时差N小时 起死回生?

Bringing The Dead Back To Life? Is it possible to bring the dead back to life? Maybe not, but scientists at Penn State University have done the next best thing. They found a tiny bacterium¹ that's been trapped miles below Greenland ice sheets for the past 120,000 years.

起死回生？有可能起死回生吗？也许不能，但宾夕法尼亚州立大学的科学家做了差不多的事情。他们在格陵兰岛冰原的地下几十英里处发现了一种12万年以前的极小细菌。

After months of incubation, the bacterium woke up and began reproducing. Before long, the ancient organism was once again thriving. Now don't be alarmed. Unlike what may happen in a science fiction thriller², the bacterium isn't some deadly microbe that's going to turn us all into zombies.

经过了数月的培育，细胞已经复苏并开始繁殖。很快，古生物再次繁荣起来。现在不要惊慌。与科幻惊悚片里场景可不一样，这些细菌并不是那种会把我们变成僵尸的致命细菌。

Apparently³, it's a very small, simple microbe not very different from billions of others that have lived on earth. What's interesting about the microbe is: A) how it managed to survive for so long beneath the ice; and B) what it suggests about the possibility of life on other planets.

显然，这是种非常微小，简单的生物，它与地球上其它数十亿的细菌并无太大区别。这种微生物的有趣之处在于：首先，它如何能在久冰层下面存活那么久；其次，它的存在表明其他星球上可能存在生命。

The researchers think that the bacterium's small size might have helped it survive in microscopic⁴, watery⁵ veins⁶ in ice crystals. Being small may also have helped the microbe absorb nutrients⁷ more efficiently⁸.

研究人员认为，这种细菌能够存活在冰晶纹理的潮湿细缝里可能是由于它体积微小的缘故。体积小可能也会帮助微生物更充分地吸收营养物质。

As for life on other planets, scientists have long suspected that if there is life out there, it might exist buried far beneath a planet's barren surface. So every time scientists find a microbe able to survive under extreme conditions on Earth, it raises the hope that the same might be the case in other worlds.

至于其他星球上是否存在生命，科学家们早就抱有怀疑：如果外太空有生命存在，那么它可能深埋在某个星球贫瘠的表层下。因此，每当科学家们发现新出现一种微生物能在极端的地球环境下生存，那么在其他星球上出现同样情况的可能性就更大。

1 bacterium   

n.(pl.)bacteria 细菌

参考例句：

• The bacterium possibly goes in the human body by the mouth.细菌可能通过口进入人体。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

2 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

5 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

6 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。