TED英语演讲：我们从何而来

Word文档TED英语演讲：我们从何而来以TED20xx的主题为动身点，史蒂芬霍金教授提出了一些关于我们宇宙的重要问题──宇宙如何开头?生命何起源?宇宙中只有我们吗?与此同时，霍金教授也争论了我们探究破解这些问题的途径。下面是我为大家收集关于TED英语演讲：我们从何而来，欢迎借鉴参考。

演说题目：Questioningtheuniverse

演说者：StephenHawking

Thereisnothingbiggerorolderthantheuniverse.ThequestionsIwouldliketotalkaboutare:one,wheredidwecomefrom?Howdidtheuniversecomeintobeing?Arewealoneintheuniverse?Istherealienlifeoutthere?Whatisthefutureofthehumanrace?

没什么比宇宙更广阔更久远的了。你们的问题中我想聊一下的是：你我何从?宇宙何来?宇宙中就只有我们?有外星异生物么?人类的将来将会如何?

Upuntilthe1920s,everyonethoughttheuniversewasessentiallystaticandunchangingintime.Thenitwasdiscoveredthattheuniversewasexpanding.Distantgalaxiesweremovingawayfromus.Thismeanttheymusthavebeenclosertogetherinthepast.Ifweextrapolateback,wefindwemusthaveallbeenontopofeachotherabout15billionyearsago.ThiswastheBigBang,thebeginningoftheuniverse.

上世纪20xx年月之前，全部人都以为宇宙基本上是处于稳态，流金岁月，持恒不变。之后我们发觉原来宇宙正在膨胀中。辽远星系始终飞离我们，这意味着它们必定曾相靠近。我们若往后推算，就会发觉我们必都曾於约150亿年前，相互堆叠在一起。正是这霹雳大爆炸宇宙之起始。

ButwasthereanythingbeforetheBigBang?Ifnot,whatcreatedtheuniverse?WhydidtheuniverseemergefromtheBigBangthewayitdid?Weusedtothinkthatthetheoryoftheuniversecouldbedividedintotwoparts.First,therewerethelawslikeMaxwellsequationsandgeneralrelativitythatdeterminedtheevolutionoftheuniverse,givenitsstateoverallofspaceatonetime.Andsecond,therewasnoquestionoftheinitialstateoftheuniverse.

然而大爆炸前可有什么吗?若是没有，又是什么制造宇宙呢?宇宙缘何要从大霹雳中冒出呢?过往我们都认为宇宙论可分成两部分，首先，是定律。像“麦克斯韦方程组”和“广义相对论”以其于同一刻设定整个时空之状态，而打算了宇宙之演化进程。次之，是对宇宙雏形的疑问。

Wehavemadegoodprogressonthefirstpart,andnowhavetheknowledgeofthelawsofevolutioninallbutthemostextremeconditions.Butuntilrecently,wehavehadlittleideaabouttheinitialconditionsfortheuniverse.However,thisdivisionintolawsofevolutionandinitialconditionsdependsontimeandspacebeingseparateanddistinct.

第一部分我们取得良好进展，除了“至极端境况”以外。现在已对演化规律于全部境况下之进程有所把握。可直至最近，我们仍对宇宙初生当时之四周条件不甚了了。然而，这演化律及初始条件之界分，乃囿于时空分明之概念内。

Underextremeconditions,generalrelativityandquantumtheoryallowtimetobehavelikeanotherdimensionofspace.Thisremovesthedistinctionbetweentimeandspace,andmeansthelawsofevolutioncanalsodeterminetheinitialstate.Theuniversecanspontaneouslycreateitselfoutofnothing.

而於极端条件下，广义相对论及量子论容许“时间”犹如“空间”的另一维度般运作。这就将“时.空”之间区分移除了，即是说演化律亦可打算初始状态。宇宙可以由无变有自我创生!

Moreover,wecancalculateaprobabilitythattheuniversewascreatedindifferentstates.ThesepredictionsareinexcellentagreementwithobservationsbytheWMAPsatelliteofthecosmicmicrowavebackground,whichisanimprintoftheveryearlyuniverse.Wethinkwehavesolvedthemysteryofcreation.Maybeweshouldpatenttheuniverseandchargeeveryoneroyaltiesfortheirexistence.

我们甚至可以计算出宇宙在不怜悯况下诞生的可能性。这些推论与WMAP卫星所观测到的宇宙微波背景辐射(即大爆炸之痕迹)相当全都。我们信任已勘破了制造神秘或许我们应将“宇宙”给注册，然后向每个生存于世的人收“生活费”。

Inowturntothesecondbigquestion:arewealone,oristhereotherlifeintheuniverse?WebelievethatlifearosespontaneouslyontheEarth,soitmustbepossibleforlifetoappearonothersuitableplanets,ofwhichthereseemtobealargenumberinthegalaxy.

现在我转到其次个大问题去，宇宙中就只有我们，还是另有其它生物?我们信任生命从地球自我衍生，故此生命确有可能消失於其它合适星球星河中看来可有不少呢。

Butwedontknowhowlifefirstappeared.Wehavetwopiecesofobservationalevidenceontheprobabilityoflifeappearing.Thefirstisthatwehavefossilsofalgaefrom3.5billionyearsago.TheEarthwasformed4.6billionyearsagoandwasprobablytoohotforaboutthefirsthalfbillionyears.SolifeappearedonEarthwithinhalfabillionyearsofitbeingpossible,whichisshortcomparedtothe10-billion-yearlifetimeofaplanetofEarthtype.Thissuggeststhattheprobabilityoflifeappearingisreasonablyhigh.Ifitwasverylow,onewouldhaveexpectedittotakemostofthetenbillionyearsavailable.

但我们仍未搅通生命是如何生成：对於生命诞生的可能契机，我们有两项观测得来的佐证。首先我们有来自35亿年前的海藻化石。地球于46亿年前形成，头约5亿年信任仍太热了。故此生命于其变得可能后的5亿年间方消失，这相对于像地球之类百亿年期的星体，只算是一段短时间。这意味着生命消失的概率是颇高的。若是低的话，就可预期要花尽百亿年的绝大部分才会消失。

Ontheotherhand,wedontseemtohavebeenvisitedbyaliens.IamdiscountingthereportsofUFOs.Whywouldtheyappearonlytocranksandweirdos?Ifthereisagovernmentconspiracytosuppressthereportsandkeepforitselfthescientificknowledgethealiensbring,itseemstohavebeenasingularlyineffectivepolicysofar.Furthermore,despiteanextensivesearchbytheSETIproject,wehaventheardanyalientelevisionquizshows.Thisprobablyindicatesthattherearenoaliencivilizationsatourstageofdevelopmentwithinaradiusofafewhundredlightyears.Issuinganinsurancepolicyagainstabductionbyaliensseemsaprettysafebet.

另一方面，我们好像从未见有外星人到访。我不信那些什么“不明物体的报导”。它们干吗要单向那些古奇怪怪的人现身呢?若真有一个甚麽政府阴谋要将报导打住，从而将外星人所带来之科学识据为己有，那可真像个既离奇，亦从未见效的举措。再说，即便SETI方案已进行广泛探究，我们还没有收听到任何外太空电视答问节目。这可能昭示在我们现阶段文明进展之方圆数百光年范围之内，并没有其它外星异文化。卖保险给那些怕被外星人绑架的人，看来是个不错的选择。

Thisbringsmetothelastofthebigquestions:thefutureofthehumanrace.Ifwearetheonlyintelligentbeingsinthegalaxy,weshouldmakesurewesurviveandcontinue.Butweareenteringanincreasinglydangerousperiodofourhistory.OurpopulationandouruseofthefiniteresourcesofplanetEartharegrowingexponentially,alongwithourtechnicalabilitytochangetheenvironmentforgoodorill.Butourgeneticcodestillcarriestheselfishandaggressiveinstinctsthatwereofsurvivaladvantageinthepast.Itwillbedifficultenoughtoavoiddisasterinthenexthundredyears,letalonethenextthousandormillion.

这送我到了最终一个大问题：人类的前途。若我们是星河里唯一智能生物，就必需确保自己能存活并连续下去。但我们正迈入历史中一个愈发危急的时段。我们的人囗和对地球有限资源的耗用，正以几何级数增长，相随的是我们将环境或弄好或弄垮的技术才能，至于我们的基因指令则仍带着那自私和好斗的本质，这或有利于我们过往求存，却又让我们于往后数百年内人祸难逃。更别说将来千百万年了。

Ouronlychanceoflong-termsurvivalisnottoremaininward-lookingonplanetEarth,buttospreadoutintospace.Theanswerstothesebigquestionsshowthatwehavemaderemarkableprogressinthelasthundredyears.Butifwewanttocontinuebeyondthenexthundredyears,ourfutureisinspace.ThatiswhyIaminfavorofmannedorshouldIsay,personnedspaceflight.

我们长活下去的唯一机会，不是始终呆着在地球而是冲出太空去。这些大问题之解答显示我们于过去数百年取得可观进展。可若要超越将来数百年，们的前途在于太空。正因此，我较倾向于人控(man于英语中可单指人“”或“男人”)或许我应说，由人驾驶之太空旅航。

AllofmylifeIhavesoughttounderstandtheuniverseandfindanswerstothesequestions.Ihavebeenveryluckythatmydisabilityhasnotbeenaserioushandicap.Indeed,ithasprobablygivenmemoretimethanmostpeopletopursuethequestforknowledge.Theultimategoalisacompletetheoryoftheuniverse,andwearemakinggoodprogress.Thankyouforlistening.

我一生都在探究想要了解宇宙并找出这些问题之答案。我始终都特别幸运，我的残疾并没造成严峻障礙;说真的，这反倒让我比大部分人获得更多时间以从事学问之追求。终极目标是一套完备的宇宙论，而我们已有良好进展。感谢您们的倾听。

ChrisAnderson:Professor,ifyouhadtoguesseitherway,doyounowbelievethatitismorelikelythannotthatwearealoneintheMilkyWay,asacivilizationofourlevelofintelligenceorhigher?Thisanswertooksevenminutes,andreallygavemeaninsightintotheincredibleactofgenerositythiswholetalkwasforTED.

安德森：教