【正文】 leased 380,000 years after the Big Bang, when the universe had cooled enough for light to pass through it for the first time.05 From a vantage point a million kilometres from Earth, Planck maps tiny variations in this microwave background, which still pervades the whole of space. Blue spots are only per cent colder than the orange spots.06 Astronomers believe the variations represent random quantum fluctuations immediately after the Big Bang, which were magnified by a short period of cosmic inflation when the universe expanded far faster than the speed of light and then by a much longer period of slower expansion.07 Patterns over huge patches of sky tell us about what was happening on the tiniest of scales in the moments just after our universe was born, said Charles Lawrence, a Planck scientist at Nasa39。s Jet Propulsion Lab in California.08 During the following years, the tiny patches of uneven density were intensified under the influence of gravity to bee gas clouds, stars, planets and galaxies.09 The Planck data fit the current standard model of cosmology very well, said George Efstathiou of Cambridge university, though some parameters need to be adjusted. The universe is about 80m years older than was previously expected.10 It also contains slightly more dark matter (27 per cent) and less dark energy (69 per cent) than scientists had realised, but the identities of both dark matter and dark energy remain unknown. Ordinary matter – observable as stars, planets and other visible astronomical objects – represents only 5 per cent of the universe.11 But the Planck results show some further anomalies that are not quite patible with the standard model. On one hand, we have a simple model that fits our observations extremely well but, on the other hand, we see some strange features which force us to rethink some of our basic assumptions, said Jan Tauber, another Planck scientist. This is the beginning of a new journey and we expect our continued analysis of Planck data will help shed light on this conundrum.12 The anomalies occur on the largest scales. For example, the radiation across one half of the sky turns out to be very slightly colder than the other half – and there is one particularly large cold spot that extends over a much wider area than the standard model can explain.13 Two Nasa satellites, called COBE and WMAP, mapped the cosmic microwave background previously – and their results hinted at such anomalies – but those maps were not sufficiently detailed to convince astronomers.14 The fact that Planck has made such a significant detection of these anomalies erases any doubts about their reality。 it can no longer be said that they are artefacts of the measurements. They are real and we have to look for a credible explanation, said Paolo Natoli of the University of Ferrara, Italy.15 Prof Efstathiou said one exciting possibility – still pure speculation at this stage – was that the anomalies represent some imprint of a previous universe from which our present universe budded off in the Big Bang. Multiverse theories of this sort are being increasingly popular in cosmological circles.16 It is possible that we could track our universe back through the Big Bang to some earlier phase, he added.Map?illuminates birth of universe 最精確“宇宙光圖”出爐 2013年03月22日英國《金融時(shí)報(bào)》科學(xué)編輯 克萊夫?庫克森 報(bào)道 01 歐洲空間局(European Space Agency)發(fā)表了迄今最精細(xì)的有關(guān)天空中最古老光芒的天球觀測圖，這一觀測圖包含了我們所處的宇宙誕生和死亡的秘密。02 各方期待已久的這一觀測圖是基于2009年發(fā)射的價(jià)值7億歐元的“普朗克”(Plank)空間望遠(yuǎn)鏡的觀測生成的，該觀測圖反映的是“宇宙微波背景輻射”(cosmic microwave background)（指138億年前形成宇宙的“大爆炸”(Big Bang)的余暉）的分布情況。03 按照大爆炸理論，宇宙誕生之初，在一眨眼時(shí)間里膨脹了萬億億億億倍，而如今宇宙還會繼續(xù)永遠(yuǎn)膨脹下去，直到最終變成寒冷、黑暗、巨大得難以想象的虛空。04 這一觀測圖展示了宇宙大爆炸38萬年后的輻射分布，當(dāng)時(shí)宇宙剛剛冷卻到足以讓光線穿過的程度。05 在距離地球100萬公里的有利觀測地點(diǎn)，普朗克記錄了仍彌漫整個(gè)太空的微波背景輻射的微小擾動的分布。%。06 天文學(xué)家們相信，這些擾動表示大爆炸之后緊接著發(fā)生的隨機(jī)“量子”漲落，這些漲落先后經(jīng)過宇宙兩個(gè)膨脹階段的放大。第一個(gè)階段的“宇宙膨脹”持續(xù)時(shí)間很短，不過在這個(gè)階段宇宙膨脹的速度遠(yuǎn)高于光速，隨后的第二個(gè)階段要長得多，而這時(shí)宇宙膨脹速度相對較慢。07 美國國家航空航天局(NASA)加州噴氣推進(jìn)實(shí)驗(yàn)室(Jet Propulsion Lab)從事普朗克望遠(yuǎn)鏡項(xiàng)目的科學(xué)家查爾斯?勞倫斯(Charles Lawrence)表示：“大片天空中的輻射分布情況，能令我們在最細(xì)微的尺度上知道在宇宙剛剛誕生之初發(fā)生了什么?！?8 在隨后的138億年里，那些細(xì)微的不均勻密度分布在引力的作用下得以加強(qiáng)，形成了氣體云、恒星、行星和星系。09 劍橋大學(xué)(Cambridge University)的喬治?埃弗斯塔修(George Efstathiou)表示，普朗克望遠(yuǎn)鏡的觀測數(shù)據(jù)與當(dāng)前宇宙學(xué)中的“標(biāo)準(zhǔn)模型”十分吻合，不過還有些參數(shù)需要調(diào)整。宇宙的年齡比之前預(yù)計(jì)的要老大約8000萬年。10 另外，宇宙中的“暗物質(zhì)”比科學(xué)家此前意識到的略多（27%），“暗能量”則較少（69%），不過暗物質(zhì)和暗能量的組分依然不得而知。目前，人類可以觀測到的這些恒星、行星及其他可見天體等組成的普通物質(zhì)在宇宙中只占5%。譯者/簡易13. 英漢新聞編譯英漢新聞編譯是指把國外媒體的英語新聞稿經(jīng)過刪略等各種編輯處理后通過文字轉(zhuǎn)換而成為中文新聞稿，用于對內(nèi)報(bào)道。例如：例1：英語原稿：Chinese Yuan Slumps for WeekCentral Bank Appears to Be Seeking to Cool Currency39。s GainsBy FIONA LAWFri. Feb. 21, 2014 (Wall Street Journal)01 China39。s yuan slumped Friday, for its biggest weekly loss against the . dollar in more than three years, on speculation the central bank is seeking to cool gains in the currency and cut down on heavy inflows from abroad.02 The yuan traded onshore fell about % to against the dollar for the week—a small change for most other currencies, but a big swing in China, where the currency is tightly controlled and is rarely volatile. The last time it recorded a similar drop was in November 2010.03 Traders and analysts said they were surprised by the central bank39。s recent shift to slowing the yuan39。s gains, with many investors forced to exit from bets on the yuan strengthening. The currency has risen 33% since it was revalued in 2005, but that has also drawn socalled hot money looking to profit from the gains and added excess cash to the country, plicating efforts by the central bank to curb credit growth.04 Most of them, though, say the yuan is likely to gain further in ing months and years, thanks to the economy still expanding more than 7% a year and its large trade surpluses and strong capital inflows.05 China controls the currency heavily, with the People39。s Bank of China setting a reference rate for the yuan, which is allowed to trade 1% higher or lower each day. But after a rapid strengthening over the past few month