年諾貝爾物理學獎揭曉：宇宙或將終結於冰川

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2011 with one half to Saul Perlmutter, and the other half jointly to Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess, for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.
瑞典皇家科學院決定將2011年諾貝爾物理學獎，一半授予薩爾·波爾馬特，另一半授予布萊恩·施密特和亞當·里斯，以表彰他們通過觀測遙遠超新星發現宇宙的膨脹速度正在加快。

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice..."
有人說世界將終於火海，有人說世界將終於冰川……

What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it will end in ice, if we are to believe this year's Nobel Laureates in Physics. They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves.
宇宙最終的命運究竟會何去何從？如果我們相信今年諾貝爾物理學獎得住的研究結果，那麼宇宙恐怕會終於冰川。他們研究了幾十顆爆炸星（也被稱爲超新星）發現，宇宙的膨脹速度正在不斷加快。這個發現讓獲獎者自己都大爲驚訝。

In 1998, cosmology was shaken at its foundations as two research teams presented their findings. Headed by Saul Perlmutter, one of the teams had set to work in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team, launched at the end of 1994, where Adam Riess was to play a crucial role.
1998年，兩隻研究小隊所展示的成果讓宇宙學的根基發生了動搖。其中一支隊伍由薩爾·波爾馬特領銜，從1988年開始研究工作；另一支由布萊恩·施密特領銜，從1994年年底開始工作，亞當·里斯在其中扮演了重要角色。

The research teams raced to map the Universe by locating the most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the ground and in space, as well as more powerful computers and new digital imaging sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009), opened the possibility in the 1990s to add more pieces to the cosmological puzzle.
研究隊伍用定位距離地球最遠的超新星的辦法來繪製宇宙地圖。到了20世紀90年代，更精密的陸地和太空望眼鏡裝置、更強大的計算機系統以及全新的數字成像傳感器（CCD, 2009年獲得了諾貝爾物理學獎），爲人類拼制宇宙這副拼圖提供了可能性。

The teams used a particular kind of supernova, called type Ia supernova. It is an explosion of an old compact star that is as heavy as the Sun but as small as the Earth. A single such supernova can emit as much light as a whole galaxy. All in all, the two research teams found over 50 distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected - this was a sign that the expansion of the Universe was accelerating. The potential pitfalls had been numerous, and the scientists found reassurance in the fact that both groups had reached the same astonishing conclusion.
研究隊伍用一種Ia型超新星做研究。Ia型超新星是由像太陽一樣重卻像地球一樣小的緻密星爆炸而成，這樣一顆超新星所發射出的光和整個銀河系一樣多。總而言之，兩支隊伍發現了超過50顆遙遠超新星，它們所發射出的光不如預計的那麼明亮，這就意味着宇宙的膨脹速度正在加快。研究過程中存在很多潛在的缺陷，但是兩支隊伍得出了同樣驚人的結論，這讓科學家們對自己的研究結果比較放心。

For almost a century, the Universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. However, the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the expansion will continue to speed up the Universe will end in ice.
近一個世紀以來，人類知道宇宙因爲140億年左右前的那次大爆炸而在膨脹。然後，宇宙膨脹速度正在加快的發現讓世人震驚。如果膨脹速度持續加快，那麼宇宙將會終結於冰川。

The acceleration is thought to be driven by dark energy, but what that dark energy is remains an enigma - perhaps the greatest in physics today. What is known is that dark energy constitutes about three quarters of the Universe. Therefore the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to science. And everything is possible again.
研究者們認爲是暗能量推動宇宙膨脹速度加快，但是暗能量究竟是什麼仍然是個未知數——也許這是當今物理學界的最大難題。我們唯一知道的是宇宙的四分之三由暗能量所組成。所以說，2011年諾貝爾物理學獎的研究結果最大程度上揭示了一個科學界所不知道的宇宙。而今，一切又皆有可能。