Let's go find out what it is.

讓我們來瞧一瞧吧。

Can we talk about the discovery, Rana? -Yeah.

Rana，請說一下你們這次在黑洞對撞事件中的新發現。好唄？

Can I-- I want to sit on one of my black holes. -Alright.

沒問題啊，但我想找個"黑洞"來坐先。

If you notice, this one's a big one

誰都看得出來這是個 XL 尺碼的黑洞。

and that one's a little one. -This one is a little one. -Yeah.

給你坐的那個是 S 尺碼的。

I-I always feel like I'm the most excited out of everybody.

我總覺得我是所有人中最容易嗨起來的那個。

Really? -Yeah.

真的假的？ 如假包換！

Because excited when nothing's happening. Cleaning some dust off a piece of glass

明明什麼大事都還沒發生， 只不過是把一塊鏡片上的灰塵擦乾淨就夠我嗨了。

and it still seems exciting, because I think this is the key piece of glass in our

就因為這塊鏡片是這一整個系統中最關鍵的那塊。

system and I'm just clean dust off of it. How cool is that?

想想這不是很酷嗎？

On January 4th,

讓我們回到1月4日那天，

just like a few hours after midnight. Boom. We got another signal much like the

午夜才剛過不久，碰的一聲， 我們就接收到了來自黑洞的訊號。

first signal we found in September of 2015. And it's also well represented by

這訊號和更早在2015年9月時所接收到的非常相似。

these black holes that we're sitting on. One of the black holes had a mass of

那就像是我們現在正坐著的這兩個"黑洞"， 其中較大的那個的質量

about 30 solar masses and the other one was about 20. And this one lasted

大約等於30倍太陽質量，而較小的那個則是大約20倍。

longer than the first one. Both because our detectors are better at the lowest

這次我們所收到的訊號持續的時間比前一次還要長。除了因為我們的感測器對於最低頻率更為敏感外，

frequencies and because the signal is from black holes which are smaller, so

也歸因於這次的訊號來自於較小的那個黑洞。

they last longer. And it's really dramatic if you listen to the audio.

當你聽到它的音頻就能知道這有多麼巨大的不同。

The first signal that we got, it's only audible for about a tenth of a second.

第一次的訊號中，音頻只維持了0.1秒。

It's just, "boomp," like this. But this new one sounds like "bvoom."

聽起來像是聲短短的“boomp， 但這次的聽起來則像是“bvoom。

It's a little bit more drawn-out and it comes from farther away.

比之前的更長一些，而且還是來自更遠的地方。

It's the furthest black hole merger that we've been able to detect. So it's about three billion light

這是我們所能觀測到最遠的黑洞合併，距離地球大約三十億光年，

years away, which means that signal-- the merger actually happened three billion

這表示這個黑洞事件是發生30億年以前，

years ago and the signal has been propagating to us for three billion years.

而這個訊號也是經過30億年的傳播才來到地球。

What's particularly interesting in this merger are hints that the two black

這其中最吸人眼球的地方在於其間接說明了

holes weren't spinning with the same orientation as each other or as their orbit.

這兩個黑洞並不是以相同的方向在旋轉 ，就連運行軌道也不一樣。

This suggests that rather than forming out of binary stars, they formed

這表示了這兩個黑洞一開始就不太可能是個雙星系統，

separately and later became entwined through orbital dynamics.

較可能是原先彼此獨立，後來才因為軌道的互動牽引才導致纏繞。

This one really says, okay, we now know that we're going

這件事說明了，我們現在知道自己將可以目睹更多這樣的東西。

to be seeing a lot of these things.

這件事說明了，我們現在知道自己將可以目睹更多這樣的東西。

It's a...

這真是...

It's a relief to have another signal to know that the universe is not just populated

這讓我大大地鬆了一口氣，讓我瞭解這個宇宙並不只是由所有的小黑洞，

by all tiny, tiny black holes or by no black holes.

或是黑洞以外的其他東西所構成的那麼簡單而已。

If we improve our detector

如果我們進一步強化我們的偵測元件，

sensitivity by say a factor of two or three, the rates will go up from, you know,

把靈敏度向上提昇到2到3個次方，你知道嗎，

seeing one every month or every two months to seeing one every day or every week.

這類事件的觀測機率會從每1到2月一次增加到每天或每週一次。

I would say it's very surprising now that our first three signals came

對我來說這是非常令人驚訝的，現在我們最先的三個訊號都來自於雙星系黑洞合併，

from binary black hole mergers which, were pretty much an unexpected source

而這樣的訊號來源是我們在2015年時所無法料想得到的。

as of mid-2015.

而這樣的訊號來源是我們在2015年時所無法料想得到的。

There's a working theory -- kind of exotic -- that says that some of

有一個成形中的理論，好像是來自外國的，

the black holes we're seeing are primordial, alright? They weren't formed

這理論認為我們所看到的那些黑洞是原生的。

through, you know, conventional supernova explosions. They were formed during the

它們並不是經由眾人熟知的超新星爆炸所形成，而是在宇宙大爆炸時就形成了。

Big Bang themselves. And they could be a part of Dark Matter, component of dark matter.

這些黑洞可能是暗物質的一部份，或暗物質的組成物。

So we may actually determine after we get statistics on

所以在我們繼續針對更多這些黑洞合併訊號的數據統計之後，

lots and lots and lots of these black hole mergers that we're actually seeing

或許我們可以確認它們與暗物質之間的關連，為我們的暗物質研究提供線索。

maybe a hint of dark matter.

或許我們可以確認它們與暗物質之間的關連，為我們的暗物質研究提供線索。

It's sort of scratching at the door of the biggest

這感覺就像是我們才剛輕輕扣到當今宇宙學中最奧秘的大門。

mysteries that we have today in cosmology.

這感覺就像是我們才剛輕輕扣到當今宇宙學中最奧秘的大門。

In the past before there were any signals, people used to use this phrase,

在過去我們能接收到任何此類訊號之前，人們習慣會這麼說...

which I completely disagree with.

其實我完全不同意這些說法

And they would say, "you know if we don't find any signals it will be even more

總之他們會說， "沒有找到任何訊號會比發現到訊號更有意義。"

interesting than if we do." I said no no no no no. No no no no.

我會說不不不不，不是這樣子的。

Lots of signals. That's what we want.

去發現大量的訊號才會是我們想要的結果。

But now that we have a few, I'm feeling a little bit more

但現在我們的感覺是有點得意的，

complacent. And so I'd say we really expected to see a lot of binary neutron stars,

我認為我們真的可以預期看到大量的中子星雙星系統，

and if we don't, well isn't that interesting? It means there's something going on--

就算是如果我們沒看到，這也是很有趣的，不是嗎？那也代表著有一些事情正在發生中。

You know, you have all the pieces. We already know how neutron stars work.

你知道嗎，你已經掌握了所有的線索。 我們已經明瞭中子星的運作方式。

We've seen neutron stars using radio astronomy. We know they're

我們已經利用無線電天文學發現了中子星。

out there, we know that they come together in binaries.

我們知道它們的存在，而且都是以雙星系統方式存在。

But why don't we see their gravitational waves?

但是，為什麼我們還沒測到它們的重力波？

So it could be something else happens to them

所以，在它們最終合而為一之前，可能發生了不同的事情，

just before the final merger and there's something in their evolutionary track

在它們的發展軌跡中的某事物，使得它們脫離了我們所預期的演變方向。

which goes off in a different direction than what we expect.

在它們的發展軌跡中的某事物，使得它們脫離了我們所預期的演變方向。

And I think that would actually be interesting. I guess I've become one of those people that

這實際上聽起來就有點糗大了。 我想我也變成那些 "沒看到會更有趣" 的人們之一。

said if you don't see it then maybe it's interesting, because we'll learn something.

不論如何，我們都能學到一些東西。

You never know how many more signals we have sitting in the can that we're not

你永遠不知道我們沒打算跟你提起的訊號到底有多少？

telling you about.

你永遠不知道我們沒打算跟你提起的訊號到底有多少？

Can you say that again?

你能再說一遍嗎？

I don't think so. -Would you give me the exclusive, Rana?

算了吧！ 你可以讓我獨家專訪嗎，Rana？

I would! You know it, Derek. Come on. If I had secret signals, you'd be the first to know.

我會的！你知道的，Derek。 如果我有神秘的新發現，你會是第一個知道的。

These lights are the first two tentacles of the jellyfish I'm

building, and there's a neural network which then drives this little chip, which

modulates these lights. And it's going to use these sensors like the proximity and the

sound to figure out if people are close to it. And the neural network is going to

train itself to flash the tentacle lights to make people come closer to it.