Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

第四章

BLACK HOLES: A SUPERVILLAIN'S BEST FRIEND WITH PROFESSOR VEXINGTON VILEBRAIN

黑洞：一个超级反派和维克斯顿·维尔布恩教授最好的朋友

IT'S THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR- IT'S TIME TO TALK ABOUT BLACK HOLES. Even the name is enough to strike fear into the heart of the BRAVEST SUPERHERO. Black holes are famous for their ability to squash anything into complete NOTHINGNESS. AND I DO MEAN ANYTHING. A black hole will happily destroy your homework, but before you've had time to celebrate, it will have also gobbled up you (OH NO!), your pet, your best friend, your worst enemy, your house...

这是你们一直在等待的时刻——是时候谈论黑洞了。 就连这个名字都足以让这位最勇敢的超级英雄感到恐惧。 黑洞以其将任何东西挤压成完全虚无的能力而闻名。 我的意思是任何事情。黑洞会很高兴地毁掉你的作业，但在你有时间庆祝之前，它也会吞噬你（哦不！），你的宠物，你最好的朋友，你最大的敌人，你的房子……

AND THE ENTIRE EARTH. And that's just for starters: Astronomers have even seen black holes ripping entire stars to smithereens. HERE'S AN IMPORTANT WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER: BE CAREFUL AROUND BLACK HOLES. IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY CREATE A BLACK HOLE, PLEASE TELL A RESPONSIBLE GROWN-UP.

还有整个地球。这只是开始：天文学家甚至看到黑洞将整个恒星撕成碎片。 这是本章的一个重要警告：小心黑洞。 如果你不小心制造了一个黑洞，请告诉一个负责任的成年人。

OKAY, ENOUGH OF THE SCARE TACTICS. LET'S GET DOWN TO THE SCIENCE. WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE? Black holes might sound complicated, but they are actually VERY SIMPLE. They are just TINY SPECKS that happen to weigh a lot. THAT'S IT! Woo HAHA! Although, being honest, the words "TINY" and "A LOT" don't even come close to explaining HOW STUPIDLY MINUSCULE- AND STUPIDLY HEAVY-BLACK HOLES ARE.

好了，恐吓战术够了。 让我们开始科学研究吧。 什么是黑洞？黑洞听起来可能很复杂，但实际上非常简单。 它们只是一些微小的斑点，碰巧很重。 这是它!哇哈哈!虽然，说实话，“微小”和“很多”这两个词甚至不能解释黑洞是多么愚蠢的微小和愚蠢的重。

The LIGHTEST known black hole weighs MILLIONS OF TONS BUT IS MUCH SMALLER THAN AN ATOM. IMAGINE ME 1 BILLION X Smaller But what makes black holes SPECIAL isn't just how tiny and heavy they are: IT'S HOW AMAZINGLY STRONG THEIR GRAVITY IS. When something is VERY (VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY TINY and VERY (VERY... OKAY, YOU GET THE IDEA) HEAVY, its gravity becomes so strong that nothing in the Universe can escape it. The most powerful rocket ever built would have no chance.

已知最轻的黑洞重达数百万吨，但比原子小得多。 但黑洞的特别之处并不在于它们有多小、多重，而是它们的引力有多么惊人地强大。 当某物非常(非常、非常、非常、非常、非常、非常、非常、非常小，而且非常（非常）…… 好吧，你懂的)重，它的引力变得如此之强，以至于宇宙中没有任何东西可以逃脱它。 即使是有史以来最强大的火箭也没有机会。