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Now the speed of light is a very,very big number.
光速是個很大的數字
So if we just take a small amount of mass,
所以只要一點點質量
you get a huge amount of energy.
就含有大量能量
And that's the energy which actually powers our sun.
驅動太陽的就是這個能量
Every second 5 million tonnes of the sun is converted to pure energy.
太陽每秒鐘有五百萬噸，被轉換為純粹的能量
And although it has been burning for 5 billion years
雖然太陽已燃燒了50億年
it is only half way through its supplies of hydrogen.
其氫氣存量還剩下一半
The light produced in the core must travel
來自核心的光線得行進50多萬公里
over half a million kilometres to the surface.
才能抵達太陽表面
And it does so very slowly.
而且行進速度相當緩慢
The heart of the sun is so dense that
太陽核心的密度很高
the speed of light is less than 1 mm a second.
所以這里的光速每秒不到一毫米
It can take two hundred thousand years
光線從太陽核心到表面
for the light to travel from the core to the surface.
要花20萬年
It takes just another 8 minutes to get to the Earth.
之后只花8分鐘就能抵達地球
This is what the power of nuclear fusion looks like
從一億五千萬公里遠的地方眺望核融合的威力
from 150 million kilometres away.
就是這副景象
This is what it looks like close up.
近觀則是這樣
The H bomb was man's first attempt
氫彈是人類首度試圖在地球
at recreating the sun on Earth.
重現太陽威力的舉動
A balloon full of hydrogen squeezed
即將一團氫氣壓縮
until it released its energy.
至它釋放能量為止
In contrast to its destructive power it's long been realised
除了毀天滅地的威力之外
that controlled nuclear fusion
受到控制的核融合
could solve the world's energy problems.
可以解決世界的能源問題
It has been one of the holy grails of science for half a century.
這曾在超過半世紀內，都是科學界的圣杯之一
This kind of power, the H-bomb,
威力驚人的氫彈
is a man-made version of this,the sun.
可說是人造太陽
In 1958 Britain announced that
1958年，英國宣稱
she could produce this power in the laboratory,
可以在實驗室中利用一具叫做“奇塔”的機器
in a machine called Zeta.
產生這種力量
There is a real prospect of unlimited energy
未來我們可能透過受到控制的熱核融合反應
from controlled thermo-nuclear fusion.
得到取之不盡的能量
Unfortunately it wasn't that easy.
可惜事情沒那么簡單
But now,nearly fifty years later,
但在將近50年后的今天
in the same laboratories in Oxfordshire scientists
同樣也是在位于牛津郡的實驗室里
are finally managing to create their own star on Earth.
科學家終于成功地在地球上創造出自己的恒星
...ready when you are.
準備好就說一聲
Okay, ready.
我們準備好了
...shot,one four six five eight...
開始發射 14658
shot eighty five seconds.
倒數5秒
It might not seem like much
看起來也許沒什么了不起
but slowed down by 300 times the pictures reveal
但放慢三百倍觀察
how the gas plasma is being squeezed and heated to create
就能看到氣體電漿，如何被壓縮、加熱
the most extreme conditions in the solar system.
以創造太陽系內最極端的環境
