Unless we spend money to spot and prevent asteroids now, one might crash into Earth and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists.
一些科學(xué)家說叉信，除非我們現(xiàn)在花錢去發(fā)現(xiàn)和預(yù)防小行星河绽，否則有可能會撞上地球妒蔚，摧毀我們已知的生命勾扭。
Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids that race acros s the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don't threaten us. But th ere are also thousads whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth.
小行星是穿越夜空的大號流星酬蹋。大多數(shù)繞著遠(yuǎn)離地球的太陽運(yùn)行含懊，不會威脅到我們品追。但也有成千上萬的小行星的軌道會讓它們與地球發(fā)生碰撞腻脏。
Buy 10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we'll have a way to change its course.
現(xiàn)在就購買價值5000萬美元的新望遠(yuǎn)鏡鸦泳。然后在接下來的25年里每年花費(fèi)1000萬美元來定位大多數(shù)太空巖石∮榔罚科學(xué)家們說做鹰，當(dāng)我們發(fā)現(xiàn)致命的巖石時，我們將有辦法改變它的路線鼎姐。
Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons. But the cost wouldn't be cheap.
一些科學(xué)家贊成用核武器推動小行星偏離軌道钾麸，但成本并不便宜。
Is it worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk are: 1) How likely the event is; and 2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 500, 000 years. Sounds pretty rare-but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. “If we don't take care of these big asteroids, they'll take care of us,” says one scientist, “It's that simple.”
值得嗎炕桨？專家在判斷任何風(fēng)險時要考慮兩件事：1）事件的可能性有多大饭尝；2）如果事件發(fā)生，后果有多糟糕献宫。專家認(rèn)為钥平，一顆足以摧毀大量生命的小行星可能在每50萬年撞擊地球一次。聽起來很罕見姊途，但如果真的發(fā)生帖池，那將是世界末日。一位科學(xué)家說：“如果我們不關(guān)心這些大的小行星吭净，它們就會照顧我們睡汹。就這么簡單〖叛常”
The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? “The world has less to fear from doomsday rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against them,” said a New York Times article.
然而囚巴，治愈方案可能比疾病本身更糟糕。我們真的希望核武器艦隊存在于地球上嗎？《紐約時報》的一篇文章說：“世界對世界末日巖石的恐懼要比對一支強(qiáng)大的核艦隊的恐懼少”彤叉。
