Imagine a river Let me explain.What caused the river?
想象一条河 从山侧往下流 是什么造成了河?
Well,perhaps the rain rain that fell earlier in the mountains.
也许是雨 稍早落在山区的雨
But,then, what caused the rain?
但又是什么造成了雨?
A good answer would be the Sun the Sun that shone on the ocean
太阳也许是个好答案 太阳照射在海洋上
and lifted water vapor up into the sky and made clouds.Okay.
使水蒸气升入空中 形成云 好
So,what caused the Sun to shine?
那又是什么让太阳发亮?
Well,if we look inside,we see the process known as fusion,
若我们看进内部 就会看到所谓的融合过程
in which hydrogen atoms join to form helium,
氢原子结合成氦的
releasing vast quantities of energy in the process.
过程中释放出巨大能量
So far,so good.Where does the hydrogen come from?
目前为止还不错 那氢又是从何而来呢?
Answer the Big Bang.But here's the crucial bit.
答案就是 大爆炸 但这里有个关键
The laws of nature themselves tell us that not only can the Universe
自然法则 告诉我们 宇宙不但像
have popped into existence like a proton
质子一样可以凭空出现
and have required nothing in terms of energy...
不需要任何形式的能量
But also that it is possible that nothing caused the Big Bang.Nothing!
而且有可能 没有东西引发大爆炸 没有东西
The explanation lies back with the theories of Einstein
要解释这一点 又得回到爱因斯坦的理论
and his insights into how space and time in the Universe are fundamentally intertwined.
以及他提出的创见 宇宙中的时空 基本上为相互交织
Something very wonderful happened to time at the instant of the Big Bang.Time itself began.
有一些事情极为奇妙地发生了 在大爆炸那一瞬间 时间本身开始了