Phil Plait: How to defend Earth from asteroids

148,703 views ・ 2011-11-21

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

Translator: Yihan Zhou Reviewer: Raymond Ou
00:16
I want to talk to you about something
0
16260
2079
有啲嘢我想講畀你哋聽
00:18
kind of big.
1
18363
1238
係好大件事
00:21
We'll start here.
2
21942
1214
我哋由呢度開始
00:24
Sixty-five million years ago --
3
24837
1949
六千五百萬年前
00:26
(Laughter)
4
26810
1037
00:27
the dinosaurs had a bad day.
5
27871
3039
啲恐龍好慘
00:30
(Laughter)
6
30934
2611
(笑)
00:33
A chunk of rock six miles across,
7
33569
3275
有一塊寬六英里嘅石頭飛落來撞落地球
00:36
moving something like 50 times the speed of a rifle bullet,
8
36868
3741
速度大概係
步槍子彈嘅五十倍
00:40
slammed into the Earth.
9
40633
1781
佢即刻一次過釋放晒所有能量
00:42
It released its energy all at once,
10
42438
2456
00:44
and it was an explosion that was mind-numbing.
11
44918
3528
而且引起咗爆炸
大聲到震耳欲聾
00:48
If you took every nuclear weapon ever built
12
48470
2861
如果你將所有
喺冷戰高峰時期製造出來嘅原子彈
00:51
at the height of the Cold War,
13
51355
1559
00:52
lumped them together,
14
52938
1372
喺同一時間綁埋一齊之後引爆
00:54
and blew them up at the same time,
15
54334
2502
00:56
that would be one one-millionth of the energy released at that moment.
16
56860
4709
噉就會釋放出
小行星能量嘅百萬分之一
01:02
The dinosaurs had a really bad day.
17
62256
3490
啲恐龍真係好慘
01:05
OK?
18
65770
1165
01:06
Now, a six-mile-wide rock is very large.
19
66959
2341
六英里寬嘅石頭係非常之大嘅
01:09
We all live here in Boulder.
20
69324
1365
我哋都住係博爾德
01:10
If you look out your window and see Longs Peak --
21
70713
2400
如果你望出窗外你可以睇到朗斯山峰
你好可能覺得佢好熟
01:13
you're probably familiar with it --
22
73137
1715
01:14
now, scoop up Longs Peak and put it out in space.
23
74876
3013
依家,將朗斯山峰掘出來
將佢放喺太空
01:17
Take ... Meeker, Mt. Meeker.
24
77913
2685
將米克山掘出來
01:20
Lump that in there, and put that in space as well.
25
80622
2737
同樣擺上太空
01:23
And Mt. Everest. And K2.
26
83383
3028
仲有珠穆朗瑪峰同埋 K2
01:26
And the Indian peaks.
27
86435
1563
同埋印第安山峰都放上太空
然之後你就知
01:28
Then you're starting to get an idea of how much rock we're talking about, OK?
28
88022
3864
我哋喺度講緊幾多石頭
01:31
We know it was that big
29
91910
1177
我哋知佢有咁大係因為
01:33
because of the impact it had and the crater it left.
30
93111
2836
佢嘅衝擊力同埋佢留低嘅隕石坑
01:35
It hit in what we now know as Yucatan, the Gulf of Mexico.
31
95971
3965
佢撞落今日墨西哥灣嘅猶加敦
01:39
You can see here, there's the Yucatan Peninsula,
32
99960
2610
你可以睇到呢度就係猶加敦半島
01:42
if you recognize Cozumel off the east coast there.
33
102594
2373
如果你認到東岸嘅科蘇梅爾嘅話
01:44
Here is how big of a crater was left.
34
104991
2716
就睇到個坑有幾大
01:47
It was huge.
35
107731
1173
個坑非常之大,畀你感受下佢嘅規模
01:48
To give you a sense of the scale ... there you go.
36
108928
2588
01:51
The scale here is 50 miles on top, a hundred kilometers on the bottom.
37
111540
3993
幅圖比例係一比五十英里
或者一比一百公里
01:55
This thing was 300 kilometers across -- 200 miles --
38
115557
3052
呢個坑成三百公里寬或者兩百英里寬
01:58
an enormous crater that excavated out vast amounts of earth
39
118633
3577
隕石撞落嘅一刻產生大量塵土
02:02
that splashed around the globe and set fires all over the planet,
40
122234
4571
塵土燒著嘅火擴散到全世界
02:06
threw up enough dust to block out the sun.
41
126829
2245
升起嘅塵埃足以遮住太陽
02:09
It wiped out 75 percent of all species on Earth.
42
129098
4346
殞石毀滅咗地球上百分之七十五嘅生物
02:13
Now, not all asteroids are that big.
43
133468
2888
不過唔係所有嘅小行星都咁大
02:16
Some of them are smaller.
44
136380
1325
有啲比較細
02:18
Here is one that came in
45
138610
2859
呢度有係一個小行星撞落美國
02:21
over the United States in October of 1992.
46
141493
4355
時間係 1992 年 10 月
02:25
It came in on a Friday night.
47
145872
1736
佢喺星期五晚上撞落來
02:27
Why is that important?
48
147632
1256
點解講佢呢?
02:28
Because back then, video cameras were just starting to become popular,
49
148912
3772
因為當時
攝影機啱啱開始流行
02:32
and parents would bring them to their kids' football games
50
152708
3952
啲人呢就會將佢哋帶喺身邊
爹地媽咪帶住攝像機 去拍仔女嘅足球比賽
02:36
to film their kids playing football.
51
156684
1823
02:38
And since this came in on a Friday,
52
158531
2127
星期五嗰晚呢個小行星落咗落來
02:40
they were able to get this great footage of this thing breaking up
53
160682
3441
所以啲人可以捕捉到小行星墜落
一路穿過西維珍尼亞州、馬里蘭州 賓夕法尼亞州同新澤西州
02:44
as it came in over West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
54
164147
3455
02:47
until it did that
55
167626
1310
直到佢擊中咗一部紐約嘅車
02:48
to a car in New York.
56
168960
1430
02:50
(Laughter)
57
170414
1576
(笑)
依家,呢個唔係一個 200 英里寬嘅坑
02:52
Now, this is not a 200-mile-wide crater,
58
172014
3498
02:55
but then again, you can see the rock, which is sitting right here,
59
175536
3481
但跟住落來你哋可以睇到
粒隕石同一個足球差唔多大
02:59
about the size of a football,
60
179041
1394
03:00
that hit that car and did that damage.
61
180459
2382
擊中咗嗰部車
03:02
Now, this thing was probably about the size of a school bus
62
182865
2811
不過當呢粒小行星進入地球時 可能係一部校車嘅晒士
03:05
when it first came in.
63
185700
1157
03:06
It broke up through atmospheric pressure,
64
186881
1977
由於高温擦過大氣壓
03:08
it crumbled, and then the pieces fell apart
65
188882
2099
佢開始燃燒、解體
解體之後嘅石頭 只係對地面造成咗一啲破壞
03:11
and did some damage.
66
191005
1484
03:12
Now, you wouldn't want that falling on your foot or your head,
67
192513
3926
你哋唔會希望石頭落喺你嘅腳或者頭
因為會好痛
03:16
because it would do that to it.
68
196463
1496
03:17
That would be bad.
69
197983
1953
03:19
But it won't wipe out, you know, all life on Earth, so that's fine.
70
199960
3264
但係你知細細嚿石 唔會毀滅所有地球上嘅生命
之不過
03:23
But it turns out, you don't need something six miles across
71
203248
3688
唔使六英里寬嘅小行星
03:26
to do a lot of damage.
72
206960
1243
都可以造成好大破壞
03:28
There is a median point between tiny rock and gigantic rock,
73
208227
3695
喺分類上,除咗細隕石同大隕石之外 有中型隕石
03:31
and in fact, if any of you have ever been to near Winslow, Arizona,
74
211946
3868
如果你有去過亞利桑那州 溫斯洛附近嘅沙漠
03:35
there is a crater in the desert there that is so iconic
75
215838
3519
嗰度有個中型隕石嘅坑
因為佢太標誌性
03:39
that it is actually called "Meteor Crater."
76
219381
2560
所以佢嘅名叫流星坑
03:41
To give you a sense of scale, this is about a mile wide.
77
221965
2977
爲咗讓你哋對晒士有個概念 呢個就有 1 英里寬
03:44
If you look up at the top, that's a parking lot,
78
224966
3239
如果你望上高,嗰個係停車場
03:48
and those are recreational vehicles right there.
79
228229
2894
而嗰啲就係旅行車
03:51
So it's about a mile across, 600 feet deep.
80
231147
3074
所以佢有 1 英里寬,600 英尺深
03:54
The object that formed this was probably about 30 to 50 yards across,
81
234245
5425
形成呢個坑嘅小行星 大概有 30 到 50 碼寬
03:59
so roughly the size of Macky Auditorium here.
82
239694
3694
差唔多係呢度麥基禮堂嘅晒士
04:03
It came in at speeds that were tremendous,
83
243412
2579
當時小行星以高速衝落來
04:06
slammed into the ground, blew up,
84
246015
2324
撞擊地面
04:08
and exploded with the energy of roughly a 20-megaton nuclear bomb --
85
248363
3793
以近二千萬噸原子彈嘅能量爆炸
04:12
a very hefty bomb.
86
252180
1567
係一個重磅炸彈
04:13
This was 50,000 years ago,
87
253771
2110
呢件事發生喺 5 萬年前
04:15
so it may have wiped out a few buffalo or antelope,
88
255905
2870
令一啲水牛或者羚羊
04:18
or something like that out in the desert,
89
258799
2558
或者生活喺沙漠嘅動物消失
04:21
but it probably would not have caused global devastation.
90
261381
3801
但佢唔太可能毀滅成個地球
04:25
It turns out that these things don't have to hit the ground
91
265206
3623
因為我哋發現
要造成大損傷,唔一定要撞落地面度
04:28
to do a lot of damage.
92
268853
1583
04:30
Now, in 1908, over Siberia, near the Tunguska region --
93
270460
3857
喺 1908 年,西伯利亞上空
近通古斯卡地區——
04:34
for those of you who are Dan Aykroyd fans and saw "Ghostbusters,"
94
274341
3181
對於係丹.艾克羅伊德支持者 同時睇過《捉鬼特工隊》嘅人來講
04:37
when he talked about the greatest cross-dimensional rift
95
277546
2636
當丹.艾克羅伊德講到
1909 年西伯利亞爆炸以來 最大嘅交叉維度裂縫——
04:40
since the Siberia blast of 1909,
96
280206
1934
04:42
where he got the date wrong, but that's OK.
97
282164
2609
佢講錯咗日期,不過冇影響(笑)
04:44
(Laughter)
98
284797
1112
其實事情發生喺 1908 年 不過我可以當佢冇錯——
04:45
It was 1908. That's fine. I can live with that.
99
285933
2267
04:48
(Laughter)
100
288224
1833
(笑)
04:50
Another rock came into the Earth's atmosphere
101
290081
3075
當時另一粒殞石進入地球嘅大氣層
04:53
and this one blew up above the ground,
102
293180
2192
而且喺上空離地面幾英里爆炸
04:55
several miles up above the surface of the Earth.
103
295396
2313
04:57
The heat from the explosion set fire to the forest below it,
104
297733
5176
爆炸釋放出來嘅熱量引發地面森林大火
05:02
and then the shock wave came down and knocked down trees
105
302933
3177
而且衝擊波將幾百平方英里嘅樹推倒
05:06
for hundreds of square miles.
106
306134
2818
05:08
This did a huge amount of damage.
107
308976
1977
造成巨大嘅破壞
05:10
And again, this was a rock probably roughly the size
108
310977
2745
呢次嘅隕石
差唔多係我哋依家坐嘅演講廳嘅大細
05:13
of this auditorium that we're sitting in.
109
313746
2078
05:15
In Meteor Crater, it was made of metal,
110
315848
1977
隕石由金屬構成
05:17
and metal is much tougher, so it made it to the ground.
111
317849
2644
因為金屬更加硬
所以殞石先可以落到地面
05:20
The one over Tunguska was probably made of rock,
112
320517
2307
通古斯卡上空嘅石頭 好可能係由岩石構成
05:22
and that's much more crumbly, so it blew up in the air.
113
322848
2794
於是乎易碎
所以至會喺空中爆炸
05:25
Either way, these are tremendous explosions -- 20 megatons.
114
325666
4685
呢兩次隕石事件 都引起相等於二千萬噸嘅大爆炸
05:30
Now, when these things blow up,
115
330375
2049
當呢啲隕石爆炸時
05:32
they're not going to do global ecological damage.
116
332448
3387
佢哋唔會破壞全球生態
05:35
They're not going to do something like the dinosaur killer did.
117
335859
3168
佢哋唔係毀滅恐龍嗰類嘢
佢哋唔夠大
05:39
They're just not big enough.
118
339051
1469
但係佢哋會破壞全球經濟
05:40
But they will do global economic damage,
119
340544
2686
05:43
because they don't have to hit, necessarily,
120
343254
2518
因為佢哋唔使撞擊都能夠破壞經濟
05:45
to do this kind of damage.
121
345796
1509
05:47
They don't have to do global devastation.
122
347329
2607
佢哋唔使毀滅全球都已經有破壞力
05:49
If one of these things were to hit pretty much anywhere,
123
349960
2812
如果任何一粒小行星求其撞向一笪地方
05:52
it would cause a panic.
124
352796
1155
就會引起恐慌
05:53
But if it came over a city, an important city --
125
353975
2265
但係如果佢撞落一個重要城市——
雖然唔係最重要嘅城市
05:56
not that any city is more important than others,
126
356264
2264
但係撞落全球經濟裏邊 比較重要嘅城市——
05:58
but some of them we depend on more on the global economic basis --
127
358552
3339
06:01
that could do a huge amount of damage to us as a civilization.
128
361915
5206
咁對我哋文明嚟講
就係大破壞
06:07
So, now that I've scared the crap out of you --
129
367145
3522
我依家已經嚇到你連屎都出咗來
06:10
(Laughter)
130
370691
1105
(笑)
06:11
what can we do about this?
131
371820
1977
我哋可以做啲咩嘢?
06:13
This is a potential threat.
132
373821
2087
呢個係潛在威脅嚟
06:15
Let me note that we have not had a giant impact like the dinosaur killer
133
375932
4386
而其實
我哋已經有 6,500 萬年 冇遇到毀滅恐龍嘅巨大能量
06:20
for 65 million years.
134
380342
1287
06:21
They're very rare.
135
381653
1337
畢竟大行星撞地球係好罕見
06:23
The smaller ones happen more often,
136
383014
2119
但行星越細,就越有可能撞擊地球
06:25
but probably on the order of a millennium,
137
385157
2527
但小行星撞地球一般都講緊千年一次
06:27
every few centuries or every few thousand years.
138
387708
3376
或者每幾百年或者幾千年一次
就算係咁,我哋都要小心啲先得
06:31
But it's still something to be aware of.
139
391108
2052
06:33
Well, what do we do about them?
140
393184
1540
咁,我哋要對行星做啲乜嘢呢?
06:34
The first thing we have to do is find them.
141
394748
2107
第一件事係要搵佢哋
06:36
This is an image of an asteroid that passed us in 2009.
142
396879
4242
呢張相影 2009 年 一粒經過地球嘅小行星
06:41
It's right here.
143
401145
1797
佢就喺呢度
06:42
But you can see that it's extremely faint.
144
402966
2471
但你哋會發現佢係非常細
06:45
I don't know if you can see that in the back row.
145
405461
2333
我都唔知坐喺最後嗰排嘅你哋 係咪可以睇到佢
06:47
These are just stars.
146
407818
1415
呢啲只係星星
06:49
This is a rock that was about 30 yards across,
147
409257
2233
呢個係一個 30 碼寬嘅岩石
06:51
so roughly the size of the ones that blew up over Tunguska
148
411514
2879
差唔多同 5 萬年前
喺通古斯卡上空爆炸 然後撞擊亞利桑那州嗰啲隕石一樣大
06:54
and hit Arizona 50,000 years ago.
149
414417
2226
06:56
These things are faint.
150
416667
1162
呢啲行星好細、好難發現
06:57
They're hard to see, and the sky is really big.
151
417853
2426
而且天空實在太大嘞
07:00
We have to find these things first.
152
420303
1920
但我哋必須搵到佢哋
07:02
Well, the good news is, we're looking for them.
153
422247
2279
好消息係,我哋已經搵緊佢哋啦
07:04
NASA has devoted money to this;
154
424550
2293
NASA 出資咗做呢件事
07:06
the National Science Foundation and other countries
155
426867
2401
國家科學基金同埋其他國家 都對呢件事有興趣
07:09
are interested in doing this.
156
429292
1415
07:10
We're building telescopes that are looking for the threat.
157
430731
2753
我哋製造緊可以察覺威脅嘅太空望遠鏡
07:13
That's a great first step. But what's the second step?
158
433508
2566
係好大嘅進步來
不過下一步又係咩嘢呢?
07:16
The second step is if we see one heading toward us, we have to stop it.
159
436098
3448
第二步就係如果我哋發現 一粒小行星撞向地球時
我哋要阻止佢。咁點做呢?
07:19
What do we do?
160
439570
1151
07:20
You've probably heard about the asteroid Apophis.
161
440745
2352
你哋好可能聽過小行星阿波菲斯
如果你冇,你好快會聽到
07:23
If you haven't yet, you will.
162
443121
2140
07:25
If you've heard about the Mayan 2012 apocalypse,
163
445285
2665
如果你聽過瑪雅 2012 預言
07:27
you're going to hear about Apophis,
164
447974
1692
你就會聽到小行星阿波菲斯
07:29
because you're keyed in to all the doomsday networks, anyway.
165
449690
3293
因為你哋無論如何
都走唔甩世界末日
07:33
(Laughter)
166
453007
1708
07:34
Apophis is an asteroid that was discovered in 2004.
167
454739
3022
阿波菲斯小行星喺 2004 年被發現
07:37
It's roughly 250 [meters] across, so it's pretty big --
168
457785
3732
佢差唔多有 250 米寬
所以佢好大。你哋知喇,係大晒士
07:41
bigger than a football stadium.
169
461541
2309
仲大過足球場
07:43
And it's going to pass by the Earth in April of 2029.
170
463874
3496
佢仲會喺 2029 年 4 月經過地球
07:47
And it's going to pass us so close
171
467394
1721
佢靠得咁近
07:49
that it's actually going to come underneath our weather satellites.
172
469139
3715
甚至乎會來到氣象衛星下面
07:52
The Earth's gravity is going to bend the orbit of this thing so much
173
472878
3699
如果佢正常運動
地球嘅重力會扭曲佢嘅軌道
07:56
that if it's just right,
174
476601
1402
07:58
if it passes through this region of space,
175
478027
2461
如果佢穿過一個區域空間
08:00
this kidney-bean-shaped region called the keyhole,
176
480512
3457
一個叫做鎖匙眼嘅豆角形狀區域
08:03
the Earth's gravity will bend it just enough that seven years later,
177
483993
3500
地球重力就會令佢扭曲
恰恰七年之後
08:07
on April 13 -- which is a Friday, I'll note -- in the year 2036 --
178
487517
3997
喺 2036 年 4 月 13 號
即係一個星期五……(笑)
08:11
(Laughter)
179
491538
1023
08:12
you can't plan that kind of stuff --
180
492585
1740
你一定預唔到咁嘅事︰
08:14
(Laughter)
181
494349
1062
08:15
Apophis is going to hit us.
182
495435
1478
阿波菲斯將會撞埋來我哋度
08:16
And it's 250 meters across, so it would do unbelievable damage.
183
496937
4359
佢有 250 米寬
所以將會造成巨大破壞
08:21
The good news is that the odds of it actually passing through this keyhole
184
501320
3597
依家好消息係
佢穿過鎖匙眼同撞到我哋嘅幾率
08:24
and hitting us next go-around are one in a million, roughly --
185
504941
2971
係百萬分之一
係非常非常之細嘅幾率
08:27
very, very low odds.
186
507936
1151
所以我自己唔會因為擔心佢而瞓唔著
08:29
So I personally am not lying awake at night worrying about this at all.
187
509111
3406
我唔認為阿波菲斯係一個問題
08:32
I don't think Apophis is a problem.
188
512541
1694
事實上,塞翁失馬焉知非福
08:34
In fact, Apophis is a blessing in disguise,
189
514259
2268
08:36
because it woke us up to the dangers of these things.
190
516551
2585
阿波菲斯令我哋認識小行星嘅危險
08:39
This thing was discovered just a few years ago
191
519160
2177
阿波菲斯喺幾年前被發現
08:41
and could hit us a few years from now.
192
521361
1843
當時仲諗幾年後可能會撞落地球
08:43
It won't, but it gives us a chance to study these kinds of asteroids.
193
523228
3614
但宜家佢唔會
而且仲畀咗我哋一個機會 來研究呢類小行星
08:46
We didn't really necessarily understand these keyholes, and now we do,
194
526866
3506
我哋過去對鎖匙眼認知甚少
不過依家已經好清楚嘞
08:50
and it turns out that's really important,
195
530396
2144
而且我哋明白到了解小行星係非常重要
08:52
because how do you stop an asteroid like this?
196
532564
2478
因為如果唔係 你點阻止呢類小行星呢——
08:55
Well, let me ask you:
197
535066
1522
等我問你,如果你企喺路上
08:56
What happens if you're standing in the road and a car's headed for you?
198
536612
3422
突然有部車衝來你度,你會點做呢?
你會咁做
09:00
What do you do?
199
540058
1170
09:01
You do this. Right? Move, and the car goes past you.
200
541252
2454
係咪?走。部車剛好同你擦身而過
09:03
But we can't move the Earth, at least not easily,
201
543730
2320
但係我哋唔可以移走地球
至少冇咁易,但係我哋可以移走小行星
09:06
but we can move a small asteroid.
202
546074
1714
09:07
And it turns out, we've even done it.
203
547812
2195
而且睇來,我哋甚至已經移走過小行星
2005 年,NASA 發射咗 一個叫深層衝擊嘅探測器
09:10
In the year 2005, NASA launched a probe called Deep Impact,
204
550031
3961
09:14
which slammed a piece of itself into the nucleus of a comet.
205
554016
4461
探測器其中一部份 撞入咗一粒彗星嘅核心
09:18
Comets are very much like asteroids.
206
558501
1869
彗星好似小行星
09:20
The purpose wasn't to push it out of the way;
207
560394
2119
嗰次目的唔係要將佢推到第二度
09:22
the purpose was to make a crater to excavate the material
208
562537
3135
而係造一個坑挖掘
以瞭解彗星表面之下係咩嘢物質
09:25
and see what was underneath the surface of this comet,
209
565696
2555
09:28
which we learned quite a bit about.
210
568275
1696
我哋嗰次從中的確學到啲嘢
09:29
We did move the comet a little tiny bit --
211
569995
2279
我哋的確將小行星移動咗小小
09:32
not very much, but that wasn't the point.
212
572298
1977
雖然唔多,但唔係重點
09:34
However, think about this:
213
574299
1837
不過,諗下
09:36
This thing is orbiting the Sun at 10, 20 miles per second.
214
576160
4352
呢個每秒圍繞太陽 10-20 英里
09:40
We shot a space probe at it and hit it, OK?
215
580536
2699
而我哋發射咗一部太空探測器 而且擊中佢
09:43
Imagine how hard that must be, and we did it.
216
583259
2631
雖然件事好難,但係我哋做到
09:45
That means we can do it again.
217
585914
1803
即係話我哋可以繼續做
09:47
If we see an asteroid that's coming toward us, headed right for us,
218
587741
4139
如果我哋見到一粒小行星撞埋來
而且正正咁對住我哋咁
09:51
and we have two years to go?
219
591904
1682
而我哋有兩年時間? 唔驚!我哋會擊中佢
09:53
Boom! We hit it.
220
593610
1346
09:54
You know, if you watch the movies --
221
594980
2523
如果你哋睇開戲
09:57
(Laughter)
222
597527
1058
可能會諗
09:58
you might think:
223
598609
1152
09:59
Why don't we use a nuclear weapon?
224
599785
1637
點解我哋唔用核武?
10:01
Well, you can try that, but the problem is timing.
225
601446
2353
係可以嘅,但問題係時間
10:03
Shoot a nuclear weapon at this thing,
226
603823
1790
如果你用核武來打佢
10:05
you have to blow it up within a few milliseconds of tolerance,
227
605637
2932
你要喺幾百萬分之秒裏邊引爆原子彈
如果唔係就打唔中
10:08
or else you'll miss it.
228
608593
1176
10:09
And there are a lot of other problems with that; it's very hard to do.
229
609793
3301
而且仲有好多其他問題
核武好高難度
如果只係要去撞呢?咁就易好多
10:13
But just hitting something? That's pretty easy.
230
613118
2203
我諗 NASA 可以做到
10:15
I think even NASA can do that, and proved that they can.
231
615345
2638
佢哋證明咗佢哋係得(笑)
10:18
(Laughter)
232
618007
1009
問題係如果撞到小行星
10:19
The problem is, if you hit this asteroid, you've changed the orbit,
233
619040
3429
你就會改變佢嘅軌道
10:22
you measure the orbit,
234
622493
1152
然之後你再測量佢嘅軌道,卻發現
10:23
then you find out, oh yeah, we just pushed it into a keyhole,
235
623669
2927
弊!我哋將佢推入咗鎖匙眼
10:26
and now it's going to hit us in three years.
236
626620
2077
即係話佢將會係三年之後撞擊我哋!
10:28
Well, my opinion is: fine!
237
628721
2128
我嘅觀點係,唔緊要
10:30
It's not hitting us in six months --
238
630873
1869
佢唔會喺六個月之內撞到我哋 咁就好啦
10:32
that's good.
239
632766
1162
10:33
Now we have three years to do something else.
240
633952
2768
依家我哋有 3 年去做嘢
10:36
And you can hit it again.
241
636744
1368
你可以再次擊中佢
10:38
That's kind of ham-fisted;
242
638136
1310
但咁樣係一件好蠢嘅事
10:39
you might just push it into a third keyhole or whatever,
243
639470
2669
因為你會推佢入第三個鎖匙眼 所以你唔會咁做
10:42
so you don't do that.
244
642163
1173
10:43
And this is the part --
245
643360
1171
跟住係我鍾意嘅部份︰
10:45
it's the part I just love.
246
645026
1300
10:46
(Laughter)
247
646350
2615
(笑)
10:48
After the big macho "Grr ... bam! We're gonna hit this thing in the face,"
248
648989
4458
「呯一聲!
我哋正面迎擊小行星之後,
10:53
then we bring in the velvet gloves.
249
653471
2798
我哋就有咗天鵝絨手套!」
(笑)
10:56
(Laughter)
250
656293
1843
10:58
There's a group of scientists and engineers and astronauts,
251
658160
2889
有一群科學家、工程師同埋太空人
自稱係 B612 基金會
11:01
and they call themselves The B612 Foundation.
252
661073
2433
11:03
For those of you who've read "The Little Prince,"
253
663530
2346
但對於讀過《小王子》嘅人
你會明白意思︰
11:05
you understand that reference, I hope --
254
665900
1968
小王子住喺 一個叫做 B612 嘅小行星上
11:07
the little prince lived on an asteroid called B612.
255
667892
2455
上邊有好多聰明人,有男有女
11:10
These are smart guys -- men and women -- astronauts, like I said, engineers.
256
670371
3712
太空人、工程師
11:14
Rusty Schweickart, who was an Apollo 9 astronaut, is on this.
257
674107
3260
阿波羅 9 號太空人 拉塞爾.施威卡特都喺上面
11:17
Dan Durda, my friend who made this image,
258
677391
2119
我朋友丹.德達整咗呢幅圖
11:19
works here at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, on Walnut Street.
259
679534
3907
佢依家就喺博爾德核桃街嘅 西南研究中心工作
佢為呢樣嘢做咗一幅圖
11:23
He created this image for this.
260
683465
1535
同時佢就係為佢哋做嘢嘅 其中一位太空人
11:25
He's actually one of the astronomers who works for them.
261
685024
2654
11:27
If we see an asteroid that's going to hit the Earth
262
687702
2603
如果我哋發現 一粒即將撞擊地球嘅小行星
11:30
and we have enough time,
263
690329
1713
而我哋有足夠嘅時間嘅話
11:32
we can hit it to move it into a better orbit.
264
692066
2355
我哋可以移佢去一個更安全嘅軌道
11:34
But then what we do is launch a probe that has to weigh a ton or two.
265
694445
4801
但我哋依家做緊嘅係發射 一粒 1-2 噸重嘅探測器
11:39
It doesn't have to be huge -- a couple of tons, not that big --
266
699270
2986
佢唔一定要幾噸咁大
你只要將佢停近小行星
11:42
and you park it near the asteroid.
267
702280
1713
11:44
You don't land on it, because these things are tumbling end over end.
268
704017
3331
你唔需要登陸小行星
因為小行星來回震動,所以好難登陸
11:47
It's very hard to land on them.
269
707372
1596
不如先靠近佢哋
11:48
Instead you get near it.
270
708992
1162
小行星嘅重力會拉埋探測器
11:50
The gravity of the asteroid pulls on the probe,
271
710178
2224
而探測器又只有幾噸重
11:52
and the probe has a couple of tons of mass.
272
712426
2024
11:54
It has a little tiny bit of gravity,
273
714474
1733
探測器嘅重力細
但足以拉動小行星
11:56
but it's enough that it can pull the asteroid,
274
716231
3229
11:59
and you have your rocket set up --
275
719484
1625
再加上本身嘅火箭裝置——
12:01
you can barely see it here, but there's rocket plumes --
276
721133
2869
噢,你雖然睇唔到佢 但係嗰度有火箭嘅噴焰——
小行星同探測器之間嘅重力 將兩者連埋起來
12:04
and these guys are connected by their own gravity,
277
724026
3374
12:07
and if you move the probe very slowly -- very, very gently,
278
727424
3548
如果你慢慢移動探測器
而又非常非常細力嘅話
12:10
you can very easily finesse that rock into a safe orbit.
279
730996
5023
你就可以好輕鬆咁將小行星 送入地球上一個安全軌道
甚至可以上去採集礦物
12:16
You can even put in orbit around the Earth where we could mine it,
280
736043
3125
但係嗰個完全係另一件事
12:19
although that's a whole other thing; I won't go into that.
281
739192
2794
我唔會深入呢個話題(笑)
12:22
(Laughter)
282
742010
1027
12:23
But we'd be rich!
283
743061
1752
但係我哋會因此暴富!
12:24
(Laughter)
284
744837
5434
(笑)
12:30
So think about this, right?
285
750295
2024
有得諗,好冇?
雖然目前有巨大殞石
12:33
There are these giant rocks flying out there, and they're hitting us,
286
753005
3288
將會撞落地球,造成破壞
12:36
and they're doing damage to us.
287
756317
1522
12:37
But we've figured out how to do this,
288
757863
1809
但係我哋已經諗到點樣解決
12:39
and all the pieces are in place to do this.
289
759696
2217
每一步都已經就緒
12:41
We have astronomers with telescopes, looking for them.
290
761937
3201
我哋有太空人用望遠鏡搵緊佢哋
我哋有聰明人
12:45
We have very, very smart people,
291
765162
2271
12:47
who are concerned about this and figuring out how to fix the problem,
292
767457
3392
關注小行星而且諗緊方法解決
12:50
and we have the technology to do this.
293
770873
1832
而且我哋有科技輔助——
12:52
This probe actually can't use chemical rockets.
294
772729
2202
實際上呢個探測器唔可以使用化學火箭
12:54
Chemical rockets provide too much thrust, too much push.
295
774955
2658
化學火箭嘅推力大得制
12:57
The probe would just shoot away.
296
777637
1562
探測器會打唔中
所以我哋發明咗叫做離子推動器嘅嘢
12:59
We invented something called an ion drive,
297
779223
2051
13:01
which is a very, very, very low-thrust engine.
298
781298
2554
佢係一個推力非常細嘅引擎
13:03
It generates the force a piece of paper would have on your hand --
299
783876
3309
產生相當於一張擺喺手上嘅紙嘅力
13:07
incredibly light, but it can run for months and years,
300
787209
3964
但係佢可以連續幾個月到幾年 提供微小嘅推力
13:11
providing that very gentle push.
301
791197
2330
13:13
If anybody here is a fan of the original "Star Trek,"
302
793551
2589
如果呢度有人係《星際旅行》 原版系列嘅支持者就會知道
佢哋揸住一部有離子推動器嘅外星飛船
13:16
they ran across an alien ship that had an ion drive,
303
796164
2795
13:18
and Spock said, "They're very technically sophisticated.
304
798983
2692
而且斯波克話︰「佢哋有精密嘅科技。
憑住呢個推動器, 佢哋領先我哋 100 年。」
13:21
They're a hundred years ahead of us with this drive."
305
801699
2501
耶!我哋依家都有咗離子推動器(笑)
13:24
Yeah, we have an ion drive now.
306
804224
1546
13:25
We don't have the Enterprise, but we've got an ion drive now.
307
805794
2982
我哋冇企業號
但係我哋有離子推動器
13:28
(Laughter)
308
808800
1946
(掌聲)
13:30
(Applause)
309
810770
2116
13:32
Spock.
310
812910
1226
係斯波克話嘅
13:34
(Laughter)
311
814160
2132
(笑)
13:36
So ...
312
816316
1197
所以……
呢個就係分別
13:39
That's the difference --
313
819048
1644
13:40
that's the difference between us and the dinosaurs.
314
820716
2937
就係我哋同恐龍嘅分別
13:43
This happened to them.
315
823677
1442
佢哋俾殞石滅絕,但我哋唔一定
13:45
It doesn't have to happen to us.
316
825898
1815
13:47
The difference between the dinosaurs and us
317
827737
3158
我哋同恐龍嘅分別在於我哋有太空計劃
13:50
is that we have a space program
318
830919
2115
而且我哋可以投票改變未來
13:53
and we can vote,
319
833058
1722
13:54
and so we can change our future.
320
834804
2332
13:57
(Laughter)
321
837160
1637
(笑)
13:58
We have the ability to change our future.
322
838821
2092
我哋有能力去改變未來
14:00
Sixty-five million years from now,
323
840937
1977
六千五百萬年後
14:02
we don't have to have our bones collecting dust in a museum.
324
842938
3904
我哋嘅骨頭唔會喺博物館裡面惹塵
14:06
Thank you very much.
325
846866
1168
多謝晒
14:08
(Applause)
326
848058
3006
(掌聲)
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7