每日一篇:《经济学人》读译参考 Day105

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经济学人:太阳物理和古生物学:"石"事求是(2)

Science and Technology

科技

Solar physics and paleontology: Set in stone

太阳物理和古生物学：“石”事求是

Now, Ludwig Luthardt and Ronny Rossler of the Natural History Museum of Chemnitz, in Germany, have cracked the problem.They have been able to apply the tree-ring method to petrifiedtrunks from a nearby fossil forest.

译文

目前，德国的开姆尼茨自然历史博物馆的两位研究人员，Ludwig Luthardt和Ronny Rossler已经解决了这个问题。他们能够将判断树年轮的方式应用在附近石化森林的一颗石化的树木上。

This forest (imagined in an artist’s impression above) was buried by a volcanic eruption 290m years ago, during the Permian period.And, as they report in Geology, Mr Luthardt and Dr Rossler have found that the sunspot cycle was little different then from what it is now.

译文

这个森林（用一个艺术家的感觉脑补一下这个森林吧）在2亿9百万年前的二叠纪时，被火山喷发所淹没。Luthardt和Rossler博士在《地质》杂志中发表的报告里提出，他们发现2亿9百万年前的太阳黑子周期与现在差别不大。

The Chemnitz fossil trees, mostly conifers and ferns, are particularly well preserved.Volcanic minerals seeped intothem soon after the eruptionand petrified them before bacteria and fungi could rot their tissues away.

译文

开姆尼斯自然历史博物馆中的化石树大多都是针叶树和蕨类植物，这些树都得到了很好的保护。在火山爆发以后不久，火山矿物就渗入了这些树木中，同时在细菌和真菌分解它们的组织之前将其石化。

Mr Luthardt and Dr Rossler selected 43 of the largest specimensand looked at their growth rings.They found 1,917 rings which were in a good enough state to be measured under a microscope.They knew that the trees had died simultaneously, giving them a baseline to work from, and so were able to compare the rings from different plants.They were stunned by how clearly they could see the cycles.About three-quarters of their specimens showed synchronousgrowth peaks like those caused by modern sunspot activity.

译文

Luthardt和Rossler博士选择了43个尺寸最大的标本，并观察了它们的年轮。他们发现了1917个在显微镜下处于最佳观测状态下的年轮。他们还知道，这些树木在火山喷发时几乎同时石化——这是在他们研究中，能够将不同种类植物相比较的先提条件。这些年轮简直清晰得令人难以置信。约四分之三他们观察的样本展示出了与现代太阳黑子活动相似的周期。

In total, the rings they measured let them study 79 years of forest growth before the eruption.During this period, the solar cycle averaged 10.6 years.That compares with 11.2 years in the modern era, although this figure conceals wide variation in the lengths of individual cycles.

译文

总的来说，他们所测量的年轮能够体现出火山爆发前79年的树木生长情况。在那一时期，太阳活动周期平均为10.6年。与之相比，现代的太阳活动周期平均为11.2年，不过这个数据不包括长时间以来生物个体发生的各种各样的变化。

Within statistical limits, then, it seems that the sunspot cycle was the same in the early Permian as it is now,suggesting that the sun’s magneticoscillationswere the same then as they are at present.Whether that is a coincidence has yet to be determined,but there is no reason why the method Mr Luthardt and Dr Rossler have developed should not be applied to other petrifiedforests, from different periods, to find out.

译文

统计学认为，因为二叠纪早起的太阳黑子周期与近代相似，那么就能够认为，现在太阳的磁振荡与那时也同样相近。这是否是一个巧合还有待考证，但这并不意味着Luthard先生与Rossler 博士自创的方法不能用来寻找其他处于不同时期的的石化森林。

注释

1.In total 总的来说

例句:I was with my husband for eight years in total.

我和丈夫在一起的时间总共有8年。

2.find out 发现

例句:I need to find out who tried to frame me.

我得找出是谁企图诬陷我。

3.compares with 与...比较

例句:The more recent conifer plantations cannot yet compare with the old woodlands.

年代较近的针叶树林场还比不上年代久远的林场。

4.soon after 不久以后

例句:They were married with all the trimmings, soon after graduation.

他们毕业后不久就大操大办地结婚了。

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