时差N小时 迅捷的外星人

We received a letter from one of our readers with a question about Einstein's Theory of Relativity:

曾经有位读者来信询问了这样一个关于爱因斯坦相对论的问题：

Since time slows down the closer you get to the speed of light, if alien spaceships could travel atlight speed, wouldn't they take longer to get places?

一旦时间的速度减缓，我们将接近光速，如果外星飞船以光速飞行，那不是需要更长的时间才能到达目的地吗？

Well, nothing that starts at a lower speed can ever make it to light speed, but theoretically you can come as close as you want.

事实上，没有任何以低速运转的物体可以达到光速，但从理论上来说，我们能够与光速无限接近。

So to keep things simple, let's say the flying saucers move atjust under light speed.

简单来说，我们假设宇宙飞碟以仅次于光速的速度飞行。

Let's also say that their planet, Zork, is a hundred light years from Earth.

再假如，外星人的星球为卓克星球，距离地球一百光年，

How long does it take them to get from Zork to Earth?

他们从左克星球到达地球需要多长时间呢？

Just over one hundred years.

仅需要一百年多点儿。

Now here's the tricky¹ part.

可是棘手的问题出现了。

Since the aliens on board the ship traveled so fast relative to us, time slowed to a crawl for them relative to the way it passed for us on Earth.

既然外星飞碟的飞行速度相对我们来说如此之快，对他们而言，时间的速度就如同爬行一般。

In a hundred years' Earthtime, the zippy aliens may have only aged² a few seconds.

地球上的一百年仅相当于他们的数秒钟而已。

Notice, though, that there's no going back.

值得注意的是，这一切却是不可逆转的。

Their fellow aliens on Zork who didn't take the near-light speed trip are all one hundred years older now, too!

因为在卓克星球，那些没有踏上近光速飞行之旅的同类们也将一百岁了。

If our Zorkian visitors turned right around and flew home again, when they got there, they would find it was now two hundred years later.

如果我们的左克星球来访者抵达后立即掉头返回，当他们到达自己的星球，那也已经是两百年以后了。

If humanity ever does build such awesome³ ships, the fact that time slows down for near-light speed travelers won't make the ships themselves go any faster or slower.

如果人类真能制造出那样的飞船，事实是对于那些近光速飞行的人来说时间的速度会变慢，但那不会使得飞船本身的速度加快或减慢。

It will, however, make it possible for explorers to go to distant stars in their own lifetimes-just not in the lifetimes of anyone they left behind.

正因为如此，探险家们可能在他们的有生之年到达遥远的外星球，但是请注意，这个有生之年仅仅是他们的，而不是与留在地球的其他人共享的。

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.