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When Mr.Thompson had finished, the president of the university went on. "I have formed a hypothesis that I am confident will explain all the puzzling questions that here confront us. Therewas a shower of no meteors last night, a fact that my astronomical colleague will confirm, and this object arrived in the place it now is, in the form it now has,from the limitless distances of outer space.
汤普森先生讲完之后，大学校长继续说:“我已经形成了一个假说，我相信它将能解释我们这里所面对的所有难题。昨天晚上下了一场流星雨，我的天文学同事将会证实这个事实。这个物体来自遥远的太空，以它现有的形式到达了它现在所在的地方。
"Why does it neither fall nor fly away again? We all know that there are two opposite but unequal forces that act upon every body at the earth's surface. One of these is the centrifugal force that results from the spinning of the earth upon its axis, a force that tends to hurl objects away. The other and stronger force is that of gravity, tending to pull objects towards the earth’s center.
“为什么这件物体既不往下掉也不再飞走呢？我们都知道有两种相反但强度不一样的作用力作用在地球表面每一个物体上。其中之一为离心力，它来自地球的自转，这个力会将物体抛掷出去。另一个更强的作用力为地球引力，它会将物体拉向地球中心。
"This particular object, moving freely at tremendous velocity through space, entered into the gravitational field of the earth and was pulled from its course. As it hurtled through the atmosphere that envelops us, it became increasingly hot from friction, with the result that its molecular activity was distorted in such a way as to set up within the structure of the cube itself a force that neutralizes the force of gravity.
“这一物体以极大的速度在空间自由运动，进入了地球的重力场并被拉离了原先的轨道。当它高速穿越环绕我们的大气层时，它的温度由于摩擦而不断升髙，结果它的分子运动被扭曲，从而在该立方体内部结构中形成一种足以抵消地球引力的力量。
