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Searches for extraterrestrial intelligence have focused on various signs of life.
尋找外星智慧都將焦點集中在各種各樣的生命跡象中。
And one signature of alien intelligence may be, cough, cough, air pollution.
而外星智慧生命留下的一種標志可能是空氣污染。
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, due to launch in 2018, should be powerful enough to detect chlorofluorocarbons, CFCs.
將于2018年發(fā)射的美國宇航局的詹姆斯韋伯太空望遠鏡應(yīng)該強大到足以檢測氯氟化碳,氯氟烴。
These ozone-destroying chemicals are used in aerosol sprays on Earth.
這種能夠破壞臭氧層的化學物質(zhì)在地球上用于氣霧噴霧器。
Maybe another planet's denizens also employ them.
而另一個星球的居民們也許使用這種物質(zhì)。
A new analysis of this idea notes that aliens would have to be heavy users.
基于這一理念的新分析指出,我們的外星朋友們會非常依賴這種物質(zhì)。
The Webb scope could only detect the chemicals if they were 10 times more prevalent than here on Earth.
韋伯太空望遠鏡只能檢測到比在地球上更普遍10倍的該化學物質(zhì) 。
And even then, the planet would have to orbit a special kind of star, a white dwarf, for the CFCs to show up.
即使如此, 環(huán)繞白矮星運行類地行星上的含氯氟烴指數(shù)成了科學家們研究的對象。
White dwarfs—the ultimate destiny of stars like the sun—maximize the pollution signal.
類似太陽一樣終極命運的恒星白矮星使得污染的信號最大化。
The study is in the Astrophysical Journal.
這項研究已經(jīng)在《天體物理學雜志》上發(fā)表。
CFCs could hang around in a planet's atmosphere for a long time.
氯氟烴會在一顆行星的大氣層停留很長一段時間。
So if an extraterrestrial civilization wised up and stopped polluting, we might still see the effects.
所以如果外星文明識破我們的伎倆,停止污染,我們?nèi)匀粫吹叫Ч?/div>
Even a society that managed to destroy itself long ago could leave a chemical trace.
甚至很久以前一個曾經(jīng)使自己毀滅的社會文明也能夠留下化學痕跡。
Let's hope that's not how they discover us.
讓我們祈禱外星朋友們不是憑借這點尋找到曾經(jīng)的我們。
