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An international group of scientists has been studying how the structure of the universe has grown over the past 11 billion years.
一个由国际科学家组成的小组一直在研究过去110亿年来宇宙结构是如何增长的。
These researchers recently announced findings about how gravity behaves at a very large scale.
这些研究人员最近宣布了关于重力在非常大的范围内会有何表现的发现。
What they found supports a prediction physicist Albert Einstein made in his 1915 theory of general relativity.
他们的发现印证了物理学家阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦在1915年的广义相对论中所做的预测。
The findings are part of a years-long study of the history of the universe that has focused on dark energy.
这些发现是一项对宇宙历史长达一年的研究的一部分，该研究的重点是暗能量。
Dark energy is an invisible and mysterious force that is accelerating, or speeding up, the ongoing expansion of the universe.
暗能量是一种看不见的神秘力量，它正在加速或加快宇宙的持续膨胀。
The study’s researchers used a year of observations by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.
这项研究的研究人员利用亚利桑那州基特峰国家天文台的暗能量光谱仪(DESI)进行了一年的观测。
Gravity is one of the universe's fundamental forces. Einstein's theory linked space, time and gravity.
重力是宇宙的基本作用力之一。爱因斯坦的理论将空间、时间和引力联系在一起。
The theory holds that large amounts of mass and energy curve the structure of space-time, influencing the motion of whatever passes nearby.
该理论认为，大量的质量和能量会弯曲时空结构，影响附近经过的任何物体的运动。
Dragan Huterer of the University of Michigan was co-leader of the working group that examined the data from DESI.
密歇根大学的Dragan Huterer是研究DESI数据的工作组的联合负责人。
Huterer said: "Einstein's theory of general relativity describes the motion of massive objects in a gravitational field that they create.
Huterer说：“爱因斯坦的广义相对论描述了大质量物体在它们产生的引力场中的运动。
It is one of the most successful physical theories that we have.”
这是我们所拥有的最成功的物理理论之一。
But the announcement in 1998 that the universe’s expansion was speeding up raised doubts about Einstein’s model.
但1998年宣布宇宙正在加速膨胀时，人们对爱因斯坦的模型产生了怀疑。
“The discovery of the accelerating universe…led to suggestions that maybe general relativity needs to be modified,” Huterer said.
Huterer说：“加速宇宙…的发现，让人们觉得也许广义相对论需要修改。”
The new DESI findings revealed gravity is behaving as Einstein predicted that it would.
DESI的新发现揭示了引力的行为，正如爱因斯坦预测的那样。
Scientists say the Big Bang event 13.8 billion years ago began the universe, which has been expanding ever since.
科学家们说，138亿年前的大爆炸事件让宇宙开始形成，自那以后宇宙一直在膨胀。
They say experiments show the expansion was actually accelerating and dark energy is a possible cause.
他们说，实验表明膨胀实际上正在加速，暗能量可能是原因之一。
The new DESI findings focused on the growth of what is called the cosmic structure.
DESI的新发现主要是与所谓的宇宙结构增长有关。
It dates to when the universe was about 20 percent of its current age.
它可以追溯到宇宙大约只有现在20%的年龄的时候。
This cosmic structure has a direct connection to the large-scale organization of matter.
这种宇宙结构与物质的大规模组织有直接联系。
Galaxies, galaxy clusters and even larger galaxy superclusters form a cosmic web or connected networks with large areas of space existing in between.
星系、星系团甚至更大的星系超星系团形成了一个宇宙网络或相互连接的网络，其间存在着大片空间。
This structure results from the gravitational pull of matter throughout the universe.
这种结构是整个宇宙中的物质在引力作用下产生的结果。
The new study was based on DESI observations of almost 6 million galaxies and their centers, dating back 11 billion years.
这项新研究的基础是DESI对近600万个星系及其中心的观测，这些星系及其中心可以追溯到110亿年前。
The DESI scientists in April released the largest three-dimensional map of the cosmos.
DESI的科学家在4月份发布了最大的宇宙三维地图。
They announced findings suggesting that dark energy may not be an unchangeable force.
他们宣布的发现表明，暗能量可能不是一种一成不变的力量。
Instead, it might change over time. Those findings focused on a specific behavior of galaxy clusters.
相反，它可能会随着时间的推移而改变。这些发现关注的是星系团的某些特定行为。
The new research expanded what is known about that behavior.
这项新的研究扩大了人们对这种行为的现有认知。
Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki of the University of Texas at Dallas was a co-leader of the working group.
德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校的穆斯塔法·伊沙克-布沙基是该工作组的联合负责人。
He said, "Our DESI data shows that it is in agreement with Einstein's theory of gravity but still favors a dynamical dark energy - and finding these simultaneously is new."
他说：“我们的DESI数据表明，它与爱因斯坦的引力理论是一致的，不过它仍然支持动态暗能量--并且发现这些暗能量是新的。”
The universe includes ordinary matter: stars, planets, gas, dust. It also contains dark matter.
宇宙包括普通物质：恒星、行星、气体、尘埃。它还含有暗物质。
Dark matter is invisible material that might make up about 27 percent of the cosmos.
暗物质是不可见的物质，可能占宇宙的27%。
In addition to that, scientists also believe there is dark energy which might make up 68 percent of the cosmos.
除此之外，科学家们还认为存在暗能量，它可能占宇宙的68%。
"Dark energy is responsible for the accelerated expansion of the universe. The physical nature of dark energy is at present unknown," Huterer said.
“暗能量是造成宇宙加速膨胀的原因。暗能量的物理性质目前还不得而知。”Huterer说。
The new findings appear to support the current “standard model” of cosmology that includes the theory of general relativity.
新的发现似乎支持了目前包括广义相对论在内的宇宙学“标准模型”。
The DESI working group involves more than 900 researchers from more than 70 organizations worldwide.
DESI工作组有来自世界各地70多个组织的900多名研究人员参加。
It is overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
它由美国能源部的劳伦斯·伯克利国家实验室监督。
The new research was published in the arXiv online database before undergoing the process of peer review.
在接受同行审查之前，这项新的研究发表在arXiv在线数据库上。
I’m John Russell.
我是约翰 · 罗素。
