万物简史 第337期:孤独的行星(2)

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　　the change in pressure would be so slight as to be indiscernible. 压力变化很小，你感觉不出来。

　　At the same depth underwater, however, your veins¹ would collapse² and your lungs would compress to the approximate dimensions of a Coke can. 而是要在水里，到了同样的深度，你的血管就会瘪掉，肺被压缩到大约可口可乐罐的大小。

　　Amazingly, people do voluntarily dive to such depths, without breathing apparatus³, for the fun of it in a sport known as free diving. 令人吃惊的是，居然有人为了好玩儿愿意下潜到这种深度，而且不戴呼吸器具。这种运动名叫裸潜。

　　Apparently⁴ the experience of having your internal organs rudely deformed⁵ is thought exhilarating 显然，有人觉得，内脏器官严重变形的经历是很刺激的

　　(though not presumably as exhilarating as having them return to their former dimensions upon resurfacing). （虽然回到岸上以后，内脏器官恢复原状的过程很可能就不那么刺激了）。

　　To reach such depths, however, divers⁶ must be dragged down, and quite briskly, by weights. 然而，要达到这样的深度，潜水者非得由重物快速拖下去。

　　Without assistance, the deepest anyone has gone and lived to talk about it afterward⁷ was an Italian named Umberto Pelizzari, 在没有外力帮忙的情况下，你能达到并事后能活着回来谈论这次经历的最深深度是72米——这项业绩是由一个名叫翁贝托·佩利扎里的意大利人完成的。

　　who in 1992 dove to a depth of 236 feet, lingered for a nanosecond, and then shot back to the surface. 他于1992年潜到那个深度，逗留了1毫微秒，然后迅速返回水面。

　　In terrestrial terms, 236 feet is just slightly over the length of one New York City block. 以陆地的标准来看，72米比足球场还短了一大截。

　　So even in our most exuberant⁸ stunts⁹ we can hardly claim to be masters of the abyss. 因此，即使我们做了最出色的惊险表演，也很难声称自己已经成了大海的主人。

　　Other organisms do of course manage to deal with the pressures at depth, though quite how some of them do so is a mystery. 当然，别的生物成功的适应了深处的压力，不过究竟有多少种生物具有这等本事还是个谜。

　　The deepest point in the ocean is the Mariana Trench¹⁰ in the Pacific. 海洋最深的地方是太平洋里的马里亚纳海沟。

　　There, some seven miles down, the pressures rise to over sixteen thousand pounds per square inch.  在那里，要是到了11.3公里左右的深处，每平方厘米的压力会升高到11000牛以上。

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