there, at the edge of a black hole, or inside an exploding star.

在那裡，在黑洞的邊緣，或者在一顆爆炸的恆星裡面。

But some of them surround us, all the time.

但有些人卻一直圍繞在我們身邊，無時無刻不在。

I can show you.

我可以告訴你。

In this container, we're going to catch some super-fast subatomic particles that are

在這個容器裡，我們要抓住一些超快的亞原子粒子，這些粒子就是

raining down on us from space.

從太空中向我們傾瀉而下。

They're called cosmic rays.

他們被稱為宇宙射線。

And exactly where some of them come from is part of this 100-year-old mystery in physics.

而其中一些人究竟從何而來，是這個百年物理學之謎的一部分。

Cosmic rays are a form of radiation.

宇宙射線是輻射的一種形式。

“Rays” is a misnomer — they're actually little bits of atoms whizzing by us, even

"射線 "是一個錯誤的稱呼--它們實際上是一小部分原子從我們身邊呼嘯而過，即使是

through us, all the time.

通過我們，所有的時間。

Every square centimeter of Earth at sea level, including the space at the top of your head,

地球在海平面的每一平方釐米，包括你頭頂的空間。

gets hit by one of these particles every minute.

每分鐘都會被其中一個粒子擊中。

We can't feel them, and they don't cause our bodies any harm,

我們感覺不到它們，它們也不會對我們的身體造成任何傷害。

But they can, sometimes, do weird things: Like make computers malfunction by messing

但它們有時也會做一些奇怪的事情。比如讓電腦出故障

with their memory.

與他們的記憶。

Scientists have been studying cosmic rays since the early 1900s, when a physicist went

科學家們從20世紀初就開始研究宇宙射線，當時一位物理學家到

up in a hot air balloon and discovered the radiation increases the higher you go — meaning

在熱氣球上，發現輻射增加 你去越高 - 意味著

that it comes from somewhere in space.

它來自太空中的某個地方。

Since then, they've found out ways to make these little bits of atoms visible — like

從那時起，他們就找到了讓這些原子的小碎片變得可見的方法--比如說

we're gonna do here.

我們要在這裡做。

We've built something called a cloud chamber.

我們已經建立了一個叫做雲室的東西。

Up here is felt that we've soaked with a super-concentrated solution of rubbing alcohol.

這裡的氈子是我們用超濃縮的摩擦酒精溶液浸泡過的。

And at the bottom here is dry ice which is super cold.

而這裡的底部是乾冰，超級冷。

So when the alcohol vapor goes down to the bottom and gets really cold — it condenses

所以，當酒精蒸汽下降到底部，並得到真正的冷 - 它凝結。

and forms a cloud.

並形成雲。

And when the cosmic rays come shooting in from space — the alcohol vapor forms into

當宇宙射線從太空中射來時 酒精蒸氣就會形成為

little droplets and you can actually trace their path through the cloud.

小水滴，你可以實際追蹤它們在雲中的路徑。

Hopefully.

希望如此

Okay, let's look.

好吧，讓我們來看看。

Wait!

等等！

I saw one!

我看到一個！

Yeah!

是啊！

The particles in our cloud chamber are traveling from space at nearly the speed of light, as

雲霧室中的粒子以接近光速的速度從太空中飛來，就像

are the untold others passing by you and through you right now.

是無數的人從你身邊經過，並通過你現在。

When they hit our atmosphere, the impact is so powerful that the atoms of radiation burst

當它們撞上我們的大氣層時，衝擊力是如此之大，輻射的原子會爆裂。

open — tearing apart in violent, cascading collisions.

開--在劇烈的、層層疊疊的碰撞中撕裂開來。

That's what we see in the cloud chamber: atomic shrapnel that has reached the ground.

這就是我們在雲室裡看到的：已經到達地面的原子彈片。

Scientists have determined that some of these rays come from the sun's atmosphere, in

科學家們已經確定，其中一些射線來自太陽的大氣層，在。

the form of solar wind, and others from exploding stars.

太陽風的形式，還有一些來自於恆星爆炸。

But the most powerful rays are the most puzzling — they don't even come from our own galaxy.

但最強大的射線是最令人費解的--它們甚至不是來自我們自己的銀河系。

They come from some unknown source out in the universe.

它們來自宇宙中一些未知的來源。

The energy from the very most powerful ray recorded had enough power to turn on a light

從最強大的射線記錄的能量有足夠的力量來打開一盞燈。

bulb for a second or more.

燈泡一秒或更多。

That force is comparable to a top tennis pro hitting a ball with all their strength.

那力道堪比頂級網球職業選手全力擊球。

It doesn't sound that impressive, but think of this: all that energy is squeezed into

這聽起來並不令人印象深刻，但想想看：所有的能量都被擠進了一個巨大的空間。

an area smaller than an atom.

比原子還小的面積。

To try to figure out what entity could be shooting these incredibly powerful rays at

試圖找出是什麼實體能向我們射出這些強大的射線。

us, scientists use massive cosmic ray observatories, with detectors not too different from our

科學家們使用大規模的宇宙射線觀測站，其探測器與我們的宇宙射線觀測站沒有太大區別。

cloud chamber.

雲室。

Well… you know, they're on a higher budget and they're more advanced.

嗯... ... 你知道，他們的預算更高，他們更先進。

One in the South Pole uses a block of ice, a whole cubic kilometer, to track the rays

南極的一個人用一塊整整一立方公里的冰塊來追蹤光線。

instead of vapor.

而不是蒸汽。

Another one in Argentina has 1,600 huge water tanks, spread out over 1,000 square miles.

阿根廷的另一個有1600個巨大的水箱，分佈在1000平方英里的地方。

But instead of just observing cosmic rays as they shoot by, scientists use sophisticated

但是，科學家們不只是觀察宇宙射線射來時的情況，而是使用了複雜的方法來觀察。

technology to trace the atomic shrapnel backward.

追蹤原子彈片的技術，向後追溯。

There, they can reconstruct the original cosmic ray that hit at the top of the atmosphere.

在那裡，他們可以重建最初的宇宙射線，撞擊在大氣層的頂部。

But confirming their source in the deep reaches of space isn't so easy, because these cosmic

但在太空深處確認它們的來源並不容易，因為這些宇宙的

rays don't always travel in a straight line.

射線並不總是在一條直線上行駛。

Instead, the various magnetic fields of the universe and the galaxy, put them on

相反，宇宙和銀河系的各種磁場，把它們放在了

bendy paths.

彎曲的小路。

Scientists have a few suggestions.

科學家們有幾點建議。

The cosmic rays could be created in the violent hearts of galaxies far away.

宇宙射線可能是在遙遠的星系的劇烈心裡產生的。

Another leading hypothesis is that they're not produced by exploding stars, per se, but

另一個主要的假設是，它們不是由爆炸的恆星本身產生的，但

by bouncing around the shockwaves produced by those explosions.

通過在這些爆炸產生的衝擊波周圍反彈。

There is also the possibility that some of the rays are produced by forces and objects

還有一種可能是，有些射線是由力和物體產生的。

we don't know about — or interact with things like dark matter, in ways we don't

或與暗物質等物質相互作用，以我們不知道的方式

yet understand.

還不明白。

Or they could come from strange objects left over from the big bang.

或者它們可能來自於大爆炸後留下的奇怪物體。

I mean aliens could be shooting these at us… but I doubt it.

我是說外星人可能會向我們發射這些東西... 但我懷疑。

What scientists need is more data, more observations to be able to pinpoint the sources in the

科學家們需要的是更多的數據，更多的觀察，以便能夠準確地確定源頭在哪裡。

sky these particles are coming from.

天空中的這些粒子是來自。

If scientists can figure out where the most

如果科學家們能找出最

powerful cosmic rays come from, it means they're discovering one of the most powerful things

強大的宇宙射線從何而來 這意味著他們發現了最強大的東西之一。

in the entire universe.

在整個宇宙中。

Perhaps the most powerful thing in the entire universe.

也許是整個宇宙中最強大的東西。

That might open up an entirely new branch of physics, teaching us about how the universe

這可能會開闢一個全新的物理學分支，教我們如何看待宇宙。

was formed, and about how matter can be pushed to the extreme.

的形成，以及關於物質如何被推向極致。

But until their origin is discovered, we can think of cosmic rays as messengers from the

但在它們的起源被發現之前，我們可以把宇宙射線看成是來自上帝的信使。

broader universe.

更廣泛的宇宙。

A reminder we're a part of it, and that there's still a great deal of mystery out

提醒我們，我們是其中的一部分，而且還有很多神祕的地方

there.

在那裡。