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Time travel was once considered scientific heresy.
時(shí)間旅行曾一度被當(dāng)作科學(xué)邪說
I used to avoid talking about it
由于害怕被貼上科學(xué)怪人的標(biāo)簽
for fear of being labeled a crank.
我過去常常避免談及此事
But these days, I'm not so cautious.
現(xiàn)如今，我不會(huì)再顧慮這些
In fact, I'm more like the people who built stonehenge.
實(shí)際上，我更像是建造巨石陣的那些人
I'm obsessed by time.
我對(duì)時(shí)間著迷了
If had a time machine
若我有臺(tái)時(shí)間機(jī)器
I'd visit Marilyn Monroe in her prime
我想去拜訪鼎盛時(shí)期的瑪麗蓮·夢(mèng)露
or drop in on Galileo as
或者去拜訪正用望遠(yuǎn)鏡
he turned his telescope to the heavens.
眺望星空的伽利略
Perhaps I'd even travel to the end of the universe
我甚至想穿越到宇宙的盡頭
to find out how our whole cosmic story ends.
去探尋宇宙的完整故事結(jié)局
To see how this might be possible,
要驗(yàn)證這些想法能否實(shí)現(xiàn)
we need to look at time as physicists do
我們需要像物理學(xué)家那樣
as the fourth dimension.
以四維的角度看時(shí)間
It's not as hard as it sounds.
四維時(shí)空并不像聽起來那樣令人費(fèi)解
All physical objects, even me and my chair,
所有的物體，甚至是我和我的椅子
exist in three dimensions.
都是三維的
Everything has a width and a height and a length.
任何事物都有寬度，高度和長(zhǎng)度
But there is another kind of length -- a length in time.
但是還存在另一種維度，即時(shí)間維度
While a human may survive for 80 years,
與人類的80余年壽命相比
these stones will last much longer
這些石頭延續(xù)得更久遠(yuǎn)
-- for thousands of years.
甚至長(zhǎng)達(dá)數(shù)千年
And the solar system will last for billions of years.
而太陽系則能達(dá)到數(shù)十億年
Everything has a length in time,
所有事物在時(shí)間上都有長(zhǎng)度
as well as space.
在空間內(nèi)同樣如此
Traveling in time means
時(shí)間旅行意味著
traveling through this fourth dimension.
穿越第四維時(shí)空
To see what that means, let's do a bit of normal
為更好地理解，我們以日常旅行為例
everyday traveling just to get a feel for it.
來直觀體會(huì)一下四維時(shí)空的含義
A fast car makes it a bit more fun.
一輛高速行駛的車能讓實(shí)驗(yàn)變得更生動(dòng)
Drive in a straight line, and you're traveling in one dimension.
在一條直線上行駛，是在一維空間內(nèi)
Turn right or left, and you add the second dimension.
左轉(zhuǎn)或右轉(zhuǎn)，就增加了第二維空間
Drive up or down a twisty mountain road,
在蜿蜒的山路上下顛簸
and that adds height.
就增加了高度的維度
So that's traveling in all three dimensions.
這樣就算是在三維空間內(nèi)行駛了
But how on earth do we travel in time?
但我們究竟要怎樣才能實(shí)現(xiàn)時(shí)間旅行呢
How do we find a path
怎樣才能找到一條
through the fourth dimension?
通往第四維空間的路呢
Let's indulge in a little science fiction for a moment.
讓我們用一個(gè)小小的科幻情節(jié)放松一下
