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经济学人:SKA项目由非洲和澳大拉西亚来合作完成

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Science and Technolgy.
科技。

The Square Kilometre Array.
SKA项目。

Divide and rule.
分工合作。

The world's biggest astronomy project is split between Africa and Australasia. That gives South Africa, in particular, a chance to show its scientific mettle.
世界上最大的天文观测项目由非洲和澳大拉西亚来合作完成。这给了南非一个机会来展示她的的科学精神。

THE reputation of physics as the queen of sciences is reflected in the amount of money that governments are willing to spend on it.
物理学被人们称为自然科学的女王，因此政府愿意为她挥金如土。

The Large Hadron Collider, Europe's latest particle smasher, cost around $9 billion and took a decade to build.
欧洲最大的粒子加速器——大型强子碰撞型加速器——耗资大约90亿美元，建造历时10年。

But, just occasionally, other fields get to play with some big, taxpayer-funded kit of their own, too.
无独有偶，在自然科学的其他领域，人们也大量投入了纳税人的钱财。

On May 25th it was the astronomers' turn in the limelight.
5月25日，天文学家站到了闪光灯前。

For several years two groups of countries, one consisting of Australia and New Zealand, and the other of several sub-Saharan nations led by South Africa, have been polishing their rival bids to host the Square Kilometre Array, a gargantuan, 1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) radio telescope first proposed in 1991 and designed to be the most sensitive ever constructed.
数年以来，两支国际小组一直在平方公里阵列（SKA）项目上竞争，其中一支队伍由澳大利亚和新西兰组成，另一支队伍由以南非为领队的撒哈拉沙漠以南诸国组成。这是一个耗资15亿欧元（合19亿美元）的射电望远镜，该计划于1991年提出，将是人类建造出来的最灵敏装置。

After months of deliberation, the SKA's funding nations announced their decision: that the telescope would be split, and both groups would host a bit of it.
经过数月的深思熟虑之后，向SKA提供资金的国家宣布：这个望远镜将分成两个部分，两支队伍分别主持各自的部分。

In astronomy, as in particle physics, bigger kit is better kit.
与粒子物理学一样，在天文学领域中，更大的装置就是更好的装置。

A larger telescope can gather fainter signals and produce sharper images.
一个更大的天文望远镜能收集更加微弱的信号，并生成更加清晰的照片。

Radio astronomers already have a few supersized instruments to have fun with, notably the 305-metre-wide Arecibo telescope, carved into a Puerto Rican hillside in 1963, and the 100-metre Robert C. Byrd instrument in West Virginia, which, unlike the Arecibo dish, can be steered to point at different parts of the sky.
射电天文学已经有了一些巨大的家伙，口径305米的阿雷西博望远镜于1963年被安放在波多黎各的山腰上，100米的伯德仪位于西佛吉尼亚（它的镜片不像阿雷西博望远镜那样是固定的，而是能转向天空的不同方向）。

Yet the physics of radio astronomy means that such mighty machines are, nevertheless, fairly crude.
然而从射电天文学涉及的物理现象来说，这些巨大的设置显得十分“粗笨”。

The resolving power of a telescope is determined by the ratio of its size to the wavelength of the radiation it is collecting.
望远镜的分辨力是由自身尺径和其收集到的电波的波长（两者间）的比例的大小决定。

A typical optical telescope has a diameter a few million times the wavelength of visible light.
传统的光学望远镜的直径是可见光波长的数百万倍。

Applying that sort of ratio to the SKA, which is designed to work with wavelengths measured in metres, would require a dish thousands of kilometres across.
SKA利用的电磁波波长达到数米之长，如果在其上也应用此类电磁波的话，其直径将达到数千公里之长。

Dishes of the day.
现在的镜片组。

Building such a dish is obviously impossible. But what is possible is to build many smaller dishes spaced a long way from one another, and to link them with clever computer algorithms so that they behave as if they were a single giant telescope.
建造这样一个巨大的镜片显然是不可能的。但是可以先建造若干镜片，排列成阵，再以精巧的计算机算法加以联结，从而达到巨型望远镜的效果。

This is called interferometry, and is not a new idea.
这种方法被称为干涉充其量分析法，它不是什么新想法。

Many of the world's radio telescopes are linked in this way, providing far better resolution than any of them could alone.
世界上的许多射望远镜都是用这样的方法联结起来的，这样一来综合分辨率大大超出单个镜片的分辨率。

And several countries have already built collections of small, cheap dishes and networked them into more powerful "virtual" instruments.
许多国家已经建造了一些廉价并能联网的小型天文观测装置，来组成了虚拟仪器。

What makes the SKA special is its sheer scale. The design calls for around 3,000 individual receivers arranged rather like a spiral galaxy, with most of the telescopes concentrated in an inner core, and the rest arranged into a set of arms up to 3,000km (about 2,000 miles) long.
SKA项目的特殊之处在于它巨大的体量。这个工程使用了大约3000个接收器，它们排列成星系螺旋的样子。大部分接收器放置在同一个核心的周围，其余的则被安放在一组有3000公里（约2000英里）长的延伸臂上。

Fibre-optic cables will link each of these dishes to a central processing area, where supercomputers will stitch their data together.
光纤缆把每个镜片联结到一个中央处理区，在这里超级计算机把数据整合起来。

When it is fully up and running (by 2024, assuming no big delays), the SKA will be more than 50 times more sensitive than any other radio telescope, and able to survey the sky thousands of times faster.
当这个项目竣工并投入使用之时（如果没有任何大的耽搁的话，预计2024年完成），SKA项目的灵敏度将是目前已有的射电望远镜的50倍，它可以探测的宇宙范围是目前的数千倍远。

That power will be used to investigate some of the biggest outstanding questions in astronomy.
该项目将被用于调查一些天文学上重大且悬而未决的问题。

The SKA will join the hunt for gravitational waves-ripples in the structure of space predicted by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.
SKA项目将参与到捕获重力波（阿尔伯物·爱因斯坦在其广义相对论中把重力形容为空间结构中的涟漪）的研究中。

It will probe the mysterious magnetic field that exists between the stars. It will allow astronomers to peer back into the universe's Dark Ages, a period roughly 400,000 to 800m years after the Big Bang, during which things cooled enough to allow the first large-scale objects, such as galaxies and clusters of galaxies, to form.
它将探测天体之间的神秘磁场。它使天文学家可以一瞥宇宙的黑暗时代——宇宙大爆炸后40万到800万年时，物质冷却下来并生成了星系和星系团这样的大尺度天体。

And its resolving power will help with the search for extrasolar planets.
它的分辨率还有助于研究太阳系外行星的情况。

But all that is a long way off, and the telescope will have to be built first.
把这个望远镜建造出来只是万里长征的第一步。

That the funding nations felt able to split the telescope in half reflects how closely matched the two bids were.
提供资金的各国认为可以将该望远镜分为差不多的两部分来建造。

Both consortia had constructed precursor telescopes that could be integrated into the SKA itself, and each bid had its advantages.
两支队伍已经建造出了各自的前导望远镜（它本身也可以整合进SKA项目），两边都有各自的优势。

The African bid, whose core will be in Northern Cape province, did well in the technical stakes, chiefly because the geography of the area allows a more efficient layout for the telescope, and also because electricity was thought likely to be cheaper there.
非洲承建部分的核心位于北开普省，这里的地理环境允许放置更多的冗余望远镜，并且该地的电力成本比较便宜。

The SKA will use about 110 megawatts when up and running, so power bills will be a significant expense. The Australasian bid, centred on the virtually unpopulated Shire of Murchison, in Western Australia, scored better for radio quietness (important to prevent interference), and on non-scientific factors such as political stability and the quality of the working environment.
澳大拉西亚承建部分核心位于澳大利亚西部默奇森郡的无人区，该地的电磁场十分静默（对抗干扰十分重要），另外此地还有政治稳定、工作环境质量高等科学以外优势。

Nevertheless, many people-including Naledi Pandor, South Africa's science minister (pictured), who said as much in an official statement-reckon that the decision had more to do with politics than science.
然而包括南非科学技术部部长莱迪·潘多尔在内的许多人从官方的角度说，这个项目要在政治上下的功夫远比在科学上的多。

As with all such big projects, questions of national prestige intruded upon the technical judgments. And that was particularly so in Africa, where the SKA is seen as a good-news story for a continent still struggling to overcome its image as a violent and chronically unstable place.
在其他许多大型项目中，国家尊严高于技术判断。这一点对于南非来说尤其如此，SKA项目对于这个长期充满暴力和不稳定的大陆来说，无疑是一篇正面新闻报道。

Building on two separate sites is possible because the SKA is really three telescopes in one, with different sets of receivers designed for low-, medium- and high-frequency work.
之所以分成两部分来建造该项目，也许是因为SKA项目实际上是由三套望远镜组合成一，这三套望远镜的接收器分别工作于低、中、高三个频段上。

The new plan calls for the low-frequency antennae to be given to the Aussies and the Kiwis, with the other types being built in Africa.
新计划中的低频天线让澳大利亚人和新西兰人来做，其他部分则由南非来做。

Doing it that way will cost more, if only because the bidders will each need to construct their own fibre-optic network to link their antennae together.
仅仅双方用来各自建设用来联结天线的光纤网络的费用也是相当大的。

But although the funding nations may grumble, the prospect of a bit of extra money seems unlikely to go down too badly with the legions of radio astronomers who are, at last, going to see their dream machine built, nor with South Africa's scientific establishment, which will have a chance to show that it is up to the task of running a big project of this sort.
尽管提供资金的各国会发发牢骚，但是当射电天文学家将来看到这个梦想的机器时，会觉得多花一点钱不会太坏。

South Africa has an impressive history of astronomy. The first permanent observatory in the southern hemisphere was built, in 1820, near Cape Town. If this project is equally successful, the country will have a strong future in the subject, too.
并且，南非也有机会来展示自己可以胜任这种大型项目。南非的天文学历史悠久。1820年，南半球的第一个永久天文台就在开普敦附近建成。要是SKA项目也成功的话，南非将会在该项目中有一个可观的未来。

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Science and Technolgy.

科技。

The Square Kilometre Array.

SKA项目。

Divide and rule.

分工合作。

The world's biggest astronomy project is split between Africa and Australasia. That gives South Africa, in particular, a chance to show its scientific mettle.

世界上最大的天文观测项目由非洲和澳大拉西亚来合作完成。这给了南非一个机会来展示她的的科学精神。

THE reputation of physics as the queen of sciences is reflected in the amount of money that governments are willing to spend on it. The Large Hadron Collider, Europe's latest particle smasher, cost around $9 billion and took a decade to build. But, just occasionally, other fields get to play with some big, taxpayer-funded kit of their own, too.

物理学被人们称为自然科学的女王，因此政府愿意为她挥金如土。欧洲最大的粒子加速器——大型强子碰撞型加速器——耗资大约90亿美元，建造历时10年。无独有偶，在自然科学的其他领域，人们也大量投入了纳税人的钱财。

On May 25th it was the astronomers' turn in the limelight. For several years two groups of countries, one consisting of Australia and New Zealand, and the other of several sub-Saharan nations led by South Africa, have been polishing their rival bids to host the Square Kilometre Array, a gargantuan,

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重点单词		查看全部解释
astronomy	[əst'rɔnəmi]	想一想再看 n. 天文学	联想记忆 X 单词astronomy 联想记忆： astro星，nomy表学科－研究星的学科－天文学
rival	['raivəl]	想一想再看 n. 对手，同伴，竞争者 adj. 竞争的	联想记忆 X 单词rival 联想记忆： riv=river河，由“河”引申为“流动，跑，一起跑+al表名词，“人，物，状态”→竞争→竞争者
occasionally	[ə'keiʒənəli]	想一想再看 adv. 偶尔地
reputation	[.repju'teiʃən]	想一想再看 n. 声誉，好名声	联想记忆 X 单词reputation 联想记忆： re再+put=think认为，思考+ation→名声
array	[ə'rei]	想一想再看 n. 数组，(陈)排列，大批，一系列 vt.	联想记忆 X 单词array 联想记忆： ray（n 光线）：象整齐的一排。
willing	['wiliŋ]	想一想再看 adj. 愿意的，心甘情愿的
split	[split]	想一想再看 n. 劈开，裂片，裂口 adj. 分散的
decade	['dekeid]	想一想再看 n. 十年	联想记忆 X 单词decade 联想记忆： dec+ade表名词,表示“状态，物品”参考：decagon十角形→十年
particular	[pə'tikjulə]	想一想再看 adj. 特殊的，特别的，特定的，挑剔的 n.	联想记忆 X 单词particular 联想记忆： part部分+icuar有…的→有自己的部分→特别的；各自的
gargantuan	[gɑ:'gæntjuən]	想一想再看 adj. 巨大的，庞大的	联想记忆 X 单词gargantuan 联想记忆： gar鸭子的嘎嘎叫声，gan干，tuan团：能一边gargar叫一边干掉一个团－巨大的鸭子－巨大的，庞大的