早安英文 第86期:霍金微博

 observatory¹ n. 天文台

launch v. 发射

initiative adj. 自发的; 创始的

Nano craft n. 纳米飞行器

light beam n. 光束

significant adj. 重要的; 有意义的

push the boundaries 突破……的极限

Greetings toeverybody in China from NYC. At the One World Observatory in New York City, Yuri Milner and I launched a mission to the stars.

我在纽约向中国的各位问好！在纽约城的一号楼观景台，我和尤里·米尔纳启动了“突破摄星”计划 (Breakthrough Starshot)

Mark Zuckerberg lenthis support by joining the board of our new initiative, Breakthrough Starshot.

马克·扎克伯格也加入了该计划的董事会，为“突破摄星”助一臂之力。

Within the nextgeneration, Breakthrough Starshot aims to develop a ‘nanocraft’ – a gram-scalerobotic space probe – and use a light beam to push it to 20 percent of thespeed of light.

在一代人的时间内，“突破摄星”旨在研发出一台“纳米飞行器” ——一台质量为克级的自动化太空探测器—— 并且通过光束把它推动到五分之一的光速。

If we aresuccessful, a flyby mission could reach Alpha Centauri about 20 years afterlaunch, and send back images of any planets discovered in the system.

如果我们成功的话，这个飞掠任务将会在发射后二十年左右到达半人马座阿尔发星，并发送回来在那个星系中发现的行星的图片。

Albert Einstein onceimagined riding on a light beam, and his thought experiment led him to thetheory of special relativity.

爱因斯坦曾经幻想在宇宙中乘着一道光线飞驰，这个思想实验为他的狭义相对论奠定了基础。

A little over acentury later, we have the chance to attain² a significant fraction of thatspeed: 100 million miles an hour. Only by going that fast can we reach thestars on the time-scale of a human life.

一个多世纪后，我们有机会可以达到光速的一小部分：一亿英里每小时。只有通过这么快的速度，我们才有希望在人类的时间尺度内到达那些恒星。

It is exciting to beinvolved in such an ambitious project, pushing the boundaries of ingenuity³ andengineering.

这个项目耗资巨大，雄心勃勃地希望探索人类创新和工程学的极限。能参与这样的项目，非常令人兴奋。

1 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

2 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

3 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。