超級計算機掃描“整個天空”，以尋找外星人的跡象

超級計算機掃描“整個天空”，以尋找外星人的跡象

Scientists are ramping up their efforts in the search for signs of alien life.

科學(xué)家們正加緊努力尋找外星生命的跡象。

Experts at the SETI Institute, an organization dedicated to tracking extraterrestrial intelligence, are developing state-of-the-art techniques to detect signatures from space that indicate the possibility of extraterrestrial existence.

SETI研究所是一個致力于追蹤外星智能的組織，該研究所的專家們正在開發(fā)最先進(jìn)的技術(shù)來探測來自太空的信號，這些信號表明了外星人存在的可能性。

These so-called “technosignatures” can range from the chemical composition of a planet’s atmosphere, to laser emissions, to structures orbiting other stars, among others, they said.

他們說，這些所謂的“技術(shù)特征”包括從行星大氣的化學(xué)成分到激光發(fā)射，再到環(huán)繞其他恒星的結(jié)構(gòu)等等。

Dr. Tony Beasley, director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) telescope based in Virginia said: “Determining whether we are alone in the universe as technologically capable life is among the most compelling questions in science.”

位于弗吉尼亞州的美國國家射電天文臺(NRAO)望遠(yuǎn)鏡主任托尼·比斯利博士說:“科學(xué)中最引人注目的問題之一是，要確定我們是否在宇宙中獨自存在著具有技術(shù)能力的生命。”

SETI scientists plan to develop a system that will “piggyback” on the Very Large Array (VLA) telescope based in Mexico and provide data to their technosignature search system.

SETI的科學(xué)家們計劃開發(fā)一個系統(tǒng)，該系統(tǒng)將“搭載”位于墨西哥的甚大陣列(VLA)望遠(yuǎn)鏡，為他們的技術(shù)簽名搜索系統(tǒng)提供數(shù)據(jù)。

Beasley added: “As the VLA conducts its usual scientific observations, this new system will allow for an additional and important use for the data we’re already collecting.”

Beasley補充道:“當(dāng)VLA進(jìn)行它通常的科學(xué)觀測時，這個新系統(tǒng)將允許我們對已經(jīng)收集的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行額外的和重要的使用。”

Life forms, whether intelligent or not, can produce detectable indicators such as large amounts of oxygen, smaller amounts of methane, and a variety of other chemicals, the experts said.

專家說，生命形式，無論是否智能，都可以產(chǎn)生可檢測的指標(biāo)，如大量的氧氣，少量的甲烷，以及各種其他化學(xué)物質(zhì)。

So in addition, scientists are also developing computer models to simulate extraterrestrial environments that can help support future searches for habitable planets and life beyond the solar system.

因此，除此之外，科學(xué)家們還在開發(fā)模擬外星環(huán)境的計算機模型，以幫助支持未來對可居住行星和太陽系外生命的探索。

Victoria Meadows, principal investigator for Nasa’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory at the University of Washington, which studies to detect exoplanetary habitability, said: “Upcoming telescopes in space and on the ground will have the capability to observe the atmospheres of Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby cool stars, so it’s important to understand how best to recognize signs of habitability and life on these planets.

維多利亞草地,首席研究員為Nasa的虛擬行星華盛頓大學(xué)的實驗室,研究探測地外可居住,說:“即將在太空望遠(yuǎn)鏡和地面將有能力觀察附近地球般大小的行星的大氣層很酷的明星,所以重要的是要了解如何識別可居住的跡象,這些行星上的生命。

“These computer models will help us determine whether an observed planet is more or less likely to support life.”

“這些計算機模型將幫助我們確定一個被觀測到的行星是否更有可能支持生命。”

Meanwhile, SETI’s Breakthrough Listen Initiative, which launched in 2015 to “listen” for signals of alien life, has released nearly two petabytes of data from the most comprehensive survey yet of radio emissions from the plane of the Milky Way galaxy and the region around its central black hole.

與此同時，SETI于2015年啟動的“傾聽”計劃(Breakthrough Listen Initiative)——旨在“傾聽”外星生命的信號——已經(jīng)發(fā)布了近兩拍字節(jié)的數(shù)據(jù)，這些數(shù)據(jù)來自迄今為止最全面的一次調(diào)查，調(diào)查內(nèi)容是關(guān)于銀河系平面及其中心黑洞周圍區(qū)域的無線電輻射。

The organization is now inviting the public to search the data, gathered from various telescopes around the world, and look for signals from intelligent civilizations.

該組織現(xiàn)在邀請公眾來搜索這些數(shù)據(jù)，這些數(shù)據(jù)來自世界各地的望遠(yuǎn)鏡，尋找來自智慧文明的信號。

Yuri Milner, an entrepreneur and founder of the Breakthrough initiative, said: “For the whole of human history, we had a limited amount of data to search for life beyond Earth.

尤里·米爾納(Yuri Milner)是一名企業(yè)家，也是“突破計劃”(Breakthrough initiative)的創(chuàng)始人。

“So, all we could do was speculate.

“所以，我們只能猜測。

“Now, as we are getting a lot of data, we can do real science and, with making this data available to general public, so can anyone who wants to know the answer to this deep question.”

“現(xiàn)在，隨著我們獲得大量數(shù)據(jù)，我們可以進(jìn)行真正的科學(xué)研究，通過向公眾提供這些數(shù)據(jù)，任何人都可以知道這個深奧問題的答案。”