通勤學英語 15Mins Today

每日跟讀#534: Japanese chains scrap porn magazines

 

Two of Japan’s biggest convenience store chains have said they will stop selling pornographic magazines ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

 

兩家日本最大的連鎖便利商店表示，在2020年東京舉辦奧運會前，他們將停止販售色情雜誌。

 

7-Eleven, which runs more than 20,000 shops in Japan, said it wanted "to create a proper shopping environment for all our customers". Lawson Inc, with some 14,000 stores, made a similar announcement.

 

在日本經營逾兩萬家商店的7-Eleven指出，該公司想要「為我們所有的顧客，創造一個適當的消費環境」。擁有約1萬4000家門市的羅森便利店，也做出類似宣示。

 

Japan’s popular 24-hour convenience stores sell everything from hot drinks to frozen meal. Sex magazines are usually mixed in with other titles on racks near the front of the shop, sometimes on low shelves. The stores fear this could give a negative impression.

 

日本廣受歡迎的24小時便利商店無所不賣，從熱飲至冷凍食品等應有盡有。性雜誌通常與靠近商店前方貨架上的其他書籍混在一起，有時置於下層貨架。這些商家擔心，這可能留下負面印象。

 

"This is certainly a welcome move," Kanae Doi, Japan director of the nonprofit Human Rights Watch said "It has been very shameful ... you can see pornography everywhere in Japan. Women are still seen as sex objects and not treated equally."

 

「這當然是受歡迎之舉，」非營利組織「人權觀察」日本代表土井香苗表示：「這令人感到丟臉…日本到處都有色情刊物。女性仍被視為性對象，未受到公平對待。」

 

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1264819

 

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每日跟讀#534: Japanese chains scrap porn magazines

 

Two of Japan’s biggest convenience store chains have said they will stop selling pornographic magazines ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

 

兩家日本最大的連鎖便利商店表示，在2020年東京舉辦奧運會前，他們將停止販售色情雜誌。

 

7-Eleven, which runs more than 20,000 shops in Japan, said it wanted "to create a proper shopping environment for all our customers". Lawson Inc, with some 14,000 stores, made a similar announcement.

 

在日本經營逾兩萬家商店的7-Eleven指出，該公司想要「為我們所有的顧客，創造一個適當的消費環境」。擁有約1萬4000家門市的羅森便利店，也做出類似宣示。

 

Japan’s popular 24-hour convenience stores sell everything from hot drinks to frozen meal. Sex magazines are usually mixed in with other titles on racks near the front of the shop, sometimes on low shelves. The stores fear this could give a negative impression.

 

日本廣受歡迎的24小時便利商店無所不賣，從熱飲至冷凍食品等應有盡有。性雜誌通常與靠近商店前方貨架上的其他書籍混在一起，有時置於下層貨架。這些商家擔心，這可能留下負面印象。

 

"This is certainly a welcome move," Kanae Doi, Japan director of the nonprofit Human Rights Watch said "It has been very shameful ... you can see pornography everywhere in Japan. Women are still seen as sex objects and not treated equally."

 

「這當然是受歡迎之舉，」非營利組織「人權觀察」日本代表土井香苗表示：「這令人感到丟臉…日本到處都有色情刊物。女性仍被視為性對象，未受到公平對待。」

 

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1264819

 

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每日跟讀#534: Study - European colonization of Americas cooled Earth’s climate

 

European colonization of the Americas resulted in the killing of so many native people that it transformed the environment and caused the Earth’s climate to cool down, new research has found.

 

新的研究發現，歐洲人對美洲的殖民導致土著人民大量死亡，人數多到改變了環境，並導致全球氣溫下降。

 

Settlers killed off huge numbers of people in conflicts and also by spreading disease, which reduced the indigenous population by 90 percent in the century following Christopher Columbus’s initial journey to the Americas and Caribbean in 1492.

 

哥倫布在一四九二年初次抵達美洲和加勒比海地區，隨後來到的殖民者透過殺戮和疾病傳染，造成大量原住民死亡，使得美洲的原住民人口在一個世紀內減少了百分之九十。

 

This “large-scale depopulation” resulted in vast tracts of agricultural land being left untended, researchers say, allowing the land to become overgrown with trees and other new vegetation. The regrowth soaked up enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to actually cool the planet, with the average temperature dropping by 0.15 degrees Celsius in the late 1500s and early 1600s, the study by scientists at University College London (UCL) found.

 

研究人員表示，這種「大規模的人口減少」導致大片農地荒蕪，讓土地長滿樹木和其他不同的植被。

這項研究是由倫敦大學學院所進行，科學家發現這些取而代之的植被，從大氣中吸收了大量的二氧化碳，吸收的量多到讓全球氣溫下降，使得十六世紀末和十七世紀初的全球平均溫度降低了攝氏零點一五度。

 

“The great dying of the indigenous peoples of the Americas resulted in a human-driven global impact on the Earth system in the two centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution,” wrote the UCL team of Alexander Koch, Chris Brierley, Mark Maslin and Simon Lewis.

 

「美洲原住民的大量死亡，讓工業革命開始前兩世紀，就發生人為因素對地球系統的影響」，倫敦大學學院研究團隊成員科賀、布里耳利、馬斯林和路易士寫道。

 

The drop in temperature during this period is known as the “Little Ice Age,” a time when the River Thames in London would regularly freeze over, snowstorms were common in Portugal and disrupted agriculture caused famines in several European countries.

 

這段時期氣溫下降，被稱作「小冰河時期」，此時期倫敦泰晤士河經常冰封，葡萄牙常有暴風雪，被擾亂的農業生產，導致數個歐洲國家發生飢荒。

 

The UCL researchers found that the European colonization of the Americas indirectly contributed to this colder period by causing the deaths of about 56 million people by 1600. The study attributes the deaths to factors including introduced disease such as smallpox and measles, warfare and societal collapse.

 

研究團隊發現，到了西元一六○○年，歐洲人對美洲的殖民已造成約五千六百萬人死亡，間接導致此時期較冷的溫度。造成這些死亡的因素，該研究歸因於天花和麻疹等疾病的傳入、戰亂，以及社會崩潰。

 

Researchers then calculated how much land indigenous people required and then subsequently fell into disuse, finding that around 55 million hectares, an area roughly equivalent to France, became vacant and was reclaimed by carbon dioxide-absorbing vegetation.

 

研究人員接著計算原住民所需、其後逐漸廢耕的土地面積，發現約有五千五百萬公頃土地（約相當於法國國土面積）荒廢，而被會吸收二氧化碳的植被重新覆蓋。

 

The revegetation of the Americas after European arrival (oral mistake: "arrived) aided declines of global carbon content in the air, dropping by around seven to 10 parts of carbon dioxide for every million molecules of air in the atmosphere (ppm). This compares to the 3ppm of carbon dioxide that humanity is currently adding to the atmosphere every year through the burning of fossil fuels.

 

歐洲人來到美洲後，美洲植被的重新覆蓋促使全球空氣碳含量下降，使大氣中的二氧化碳濃度下降了約七至十ppm（百萬分濃度）〔即空氣中每百萬分子中有七至十分子的二氧化碳〕。放眼今日，人類社會燃燒化石燃料，每年使大氣增加三ppm的二氧化碳含量。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/02/13/2003709620

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每日跟讀#534: Study - European colonization of Americas cooled Earth’s climate

 

European colonization of the Americas resulted in the killing of so many native people that it transformed the environment and caused the Earth’s climate to cool down, new research has found.

 

新的研究發現，歐洲人對美洲的殖民導致土著人民大量死亡，人數多到改變了環境，並導致全球氣溫下降。

 

Settlers killed off huge numbers of people in conflicts and also by spreading disease, which reduced the indigenous population by 90 percent in the century following Christopher Columbus’s initial journey to the Americas and Caribbean in 1492.

 

哥倫布在一四九二年初次抵達美洲和加勒比海地區，隨後來到的殖民者透過殺戮和疾病傳染，造成大量原住民死亡，使得美洲的原住民人口在一個世紀內減少了百分之九十。

 

This “large-scale depopulation” resulted in vast tracts of agricultural land being left untended, researchers say, allowing the land to become overgrown with trees and other new vegetation. The regrowth soaked up enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to actually cool the planet, with the average temperature dropping by 0.15 degrees Celsius in the late 1500s and early 1600s, the study by scientists at University College London (UCL) found.

 

研究人員表示，這種「大規模的人口減少」導致大片農地荒蕪，讓土地長滿樹木和其他不同的植被。

這項研究是由倫敦大學學院所進行，科學家發現這些取而代之的植被，從大氣中吸收了大量的二氧化碳，吸收的量多到讓全球氣溫下降，使得十六世紀末和十七世紀初的全球平均溫度降低了攝氏零點一五度。

 

“The great dying of the indigenous peoples of the Americas resulted in a human-driven global impact on the Earth system in the two centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution,” wrote the UCL team of Alexander Koch, Chris Brierley, Mark Maslin and Simon Lewis.

 

「美洲原住民的大量死亡，讓工業革命開始前兩世紀，就發生人為因素對地球系統的影響」，倫敦大學學院研究團隊成員科賀、布里耳利、馬斯林和路易士寫道。

 

The drop in temperature during this period is known as the “Little Ice Age,” a time when the River Thames in London would regularly freeze over, snowstorms were common in Portugal and disrupted agriculture caused famines in several European countries.

 

這段時期氣溫下降，被稱作「小冰河時期」，此時期倫敦泰晤士河經常冰封，葡萄牙常有暴風雪，被擾亂的農業生產，導致數個歐洲國家發生飢荒。

 

The UCL researchers found that the European colonization of the Americas indirectly contributed to this colder period by causing the deaths of about 56 million people by 1600. The study attributes the deaths to factors including introduced disease such as smallpox and measles, warfare and societal collapse.

 

研究團隊發現，到了西元一六○○年，歐洲人對美洲的殖民已造成約五千六百萬人死亡，間接導致此時期較冷的溫度。造成這些死亡的因素，該研究歸因於天花和麻疹等疾病的傳入、戰亂，以及社會崩潰。

 

Researchers then calculated how much land indigenous people required and then subsequently fell into disuse, finding that around 55 million hectares, an area roughly equivalent to France, became vacant and was reclaimed by carbon dioxide-absorbing vegetation.

 

研究人員接著計算原住民所需、其後逐漸廢耕的土地面積，發現約有五千五百萬公頃土地（約相當於法國國土面積）荒廢，而被會吸收二氧化碳的植被重新覆蓋。

 

The revegetation of the Americas after European arrival (oral mistake: "arrived) aided declines of global carbon content in the air, dropping by around seven to 10 parts of carbon dioxide for every million molecules of air in the atmosphere (ppm). This compares to the 3ppm of carbon dioxide that humanity is currently adding to the atmosphere every year through the burning of fossil fuels.

 

歐洲人來到美洲後，美洲植被的重新覆蓋促使全球空氣碳含量下降，使大氣中的二氧化碳濃度下降了約七至十ppm（百萬分濃度）〔即空氣中每百萬分子中有七至十分子的二氧化碳〕。放眼今日，人類社會燃燒化石燃料，每年使大氣增加三ppm的二氧化碳含量。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/02/13/2003709620

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每日跟讀#533: Butterflies, the unlikely victims of Trump’s border wall

 

Mission, Texas, located in the lower Rio Grande Valley, is home to the National Butterfly Center, a private non-profit 40-hectare preserve dedicated to conservation of the insects in their natural habitat.

 

美國德州米申市位於格蘭河下游河谷，是「國家蝴蝶中心」的所在地。國家蝴蝶中心是一塊私有的、非盈利的保護區，面積有四十公頃大，致力於昆蟲自然棲地的保育。

 

But the construction of part of a long-promised wall on the border with Mexico — a key plank of US President Donald Trump’s immigration policy — could end up chopping the area in half.

 

但是，在與墨西哥接壤的邊境建造隔離牆──這是美國總統川普移民政策的關鍵部分，川普掛保證已久──最終可能會將這塊保護區攔腰切半。

 

“This land used to be an onion field,” explains Luciano Guerra, who is responsible for education outreach at the center. “We converted it back to native habitat.”

 

「這片土地以前是洋蔥田」，該中心負責教育推廣活動的路西安諾‧蓋拉解釋道。「我們把它還原成原生棲息地。」

 

“And when we created the habitat for the butterflies, we also attracted birds because the birds like to eat the butterflies and the caterpillars. Then we attracted things that eat the birds, and so on.” In the end, more than 200 species have been counted here. In spring and autumn, “we can have 80 to 100 species of butterflies here in one day,” Guerra says.

 

「我們為蝴蝶創造棲息地時，也吸引了鳥類，因為鳥類喜歡吃蝴蝶和毛蟲。然後又再吸引了吃鳥類的生物……等等諸如此類。」最後，這裡的物種共達兩百多種。在春季和秋季，「我們這裡一天中會有八十到一百種蝴蝶出現」，蓋拉說。

 

Along the banks of the Rio Grande, which forms a natural border with Mexico, there are also bobcats, coyotes, javelinas or skunk pigs, armadillos and Texas turtles.

 

格蘭河在美國與墨西哥之間形成天然邊界，其沿岸還有山貓、土狼、猯豬（或稱臭鼬豬）、犰狳和德州龜。

 

Building a wall here would be “devastating,” the center says on its Web site.

According to Marianna Trevino Wright, the center’s executive director, the wall and the glaring spotlights that would come with it will disrupt the nocturnal activities of all plants and animals, transforming what is now a vibrant but endangered ecosystem into a biological desert.”

 

國家蝴蝶中心的網站上說，在這裡建造一堵牆，將是「毀滅性的」。

該中心執行主任瑪莉安娜‧特雷維諾‧萊特表示，邊境牆和牆上炫目的聚光燈，將擾亂「所有植物和動物的夜間活動，把現在充滿生機但瀕危的生態系統變成生物沙漠。」

 

“People say, ‘Well, the butterflies can fly over it or fly through it or around it.’ “Not necessarily,” explains Guerra. “Some butterflies fly lower to the ground — they could not go over that 5.5-meter concrete wall.”

 

「人們說，『好吧，蝴蝶可以飛越牆，或穿越牆隙，或在牆周圍飛』，但並不見得」，蓋拉解釋道，「有些蝴蝶是靠近地面飛行──它們無法越過五點五公尺高的混凝土牆。」

 

Guerra also warned that “when the bulldozers come in to clear the way for the border wall, they’re going to knock down trees, plants, grasses and so on, which are host plants for the butterfly species we have here.”

Those trees also are the home of several species of birds, especially in the spring, and some mammals risk seeing their natural habitat destroyed, he added.

 

蓋拉還警告說，「推土機開進來為築牆整地時，將會把樹木、植物、草等都除去，這些都是我們這裡蝴蝶物種的寄主植物。」

他補充說，這些樹木也是數種鳥類的家園，特別是在春季，而一些哺乳動物的自然棲息地也有可能會被毀壞。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/01/30/2003708878

每日跟讀#533: Butterflies, the unlikely victims of Trump’s border wall

 

Mission, Texas, located in the lower Rio Grande Valley, is home to the National Butterfly Center, a private non-profit 40-hectare preserve dedicated to conservation of the insects in their natural habitat.

 

美國德州米申市位於格蘭河下游河谷，是「國家蝴蝶中心」的所在地。國家蝴蝶中心是一塊私有的、非盈利的保護區，面積有四十公頃大，致力於昆蟲自然棲地的保育。

 

But the construction of part of a long-promised wall on the border with Mexico — a key plank of US President Donald Trump’s immigration policy — could end up chopping the area in half.

 

但是，在與墨西哥接壤的邊境建造隔離牆──這是美國總統川普移民政策的關鍵部分，川普掛保證已久──最終可能會將這塊保護區攔腰切半。

 

“This land used to be an onion field,” explains Luciano Guerra, who is responsible for education outreach at the center. “We converted it back to native habitat.”

 

「這片土地以前是洋蔥田」，該中心負責教育推廣活動的路西安諾‧蓋拉解釋道。「我們把它還原成原生棲息地。」

 

“And when we created the habitat for the butterflies, we also attracted birds because the birds like to eat the butterflies and the caterpillars. Then we attracted things that eat the birds, and so on.” In the end, more than 200 species have been counted here. In spring and autumn, “we can have 80 to 100 species of butterflies here in one day,” Guerra says.

 

「我們為蝴蝶創造棲息地時，也吸引了鳥類，因為鳥類喜歡吃蝴蝶和毛蟲。然後又再吸引了吃鳥類的生物……等等諸如此類。」最後，這裡的物種共達兩百多種。在春季和秋季，「我們這裡一天中會有八十到一百種蝴蝶出現」，蓋拉說。

 

Along the banks of the Rio Grande, which forms a natural border with Mexico, there are also bobcats, coyotes, javelinas or skunk pigs, armadillos and Texas turtles.

 

格蘭河在美國與墨西哥之間形成天然邊界，其沿岸還有山貓、土狼、猯豬（或稱臭鼬豬）、犰狳和德州龜。

 

Building a wall here would be “devastating,” the center says on its Web site.

According to Marianna Trevino Wright, the center’s executive director, the wall and the glaring spotlights that would come with it will disrupt the nocturnal activities of all plants and animals, transforming what is now a vibrant but endangered ecosystem into a biological desert.”

 

國家蝴蝶中心的網站上說，在這裡建造一堵牆，將是「毀滅性的」。

該中心執行主任瑪莉安娜‧特雷維諾‧萊特表示，邊境牆和牆上炫目的聚光燈，將擾亂「所有植物和動物的夜間活動，把現在充滿生機但瀕危的生態系統變成生物沙漠。」

 

“People say, ‘Well, the butterflies can fly over it or fly through it or around it.’ “Not necessarily,” explains Guerra. “Some butterflies fly lower to the ground — they could not go over that 5.5-meter concrete wall.”

 

「人們說，『好吧，蝴蝶可以飛越牆，或穿越牆隙，或在牆周圍飛』，但並不見得」，蓋拉解釋道，「有些蝴蝶是靠近地面飛行──它們無法越過五點五公尺高的混凝土牆。」

 

Guerra also warned that “when the bulldozers come in to clear the way for the border wall, they’re going to knock down trees, plants, grasses and so on, which are host plants for the butterfly species we have here.”

Those trees also are the home of several species of birds, especially in the spring, and some mammals risk seeing their natural habitat destroyed, he added.

 

蓋拉還警告說，「推土機開進來為築牆整地時，將會把樹木、植物、草等都除去，這些都是我們這裡蝴蝶物種的寄主植物。」

他補充說，這些樹木也是數種鳥類的家園，特別是在春季，而一些哺乳動物的自然棲息地也有可能會被毀壞。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/01/30/2003708878

Summary:

As of last year, Norway is now the global leader in the promotion and sales of eco-friendly cars. About 52% of the cars sold last year are vehicles using an alternative type of fuel. Apart from Tesla, other carmakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo, and Ford are investing millions in the production of electric vehicles. Norway, by 2025 wants to phase out all diesel and gasoline cars.

 

完整文章 From article: http://www.15mins.today/blog/506-in-norway-electric-and-hybrid-cars-outsell-conventional-models

 

Vocabulary and sample sentence:

 Incentive (attraction or something to encourage people to do something)

The Norwegian government is offering incentives to people purchasing electric vehicles.

Taoyuan government offers generous incentives to people purchasing a gogoro.

 (to) phase out – the process of discontinuing something

Many European countries are planning to phase out diesel and gasoline cars.

Apple will phase out smartphones with a physical home button.

 Ubiquitous – something that is present or found everywhere

Smart devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in our daily lives

Many car companies believe that electric cars will become as ubiquitous as diesel and gasoline cars.

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Summary:

As of last year, Norway is now the global leader in the promotion and sales of eco-friendly cars. About 52% of the cars sold last year are vehicles using an alternative type of fuel. Apart from Tesla, other carmakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo, and Ford are investing millions in the production of electric vehicles. Norway, by 2025 wants to phase out all diesel and gasoline cars.

 

完整文章 From article: http://www.15mins.today/blog/506-in-norway-electric-and-hybrid-cars-outsell-conventional-models

 

Vocabulary and sample sentence:

 Incentive (attraction or something to encourage people to do something)

The Norwegian government is offering incentives to people purchasing electric vehicles.

Taoyuan government offers generous incentives to people purchasing a gogoro.

 (to) phase out – the process of discontinuing something

Many European countries are planning to phase out diesel and gasoline cars.

Apple will phase out smartphones with a physical home button.

 Ubiquitous – something that is present or found everywhere

Smart devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in our daily lives

Many car companies believe that electric cars will become as ubiquitous as diesel and gasoline cars.

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每日跟讀#532: Mega tube under Geneva enters race to succeed CERN collider

 

A proposed 100km particle accelerator under Geneva has joined an international quest to develop the successor to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to help unlock humankind’s knowledge of matter.

 

計畫建造於日內瓦地底的一台粒子加速器，圓周達一百公里長，近日加入國際尋求發展「大型強子對撞機」後繼機組的行列，以協助揭開人類對於物質的理解。

 

The existing collider, which started up in 2008, smashes protons together in a 27km circuit beneath the Swiss-French border. It helped scientists discover the long-sought Higgs boson — a particle that supplied the missing piece of the standard model of physics by explaining why objects have mass.

 

目前的「大型強子對撞機」啟用於二○○八年，位於瑞士和法國邊界底下，讓質子在周長二十七公里的環形隧道中對撞。這項實驗幫助科學家發現尋覓已久的「希格斯玻色子」──這個粒子解釋為何物體會具有質量，填補了物理學標準模型理論中缺少的一塊拼圖。

 

The Future Circular Collider (FCC), proposed by more than 150 universities and science institutes, would be a huge tubular circuit almost four times as long, with 10 times more power than the LHC at CERN, the European center for nuclear physics.

 

由超過一百五十所大學與科學機構提議的「未來環形對撞機」將會是一座巨大的管狀環形隧道，幾乎是位於歐洲核子研究組織的「大型強子對撞機」四倍長，撞擊力道更達到後者的十倍。歐洲核子研究組織是歐洲的原子核物理學研究中心。

 

The proposal came out of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, which recommended that design and feasibility studies be conducted in order for Europe “to be in a position to propose an ambitious post-LHC accelerator project at CERN by the time of the next strategy update.”

 

這份提案源自於「歐洲粒子物理學戰略」，該戰略建議科學家著手設計並進行可行性研究，讓歐洲「能夠在下一次戰略更新時，在歐洲核子研究組織提出一項雄心勃勃的後大型強子對撞機加速器計畫」。

 

But the decision on whether to go ahead with the FCC — incurring an initial 9 billion euro (US$10.3 billion) bill for participating governments plus a later 15 billion euro upgrade — is effectively part of an international race to host the LHC’s successor, with China, Japan, the United States and Europe all interested. “Any big machine for the future will be a global machine,” said Arnaud Marsollier, head of media relations at CERN. “No one expects to have two 100km colliders built in the next 20 years, so if one is built in China, maybe Europe will do something else.”

 

不過，是否要著手進行「未來環形對撞機」的決定──初期款項將會對參與政府造成九十億歐元（一百○三億美元）的支出，往後還要支付另外一百五十億歐元進行更新──其實是一場國際競賽的一部分，為的是爭取在自己國家設置「大型強子對撞機」的後繼機種，包括中國、日本、美國，以及歐洲各國都紛紛對此表示興趣。歐洲核子研究組織的媒體關係主管阿諾‧馬索列表示：「為未來建造的任何大型設備都將會是全球性的設備。」他也指出：「沒有人期望在未來二十年內同時建造兩台圓周一百公里的碰撞器，所以如果中國興建了一台，歐洲也許就會投入別的任務。」

 

The LHC is expected to keep running until around 2036-2040, by which time it will have done its job collecting data, but it might also be possible to upgrade it by increasing the energy of collisions, which would require major investment.

 

「大型強子對撞機」預計將持續運行至二○三六年到二○四○年之間，屆時機器蒐集數據的工作將告完成，但也可能藉由增加碰撞能量來進行更新，此舉將需要大額投資。

 

China has floated plans for its own 100km collider, but has not yet confirmed it will go ahead. Japan is expected to take a decision on a linear collider in March, which could play into a potential choice by European countries in 2020 about whether to back the FCC or another proposal for CERN, the Compact Linear Collider.

 

中國已提出建造自己的一百公里對撞機計劃，但是目前尚未證實是否會進行。日本則預期在今年三月決定是否建造線性對撞機，可能會影響歐洲國家將在二○二○年做出的選擇：是支持「未來環形對撞機」，還是支持歐洲核子研究組織的另一個提議──建造「緊湊型線性對撞機」。

 

For physicists, the location may be less important than the science opportunities offered by a new collider, allowing them to peer into the debris left when subatomic particles smash together and shatter into even smaller pieces, some of which may answer fundamental questions about the universe. But science mega-projects attract talent and can generate unforeseen spin-offs — including the invention of the World Wide Web at CERN, which has become a global center for physicists, despite the high cost of living around Geneva.

 

對物理學家而言，新對撞機的地點也許沒有機器本身提供的科學研究機會來得重要，畢竟它能讓科學家一窺「次原子粒子」互相撞擊、粉碎為更小的碎片後剩下的殘骸，它們也許能夠為宇宙的根本問題提供解答。然而，科學界的巨大計畫不但吸引人才，也可能創造出預料之外的衍生產品──例如全球資訊網路系統就是發明自歐洲核子研究組織。儘管日內瓦當地物價高昂，歐洲核子研究組織仍然成為物理學家的全球中心。

 

The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 earned Peter Higgs and Francois Englert the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics. They had predicted half a century earlier that it would one day be discovered.

 

物理學家彼得‧希格斯和法蘭梭瓦‧恩勒特在二○一二年發現「希格斯玻色子」，因此獲得二○一三年的諾貝爾物理獎。他們在半世紀前就曾經預測指出，這個粒子總有一天會被找出來。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/02/03/2003709137/2

 

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每日跟讀#532: Mega tube under Geneva enters race to succeed CERN collider

 

A proposed 100km particle accelerator under Geneva has joined an international quest to develop the successor to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to help unlock humankind’s knowledge of matter.

 

計畫建造於日內瓦地底的一台粒子加速器，圓周達一百公里長，近日加入國際尋求發展「大型強子對撞機」後繼機組的行列，以協助揭開人類對於物質的理解。

 

The existing collider, which started up in 2008, smashes protons together in a 27km circuit beneath the Swiss-French border. It helped scientists discover the long-sought Higgs boson — a particle that supplied the missing piece of the standard model of physics by explaining why objects have mass.

 

目前的「大型強子對撞機」啟用於二○○八年，位於瑞士和法國邊界底下，讓質子在周長二十七公里的環形隧道中對撞。這項實驗幫助科學家發現尋覓已久的「希格斯玻色子」──這個粒子解釋為何物體會具有質量，填補了物理學標準模型理論中缺少的一塊拼圖。

 

The Future Circular Collider (FCC), proposed by more than 150 universities and science institutes, would be a huge tubular circuit almost four times as long, with 10 times more power than the LHC at CERN, the European center for nuclear physics.

 

由超過一百五十所大學與科學機構提議的「未來環形對撞機」將會是一座巨大的管狀環形隧道，幾乎是位於歐洲核子研究組織的「大型強子對撞機」四倍長，撞擊力道更達到後者的十倍。歐洲核子研究組織是歐洲的原子核物理學研究中心。

 

The proposal came out of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, which recommended that design and feasibility studies be conducted in order for Europe “to be in a position to propose an ambitious post-LHC accelerator project at CERN by the time of the next strategy update.”

 

這份提案源自於「歐洲粒子物理學戰略」，該戰略建議科學家著手設計並進行可行性研究，讓歐洲「能夠在下一次戰略更新時，在歐洲核子研究組織提出一項雄心勃勃的後大型強子對撞機加速器計畫」。

 

But the decision on whether to go ahead with the FCC — incurring an initial 9 billion euro (US$10.3 billion) bill for participating governments plus a later 15 billion euro upgrade — is effectively part of an international race to host the LHC’s successor, with China, Japan, the United States and Europe all interested. “Any big machine for the future will be a global machine,” said Arnaud Marsollier, head of media relations at CERN. “No one expects to have two 100km colliders built in the next 20 years, so if one is built in China, maybe Europe will do something else.”

 

不過，是否要著手進行「未來環形對撞機」的決定──初期款項將會對參與政府造成九十億歐元（一百○三億美元）的支出，往後還要支付另外一百五十億歐元進行更新──其實是一場國際競賽的一部分，為的是爭取在自己國家設置「大型強子對撞機」的後繼機種，包括中國、日本、美國，以及歐洲各國都紛紛對此表示興趣。歐洲核子研究組織的媒體關係主管阿諾‧馬索列表示：「為未來建造的任何大型設備都將會是全球性的設備。」他也指出：「沒有人期望在未來二十年內同時建造兩台圓周一百公里的碰撞器，所以如果中國興建了一台，歐洲也許就會投入別的任務。」

 

The LHC is expected to keep running until around 2036-2040, by which time it will have done its job collecting data, but it might also be possible to upgrade it by increasing the energy of collisions, which would require major investment.

 

「大型強子對撞機」預計將持續運行至二○三六年到二○四○年之間，屆時機器蒐集數據的工作將告完成，但也可能藉由增加碰撞能量來進行更新，此舉將需要大額投資。

 

China has floated plans for its own 100km collider, but has not yet confirmed it will go ahead. Japan is expected to take a decision on a linear collider in March, which could play into a potential choice by European countries in 2020 about whether to back the FCC or another proposal for CERN, the Compact Linear Collider.

 

中國已提出建造自己的一百公里對撞機計劃，但是目前尚未證實是否會進行。日本則預期在今年三月決定是否建造線性對撞機，可能會影響歐洲國家將在二○二○年做出的選擇：是支持「未來環形對撞機」，還是支持歐洲核子研究組織的另一個提議──建造「緊湊型線性對撞機」。

 

For physicists, the location may be less important than the science opportunities offered by a new collider, allowing them to peer into the debris left when subatomic particles smash together and shatter into even smaller pieces, some of which may answer fundamental questions about the universe. But science mega-projects attract talent and can generate unforeseen spin-offs — including the invention of the World Wide Web at CERN, which has become a global center for physicists, despite the high cost of living around Geneva.

 

對物理學家而言，新對撞機的地點也許沒有機器本身提供的科學研究機會來得重要，畢竟它能讓科學家一窺「次原子粒子」互相撞擊、粉碎為更小的碎片後剩下的殘骸，它們也許能夠為宇宙的根本問題提供解答。然而，科學界的巨大計畫不但吸引人才，也可能創造出預料之外的衍生產品──例如全球資訊網路系統就是發明自歐洲核子研究組織。儘管日內瓦當地物價高昂，歐洲核子研究組織仍然成為物理學家的全球中心。

 

The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 earned Peter Higgs and Francois Englert the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics. They had predicted half a century earlier that it would one day be discovered.

 

物理學家彼得‧希格斯和法蘭梭瓦‧恩勒特在二○一二年發現「希格斯玻色子」，因此獲得二○一三年的諾貝爾物理獎。他們在半世紀前就曾經預測指出，這個粒子總有一天會被找出來。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/02/03/2003709137/2

 

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