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The full moon triggers a frenzy of activity.
满月会引发一连串狂乱的事件
It is the time of the highest tides.
海水在此时达到满潮
And in the oceans the full moon's bright light
在海中，满月明亮的胧光
is a mating call for sea creatures all over the world.
是世界各地海洋生物的求偶讯号
The full moon governs the very reproduction of these species.
满月掌控了这些物种的繁衍
And now scientists have discovered it may be
现在科学家发现
doing the same for us humans.
满月对人类似乎也有相同的影响
Research suggests that the full moon may
研究结果显示
play a significant role in our own cycles of fertility.
满月似乎在人类的生殖周期中扮演了重要角色
In the late 1970s scientists studying
1970年代末期，研究女性生殖能力的科学家
female fertility noticed a baffling coincidence.
发现了一个令人困惑的巧合
We knew that the moon cycled every 29.5 days
我们知道月亮的周期是29.5天
and we knew a 29.5 day cycle was
我们也知道生理周期为29.5天的妇女
the most fertile women's cycle length,
生育力最好
that a women who had a 26 day cycle or a 40 day cycle
若生理周期为26天、40天
or a 60 day cycle was much less likely to be fertile in that cycle.
或60天的妇女，则比较不容易在生理周期期间受孕
At the time it was unclear whether this
当时人们不知道这是机缘巧合
was a chance phenomenon or whether the two were related.
还是两者之间确实相关
But further research on women with twenty nine
但在进一步研究
and a half day menstrual cycles threw up
生理周期为29.5天的妇女之后
even more links with the patterns of the lunar cycle.
科学家发现更多和月亮周期间的关联
In that group of women who cycle as frequently as the moon,
在生理周期和月亮周期相符的妇女中
they tended to be menstruating starting
有很多人
their periods in the full moon,at the day of the full moon,
会在满月的那一天来潮
and as you move away from the full moon toward the new moon,
随着月亮由望转朔
a smaller and smaller and smaller proportion
来潮妇女的数目
of the group is starting their menstrual period.
会越来越少
That was a very exciting,
这个自然生理现象让我们十分兴奋
natural biologic phenomenon that said there's something
因为这表示自然界中
in nature about the moon that coincides
月亮的变化
with women getting their period at the full moon.
和妇女在满月时来潮有关
The fertility cycles of women are related
妇女的生育周期和月亮周期有关系
to the moon's cycle and I don't think
我认为不是妇女的生育周期影响了月亮
women's fertility drives the moon, I think it's the other way around.
而是恰恰相反
No one knows for sure why this phenomenon exists,
没有人知道这个现象存在的原因
or how it works.
或原理
It is one of the moon's many mysteries.
这是月亮的诸多谜团之一
Until very recently, the moon remained an enigma.
人们一直到最近才揭开了月亮的神秘面纱
And it was this mysterious quality
月亮神秘的特质
which fuelled our fascination.
挑动了人们的想像力
Where did it come from?
它来自何处？
What was it made of?
成分为何？
And the biggest question of all: Was it a world like ours
人们最想知道的是它是否跟地球一样？
did it harbour life?
有没有生物？
For millennia, it was impossible to know.
数千年来，这些都是不解之谜
No-one even knew what the surface of the moon looked like.
我们连月亮的表面是什么样子都不知道
All that changed in 1608 when an Italian astronomer
但这一切在1608年改变了，一名意大利天文学家
made a primitive telescope.
制作了一具原始望远镜
For the first time he was able to get a close up look at the moon.
他终于可以近距离观察月亮
His name was Galileo Galilei,
这位天文学家叫做伽利略
and what he saw shattered conventional wisdom.
他见到的情景，颠覆了当时的传统观点
