World’s Most Indestructible Creature—the Tardigrade 水熊蟲
——地球最強生物

⊙ By Sarah Knapton ⊙ 翻譯：丁一

World’s Most Indestructible Creature—the Tardigrade 水熊蟲
——地球最強生物

⊙ By Sarah Knapton ⊙ 翻譯：丁一

科技類文章與我們常見的敘述類文章相比，有一個突出的特點——條理分明，語言規范。此類文章通常用詞準確，句子結構嚴謹清晰，這對理解文章非常有幫助。

本文的一個突出特點就是各種時態和語態交替出現：現在時、過去時、將來時、現在完成時和虛擬語態。文章在介紹科研成果時，如果是肯定會發生的事，也就是語法上的真實條件，句子使用將來時；如果陳述的內容是對將來的假想，也就是語法上的虛擬條件，句子則使用虛擬語氣。特別值得注意的是，文章中有兩個使用虛擬語氣的句子，其虛擬條件從句也用了虛擬語氣（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.）。建議大家在讀懂文章后，再花時間仔細研讀文中句子的不同時態和語態。

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[適應力強的]species, the eight-legged microbeasts[微型動物]are actually far stronger and will continue to thrive[茁壯成長]for around 10 billion years, come hell or high water, Oxford University has found.

Tardigrades, which are also known as space bears or moss[苔蘚]piglets[小豬], 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[徹底摧毀]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[伽瑪射線]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[貧瘠的]and hostile[惡劣的]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[別處]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[棲息]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[毀滅性的]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[撞擊]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.

詞組：come hell or high water

如果我們把這個詞組改寫成even should hell or high water come，大家就會覺得它容易理解多了。該詞組用地獄和洪水來比喻艱苦困境，是“不管發生什么情況，不管有多大的困難”的意思，用以表示“哪怕有千難萬險”的決心。注意：盡管這看起來像一個動詞詞組，但使用時整個詞組作副詞用，come不必隨句子的主語或表示的時間發生變化。例如：I’m determined to finish this job come hell or high water.（不管發生什么情況，我也決心完成這項工作。）Therefore it seems that life, once it gets going, is hard to wipe out entirely. Huge numbers of species, or even entire genera[屬]may become extinct, but life as a whole will go on.”

In highlighting[強調]the resilience of life in general, the research broadens[拓寬]the scope[范圍]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[最殘酷的]environments.“Organisms[生物體]with similar tolerances[容忍度]to radiation and temperature as tardigrades could survive long-term below the surface in these conditions.”

小小的水熊蟲被認為是世界上最堅韌的物種，因為科學家們發現，它是唯一可以生存到太陽滅亡那一天的生物。

牛津大學的研究發現，雖然蟑螂歷來被認為是地球上適應能力最強的物種，然而水熊蟲這種八條腿的微型動物實際上比蟑螂要堅強得多，不管天崩地裂，它還會繼續存在約100億年。

水熊蟲也被稱為“太空熊”或“苔蘚小豬”，它不吃不喝最長能夠存活30年，可忍受高達150攝氏度的高溫，在深海和太空冰冷的真空中均可生存。

來自牛津大學和哈佛大學的研究人員發現，即使地球發生了滅絕所有生命的大災難，水熊蟲驚人的生存能力也將使之免遭毀滅。事實上，僅有一些力量能夠傷害水熊蟲，這包括巨大的小行星與地球相撞、恒星爆炸或致命的伽瑪射線爆發，但這些現象在我們的太陽滅亡前都不會發生。

這項研究不僅表明水熊蟲在人類滅亡后還能生存很久，而且這也給人以希望，即在最為貧瘠和嚴酷的星球上也會有生命存在。

牛津大學物理系的拉斐爾·阿爾維斯·巴蒂斯塔博士說：“這個星球上的生命可在人類滅亡后繼續生存很長時間。地球上的水熊蟲近乎不可毀滅，但是在宇宙的其他地方可能也有其他適應力強的物種存在。就此而論，在火星和整個太陽系的其他地方尋找生命的確是有道理的。如果水熊蟲是地球上最堅強的物種，誰知道外星上會有別的什么物種存在呢。”

這種在水中棲息的微型動物壽命最長可達60年，最大體型可達半毫米長，唯一真正威脅其生存的可能是某種導致地球上的海洋沸騰并全部汽化的毀滅性事件。但科學家發現，在人類已知的小行星和矮行星中，自身有足夠的質量，一旦撞上地球就足以讓海水沸騰的只有十來個，可這些行星根本不在與地球相撞的運行路線上。而其他更小的隕石無法對水熊蟲造成傷害。

戴維·斯隆博士是研究報告的作者之一，也是牛津大學物理系博士后副研究員。他說：“讓我們感到意外的是，我們發現，盡管鄰近的超新星或者大型小行星撞擊地球對人類來說會是毀滅性的，但卻不會對水熊蟲造成影響。如此看來，生命一旦開始，就很難讓它全部絕跡。許多物種，甚至是整個種屬可能會不復存在，但生命作為一個整體則會延續下去。”

為了強調生命作為一個整體的適應能力，研究團隊把對生命的研究范圍拓寬至地球之外，包括了太陽系內外的生命體。

研究報告的作者之一、哈佛大學天文學系的系主任亞伯拉罕·洛布教授表示，研究證明了生命即使在最惡劣的環境下也可以存活。“在這些環境中，像水熊蟲那樣對輻射和溫度有相似容忍度的生物體可在地表下長期生存。”