Scientists may have discovered a way to make Mars habitable
科學家發現使火星宜居的新方法
As far as anyone knows, Mars is totally devoid of life. We don’t know if that was always the case, but we know that modern-day Mars is a rather hostile place to be thanks to frigid temperatures and deadly radiation.
大家都知道，火星上完全沒有生命。我們不知道是不是一直是這樣，但由於寒冷的溫度和致命的輻射，現代火星是一個相當危險的地方。
But when humans eventually arrive on the Red Planet, we might be able to change that, and a new study offers a hint as to how that could happen.
但當人類最終到達這顆紅色星球時，我們或許能夠改變這一狀況，一項新的研究為這一可能提供了線索。
Scientists may have discovered a way to make Mars habitable
科學家發現使火星宜居的新方法
As far as anyone knows, Mars is totally devoid of life. We don’t know if that was always the case, but we know that modern-day Mars is a rather hostile place to be thanks to frigid temperatures and deadly radiation.
大家都知道，火星上完全沒有生命。我們不知道是不是一直是這樣，但由於寒冷的溫度和致命的輻射，現代火星是一個相當危險的地方。
But when humans eventually arrive on the Red Planet, we might be able to change that, and a new study offers a hint as to how that could happen.
但當人類最終到達這顆紅色星球時，我們或許能夠改變這一狀況，一項新的研究為這一可能提供了線索。
In a new paper published in Nature Astronomy, researchers explain how a thin layer of aerogel — a highly porous, virtually weightless material — could make huge regions of Mars more habitable.
在《自然天文學》雜誌上發表的一篇新論文中，研究人員解釋了一層薄薄的氣凝膠——一種高度多孔、幾乎沒有重量的材料——是如何使火星的大片區域適於居住的。
Scientists have imagined what it would take to terraform Mars in the past, and the general consensus is that raising the surface temperature to above the freezing point of water needs to be the first major step.
過去，科學家們曾經設想過，將火星變成地球需要哪些條件，普遍的共識是，把火星地表溫度提高到水的冰點以上，這是第一步。
Once there’s flowing water on Mars, we could begin to truly modify the environment and perhaps even make it livable in the future, but it’s easier said than done.
一旦火星上有了流動的水，我們就可以開始真正地改變環境，甚至可能在未來使其適宜居住，但說起來容易做起來難。
The researchers in the latest study considered how aerogel might play a role. They designed an experiment to simulate how sunlight passing through an aerogel “shield” could change the conditions of the surface below, discovering that using a layer of silica aerogel just 2 to 3 centimeters thick allowed enough light to pass through for plants to use for photosynthesis while also blocking harmful UV radiation.
在最新的研究中，研究人員考慮了氣凝膠可能發揮的作用。他們設計了一個實驗，來模擬陽光穿過氣凝膠“屏蔽層”改變表面條件的過程,他們發現使用一層二氧化硅氣凝膠——只需要2到3釐米厚——這樣既能保證有足夠的光用於植物光合作用,同時還能阻止有害的紫外線輻射。
Scientists may have discovered a way to make Mars habitable
科學家發現使火星宜居的新方法
As far as anyone knows, Mars is totally devoid of life. We don’t know if that was always the case, but we know that modern-day Mars is a rather hostile place to be thanks to frigid temperatures and deadly radiation.
大家都知道，火星上完全沒有生命。我們不知道是不是一直是這樣，但由於寒冷的溫度和致命的輻射，現代火星是一個相當危險的地方。
But when humans eventually arrive on the Red Planet, we might be able to change that, and a new study offers a hint as to how that could happen.
但當人類最終到達這顆紅色星球時，我們或許能夠改變這一狀況，一項新的研究為這一可能提供了線索。
In a new paper published in Nature Astronomy, researchers explain how a thin layer of aerogel — a highly porous, virtually weightless material — could make huge regions of Mars more habitable.
在《自然天文學》雜誌上發表的一篇新論文中，研究人員解釋了一層薄薄的氣凝膠——一種高度多孔、幾乎沒有重量的材料——是如何使火星的大片區域適於居住的。
Scientists have imagined what it would take to terraform Mars in the past, and the general consensus is that raising the surface temperature to above the freezing point of water needs to be the first major step.
過去，科學家們曾經設想過，將火星變成地球需要哪些條件，普遍的共識是，把火星地表溫度提高到水的冰點以上，這是第一步。
Once there’s flowing water on Mars, we could begin to truly modify the environment and perhaps even make it livable in the future, but it’s easier said than done.
一旦火星上有了流動的水，我們就可以開始真正地改變環境，甚至可能在未來使其適宜居住，但說起來容易做起來難。
The researchers in the latest study considered how aerogel might play a role. They designed an experiment to simulate how sunlight passing through an aerogel “shield” could change the conditions of the surface below, discovering that using a layer of silica aerogel just 2 to 3 centimeters thick allowed enough light to pass through for plants to use for photosynthesis while also blocking harmful UV radiation.
在最新的研究中，研究人員考慮了氣凝膠可能發揮的作用。他們設計了一個實驗，來模擬陽光穿過氣凝膠“屏蔽層”改變表面條件的過程,他們發現使用一層二氧化硅氣凝膠——只需要2到3釐米厚——這樣既能保證有足夠的光用於植物光合作用,同時還能阻止有害的紫外線輻射。
On Earth, we’re concerned with the greenhouse effect because it pushes the temperature of our planet’s surface to dangerous highs.
在地球上，我們擔心溫室效應，因為它把地球表面的溫度推到危險的高點。
On Mars, a layer of aerogel could serve the same purpose. Layers of the incredibly lightweight material could raise the temperature over large regions, allowing water to flow and plant life to thrive.
在火星上，一層氣凝膠也可以起到同樣的作用。這種難以置信的輕質材料可以提高大面積地區的溫度，使水得以流動，植物得以茁壯成長。
At this point, of course, this is all very much theoretical. Aerogel is real and, it seems, could be used to solve a major problem for future settlers of Mars, but producing it on the Red Planet (or bringing it all the way from Earth) is barely worth dreaming about at this point.
當然，這些都只是建立在理論基礎上的。雖然氣凝膠真實存在，它似乎可以用來解決未來火星宜居的一個主要問題，但要在火星上生產氣凝膠(或從地球上送過去)，這一點幾乎想都不用想。