Yes, I said alien structures, and I know what you're thinking, but just stay with me here.

是的，我說的是外星結構，我知道你在想什麼，但請聽我說。

Because the basic idea was this, superior intelligent life might build big structures around their home stars or planets as a way to harness or reuse that energy.

因為基本想法是這樣的：高等智慧生命可能會在其母星或行星周圍建造大型結構，作為利用或再利用能量的一種方式。

A 1960s physicist who came up with this idea, Freeman Dyson, argued that if these structures existed, there'd be so much energy that human scientists on Earth could probably spot it because it would emit a lot of infrared radiation.

20 世紀 60 年代提出這個想法的物理學家弗里曼-戴森認為，如果這些結構真的存在，那麼它的能量會非常大，地球上的人類科學家可能會發現它，因為它會發出大量的紅外輻射。

So in this new study, researchers say they found seven sources glowing in the infrared, those are their words, but couldn't find an obvious explanation for why these sources are glowing so much, which could mean they're Dyson spheres or something else entirely.

是以，在這項新研究中，研究人員說他們發現了七個在紅外線中發光的光源，這是他們的說法，但卻找不到一個明顯的解釋來說明為什麼這些光源會如此發光，這可能意味著它們是戴森球或其他完全不同的東西。

And what I'm saying is, what?

我想說的是，什麼？

Space is so crazy.

太空太瘋狂了

I wish I understood it better.

我希望我能更好地理解它。

So let's talk to a scientist to help wrap our heads around this.

是以，讓我們請一位科學家來幫助我們理清思路。

I'm joined now by Professor Jana Levin.

下面有請 Jana Levin 教授。

She is an astrophysicist and author of the book, Black Hole Survival Guide, as well as the Clare Toe Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Bernard College of Columbia University.

她是一位天體物理學家，著有《黑洞生存指南》一書，還是哥倫比亞大學伯納德學院物理學和天文學克萊爾-託伊教授。

Professor, first of all, thank you so much for being here.

教授，首先非常感謝您的到來。

Thanks for having me.

謝謝你邀請我。

I tried to explain it a little bit.

我試著解釋了一下。

That was my very dirty version.

這就是我的下流版本。

I was going to be like, yeah, but I'm an English major who just had Google.

我本來想說，是啊，但我是英語專業的，剛剛有了谷歌。

You have a PhD in physics from MIT.

你擁有麻省理工學院物理學博士學位。

So how do you explain Dyson spheres?

那麼你如何解釋戴森球呢？

I think there was an excellent explanation.

我想這是一個很好的解釋。

If you look at where we are relative to the sun, we're very far away.

如果你看看我們相對於太陽的位置，我們離太陽非常遙遠。

We're the third planet in.

我們是第三個進入的星球。

And imagine the light that we try to collect, let's say, with solar panels on people's homes or on any roofs to collect that energy.

想象一下我們試圖收集的光，比方說，在人們的家裡或屋頂上安裝太陽能電池板來收集這些能量。

Imagine if you got really close and you caught everything the sun was emitting.

想象一下，如果你靠得很近，就能捕捉到太陽發出的一切。

It's just a tremendous amount of power.

這就是巨大的能量。

And so Freeman Dyson was thinking about this.

於是，弗里曼-戴森開始思考這個問題。

Actually, he was originally inspired by sci-fi written by Olaf Stapleton like decades earlier.

實際上，他最初的靈感來自幾十年前奧拉夫-斯特普爾頓寫的科幻小說。

And his idea wasn't so much a solid sphere.

他的想法並不是一個堅固的球體。

It was really like satellites in orbit, a network of things that would be orbiting and would essentially what we would now say have solar panels and are collecting that energy.

它實際上就像軌道上的衛星，是一個在軌道上運行的網絡，基本上就是我們現在所說的太陽能電池板，正在收集能量。

So what do you make of this study?

那麼，您如何看待這項研究呢？

Generally speaking, I guess, do you think it's possible that these are the elusive Dyson spheres?

一般來說，我想，你認為這些有可能是難以捉摸的戴森球嗎？

So I think it's very unlikely, but I'm open.

所以我認為可能性很小，但我持開放態度。

We have to be open as scientists.

作為科學家，我們必須開放。

If we think we know the answer before we go and observe, then we're already defeated.

如果我們在去觀察之前就認為自己知道答案，那麼我們就已經被打敗了。

I think it's terribly unlikely, but it's extremely exciting and interesting to think about.

我認為這種可能性微乎其微，但想想還是非常令人興奮和有趣的。

And it's fun to think about.

想想也挺有意思的。

What's probably going to happen is we're going to look at this infrared signature that you mentioned and we're going to find out that there's a natural cause.

可能會發生的情況是，我們會查看你提到的紅外線特徵，然後我們會發現有一個自然的原因。

So a lot of things emit heat in the infrared.

是以，很多東西都會發出紅外線熱量。

You know, infrared goggles allow us to see human bodies and the heat of human bodies.

要知道，紅外護目鏡可以讓我們看到人體和人體的熱量。

And it's not that dissimilar that when we look in the infrared, we see things emitting heat.

當我們觀察紅外線時，我們看到的是發出熱量的東西，這並沒有什麼不同。

So the idea was if we had this very technologically advanced civilization, like thousands of years beyond where we are right now, and they could build such a thing and it was collecting all this energy, it would collect also some heat and would have to cool off and we would see that in the infrared.

是以，我們的想法是，如果我們有一個技術非常先進的文明，比我們現在的文明要先進幾千年，他們可以建造這樣一個東西，並且它正在收集所有這些能量，它也會收集一些熱量，並且必須冷卻下來，我們將在紅外線中看到這一點。

But there are other natural possibilities that could explain.

但還有其他自然可能性可以解釋。

What do you think those possibly could be?

你認為這些可能是什麼？

Oh, it could be a very young star that still has some material around it in kind of a disk.

哦，它可能是一顆非常年輕的恆星，周圍還有一些物質，就像一個圓盤。

And that's how planets form.

行星就是這樣形成的。

Planets coalesce out of these early disks and those can emit in the infrared.

行星從這些早期星盤中凝聚出來，這些行星可以發射紅外線。

It could be that there's actually an entire galaxy in the distance behind the star.

可能在這顆恆星的背後，遠處其實有一整個星系。

We're seeing that galaxy.

我們看到了那個星系。

We can't disambiguate those.

我們無法區分這些。

Or it could be planetary collisions.

也可能是行星碰撞。

I mean, there are natural explanations, but I think it's worth noting.

我的意思是，這有自然的解釋，但我認為值得注意。

We're looking just a thousand light years around us.

我們看到的只是我們周圍的一千光年。

That sounds far, but it's actually really close.

聽起來很遠，但實際上真的很近。

That's our backyard.

那是我們的後院。

The entire Milky Way galaxy is a hundred thousand light years across.

整個銀河系有十萬光年寬。

And there are probably more planets in the Milky Way galaxy than there are stars.

銀河系中的行星可能比恆星還多。

So we're talking of hundreds of billions and maybe trillions of planets out there.

是以，我們說的是外面有數千億甚至數萬億顆行星。

And I think we're in an era where we think the emergence of life is possibly inevitable elsewhere, that we're not the only example.

我認為我們正處在這樣一個時代，我們認為生命的出現在其他地方可能是不可避免的，我們並不是唯一的例子。

Now whether or not they've survived with thousands of years of industrial advancement to build a Dyson sphere is a different story.

至於幾千年的工業發展是否能讓他們建造出戴森球，那就另當別論了。

Yeah.

是啊

Do you think there is a scenario where a Dyson sphere might actually exist?

你認為戴森球真的存在嗎？

Or do you think this is really just the stuff of sci-fi fantasy?

或者你認為這真的只是科幻小說中的幻想？

I think it's feasible, unlikely.

我認為這是可行的，但可能性不大。

If you look at where we are since the Industrial Revolution, it's only a couple hundred years.

如果你看看我們自工業革命以來所取得的成就，這不過是幾百年的事。

We're in a precarious position.

我們的處境岌岌可危。

We have climate change.

我們面臨氣候變化。

We have struggles with nuclear power, nuclear weapons that could be destructive.

我們在核電和核武器方面的鬥爭可能具有毀滅性。

It's unclear that any species that makes it that advanced could survive far enough into their own future to be able to build a Dyson sphere.

目前還不清楚，是否有任何物種能在自己的未來存活到足以建造戴森球的程度。

But there are optimists out there who say we'll find a way.

但也有樂觀的人說，我們會找到辦法的。

Yeah, right.

是啊，沒錯。

The universe is a pretty big place, right?

宇宙很大，對吧？

And it'd be a shame if it was just a seems like a lot of waste of space.

如果只是浪費空間，那就太可惜了。

That would be a real shame.

那就太可惜了。

All right, Professor.

好的，教授

Thank you so much for being here.

非常感謝你們的到來。

We really appreciate it.

我們真的很感激。

Thanks for watching.

感謝觀看。

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通過 NBC News 應用程序或社交媒體關注我們，隨時瞭解最新突發新聞和熱門故事。