纪录片《全球怪象》 第23期：太阳释放的能量

Solar scientist Mike Lockwood

太阳科学家迈克·洛克伍德

went looking for clues in the most obvious place.

在最显而易见的地方寻找线索

The Sun.

太阳

The Sun's energy

太阳释放的能量

exerts the most important influence on the Earth's climate.

是地球气候最重要的影响条件

It defines the seasons, creates weather patterns

它让四季交替 天气变换

and drives the oceans' currents.

也是洋流的驱动力

And it's what was happening to the Sun 300 years ago

正是三百年前太阳上发生的事

that's brought him to the river Thames

使这位科学家来到泰晤士河

and the crucible¹ of British science.

以及英国科学的发展之地

We're just coming up to Greenwich on the river here.

我们就要到达河边的格林威治

Greenwich is a really important place in the history of science.

格林威治在科学史上是个非常重要的地方

It was the first ever purpose-built laboratory,

它是第一个有特定目标的实验室

and it was built to solve the longitude² problem.

它被用来解决关于经度的问题

But they did other things as well.

但是他们也做了些别的研究

It was really really useful. They observed the Sun.

非常有用 他们观测了太阳

They made a great sequence of data

他们获得了一系列的数据

that's incredibly useful for understanding the Sun.

这对于理解太阳活动有极大帮助

1 crucible   

n.坩锅，严酷的考验

参考例句：

• The alliance had been forged in the crucible of war.这个联盟经受了战争的严峻考验。
• Put the required amount of metal into the crucible.把适量的金属放入坩埚。

2 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。