World’s Most Indestructible Creature—the Tardigrade 水熊虫——地球最强生物

⊙ By Sarah Knapton ⊙ 翻译：丁一

World’s Most Indestructible Creature—the Tardigrade 水熊虫
——地球最强生物

⊙ By Sarah Knapton ⊙ 翻译：丁一

科技类文章与我们常见的叙述类文章相比，有一个突出的特点——条理分明，语言规范。此类文章通常用词准确，句子结构严谨清晰，这对理解文章非常有帮助。

本文的一个突出特点就是各种时态和语态交替出现：现在时、过去时、将来时、现在完成时和虚拟语态。文章在介绍科研成果时，如果是肯定会发生的事，也就是语法上的真实条件，句子使用将来时；如果陈述的内容是对将来的假想，也就是语法上的虚拟条件，句子则使用虚拟语气。特别值得注意的是，文章中有两个使用虚拟语气的句子，其虚拟条件从句也用了虚拟语气（Researchers from Oxford and Harvard University found that their astonishing abilities would protect them from disasters which would wipe out all life on Earth.和The only real threat to their existence would be from an destructive event which would cause Earth’s oceans to boil away.）。建议大家在读懂文章后，再花时间仔细研读文中句子的不同时态和语态。

The tiny tardigrade has been named the world’s most indestructible species after scientists discovered it is the only creature that will survive until the Sun dies.

Although cockroaches[蟑螂]are traditionally seen as Earth’s most resilient[适应力强的]species, the eight-legged microbeasts[微型动物]are actually far stronger and will continue to thrive[茁壮成长]for around 10 billion years, come hell or high water, Oxford University has found.

Tardigrades, which are also known as space bears or moss[苔藓]piglets[小猪], are able to survive for up to 30 years without food or water and endure[忍耐]extreme temperatures up to 150℃, the deep sea and the frozen vacuum[真空]of space.

Researchers from Oxford and Harvard University found that their astonishing abilities would protect them from disasters which would wipe out[彻底摧毁]all life on Earth. In fact, the only forces capable of harming tardigrades, such as a gigantic[巨大的]asteroid[小行星], an exploding star or a deadly gamma ray[伽玛射线]burst, will not happen before our own Sun dies.

Not only does research suggest that tardigrades will survive long after humans have died out, but it gives hope that life could exist on even the most barren[贫瘠的]and hostile[恶劣的]planets.

“Life on this planet can continue long after humans are gone,”said Dr. Rafael Alves Batista of the Department of Physics at Oxford University. “Tardigrades are as close to indestructible as it gets on Earth, but it is possible that there are other resilient species examples elsewhere[别处]in the universe. In this context[背景], there is a real case for looking for life on Mars and in other areas of the solar system in general.If Tardigrades are earth’s most resilient species, who knows what else is out there.”

The water-dwelling[栖息]micro animals can live for up to 60 years,and grow to a maximum size of 0.5mm. The only real threat to their existence would be from a destructive[毁灭性的]event which would cause Earth’s oceans to boil away. But the scientists discovered that there are only a dozen known asteroids and dwarf planets[矮行星]with enough mass to cause the oceans to boil if they struck the Earth and none are on a collision[撞击]course with our planet. Smaller space rocks would not harm tardigrades.

Dr. David Sloan, co-author and Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Physics at Oxford University, said: “To our surprise, we found that although nearby supernovae[超新星]or large asteroid impacts would be catastrophic for people, tardigrades could be unaffected.

词组：come hell or high water

如果我们把这个词组改写成even should hell or high water come，大家就会觉得它容易理解多了。该词组用地狱和洪水来比喻艰苦困境，是“不管发生什么情况，不管有多大的困难”的意思，用以表示“哪怕有千难万险”的决心。注意：尽管这看起来像一个动词词组，但使用时整个词组作副词用，come不必随句子的主语或表示的时间发生变化。例如：I’m determined to finish this job come hell or high water.（不管发生什么情况，我也决心完成这项工作。）Therefore it seems that life, once it gets going, is hard to wipe out entirely. Huge numbers of species, or even entire genera[属]may become extinct, but life as a whole will go on.”

In highlighting[强调]the resilience of life in general, the research broadens[拓宽]the scope[范围]of life beyond Earth, within and outside of this solar system.

Professor Abraham Loeb, co-author and chair of the Astronomy Department at Harvard University, said the research proved that life could survive in even the harshest[最残酷的]environments.“Organisms[生物体]with similar tolerances[容忍度]to radiation and temperature as tardigrades could survive long-term below the surface in these conditions.”

小小的水熊虫被认为是世界上最坚韧的物种，因为科学家们发现，它是唯一可以生存到太阳灭亡那一天的生物。

牛津大学的研究发现，虽然蟑螂历来被认为是地球上适应能力最强的物种，然而水熊虫这种八条腿的微型动物实际上比蟑螂要坚强得多，不管天崩地裂，它还会继续存在约100亿年。

水熊虫也被称为“太空熊”或“苔藓小猪”，它不吃不喝最长能够存活30年，可忍受高达150摄氏度的高温，在深海和太空冰冷的真空中均可生存。

来自牛津大学和哈佛大学的研究人员发现，即使地球发生了灭绝所有生命的大灾难，水熊虫惊人的生存能力也将使之免遭毁灭。事实上，仅有一些力量能够伤害水熊虫，这包括巨大的小行星与地球相撞、恒星爆炸或致命的伽玛射线爆发，但这些现象在我们的太阳灭亡前都不会发生。

这项研究不仅表明水熊虫在人类灭亡后还能生存很久，而且这也给人以希望，即在最为贫瘠和严酷的星球上也会有生命存在。

牛津大学物理系的拉斐尔·阿尔维斯·巴蒂斯塔博士说：“这个星球上的生命可在人类灭亡后继续生存很长时间。地球上的水熊虫近乎不可毁灭，但是在宇宙的其他地方可能也有其他适应力强的物种存在。就此而论，在火星和整个太阳系的其他地方寻找生命的确是有道理的。如果水熊虫是地球上最坚强的物种，谁知道外星上会有别的什么物种存在呢。”

这种在水中栖息的微型动物寿命最长可达60年，最大体型可达半毫米长，唯一真正威胁其生存的可能是某种导致地球上的海洋沸腾并全部汽化的毁灭性事件。但科学家发现，在人类已知的小行星和矮行星中，自身有足够的质量，一旦撞上地球就足以让海水沸腾的只有十来个，可这些行星根本不在与地球相撞的运行路线上。而其他更小的陨石无法对水熊虫造成伤害。

戴维·斯隆博士是研究报告的作者之一，也是牛津大学物理系博士后副研究员。他说：“让我们感到意外的是，我们发现，尽管邻近的超新星或者大型小行星撞击地球对人类来说会是毁灭性的，但却不会对水熊虫造成影响。如此看来，生命一旦开始，就很难让它全部绝迹。许多物种，甚至是整个种属可能会不复存在，但生命作为一个整体则会延续下去。”

为了强调生命作为一个整体的适应能力，研究团队把对生命的研究范围拓宽至地球之外，包括了太阳系内外的生命体。

研究报告的作者之一、哈佛大学天文学系的系主任亚伯拉罕·洛布教授表示，研究证明了生命即使在最恶劣的环境下也可以存活。“在这些环境中，像水熊虫那样对辐射和温度有相似容忍度的生物体可在地表下长期生存。”