio telescopes,
但不是用来研究宇宙的自然现象。 but not for studying natural cosmic phenomena.
这种技术同样可以用来探寻信号， The very same technology can also be used to look for signals
不是自然现象造成的信号，而是外星人发出的信号。 that are made not by nature, but by, perhaps, ET.
但如何能分辨两者之间的区别? And how might one know the difference?
我们探寻的信号名为“窄带信号” The kind of signal that we're looking for is what's called a narrow-band signal.
也就是说是电台拨号的那种信号， That is to say, it's just a signal that's at one spot on the radio dial,
频率固定，这说明了该信号 that's at one frequency. That's the indication that the signal
是由某人传送出去的而非自然现象造成的。 is made by a transmitter, not made by nature.
当然电脑承担着监听任务，而非科学家亲自出马。 Of course, computers do the listening, not scientists.
我们细分各种接收器以达到全程监听， We have specialized receivers to do all the listening,
而电脑则监控着这些接收器。 and the computers are monitoring the receivers.
所以说我们的接收器同时是监控者。 So, typically, we'll have receivers that monitor,
1亿个频道， say, 100 million channels at once,
假如电脑认为某个信号是由外星人发出的， so, if the computers see a signal that looks like it might be extraterrestrial,
而非当地机场雷达的信号 as opposed to a radar at the local airport,
或者是远程通信卫星什么的， or telecommunications satellites or something like that,
那么电脑会追踪这个信号。 then the computer will follow up on that signal
要是一开始看上去就像 ， “哇 这可是个惊人发现”， and if it's beginning to look like, "Yeah, this might be the big one,"
那么电脑就会通知我们，吸引我们的注意， then it will call us up and draw it to our attention.
所以我们不必呆坐在这里无所事事。 So we don't have to sit there and be bored all the time.
至今为止还没有侦查到外来信号， To date, no such signal has been detected.
但SETI研究所依旧持之以恒， But the SETI Institute presses on faithfully.
因为在许多著名天文学家脑子里 Rightly so, in the minds of many prominent astronomers.
缺乏证据并不意味着证据不存在。 Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
所以我们不能妄下判断，“哦 SETI到目前为止一事无成”， So we can't say, "Oh, SETI hasn't found anything so far",
“那么 显然宇宙没有其他智能化文明” "so, obviously there are no other intelligent civilizations out there."
我们不能妄下判断，我支持SETI继续探寻。 No, we can't say that. And I support their continuing to look.
银河系就有数以千亿计的恒星， There are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy,
而宇宙又有数以千亿计的星系， and hundreds of billions of galxies in the Universe.
听听这惊人的数量，我就不相信 Just by sheer weight of numbers, I would be surprised if there's not
宇宙其他地方没有智能生命。 intelligent life somewhere else in the Universe.
面对海量的可能性，SETI的天文学家如何确定， With so many possibilities, how do SETI astronomers determine
射电望远镜该从哪里着手呢? exactly where to focus their telescopes and efforts?
你选择的星球系统最好有可能 You want to pick star systems that have a good chance
包含行星，比如太阳系。 of maybe having a planet something like this one,
那样的话智能生命就大有可能存在。 so that there's a greater chance of having intelligent life,
但我们并不清楚那些恒星系统里的行星究竟如何， but we don't really know very much about what kind of planets these stars have.
所以我们列了一个大单子，记录了数以百万的恒星， So, we just have long lists, literally millions of stars,
他们相对离地球接近， relatively nearby our cosmic backyard,
我们就研究他们。 and we just work our way through them.
要是有一天某台SETI射电望远镜， And what would happen if one day a SETI radiotelescope
发现了可能是外星人传来的信号会怎样呢? picked up a signal that looked like it could be an alien transmission?
如果你发现这个信号，你肯定要做一件事， One thing you would certainly do if you picked up a signal,
就是说：“看 要是没有人收到同样的信号 我才不相信”， is say, "Look, I'm not gonna believe it till somebody else can see it as well."
有可能是电脑的软硬件出错害你白开心。 Because there could be bugs in the software or hardware that are fooling you.
所以当你认为“信号是真的”时，你要做一件事， So, what you would do is at the point where you thought "this looks real",
就是通知其他观测站的同行， you would call up somebody at another radio observatory
他们也有类似的天线，告诉他们 where they also have antennas just like these, and tell them,
“朝着天空那个方向接收，无线电波频率多少， "Look. Look at that part of the sky, over this range of radio frequencies,
哪个波段你就明白了”。 this part of the dial, and see if you find anything."
如果得到其他2到3名观测者确认的话， And if it were confirmed by two, or maybe three observatories,
那么我认为你该大摇大摆召开新闻发布会了。 I think at that point you could safely go and have your press conference.
但是如果我们和外星人的首次接触不是通过无线电? But, what if our first contact with ET isn't through radio signals?
如果我们察觉不到外星人到来的形式? What if ET arrives in a form we don't recognize?
首名外星代表可能通过机械 The first alien delegation could reach Earth
来到地球， in the form of machines
个子太小，人类难以用肉眼察觉。 so tiny, human beings cannot detect them with the naked eye.
前进， Step forward.
你会说英语! You speak English!
我们什么语言都懂。 We speak every language.
从上世纪50年代算起， Since the 1950s at least,
科幻电影一直在描绘着外星人可能的形式。 science-fiction films have consistently depicted potential alien beings
对比人类， as human-like.
- 霍莫·赛宾斯呢? - 他睡了。 - Homo Sapiens? - Sleeps.
近十年来一种外星人的形式被广为流传， One particular alien form has been widely popularized in recent decades.
UFO狂热爱好者。深信美国军方 UFO enthusiasts believe the US military
从上世纪50年代起回收了UFO坠毁后里面的外星人尸体， recovered bodies from crashed alien spacecrafts in the 1950s.
所谓的外星人其实是孱弱的微型人类， These alleged extraterrestrials are essentially frail miniature humans
脑袋发达， with oversized heads.
灰色的小个子，通常眼睛很大，平时不怎么笑... Little grey guys, usually have big eyes. They don't smile a lot...
但是身体总是柔软糊状的有机物。 But they're always sort of soft, squishy organic things,
也许他们没有DNA，但他们是生物，活生生的。 maybe they don't have DNA, but they're biology. They're alive.
人类很容易理解和接受这种解剖模式， It's an easy anatomical form for human beings to comprehend and accept.
外星人真的就长这样? 可能，我是说这种猜测太简单， Is that what ET would really be like? Maybe, I mean, it's a good guess.
和人类基本一样。 That's what we're like.
但另一方面，我认为再过100年人类也不可能制造出智能机器。 But on the other hand, I think within 100 years we may invent thinking machines.
要是我们能够做到或者将来能做到， And if we can do that, if we ever do that,
那么外星人很久以前可能就做到了。 maybe the aliens might have done that a long time ago.
要记住宇宙的年龄远远大于地球， Keep in mind that the Universe is a lot older than the Earth is so,
外星人有足够时间。 they've had plenty of time.
你好 凯斯米? Hello Kismet?
你要和我谈话? You wanna talk to me?
尽管智能机器听上去遥不可及， While the notion of thinking machines might sound far-fetched,
某些预言家认为这种机器就在我们身边。 some futurists believe such machines are just around the corner.
我们不断缩小集成电路内晶体管的大小， We're shrinking the size of transistors on an integrated circuit
这样每2年芯片里的晶体管数量就翻一番。 so every two years we can put twice as many on a chip
因为体积变小，运行速度也就越快， and they run faster 'cause they're smaller.
这种趋势一直保持了近十年。 And this has been true now for decades.
现在我口袋里的掌上电脑比起60年代麻省理工 I can carry in my pocket today a computer that's thousands of times more powerful
千余名学生和教授共享的那台电脑 than the computer that all of us thousands of students and professors
强1000倍还有余。 shared when I came to MIT in the 1960s.
雷·科兹威深信电脑的运行速度和能量 Ray Kurzweil is convinced that the power and speed of computers
不久就会超越人类的大脑。 will shortly surpass that of the human brain.
如果你有台电脑，想要模拟整个人类大脑， If you take the most conservative estimate of the amount of computation
最保守的估计，那么其所需的运行速度 required to simulate the entire human brain,
大约是每秒10的16次方次运算， which is 10 at the 16th calculations per second,
还有的估计低于这个标准。 there other estimates that are lower than that,
做最保守的估计， take the most conservatively high estimate,
到2020年这台电脑大约要花1000美元才能买到， we'll have that for 1,000 dollars by 2020.
2030年1美元就能买到了。 We'll have it for $1 by 2030.
再过没几年，我们就能拥有真正的超级计算机。 We'll have that in a supercomputer actually within a few years.
科兹威预言不久的将来， Kurzweil predicts that in the near future
小型的超级电脑将会被集成到人体， tiny supercomputers will be integrated into the human body
以弥补人类的某些缺陷。 to bolster some of its weaknesses.
我们已经开发了， We've already started.
现在有些人脑袋里就集成了电脑， There's people walking around that have computers in their brains
代替人脑的某一部分，比如说帕金森患者。 that replaced a portion of their brain, like Parkinsons patients,
现在这些装置还能下载软件， and already these devices can download new software,
这样病人大脑内的计算机就能从外界... so you can download new software to the computer in your brain
更新程序，这就是当今科技， from outside the patient. This is today.
而且科技永不止步， It doesn't stop there.
随着技术的发展， As technology marches forward,
微型计算机驱动机也叫纳米机器人， microscopic computer-driven machines called nanobots,
将有能力执行人体内各种大量的 will be capable of performing a wide variety of maintenance tasks
维护工作。 within the human body.
我们很快就能通过血管输送纳米机器人， We are soon be able to send these devices through the blood stream,
我们的血液系统内将有数十亿个 and we'll have billions of these bloodcell-sized computers
血细胞大小的计算机，以保障我们的健康， and little robots inside our bloodstream. They'll keep us healthy,
而且它们能和我们的神经元互相作用。 and they'll be interacting with the biological neurones.
所以到2030年，普通的男女 So by 2030, the common man and woman
将会是一半生物，一半非生物。 will be part biological and part non-biological.
但科兹威最激进的预言， But perhaps Kurzweil's most radical prediction
就是人类最终能把生物特性 is that computers will ultimately allow human beings
遗传给电脑， to transcend their biology,
共享一个躯体。 shed their bodies altogether.
电脑会扫描人脑的神经功能， Computers will scan the neurological functions of a person's brain
并上传知识、经验、以及性格 and upload the individual's knowledge, experience and personality
到某个存储装置， to a storage device.
到时候你到我的脑子里看看， You'd have to, in real time, go inside my brain,
血液里有纳米机器人、血细胞大小的扫描器 probably with nanobots, bloodcell- sized scanners inside the blood stream,
数以十亿计的往我脑子里钻， and send billions of them into my brain,
通过毛细血管它们能扫描所有不同的神经元， through the capillaries, and they would scan all the different neurones
收集我的一切生物信息、所有的神经递质、 and gather every detail about me, all the neurotransmitters,
离子浓度、以及跨神经元的连接， and ion concentrations, and inter-neuronal connections,
我特有的细节。 every detail that makes me, me.
这种梦想会成真，但要花很长时间， And I think that would be feasible, that'll take longer,
也许40年以后甚至更长。 maybe that's 40 years from now, or more,
总有一天我们能够捕获 but we'll get to a point where you could actually capture
人体全部的信息并重塑人体。 every detail about a person and then recreate that personality.
这种想法的确惊人， The implications are, of course, staggering.
首当其冲你就有可能永生， Chief among them, is the possibility of immortality.
你能备份你的档案， You can backup your files.
硬件坏了但你的档案还在。 If the hardware dies it's not the end of your files,
你只要把档案复制到一个新机器， you just copy them over to a new machine.
你机体的一切信息都会被保存， The whole personality of your machine can be preserved,
你只要复制就可以了... you can make another copy of it...
而机体也能智慧到自我复制 And the machines themselves will be intelligent enough to self-replicate,
并稳固地改进设计。 and steadily improve their design.
电脑里就有自我复制的例子，比如说软件病毒。 We see self-replication in computers, for example, the software virus.
虽然实在但不是发生在人体上的， That's an entity, it's not physical,
虽说只是虚拟的软件，但能够自我复制。 it's just a piece of software but it's actually able to copy itself.
要是有一天某人放出什么软件病毒， So, someone can put out one software virus,
疯狂自我复制横扫因特网， and it's busy copying itself, and moving through the Internet,
很快就传染给数十亿台电脑，这就是自我复制。 and pretty soon it can be on a billion computers, so that's self-replication.
当然智能机器不仅会寿终正寝， And, of course, intelligent machines that are both immortal
而且对辐射和外界危害更加脆弱， and much less vulnerable to radiation and other hazards of space,
但是最终会度过漫漫的星际航行。 could possibly survive long-term interstellar voyages.
这就是雷·科兹威和其他一些预言家据理力争的看法， It's an argument that leads Ray Kurzweil and other futurists to believe
我们首次遇到的外星人极有可能是 that our first alien encounter will more likely be
智能机器，而非生物体。 with intelligent machines than biological creatures.
智慧到能够航行到地球的外来文明， Any civilization intelligent enough to make the trip here
不会派来笨重、糊状的生物体， they're not gonna send big, squishy creatures,
他们会派小型的纳米机器人、 they're gonna send little nanobots,
非生物系统，他们会这样做。 non biological systems, and that's what we're gonna do.
不管智能与否、生物与否， Intelligent or not, biological or not,
外星生命的各种形式的发现， the discovery of any form of extraterrestrial life
将会是人类文明史上 would arguably be the most profound scientific revelation
最深刻的科学启示。 in the history of human civilization.
有些人甚至认为其会对人类互动有着 Some would even argue it could have a profoundly positive influence
深刻积极的影响。 on human interaction.
我认为这真的会改变我们人类的看法， To me, I would think that this would really change our perspective as a people.
我是说要是没有外星生命，只是认为 I mean, if nothing else, just to give us the perspective
我们是宇宙上的物种之一， that we are one species on one world in the Universe
但是得天独厚。 in which we are unique for what we are.
如果这还不提供给我们杠杆 And if this doesn't provide leverage for us
来摆脱某些愚蠢的差异， to get past some of the foolish differences,
我不知道还有什么能。 I don't know what will.
我觉得智能机器化会 I think, ultimately, it might be one of the best things
为人类造福万代， that could happen for us.
甚至和外星人接触的可能性。 There's even the possibility that contact with an alien civilization
也不会像某些人预测的那样在大街造成恐慌。 wouldn't cause panic in the streets, as some might predict.
到时候，我们的控制台就会发动入侵， At the proper moment the invasion will be launched from our platform.
- 我要离开这! - 原地别动! - I'm getting out of here! - Stay where you are!
我认为人类已经准备好了与外星人接触， I think humans are ready to meet aliens
甚至准备得万无一失。 much more than they're given credit for.
我觉得人类对这种事很变通很开放。 I think we're a lot more flexible and open to these things,
我们会在慌乱中崩溃， and the idea that we'll tear ourselves apart in panic
社会会动荡的想法， and that society would colapse,
也太看不起人类的承受力了。 I think that actually sells us way short.
但是我们永远不会找到答案吗? But, what if we never find the answer?
要是我们从没收到外星人的消息? What if we never hear any alien signals?
要是不会遇到人类以外的智能物种? Never meet an intelligent species outside of our own?
此时无声胜有声... Silence, in its own way, would be an equally profound response...
生命在宇宙中是一朵奇葩， It tells us that life is unique,
智能生命更是珍贵无比， and that intelligent life is precious.
应该不惜一切代价保护和珍惜。 It should be treasured and protected at all costs.
我们在宇宙中真的孤单? Are we truly alone?
谢谢观赏 Thanks For Viewing
这恐怕是宇宙间最难回答的...问题。 It is perhaps the greatest question that we can ask...of the Universe.