Stephen Hawking's Big Ideas Made Simple
史蒂芬‧霍金的偉大想法，簡單說給你聽
We all know that Stephen Hawking has worked on some of the biggest questions about our cosmos. But what are those ideas?
我們都知道史蒂芬‧霍金致力解開一些關於我們宇宙最大的疑問。不過那些概念究竟是什麼呢？
What's at the center of a black hole?
黑洞的中心存在著什麼？
Black holes are incredibly dense objects with such strong gravity that nothing, not even light, can escape their pull. Hawking worked with physicist Roger Penrose to show that if you were able to travel to the center of a black hole, you'd find something called a "singularity."
黑洞是密度極高的物體，它的重力極大，沒有任何事物能夠逃脫黑洞的引力，就連光都不行。霍金和物理學家羅傑‧潘洛斯合作，證明如果你有辦法進到黑洞中心，你就能找到某個叫「奇異點」的事物。
In a singularity, so much matter is squashed into such a small space that the force of gravity becomes infinite. Everything is crushed into a point of infinite density, punching a hole through the fabric of the universe and tearing up the rule book of physics as we know it. It's pretty frightening stuff.
奇異點之中，大量物質被壓縮進如此狹小的空間，因此重力變成無限大。一切都被壓進密度無限大的一點，貫穿整個宇宙，打破我們對物理規則既有的理解。這是滿嚇人的事。
What happens at the edge of a black hole?
黑洞邊界的情形？
You might think that a vacuum is empty, but it's not—at least not according to quantum theory. It's fizzing with particles and antiparticles that pop into existence from nowhere and then disappear. When this happens at the edge of a black hole, one of the pair of particles can fall in, leaving the other to escape. This tiny stream of escaping particles is known as "Hawking radiation."
你或許以為真空就是空無一物，但並不是－－至少根據量子理論來說不是這樣。它充滿粒子與反粒子，它們憑空出現，接著又消失無蹤。當這發生在黑洞邊界時，成雙成對的粒子之一可能會墜入黑洞，讓另一個粒子逃離。逃脫的粒子造成的這種微小流動就叫作「霍金輻射」。
Now, those particles that fell into the black hole, they have a negative mass and will cause the black hole to get smaller and smaller until it disappears. It'll take a while—in fact, a very long while. But in its final moments, a black hole will explode with the energy of a million nuclear bombs, leaving nothing behind.
現在，墜入黑洞的那些粒子，它們擁有負質量，將使黑洞變得越來越小，直到消失為止。這會花上一些時間－－事實上，是很長一段時間。不過在黑洞的生命盡頭，它會以等同一百萬顆核彈的威力爆炸，留下一片虛無。
So, why is Stephen Hawking our most famous living scientist? Well, he showed that at one point, everything in our universe was squeezed into a singularity, which then exploded into the Big Bang, eventually forming galaxies, stars, planets, you, me, everything in existence. That was the beginning of our universe.
那麼，為什麼史蒂芬‧霍金是我們現存最知名的科學家呢？嗯，他證明我們宇宙中的一切曾一度被壓縮進奇異點之中，那後來爆發成大爆炸，最後形成銀河、繁星、星球、你我，存在的萬物。那便是我們宇宙的開端。
And I suppose the incredible thing is that he came up with all these profound, provocative insights without the convenience of being able to write anything down. He did it all by thought alone.
而我想，令人難以置信的是霍金提出這些深奧、深具啟發性的見解，全在無法書寫任何東西的情況下。他只靠著思想就完成了這一切。
- 「改善、致力於...」- Work On
We all know that Stephen Hawking has worked on some of the biggest questions about our cosmos.
我們都知道史蒂芬‧霍金致力解開一些關於我們宇宙最大的疑問。 - 「能夠」- Be Able To
Hawking worked with physicist Roger Penrose to show that if you were able to travel to the center of a black hole, you'd find something called a "singularity."
霍金和物理學家羅傑‧潘洛斯合作，證明如果你有辦法進到黑洞中心，你就能找到某個叫「奇異點」的事物。 - 「至少」- At Least
You might think that a vacuum is empty, but it's not—at least not according to quantum theory.
你或許以為真空就是空無一物，但並不是－－至少根據量子理論來說不是這樣。 - 「根據、據...所說」- According To
You might think that a vacuum is empty, but it's not—at least not according to quantum theory.
你或許以為真空就是空無一物，但並不是－－至少根據量子理論來說不是這樣。 - 「事實上、實際上」- In Fact
It'll take a while—in fact, a very long while.
這會花上一些時間－－事實上，是很長一段時間。 - 「想出、提出」- Come Up With
And I suppose the incredible thing is that he came up with all these profound, provocative insights without the convenience of being able to write anything down.
而我想，令人難以置信的是霍金提出這些深奧、深具啟發性的見解，全在無法書寫任何東西的情況下。
