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Water.Earth has loads of H2O.
水，地球上有著豐富的水資源。
But did it always?
但一直是這種情況嗎?
This question has plagued scientists for decades.
這個問題幾十年來一直困擾著科學家們。
Conventional wisdom has it that the Earth formed without any water.
傳統觀點認為地球形成之初并沒有水。
Then meteorites carrying water smashed into the planet, dumping their precious cargo.
而后經過攜帶水隕石的撞擊，地球才有了珍貴的水資源。
But now, a team of geologists has challenged this idea.
但現在，一組地質學家們對此觀點提出了質疑。
They say water may have been here from the start.
他們認為水資源從一開始就已經出現在地球上。
The scientists discovered that the chemical signature of water on Earth matches the signature of water in an ancient group of asteroids called eucrites.
科學家們發現地球上水的化學特征與一個名為鈣長輝長隕石古老小行星群上水的化學特征匹配。
These bodies formed just a few million years after the birth of the solar system.
而這些小行星形成于太陽系誕生幾百萬年后。
And because Earth and eucrites seem to share the same source of water, the reasoning goes, Earth must have gotten its water around the same time the eucrites did—which has big implications.
且由于地球似乎跟這個小行星群共享著同一水源，因此地球應該和這個小行星群同一時期擁有水源—這樣的推理影響重大。
“Because Earth got its water early—really the whole inner solar system got its water early—it means that planets, once they fully formed and got cool enough that water would be stable on the surface, they could be habitable.”
“由于地球很早就有水資源，整個太陽系也在很早就有了水資源。這就意味著，行星一旦完全成形且溫度足夠低的話，水資源將會在表面趨于穩定，這樣行星就會適于居住。”
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Adam Sarafian, who led the research.
領導這項研究的伍茲霍爾海洋研究所亞當?薩拉芬恩說道。
“It wasn't like these planets are just waiting around, looking at their watches, saying,Where's the water?
“事實上那些行星并不會墨守成規等待，看著手表大喊大叫水在哪里?
Life's ready to go, we just need water here.
生命已準備好誕生，現在唯獨就差水源。
So it pushes the date at which planets can become habitable back.
因此這種理論提前了行星適宜居住的時間。
And we need to go back to the drawing board on how planets are built and how water survives large impacts.”
而我們需要理清頭緒研究行星如何構成及水資源在其中有著怎樣的巨大影響。
