The sound the universe makes | Janna Levin

譯者: Lauren Huang 審譯者: Diming Yu

I want to ask you all to consider for a second

請各位思考一下

the very simple fact

一個非常簡單的事實

that, by far,

目前為止

most of what we know about the universe

我們所知的宇宙

comes to us from light.

都透過「光」而來

We can stand on the Earth and look up at the night sky

站在地球上仰望夜空

and see stars with our bare eyes.

我們憑肉眼就能看得見星星

The Sun burns our peripheral vision.

太陽照亮我們的視野邊界

We see light reflected off the Moon.

因為光的反射而看見月亮

And in the time since Galileo pointed that rudimentary telescope

自從伽利略以最原始的望遠鏡

at the celestial bodies,

舉目望天開始了觀測

the known universe has come to us through light,

一向以來，已知宇宙都是透過光來向我們傳達訊息

across vast eras in cosmic history.

即便穿越了宇宙浩瀚的歷史

And with all of our modern telescopes,

以現代的望遠鏡

we've been able to collect

我們能接收

this stunning silent movie of the universe --

這齣令人驚異、讚歎的宇宙無聲電影

these series of snapshots

用許多連續圖形

that go all the way back to the Big Bang.

一路回溯至大霹靂時期

And yet, the universe is not a silent movie

但是，宇宙上演的並不是一齣默劇

because the universe isn't silent.

因為宇宙其實並非一片死寂

I'd like to convince you

我想說服你們的就是這件事

that the universe has a soundtrack

宇宙是個有聲電影

and that soundtrack is played on space itself,

宇宙自己發出聲音成為它的聲部

because space can wobble like a drum.

這是因為太空像鼓一樣會震動

It can ring out a kind of recording

它像唱片一樣可以發出聲音

throughout the universe

傳遍整個宇宙

of some of the most dramatic events as they unfold.

尤其當某些極富戲劇效果的事件展開的時候

Now we'd like to be able to add

現在我們想嘗試

to a kind of glorious visual composition

在炫麗奪目的視覺效果以外

that we have of the universe --

為我們的宇宙再加上

a sonic composition.

它聲音的部份

And while we've never heard the sounds from space,

雖然我們從沒聽過來自太空的聲音

we really should, in the next few years,

幾年之內，我們應該可以開始

start to turn up the volume on what's going on out there.

把外面世界發出的聲音音量再調更大

So in this ambition

在這雄心壯志

to capture songs from the universe,

企圖接收宇宙譜出的歌曲驅動下

we turn our focus

帶領我們將目光轉向

to black holes and the promise they have,

黑洞和它們的能量特性

because black holes can bang on space-time

因為黑洞能在空-時中發出聲響

like mallets on a drum

像一根鼓棒一樣

and have a very characteristic song,

它的歌曲則極富特色

which I'd like to play for you -- some of our predictions

在此根據我們的假設

for what that song will be like.

將要播放一段黑洞可能會發出的聲音

Now black holes are dark against a dark sky.

黑洞是襯在黑底之上

We can't see them directly.

不可能直接看得見

They're not brought to us with light, at least not directly.

它們不是直接以光的形式向我們呈現,至少沒有以直接的方式

We can see them indirectly,

我們能以間接的方式看見它們

because black holes wreak havoc on their environment.

也就是黑洞對它週遭環境施加的破壞

They destroy stars around them.

諸如毀滅周圍恆星

They churn up debris in their surroundings.

將方圓以內碎片劇烈攪拌...等

But they won't come to us directly through light.

總之它們不會以可見光讓我們看見

We might one day see a shadow

有一天我們或許看得見它的影子

a black hole can cast on a very bright background,

當黑洞遇上一個非常明亮的背景時這就有可能

but we haven't yet.

但現在還在努力中

And yet black holes may be heard

但黑洞是可以聽得見的

even if they're not seen,

就算它們真的是我們所不能看見的

and that's because they bang on space-time like a drum.

能聽見黑洞是因它像鼓一樣,敲槌著空時

Now we owe the idea that space can ring like a drum

我們會有這麼一個太空中響著鼓聲的念頭

to Albert Einstein -- to whom we owe so much.

最該感謝的人是愛因斯坦，非常感謝

Einstein realized that if space were empty,

愛因斯坦明瞭如果太空是空的

if the universe were empty,

宇宙是空的

it would be like this picture,

就像這張照片

except for maybe without the helpful grid drawn on it.

或者說實際上應沒有這些輔助線會像得更徹底些

But if we were freely falling through the space,

不過如果我們自由的墜入太空中

even without this helpful grid,

就算沒有這些輔助線

we might be able to paint it ourselves,

我們自己也能畫的出這幅圖

because we would notice that we traveled along straight lines,

因為我們會注意到自己是以直線運動前進

undeflected straight paths

以直線不偏轉的路徑

through the universe.

通過宇宙

Einstein also realized --

愛因斯坦還想到另一件事

and this is the real meat of the matter --

而那個部份才是更加精采

that if you put energy or mass in the universe,

也就是，若將能量或質量放在宇宙中

it would curve space,

它會彎曲空間

and a freely falling object

而自由落下的物體

would pass by, let's say, the Sun

有可能會經過，譬如說，太陽

and it would be deflected

於是它的路徑會受偏轉

along the natural curves in the space.

沿著空間自然曲線偏轉

It was Einstein's great general theory of relativity.

這是愛因斯坦的普通相對論

Now even light will be bent by those paths.

因為連光都會受這些路徑影響而彎曲

And you can be bent so much

彎曲到一個程度

that you're caught in orbit around the Sun,

你會被太陽抓住而繞著它依軌道運轉

as the Earth is, or the Moon around the Earth.

就像地球繞太陽轉，月亮繞地球轉

These are the natural curves in space.

這就是空間的自然曲線

What Einstein did not realize

愛因斯坦沒想通的事情是

was that, if you took our Sun

如果你拿著太陽

and you crushed it down to six kilometers --

把它擠壓直到只剩6公里直徑大小

so you took a million times the mass of the Earth

這是一團質量是地球100萬倍的東西

and you crushed it to six kilometers across,

然後把它的體積壓縮到6公里寬

you would make a black hole,

這樣就是個黑洞

an object so dense

一個非常嚴密的物質

that if light veered too close, it would never escape --

如果靠得太近，連光不可能逃走

a dark shadow against the universe.

成為一個相對於宇宙的黑色陰影

It wasn't Einstein who realized this,

愛因斯坦沒領悟到這件事情

it was Karl Schwarzschild

這是卡爾史瓦西解出來的

who was a German Jew in World War I --

他是德國猶太人，在第一次世界大戰時

joined the German army already an accomplished scientist,

在入伍時已是一位傑出科學家

working on the Russian front.

在德俄邊境前線工作

I like to imagine Schwarzschild in the war in the trenches

我總愛想像史瓦西是躲在戰爭時期的壕溝裡頭

calculating ballistic trajectories for cannon fire,

邊計算高射炮的發射彈道

and then, in between,

邊偶爾計算一下

calculating Einstein's equations --

愛因斯坦的公式

as you do in the trenches.

壕溝裡能做的事情不多

And he was reading Einstein's recently published

他正拜讀愛因斯坦最新的

general theory of relativity,

普通相對論

and he was thrilled by this theory.

令他大感驚訝的理論

And he quickly surmised

他很快推算出

an exact mathematical solution

一道精確的數學解答

that described something very extraordinary:

極不尋常的描述了一個現象

curves so strong

一道強大的曲線

that space would rain down into them,

空間會順勢下流

space itself would curve like a waterfall

空間本身會像瀑布一般的彎曲

flowing down the throat of a hole.

向下流入一個喉嚨敞開的洞

And even light could not escape this current.

即便是光也無法逃離這股流勢

Light would be dragged down the hole

光會被拉入這個洞中

as everything else would be,

和其他任何東西一樣

and all that would be left would be a shadow.

所有東西最後都會只剩下一個影子

Now he wrote to Einstein,

史瓦西寫信告訴愛因斯坦

and he said, "As you will see,

他說,「且看,

the war has been kind to me enough.

戰爭對我是多麼慷慨有餘啊,

Despite the heavy gunfire,

即便在戰火交織下

I've been able to get away from it all

我也能有遠離這一切的一個某處可去

and walk through the land of your ideas."

一步步前進在由你的理論所佔領的土地上。」

And Einstein was very impressed with his exact solution,

愛因斯坦對史瓦西精確的解答實在印象深刻

and I should hope also the dedication of the scientist.

我應該期望自己有科學家這樣全心全力

This is the hardworking scientist under harsh conditions.

在這樣艱困的處境下仍辛勤工作

And he took Schwarzschild's idea

帶著著史瓦西的理論想法

to the Prussian Academy of Sciences the next week.

一週後，愛因斯坦前往波斯科學院

But Einstein always thought black holes were a mathematical oddity.

愛因斯坦一向以為黑洞只不過是個純數學的怪物

He did not believe they existed in nature.

他並不相信自然界真有這個東西存在

He thought nature would protect us from their formation.

他認為自然界應該會在創生的過程中保護我們

It was decades

幾十年過去

before the term "black hole" was coined

黑洞一詞被憑空創造問世

and people realized

人們理解到

that black holes are real astrophysical objects --

黑洞是天文物理中真實的天體

in fact they're the death state

事實上它們是一種最終的境界

of very massive stars

大質量恆星們的最終結局

that collapse catastrophically

災難性的崩塌瓦解

at the end of their lifetime.

當它的生命走到盡頭時

Now our Sun will not collapse to a black hole.

我們的太陽不會塌縮成黑洞

It's actually not massive enough.

事實上它的質量還不夠形成為黑洞

But if we did a little thought experiment --

但如果我們運用思考來做個實驗

as Einstein was very fond of doing --

就像愛因斯坦很喜歡做的事情一樣

we could imagine

我們不妨想像

putting the Sun crushed down to six kilometers,

把太陽壓縮成６公里大小

and putting a tiny little Earth around it in orbit,

把一個超微小地球放在它旁邊依軌道運行

maybe 30 kilometers

距離約30公里

outside of the black-hole sun.

在這顆太陽黑洞外面30公里處

And it would be self-illuminated,

然後地球自己會發光

because now the Sun's gone, we have no other source of light --

因為沒有太陽了,我們也將失去光源--

so let's make our little Earth self-illuminated.

只好先假設地球變成是發光體的情形

And you would realize you could put the Earth in a happy orbit

你會發現這個距離之下地球軌道

even 30 km

在距離黑洞

outside of this crushed black hole.

30公里以外

This crushed black hole

一個被壓縮的黑洞

actually would fit inside Manhattan, more or less.

事實上就和紐約市中心的曼哈頓區差不多大而已

It might spill off into the Hudson a little bit

有時它或許會碰到一點哈得遜區

before it destroyed the Earth.

在它快要吞滅地球之前

But basically that's what we're talking about.

基本上我們說的就是體積這麼小的一個東西

We're talking about an object that you could crush down

我們說的這個東西是你可以把它壓縮到

to half the square area of Manhattan.

只有曼哈頓方圓一半大的區域

So we move this Earth very close --

我們把這個地球移動到非常靠近 --

30 kilometers outside --

30公里外的這個距離

and we notice it's perfectly fine orbiting around the black hole.

這是繞行這顆黑洞完美的軌道

There's a sort of myth

這有點神秘

that black holes devour everything in the universe,

黑洞無一例外的吞滅宇宙裡的一切物體

but you actually have to get very close to fall in.

但事實上你必須非常靠近它才能掉的下去

But what's very impressive is that, from our vantage point,

但令人驚訝的是,從我們的觀望點

we can always see the Earth.

我們總是看得到地球

It cannot hide behind the black hole.

它沒辦法躲藏在黑洞的後方

The light from the Earth, some of it falls in,

這時有些從地球發出的光會掉入黑洞中

but some of it gets lensed around and brought back to us.

有些會因受到透鏡得作用,傳回來讓我們看見

So you can't hide anything behind a black hole.

你沒辦法把一樣東西藏在黑洞後面

If this were Battlestar Galactica

如果是在科幻影集「太空堡壘」中

and you're fighting the Cylons,

你和塞隆人正在作戰

don't hide behind the black hole.

千萬別選在一個黑洞的後面跟他玩躲迷藏

They can see you.

敵人一定會看見你

Now, our Sun will not collapse to a black hole --

太陽不會塌縮成黑洞

it's not massive enough --

它質量不夠

but there are tens of thousands of black holes in our galaxy.

我們的銀河系裡有上萬顆黑洞

And if one were to eclipse the Milky Way,

如果銀河系裡發生了「食」的現象

this is what it would look like.

看起來會像這樣

We would see a shadow of that black hole

我們會看到一個黑洞的影子

against the hundred billion stars

在數千億顆明亮恆星的映襯之下

in the Milky Way Galaxy and its luminous dust lanes.

在銀河系還有許多明亮的塵埃帶中

And if we were to fall towards this black hole,

若我們朝黑洞裡頭掉進去

we would see all of that light lensed around it,

我們會看見受到透鏡作用的光環繞在外層

and we could even start to cross into that shadow

我們甚至開始穿透那個陰影

and really not notice that anything dramatic had happened.

卻並不會真的發現什麼太有戲劇效果的事情

It would be bad if we tried to fire our rockets and get out of there

試圖從黑洞裡發射一顆火箭逃出來並不是個太好的主意

because we couldn't,

因為根本不可行

anymore than light can escape.

連光都逃不掉

But even though the black hole is dark from the outside,

不過雖然黑洞從外面看是漆黑一片

it's not dark on the inside,

內層卻不是黑的

because all of the light from the galaxy can fall in behind us.

因為所有銀河系而來的光都在我們身後掉進來

And even though, due to a relativistic effect known as time dilation,

儘管如此,由於時間膨脹的相對關係

our clocks would seem to slow down

我們的時鐘會慢下來

relative to galactic time,

相對於星系時間

it would look as though the evolution of the galaxy

看起來會好像是銀河系的演化

had been sped up and shot at us,

加速度進行並且正對著我們而來

right before we were crushed to death by the black hole.

然後我們將被黑洞壓碎而死掉

It would be like a near-death experience

很像是個瀕死經驗

where you see the light at the end of the tunnel,

看得見光在隧道末端...

but it's a total death experience.

但這經驗其實會讓你非死不可

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And there's no way of telling anybody

你也沒辦法跟任何人說這個經歷

about the light at the end of the tunnel.

說你看得見光在隧道末端...

Now we've never seen a shadow like this of a black hole,

我們從來沒看見過像這樣的一個黑洞的影子

but black holes can be heard,

但是我們聽得見黑洞

even if they're not seen.

雖然就算看不到

Imagine now taking an astrophysically realistic situation --

想像現在天文物理中有這樣一個現實情境

imagine two black holes that have lived a long life together.

有兩個黑洞在一起,已經過了很久的時間

Maybe they started as stars

也許從它們是恆星的身分開始

and collapsed to two black holes --

然後崩塌為兩個黑洞

each one 10 times the mass of the Sun.

每一個都有太陽質量的十倍大

So now we're going to crush them down to 60 kilometers across.

所以現在我們把它們壓縮為60公里大小

They can be spinning

它們可能在自轉

hundreds of times a second.

以每秒數百次的速度自轉

At the end of their lives,

當它們的恆星生命走到盡頭時

they're going around each other very near the speed of light.

它們以幾乎是光速互繞對方轉

So they're crossing thousands of kilometers

以每秒數千里的速度

in a fraction of a second,

快速移動

and as they do so, they not only curve space,

如此,不只扭曲了空間

but they leave behind in their wake

它們也在所經之處的後方

a ringing of space,

留下一個發出響聲的空間

an actual wave on space-time.

在空時中有一道實際的波

Space squeezes and stretches

太空壓縮也延伸

as it emanates out from these black holes

這些自黑洞中發出來的波

banging on the universe.

敲擊著宇宙

And they travel out into the cosmos

它們朝向宇宙

at the speed of light.

以光速奔去

This computer simulation

這個電腦模擬結果

is due to a relativity group at NASA Goddard.

是由美國航太總署戈達德太空中心的相對論組製作

It took almost 30 years for anyone in the world to crack this problem.

地球上很多人近30年時間都用來解答出這一道題目

This was one of the groups.

戈達德小組是其中之一

It shows two black holes in orbit around each other,

它顯示的情況是兩個黑洞彼此互繞

again, with these helpfully painted curves.

如前述,藉由自然界事先就畫好的曲線

And if you can see -- it's kind of faint --

它們看起來有點暗淡

but if you can see the red waves emanating out,

但你看得見紅色的波向外散射

those are the gravitational waves.

這就是重力波

They're literally the sounds of space ringing,

使太空發出聲響

and they will travel out from these black holes at the speed of light

它們從黑洞裡以光速跑出來

as they ring down and coalesce

震盪並聯合

to one spinning, quiet black hole

合成為一個波,安靜的黑洞

at the end of the day.

在喧囂後重歸寧靜

If you were standing near enough,

倘若你站的距離夠近

your ear would resonate

耳中會回響著

with the squeezing and stretching of space.

空間擠壓和伸展的聲音

You would literally hear the sound.

你會真的聽得見聲音

Now of course, your head would be squeezed and stretched unhelpfully,

當然你的頭也會被壓縮拉長,這是無可避免的

so you might have trouble understanding what's going on.

所以其實你也根本搞不清楚現在是什麼情況

But I'd like to play for you

不過我想播一段這個給你聽

the sound that we predict.

這是我們預測中的聲音

This is from my group --

從我的團隊而來的數據

a slightly less glamorous computer modeling.

我們的電腦計算模型看起來比較沒那麼炫

Imagine a lighter black hole

想像一個質量較輕的小黑洞

falling into a very heavy black hole.

掉進了質量很大的黑洞

The sound you're hearing

你聽見的聲音

is the light black hole banging on space

是小黑洞敲擊著太空

each time it gets close.

每一次的聲音都代表更加靠近

If it gets far away, it's a little too quiet.

越遠會越安靜

But it comes in like a mallet,

但它像是個木槌

and it literally cracks space,

而且實際上它真的是在敲打著空間

wobbling it like a drum.

像鼓一樣的震動

And we can predict what the sound will be.

我們可以預估這個聲音像是什麼

We know that, as it falls in,

我們知道,因為它掉進來

it gets faster and it gets louder.

它愈來愈快也愈來愈大聲

And eventually,

最後

we're going to hear the little guy just fall into the bigger guy.

我們聽見小黑洞掉進大黑洞裡

(Thumping)

(砰砰重擊聲)

Then it's gone.

然後它消失

Now I've never heard it that loud -- it's actually more dramatic.

我從來沒聽過這麼大聲的版本 -- 這樣更富戲劇效果

At home it sounds kind of anticlimactic.

在家裡頭聽它比較像是漸漸沒力

It's sort of like ding, ding, ding.

聽起來只有叮,叮,叮而已

This is another sound from my group.

這裡還有另一個我的團隊所模擬的聲音

No, I'm not showing you any images,

我就不播放影像的部份了

because black holes don't leave behind

因為黑洞並不留下

helpful trails of ink,

有跡可循的脈絡

and space is not painted,

太空中也沒有明顯的

showing you the curves.

告訴你哪裡有一道曲線

But if you were to float by in space on a space holiday

但如果有一天你得到太空之旅的門票,要在太空中漂浮

and you heard this,

聽到這個聲音的時候

you want to get moving.

你就知道該拔腿逃走了

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Want to get away from the sound.

快點遠離這種聲音

Both black holes are moving.

因為兩個黑洞都在移動

Both black holes are getting closer together.

兩個都在朝向對方靠近移動中

In this case, they're both wobbling quite a lot.

這種情況下,它們兩個都震的很厲害

And then they're going to merge.

然後他們將要合併

(Thumping)

(砰砰重擊聲)

Now it's gone.

它沒了

Now that chirp is very characteristic of black holes merging --

最後那個「啾」的一聲是黑洞合併非常具代表性的特色

that it chirps up at the end.

在最後面的那個「啾」聲

Now that's our prediction

這是我們基於我們將會看見景象

for what we'll see.

所做成的假設預估

Luckily we're at this safe distance in Long Beach, California.

很幸運我們是在加州長島,很安全,距離黑洞夠遠

And surely, somewhere in the universe

但我相信在宇宙中必然有某處

two black holes have merged.

兩個黑洞是已經合併

And surely, the space around us

因此,實實在在的講,週遭的太空

is ringing

正在發出聲響

after traveling maybe a million light years, or a million years,

在旅遊了一百萬光年或一百萬年以後

at the speed of light to get to us.

正以光速朝向我們而來

But the sound is too quiet for any of us to ever hear.

但它的聲音太安靜我們沒人聽得到

There are very industrious experiments being built on Earth --

現在地球上有很多相關的實驗正在進行

one called LIGO --

一個叫做LIGO --

which will detect deviations

它可監測偏向

in the squeezing and stretching of space

因空間壓縮和拉長引起的偏向

at less than the fraction of a nucleus of an atom

在四公里範圍內還不到

over four kilometers.

一顆核子或原子大小的偏向

It's a remarkably ambitious experiment,

這是一個極具野心的實驗

and it's going to be at advanced sensitivity

需要非常高的靈敏度

within the next few years -- to pick this up.

在幾年內可以完成一些實驗結果

There's also a mission proposed for space,

還有一個和空間相關的實驗

which hopefully will launch in the next ten years,

可望在未來10年內啟動

called LISA.

稱為LISA計畫

And LISA will be able to see super-massive black holes --

LISA能看見超大質量黑洞

black holes millions or billions of times

這種黑洞是太陽質量

the mass of the Sun.

的百萬倍甚至數十億倍

In this Hubble image, we see two galaxies.

在這張哈伯太空望遠鏡的圖像中,我們看見兩個星系

They look like they're frozen in some embrace.

看起來好像凝結不動

And each one probably harbors

兩個可能都各自擁有

a super-massive black hole at its core.

一個超大質量黑洞在其核心

But they're not frozen;

但其實它們並非凝結不動的

they're actually merging.

它們正在合併中

These two black holes are colliding,

兩個黑洞正在走向相撞的不歸路

and they will merge over a billion-year time scale.

它們將在一段長達數十億年的時程當中完成合併

It's beyond our human perception

這遠超乎人類所能想像

to pick up a song of that duration.

誰能掌握住一個長度如此的歌曲呢

But LISA could see the final stages

但是LISA可以看到最終章

of two super-massive black holes

兩個超大量黑洞命運的最終章

earlier in the universe's history,

從宇宙較早的歷史中去找資料

the last 15 minutes before they fall together.

找到它們最後鄉重前的最後15分鐘

And it's not just black holes,

不僅只是黑洞有聲音而已

but it's also any big disturbance in the universe --

宇宙中任何大擾動也都會有聲音

and the biggest of them all is the Big Bang.

其中最大的就是大霹靂

When that expression was coined, it was derisive --

當這個形容詞首度公開時,引來一陣潮笑

like, "Oh, who would believe in a Big Bang?"

人們說,「大霹靂,怎麼可能真有霹哩啪啦這種事?」

But now it actually might be more technically accurate

不過現在看來「霹靂」一詞技術上還滿正確的

because it might bang.

因為它真的會霹靂

It might make a sound.

它可能真的有聲響

This animation from my friends at Proton Studios

這個動畫是我在Proton Studios的友人所製作

shows looking at the Big Bang from the outside.

顯示從大霹靂外面看大霹靂

We don't ever want to do that actually. We want to be inside the universe

那並不是我們想做的部份;我們想在宇宙以內而非以外

because there's no such thing as standing outside the universe.

因為根本沒有所謂的站在宇宙以外的這種事

So imagine you're inside the Big Bang.

現在假設你身處在大霹靂裡面

It's everywhere, it's all around you,

大霹靂四圍環繞你

and the space is wobbling chaotically.

空間混亂的抖動

Fourteen billion years pass

經過140億年

and this song is still ringing all around us.

而這首歌仍在我們四圍餘音繞樑

Galaxies form,

星系形成

and generations of stars form in those galaxies,

恆星在星系中形成,並且世代交替

and around one star,

而在一顆恆星旁

at least one star,

至少有一顆這樣的恆星旁邊

is a habitable planet.

有一顆可適合人類居住的行星

And here we are frantically building these experiments,

所以我們在地球上進行這些瘋狂的實驗

doing these calculations, writing these computer codes.

進行這些運算,編寫這些電腦程式

Imagine a billion years ago,

想像10億年前的事

two black holes collided.

想像兩顆黑洞相撞

That song has been ringing through space

這首歌穿越時空而來

for all that time.

長長的時空

We weren't even here.

它來自我們不存在之處

It gets closer and closer --

越靠越近

40,000 years ago, we're still doing cave paintings.

4萬年前我們還在山洞裡畫壁畫

It's like hurry, build your instruments.

某處傳來一種催促聲說,快點建造你的儀器!

It's getting closer and closer, and in 20 ...

時空之歌愈來愈近,走進了21世紀

whatever year it will be

無論是哪一年

when our detectors are finally at advanced sensitivity --

當我們的探測器終於夠精確靈敏

we'll build them, we'll turn on the machines

這些儀器會被建造起來,我們總會讓它開工運作

and, bang, we'll catch it -- the first song from space.

然後,我們會收聽到這首來自太初的大霹靂之歌

If it was the Big Bang we were going to pick up,

如果我們真要收聽大霹靂之歌

it would sound like this.

這就會是它聽起來像什麼樣子

(Static) It's a terrible sound.

(靜電聲) 這聲音挺恐怖

It's literally the definition of noise.

這根本是噪音

It's white noise; it's such a chaotic ringing.

這是白色噪音,聽起來失序混亂的聲音

But it's around us everywhere, presumably,

但它就在我們四周,假設

if it hasn't been wiped out

如果到目前為止它都還沒被消音

by some other process in the universe.

假設宇宙未曾發生任何變化過程而使它消失

And if we pick it up, it will be music to our ears

然後我們接收到這首歌,耳中聽起來像歌

because it will be the quiet echo

因為它會像是安靜的迴音

of that moment of our creation,

來自創世的那一分那一秒

of our observable universe.

在我們能觀測的這個宇宙中

So within the next few years,

接下來的幾年

we'll be able to turn up the soundtrack a little bit,

可能的話,我們可把音量調大

render the universe in audio.

把宇宙轉譯為聲音

But if we detect those earliest moments,

但如果接受到起初的聲音

it'll bring us that much closer

它將會帶我們

to an understanding of the Big Bang,

更了解大霹靂

which brings us that much closer

使我們更能

to asking some of the hardest, most elusive, questions.

問一些「大哉問」:

If we run the movie of our universe backwards,

如果宇宙電影可以倒著播

we know that there was a Big Bang in our past,

我們知道過去曾有一個大霹靂

and we might even hear the cacophonous sound of it,

我們甚至聽得見這個不和諧的聲音

but was our Big Bang the only Big Bang?

究竟這個大霹靂是唯一的大霹靂嗎?

I mean we have to ask, has it happened before?

我們必須要問,還是它以前也曾發生過?

Will it happen again?

還會再發生嗎?

I mean, in the spirit of rising to TED's challenge

依循TED的精神宗旨及挑戰

to reignite wonder,

我們要將「好奇心重新點燃」

we can ask questions, at least for this last minute,

所以要在最後不多的時間裡問

that honestly might evade us forever.

我們永遠都在逃避

But we have to ask:

但又不得不問的問題

Is it possible that our universe

有無可能我們的宇宙,在時間上

is just a plume off of some greater history?

只不過是一棵歷史大樹上小小的枝枒?

Or, is it possible that we're just a branch off of a multiverse --

又或者,我們該不會是多元宇宙的一小部份而已 --

each branch with its own Big Bang in its past --

而每個小部份都來自一個大霹靂的過去 --

maybe some of them with black holes playing drums,

也許其中有些有黑洞在敲著鼓聲

maybe some without --

有些沒有 --

maybe some with sentient life, and maybe some without --

有些是具有敏銳感覺,有些沒有

not in our past, not in our future,

不在過去,不在未來

but somehow fundamentally connected to us?

但奇妙的卻和我們在基本上相扣相連?

So we have to wonder, if there is a multiverse,

所以我們必須設想,如果有多元宇宙

in some other patch of that multiverse,

在那個宇宙的某一方塊

are there creatures?

會有生物嗎?

Here's my multiverse creatures.

來自平行宇宙的生物就在這邊...

Are there other creatures in the multiverse,

在多元宇宙裡會有其他生物

wondering about us

也正在揣測關於我們的一切

and wondering about their own origins?

或許也正在揣測他們自己的起源?

And if they are,

若果真如此

I can imagine them as we are,

想像它們是和我們一樣

calculating, writing computer code,

也計算,也用電腦寫計算程式

building instruments,

也在建造尖端儀器

trying to detect that faintest sound

試圖偵測到微弱不明的聲音

of their origins

來自不同起源的聲音

and wondering who else is out there.

也在猜想著,那邊有人嗎

Thank you. Thank you.

謝謝各位.謝謝.

(Applause)

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