地球上最荒涼的不毛之地竟然出現生命體
Danakil Depression is a scorching hot, bone-dry, lava-spewing hellhole with lakes of acid. Somehow, there's still life.
達納吉爾凹地簡直就是一個灼熱、乾燥、熔岩噴涌、湖泊酸化的地獄。但不知何故，這個地方竟然還存在生命體。It's nicknamed the "Gateway to Hell," and that's not an exaggeration. Ethiopia's Danakil Depression lies at the triple junction of three tectonic plates, a place where the land is literally being ripped apart by the split between Africa and Asia.
這裏被戲稱爲“地獄之門”，這並不誇張。埃塞俄比亞的達納吉爾凹地位於三個構造板塊的重疊交界處，這裏的地殼正被非洲板塊和亞洲板塊分裂撕裂。It's arguably the hottest place on Earth, with temperatures recorded as high as 131 degrees Fahrenheit, and that's not even taking into account the heat emanating from the ground, from deadly geothermal springs and lava-spewing volcanoes.
它可以說是地球上最熱的地方，氣溫高達華氏131度，這甚至還沒有考慮到地面散發的熱量，包括致命的地熱溫泉和噴發的火山。
To make matters worse, it rarely rains. Oh, and the lakes are filled with acid.
更糟的是，這個地方很少下雨。哦，這裏的湖泊裏充滿了酸液。Surely, nothing survives here. Right?
那麼,這個地方沒有生物能夠生存。對吧?Improbably, researchers looking for life in this barren hellscape have found evidence that two extremophile types of bacteria have made their home in the Danakil Depression, reports the BBC.
據英國廣播公司報道，令人不可思議的是，在這個貧瘠如地獄般的地區尋找生命的研究人員，已經發現了兩種嗜極類生物細菌在達納吉爾凹地安家生存。
It was no small feat for researchers to make the discovery. There's the intense heat and the threat of slipping into a scorching pool of acid, sure.
研究人員這一發現是不小的壯舉。毋庸置疑，這裏有酷熱和隨時跌入灼熱酸池的威脅。But spending any time in Danakil also requires donning gas masks due to the clouds of toxic hydrogen sulphide gas and lung-burning chlorine vapor that choke the air. It took years of planning before researchers felt it was safe enough to brave sample collection.
此外，在達納吉爾的任何時候，研究人員都需要戴上防毒面具，因爲有毒的硫化氫氣體和燃燒的氯蒸氣會使空氣窒息。在經過數年的計劃之後，研究人員認爲它足夠安全，纔敢大膽採集樣本。Organisms were found in two separate locations, one of which was an acidic pool with a zero pH, a new extremophile record. It's the most acidic place where life has been found anywhere on Earth, by a fair margin.
在達納吉爾凹地兩個不同的地方發現有生物存在，其中一個是酸性的水池，酸鹼值爲零，這是一個新的嗜極類微生物記錄。這是迄今爲止地球上能找到生命存活酸性最強的地方。In fact, it's such an extreme place that merely referring to these organisms as "extremophiles" doesn't go far enough. These are "polyextremophiles," capable of living with extreme acidity, high temperatures and high salinity all at once.
事實上，這是一個極端的地方，僅僅把這些生物稱爲“多嗜極類生物”遠遠不夠。這些“多嗜極類生物”能夠同時擁有在極端的酸性、高溫和高鹽度下生存的能力。The discovery bodes well for the prospect of finding life on other worlds. You could make the case that Danakil is a harder place to live than on Mars or Jupiter's moon Europa, for instance.
這一發現預示着在其他世界尋找生命的前景。比如，你可以認爲達納吉爾凹地是一個比火星或木星的衛星木衛二更難以生存的地方。Scientists hope that by studying extremophiles here on Earth, we might get a glimpse at how life looks elsewhere in the solar system.
科學家們希望通過研究地球上的極端微生物，找到太陽系其他地方的生命的方式。
