万物简史 第279期:砰!(14)

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　　In 1956 a professor at Oregon State University, M. W. de Laubenfels, writing in the Journal of Paleontology, 1956年，俄勒冈州立大学教授M·W·劳本弗斯在《古生物学杂志》中写道，

　　had actually anticipated the Alvarez theory by suggesting that the dinosaurs² may have been dealt a death blow by an impact from space, 恐龙有可能受到了来自太空的致命的撞击，实际上是阿尔瓦雷斯理论的前奏；

　　and in 1970 the president of the American Paleontological Society, Dewey J. McLaren, proposed at the group's annual conference 1970年，美国古生物学会会长杜威·J·麦克劳伦在该学会的年会上提出，

　　the possibility that an extraterrestrial impact may have been the cause of an earlier event known as the Frasnian extinction³. 来自天外的撞击有可能是早年所谓“弗拉斯尼世灭绝”的原因。

　　As if to underline just how un-novel the idea had become by this time, 好像是为了强调这种见解此时早就不新鲜，

　　in 1979 a Hollywood studio actually produced a movie called Meteor 一家好莱坞电影制片厂在1979年拍摄了一部名叫《陨石》的电影

　　("It's five miles wide... It's coming at 30,000 m.p.h.—and there's no place to hide!") （它8公里宽……以每小时4.8万公里的速度飞来──我们无处躲藏！）。

　　starring Henry Fonda, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, and a very large rock. 该电影由亨利·方达、纳塔利·伍德、卡尔·莫尔登以及一块大岩石主演。

　　So when, in the first week of 1980, at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement⁴ of Science, 那么，1980年的第一个星期，当阿尔瓦雷斯父子在美国科学促进协会的一次会议上宣布，

　　the Alvarezes announced their belief that the dinosaur¹ extinction had not taken place over millions of years as part of some slow inexorable process, 他们认为恐龙灭绝不是某个缓和而又不可阻挡的过程的组成部分，发生在几百万年以前，

　　but suddenly in a single explosive event, it shouldn't have come as a shock. 而是一次突然发生的爆炸性事件的结果，大家不该再感到吃惊。

　　But it did. It was received everywhere, but particularly in the paleontological community, as an outrageous⁵ heresy⁶. 但是，大家深感吃惊。谁都认为这是一种不可思议的邪说，尤其在古生物学界。

　　Well, you have to remember, Asaro recalls, "that we were amateurs in this field. “哎呀，你不得不记住，”阿萨罗回忆说，“我们在这个领域是外行。

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