Our Earth boasts many hidden powers. Most remain (at least partially) mysterious to us, but every day, a bit more is revealed. Some days, we discover the mechanics behind major events. At this rate, it should only take us 100 million years or so to shut the book on Earth.
我们的地球有着诸多未解之谜。大部分（至少某种程度上）仍然是个谜，但是我们每天都会破解一点点。终有一天我们会发现那些重大事件背后的真相，以目前探索地球奥秘的速度来看，还需要一亿年左右我们才可以揭开地球的神秘面纱。
10.What Caused The Siberian Crater?
10.西伯利亚坑洞是怎样形成的？
In August 2014, a gaping crater appeared on the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia. This was an interesting phenomenon, because other than sinkholes in Florida, giant holes usually don't appear randomly. Geologists traded theories on the origin of the crater, while paranoid skeptics suggested wacky explanations like meteors and extraterrestrial influences.
2014年8月，一个巨大的坑洞出现在西伯利亚的亚马尔半岛上。这是一个有趣的现象，因为除了佛罗里达的溶洞，大型地洞一般不会突然出现。地质学家相互交流了研究坑洞成因的理论，而偏执的怀疑论者提出了一些怪异的理论，比如来自流星和地球之外的其他影响。
To solve the mystery, scientists erred on the side of sensibility and jumped into the bottomless maw. The craters (plural, as many others are being discovered) were not the result of advanced alien weaponry. A much more terrestrial and much less glorious explanation surfaced—methane. Measurements revealed that methane concentrations within the crater's bowels approached 10 percent. Air is normally about 0.000179 percent methane.The offending gas seeps up from thawing permafrost. And as global temperatures rise, clumps of methane bubble toward the surface faster and faster. Once the welling methane blobs reach a critical threshold, the gasses blast through the Siberian crust. This is supported by the mysterious Siberian pits' resemblance to explosion craters, rather than sinkholes or cavities formed through implosion. Debris strewn around the site are the telltale sign of mighty booms.
为了揭开这个谜，科学家们表现得十分感性，跳进了深不可测的大洞。这些坑洞（包括其他逐渐被发现的洞口）并不是外星生物先进的武器造成的。有一种没那么耀眼夺目的解释与地球联系更紧密，认为其原因就是甲烷。有测量表明，火山口内部的甲烷含量高达10%。而空气中甲烷的正常含量大约为0.000179%。这种刺激性气体从逐渐融化的永冻土中渗透出来，随着全球气候变暖，源源不断的甲烷气泡越来越快地向地表聚集。当这些不断上冒的甲烷气泡达到一个临界值时，这些气体就会爆炸，冲破西伯利亚地表。那些神秘的西伯利亚矿井就是佐证，它们与这些爆炸的坑洞极其相似，而与那些内陷而成的溶洞或者山洞不一样。散落在坑洞周围的碎片就是发生过猛烈爆炸的痕迹。
9.What Causes Earthquake Lights?
9.地震光的成因是什么？
Earthquake lights would be awesome events if not for the earthquake part of the equation. These mysterious flashes have been observed in various forms such as orbs and pillars. And many explanations have been volunteered, including, you guessed it, aliens. Scientists, however, theorized the cause was a perfect storm of piezoelectric forces and geologic trauma.
如果不是因为地震会带来极大破坏，地震光会是让人感到惊喜的东西。这些神秘的光早已引起人们的注意，它们以各种形状出现，比如球形和圆柱形。人们对地震光产生的原因提出了多种解释，包括外星人。然而科学家们提出理论认为，具有压电效应的力和地质变化交互作用产生了巨大影响，形成了这些现象。
The true cause appears to be different. Instead of previously implicated quartz-rich rocks, earthquake lights seem to be caused by sparking volcanic rocks because igneous materials like basalts and gabbros are rife with pores and tiny defects. Imagine Earth as a pint of ice cream. The basalts and their ilk are the swirls of fudge, vertical ribbons of cooled magma that have solidified into veins of porous rock. These structures reach down for many miles and act as conduits for escaping electrical forces. When seismic waves plow through, they spark the rocks to life, transforming them into makeshift battery cells. The electrical buildup is then released psychedelically, in vibrant rainbow bands shooting from the ground. However, the volcanic rocks necessary to produce these trippy effects are rarely found in adequate amount. Therefore, earthquake lights are not often observed.
真正的原因有所不同。地震光似乎并不是由之前暗指的石英含量丰富的岩石形成的，而是由燃烧的火山岩造成的，因为像玄武岩和辉长岩这一类的火成岩充满了气孔和细微的瑕疵。把地球想象成一品脱冰激凌。玄武岩这一类的岩石就像一卷卷软糖，冷却的岩浆就像垂直的丝带，凝固在有气孔的岩石中。这些结构向下绵延几英里，像导体一样起到导电的作用。地震波在层层岩石间传播，点燃了岩石的生命，把它们变成了临时的电池。然后这些带电的岩石会释放光芒，形成一种迷幻的效果。这时就会有明亮的彩虹般的光带突然出现在地面上。然而，火山岩产生迷幻效果的场景很少出现。因此，地震光并不是经常被人们看见。
8.Can Hurricanes Help Invasive Species?
8.飓风能帮助入侵物种吗?
Researchers from Nova Southeastern University have found an unlikely cause of the proliferation of invasive marine species—hurricanes. Lionfish have multiplied like crazy in recent years, ravaging indigenous ecosystems by voraciously gobbling up resources and producing many ugly babies. Overall, hurricanes have increased lionfish migrations by 45 percent and strengthened their numbers by 15 percent. The situation is so dire that landlubbers and seamen alike are implored to eat more lionfish.
诺瓦东南大学的研究人员发现了导致外来海洋生物扩散的罕见原因——飓风。近年来，狮子鱼疯狂地成倍增长，它们贪婪地吞噬资源，大量繁殖，破坏着当地的生态系统。总体而言，飓风导致发生迁移的狮子鱼猛增了45％，并且使它们的数量增长了15％。面对如此可怕的情形，当地人和水手都被要求食用更多的狮子鱼。
The Floridian straits served as lionfish ground zero, but since 1992, the invaders have been busy and are now found in worrying numbers throughout the Bahamas as well. Scientists were stumped. How were these normally sedentary creatures able to travel so freely? The answer is through no effort of their own—the fish were obliviously whisked away by shifting ocean currents. The oceanic conveyors responsible for the lionfish exodus were hurricanes, which redirect sea currents as they rumble through the tropics and subtropics. Researcher Matthew Johnston likens these pathways to express lanes on a superhighway.Strong ocean currents normally form a barrier and keep the lionfish sequestered from the ocean at large. But when a large storm rolls through, the barrier is switched off as strong northern flows are diverted eastward. Lionfish babies and eggs are swept away by these intense flows, and the invasion continues.
弗洛里达州海峡是它们的聚集地，但是自1992年以来，它们频繁入侵，数量多得令人堪忧，巴哈马群岛也出现了这样的情况。科学家们不知如何是好。这些通常长期生活在一个地方的动物是如何自由迁移的？从它们自身可以毫不费力地找到答案：狮子鱼是被改变方向的洋流冲走的。飓风是把大量狮子鱼转移到其他地方的海上传送带。洋流发着低沉的声音流过热带和亚热带时，飓风改变了它们的方向。研究员马修·约翰斯顿把这些路径比作高速公路上的车道。通常强劲的洋流会形成一个屏障，阻碍狮子鱼大量进入海洋；但是当大风暴席卷而来，北边的洋流转而向东流去，屏障消失。小狮子鱼和鱼蛋被卷进强烈的海流，物种入侵便继续扩散。
7.Why Was The Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami So Large?
7.为什么东日本地震海啸如此之大？
The 9.0 magnitude Tohoku earthquake that devastated Japan in March 2011 was an absolute monster—the fifth-largest in recorded history. But the ensuing tsunami was uncharacteristically massive and impacted the island at an odd spot, scientifically speaking. The mystery persisted until NASA remembered it had two serendipitously aligned satellites that captured the tsunami in real-time. The chance of such a satellite being pointed in the right direction was one in 10 million. The ESA also had a set of eyes on the event. The data, oceanographic measurements accurate to the centimeter, revealed the devastation was caused by not one, but two tsunamis.
2011年3月袭击日本东北部的9级大地震简直就是恶魔，这是有史以来第五大地震。但是随之而来的海啸规模大得非比寻常，并且波及了一个位置奇特的岛屿。这一直是未解之谜，直到NASA偶然发现有两颗卫星实时捕获了海啸的情况，谜团才有了合理的解答。欧洲航天局也对此事件进行了跟进。海洋学的测量数据精确到了厘米，发现造成这次破坏的海啸不是一个而是两个。
The brutal earthquake launched two massive wave fronts at the island nation, and these two systems combined into what science has eloquently dubbed a “double tsunami.” The catastrophe offered researchers their first definitive glimpse at this destructive phenomenon. Twin tsunamis had been implicated in previous disasters. For example, in 1960, a Chilean tsunami crossed large swaths of the Pacific Ocean to take 200 lives in Hawaii and Japan. But now that researchers have witnessed a bona fide merger, they'll be able to predict future events, improve hazard maps, and devise better evacuation routes.
强烈的地震向日本传递了两次大型的震波，并且两次震动合二为一，科学上形象地称为“双重海啸”。 “双重海啸”被证实在之前就引发过灾难。例如，1960年，智利海啸波及太平洋很大面积，并且带走了夏威夷和日本的200条人命。但是如今，研究人员已经见证了整个合并过程，他们将能够据此预测未来的事件，优化风险地图，规划更好的疏散路线。
6.What's The Terrestrial Version Of A Black Hole?
6.何为地球上的黑洞?
Black holes are the most exotic, unimaginable objects in the universe. Researchers have found an Earth analogue in South Atlantic vortices, which boast aquatic event horizons from which nothing escapes—at least until the dissolution of the vortex.
黑洞是宇宙中最奇特的并且令人难以想象的物体。观察者们在大西洋南部的漩涡里发现了一种与黑洞类似的东西。
The individual vortices are mere babies compared to their progenitor, the mighty Agulhas Current, which traverses the Indian Ocean before doubling back on itself. When the physics are just right, the looping current spawns little eddies that flow out into the ocean at large. These eddies have life spans of many months and are surprisingly similar to their feared cosmic counterparts. For one, they're surrounded by impregnable walls of swirling water, as black holes are enveloped by a shroud of orbiting photons and other celestial matter. Anything that ventures into this no man's land is assimilated into a singularity and is never heard from again. The oceanic eddies also feature central singularities from which materials cannot escape. In this way, the eddies form their own independent microenvironments. Researchers are keen to investigate how these whirlpools contribute to the circulation of marine detritus, tiny organisms, and waters of differing temperatures and salinities. Researchers are optimistic about finding similarly turbulent vortices produced by other terrestrial processes, such as eolian black holes whipped up by hurricanes.
这一个个漩涡和它们的祖先相比只不过是个小不点，强大的阿古拉斯海流在流回自己的发源地之前都会穿过印度洋。在物理环境合适的情况下,循环的洋流会产生小漩涡,而这些小漩涡一般会流入海洋。这些漩涡能存在几个月时间，并且它们与宇宙里那些让人闻风丧胆的黑洞惊人的相似。举例来说，它们被漩涡流坚固的水墙所环绕，就像黑洞被在轨道中运行的光子和其他外太空的物质所包围一样。任何物体想要冒险冲进这个“真空”般的地方都会被这个奇点卷入，并且不会再被找到。海洋中的漩涡也具有中心奇点的特征，任何物质都无法逃脱。就是在这种情况下，那些漩涡构成了他们自己的一个小环境。观察者们热衷于研究这些漩涡是如何促进海里的碎石屑、微小生物、不同温度及咸度的海水进行循环的，并且对于能否找到其他地理活动形成的类似的湍急的漩涡，比如由飓风形成的风成黑洞，他们也很乐观。
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