Science show with a bang 科學大爆炸
A new US TV show has *captivated people’s attention all over the world, giving rise to numerous newspaper commentaries, interviews and discussions on prime time news broadcasts. No, we are not talking about the hit fantasy series Game of Thrones, but rather, a science documentary series titled Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.
近日，一檔新上映的美國電視節(jié)目吸引了全球人民的眼球，各大報紙競相評論，諸多新聞廣播也在黃金時段對該節(jié)目進行采訪報道。我們接下來要說的并不是那部名聲大噪的奇幻電視劇《權力的游戲》，而是一部名為《宇宙：一段時空奧德賽之旅》(以下簡稱為《宇宙》)的科學記錄片。
The 13-part show kicked off in March and will come to its journey’s end in June. It has made TV history. According to National Geographic, it is the largest global *rollout of a TV series ever, appearing on 220 channels in 181 countries and 45 languages.
此片共13集，今年三月開播，至六月結束。它創(chuàng)造了電視節(jié)目的新歷史：據《國家地理》報道，這部紀錄片是目前全球覆蓋面最廣的一檔電視節(jié)目，已在全球181個國家220個頻道用45種語言播出。
The popularity of the show is partly due to its charismatic host, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson, according to some US media outlets, is the most beloved *astrophysicist in the country. He has a *knack for making complex scientific facts interesting and accessible to common people. He is a popular science writer, appears in numerous science programs on TV, and hosts the weekly radio show and podcast Star Talk. Cosmos, in turn, has made Tyson the single most visible public face of science in the US today.
該片如此受歡迎，部分原因來自其個人魅力爆棚的主持人——奈爾•德葛拉司•泰森。美國媒體稱他為美國最受歡迎的天體物理學家。他總能深入淺出，擅長將復雜的科學事實變成每個普通人都明白的有趣內容。此外，他還是一位高人氣科普作家，做客多檔科學電視節(jié)目，并主持每周電臺廣播與播客《星語》。而此次，《宇宙》的播出，則使他成為美國當今科學界曝光率最高的公眾人物。
Tense topics
頗具爭議的話題
But not everyone is happy about the show and to see Tyson become so popular. In the US, because of religious right groups and *conservatism, scientific topics like evolution and climate change have become politically controversial. Religious right groups, according to a Salon article, are “freaking out” about the show. They believe God created the universe and all living things in it.
然而，并非人人都樂于看到這檔節(jié)目以及泰森的走紅。在美國，由于宗教右翼團體與保守主義人士的存在，進化、氣候變化等科學話題在政治上頗具爭議。據美國《沙龍》網絡雜志報道，這部片子讓一些宗教右翼團體很抓狂，因為他們相信是上帝創(chuàng)造了宇宙和所有生物。
As for climate change, recent polls show there are still many people in the US who don’t think global warming is happening, a New York Times article reported.
而來自《紐約時報》的報道稱，在最近的投票中，美國仍有很多人不相信全球變暖現象正在發(fā)生。
But Cosmos doesn’t shy away from these topics. The first few episodes of the show saw Tyson explain the Big Bang Theory and human evolution. And just before US President Barack Obama unveiled on June 2 regulations to cut carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, Tyson *confronted climate deniers in that week’s episode. He said that global warming is not caused by “those damn *volcanoes”, but rather, we humans are the problem.
但是，《宇宙》并沒有因此而回避這些話題。在最初的幾集中，泰森就解釋了宇宙大爆炸理論，介紹了人類進化史。美國總統奧巴馬6月2日揭曉減排法案，期望在2030年前把全國發(fā)電站碳排放量從2005年度水準上減少30%。而在此之前，泰森就在該周紀錄片中直面否認氣候問題的人們，稱全球變暖并非因“那些可惡的火山”而起，而是我們人類自己的問題。
Even if you are not interested in science, you should watch the show, simply because you are a member of this universe.
即使你對科學興趣乏乏，你也不能錯過此片，因為你也是這個宇宙的一員。
Tyson said at the show’s premiere: “The goal [of the show] is to convey why science matters to the person, to our society, to us as *shepherds of this planet. It involves presenting science in ways that connect to you, so Cosmos can influence you not only intellectually but emotionally, with a celebration of wonder and *awe.
正如泰森在紀錄片伊始所言，“這部片子更像是一個守護者，旨在傳播科學對于每個人和整個社會的意義。它會從與你息息相關的角度講述科學，帶來智慧與情感的雙重影響，讓人驚奇的同時讓人敬畏。
“Science should be part of everybody’s life. The *prerequisite is not that you become a scientist. It’s that at the end of the series, you will *embrace science and recognize its role in who and what you are,” said Tyson.
泰森還說：“科學應該是每個人生活的一部分。你不一定非得成為一名科學家，但在看過這部片子之后，你將會更加熱愛科學，并認識到科學在‘你是誰，你是什么’問題中所扮演的角色。
