科学美国人60秒:碎陨石是如何凝聚成”1950DA” 小行星的?
日期:2014-09-02 15:29

(单词翻译:单击)

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中英文本

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From the depths of space, an asteroid hurtles toward Earth. (Well, our general vicinity.)But this is no ordinary hunk of galactic debris. Because the body of this asteroid seems to defy gravity. It's bound by forces never observed on this scale in space.

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在太空深处,一颗小行星急速驶向地球6vFPd19R2VsW~H|。(当然,只是驶向与我们大致邻近的区域uB6A#nPuUl]D,-TCe。)这可不是块普通的银河碎片w@&][kg~~vf#hN_8w)(。因为这颗行星天体似乎不受地心引力的作用)~=UIBD1FZrv5。它所受的凝聚力在这片太空区域中可谓前所未有wcKqB3nF~,~Ofg0~

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That's not the plot of a new summer blockbuster. It's the result of a study in the journal Nature.

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这不是暑期大片里的一个桥段,而是《自然》杂志中发表的一项研究结论-Px9z7fu^h.&fS[.

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The asteroid in question is actually a kilometer-sized collection of rubble. In most cases, such space — faring pebble piles are held together by a combination of gravity and friction. But not so for our rocky interloper, dubbed "1950 DA." This asteroid is rotating so rapidly that its pieces should have flung apart long ago.

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这个神秘的小行星事实上是个大小为一公里的碎石堆=VNqT9YCN,#q@S!o。通常,这种遨游在太空中的碎石堆是通过重力和摩擦力聚合在一起的gY3c.;!=1F7e_。但我们眼前这个被命名为“1950 DA”的入侵者却不是(as|]C%BO35^B!Y,O~。它旋转得如此迅速,其中的碎石块应该早被甩掉了才对;ze(L9aYXht

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Now, by analyzing the 1950 DA's temperature and density, researchers conclude that cohesive forces called van der Waals attractions must be keeping the pieces clustered. Van der Waals forces may sound mysterious, but they're well known on the small scale for their weak influence within and between molecules.

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通过分析1950 DA的温度和密度,研究人员得出这样的结论:使得碎石块凝聚在一起的肯定是范德华引力2SDvww,+jPNx]=h*;。范德华引力听起来可能有点令人费解,它因能在小范围内对分子或分子间起微小作用而闻名]Ix;vxK1EptfX-_GR9q(

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Blasting the asteroid, Hollywood style, could overcome these forces. But that might leave us with hundreds of smaller killer space rocks to dodge. The good news is, the asteroid won't be in our area until 2880. So we have some time to figure it out.

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将小行星爆破?——好莱坞大片的一贯作风,兴许能摆脱这些引力xCQeXcL2DFt3S。但这样一来,我们得躲避数以百计掉落下来的致命陨石yY+qL12(|L-W。值得高兴的是,该小行星到2880后才会远离地球M=S~q[IU]*oH[@tR~5b。所以我们还有一些时间来找出答案2tl#|lc-2V~,FF[=UO]Y

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词语解释

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1.galactic debris银河碎片

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Scientists are searching for some kind of galactic debris.

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科学家正在寻找某种银河碎片%JwoNtR-wt4

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2.cohesive forces凝聚力

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The Buluotuo's culture has strong cohesive forces.

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布洛陀文化具有强大的凝聚力p&K[RZ[+*ug_H;V(I.

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3. Van der Waals forces 范德华引力

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If you can make van der Waals forces work for you, as Cutkosky has, you can climb nearly any surface. One secret behind it is directional adhesion, and, as Cutkosky points out, geckos have it.

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如果你可以用范德华力做功,就想库考特斯基那样,那么你几乎可以爬上任何表面RZTfHtt6UHQ!r3GU

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重点单词
  • overcomevt. 战胜,克服,(感情等)压倒,使受不了 vi. 获
  • collectionn. 收集,收取,聚集,收藏品,募捐
  • scalen. 鳞,刻度,衡量,数值范围 v. 依比例决定,攀登
  • plotn. 阴谋,情节,图,(小块)土地, v. 绘图,密谋,
  • defyvt. 反抗,藐视,挑衅
  • dodgev. 避开,躲避 n. 躲避
  • pebblen. 鹅卵石 n. 水晶,水晶透镜 v. 用卵石铺,用卵
  • adhesionn. 支持;粘附;固守
  • mysteriousadj. 神秘的,不可思议的
  • densityn. 密集,密度,透明度