双语有声阅读:Universe may be proven flat 宇宙是平的（在线收听）

Universe may be proven flat 宇宙是平的

The Boomerang experiment balloon inflating just before launch

气球发射升空前在充气

A high-flying balloon which soared over Antarctica may have answered one of cosmology's greatest questions by revealing that the universe may be "flat".

To astronomers, flat means that the usual rules of geometry are observed - light travels in straight lines, not curves. But since Albert Einstein proposed that the universe was "curved", the debate has been open.

Scientific opinion has moved towards a flat universe and the latest data confirm this with greater certainty than ever before.

Another result of the study is the prediction that the universe will eventually stop expanding from the Big Bang, but will not collapse into a "Big Crunch".

一只在南极洲升空的高空气球解答了宇宙学的一个最大问题：我们的宇宙是“平的”。

对于天文学家来说，平面的宇宙意味着几何学的一般原理将被遵守，光在直线中运行，而不是曲线。但自从爱因斯坦提出宇宙是弯曲的之后，科学界就展开了大争论。

科学的观点逐渐转向平面宇宙的理论，而最新的数据则越发的证明了这一点。

研究结果也提出了另一项假设，宇宙在大爆炸后最终会停止膨胀，而不会塌陷为一个大黑洞