Consider a cubic cow, living on a cubic hillside, under cubic clouds, on a cube

在這方塊世界裡。Minecraft星球是否可能存在？

world. Could planet Minecraft actually exist?

發行超過七千萬份、擁有超過一億玩家，Minecraft世界

[MUSIC]

極其巨大......但絕非無限。

With over 70 million copies sold and more than 100,000,000 players, the world of Minecraft

由於電腦數學編碼的某種特性，整個Minecraft世界

is huge. But it’s not infinite.

被限制在長寬約687億公尺，區域總共約包含4700兆

Thanks to some quirks of your computer’s mathematical code, the Minecraft Overworld

平方公里，約是地球表面積的

is limited to a width of 68.7 billion meters, for a total area of 4.7 quadrillion

九百萬倍。

square kilometers or about 9 million times the surface area

當然這還只是一面。Minecraft星球的六面包括超過

of Earth.

兩萬八千兆平方公里，超過太陽表面積的四千倍！

Of course, that’s just one face. All six sides would have an area of over 28 quadrillion

當接近世界邊緣， 離任一張Minecraft地圖中心約三千萬公尺處，

square kilometers, more than 4,000 times the surface area of the sun.

事情會變得相當古怪。所有東西都消失了。

Near the World Border, about 30,000,000 meters from the center of any Minecraft landscape,

在方塊行星上確實有道理。重力被限制只能在每一面的

things start to get very weird. Living stuff just sort of disappears.

中心朝下。當你越靠近任一道邊緣，越多的質量會在

On a cubic planet, this makes sense. Gravity would only be oriented straight up and down

我們後頭的地底下，雖然這會讓重力到達邊緣時

at the center of each face. The closer we get to any horizon, the more of the planet’s

因距離稍微減弱，我們卻會莫名感覺到像在爬坡。

mass that would be under and behind us, and although that would make gravity slightly

這種有角度的重力會把空氣和水拉離邊緣。 從環繞行星的軌道上

weaker towards the edge, we’d get the odd sensation that we were walking uphill.

看看我們的方塊星球， 會看到六個大氣層泡泡，位在每一面中央。

That angled gravity would end up drawing air and water away from the edges. Viewing our

在表面上，我們只能不斷走動直到

cubic planet from orbit, we’d see six bubble atmospheres, one in the center of each face.

掉進太空。

On the surface, we’d only be able to travel so far before we simply walked right out into

啊，世上已無美景能夠與方塊夕照相比。不像地球，

space.

這世界的日月運行只是簡單地保持在相反位置。

[MUSIC]

那假想月球其實就是鄰近的立方星體，被鎖定在

Ah, there’s nothing quite as beautiful as a cubic sunset. Unlike on Earth, the Overworld’s

和方塊太陽同步的軌道。但這無法解釋群星。

sun and moon are always oriented directly opposite of each other. One explanation is

地球夜空中，眾星和月球的相對位置在每晚改變

that the Overmoon is actually a neighboring cubic planet, locked in its own synchronous

因為繞太陽公轉之故。但在Minecraft，夜空永遠相同。

orbit with the Cubesun but that doesn’t explain the stars.

這只能說方塊世界在該宇宙的中心，被互相鎖定的日月

In Earth’s night sky, the relative positions of the stars and moon change each night as

和群星所環繞。顯然哥白尼不會是個死忠玩家。

we travel around the sun. But in Minecraft, the night sky always looks the same. This

由於太陽和月亮每天都通過正頭頂，我們斷言方塊行星

can only mean the Overworld is at the center of its universe, orbited by a fixed sun, moon,

的旋轉軸直接穿越其中兩面。

and stars. Clearly, Copernicus would not be a ‘crafter.

這兩極面注定只能見到微弱暮光， 而它們的泡泡生物群系很可能是

Since the sun and moon pass directly overhead each day, we can conclude that the polar axis

冰凍荒原，缺乏複雜生命。但其他多彩的面

of our cubic planet passes directly through the center of two of the six faces. These

還能多生成三個各獨立的虛擬世界呢。

polar faces would only ever see dim twilight, and their bubble biomes are most likely frozen

1884年某瑞士天文學家聲稱，發現了這種方塊世界，

wastelands, devoid of complex life. But the other illuminated faces of our world could

在海王星外公轉。據透：他錯了。大錯特錯。

be home to three unique Overworlds of their own.

向超人、畢沙羅和一切Minecraft玩家致上真誠歉意，

In 1884 a Swiss astronomer claimed to have discovered a cube world just like this, orbiting

物理法則表示方塊行星和方塊鴨(雞) 很可惜，無法實現。

beyond Neptune. Spoiler: he was wrong. Very, very wrong.

有足夠的重力迫使自己成為球形乃是行星的

With my sincerest apologies to Superman, Bizarro and Minecraft players everywhere, the laws

其中一項標準。 重力會儘可能把一個物體的質量拉進最小的體積，而

of physics say cubic planets and cubic ducks are sadly impossible.

儘可能使拉力平均發散。最佳形狀是什麼？

Having enough gravity to rearrange into a sphere is one of the criteria for being a

球形。

planet. Gravity wants to pull an object’s mass into the smallest volume possible, and

一顆氣體行星，如木星，大多由氫氣組成， 如果其質量比現在

to distribute that gravity as evenly as possible among that mass. The best shape for that? A

多80倍，便不再是行星。其重力和內部壓力會高到

sphere.

讓氫在其核心進行核融合而變成氦。

If a gas planet like Jupiter, made mostly of hydrogen, were just 80 times more massive

它將成為恆星。

than it is, it wouldn’t be a planet anymore. Its gravity and internal pressure would be

若岩石行星想成為恆星，為了融合更重的元素，如矽，

so high that elements like hydrogen would begin to fuse to helium at its core it

它需要比太陽質量多8~11倍。

would turn into a star.

我們的方塊世界體積是 3.2 x 10^23立方公里，且密度

For a rocky planet to turn into a star, to fuse heavier elements like silicon, it would

接近地球，其整體質量近太陽的九十萬倍。

have to be about 8 to 11 times more massive than our sun.

我們宇宙中唯一能夠匹敵的天體是......超大質量黑洞。

Our cube world’s volume would be 3.2 x 10^23 cubic kilometers, and at a density similar

這些巨大的黑洞在大多數星系的中心都很容易找到， 環繞著不可勝數的

to Earth’s, its hexahedral mass would be nearly 900,000 times that of our sun. The

熱能和輻射。一如所有黑洞，它們包含的質量

only things that massive in our universe are - supermassive - black holes.

如此巨大，重力之強連光線都插翅難飛。

These large black holes are likely found at the center of most galaxies, surrounded by

因此一個方塊世界在這個宇宙中

incredible amounts of heat and radiation. Like all black holes, they contain so much

應該不可行，但若Minecraft有教我們任何事， 那就是它自身所在的宇宙。

mass, so much gravity, that even light can’t escape.

在那裡，誰知道有什麼可能？保持好奇心吧。

So, a cubic Overworld might be impossible

本集節目由Dropbox贊助播出。

in this universe, but if Minecraft has taught us anything, it’s a universe of its own.

不管什麼樣的作品，是寫的畫的混的打的，

And there, who knows what might be possible? Stay curious.

Dropbox讓工作如你所願。

This episode was sponsoredby dropbox

全球已經超過四億人使用Dropbox在任何檔案裡

No matter what your create, whether you write it, draw it, mix it, or test it,

任何時刻與任何人一起作業。Dropbox. All Yours.

Dropbox makes it simple to work the way you want.

That’s why over 400 million people around the world use Dropbox to work together

on any file, with anyone, from anywhere. Dropbox. All Yours.