(单词翻译:单击)
You're not supposed to worry about how the clocks got set, right, they just did get set.
大家一般不会操心钟表里面是怎么设置的,因为都已经给大家设置好了 。
When everything's working properly and I'm doing my job, you don't know anything about it.
当我做着我的分内之事,一切正常,大家就不会去想这个问题 。
Are you wearing a watch? Yeah, I don't wear a watch because it's too compulsive.
你戴表吗?噢,不戴,因为戴表会让人上瘾 。
That's Judah Levine.
这位是Judah Levine 。
It makes you look at the watch all the time and you kind of go a little crazy.
戴表你就会不停地看表,甚至变得狂躁 。
His nickname is literally the Nation's Time Lord.
他有一个绰号,“美国时间领主”
I mean, that comes from Dr. Who, if you've ever watched Dr. Who. I don't remember who made me the Time Lord.
我知道,这个外号来源于《神秘博士》,如果你看过这部剧的话 。我不记得是谁给我起的这个外号了 。
I think it's unfair to all my colleagues.
但我觉得这对我的同事来说是不公平的 。
Do you have a Tardis? Uh no, I don't have a Tardis. Only Dr. Who has a Tardis.
你有时间机器吗?噢,没有,我没有时间机器 。神秘博士才有时间机器 。
Okay fair enough, but there's a reason he got that nickname.
嗯,有道理,但大家给他起这个外号不是没有理由的 。
Judah's job is to officially keep time standard.
Judah的职责就是维护时间的标准 。
He works here at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
他在国家标准技术研究所工作 。
It's a government agency that maintains standards of all quantities, such as length, speed, and, well...Time.
这是一个维护包括长度、速度以及时间在内所有度量的标准的政府机关 。
In the old days, which means like 100 years ago, time was something that was astronomical.
过去,也就是大约100年前,时间还是一个天文学概念 。
It was sunrise, or sunset or noon or whatever.
时间就是日升日落,诸如此类的东西 。
In the more modern era, time is something defined by a ton of clocks, which provide a very stable reference frequency.
在现代社会,时间是各个钟表定义的东西,而钟表能够为时间提供一个稳定的参考频率 。
Atomic clocks are the most accurate way to tell time on earth.
自动时钟是世界上计量时间最精确的工具 。
45 years ago, Judah and a team of scientists at NIST developed a system for the atomic clock that tracks time more accurately than ever before in the U.S.,
45年前,Judah等国家标准技术研究所的科学家研究出了一套记录时间精度空前的自动时钟系统,
linking all phones, power grids, financial markets, you name it.
从而将所有的手机、电网、金融市场一网打通 。
Every day he checks to make sure the systems are calibrated, ensuring that time is right on schedule.
他每天都会检查,确保这些系统按照标准运行,确保时间准时准点 。
These are the atomic clocks, this is the real stuff.
这些就是自动时钟,货真价实的自动时钟 。
What if we switched off the atomic clock. What if it just stops working?
要是把自动时钟关掉或者它们自己停了会怎么样,
Uh, certainly cell phones systems stop pretty much right away.
嗯,手机的时钟系统肯定会马上瘫痪 。
The internet stops pretty quickly.
网络也会很快崩溃 。
High end tech stuff would suffer very quickly.
高技术产品不久也会瘫痪 。
But that's probably not gonna happen.
但这种情况基本上不会发生 。
There are 400 atomic clocks in many timing laboratories.
各大计时实验室里总共有400个自动时钟 。
I don't think we're ever going to intentionally switch off all of the atomic clocks.
我想,我们基本上永远不会人为关掉这些自动时钟 。
That's an unthinkable event.
那时想都不敢想的事情 。
If you say so, Judah.
你说是就是吧,Judah,
After, all, you're the only reason we all know what time it is.
毕竟,就是因为有你,我们才能知道时间是什么 。