1

FIRST SPACE-TIME RIPPLES DETECTED
發(fā)現(xiàn)第一個(gè)時(shí)空波

A hundred years after Einstein predicted their existence, faint ripples in the fabric of the cosmos finally made their debut. Called gravitational waves, these ripples are created by some of the most violent events in the universe. Despite their extreme origins, gravitational waves remained elusive for so long because their effects on the observable universe are very small.
100年前愛因斯坦就預(yù)言了時(shí)空波的存在，宇宙結(jié)構(gòu)中的虛弱波動(dòng)終于登場(chǎng)了。這些波被稱為引力波，是由宇宙中一些威力最大的碰撞造成的。盡管引力波的來(lái)源巨大，但它卻沉寂如此之久，因?yàn)樗鼘?duì)我們察覺到的宇宙的影響微乎其微。

But with the help of highly sensitive detectors in Louisiana and Washington State, scientists at last managed to sense gravitational waves passing through Earth in February. Even better, the labs detected a second round of ripples a few months later, confirming that the signal was no fluke. Astronomers are overjoyed at the achievement, because gravitational waves can act as a new way of seeing otherwise invisible objects in the universe, such as directly measuring the properties of enigmatic black holes.
但在路易斯安那州和華盛頓州高靈敏度的探測(cè)器的幫助下，科學(xué)家最終在二月份成功探測(cè)到了引力波波及地球。還有更好的消息，幾個(gè)月后實(shí)驗(yàn)室又探測(cè)到了第二輪引力波，證明了波動(dòng)信號(hào)并非偶然。天文學(xué)家能取得這個(gè)成就特別興奮，因?yàn)橐Σ艹蔀橛^察此前宇宙中無(wú)法看到的物體的一種新方式，比如直接探測(cè)神秘莫測(cè)的黑洞中的物質(zhì)。

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2

DINOSAUR TAIL TRAPPED IN AMBER
琥珀里的恐龍尾巴

It came dangerously close to becoming jewelry, but a small lump of amber found at a market in Burma luckily landed in the hands of paleontologists, who announced in December that it contained the first known piece of a dinosaur’s tail. Dating back 99 million years, the tail was originally mistaken as a bit of plant material. But closer inspection showed that it was actually bone and soft tissue covered with delicate feathers. Careful analysis revealed that the tail once belonged to a young coelurosaur, a dinosaur family that includes tyrannosaurs and modern birds.
這塊琥珀僥幸逃脫了成為首飾的命運(yùn)，它在緬甸市場(chǎng)上幸運(yùn)地落入了生物學(xué)者的手里，他們?cè)?2月宣布這塊琥珀里有首個(gè)恐龍尾巴標(biāo)本。這塊尾巴有9900萬(wàn)年歷史，最初被誤以為是一塊植物。但更進(jìn)一步的檢查表明這其實(shí)是骨骼和軟組織，上面覆蓋著精美的羽毛。細(xì)致的分析揭示了這塊尾巴曾經(jīng)屬于一只年輕的虛骨龍，這一科恐龍包括霸王龍和現(xiàn)代鳥類。

3

POSSIBLY HABITABLE PLANET NEXT DOOR
附近還有適宜居住的星球

Astronomers unveiled evidence for a world orbiting the closest star to the sun. At just 4.24 light-years away, Proxima Centauri has long fascinated astronomers and fiction writers alike. The newfound planet, dubbed Proxima b, is about as massive as Earth, and it orbits near enough to its small, red star for water to stay liquid on its surface. While it may be a while until we have the technology to properly probe Proxima b for signs of life, simply knowing it exists is a boon to astrobiologists.
天文學(xué)家公布了離太陽(yáng)最近的恒星的一個(gè)衛(wèi)星的相關(guān)信息。比鄰星（Proxima Centauri）只有4.24光年遠(yuǎn)，一直吸引著天文學(xué)家和科幻小說(shuō)家。這顆新發(fā)現(xiàn)的行星被命名為Proxima b，大小與地球相近，繞行軌道離小的紅色恒星足夠近能使水在其表面呈液態(tài)存在。雖然我們還需要些時(shí)間才能擁有先進(jìn)技術(shù)探測(cè)到Proxima b星球上是否有生命跡象，但是僅僅知道它的存在對(duì)天體生物學(xué)家來(lái)說(shuō)就已經(jīng)是一個(gè)重大發(fā)現(xiàn)了。

4

TREASURE TROVES OF ANCIENT HUMAN FOOTPRINTS
古人類腳印的寶庫(kù)

Tanzania has been an invaluable source of information about the earliest days of our existence, yielding bones, tools, and other trappings from multiple species of human relatives. In October, scientists were dancing with joy when hundreds of ancient human footprints were unveiled at a site there known as Engare Sero. Dated somewhere between 5,000 and 19,000 years old, these prints show signs of early humans jogging and traveling in distinct groups near a towering volcano.
坦桑尼亞一直是無(wú)價(jià)的信息來(lái)源，為我們提供關(guān)于人類早期存在、柔韌的骨頭、工具和各種早期人類的其他陷阱的信息。10月份當(dāng)數(shù)百個(gè)古人類的腳印在被稱為Engare Sero的地方被發(fā)現(xiàn)的時(shí)候科學(xué)家們都高興得手舞足蹈。這些腳印有5,000年至19,000年左右的歷史，是早期人類在一座高聳的火山附近分組蹣跚前行和前進(jìn)的痕跡。

5

GIANT MARINE CROCODILE UNVEILED
發(fā)現(xiàn)大型海鱷

In January, scientists stunned the world with news that the largest marine crocodile ever found had been unearthed in an African desert. Based on a fossil skull and other bones discovered in Tunisia, it seems the fantastic beast could grow to be more than 30 feet long and weighed around three tons. Dubbed Machimosaurus rex, the 120-million-year-old animal offers crucial clues to a possible mass extinction event at the end of the Jurassic period, about 145 million years ago.
1月份，科學(xué)家發(fā)布了一個(gè)震驚世界的消息，迄今發(fā)現(xiàn)的最大海鱷在非洲沙漠中重見天日。根據(jù)在突尼斯發(fā)現(xiàn)的頭骨化石和其他骨骼，科學(xué)家推測(cè)這種神奇的野獸能長(zhǎng)到30多英尺，體重可達(dá)3噸左右。這種動(dòng)物被稱為君王馬奇莫鱷，擁有1億2千萬(wàn)年歷史，為約1億4500萬(wàn)年前侏羅紀(jì)末期動(dòng)物大規(guī)模滅絕提供了重要線索。

6

NASA SPACECRAFT ARRIVES AT JUPITER
NASA的航天器抵達(dá)木星

It only took five years and 1.7 billion miles, but in July NASA’s Juno spacecraft completed a daredevil maneuver to get into orbit around the largest planet in our solar system. Launched in August 2011, Juno is the first human-made object to orbit Jupiter since the end of the Galileo mission in 2003. The solar-powered spacecraft is designed to study the giant planet’s structure and intense magnetic field.
NASA的“朱諾”號(hào)航天器僅耗時(shí)5年，走行17億英里，在7月份完成了一次英勇的行動(dòng)進(jìn)入了圍繞太陽(yáng)系中最大行星運(yùn)行的軌道?！爸熘Z”號(hào)于2011年8月發(fā)射，是2003年“伽利略”號(hào)任務(wù)結(jié)束后第一個(gè)繞木星運(yùn)行的人造物體，它由太陽(yáng)能提供動(dòng)力，被設(shè)計(jì)用來(lái)研究木星結(jié)構(gòu)和強(qiáng)磁場(chǎng)。

But first, Juno had to survive its long cruise through space and then a harrowing trip through the planet’s punishing radiation belts. On July 4, the pinwheel-like spacecraft began spinning faster, tumbling into position for a successful orbit. In the following weeks, it sent back stunning new images and fresh reams of data.
但“朱諾”號(hào)首先要經(jīng)歷穿越太空的長(zhǎng)期航行，然后完成穿越木星強(qiáng)輻射帶的艱難旅程。7月4日，這個(gè)像紙風(fēng)車的航天器旋轉(zhuǎn)速度開始加快，進(jìn)入指定位置成功開始繞行。在接下來(lái)的幾周，它發(fā)回了令人驚嘆的新圖像和大量新數(shù)據(jù)。