中文导读 一座曾经吸引淘金工人的老矿井，为什么如今吸引来了物理学家？文章先交代事件：美国利德镇地下深处，DUNE 实验的巨型探测器即将开始组装。接着解释中微子为何被称为“幽灵粒子”，以及它们会“变身”的奇特行为；然后回顾这座矿井在中微子研究史上的位置，再用钢材、液态氩和工期等数字说明 DUNE 的规模；随后介绍探测器如何“看见”中微子，以及科学家最想回答的物质与反物质问题；最后回到小镇本身收尾。阅读时可留意 rather than、whether 等引出的比较与疑问，以及 according to、reports、said 如何标明信息出处。
正文 For more than a hundred years , the town of Lead in South Dakota , in the US , attracted workers who hoped to find gold . Now its old mine is attracting scientists instead . According to The Guardian , engineers are due to start putting together giant detectors for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment , or DUNE , on Monday . The detectors will sit in caves about 1.6 kilometres under the ground .
本段译文 一百多年来，美国南达科他州的利德镇吸引着希望找到黄金的工人。如今，这里的老矿井吸引来的却是科学家。据《卫报》报道，工程师们定于周一开始为“深层地下中微子实验”（DUNE）组装巨大的探测器。这些探测器将安放在地下约 1.6 公里处的洞穴里。
The detectors are designed to catch neutrinos , tiny particles that are often called “ ghost particles ”. About a trillion of them pass through a person’s body every second without being noticed , because they almost never hit other matter . They also behave strangely . There are three kinds , and as they travel , they can change from one kind into another . Physicist Kate Shaw of the University of Sussex compared this to throwing someone an apple that turns into a banana .
本段译文 这些探测器的设计目的是捕捉中微子——一种常被称为“幽灵粒子”的微小粒子。每秒钟大约有一万亿个中微子穿过一个人的身体而不被察觉，因为它们几乎从不撞上其他物质。它们的行为也很奇特：中微子有三种，在传播过程中，它们可以从一种变成另一种。萨塞克斯大学的物理学家凯特·肖把这比作扔给别人一个苹果，它却变成了一根香蕉。
The mine already has a place in the history of these particles . In the 1960s , the physicist Ray Davis built a detector there from a huge tank of dry-cleaning liquid Protected deep under the ground , it became the first to record neutrinos from the sun . The mine closed in 2001 and became an underground laboratory
本段译文 这座矿井在中微子研究史上早有一席之地。20 世纪 60 年代，物理学家雷·戴维斯在这里用一个装满干洗液的巨大罐子造了一台探测器。由于深埋地下、受到保护，它成为第一台记录到来自太阳的中微子的探测器。矿井于 2001 年关闭，之后变成了一座地下实验室。
DUNE will be far larger . The Guardian reports that the detectors will use more than 4,000 tonnes of steel , stand up to five floors high and together hold about 70,000 tonnes of liquid argon , cooled to around minus 200C . Putting them together should take nearly three years . David Newbold , a DUNE spokesperson , said it was “like building a ship underground “. Fermilab , the laboratory near Chicago that hosts the project expects to start collecting data in early 2030.
本段译文 DUNE 的规模要大得多。《卫报》报道，这些探测器将使用 4,000 多吨钢材，最高可达五层楼高，总共将容纳约 7 万吨液态氩，并冷却到约零下 200 摄氏度。组装工作预计需要将近三年。DUNE 发言人戴维·纽博尔德说，这“就像在地下造一艘船”。主办该项目、位于芝加哥附近的费米实验室预计在 2030 年初开始收集数据。
Once ready , the detectors will study a powerful beam of neutrinos sent from Fermilab through 1,300 kilometres of rock . Most will fly straight through , but now and then one will hit an argon atom and produce a small flash of light . Neutrinos from exploding stars will also be studied .
本段译文 建成后，探测器将研究从费米实验室发出、穿过 1,300 公里岩层的强大中微子束。大多数中微子会直接穿过去，但偶尔会有一个撞上氩原子，产生一道微弱的闪光。来自爆炸恒星的中微子也将被研究。
The biggest hope is to answer a basic question : why the universe is made of matter rather than antimatter , its opposite . DUNE will look for small differences between neutrinos and antineutrinos . Researchers also want to know which kind is the heaviest , and whether today’s main theory of particles is complete . As Shaw put it , neutrinos “do not make sense yet
本段译文 最大的希望是回答一个基本问题：为什么宇宙是由物质而不是与之相反的反物质构成的。DUNE 将寻找中微子与反中微子之间的细微差别。研究人员还想知道哪一种中微子最重，以及当今主要的粒子理论是否完整。正如肖所说，中微子“目前还说不通”。
For Lead , the project matters in another way . Robin Lucero , a city official , said world-class science was bringing new people and new opportunities to local businesses and young people .
本段译文 对利德镇来说，这个项目还有另一层意义。市政官员罗宾·卢塞罗说，世界一流的科学正在为当地企业和年轻人带来新的人和新的机会。
新闻来源