听力文摘：天文学家和癌症研究者共同抗击癌症

At first glance, astronomers¹ and cancer researchers may not seem to have a lot in common.

乍一看，天文学家和癌症研究者似乎没有什么共同点。

After all, astronomers spend their time gazing at distant stars and galaxies², while oncologists fight tumors.

毕竟，天文学家致力于观察遥远的星体和星系，而肿瘤学家则治疗肿瘤。

But at the University of Cambridge in the UK, astronomers and cancer researchers have joined forces.

但是，在英国的剑桥大学，天文学家和癌症研究者已经开始合作了。

Specifically, astronomers there repurposed image analysis algorithms they use to spot distant galaxies to help oncologists diagnose aggressive tumors.

具体来说，天文学家改进了过去曾用于观测遥远星系的影像分析法，来帮助肿瘤学家诊断恶性肿瘤。

Here is how it works

如何实现

Astronomers use the algorithms to analyze⁴ faint, indistinct images captured by large telescopes.

天文学家用这种影像分析方法分析由大型望远镜捕捉到的微弱，模糊的星体图像。

Powerful computers help identify these images as galaxies, stars, planets, and other celestial⁵ bodies.

强大的计算机可以帮助辨认这些图像是星系，恒星，行星还是其它天体。

When cancer researchers study tumors, they stain samples to pick out subtle differences that clue them in to what types of proteins a given tumor³ harbors.

当癌症研究者研究肿瘤时，对样本染色，进而辨别出微小的差异，染色可以显示出肿瘤样本的蛋白质类型。

Identifying the proteins helps researchers know if a tumor is especially aggressive.

鉴别蛋白质可以帮助研究人员确定肿瘤是否是恶性的。

This process typically involves individual scientists peering at tumor samples under microscopes, which is time consuming and laborious⁶.

这一过程通常需要专业的科学家在显微镜下观察肿瘤样本，既费时又费力。

But using reconfigured image analysis algorithms to identify tumor proteins can speed the process up significantly.

但是使用改良后的图像分析方法鉴别肿瘤蛋白质，速度就显著加快了。

To test the process, the researchers used the adapted algorithms on samples from more than 2,000 breast cancer patients.

为了测试这种方法，研究人员对2000多名乳腺癌患者的样本使用改良后的算法分析。

They found that computer analysis was just as accurate at detecting specific proteins as scientists peering through microscopes.

他们发现，电脑分析和科学家通过显微镜的观察在鉴别特定蛋白质时同样精确。

And the computer was much faster.

而且计算机的速度更快。

The researchers plan to further refine the computerized method by testing it on samples from more than 20,000 breast cancer patients.

研究人员计划通过测试20000多名乳腺癌患者样本，进一步改进计算机算法。

1 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

3 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

4 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

5 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

6 laborious   

adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅

参考例句：

• They had the laborious task of cutting down the huge tree.他们接受了伐大树的艰苦工作。
• Ants and bees are laborious insects.蚂蚁与蜜蜂是勤劳的昆虫。