zipping down the Death Star.  We're in this very constrained area with Alvin, and on the

在死星上飛馳。 我們和阿爾文在這個非常受限的區域，而在

sides, we have walls, and on the bottom, it's all volcanic with tube worms. It's a totally

兩側有牆，底部是火山岩，有管狀蠕蟲。這是一個完全

alien landscape. Earth's final frontier is the ocean floor. We couldn't survive there.

外星景觀。地球的最後疆域是洋底。我們不可能在那裡生存。

But life will find a way to fill any niche, and this environment is no exception. And

但生活會找到一種方式來填補任何利基，這種環境也不例外。而且

that's one of the reasons why scientists are pushing to explore this extreme environment...

這就是為什麼科學家們正在推動探索這個極端環境的原因之一...

before it's too late.

在為時已晚之前。

It's really important for us to get down there and try and understand,

對我們來說，到那裡去嘗試和了解真的很重要。

at a base level, what's happening and what may be happening as humans impact that environment.

在一個基本水準上，正在發生什麼，以及在人類影響該環境時可能發生什麼。

Which means this historic sub is getting an upgrade. Alvin is a deep-submergence vehicle.

這意味著這艘歷史悠久的潛艇正在得到升級。阿爾文號是一個深潛器。

It's a three-person machine designed to take people to some of the deepest places in the

這是一臺三人機器，旨在將人們帶到一些最深的地方。

ocean. It's a 57-year-old program that has stayed operational for those 57 years and

海洋。這是一個有57年曆史的項目，在這57年中一直保持運作，並且

continues to make some pretty amazing discoveries. Every time Alvin dives, we learn something

繼續做出一些相當驚人的發現。每當阿爾文潛水時，我們都會學到一些東西

new. One of the most exciting discoveries I think was made in 1977, with the discovery

新的。我認為最激動人心的發現之一是在1977年，發現了

of the hydrothermal vent systems. Just a few years ago, Alvin enabled

的熱液噴口系統。 就在幾年前，阿爾文使

the discovery of this new deep coral environment. Because of these discoveries, Alvin is no

發現了這個新的深海珊瑚環境。由於這些發現，阿爾文號不再是

stranger to making headlines...

對上頭條很陌生...

These first glimpses are only the beginning.

這些初步的瞥見只是一個開始。

But it was Alvin's exploration of Titanic in 1986 that brought the sub worldwide attention.

但是，正是阿爾文在1986年對泰坦尼克號的探索使該潛艇受到了全世界的關注。

And that has helped turn Alvin into a cultural icon.

而這有助於將阿爾文變成一個文化符號。

Behold the Alvin, Pinky. Our ticket to the ocean depths.

看哪，阿爾文號，小粉紅。我們通往海洋深處的門票。

For years, Alvin's max depth was

多年來，阿爾文的最大深度是

4,500 meters, giving scientists access to close to two thirds of the ocean floor. There's

4,500米，使科學家能夠進入接近三分之二的海底。這裡有

always a sense of excitement and anticipation before getting in the sub, and that just comes

在進入潛艇之前，總是有一種興奮和期待的感覺，而這種感覺就是

from the fact that you are likely to see something that no one else has seen before

因為你有可能看到別人沒有見過的東西。

and potentially make an important discovery.

並有可能做出重要的發現。

Once you get in the water, you go from rocking and rolling on the surface of the ocean, and pretty

一旦你進入水中，你就會從在海面上的搖晃和滾動，並相當

quickly, everything just calms down. And then there's this beautiful transition in color

很快，一切都平靜下來了。然後出現了這種美麗的色彩過渡

as you go from kind of this light green color through these deep blues, all the way to black.

當你從這種淺綠色到這些深藍色，一直到黑色。

When we get to about 100 meters off the bottom, we turn the lights on, we make a very slow

當我們到達離底部約100米的地方時，我們打開燈，我們做了一個非常緩慢的

approach, and we'll hover right off the bottom. When three people get in a submarine, what

接近，我們就會在底部盤旋。當三個人進入潛水艇時，什麼是

happens is they become a single entity. And you become this three-brained, six-eyed, human

發生的情況是他們成為一個單一的實體。而你成為這個三腦六眼的人類

cyborg thing down there. I know that sounds crazy, but it's really the truth. You have

下面有機械人的東西。我知道這聽起來很瘋狂，但這確實是事實。你有

a lot of plans, a lot of samples that need to be collected. There's an intense level

大量的計劃，大量需要收集的樣本。有一個強烈的水準

of concentration and it goes by really quickly. It's really gratifying when you come off the

集中精力，時間很快就過去了。當你離開時，這真的很令人高興。

bottom. You've got a basket full of samples, not just for you, but for everyone, and you're

底下。你有一個裝滿樣品的籃子，不僅是為你，也是為每個人，而且你是

heading home having accomplished what you wanted to accomplish. But for scientists and

在完成了你想完成的任務後回家。但對於科學家和

explorers, there's still much more to see—and the current model is reaching its limits.

探險家們，還有很多東西要看，而且目前的模式已經達到極限。

It's been around for more than 50 years. And over that time period, it's gone through major

它已經存在了50多年。在這段時間裡，它經歷了主要的

upgrades and overhauls. So about 30% of the upgrades happened just about eight years ago

升級和大修。是以，大約30%的升級就發生在大約八年前

and we're right at the end of stage two. So Alvin's now going to be able to go

而我們正處於第二階段的尾聲。所以阿爾文現在可以去

all the way to 6,500 meters. We'll now be able to dive with Alvin to 98%

一直到6,500米。我們現在將能夠與阿爾文號一起潛水到98%的深度

of the ocean floor. And so this opens up a whole area of the ocean that is not well studied

的洋底。是以，這開闢了整個海洋的一個沒有被很好研究的區域

and not well explored. To find out what's down there, Alvin needed more than just a

而且沒有得到很好的探索。為了找到下面的東西，阿爾文需要的不僅僅是一個

simple facelift. All the principal systems have pretty much been changed—all high-tech

簡單的改頭換面。所有的主要系統都已基本改變--所有的高科技

camera systems, the interface with all the science gear, control—a lot of really subtle

攝像系統，與所有科學設備的接口，控制--許多真正微妙的問題。

things that people won't even notice. Including the white material on Alvin's exterior.

人們甚至不會注意到的事情。包括阿爾文外觀上的白色材料。

That is syntactic foam. That is a material that's tiny hollow glass spheres embedded

這就是合成泡沫塑料。那是一種嵌入微小空心玻璃球的材料。

in epoxy. This foam allows the 20 metric ton Alvin to achieve neutral buoyancy on the

在環氧樹脂中。這種保麗龍使20公噸的阿爾文號在海上達到中性浮力。

seafloor. It helps keep the vessel in place, preventing it from sinking and rising when

海底。它有助於保持船隻的位置，防止它下沉和上升，當

it doesn't need to. However, getting to neutral buoyancy is only one part of the quest

它不需要這樣做。然而，達到中性浮力僅僅是追求的一部分。

to go deeper. The submersible needs to submerge. Woods Hole engineers outfitted Alvin with

以求更深入。潛水器需要潛入水中。伍茲霍爾的工程師為阿爾文號裝備了

new titanium ballast spheres, which regulate the air to water ratio in these tanks. So

新的鈦合金壓載球，可以調節這些水箱中的空氣和水的比例。所以

adding a little bit more air into those spheres or flooding it with a little bit more water,

在這些球體中加入更多的空氣，或用更多的水來淹沒它。

lets you kind of fine tune where you are. And in the deep submergence game, you'll

讓你對自己的位置進行微調。而在深潛游戲中，你會

start to see lots of titanium in these vehicles, and for good reason. That's the titanium

開始在這些車輛中看到大量的鈦，這是有原因的。這就是鈦合金

sphere that the pilots and the scientists are inside of. It's a bit bigger. It's a bit

飛行員和科學家在裡面的球體。它有點大。它有點

thicker. There's no reason not to stick with this metal that's really tried and true for

較厚。沒有理由不堅持使用這種真正久經考驗的金屬。

being extremely durable and resistant, not only to the pressure, but to the saltwater

非常耐用，不僅能抗壓，而且能抗鹽水。

environment that you're in. So with those additions, it's ready now to dive to 6,500 meters.

你所處的環境。是以，有了這些補充，它現在已經準備好下潛到6,500米。

Pushing to extreme ocean depths will allow Alvin to reach the entire abyssal zone,

推進到極端的海洋深度將使阿爾文號能夠到達整個深淵區。

a famously unexplored region where few other crewed research subs can currently go. Even

這是一個著名的未開發地區，目前很少有其他載人研究潛艇能去那裡。甚至

the world's most advanced nuclear subs can't reach these depths. It's pitch dark, the

世界上最先進的核潛艇也無法到達這些深度。這裡一片漆黑，

pressure will crush you, temperatures are near freezing, and it's filled with creatures

壓力會壓垮你，溫度接近冰點，而且充滿了生物

straight out of science fiction. So in the abyssal region, some things we want to look

直接從科幻小說中走出來。是以，在深淵地區，我們要看的一些東西

at is, what is the biodiversity in this area? What is its role in the global carbon cycle?

在是，這個地區的生物多樣性是什麼？它在全球碳循環中的作用是什麼？

What impacts have humans had already? We just don't really know. That's

人類已經產生了什麼影響？我們只是沒有真正知道。這就是

because at the moment more than 80% of the ocean's depths are unmapped and unexplored. While

因為目前80%以上的海洋深處都沒有被測繪，沒有被開發。雖然

that leaves us with many unanswered questions, we do know that the ocean floor harbors a

這給我們留下了許多未解之謎，但我們確實知道，海底蘊藏著一個

potential future gold rush. There's obviously a connection with deep sea mining and what

未來潛在的淘金熱。顯然與深海採礦和什麼有關係

that impact will have. There are iron manganese nodules that form in the

這種影響將產生。有鐵錳結核形成於

abyssal ocean. They're becoming increasingly important potentially as a source of rare

深淵海洋。它們正變得越來越重要，有可能成為珍稀資源的一個來源。

metals that allow us to build windmills and iPhones and electric car batteries. Already,

讓我們能夠建造風車、蘋果手機和電動汽車電池的金屬。已經是這樣了。

more than a dozen nations have begun exploring the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a region in the

十幾個國家已經開始探索克拉里昂-克利珀頓區。

Pacific Ocean that is estimated to have more cobalt and nickel than anywhere on land. Because

據估計，太平洋上的鈷和鎳的含量比陸地上任何地方都多。因為

of that, the earliest extractions could start as soon as 2024. We're in a unique position

其中，最早的開採可能在2024年就開始了。我們處於一個獨特的位置

to try and understand the environment that we're

試圖瞭解我們所處的環境。

potentially will disrupt if we extract those resources.

如果我們開採這些資源，有可能會破壞。

To understand how those ecosystems function. What happens if they're disrupted?

要了解這些生態系統如何運作。如果它們被打亂會發生什麼？

The only way to protect something is to understand it. And Alvin is one tool to do that. These

保護東西的唯一方法是瞭解它。而阿爾文是做到這一點的一個工具。這些

engineers are working through the vehicle's final preparations. We head out to Bermuda,

工程師正在進行車輛的最後準備工作。我們向百慕大出發。

and we start our sea trials where we put the sub in the water progressively over a period

我們開始進行海試，在一段時間內逐步將潛艇放入水中。

of about two and a half weeks and after these trials wrap up, Alvin will finally make its

大約兩週半的時間，在這些試驗結束後，阿爾文將最終使其

debut in the Abyssal zone. The deep ocean has been ignored, not necessarily by will,

在深淵區首次亮相。深海一直被忽視，不一定是出於意願。

but by technology. And I'm really excited that we're going to have the ability to add

但是通過技術。我真的很興奮，我們將有能力增加

that piece of the planet to our understanding of the whole. Everything behind me is new

在我們對整體的理解中，地球的那一部分是新的。我身後的一切是新的

enough where it could easily last another 50 years. When we have a kind of unknown

足夠了，它可以很容易地再持續50年。當我們有一種未知的

in front of us, we want to explore it and I think it's the ocean's time.

在我們面前，我們想探索它，我想這是海洋的時間。