(单词翻译:单击)
I've lost count of how many times I've had to say this, but, spoiler alert: we did not find aliens.
我已经记不清自己说了多少次了，但先剧透一下：我们没发现外星人。
Ever get a missed call from a blocked number? It's the most frustrating thing.
你有没有看到过被封号码的未接电话？这是最令人沮丧的事情了。
Maybe it was just a scammer, but it could also have been someone you actually wanted to talk to.
或许它只是一个骗子，但它也可能是你真正想与之交谈的人。
And you might never find out who it was.
你可能永远不会知道它是谁。
Now imagine if that missed call came from an alien star system.
现在想象一下，如果那个未接电话来自外星星系会怎么样呢？
That's what happened to a group of researchers from the University of Puerto Rico,
这就是波多黎各大学的一组研究人员遇到的问题。
and when they announced it a couple weeks ago, it started a furious hunt for the source.
他们几周前宣布它时，开始疯狂地寻找源头。
The team was using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to study some nearby stars when they picked up a really weird signal...
这个小组收到一个相当奇怪的信号时，他们正使用波多黎各的阿雷西博天文台研究附近的几颗星球。
which they called the "Weird! Signal", because astronomers are creative that way.
他们称它为“奇怪的信号”，说明天文学家还是有创造性的。
For radio telescopes like Arecibo, strange signals aren't all that rare.
对于像阿雷西博这样的电波望远镜来说，收到奇怪的信号并不是那么罕见。
Lots of things emit radio waves that can interfere with measurements, from microwave ovens to air traffic control radar.
从微波炉到空中交通管制雷达，很多东西都会发射电波干扰测量。
That's why we tend to build big radio telescopes out in the middle of nowhere.
这就是我们在无人区建造大型无线电望远镜的原因。
But this signal was especially unusual.
但这个信号非同寻常。
For one thing, it seemed to come from a single spot in the sky, in the same direction as a red dwarf star called Ross 128.
首先，它似乎来自天空中的一个地方，与一颗叫“罗斯128号”的红矮星方向相同。
The signal also showed what's known as dispersion, meaning that the frequency of the signal changed over time.
信号也显示出所谓的分散，即信号的频率随着时间而改变。
There were a few possible explanations for the "Weird! Signal": One was that the signal was coming from the star itself.
对于这个“奇怪的信号”有几种假设：一个是信号来自恒星本身。
Red dwarfs are some of the most dynamic stars in the galaxy, so maybe this was just a way they emit radio waves that we've never seen before.
红矮星是银河系中最具活力的恒星之一，所以这也许只是我们从未见过的一种无线电波发射方式。
It could have also been some strange activity from something else along the telescope's line of sight,
从望远镜的视野看，它也可能是其他星球的一些奇怪活动，
either in front of or behind the star, that we couldn't see.
不管是在恒星前还是恒星后，我们都看不到。
The third main possibility was that the signal didn't come from deep space at all,
第三种可能性是这个信号根本不是来自于外太空，
and we were just seeing some interference from a satellite.
我们只是看到了卫星的干扰。
Problem is, none of those explanations fit perfectly.
问题是，没有一种解释是完美的。
Which is why a lot of people latched onto the other option,
这就是许多人对其他选择感兴趣的原因。
the one that astronomers don't like to bring up too much because people tend to get carried away: It could be aliens.
有一个因为人们倾向于被带走，所以天文学家不喜欢太多提到的可能：它可能是外星人。
For the research team, that was always at the bottom of the list, probability-wise.
对于研究团队来说，这个可能是保底的，几率很小。
In theory, anything we see in space that we can't explain could be caused by aliens.
理论上，我们在太空看到的所有无法解释的东西都可能是外星人引起的。
But astronomers have discovered a lot of unexpected things over the years, and so far aliens have never been the answer.
但多年来，天文学家们发现了很多意想不到的东西，到目前为止，答案从来都不是外星人。
But you know the internet.
你知道互联网吧。
An astronomer says the words "extraterrestrial life" and suddenly there are headlines about how we've discovered little green people.
一位天文学家说了“extraterrestrial life”（外星生命）的词，突然间，有关于我们如何发现绿色小人们的头条新闻就登了出来。
So, while social media and the more tabloidy side of the internet was collectively freaking out,
于是，社交媒体和越来越多的互联网小报开始大肆渲染，
astronomers around the world started using other telescopes to look at Ross 128.
世界各地的天文学家开始使用其他望远镜观察“罗斯128号”。
The first results are in and surprise: it's not aliens.
人们都倾向第一个结果，但出人意外的是:它不是外星人。
The signals probably coming from geostationary satellites:
这个信号可能来自于地球同步卫星
satellites that orbit with the Earth's rotation so they stay at the same point in the sky all the time.
地球同步卫星是绕着地球旋转的卫星，所以它们一直停在天空中的同一点上。
These satellites tend to hang out at the Earth's equator, which is exactly where the astronomers pointed their telescope to observe Ross 128.
这些卫星常常在地球赤道附近逗留，这与天文学家们用望远镜观测“罗斯128号”的地方完全相同。
That explains why astronomers only saw the signal while they were looking at that one star.
这就解释了为什么天文学家在观测星星时，只看到了信号。
Geostationary satellites also use similar frequencies to the ones detected, so it all make sense.
地球同步卫星也使用了类似于被检测到的频率，所以这一切就都明了了。
But there's still one thing researchers aren't totally sure how to explain: that weird dispersion effect.
但仍有一点研究人员没十足把握解释得清楚：那就是奇怪的分散效果。
Normally, signals from satellites don't change frequencies in that kind of pattern.
正常情况下，卫星信号不会以那种方式改变频率。
The original Puerto Rican team thinks the dispersion might come from the radio waves reflecting somehow,
最初的波多黎各团队认为，这种分散可能来自于某种反射的无线电波，
but they'll need more time to figure out exactly what's going on.
但他们需要更多时间来弄清楚到底发生了什么。
Meanwhile, we'll have to hunt for E.T. somewhere else.
与此同时，我们必须在别的地方寻找外星人。
But the "Weird! Signal" isn't the only weird thing that happened recently.
但“奇怪的信号”不是最近发生的唯一一件奇异的事。
Last week, Elon Musk said that he's pretty sure SpaceX's new Falcon Heavy rocket will explode during its first test launch, which is supposed to happen later this year.
上周，埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)说，他很确定SpaceX公司的“新猎鹰重型”火箭将在今年晚些时候的首次试射中爆炸。
Once it's up and running, the Falcon Heavy will be the company's first heavy-duty launcher and the most powerful rocket in the world.
一旦它开始运行，“猎鹰重型”将成为该公司第一枚重型发射装置和世界上最强大的火箭。
And they fully expect this giant rocket to explode the first time they try launching it.
他们完全预料到这枚巨型火箭将会在第一次发射时爆炸。
No big. But it does kind of make sense.
失败也没关系，人们也很清楚它的不易。
Creating the Falcon Heavy has been a long road.
制造“猎鹰重型”火箭的道路很漫长。
SpaceX originally wanted it to be ready by 2013, but four years later it hasn't even been test-launched yet.
SpaceX公司最初想在2013年制造完成它，但四年过去了，它还没进行试飞。
Part of the problem is that the rocket's design is tricky: it's basically three of the company's smaller Falcon 9 rockets duct-taped together.
一部分问题是火箭设计很棘手，它基本上是该公司的三枚小型“猎鹰9号”火箭组合在一起。
Since SpaceX has been flying the Falcon 9 for years, you might think it would be an easy transition; Musk himself admitted as much.
因为SpaceX公司多年来一直在飞“猎鹰9号”，你可能认为这会是简单的转变，马斯克自己也这样认为。
But it turns out that a rocket with 27 engines is a lot different than one with nine.
但事实这证明带有27个引擎的火箭与带有9个引擎的火箭很不同。
For the Falcon Heavy to fly straight, all 27 need to be operating in perfectly unison, but that's not the only challenge.
要想“猎鹰重型”火箭直线飞行，所有27个引擎都要完美地同步运作，但挑战不止这一个。
All those extra engines also mean a ton of extra vibration and a lot more physical stress,
所有这些额外的引擎也意味着额外的振动和更多的物理压力，
so SpaceX engineers have had to totally redesign the main body of the rocket to keep it from ripping apart.
因此，SpaceX公司的工程师们不得不重新设计火箭的主体，以防止火箭撕裂。
They're also planning to start pairs of engines a few milliseconds after each other,
他们还计划开启一对引擎的几秒后启动下一对引擎，
because the force from all those engines starting up at once could warp the rocket's structure.
因为来自所有引擎启动的力量一次就会使火箭的结构变形。
So there are a lot of complicated challenges and new designs with this rocket,
所以这枚火箭有很多复杂的挑战和新的设计，
and the only way to find out if it actually works is to fly it.
找到它能工作的唯一方法就是让它飞起来。
And odds are at least one of the things they're trying isn't going to work. Which means the rocket will blow up.
他们尝试的事情中至少有一件事是行不通的，这意味着火箭会爆炸。
Musk says he just hopes the explosion happens long enough after lift off to keep it from damaging the launchpad, too.
马斯克说他只希望火箭起飞很久后才会爆炸，这样可以防止它破坏发射台。
But even if the rocket explodes, the data from the test will help engineers figure out what they need to fix.
但即使火箭爆炸了，测试数据也会帮助工程师找出他们需要解决的问题。
Plus, if a rocket's going to explode, you definitely want it to happen during the testing phase, and not afterward when it's flying actual missions.
另外，如果火箭要爆炸，你肯定希望它在测试阶段发生，而不是在飞行任务结束后发生。
And it's worth the effort: once the kinks are worked out,
这是值得付出努力的:一旦成功了，
the Falcon Heavy will be able to launch more than four times as much as the Falcon 9.
“猎鹰重型”将比“猎鹰9号”发射得多三倍。
That's a big deal for companies looking to fly bigger satellites, and it might be an even bigger deal for exploring the solar system.
对于那些想要运载更大卫星的公司来说，这是一件大事，甚至对于探索太阳系更重要。
A more powerful rocket can go farther and faster, and it can also carry more,
一枚更强大的火箭可以飞得更远更快，能运载得也更多，
which would allow scientists to include more instruments on future missions.
这将便于科学家在未来的任务中使用更多的仪器。
But first, there might be a few explosions.
但首先，它可能会有一些爆炸。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Space News!
感谢您收看本期的太空科学秀！
The Great American Solar Eclipse is just three weeks away,
还有三个星期就会出现伟大的美国日食，
and if you're looking for a safe way to see it, you can check out our SciShow pinhole projector card at dftba.com/scishow!
如果你正在寻找一个安全方法去看它，你可以在dftba.com/scishow上查看我们的针孔投影仪哦！
