The boiling river of the Amazon 亚马逊的沸腾河流 Speaker: Andrés Ruzo 第四课
A bit sadistic, aren't we? Jeez. Leave themmarinating for a little longer. 有点虐待狂，不是吗？天哪。让他们再多泡一会儿。
What's, again, amazing are these temperatures.另一个惊人之处就是温度。
They're similar to things that I've seen on volcanoes all over the world andeven super-volcanoes like Yellowstone. 这些河的温度和我看到的世界各地的火山差不多，甚至类似于黄石公园的超级火山。
But here's the thing: the data is showingthat the boiling river exists independent of volcanism. 【跟读】 但事情是这样的：数据显示，沸腾的河流与火山活动无关。
It's neither magmaticor volcanic in origin, and again, over 700 kilometers away from the nearestvolcanic center. 这和磁场或火山都没有关系，再强调一次，它距离最近的火山中心也有700多公里。
How can a boiling river exist like this? 一条沸腾的河流怎么能这样存在呢？
I've asked geothermal experts and volcanologists for years, and I'm still unable to find another non-volcanic geothermal system of this magnitude. 我已经询问了地热专家和火山学家多年，至今也无法找到另一个非火山地热系统。
It's unique. It's special on a global scale. 这是独一无二的。它在全球范围内是特别的。
So, still -- how does it work? Where do we get this heat? 那么，它是如何工作的？它们在哪里得到这种热量？
There's still more research to be done to better constrainthe problem and better understand the system, 人们需要许多的研究来更好地控制这个问题并更好地理解这个系统，
but from what the data is telling us now, it looks to be the result of a large hydrothermal system. 但从目前我们的数据来看，这似乎是一个大型水热系统导致的。
Basically, it works like this: So, thedeeper you go into the earth, the hotter it gets. 基本上，它是这样运作的：所以，越临近地球核心，它就越热。
We refer to this as thegeothermal gradient. 我们称之为地温梯度。
The waters could be coming from as far away as glaciers in the Andes, 这些水可能从安第斯山脉的冰川中流出，
then seeping down deep into the earth and coming out to form the boiling river after getting heated up from the geothermal gradient, 然后深入地下，通过地温梯度升温后，形成沸腾的河流，
all due to this unique geologic setting. 都是由于这个独特的地质特征。
Now, we found that in and around the river-- this is working with colleagues from National Geographic, Dr. Spencer Wells, and Dr. Jon Eisen from UC Davis -- 现在，我们发现在河以及周围--我和几位《国家地理》的同事一起，这是《国家地理》的斯宾塞·韦尔斯博士，来自加州大学戴维斯分校的乔恩·艾森博士——
we genetically sequenced the extremophile life forms living in and around the river, and have found new life forms, uniquespecies living in the boiling river. 我们对生活在河中和周围的生物进行了基因测序，发现了新的生命形式，生活在沸腾的河流中的独特物种。
But again, despite all of these studies,all of these discoveries and the legends, a question remains: 但是，尽管有这些研究，有这些发现和传说，有一个问题仍然存在：
What is the significance of the boiling river? 什么是沸腾的河流的意义？
What is the significance of this stationary cloud that always hovers over this patch of jungle? 笼罩丛林的静止的云的意义是什么？
And what is the significance of a detail in a childhood legend? 在童年的传说中，细节的意义是什么？
To the shaman and his community, it's asacred site. 对萨满和那里的居民来说，这是一个神圣的场所。
To me, as a geoscientist, it's a unique geothermal phenomenon. 对我来说，作为一个地球科学家，这是一个独特的地热现象。
Butto the illegal loggers and cattle farmers, it's just another resource to exploit. 但对于非法伐木者和畜牧者来说，这只是另一个可以开采的资源。
And to the Peruvian government, it's just another stretch of unprotected land ready for development. 而对于秘鲁政府来说，这只是另一片未受保护的土地等待被开发而已。
My goal is to ensure that whoever controls this land understand the boiling river's uniqueness and significance. 我的目标是确保任何掌管这片土地的人都能理解沸腾的河流的独特性和意义。 【跟读】Whoever controls this land understand the boiling river's uniqueness and significance.
Because that's the question, one of significance. 因为这是一个重要的问题。
And the thing there is, we definesignificance.还有就是，我们定义了意义。
It's us. We have that power. We are the ones who draw that linebetween the sacred and the trivial. 是我们。我们有这种能力。我们是那些在神圣与微不足道之间划出界限的人。
And in this age, where everything seems mapped, measured and studied, in this age of information, 在这个时代，在这个信息时代，一切似乎都被绘制、测量和研究，
I remind you all that discoveries are not just made in the black void of the unknown but in the white noise of overwhelming data. 我提醒你们所有的发现不仅仅是在未知的黑色虚空中发现的，而是在堆积如山的数据白噪点中发现的。
【跟读】Even in the information age, there is still so much to be explored and learned.
There remains so much to explore. We live in an incredible world. 还有很多要探索的东西。我们生活在一个不可思议的世界里。
So go out. Be curious. 所以出去吧。保持好奇心。
Because we do live in a world where shamans still sing to the spirits of the jungle, where rivers do boil and where legends do come to life. 因为我们生活的这个世界里，仍然有萨满在向为丛林精灵吟唱，有沸腾的河流，有传说成为现实。
Thank you very much. 非常感谢。