things up, and it's all legal.

事情了，而且都是合法的。

It's like Dr. Frankenstein came back to life.

就像弗蘭肯斯坦博士復活了一樣。

He would be running a lab like this.

他將會管理一個這樣的實驗室。

If he could really bring things back to life with intense energy, this would be the place.

如果他真的能用強烈的能量讓事情重現，這裡就是了。

Astrophysicist Mike Montgomery is talking about the Z Machine -- one of the most powerful

天體物理學家Mike Montgomery正在談論Z機--最強大的機器之一。

devices on Earth,

地球上的設備。

capable of firing more than 20 MEGAJOULES of energy at a tiny target at its center. It's

能夠向其中心的一個小目標發射超過20兆焦耳的能量。它是

used to uncover some of the greatest mysteries of our universe.

用來揭開我們宇宙中最偉大的一些奧祕。

So there's an enormous release of energy.

所以會有巨大的能量釋放。

And in just a few nanoseconds, you release more energy than five times all the power

而在短短的幾納秒內，你釋放的能量是所有能量的五倍。

plants on the Earth.

地球上的植物。

It's an incredible powerful thing, it's the most powerful X-ray source on planet Earth

這是一個不可思議的強大的東西，它是地球上最強大的X射線源。

by a lot.

由很多。

When it goes off, there's an enormous boom.

爆炸的時候，會有巨大的轟動。

You feel it move through you, the doors vibrate, the ground shakes.

你感覺到它在你身上移動，門在震動，地面在震動。

The Z Machine is helping drive innovation in the fields of radiation sciences, material

Z機器正在幫助推動輻射科學、材料和技術領域的創新。

sciences, and fusion studies.

科學和聚變研究。

Even redefining the field of astronomy by making experimentation possible.

甚至重新定義天文學領域，使實驗成為可能。

We can actually create the cosmic conditions in the laboratory.

我們其實可以在實驗室裡創造宇宙條件。

Now we can turn astronomy into an experimental science like physics or any other science.

現在我們可以把天文學變成一門實驗科學，就像物理學或其他科學一樣。

Always before we say, well it's an observational science.

總是在我們說，好吧，這是一門觀察科學。

And we go out to McDonald Observatory.

然後我們去麥克唐納天文臺。

But now we go to Sandia National Labs and do these experiments and create those conditions.

但現在我們去桑迪亞國家實驗室做這些實驗，創造這些條件。

Don Winget and Mike Montgomery from the University of Texas at Austin are here to fire the Z

德克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校的唐-溫尼特和邁克-蒙哥馬利在這裡發射Z。

and create conditions similar to the interior of a star. The stakes are very high -- because,

並創造類似於恆星內部的條件。這其中的利害關係非常大，因為：

the Z shots are very precious.

Z鏡頭非常珍貴。

There's one a day at Sandia, basically, at most.

桑迪亞每天都有一個，基本上，最多。

So you only get a very precious handful of shots.

所以你只能得到非常珍貴的少量鏡頭。

If you're the white dwarf experiment, you may only get something like 15 of these shots

如果你是白矮星實驗，你可能只能拍到15張這樣的照片。

a year -- if you're lucky.

一年 -- 如果你幸運的話。

You realize you're using something very few people are privileged to be able to use to

你意識到你正在使用的東西很少有人能夠特權能夠使用，以

do something that's very rare and very special.

做一些非常罕見和非常特殊的事情。

You don't want to lose one because you didn't hook up a cable correctly.

你可不想因為沒有正確地接好電纜而失去一根。

Or because something wasn't aligned perfectly.

或者是因為有些東西沒有完全對齊。

And you don't want to lose a shot because a leak is making it impossible to create a

而你也不想因為漏網之魚而失去機會，讓你無法創造出一個。

vacuum in the experiment chamber.

實驗室內的真空。

Unfortunately, this is the scenario Mike, Don, and the Z Team currently face.

不幸的是，這就是邁克、唐和Z隊目前面臨的情景。

More than 16 hours have passed since yesterday's scheduled shot and technicians have finally

距離昨天預定的拍攝時間已經過去了16個多小時，技術人員也終於

located the leak.

找到了漏點。

They work quickly and carefully to seal it.

他們迅速而細緻地工作，將其封存。

The care that has to be taken with the entire operation at Z is a little like the US Space program.

在Z國的整個運作過程中，不得不小心翼翼，這有點像美國的太空計劃。

In the space program they're doing hard things, and they're doing hard things that can't go wrong.

在太空計劃中，他們做的是硬事，而且是不會出錯的硬事。

It gives you a tremendous amount of respect for the team that does it, you realize that

這讓你對做這件事的團隊產生了極大的敬意，你會意識到

this is a very special operation and that they're highly skilled, and it's an amazing instrument.

這是一個非常特殊的操作， 他們是高度熟練， 這是一個驚人的工具。

And so I'm delighted to be able to take part in an actual laboratory experiment, which

所以我很高興能夠參加一個實際的實驗室實驗，這

I didn't really think was going to happen in my astronomy career.

我真的沒想到會發生在我的天文學生涯中。

Mike and Don have spent decades observing and studying white dwarf stars.

邁克和唐花了幾十年時間觀察和研究白矮星。

Now, they'll get the chance to recreate one on Earth.

現在，他們將有機會在地球上重新創造一個。

As we look at our Milky Way we look at say, a couple hundred billion stars.

當我們看我們的銀河系時，我們看的是說，幾千億顆恆星。

Most of those stars, about 97% plus, almost 98% we think will become white dwarf stars.

其中大部分的恆星，大約97%以上，幾乎98%我們認為會成為白矮星。

White dwarfs are the burnt out cores of red giant stars -- but I hate describing

白矮星是紅巨星的燒盡的核心 -- 但我討厭描述

them that way.

他們這樣。

White dwarfs are the natural endpoint for most stars.

白矮星是大多數恆星的自然終點。

Once they become a white dwarf they're fossil remnants of stars.

一旦成為白矮星，它們就是恆星的化石殘骸。

They're finally a stable form.

他們終於有了穩定的形式。

And because white dwarfs are typically the oldest celestial bodies in their star systems,

而且因為白矮星是典型的恆星系統中最古老的天體。

they've been used as reliable timekeepers of the cosmos.

他們一直被用來作為宇宙的可靠時間守護者。

An age is one of the hardest things to determine.

一個年齡是最難確定的事情之一。

You can't measure an age.

你不能衡量一個年齡。

It's a derived quantity.

這是一個派生量。

You can measure how bright something is or how far away it is, but without a model for

你可以測量某樣東西有多亮或多遠，但如果沒有一個模型來測量

how that object changes with time, you cannot measure an age.

該物體如何隨著時間的變化而變化，你無法測量一個年齡。

To break this down further -- we can measure a star's brightness using powerful telescopes.

為了進一步分解--我們可以用強大的望遠鏡測量恆星的亮度。

These powerful telescopes record visible spectra that provide clues about a star's composition

這些強大的望遠鏡記錄了可見光譜，提供了有關恆星組成的線索。

and temperature.

和溫度。

Each element has a fingerprint that's unique to that element, and so that tells you what

每個元素都有一個該元素獨有的指紋，所以它告訴你什麼是

elements are present.

元素的存在。

So you break the light apart into its colors and you look for the signature of these elements,

所以你要把光分解成它的顏色，你要尋找這些元素的特徵。

and the relative strengths of the various lines that you see contains information about

以及你所看到的各種線路的相對強度，包含了以下資訊

the temperature.

的溫度。

Visible spectra can also be used to determine a star's mass.

可見光光譜也可以用來確定一顆恆星的品質。

All this information can be used to create cooling models to determine a star's age.

所有這些資訊都可以用來創建冷卻模型來確定恆星的年齡。

You've got a block of iron, and you've been heating it in the

你有一塊鐵塊，你一直在加熱它在。

fire up to 800 or 1,000 degrees, and you take it out, and you measure its temperature versus

火焰高達800或1000度，你把它拿出來，你測量它的溫度與。

time, it just gets cooler and cooler.

時間，它只是變得越來越涼爽。

It's not that hard to calculate how fast it should get cooler and cooler either.

要計算出它應該如何快速變涼，也不難。

So, with the white dwarf, it's the same thing.

所以，對於白矮子，也是一樣的道理。

Astrophysicists like Mike and Don can then use the oldest white dwarfs to estimate the

像Mike和Don這樣的天體物理學家就可以利用最老的白矮星來估計出

age of other celestial bodies, galaxies, and even the universe itself.

其他天體、星系、甚至宇宙本身的年齡。

The research that Don did back in the late '80s showed that you could use these coolest

唐在80年代末做的研究表明，你可以用這些最酷的。

white dwarfs to figure out how old the disk of our galaxy is.

白矮星來計算銀河系盤的年齡。

Don's groundbreaking work not only resulted in recalibrating the age of the Milky Way

唐的突破性工作不僅重新校準了銀河系的年齡

-- but also resulted in adjusting the estimated age of our universe from roughly 20 billion

-- 但也導致了我們宇宙的估計年齡從大約200億年調整到100億年。

years to 13 billion years.

年到130億年。

But what if those models used to determine the age of white dwarfs still aren't quite right?

但是，如果那些用來確定白矮星年齡的模型仍然不完全正確呢？

We knew that there was physics yet to be understood in the white dwarf spectra.

我們知道，在白矮星光譜中，還有物理學尚未被理解。

So we've started to realize we're having systematic problems

所以我們開始意識到我們有系統性的問題。

with that, so that the spectroscopic values of the mass that we're deriving may have systematic

與，這樣我們推導出的品質的光譜值就可能有系統的

problems of 10% errors in mass.

品質誤差10%的問題。

It could be larger.

它可以更大。

For those who haven't yet done the math -- a 10% error on 13 BILLION means the current

對於那些還沒有計算過的人來說--130億的10%的誤差意味著目前的。

estimated age of the universe could be off by MORE THAN A BILLION YEARS!

宇宙的估計年齡可能會偏離十億年以上!

And that's why we're now trying to do experiments on Earth which will nail down these problems.

這就是為什麼我們現在試圖在地球上做實驗，以解決這些問題。

With the leak sealed and the Experiment Chamber pumped down to create the necessary vacuum,

隨著洩漏的密封和實驗室抽下，以產生必要的真空。

all systems are go for fire.

所有的系統都是走火入魔。

Here we go!

我們走吧！

With this shot, the Z Machine will recreate the conditions of the interior of a star allowing

通過這次拍攝，Z機將重現恆星內部的狀況，讓。

researchers to examine the properties of plasma x-rays and investigate how hydrogen atoms

研究人員檢查等離子體X射線的特性，並研究氫原子如何

absorb light.

吸光。

Unfortunately, due to safety protocol, our cameras aren't allowed beyond these doors.

不幸的是，由於安全協議，我們的攝影機不允許越過這些門。

Charge complete.

充電完畢。

Ready to fire.

準備發射。

Yeahhh!

耶！

I saw a flash!

我看到一個閃光！

In astronomy, we wait for the universe to make the experiment and then we look at the

在天文學中，我們等待著宇宙做實驗，然後我們看看

results, but we can't ask nature to repeat the experiment.

結果，但我們不能要求大自然重複實驗。

Almost every one of you guys jumped!

你們幾乎每個人都跳了下去!

We did not jump.

我們沒有跳。

We reacted.

我們反應過來了。

Now we have a real laboratory so it just leverages how much more information we can get from

現在我們有了一個真正的實驗室，所以它只是利用了我們可以獲得更多的資訊，從

astrophysical objects if we can calibrate the models that we're using to interpret them.

如果我們能夠校準我們用來解釋它們的模型，天體物理物體。

Now the rest of the data will come out; it'll percolate out over the course of the next

現在，其餘的數據會出來；它會在接下來的過程中滲透出來。

24 hours, but now we know that the experiment was successful.

24小時，但現在我們知道實驗是成功的。

And that's the whole idea, benchmarking the observations and the theory, benchmarking

而這就是整個想法，對標觀察和理論，對標。

the theory that's used to create the models through which we interpret the observations.

用來創建模型的理論，我們通過這些模型來解釋觀察結果。

Astronomy is great and it has all these pretty pictures, but it's really understanding the

天文學是偉大的，它有所有這些漂亮的圖片，但它是真正瞭解的

pretty pictures, that's the fun part.

漂亮的圖片，這是有趣的部分。