評論
打印
At least the names for the two main possible culprits are entertaining: they are said to be either WIMPs (for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, which is to say specks of invisible matter left over from the Big Bang) or MACHOs (for MAssive Compact Halo Objects—really just another name for black holes, brown dwarfs, and other very dim stars).
至少有兩個主要嫌疑的名字受到注意：據說，它們不是“WIMP”（“弱互相作用大質量粒子”，即大爆炸留下的看不見的微小物質），就是“MACHO”（“暈狀大質量致密天體”，實際上只是黑洞、棕色矮星和其他光線很暗的恒星的另一種說法）。
Particle physicists have tended to favor the particle explanation of WIMPs, astrophysicists the stellar explanation of MACHOs. For a time MACHOs had the upper hand, but not nearly enough of them were found, so sentiment swung back toward WIMPs but with the problem that no WIMP has ever been found. Because they are weakly interacting, they are (assuming they even exist) very hard to detect. Cosmic rays would cause too much interference. So scientists must go deep underground.
粒子物理學家往往贊成解釋為粒子，即WIMP；天體物理學家贊成解釋為星體，即MACHO。MACHO一度占了上風，但根本找不到足夠的數量，所以風向又轉向WIMP──問題是WIMP從來沒有發現過。由于它們的相互作用很弱，因此很難識別它們（即使假設它們的存在）。宇宙射線會造成太多干擾。因此，科學家們必須鉆到地下深處。
One kilometer underground cosmic bombardments would be one millionth what they would be on the surface. But even when all these are added in, "two-thirds of the universe is still missing from the balance sheet," as one commentator has put it. For the moment we might very well call them DUNNOS (for Dark Unknown Nonreflective Nondetectable Objects Somewhere).
在地下一公里的地方，宇宙射線的轟擊強度只有地面的百萬分之一。但是，即使把這一切都加上去，正如有一位評論家說的：“宇宙在決算表上還相差三分之二。”眼下，我不妨把它們稱之為“DUNNOS”（某處未知非反射不可測物體）。
Recent evidence suggests that not only are the galaxies of the universe racing away from us, but that they are doing so at a rate that is accelerating.
近來有跡象表明，宇宙的星系不僅在離我們遠去，而且離去的速度越來越快。
