INTO THE UNIVERSE WITH STEPHEN HA WKING----TIME TRA VEL
Hello! My name is Stephen Hawking 大家好我是史提芬·霍金
Physicist, cosmologist, and something of a dreamer. 物理学家宇宙学家有时是个梦想家
Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer. 虽然我行动不便说话需要电脑的帮助
In my mind, I am free. 但我的思想是自由的
Free to explore the universe 自由地探索宇宙
And ask the big questions. 探究宇宙问题
Such as is time travel possible? 例如：时间旅行是否可行
Can we open a portal to the past? 如何开启通往过去之门
Or find a shortcut to the future? 或到前往未来的捷径
Can we ultimately use the laws of nature. 最终我们是否可以
T o become masters of time itself ? 利用大自然的法则操控时间呢
Check it out.来解开这个谜
与霍金一起了解宇宙
Time travel was once considered scientific heresy. 时间旅行曾经被认为是科学的异端邪说
I used to avoid talking about it 我一向都回避这个话题
For fear of being labeled a crank. 避免被贴上狂想家的标签
But these days, I'm not so cautious. 但这段日子我不再犹豫
In fact, I'm more like the people who built Stonehenge. 事实上我更中情于建造巨石柱的人（英国Salisbury 平原上）
I'm obsessed by time. 我被时间记录了
If I had a time machine.. 如果我有台时间机器
I'd visit Marilyn Monroe in her prime. 我可以拜访玛莉莲·梦露在她当红的时期
Or drop in on Galileo, as he turned his telescope to the heavens. 拜访伽利略当他把望远镜指向宇宙
Perhaps I'd even travel to the end of the universe 可能我还会到宇宙的尽头
T o find out how our whole cosmic story ends. 揭开我们宇宙的全貌
T o see how this might be possible 要验证我们的想法是否可行
We need to look at time as physicists do 我们就要以物理学家的眼光去研究时间
As the fourth dimension.也就是四维时空
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It's not as hard as it sounds.四维时空并不难理解
All physical objects, even me and my chair，所有的物体甚至是我和我的椅子
Exist in three dimensions.都是三维的
Everything has a width and a height and a length.任何物体都有宽·高·长
But there is another kind of length 但还存在另一种维度
A length in time. 即时间维度
While a human may survive for 80 years，一个正常人可以活80岁
These stones will last 这堆石头可以存在更长时间
For thousands of years. 可能是数千年
And the solar system will last for billions of years.而太阳系则是数十亿年
Everything has a length in time, as well as space.所有东西都在时间上有长度空间也一样
Traveling in time 在时间中旅行
Means traveling through this fourth dimension.意味着要穿梭四维的时空
T o see what that means, let's do a bit of normal every day traveling just to get a feel for it.
为更好地理解我们以日常旅行为例来直观体会一下思维空间的含义
A fast car makes it a bit more fun.高速的车带来更多的乐趣
Drive in a straight line, and you're traveling in one dimension.直走意味着穿过其中一维的空间
T urn right or left, and you add the second dimension.左转或右转就增加了第二维空间
Drive up or down a twisty mountain road, And that adds height.在弯曲的山路中爬上爬下带来高度的变化
So that's traveling in all three dimensions.那样就在三维中穿梭了
But how on Earth do we travel in time? 但我们怎样穿梭时间呢
How do we find a path through the fourth dimension? 怎样才能到第四维呢
Let's indulge in a little science fiction for a moment.先让我们换一个话题来看一个科幻的假想
Time-travel movies often feature a vast energy-hungry machine.关于时间旅行的电影通常有体积巨大超耗能的机器
The machine creates a path through the fourth dimension机器创造出一条通往第四维的通道
A tunnel through time.一条时间的隧道
A time traveler, a brave一个时间的旅行者是勇敢者
Perhaps foolhardy individual也许也算是准备踏入
Prepared for who knows what, 未知空间的愚勇之士
Steps into the time tunnel . 义无反顾迈入时间隧道
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And emerges who knows when.在未知的时间再现
The concept may be far-fetched，构想上可能大不相同
And the reality may be very different than this，真实情况可能与此大相径庭
But the idea itself is not so crazy.但这种想法本身并不疯狂
Physicists have been thinking about tunnels in time, too，物理学家也一直为时间隧道绞尽脑汁
But we covered it from a different angle.不过我们要从另一个角度来揭示这个问题
We wonder if portals to the past or the future 我们不知道在自然法则允许的范围内
Could ever be possible within the laws of nature.是否可能出现通往过去或者未来的大门
As it turns out..事实上
We think they are. 我们认为有可能
What's more we' even given them 甚至给他们命名
Wormholes. “虫洞”
The truth is the wormholes are all 事实上虫洞布满在我们身边
Only they're too small to see. 只是它们细小得看不到
Wormholes are very tiny. 虫洞非常微型
They occur in nooks and crannies in space and time.虫洞存在于时空的每个角落（nooks and crannies）
Y ou might find it a tough concept, but stay with me. 你可能难以理解但请继续看下去
Nothing is flat or solid.没有东西是平坦的或者实心的
If you look closely enough at anything, 如果靠得足够近看任何东西
Y ou'll find holes and wrinkles in it. 你会发现小洞和裂痕无处不在
It's a basic physical principle, 这是基本的物理法则
tabletimeAnd it even applies to time. 同样适用于时间
T ake this pool table. 像这个桌球台
The surface looks flat and smooth, but up close, 表面看起来又平坦又光滑但靠近来看
it's actually anything but. 事实并非如此
It's full of gaps and holes.满是缝和孔
Even something as smooth as a pool ball. 就算是光滑得像台球
Has tiny crevices, wrinkles, and voids. 也有细小的裂痕皱褶瑕疵
Now, it's easy to show that this is true in the first three dimensions，在三维世界就容易说明这一点
But, trust me, it's also true of the fourth dimension, as well.相信我在第四维同样是正确的
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There are tiny crevices, wrinkles, and voids. In time. 时间中存在细小的裂痕皱褶瑕疵
Down at the smallest of scale，在非常小的尺度
Smaller even than molecules, 甚至比分子原子还微小
smaller than atoms, we get to a place 我们所得到的
called the quantum foam.我们把那一区域叫做量子泡沫（Quantum Foam）
This is where wormholes exist.虫洞就存在于此
Tiny tunnels, or shortcuts, through space and time穿越时空的微小隧道和捷径
Constantly form, disappear, and reform Within this quantum world.在这个量子的世界里面不断地形成——消失——再形成
And they actually link T wo separate places and two different times.连接两个独立地点和不同的时间
Unfortunately, these real-life time tunnels are just a billion trillion trillionths of a
很不幸这种时空的隧道只有10的-33次方厘米的大小（普朗克长度）
Way too small for a human to pass through.不足以令人类可以通行
But here's where the notion of wormhole time machines . Is leading.不过引出了虫洞型的时间机器的概念
Some scientists think it may be possible to capture one and enlarge it many trillions of times有些科学家认为有可能抓住其中一个将之扩大数亿亿亿倍
T o make it big enough for a human or even a spaceship to enter.使其足以通过一个人甚至一艘太空船
Given enough power and advanced technology, 假设有足够的动力和超前的科技
Perhaps a giant wormhole could even be constructed in space.或许可以在宇宙中制造出大虫洞
I'm not saying it can be done, but if it could be, 我不保证可行但如果真的面世
It would be a truly remarkable device. 它将是一个非常卓越的机器
One end could be here near the Earth，一端在地球附近
And the other far, far away, near some distant planet.另一端则在遥远的宇宙的深处
Theoretically, a wormhole could do even more.理论上虫洞可以有更多的用途
If both ends were in the same place .And separated by time instead of distance，如果虫洞的两个开口在相同的地点不同的时间
A ship could fly in and come out still near the Earth，飞船可以穿越到地球形成之前的世界
But in the distant past.一个遥远的过去
Maybe dinosaurs would witness The ship coming in for a landing.或许恐龙们可以目睹飞船的降落
Now , I realize that thinking in four dimensions is not easy现在我觉得四维时空的概念很难理解
And that wormholes are a tricky concept to wrap your head around.虫洞的概念更加令人摸不着头脑
But hang in there.不过再坚持一下
I've thought up a simple experiment that could reveal if human time travel through a wormhole is
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我曾构想出一种简单的实验验证人类是否可以通过虫洞穿越时间
Or even in the future.甚至在遥远的未来
I like simple experiments and champagne.我喜欢简单的实验和香槟
So I've combined two of my favorite things T o see if time travel from the future to the past is possible
所以我结合两样我喜欢的东西来验证从未来穿越到过去是否可行
I'm throwing 我搞了一个派对
A welcome reception for future time travelers. 未来的时间旅行者的欢迎酒会
But there's a twist. 不过有点小插曲
I am not letting anyone know about it until after the party has happened.
在派对结束前我不打算让任何人知道这事
Here is the invitation, giving the exact coordinates in time and space.这就是那张请柬告知确切的时间和地点
I am hoping a piece of it, in one form or another, 我希望其中的一张无论以何种形态
will survive for many thousands of years. 能留存至数千年以后
Maybe one day someone living in the future will find the information可能在未来的某一天有人可以看到这份请柬
And use a wormhole time machine to come back to my party，用虫洞型的时间机器来参加我的派对
Proving that time travel will one day be possible.证明时间旅行在未来可以实现
My time-traveler guests could be arriving any moment now.我的穿越客人可能随时都会到
Five Four Three T wo 4...3...2 (1)
What a shame很遗憾
I was hoping a future miss universe was going to step through the door.我本希望有位未来的“环球小”前来光顾
So, why didn't the experiment work? 那么为何这个实验不起效呢
I think one of the reasons might be because of a well-known problem with time travel to 我想其中一个原因是众所周知穿越过去的问题
The problem of paradoxes.即谬论的问题
Paradoxes are fun to think about.谬论十分有趣
祖父谬论：回到过去，在（外）祖父生你父母之前把他杀了\n因此你不能出生，更不能回到过去杀你的祖父。
The most famous one is usually called the grandfather paradox.一个十分出名的谬论是“祖父谬论”
I have a new, simpler version I call the mad-scientist paradox.我提出了一个全新而简洁的版本我称之为“疯狂科学家谬论”
I don't like the way scientists in movies are often described as mad，我不喜欢电影中把科学家描述成疯子
But in this case, it's true.但在这个版本中却是真的
Even if it costs him his life . 就算代价是自己的生命
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