美國發現3個新地球！全都在水瓶座！

For centuries it has been one of the most vexing mysteries for mankind: are we, the seven billion inhabitants of this wondrous [en]blue planet really alone, or is there life somewhere out there in the universe?

Several days ago, we came a step closer to answering that tantalising question with the landmark announcement by Nasa scientists of the discovery of a new solar system that has at least three Earth-like planets — with climates that just might support life.

幾天前，NASA科學家公布了一項里程碑式的重大發現：他們發現一個新的太陽系，其中至少有3個地球這樣的行星，而且這些星球上的氣候條件也許能維持生命，這項發現使我們離謎題的答案又近了一步。

The intriguing new planets are comparatively near neighbours, too, at just 39 light years from Earth. Granted, 39 light years (234 trillion miles) is hardly a short hop.

相比之下，這些迷人的新行星也算是我們的近鄰，距地球只有39光年。當然，39光年（234兆英里）也很難看作「騏驥一躍」（連光都要走39年呢）。

Scientists have long speculated that life-supporting planets must exist somewhere in the universe, but none has ever yet been confirmed as potentially life-sustaining. Now astronomers say they have detected no less than seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting a red dwarf star — the equivalent of our sun — called TRAPPIST-1.

長久以來，科學家們推測宇宙某處一定存在著能支持生命的星球，但沒有什麼潛在的可維持生命的證據是坐實的。現在，宇航員們說他們已經探測到不少於7個地球大小的世界在一顆紅矮星外的軌道上運行，這顆紅矮星相當於我們的地球，被稱作TRAPPIST-1.

The seven planets are believed to be at least a billion years old and, in theory, all could have lakes and oceans. But three are too close to the star and, therefore, likely to be too hot to have water, while the furthermost planet is too cold.

據信，這7顆行星至少已有10億年歷史，從理論上講，這些行星上都可能有湖泊和海洋。但是，其中3顆離恆星太遠，因此可能溫度太高沒有水，而最遠的一顆行星又太冷了。

It is the three planets in the middle (named TRAPPIST-1 'e', 'f' and 'g') that are generating the most interest as they lie in what is known as the habitable 'Goldilocks Zone' — neither too hot nor too cold for life to thrive.

人們對中間的3顆行星（名為TRAPPIST-1 'e'、TRAPPIST-1 'f'和TRAPPIST-1 'g）興趣最大，因為它們處於有名的適居的「金髮區」——既不太熱，也不太冷，適合生命繁衍。

The announcement yesterday prompts another intriguing and much debated question: if there is intelligent alien life on a planet orbiting TRAPPIST-1, why hasn't it made the effort to get in touch with us or even come visiting?

昨天公布的發現又引發了另一個困惑難解、莫衷一是的問題：如果在TRAPPIST-1軌道的一顆行星上存在有智慧的外星生命，那麼他們為什麼沒有努力與我們聯繫甚至來地球作客呢？

This is the famous conundrumdubbed the 'Fermi Paradox'. Back in the Forties, the renowned Italian physicist Enrico Fermi suggested that, with 100 billion stars in our galaxy, it was logically inevitable that intelligent life should have evolved elsewhere in the universe. So, Fermi asked, where are all the aliens?

這就是有名的謎題——「費米悖論」。早在上世紀40年代，著名義大利物利學家恩里科•費米就提出：我們的星系中有1千萬顆恆星，從邏輯上講，宇宙某處應該不可避免地演化出了智慧生命。所以，費米問道：外星人在哪裡呢？

Yet 40 years of intensive searching for extra-terrestrial intelligence has yielded nothing. No radio signals, no credible spacecraft sightings, no close encounters of any kind.

然而，40年集中的星外智慧生命搜索之旅顆粒無收。沒有無線電信號，沒有可靠的星際飛行物目擊，沒有任何形式的近距離接觸。

Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico, has proposed a disturbing answer. Perhaps there is a limit to how sophisticated a species can become.

新墨西哥大學的進化心理學家傑弗里•米勒提出了一個令人迷惑的答案。也許，物種演化的高級程度是有上限的。

We become smart enough to make nuclear bombs — and dumb enough to use them, he says. Or perhaps we just get addicted to social media and computer games, Miller suggests facetiously.

他說：我們已變得聰明到能製造核彈，卻又笨到不知如何使用它們。米勒開玩笑說，也許是因為我們太沉迷於社交網路和電腦遊戲了。

'The aliens may forget to send radio signals or colonise space because they are too busy with runawayconsumerism and virtual reality narcissism . . . just as we are doing today,' he says.

他說：「也許外星人忘了發射無線電線號或者在太空中開拓疆域，因為他們太忙了，正在瘋狂購物，陶醉於虛擬現實之中……就像今天的我們。」