評論
打印
I admit this sounds strange,
我承認這聽上去有些奇怪
but to cosmologists it's like winning the lottery.
但對宇宙學家來說，這就像是中了頭彩
Because to work out where the universe came from,
因為要想探索宇宙的起源
all we need to do is to stop time and make it run in reverse.
我們只需讓時間停止，并使時光倒流
Rewind far enough
回到遠久之前
and everything gets closer together.
回到萬物皆為一體的時候
A lot closer together.
緊密一體的時候
All the galaxies,
所有的星系
in fact, every single thing
實際上，每一個物體
converges to a single point.
都匯聚于某個點
The start of everything, 13.7 billion years ago.
137億年前，一切起源的瞬間
So it's quite simple really.
事情就是這么簡單
Follow the clues and we can deduce
根據線索，我們可以推斷出
that a very long time ago,
在很久很久之前
the universe simply burst into existence.
宇宙初現雛形的場景
An event called the Big Bang.
這就是，宇宙大爆炸
But I'm afraid we have to stop a moment
不過在我們癡迷于爆炸和噪音之前
before we get carried away by fire and noise.
我要先在這里停一下
At the very beginning,
在一切開始之際
the Big Bang actually happened in total darkness,
宇宙大爆炸實際發生于完全黑暗之中
because light didn't exist yet.
因為那時，光并不存在
To see it,
要想看到它
we would have needed some kind of cosmic night vision.
我們就需要有某種宇宙夜視能力
But even this,
但即使這樣
a view from the outside is impossible.
想要從外部來觀看也是不可能的
Again, it sounds strange,
這聽起來還是有些奇怪
but space didn't exist then either.
但在那時，空間也同樣不存在
So there was no outside.
所以根本就不存在外部
The only place there was was inside.
宇宙只有內部
This early universe was a very strange thing indeed.
早期的宇宙的確是不同尋常
There is still much I dearly love to know about it,
對于它，我還抱有強烈的好奇心
but standard concepts of time or space don't really apply.
但時間或空間的標準概念在這里并不適用
It was just a very tiny ultra hot fog of energy.
它只是一團微小的極端高溫能量霧
Then it expanded
然后，它開始膨脹
with a tremendous flash of radiation,
釋放出巨量的輻射光
from smaller than an atom to about the size of an orange
從不到原子那么小，膨脹到橘子那么大
in less than a trillionth of a second.
只用了不到萬億分之一秒
Almost no time at all.
其過程極其短暫
The universe simply inflated into existence.
宇宙就在膨脹中產生了
Unfolding, unfurling,
不斷延伸，不斷展開
getting bigger and cooler with every passing moment.
隨著時間的流逝，不斷膨脹，逐漸冷卻
