英语新闻丨外媒：地球外首次确认“生命之源”，日本从小行星样本中发现20多种氨基酸

外媒：地球外首次确认“生命之源”，日本从小行星样本中发现20多种氨基酸

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) probe Hayabusa 2 discovered "amino acids", the source of life, in sand samples brought back to Earth from the Ryugu asteroid, the Japanese financial newspaper The Nikkei reported on Monday, marking the first time that human beings have discovered amino acids, substances that make proteins, outside Earth.

据外媒当地时间6月6日报道，日本宇宙航空研究开发机构的小行星探测器“隼鸟2号”从小行星“龙宫”带回地球的沙子样本中，发现了“生命之源”——氨基酸，即制造蛋白质的物质，这是首次在地球以外确认氨基酸的存在。

More than 20 types of amino acids have been detected in samples Hayabusa 2 brought back to Earth from the Ryugu asteroid in late 2020, the newspaper quoted a Japanese education ministry official as saying. The official noted that amino acids, one of the first organic molecules to appear on Earth, are very important substances for living things and could hold clues to understanding the origins of life. 

该报援引日本教育部官员的话表示，在2020年底从小行星探测器“隼鸟2号”从“龙宫”带回地球的样本中检测到了20多种氨基酸。这位官员指出，氨基酸是地球上最早出现的有机分子之一，对生物来说是非常重要的物质，可以为了解生命起源提供线索。

With amino acids essential for all living things to make proteins, the discovery could hold clues to understanding the origins of life, the Japan education ministry said.

日本教育部表示，所有生物都需要氨基酸来制造蛋白质，这一发现有可能为了解生命起源提供线索。

Hayabusa 2 left Earth in 2014 and reached its stationary position above the Ryugu asteroid in June 2018 after traveling 3.2 billion kilometers on an elliptical orbit around the sun for more than three years. It finally touched down on the asteroid twice the following year and collected its first-ever subsurface samples from an asteroid.

“隼鸟2号”于2014年离开地球，于2018年6月在绕太阳椭圆轨道上运行了32亿公里后，到达小行星“龙宫”。在2019年两次着陆后，从该小行星上采集了有史以来第一个地下样本。

In December 2020, a capsule that had been carried on a six-year mission by Hayabusa 2 delivered more than 5.4 grams of surface material to Earth from the Ryugu asteroid 300 million kilometers away.

2020年12月，“隼鸟2号”搭载的为期6年的回收舱从3亿多公里外的小行星“龙宫”返回地球，并带回约5.4克行星表面样本。

Launched in 2021 with a full-fledged investigation of the sample, the probe of Ryugu was conducted jointly by the JAXA and Japanese research institutions, including the University of Tokyo and Hiroshima University.

2021年，日本对小行星“龙宫”样本进行全面研究，由日本宇宙航空研究开发机构和包括东京大学和广岛大学在内的日本演技机构联合开展。

Aiming at unraveling the mysteries of the origin of the solar system and life, the probe suggested the presence of water and organic matter with previous analysis of the samples. 

为解开太阳系和生命起源的奥秘，研究团队通过对样本的分析发现存在水和有机物。

Kensei Kobayashi, professor emeritus of astrobiology at Yokohama National University, said the unprecedented discovery of multiple types of amino acids on an extraterrestrial body could even hint at the existence of life outside of Earth.

日本横滨国立大学天体生物学教授小林宪正表示，这次发现多种氨基酸存在于地球以外是史无前例的，甚至可以暗示地球之外存在生命。

"Proving amino acids exist in the subsurface of asteroids increases the likelihood that the compounds arrived on Earth from space," he said.

他说：“证明氨基酸存在于小行星的地下，会增大氨基酸是从太空抵达地球的可能。”

Although it is still unknown how amino acids arrived on Earth in ancient times, one theory says they were brought by meteorites with amino acids being detected in a meteorite found on Earth while another possibility is that they were attached on the ground.

尽管尚不清楚氨基酸在远古时期是如何到达地球的，但有一种理论认为它们是由陨石带来的，因为在地球上发现的陨石中检测到氨基酸，另一种可能就是它们附着在地表上。

This time, Hayabusa 2 delivered the subsurface materials without them being exposed to the outside air after collecting the samples that had not been weathered by sunlight or cosmic rays, showing for the first time that amino acids exist on an asteroid in space. 

这一次，“隼鸟2号”采集了未被阳光或宇宙射线风化的样品后，在不暴露与外界空气的情况下运送了地下材料，首次表明氨基酸存在于太空中的小行星上。

amino acids

英[əˌmi:nəʊ ˈæsɪd]；美[əˌminoʊ ˈæsɪd]

n.氨基酸

asteroid

英[ˈæstərɔɪd]；美[ˈæstərɔɪd]

n.【天】小行星；海盘车；海星

molecules

英[ˈmɒlɪkjuːl]；美[ˈmɑːlɪkjuːl]

n.分子；微小颗粒

stationary

英[ˈsteɪʃənri]；美[ˈsteɪʃəneri]

adj.不动的，固定的；静止的，不变的；常备军的；定居的

capsule

英[ˈkæpsjuːl]；美[ˈkæpsl]

n.胶囊；航天舱；（植物的）荚；密封小容器

full-fledged

英[fʊl fledʒd]；美[ˈfʊlˈflɛdʒd]

adj.羽毛生齐的；经过充分训练的，成熟的

extraterrestrial

英[ˌekstrətəˈrestriəl]；美[ˌekstrətəˈrestriəl]

adj.地球外的，地球大气圈外的

n.外星人

meteorites

英[ˈmiːtiəraɪt]；美[ˈmiːtiəraɪt]

n.陨星；陨石；陨铁；流星

cosmic

英[ˈkɒzmɪk]；美[ˈkɑːzmɪk]

adj. 宇宙的，外太空的；巨大且重要的