In a way, there's nothing very special about it.

就某方面來說，它沒什麼特別的。

It's a fairly ordinary star⏤not particularly large or bright by stellar standards.

它是一顆平凡無奇的恆星，就星星的標準來說，不是特別巨大或明亮。

But it's very special to us.

但它對我們而言非常特別。

The Sun makes life on Earth possible.

太陽讓地球上存在生命變成可能。

Cultures across the world and throughout the ages worshipped the Sun.

世界各地的文化自古至今都崇拜著太陽。

In some ways, modern life has cut us off from the Sun.

在某些面向看來，現代生活阻隔了我們與太陽。

In the developed world, we spend 90% of our time indoors, and yet, the Sun is still a powerful force underpinning our lives.

在已開發世界中，我們九成的時間都是在室內，然而太陽仍舊是支撐我們生活的強大力量。

The Sun affects our perception of beauty.

太陽影響我們對於「美」的看法。

When people talk of the "golden hour"⏤that time just before the Sun sets⏤it's a real thing.

當人們講到「黃金時段」，亦即太陽系下之前的那段時間，那是真實存在的。

The Sun isn't actually yellow or orange or even red.

太陽其實不是黃色、橙色，甚或是紅色。

It's all the colors mixed together.

它混雜了所有的顏色。

When the Sun rises or sets in the sky, the shortwave colors⏤green, blue, and violet⏤are scattered, leaving only the yellow and the red part of the spectrum, giving that amazing glow.

當太陽在天上東升西落時，包含綠、藍、靛色的短波色彩散射在空中，僅留下光譜中黃、紅部分，釋放那耀眼的光芒。

When the Sun is high in the sky, its blue waves bounce around, which is why the sky looks blue.

當太陽高掛天空時，它的藍色光波會四處發散，這也就是天空呈現藍色的原因。

And when you see a rainbow, that's the light from the Sun separated into all its magnificent colors.

當你看見彩虹時，那是因為太陽的光線分散出它各種壯麗色彩。

Although we talk of the Sun rising in the east and setting in the west, that's not quite true.

雖然我們都說太陽從東方升起、西方落下，那不完全是真實的。

It just seems that way to us.

只不過是對我們而言看似如此。

The Sun stays in the same place; it's the Earth that rotates on its axis.

太陽停留在同一個位置，反而是地球繞著地軸自轉。

This movement of the Sun is deeply embedded in our biology.

太陽的動作深刻地烙印在我們的生物發展中。

When sunlight enters the eye, it sends signals to a master clock in our brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

當陽光進入眼中，它會傳送訊息給我們腦中稱為「視交叉上核」的主時鐘。

This internal clock regulates everything from when we sleep to how we digest a meal.

這個生理時鐘調節著我們從睡眠到消化食物的每個動作。

Messing with this finely-tuned machine, when we work night shifts or fly across the world, can make us feel pretty rough.

如果用上夜班或是搭乘長途班機擾亂了這個精調過後的機制，那可能會讓我們感到很糟糕。

Even the bluish light from a mobile phone late at night is enough to disrupt and confuse our internal body clock.

就連深夜時來自智慧型手機的的微藍光都足以干擾並困惑體內生理時鐘。

Being out of step with the Sun affects our mood and our ability to think clearly.

與太陽步調不一致會影響我們的心情以及清晰思考的能力。

And there's evidence that this kind of disruption can lead to higher rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

而且也有證據顯示，這樣的擾亂可能提高罹患肥胖症、心臟疾病、糖尿病甚至癌症的機率。

We're living out of step with the Sun, and some scientists say this could be causing a public health crisis.

我們過著跟太陽不同步調的生活，而有些科學家表示，這可能會引起公眾健康危機。

When the Sun's shining, studies have shown that we tip more generously and are more likely to splash out on luxury goods.

研究顯示，當太陽在閃耀時，我們給小費會比較大方且更容易大把花錢購買奢侈品。

And crime may go down, too.

犯罪率也有可能下降。

One study in the US found that when the clocks go forward for Daylight Savings Time, the number of robberies, rapes, and murders went down around 50%.

美國的一起研究發現，當時鐘因為日光節約時間而往前調時，竊盜、強姦與謀殺案件數量降低了約五成。

The Sun is a hell of a force to be reckoned with.

太陽是急需認真對待的強大力量。

Every hour, enough sunlight falls on the Earth to power the world for a year.

每個小時照耀在地球上的陽光都足以為地球提供一整年的電力。

A year!

一整年！

Deep in its core, at around 15 million degrees Celsius, the Sun is constantly fusing hydrogen together to make helium.

在它核心、溫度約攝氏 1 千 5 百萬度的深處，太陽持續地融合氫氣以製造氦氣。

These nuclear reactions release vast amounts of energy in the form of sunlight.

這些核反應釋出了大量的能量，以陽光的形式出現。

If only we could work out how to harness this!

要是我們能夠想出運用這種能量的方式就好了！

But we are getting there.

但我們正往那個方向邁進。

It's estimated that by 2022, 30% of our energy could come from renewables, with solar growing faster than anything else.

據估計，到了 2022 年，人類三成的能量可能是可再生能源，其中太陽能成長速度遠超其它來源。

The Sun is vast, dynamic, and sometimes violent.

太陽是巨大、多變且有時暴力的。

Viewed up close, the Sun's surface looks like a raging sea of fire, with huge eruptions rising hundreds of thousands of kilometres into space.

近距離觀察時，太陽的表面看起來像是猛爆的火海，且有往太空、高達數千公里的噴發現象。

There are even earthquakes on the Sun called "sunquakes".

太陽上甚至會有稱為「日震」的地震現象。

And what happens on the Sun can impact us.

而太陽表面發生的事可以影響我們。

The Sun sporadically blasts huge clouds of charged particles towards the Earth, potentially wreaking havoc on the technology that we all rely on.

太陽偶爾會朝地球噴射大量的荷電粒子，可能會對我們仰賴的科技造成嚴重破壞。

But 97% of people have never heard of solar storms.

但大約有九成七的人從未聽過太陽風暴。

In 1859, a gigantic solar storm hit the Earth, creating auroras that covered the entire planet, knocking out the telegraph network, and sending sparks flying from electrical equipment.

在 1859 年時，一場巨大的太陽風暴襲擊了地球，引起了覆蓋全球的極光現象、摧毀了電報網路並引起電子器材閃現電火花。

The solar storm of 1859 is still the largest on record.

1859 年的太陽風暴仍是紀錄上最大的。

But if a similar storm were to hit the Earth today, the consequences for our way of life could be devastating, knocking out electricity grids, satellite navigation, and communications for days, weeks, or even months.

但如果今日有一場相似的風暴襲擊地球，對我們生活方式造成的結果可能是毀面性的，它會摧毀輸電網路、衛星導航以及通訊，連續數日、數週甚至數月之久。

No wonder people used to worship the Sun.

難怪過去的人們會崇拜太陽。

Thanks for watching; if you enjoyed that, be sure to check out these videos next.

謝謝收看，如果喜歡今天的內容，別忘了接著看看這些影片。

And if you haven't already, hit the subscribe button and click the bell to get a notification each time we upload a new video.

如果你還沒做，請點擊訂閱鍵並開啟小鈴鐺，才能在我們每次上傳新影片時收到通知。