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Mars is a pretty astounding planet, and our missions to Mars have been making fascinating and ground-breaking discoveries for decades now.
火星是一颗非常惊人的行星，几十年来，我们对火星的研究任务有了极好的突破性发现。
But some of the coolest Mars research isn't actually conducted on Mars.
但是一些最酷的火星研究实际不是在火星上实施的。
It's done here on Earth in environments that are a lot like Mars, either as it is now, or as it was billions of years ago.
它是在地球上非常类似火星的环境中完成的，不管是现在的，还是数十亿年前的环境。
They're called terrestrial analogues.
它们被称为地球模拟。
And the research done in these environments has changed the way we think about life on Earth, Mars, and rocky planets in general.
这种环境下做得研究改变了我们对地球、火星和岩质行星上生命的看法。
There are a couple main reasons to study terrestrial analogues for Mars.
研究火星的地球模拟有几个主要原因。
One is that it's a practical approach to space research.
一是它是一种实用的空间研究方法。
It's difficult and expensive to get to Mars, and we're already here on Earth for free.
去火星很困难也很昂贵，我们在地球上就免费了。
And we have way too many questions about Mars to be able to answer all of them with just the tools we have over there.
我们对火星存在太多疑问，只能用我们现有的工具来回答它们。
So doing Mars-related research on Earth lets us learn more about both Mars and Earth than we would if we only did our Mars research on Mars.
因此，比起在火星上做这些，在地球上做与火星有关的研究能使我们更加了解火星和地球。
Another reason is that the best way to solve some Martian mysteries is to compare Mars to Earth.
另一个原因是，揭示火星奥秘的最好方法就是把火星比作地球。
One of the biggest questions when it comes to Mars is whether it ever harbored life.
火星的最大问题之一是它是否养育过生命。
And looking for life in places on Earth that resemble Mars can give us a better idea
在地球上寻找类似火星的地方可以使我们更好地了解
of what kinds of adaptations life might have developed to survive on Mars, if it ever did evolve there.
哪种生物能够进化适应火星继续存活，如果它们曾有过进化的话。
Knowing more about where life can theoretically survive could also help us figure out where to look for signs of life on Mars.
从理论上了解更多生命来源，以此来帮助我们确定火星上生命迹象的寻找方向。
So, some of the best analogues for Mars here on Earth are useful,
因此，地球上最好的一些火星模拟物是有用的，
not just because of the insight they give us into Mars as a planet,
这不仅是因为我们把它看做一颗行星,
but because of the insight they give us into Mars as a potentially habitable planet.
更是因为我们把它看做是潜在宜居的行星。
Like the Naica mines in Mexico, for instance.
比如墨西哥的奈卡矿。
The Naica mines and caves are probably similar to underground environments on Mars,
奈卡矿洞可能类似于火星的地下环境，
which we know exist, but haven't been able to explore because it's super dangerous to send a rover underground on another planet.
我们知道它的存在，但还没能力探索，因为发射一枚探测器到另一颗行星的地下是超级危险的。
The caves at Naica are probably especially similar to what it would have looked like underground on early Mars,
奈卡洞穴可能与早期火星上的洞穴非常相似，
when the planet was much wetter and warmer.
那时火星潮湿温暖得多。
Like most mines, the Naica mines are deep underground, but unlike most mines, they're ridiculously hot and humid.
和大多数矿一样，奈卡矿深入地下，但不一样的是，它们出奇的炎热潮湿。
Like, lethally hot and humid.
致命地湿热。
Researchers have to take tons of precautions,
研究人员必须采取大量的预防措施，
including wearing special "ice suits" with oxygen supplies to make sure they don't die.
包括穿特制的“冰服”，以确保不会死。
The mines also happen to be incredibly beautiful,
这些矿洞也非常漂亮，
home to huge caverns containing massive gypsum crystals that dwarf elephants, let alone people.
巨大的洞穴里有大量的石膏晶体，它们让大象都相形见绌，更不用说人类了。
And from experiments started around 2009, researchers discovered something incredible:
从2009年的实验开始，研究人员发现了一些令人难以置信的事：
there were dormant microbes in fluid inclusions in the crystals,
在晶体的流体包裹体中有休眠的微生物，
basically tiny little pockets of water that form in a crystal as it grows.
它们基本上是随晶体生长形成的一小撮水。
And the researchers were able to revive them!
研究人员能够唤醒它们！
That tells us two things:
这告诉我们两件事:
first, that if life ever evolved on Mars, it might have been able to survive in similar cave environments;
第一，如果生命在火星上进化了，它可能在类似的洞穴环境中生存下来；
and second, that those are really good places to check for signs of life, past or present.
第二，这些都是检查生命迹象的好地方，不管是过去还是现在的。
This strategy of surviving in rock is really weird, but super useful.
这种生存在岩石上的战略是很怪异，但超级有用。
And a similar strategy has been taken up by the microbes living in another place on Earth that's a great analogue for Mars:the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica.
在地球上另一个类似火星的地方——南极洲的麦克默多干谷，也有微生物采取相似的策略。
The Dry Valleys are basically the opposite of the Naica mines: they're super cold deserts,
南极干谷基本上与奈卡矿相反，它们是超级寒冷的沙漠，
and they're a lot like the dry, freezing lowlands of the Martian north pole.
它们很像火星北极那干燥、寒冷的低地。
Researchers working on projects for places like NASA use the Dry Valleys as a place to test equipment destined for Mars,
宇航局(NASA)等机构的研究人员将利用南极干谷作为测试火星的设备，
and astrobiologists use them to explore Mars's potential for habitability.
天体生物学家也会利用它们探索火星潜在的适居性。
Because even though the Dry Valleys are really cold and dry, scientists have discovered a few forms of life that manage to live there.
因为即使南极干谷又冷又干，科学家们仍发现几种形式的生命成功地活了下来。
And some of them have adopted a similar strategy to the life in Naica, despite the huge difference between their habitats.
其中有些采取了与奈卡矿的生物相似的策略，尽管它们的栖息地存在巨大差异。
There are endolithic phototrophs in some of the rocks at the Dry Valleys.
在南极干谷的一些岩石中有石内生的光养生物。
Endolithic means "inside rock", and phototrophs use photosynthesis.
“Endolithic”的意思是“岩石内部的”，光养生物利用光合作用。
And that's what these organisms do: they live inside rock, but they still use photosynthesis.
这是那些微生物的工作：它们生活在岩石里，但仍利用光合作用。
The rocks containing the endoliths are mostly sandstone, which can transmit some light through it.
含有内岩生微生物的主要是砂岩，它们可以把一些光传导进来。
So the microbes inside the rock are still able to photosynthesize even though they're not directly exposed to sunlight,
所以岩石内的微生物尽管没有直接暴露在阳光下，仍能够进行光合作用。
and they get a nice little rocky home to protect them from the harsh Antarctic desert.
而且，它们还有一个温暖的岩石小家来保护自己免受恶劣南极沙漠的伤害。
Both Naica and the Dry Valleys host life that has taken an approach to survival that could be outstanding on Mars.
奈卡和南极干谷生物的生存方式可能在火星上很出色。
Since Mars doesn't have much of an atmosphere and has no magnetic field, its surface is constantly bombarded by UV light.
因为火星上没有多少大气，也没有磁场，它的表面还经常受到紫外线的轰击。
If potential life on Mars lived inside rock or underground,
如果火星上潜在的生命生活在岩石里或地下，
that might be enough shielding from radiation for them to have survived for a good while during Mars's early history.
在火星早期的历史上，这可能足以保护它们免受辐射的影响。
And the neat thing about these strategies, especially the endolithic strategy,
而这些策略的巧妙之处，尤其是石内生的策略，
is that it can work anywhere you have the right kind of rock.
在任何有合适岩石的地方都有用。
This could work just as well at Mars's north pole as it could in its southern highlands, as long as the rock is transparent enough.
它在火星的南部高地也可以和北极一样有效，只要岩石足够透明。
So, these discoveries have given us a window into Mars, and we didn't even have to leave Earth!
所以，我们即使不用离开地球，也能通过这些发现了解火星！
As we continue to explore beyond our solar system and find rocky exoplanets, this research becomes even more important.
随着我们继续探索太阳系以外的地方，发现岩石系外行星，这个研究变得更加重要。
It helps us define what it means to be habitable for all planets, not just our own.
它帮助我们定义所有行星都适合居住的意义，而不仅仅是地球。
And a bunch of little underground microbes just gave me an existential crisis.
一群小小的地下微生物刚刚给了我一场生存危机。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Space,
感谢您收看本期的太空科学秀，
and thanks especially to our patrons on Patreon who help make this show possible.
特别感谢“Patreon”对本节目的大力支持。
If you want to help us keep making episodes like this, just go to patreon.com/scishow to learn more.
如果你想帮助我们继续制作这类节目，请登录patreon.com/scishow了解更多信息。
And don't forget to go to youtube.com/scishowspace and subscribe!
也不要忘了到youtube.com/scishowspace上点击订阅哦！
