but perhaps you are hoping to remotely touch someone you'll never meet
有可能 你会同遥远的未曾相识的人产生联系。
the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers which are on Mars
勇气号 机遇号 好奇号火星探测器。
are each fitted with a photometric calibration target
都载有一个光度校准目标。
a test pattern for the cameras
一个摄像机测试图案。
which also serves as a sundial
同时作为日冕。
and along the aluminum of each Mars dial
此外 在每个火星日冕的铝制部分。
it says in very small letters, to those who visit here
都用很小的字母写到 致到访此处的任何人。
we wish a safe journey and the joy of discovery
我们愿你的发现之旅安全而愉快。
and that, my friends, is the essence of science
朋友们 这就是科学的精髓。
The joy of knowing, that's what drives us
获得知识的乐趣 这就是我们的驱动力。
That's science. It brings out the best in us
这就是科学 它能让我们发挥出最大潜能。
It makes our species worthy of the future
让我们人类值得拥有美好未来。
And I often reflect on the words of my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Cochran
我经常想起我三年级老师科克伦女士的话。
and she told us
她告诉我们。
there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the beach
天空中的繁星比海滩上的沙粒还要多。
and there are by any measure a lot of grains of sand on the beach
怎么看 海滩上的沙粒都太多了。
I mean, there are more than you can count for sure
你绝对数不完。
but for most of us, there are more than you can imagine
甚至连想都无法想象。
I stood on the beach. It was in Delaware that summer
那年夏天 我站在特拉华的海滩上。
and I got to thinking about her assertion
思考她的那句话。
Does she mean all of the grains of sand that I can see?
她说的是我能看到的所有沙粒吗。
Does she mean the ones I can't see
她说的包不包括。
the ones that must cover the beach a few meters deep?
深埋在几米以下的沙粒。
And when the tide goes out, there's more sand
而且潮水退去时 沙粒又会增多。
And I look behind me, there's sand sand sand
我往后看 到处都是沙 沙 沙。
I look this way, 1000 nautical miles, that way, 1000... they're sand
这边有1000海里的沙子 这边也是 到处都是沙。
Are you telling me, Mrs. Cochran, there are more stars than all of that?
科克伦老师 星星真的比所有这些沙粒还多吗。
Well, apparently there are by about a factor of 10
没错 而且根据现有估计 大约多一个数量级。
So in that long ago moment, I was paralyzed by self doubt
在很久之前的那时 我被这些疑虑镇住了。
I mean. I was just a little kid
我只是一个小孩。
standing on the beach
站在沙滩上。
and that beach is one of many beaches on the planet that turns out
而这个沙滩又只是地球上众多沙滩中的一个。
to be in the cosmic scheme of things pretty small planet
而地球在整个宇宙中来看 只是一颗很小的行星。
a speck really
可以说是一粒尘埃。
Furthermore, my home speck, the earth
更进一步 我们的地球。
is orbiting a star that is completely unremarkable. It's just another speck
正绕一颗不起眼的恒星公转 而太阳只是另一粒尘埃。
and is in a galaxy full of other specks
处在充满其它尘埃的银河系中。
with a vastness of space for more galaxies
银河系外又有无尽的太空和更多星系。
I'm a speck on a speck orbiting a speck
我是一粒尘埃 处在一粒尘埃上 绕一粒尘埃旋转。
with a bunch of other specks in the vast emptiness of specklessness
在无尽的尘埃空间中 数不尽的尘埃一同存在着。
But wait. But wait wait wait
但是等等。
