宇宙充满了壮观的景色 The Universe is full of breathtaking sights,
透过强大的望远镜 glimpsed through powerful telescopes.
然而我们究竟能否一游这些奇景 But will we ever travel to these places of wonder
亲眼一睹它们呢？ and see them with our own eyes?
现在科学家正在设计曲速引擎 Now scientists are designing warp drives,
学习如何去撬开虫洞 learning how to pry open wormholes,
寻找宇宙结构上的缝隙 and looking for cracks in the fabric of the Cosmos.
为了将整个宇宙纳入我们的掌控之中 To bring the entire Universe within our grasp,
他们必须打破物理学的基本定律 they must break a fundamental law of physics.
我们能够跑得比光还快么？ Can we travel faster than light?
科学频道 - 穿越虫洞 2x08 Science.Channel - Through the Wormhole 2x08
空间 时间 生命本身 Space,time,life itself.
宇宙的秘密，尽在穿越虫洞 The secrets of the cosmos lie Through the Wormhole.
我们能够跑得比光还快么？ Can We Travel Faster Than Light?
人类一直在凝视群星 Humans have always gazed up at the stars.
几千年来 For thousands of years,
我们以为它们近如日月 - we thought they were as close as the Sun and the Moon --
几乎近到触手可及 almost close enough to reach out and touch.
但现在我们知道了宇宙有多浩瀚 But now we know just how vast the Universe is.
最近的恒星有约25万亿英里那么远 The closest star is about 25 trillion miles away.
我们今天最快的飞船 The fastest spacecraft we have today
要花上1万多年才能到达那里 would take more than 10,000 years to get there.
要成为真正的宇宙公民 To become true citizens of the cosmos,
我们就得做一些物理学宣称不可能的事情 we have to do something that physics says is impossible.
我们得跑得比光束还快 We have to travel faster than a beam of light.
小时候 我喜欢呆在密西西比的夜空下 As a child,l loved to be out under the Mississippi night sky,
在篝火旁取暖 warming myself by a campfire.
我会几个小时盯着舞动的火焰 l'd spend hours staring at the dancing flames.
这个火光究竟为何物？ What was this light made of?
我困惑于它怎么会看似固体 l wondered how it could seem solid
却又消失得无影无踪 but then vanish into nothingness.
肖恩.卡罗尔是一位理论物理学家 Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist
来自加州理工学院 from the California lnstitute of Technology.
光的神秘属性让他思绪飞扬 The mysterious nature of light gets his mind racing.
光的速度是每秒18.6万英里 The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second,
即每小时6.7亿英里 or 670 million miles per hour.
没有什么跑得比光速快 Nothing goes faster than the speed of light.
那其实是宇宙间所有东西的 lt really is the maximum speed limit
最高限速 for everything in the Universe.
弗里曼：光速比音速要快百万倍 Light travels a million times faster than sound.
其速度之快 绕地球转7圈… lt's fast enough to circle the Earth seven times...
…就一秒钟 ...in just one second.
但是光的神秘之深奥 But the mystery of light
远超过其惊人的速度 goes much deeper than its breathtaking speed.
其运动的方式不同于 The way it moves is different
宇宙间所有的东西 from everything else in the Universe.
卡罗尔：我们暂时要假装 We're gonna pretend for the moment
我不是个守法公民 that l am not a respectable citizen
要乱抛垃圾了 and would do a little bit of littering.
我们要加速我的车子 We're gonna add the velocity of my car,
这是30英里的时速 which is 30 miles an hour,
如果我往同一个方向 and if l throw this Slurpee
以20英里的时速抛出这个思乐冰 in the same direction at 20 miles an hour,
因为这是个司空见惯的日常事件 since this is an ordinary,everyday event,
思乐冰的总速度 the total velocity of the Slurpee
实际上要达到每小时50英里了 is actually going to be 50 miles per hour.
如果我以30英里时速倒车 lf l'm going backwards at 30 miles an hour
我以20英里时速抛出思乐冰 and l throw the Slurpee forward at 20,
路人会看到思乐冰 someone on the road will see the Slurpee
以10英里时速往后退去 move backwards at 10 miles an hour.
弗里曼：肖恩的车速 The speed of Sean's car
改变了他饮料的速度 changes the velocity of his beverage.
然而光并不遵守 But light doesn't abide by the same laws
支配冷饮的同样的规则 that govern cold drinks.
我们车上射出一束光 When l push a beam of light out of the car,
其总速度一直就是光的速度 the total velocity is always the speed of light.
光被视为以同样的速度在运动 Light would be seen to be moving at the same speed
不管我的汽车在干嘛 no matter what my car was doing.
你不能将光速加在车速上 You don't add the speed of light to the speed of the car.
光速一直就是光速 The speed of light is always the speed of light.
弗里曼：光运动的这些奇怪的规则 These strange rules for how light moves
启迪了爱因斯坦 inspired Albert Einstein
重写了宇宙的基本定律 to rewrite the basic laws of the Universe.
他意识到空间与时间不是固定和绝对的 He realized that space and time were not fixed and absolute
而是有联系和相对的 but connected and relevant.
一个想法 lt was an idea
引出了史上最著名的方程式 - that led to the most famous equation in history --
E等于MC的平方 "E" equals "MC" squared.
卡罗尔：时间和空间 Time and space
实际上都属于一个基本的东西 are really part of one underlying thing
叫做时空 called space-time,
你如何把时空分割成时间与空间 and how you divide up space-time into time and space
取决于你如何运动 depends on how you're moving.
这样就有了各种推论 So there's various corollaries of that.
一旦爱因斯坦认识到了时间与空间是一回事了 Once Einstein realized that time and space were the same thing,
他也就认识到了能量与质量是一回事了 he realized that energy and mass are the same thing.
弗里曼：E等于MC的平方 "E" equals "MC" squared
意味着你注入火箭的能量越多 implies that the more energy you inject into a rocket,
它所得到的质量就越大 the more mass it gains,
也就越庞大 其加速也就越困难 and the more massive it is,the harder it is to accelerate.
将它提升到光速是不可能的 Boosting it to the speed of light is impossible
因为 在这个过程中 because,in the process,
火箭将会变得无比庞大 the rocket would become infinitely massive.
它用来加速的能量 The energy it takes to accelerate
一再增加 increases and increases
才能让你逐步接近光速 as you come closer to the speed of light.
原则上 你如果想跑到光速 lf,in principle,you wanted to go the speed of light,
你就需要无限的能量 you need an infinite amount of energy
来加速到那么快 to accelerate you that fast.
亦即你会有越来越多的能量 Or you're gonna get more and more energy,
但是你不会得到更高的速度 but you're not going to get that much more speed.
弗里曼：相对论让光成为了我们的亦敌亦友 Relativity makes light both our friend and foe.
其巨大的速度让我们瞬间进行 lts tremendous speed lets us communicate
地球上任意两点间的通讯 between any two points on Earth almost instantaneously.
另一方面 On the other hand,
因为我们的速度永远都不能超过光 because we can never move faster than light,
我们就滞留在太阳系里了 we're stranded in the solar system,
恒星实在是遥不可及了 with the stars impossibly far away.
此人认为他能够帮助我们逃离我们的宇宙牢狱 This man believes he can help us escape our cosmic prison.
他认为他找到了方法去弯曲爱因斯坦的规则 He think he's found a way to bend Einstein's rules
让我们去造访群星 and allow us to reach the stars.
米给尔.阿库别瑞 墨西哥城里的物理学家 Miguel Alcubierre,a physicist in Mexico City,
发明了曲速引擎 has invented the warp drive.
曲速引擎是一种从一地到另一地的方法 The warp drive is a way to get from one place to another
完全不同于我们通常所用的方法 that's very different from the way we normally do it.
通常 我们只是游走在空间里 So,normally we just move through space
如走路 飞行等等 like we walk,or we fly,or whatever,
然而曲速引擎 其想法是利用空间 but the warp drive,the idea is to use space,
让空间运动 to let space do the motion.
弗里曼：米给尔的想法源自 Miguel's idea stems from another aspect
爱因斯坦相对论的另一面 - of Einstein's theory of relativity --
即空间的形状可以被质量或能量所扭曲 that the shape of space can be distorted by mass or energy.
所以 基本思路是你扩张你身后的空间 So,the basic idea is you expand space behind you,
那实际上让你更进一步远离 which actually makes you even further away
你身后的那些物体 from those objects behind you,
同时你压缩你前面的空间 and you contract space in front of you,
越来越接近你前面的物体 getting closer to the objects in front of you.
然而你根本就没动 But you don't move at all.
假设这是一艘飞船 Assume that this is a spaceship.
通常 你得飞越那样的空间 Normally,you would have to fly through space like that,
你无法做到速度超过光速 and you cannot do this faster than the speed of light.
然而取而代之的是 让我们压缩这里的空间 But instead of that,let us contract space here
扩张这里 像这样 and expand it here,like this.
这样 你看 现在这飞船 So,you see,now the spaceship
在逐步靠近这边而远离那边 is getting closer to this side and further away from that side.
然而相对周围的物体 Bur it's actually not moving at all
它其实根本就没动 with respect to the objects around it.
弗里曼：米给尔想法之美 The beauty of Miguel's idea
就在于飞船实际上 is that the spaceship actually stands still
在时空泡里原地没动 inside the bubble of space-time.
因为它没动 所以它没有增加任何质量 Since it's not moving,it doesn't gain any mass.
你实际上能够跑出任何速度 You can actually go at any speed,
因为不存在物理学定律的限制 because there's no limit in the laws of physics
那就告诉你 你可以翘曲空间有多快 that tells you how fast you can warp space,
你可以扩张或压缩空间有多快 how fast you can expand or contract space.
你可以随心所欲达到任何速度 You can do it at any speed you want.
弗里曼：米给尔的曲速引擎是一个巧妙的方法 Miguel's warp drive is an ingenious way
绕开了爱因斯坦的宇宙速度极限 around Einstein's cosmic speed limit.
不过它还是理论上的 But it's still theoretical,
缺少一个关键的要素 - and lacks one crucial ingredient --
一种奇怪的物质 叫做负能量 an ex otic substance called negative energy,
许多科学家甚至都无把握存在的东西 something that many scientists aren't even sure exists.
但是有一个人确信有负能量 But one man does believe in negative energy.
他甚至声称他在自己的实验室里创造出来了 He even claims he's created it in his lab.
曲速引擎 The warp drive.
听起来好像是科幻 lt sounds like science fiction,
但在翘曲的空间泡泡中穿行在 but the idea of surfing across the Universe
整个宇宙间的想法 in a warping bubble of space
对爱因斯坦来说完全说得通 would make perfect sense to Einstein.
有一个障碍 There is one snag.
曲速引擎只能靠 A warp drive can only function
一个神秘的能源来运作 - with a mysterious power source --
负能量 negative energy.
如今 大多数科学家认为负能量 And today,most scientists believe negative energy
只是一个未经证实的理论性概念 is just an unproven theoretical concept.
然而 斯蒂夫.拉蒙诺 耶鲁大学的原子物理学家 But Steve Lamoreaux,an atomic physicist at Yale University,
他立志要追查出此种奇怪的能量 has made it his mission to track down this ex otic form of energy,
他认为答案就在我们身边 and he believes the answer is all around us
在空间本身的构造中 in the fabric of space itself.
我们通常将真空的空间 We normally think of the vacuum of space
看作是空无一物 as being completely empty,
然而事实上 真空中有能量密度 but,in fact,there is energy density in empty space,
我们将其称之为空间的零点能 and we call that the zero-point energy of space.
弗里曼：量子力学说 The theory of quantum mechanics
预言真空空间其实始终是波光粼粼 predicts that empty space is actually constantly shimmering
那是现实中此起彼落的粒子 with microscopic pulses of energy
所产生的微量能量脉冲 as particles pop in and out of existence.
为了产生负能量 To make negative energy,
你就得找到方法去抑制此种无休无止的震颤 you have to find a way to suppress this constant chatter.
斯蒂夫意识到要做到这一点的方法 Steve realized the way to do this
就在于改变空间的形态 was to change the shape of space.
拉蒙诺：有一个很好的比喻 There's a nice analogy.
你如果有两条船在狂涛骇浪之中 lf you have two ships on a rough ocean,
一条船就会反射出它所产生的波浪 one ship will kind of reflect waves from it.
另一条也会做同样的事情 The other one does the same thing.
两条船之间的波浪密度相对 So the wave density between the two ships is a little bit less
一条船置身于波浪中要小一点 compared to one by itself which is surrounded by a rough sea.
所以说 你将两条船放在波浪之中 So,you put two ships on a rough sea,
它们会相互吸引 走到一起 they'll be mutually attracted,and they'll come together.
弗里曼：斯蒂夫推断如果他在真空中 Steve reasoned that if he created
创造出一个足够窄的地带 a narrow-enough region of empty space
如这两条船之间的区域 like the area between the two ships,
那么某些波光粼粼的零点能 then some of the shimmering zero-point energy
就不会在里头了 would not fit inside it.
狭窄地带外面的真空能量 The energy of empty space outside the narrow region
会较为强大 迫使其收缩 would be stronger and force it to shrink.
那个力量就是负能量的标记 That force would be the signature of negative energy,
斯蒂夫着手在其实验室里创造它 and Steve set out to create it in his lab.
就是这个想法消耗了 lt was an idea that would consume him
他十余年光阴 for more than a decade.
我们称这个实验为“时间机器” We call the experiment "The Time Machine."
眼下是时间机器2 Actually,the "Time Machine 2."
这是实验的第二版 This is the second version of the experiment.
我们这样说是因为我的15年人生 We call it that because l invested 15 years of my life
投入到了这个实验里了 in this measurement.
大量的时间 That's a lot of time.
所以 它是费时机器 更准确地说吧 So,it's a time-wasting machine,more accurately defined.
弗里曼：这个真空室里 lnside this vacuum chamber
放有两块小金属板 are two small metal plates
彼此相距不超过 sitting less than the width of a human hair
人的头发的宽度 apart from one another.
为了让它们如此接近又不触及 To get them that close and not touch,
金属板得非常平滑 the metal has to be perfectly flat,
几乎达到原子级别 down almost to the atomic level.
自由空间里的零点波动 The zero-point fluctuations of free space
不会就发生在这些板子之间 won't fit between those plates,as well,
因此当你把两块板子放在一起时 so when you bring these two plates together,
板子之间的波动会小于 there are fewer fluctuations between the plates
板子外面的波动 than there are outside the plates.
力在积累 The force builds up,
实际上是随着板子的逐步靠近 and it actually gets stronger and stronger
变得越来越强 as the plates get closer together,
我们所说的力就是产生于负能量 and that force we refer to as arising from negative energy.
弗里曼：板子外面的零点能的波动 The zero-point energy fluctuations outside the plates
要强于板子之间的波动 are stronger than those between,
因此外部的压力会将它们推在一起 so pressure from the outside pushes them together.
或者换个角度来思考一下 Or think of it another way.
板子之间的负能量扩张了其周围的空间 The negative energy between the plates expands space around it.
斯蒂夫多年一丝不苟的工作 Steve's years of meticulous labor
已经使其成为了地球上第一人 have made him the first person on Earth
测量到了负能量所产生的力道 to have measured a force produced by negative energy.
但是他所测到的量微乎其微 But the amount he has detected is minuscule.
该力相当于一个红血球 The force is equal to the weight of a red blood cell
在地球重力场里的重量 所以极其微弱 in the Earth's gravitational field,so it's tiny.
但你若是累积上数千块这样的板子 But if you add up thousands of these plates
就像我们实验里的这些 like we have in our experiment,
你就能获得明显而有效地力道 you can actually achieve a palpable and useful force.
弗里曼：斯蒂夫的发现 Steve's discovery
有可能只是朝向曲速引擎的起步 may only be a baby step towards warp drive,
然而他证明了 but he's confirmed
米给尔.阿库别瑞的曲速引擎理论 that Miguel Alcubierre's warp drive theory
并不违背物理定律 does not violate the laws of physics.
弯曲空间及推动曲速引擎所需的能量 The energy needed to warp space and propel a warp drive forward
确实存在着 actually exists.
然而他也打开了其他东西的大门 - But he's also opened the door to something else --
虫洞 空间自身结构的裂口 the wormhole,a rip in the fabric of space itself.
如果这一理论对象存在 lf this theoretical object exists,
那么你就可以在一个地方进去 you could enter it in one place
稍后现身 穿越了整个星系 and emerge moments later clear across the galaxy.
然而虫洞不止是科幻么？ But are wormholes more than a science-fiction fantasy?
若是这样 我们如何知道它们会将我们带去何方呢？ And,if so,how would we know where they would take us?
现在有位物理学家大胆闯入了这些奇怪的大门 Now one physicist is daring to enter these strange portals
谋划穿越虫洞 and plot a course through the wormhole.
我们都听说过虫洞 We've all heard of wormholes.
它们是宇宙捷径 They're cosmic shortcuts
将外星世界几乎就放在了我们的家门口 that put alien worlds practically on our doorstep.
但是我们如何真正构建出一个来呢？ But how would we actually build one?
我们如何去利用它呢？ And how would we use one?
通过虫洞旅行需要异乎寻常的技术 Travel by wormhole requires ex otic technology
以及闯入未知世界的勇气 and the courage to jump into the unknown.
我们的星球布满了各种通道 Our planet is riddled with passageways.
我们经常会走过坚固的隧道 We regularly travel through strong,stable tunnels
直穿大山 cut through massive mountains.
现在我们进入了一条漂亮坚固的隧道 Well,here we're entering a nice,solid tunnel.
它的构造 看上去是钢筋混凝土 lt's made of -- looks like concrete and reinforced steel.
很坚固 Very solid.
一个可靠地运输手段 A reliable means of transportation.
我驾车驶入 我马上要出去了 l drive my car in. l'm gonna come out.
我随时都知道情况 l know what's happening at all times.
弗里曼：物理学家斯蒂芬.舒沉迷于 Physicist Steven Shu is fascinated by the concepts
稳定与不稳定说 of stability and instability,
它们在股市里… be they in the stock market...
抛 Sell.
…在房地产价值里… ...in real-estate values...
长线 Long.
…或是在时空虫洞里 ...or in space-time wormholes.
舒：我们观察一个特定系统时 One of the fundamental properties
在物理学上所观察的基本属性之一 that we look at in physics when we look at a particular system
就是该系统是稳定的还是不稳定的 is whether that system is stable or unstable.
例子就是这支笔 它像这样是稳定的 An example would be a pen which is balanced like this.
它可能没事 此时它完全平衡 lt might be okay when it's exactly balanced,
但哪怕是轻微的碰撞都会使其 but even a slight bump will send it
进入截然不同的状态 into a drastically different state.
我们决定观察是否能构建一个虫洞 We decided to look at whether one could build a wormhole
它具有良好的特性 that had nice properties
比如其动作是可预见性的 是稳定的 such as its behavior is predictable and it's stable.
那是两个标准 Those are two criteria
使你能拥有真正的虫洞 you'd like to have for a real wormhole.
弗里曼：构建虫洞的规则 The rules of building wormholes
出自爱因斯坦的相对论 start with Einstein's theory of relativity,
它告诉你如何去弯曲和塑造空间 which tells you how to bend and shape space
仿佛它是块柔软的床单 as if it were a flexible sheet.
试想这张纸 lmagine this sheet of paper,
试想你是生活在这张纸上的一只蚂蚁 and imagine that you're an ant living on this sheet of paper.
如果你想从这一点走到这一点 lf you want to travel from this point to this point,
你可能得从这里一直走到这里 you might have to walk all the way from here to here.
但如果这张纸弯曲了 所绕的路 But if the paper were curved,the long way around
就会涉及到像这样一直要绕过这张纸 would involve walking all the way around the paper like this.
不过你可以设想有一个小管道 But you can imagine that there would be a little Tube
将这一点直接连到这一点 connecting this point directly to this point,
蚂蚁就可以穿过去了 and the ant could just slip through.
科幻中的虫洞 Wormholes in science fiction
敞开了入口让星舰驶入 have gaping entrances that a starship can dive into.
不过那些二维的描绘 But those two-dimensional renderings
粉饰了虫洞真实的结构 gloss over the true architecture of wormholes.
在这个二维的比喻中 ln this two-dimensional analogy,
管子的开口仅仅是个圆圈 the opening of the straw is just a circle.
但因为我们生活在三维里 But,because we live in three dimensions,
虫洞的开口 the opening of the wormhole
实际上会是在泡泡的里面 would actually be like the interior of a bubble.
弗里曼：这就是 This is what the mouth
真实虫洞口可能的模样 of a real wormhole might look like
如果它们蛰伏在空间某个地方的话 if they are lurking somewhere out there in space.
不过斯蒂芬在琢磨 But Steven wondered
我们是否有可能从头开始构建我们自己的虫洞 if we might be able to build our own from scratch.
宇宙工程师首先要创造两个口子 A cosmic engineer would first create two mouths
并将它们联系起来 and connect them.
然后 他将其中的一个口子拉至数光年外 - Then,he would drag one of the mouths light-years away --
但是两个口子之间的管道并不属于我们空间 but the tunnel between the two mouths is not part of our space
可以保持得很短 and could remain very short.
这是个很简单的想法 lt's a simple idea,
但是防止虫洞口子及隧道的垮塌 but the vast amount of negative energy
所需的大量的负能量 needed to keep the wormhole's mouth and tunnel from collapsing
却是一个难以控制的东西 is tricky stuff to control.
稳定虫洞极具挑战 lt's very challenging to stabilize a wormhole.
所有的虫洞 根据我们从广义相对论的理解 All wormholes,as far as we know from general relativity,
都需要这种特殊负能量的奇异物质 require this kind of special negative energy ex otic matter.
问题在于该物质是否能够稳定 The question is whether that matter itself can be stable.
弗里曼：斯蒂芬计算了负能量 Steven crunched the numbers on how negative energy
如何在虫洞边缘与正常的物质发生反应 would react with normal matter on the fringes of the wormhole
来探索它们能否和平共处 to discover whether they could coexist in a stable way.
舒：我们的计算证明它们是不稳定的 And we've proven mathematically they're unstable.
那将是使用十分危险的装置 That would be a very dangerous device to use,
因为你一旦稍稍碰撞它 because once you bump it a little bit,
整个装置就会土崩瓦解 the entire device could just fall apart.
如果我试图进入一个不稳定的虫洞 lf l try to get into an unstable wormhole,
就好像试图将我的手指伸进这个泡泡中 it's like trying to put my finger into this bubble.
它就会破裂 lt'll just pop.
弗里曼：保持虫洞打开所需的负能量 The negative energy needed to keep a wormhole open
天生就是极不稳定的 is inherently too unstable.
人造虫洞在人们试图踏足其中时 A man-made wormhole would collapse
瞬间就会垮塌 the instant someone tries to step inside.
但或许有另一个方法 But there might be another way.
并不是靠利用我们自己构建的宇宙捷径 Not by using cosmic shortcuts that we have built ourselves,
而是靠搜索有可能隐藏在我们周围的 but by searching for microscopic ones
微型虫洞 that could be hiding all around us.
就如真空中 Just as empty space
充满了微型能量脉冲一样 is fizzing with microscopic pulses of energy,
有些理论家认为 some theorists believe
它也可能布满了微型孔洞 it could also be riddled with microscopic holes.
量子虫洞有可能 There could be quantum wormholes
就是大爆炸遗留下来的 that are just left over from the Big Bang,
或者就在很近很近处 or at very,very short distances,
你可能会有一点小小的波动 you could have little fluctuations
这样时空就以一种有趣的方式将其自身连接起来 where space-time just connects to itself in a funny way,
那就是量子虫洞 and that would be a quantum wormhole.
如果它们刚好碰上一点波动 lf they just happened as a little fluctuation,
那将是极其微小的 大概一米的10的负25次方 they would be incredibly tiny,like 10 to the minus-35 meters.
弗里曼：微型量子虫洞 Microscopic quantum wormholes
是空间的量子波动 are quantum fluctuations in space
始终不断地冒出 湮灭 再冒出 that perpetually appear,disappear,and reappear again.
由于我们不必去构建其入口 Since we don't have to construct their portals,
斯蒂芬觉得它们或许可以安全进入 Steven suspects they might be safe to enter.
但是在你试图跳进去之前 已经意识到暗藏杀机 But before you try jumping into one,be aware there's a catch.
舒：量子力学的东西时说不准的 Quantum mechanical things are fuzzy.
它们本质上是随机和不可预见的 They're intrinsically random and unpredictable.
因此如果我们进入了一个量子虫洞 So if we were in a quantum wormhole,
我们有可能被搞得不知天南地北 we might be shaken around,
我们会无法确定我们出去是哪里 and we wouldn't quite know where we're gonna come out.
你不会希望进入了一个隧道 You wouldn't want to get into a tunnel
有可能终点是太平洋的海底 that might end in the bottom of the pacific ocean
或者是你不想呆在上面的山顶 or on a mountaintop that you didn't want to be on.
弗里曼：量子虫洞无法估计抵达的时间 Quantum wormholes have no estimated times of arrival,
你的目的地是未知的 and your destination is unknown.
你最终结束有可能是任何地方 You could end up anywhere
或任何时候 or anywhen.
超越光速穿越虫洞 Traveling faster than light through a wormhole
会是一个冒险的举动 would be a risky ride.
你得赌上一把了 You've got to be willing to roll the dice.
不过对谨慎的旅客可能会有更安全的方法 But there may be a safer way for the cautious traveler.
试想一下能够从这里移动到那里 lmagine being able to move from here to there
完全不用挪动 without ever moving at all.
好 人类首次出游星际貌似漫漫长路 Well,Mankind's first journey to the stars looks a long way off.
我们至少在几个世纪里不会掌握 We won't master the technology of wormholes and warp drives
虫洞及曲速引擎的技术 for centuries at least.
不过有另一个方法去穿梭宇宙 But there's another way to zip around the cosmos.
我们可以将我们的躯体变成信息 We could turn our bodies into information
将那信息以光速 and send that information from place to place
从一地发送至另一地 at the speed of light.
克里斯.门罗和史蒂夫.奥尔莫斯琴科 Chris Monroe and Steve Olmschenk
是马里兰大学的量子物理学家 are quantum physicists at the University of Maryland.
他们是隐形传送的开拓者 They are pioneers of teleportation.
他们的工作就是要在两个不同地点 Their work is all about making connections
所发生的事件之间建立联系 - between events taking place in two separate locations --
这些事件通常没有任何联系 events which normally have no connection whatsoever.
我们要用硬币来演示一个简单的实验 We're gonna demonstrate a simple experiment using standard coins
来看看单枚硬币的随机性 just to show the randomness of the individual coins
以及两枚硬币之间的随机性 and the randomness between the two coins.
好嘞 All right.
抛 Flip.
正面 背面 -- Heads. -- Tails.
背面 背面 -- Tails. -- Tails.
你可以看到 用两枚硬币 So,as you can see,with two regular coins,
我们就能够得到彼此之间的整个随机结果 we get completely random results between each other.
弗里曼：如果克里斯和史蒂夫 lf Chris and Steve
能够让两枚硬币以同样的方式抛下 could make the two coins always land the same way,
那么他们就将成功地 then they would have succeeded
把硬币上的信息 - 正面或背面 - in teleporting the information on the coin -- heads or tails --
从一地传送到另一地 from one place to the other.
他们有一个想法就是如何去做到这一点 And they had an idea of just how to do this.
他们会用到量子纠缠 They would use quantum entanglement,
一个能够在微观物体之间 a strange effect that can create a link
建立起联系的奇怪结果 between microscopic objects.
炸弹爆炸时 When a bomb explodes
两块弹片飞出 and two pieces of shrapnel come flying out,
每一块都是独自行动 不受别人的影响 each one moves independently and is unaffected by the other.
现在来想象一下亚原子世界里的炸弹 Now imagine a bomb in a subatomic world.
两颗粒子弹片飞出 Two particles of shrapnel fly out,
然而此时 量子纠缠 but this time,quantum entanglement
意味着一片运动的方式 means the way one moves
完全依赖于别人 is entirely dependent on the other.
如果一片是顺时针旋转 lf one piece is spinning clockwise,
你可以推断另一片的动作 you can deduce that the other piece
是逆时针的移动的 is moving counterclockwise.
如果史蒂夫和克里斯的硬币是纠缠的 lf Steve and Chris' coins were entangled,
每当史蒂夫抛出正面 克里斯则抛出背面 whenever Steve tosses heads,Chris will toss tails.
如果史蒂夫抛出背面 克里斯则抛出正面 lf Steve tosses tails,Chris will toss heads.
背面 正面 -- Tails. -- Heads.
因此 即使抛出的硬币的一面完全是随机的 So,even though the coin flip on one side is completely random,
但两枚硬币之间存在着联系 there are correlations between the two coins,
这就是纠缠的标准特征 and this is the defining feature of entanglement.
弗里曼：物理学家一直致力利用纠缠 Physicists have been struggling to use entanglement
在两地之间传送物质已有20多个年头了 to teleport matter from place to place for more than two decades.
史蒂夫和克里斯是首个成功者 Steve and Chris are the first to succeed.
他们从一种叫做镱的元素的两个原子着手 They begin with two atoms of an element called ytterbium.
其实验是 我们从两束的原子着手 The experiment is,we start with two trapped atoms
它们彼此隔着桌子 that are across the table from each other.
门罗：这些原子用磁场悬浮着 These atoms are sort of levitated with fields,
如磁悬浮列车那样 like a levitated train.
它们放置于真空室里 没有东西碰及它们 They're in a vacuum chamber,so nothing touches them.
它们几乎完全 - They're almost complete--
它们几乎就是你所能得到的完美的隔离 they're as close as you can get to perfect isolation.
弗里曼：史蒂夫和克里斯 Steve and Chris
利用微波辐射将所谓的量子位的量子信息 write quantum information called qubits
写入了第一个原子 into the first atom using microwave radiation.
量子位成了原子的正面或背面 The qubits become the atoms' heads or tails.
接下来 我们用这束快速脉冲光束 Then,we excite both atoms
来激发这两个原子 with this fast pulse of light,
如果我们所做的是正确的话 and if we do it right,
我们就能确保光子 we can make sure that the photon
与原子的内部状态纠缠在一起 is then entangled with the internal state of the atom.
光子变成了使者 The photons become the messengers,
携带着原子的信息穿越了实验室 carrying the atoms' information across the lab.
克里斯和史蒂夫将每个原子发出的光子 Chris and Steve aim the photon
瞄准同一个目标 from each atom at the same target.
当它们相遇时 就会纠缠在一起 When they meet,they become entangled,
从而将发出它们的两个原子纠缠了起来 which,in turn,entangles the two atoms they came from.
它们无论如何不会相互靠拢 They've been nowhere near each other,
它们永远都碰不到一起 they've never seen each other,
但现在这两个原子 but now these two atoms
它们彼此隔着桌子 which are across the table from each other
现在纠缠在了一起 are now entangled,
它们以某种方式分享着我们一开始 and they somehow share the information
写入第一个原子里的信息 that we first wrote into the first atom.
那就是所谓的量子隐形传送 That's called quantum teleportation,
因为信息 在某种意义上 because the information,in a sense,
是决不会旅行的 never really made the trip.
决不存在任何物理作用 There was never really any physical interaction.
那全在于这种神奇的纠缠 lt's all because of this magic of entanglement
让我们做到了这个 that allows us to do that.
我认为爱因斯坦用了最恰当的话来描述它 And l think Einstein had the best words to describe it.
他称纠缠为远距离的幽灵行动 He called entanglement "Spooky action at a distance."
弗里曼：史蒂夫和克里斯成功地 Steve and Chris have successfully transferred
将信息从一个原子传送到另一个原子 the information from one atom to the other.
也就是说 他们传送了原子 ln other words,they teleported the atom.
这是首次有人以光速 lt's the first time anyone has ever beamed matter across space
隔空传送物质 at the speed of light.
他们已经在着手 And they're already working
更加雄心勃勃的隐形传送实验 on more ambitious teleportation experiments.
门罗：不过好消息是 But the good news is,
想法是用比单个原子复杂的东西来研究 - this idea works with matter more complex than a single atom --
比方说 几百个原子 say,a few hundred atoms.
弗里曼：几百个原子会取得进展的 A few hundred atoms would be progress,
但真正的问题在于 but the real question
我们是否能够完整地传送 is whether we will ever be able to teleport the state
整个人体的7000万亿万亿个原子 of all the 7,000 trillion trillion atoms
从一地到另外一地 in an entire person from one place to another
转换成一堆有机物体从而复制你我 to turn a pile of organic matter into a copy of you or me.
那是个苛刻的要求 lt's a tall order.
我们这里有个樱桃馅饼 Well,we have a cherry pie,
馅饼有个特定的形态 and the pie is in a particular state.
所有的原子 大多是碳和有机分子 All the atoms,mostly carbon and organic molecules,
做成了这个馅饼 make up this pie,
不过它们明显的状态 but they're obviously in a state
我们都承认其为樱桃馅饼 that we all recognize as a cherry pie.
样子很好看 Looks pretty good.
弗里曼：为了让克里斯 ln order for Chris
隐形传送樱桃馅饼里的原子 to teleport the atoms inside the cherry pie,
他需要采集其中每一个原子的信息 he needs to gather information about every single one of them,
这有点混乱 which gets a little messy.
这里所有的原子都代表着樱桃馅饼 All the atoms in here are representative of a cherry pie,
但肯定看上去不像是樱桃馅饼 but it certainly doesn't look like a cherry pie,
其原因就在于原子的 and the reason is the atoms aren't arranged
排列方法不对 in the right way.
这个烤盘里约有10的27次方个原子 They are about 10 to the 27 atoms in this tin.
那可是万亿万亿万亿个原子啊 That's a billion billion billion atoms.
要顾及的可能性的量 Consider the number of possibilities
那是万亿万亿万亿个原子的排列 that a billion billion billion atoms can be arranged.
那个数字简直不可理喻 lt's a number that's so ungodly huge
我们在宇宙间甚至都没有足够的空间 we don't have enough space in the Universe
将其写下来 even to write it down.
弗里曼：隐形传送人类 Teleporting a human being
远超出我们现在的…能力 is far beyond our capabilities...for now.
但史蒂夫和克里斯认为如果可能的话 But Steve and Chris believe if it is possible,
量子纠缠将就是其结果 quantum entanglement will be how it's done.
量子力学在实验室里已反复的到了验证 Quantum mechanics has been verified repeatedly in the lab,
在我们的实验室 在世界上许多实验室 our labs and many around the world,
几十年来反复得到了验证 over and over again for decades.
我们不断验证了量子力学 We've continually verified quantum mechanics
是自然界的准确描述 as an accurate description of nature.
门罗：如果我立足于量子力学 lf l am fundamentally quantum mechanical,
隐形传送就更加离不开量子力学了 teleportation better involve quantum mechanics.
我想说如果有别的方法 l would say if there is a different way
来传送物体的话 to teleport objects,
那么不管怎样 就会有另一个理论 then,somehow,there's a different theory
而不是量子力学存在了 than quantum mechanics out there,
我们只是还不知道罢了 and we just don't know it yet.
弗里曼：我们仍然有很长的路要走 在星际旅行 We are still a long way from traveling from star to star
如光束那般速度 as fast as a beam of light.
但若是我们自认为我们对光所理解的一切 But what if everything we thought we understood
实际上是错误的 又当如何呢？ about light is actually wrong?
这位科学家将物理定律来了个彻底颠覆 This scientist is turning the laws of physics upside down.
如果他是对的 And if he's right,
爱因斯坦镇住宇宙的速度极限 the speed limit Einstein slapped on the Universe
有可能得改变了 might have to be changed.
我们生在一个有速度极限的宇宙间 - We live in a Universe with a speed limit --
每小时6.7亿英里 670 million miles per hour.
对 那就是爱因斯坦所说的 Well,that's what Albert Einstein said.
但要是死因斯坦错了呢？ But what if Einstein was wrong?
约翰.韦伯搞大了 John Webb has big plans.
他想改写宇宙规律 He wants to rewrite the laws of the Universe.
一切始于条形码 And it all begins with bar codes.
好 我们来到了超市 Right. So,we're in the supermarket.
我要买一些东西 l'm buying a few things.
这个生菜 举个例子 - 我们知道它是什么 This lettuce,for example -- we know what it is.
生菜上有大量信息 Has a lot of information on the lettuce.
包装上告诉我们 我们能看到那是什么 Tell us on the packet. We can see what it is.
但这里用此种式样来编码 But encoded in this pattern here
激光扫描所采集的 and picked up by the laser that's gonna scan it
是一组信息 is a set of information,
收银员扫描时 激光束 and when the cashier scans it,the laser beam
会看到黑线之间的白色缝隙 will look at the white gaps between the black lines,
我们就看到了价格 and we get the price.
所以说有大量信息储存在条形码里 So there's a lot of information stored in the bar code.
弗里曼：约翰是新南威尔士大学的 John is an astrophysicist
天体物理学家 at the University of New South Wales.
他所研究的条形码不光是生菜包 The bar codes he studies are not on packages of lettuce,
而且还有遥远星系发出的光 but on light coming from distant galaxies.
如果你将这些星系发来的光线 lf you split the light
分解成彩虹 coming from these galaxies into a rainbow,
你就会发现有某些颜色不见了 you'll discover that certain colors are missing.
这些黑色条纹 叫做光谱线 Those dark bands,called spectral lines,
源自星际气体云的 are caused by the chemical elements
化学元素 in clouds of interstellar gas
吸收了某些频率的星光 absorbing certain frequencies of starlight.
韦伯：你可以从光谱线里认识到大量的东西 You can learn a great deal from spectral lines.
根据它们的位置 你可以认出 From their positions,you can identify elements
具有特定频率的元素 that have particular frequencies,
所以你能够看到有东西 如氢 氦 so you can see where things like hydrogen or helium
或其它元素出现在哪里 or other elements are present.
弗里曼：不过约翰意识到他的星光条形码 But John realized his starlight bar codes
能够告诉他的东西远重要于 could tell him about something much more important
恒星的成分是什么 than what stars were made of.
它能够让他窥测到 lt could give him a glimpse
宇宙中最基本的常量之一 - into one of the most fundamental constants of the Universe --
电磁力的强度 the strength of the electromagnetic force.
物理学中 所有的力 ln physics,every force
都有粒子携带它 has a particle that carries it.
电磁力的携带者是光 即光子 Electromagnetic force is carried by light,or photons.
电磁力将原子结合在一起 The electromagnetic force keeps atoms glued together
是通过光子连续不断的交换 with a constant exchange of photons
从原子核弹跳到围绕其运行的电子 that bounce from the nucleus to its orbiting electrons.
当光穿越星际星云气体的原子时 When light passes through atoms of interstellar gas,
它能够干扰光子的这种交换 it can interfere with this exchange of photons
把电子敲出轨道 and knock an electron out of its orbit,
但惟有光恰好 but only if the light
具有合适的能量 has exactly the right amount of energy.
所缺失的光的条形码 The bar code of missing light
恰好告诉你电磁力的强度 tells you precisely how strong the electromagnetic force is.
韦伯：过去十年左右的时间里 Over the last decade or so,
技术上有了惊人的变化 there's been an amazing change in technology.
人们现在测量遥远的星体 One can now measure the things in distant astronomical objects
其精准远超过地球上以往的测量 more precisely than ever been measured on Earth.
那为研究早期的宇宙 That provides a very strong motivation
提供了强大的动力 for studying the early Universe,
因为我们能够度量当时的环境 because we can measure what the conditions were like,
我们能够度量当时的物理学 we can measure what physics was like,
物理学定律 whether the laws of physics
在宇宙偏远地区是否就 there in very remote regions of the Universe
与其在地球上是一模一样的 are the same as they are on Earth.
那是相当惊人的 That's pretty amazing.
弗里曼：于是约翰开始搜索苍穹里的 So John began searching the heavens
数十亿光年之外的发光星云 for glowing clouds of gas billions of light-years away.
他利用夏威夷的凯克望远镜 He used the Keck Telescope in Hawaii
来观察北方星空 to look at the northern sky,
利用智利的大望远镜 and the Very Large Telescope in Chile
观察南方星空 which looks out on the southern sky.
他看到他的条形码后 And when he looked at his bar codes,
发现了完全出乎意料的东西 he discovered something totally unexpected.
这是气体云看上去的模样 This is what a cloud of gas would look like
如果这就是我们在地球上的实验室里所看到的话 if we were looking at it in the laboratory on Earth.
我们在南半球观察时 When we look in the southern hemisphere,
有些东西略有不同 - something slightly different --
这条线移向了光谱的红色一端 this line has moved towards the red end of the spectrum,
这里的另一条线 and another line here
则移向了光谱的蓝色一端 has moved towards the blue end of the spectrum.
所以说光谱线的相对距离 So there's a change in the relative spacing
有一个变化 of the spectral lines.
南半球看上去稍有不同 lt looks slightly different in the southern hemisphere.
如果你现在去北半球 lf you now go to the northern hemisphere,
星空方向完全相反 the exact opposite direction on the sky,
此线现在发生了转换 this line has now shifted,
右边的到了左边 instead of to the right,to the left,
而此线从左边转变到了右边 and this line has shifted to the right instead of to the left.
所以形式现在看上去有所不同了 So the patterns now look different.
这有点像你在超市里喝醉了 lt's a little bit as if you're in a supermarket drunk,
看那条形码 形式发生了变化 looking at the bar code,and the pattern has changed.
弗里曼：这些变化的条形码 These shifting bar codes
其起因只能是一个情况 - can only be caused by one thing --
似乎不可能的情况… something that seems impossible...
物理学的一个基本定律发生了变化 a change in one of the fundamental laws of physics.
我们第一次看到结果时 When we first saw the results,
很难接受它们是正确的 it was hard to accept that they were correct.
我们发现你在一个方向观察星空时 What we found is when you look in one direction on the sky,
电磁力的强度 the strength of the electromagnetic force
看上去随着与我们的距离的增加而减弱 appears to decrease with increasing distance from us,
当你在正好相反方向上观察星空时 and when you look in exactly the opposite direction on the sky,
情况恰恰相反 the converse is true.
电磁强度 The strength of electromagnetism
似乎随着你距离的加大而增强 seems to increase as you move to greater distance.
弗里曼：电磁力是 Electromagnetism is the force
由光来传播的力 that is transmitted by light.
因此若是电磁力的强度 So if the strength of electromagnetism
不是恒定的话 is not constant,
那就意味着光本身的属性发生了变化 it means that the properties of light itself are changing.
如果约翰.韦伯是正确的 lf John Webb is right,
他就推翻了宇宙的一条基本规则 he's overturned one of the basic laws of the Universe.
一旦物理定律 Once the laws of physics
允许在那些方程式里有所变化 are allowed to vary in those equations,
情况就不得不改写了 things have to be rewritten.
所以说要重头再来安排 So it's back to the drawing board
物理学中的某些基本原理 for certain fundamental principles in physics.
弗里曼：难道是爱因斯坦错了？ Could Einstein be wrong?
难道光速在宇宙不同部分 Could the speed of light be different
是不相同的？ in different parts of the cosmos?
在世界的另一头 On the other side of the world,
有一位宇宙学家坚定地回答 没错 one cosmologist is sure the answer is "yes."
他认为光跑得远快于我们的想象 He believes that light can move much faster than we think,
也就是 在宇宙中 and that,out there in the Universe,
有高速公路通往外星 there are superhighways to the stars.
早在开启太空时代时 Back at the dawn of the Space Age,
曾全都心系合适的东西 it was all about having the right stuff.
星际旅行第一人同样需要它 The first people who journey to the stars will need it,too.
他们要闯入未知的世界 They will be venturing into the absolute unknown,
或许是首次跑得比光还快 and,perhaps for the first time,traveling faster than light.
理论物理学家乔奥.马古悠 Theoretical physicist Joao Magueijo
认为外太空或许有地方 thinks that there may be regions of outer space
超光速旅行是有可能的 where faster-than-light travel is possible.
他开发出这个激进的理论是因为若是没有它 He developed this radical theory because without it,
他就无法解释宇宙的模样 he couldn't explain the way the Universe looks.
马古悠：我们观察宇宙时 When we look out into the Universe,
所看到的一切在所有的方向都是一样的 everything looks the same in every direction.
这是个问题 This is a problem,
因为在宇宙问世之后 because during the time the Universe has lived,
其实并没有足够的时间让光的旅行 there really isn't enough time for light to travel around
表现出在宇宙中平均分配 for features to be shared around the Universe,
这我们称之为同质化问题 and this we call the homogeneity problem.
弗里曼：同质化问题 The homogeneity problem,
实际上就是所有的星系 所有的物质 the fact that all galaxies and all matter
均匀地分布在整个宇宙间 are evenly spread around the Universe
不管我们朝哪里看 no matter where we look,
这是宇宙学里最大的难题之一 is one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology.
问题在于 科学家并不认为 大爆炸之后 The problem is,scientists don't think there has been enough time
有足够的时间让物质分布得如此均匀 since the Big Bang for matter to spread out so evenly.
把大爆炸想象成一个大聚会 lmagine the Big Bang was a big party.
聚会一旦开始 As soon as the party starts,
每个人马上端上一杯同样的酒 everyone instantly has a glass of the same kind of wine.
女侍应怎么会有时间 How would a waitress have time
这么快就为每个人斟上酒的呢？ to serve everyone a glass of wine so quickly?
马古悠：如果她只能以光速移动 lf she can only move at the speed of light,
她就没有时间在他们散开之前到达每个人的面前 she won't have time to reach everyone before they disperse,
就如大爆炸宇宙模型一般 like the Big-Bang Universe.
弗里曼：大多数科学家解决这个问题 Most scientists solve this problem
所用的理论叫做宇宙膨胀说 with a theory called cosmic inflation.
其概念是一开始时 The idea is that the room stayed small
所呆的房间小得够时间 for longer at the beginning of time,
给女侍应以足够的时间来伺候各位 giving the waitress enough time to serve everyone.
然后 一个神秘的膨胀之力 Then,a mysterious magnifying force
瞬间将房间涨开 inflates the room very rapidly.
人人都得到了饮品 女侍应则汗流浃背了 Everyone gets a drink,and the waitress hardly breaks a sweat.
马古悠：宇宙膨胀说称宇宙 Cosmic inflation says the Universe
一开始是难以想象的那么一丁点 started as an unimaginably small pinpoint
集中了宇宙所有的能量 concentrating all the energy of the Universe,
而在一开始的万亿万亿 and that in the first trillions of trillions
万亿分之一秒钟之内 of trillions of a second,
宇宙的规模不断地翻番 翻番 翻番 the Universe doubled,doubled,and doubled in size.
最初平滑的那一点 The initial smoothness of that single point
于是扩展到了我们眼下所看到的广袤的空间 then spread to the vast distances we can see nowadays.
弗里曼：但是膨胀说并未得到证实 But inflation is not proven.
它只是个理论 lt's just a theory.
乔奥有了它的替代品 - And Joao has an alternative to it --
一个刺激的理论 a provocative theory
它有可能将宇宙让我们触手可及了 that might bring the Universe within our reach.
要是 不去改变膨胀的速度 - What if,instead of changing the rate of expansion,
我们去改变速度的极限 - 光速 又当如何呢？ we change the speed limit -- the speed of light?
那就是我们所谓的光速可变理论 That's what we call the varying speed of light theory.
根据光速可变理论 Under the varying speed of light theory,
我们的女侍应只是在宇宙一开始时 our waitress simply served everyone faster
伺候各位更快些 in the beginning of the Universe
于是减缓到了当前的速度 and then slowed down to the current speed,
让我们这些迟来者疑惑她在如此短的时间里 leaving us latecomers wondering how she managed
是如何应付如此大的宇宙的 to serve such a large Universe in such a short time.
弗里曼：乔奥的理论解决了同质化问题 Joao's theory solves the homogeneity problem
和宇宙膨胀说一样有效 just as effectively as cosmic inflation.
不过它也蔑视了爱因斯坦的黄金规则 But it also thumbs its nose at Einstein's golden rule.
这并不完全违背爱因斯坦的原则 This does not exactly contradict Einstein's principle
即光速是速度的极限 that the speed of light is the speed limit.
我们只是说速度极限的改变 We're only saying that the speed limit
贯穿了宇宙的一生 changed throughout the life of the Universe.
弗里曼：乔奥的理论意味着 And Joao's theory means there might be a way
可能有办法去打破今天的宇宙速度极限 to break today's cosmic speed limit,
因为可能有途径穿越空间 because there could be pathways through space
在那里光速依然保持得更快些 where the speed of light remains faster.
这些途径被称为宇宙弦 These pathways are called cosmic strings.
马古悠：根据可变光速理论 Under the varying speed of light theory,
光在宇宙开始时要跑得更快些 light traveled faster in the beginning of the Universe,
宇宙弦可能就是那些地区 and cosmic strings could be regions
在那里这种更高速度极限依然行之有效 where this higher speed limit is still in force.
弗里曼：其概念就是在宇宙的 The idea is that,in the first moments
最初一刻 of the Universe,
细小的破碎就已经形成于时空间了 tiny fractures formed in space-time.
从那时起 这些破碎 Since then,these fractures
随着宇宙中其他东西一起扩张 expanded along with everything else in the cosmos
直到现在几十亿光年之久 and are now billions of light-years long.
宇宙弦可能充当高速通道 Cosmic strings might serve as high-speed lines
直达那些你慢慢爬行 cutting across regions
所无法抵达的地区 where you would otherwise be moving at a crawl.
你可能觉得宇宙弦 You could think of cosmic strings
就像是伦敦的地铁… like the Tube in London...
…在那里 地面上 有速度限制 ...where,on the surface,there is a speed limit,
但是显然在地下并无限制 but obviously down there there isn't one.
弗里曼：在地表 爱因斯坦的限制就是法律 On the surface,Einstein's limit is the law.
地铁就是宇宙弦 - The Tube below is the cosmic string --
穿城的快速通道 a faster way across town.
如果你装备有一艘飞船 lf you could fit a spacecraft
能进入宇宙弦周围所创造出来的 into the corridor of high speed limit
更高速度极限的通道 created around the cosmic string,
快速穿越宇宙将会成为可能 fast travel throughout the Universe would become possible.
弗里曼：宇宙弦尚未被发现 Cosmic strings have yet to be found,
可变光速依然还是一个理论 and the variation in the speed of light is still just a theory.
但是逐渐并坚定不移地 But slowly and steadily,
科学家们 如乔奥.马古悠和约翰.韦伯 scientists like Joao Magueijo and John Webb
正在逐渐瓦解爱因斯坦的宇宙速度极限 are chipping away at Einstein's cosmic speed limit.
卡罗尔：你开始怀疑 You begin to wonder,
若是它在宇宙间从此地至那地发生变化 what if it changes from place to place in the Universe,
或许其曾处于宇宙历史的不同的早期 or maybe it was different early on in the Universe's history,
如果光速是变化的 and if the speed of light is changing,
那么我们有对物理学的大量认识 then a lot of what we think about physics
在宇宙早期至今也会有所不同 could be different in the early Universe to today.
弗里曼：世界各地 Around the world,
科学家们正在测试新的技术 scientists are testing new technologies
深入探寻物理学的核心 and probing deep into the heart of physics
来揭秘宇宙的新的规律 to uncover new laws of the Universe,
以找到方法让我们脱离我们的地球村 to find a way for us to escape our island Earth.
我们要成为宇宙公民依然路途漫漫 We are still a long way from becoming citizens of the cosmos.
外星仍然几乎是遥不可及 The stars remain almost unimaginably far away.
但不管科学接下来何去何从 But wherever science goes next,
我们探索这个终极疆域的希望将永不泯灭 our hopes to explore this final frontier will never be dimmed.
有朝一日 我们将抵达那里 And,one day,we will reach it,
因为人类敢想敢为 because what man can imagine,man can do.
-- 感谢观赏 --