9月19日午间英语新闻：NASA任命新负责人调查不明飞行物

Self-proclaimed UFO expert shows alleged aliens to Mexico’s Congress
墨西哥展出“外星人” 到底尊嘟假嘟……

A Mexican journalist and self-proclaimed “ufologist” presented what he said were thousand-year-old “non-human” corpses to Mexico’s Congress, unveiling two scrawny, cartoonlike bodies during a hearing on Tuesday.
一名自称“不明飞行物专家”的墨西哥记者12日在一场听证会上向墨西哥国会展示了其所谓的千年前“非人类”尸体，并揭开了两具骨瘦如柴的尸体面纱。

“This is the first time [extraterrestrial life] is presented in such a form, and I think there is a clear demonstration that we are dealing with nonhuman specimens that are not related to any other species in our world,” Jaime Maussan told lawmakers, speaking under oath. “We are not alone.”
毛桑对国会表示：“这是（外星生命）第一次以这种形式出现，我认为这清楚地表明，我们面对的是与地球任何其他物种都没有亲缘关系的非人类标本。我们并不孤单。”

The tiny alleged aliens, which lay in two boxes during the hearing, are likely about 1,000 years old, according to analyses conducted by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, he said. The bodies were recovered underground in Peru in 2017 and found wrapped in algae, which helped preserve them, he said.
毛桑称，根据墨西哥国立自治大学的分析，这两具躺在棺材里的“外星生物标本”可能有1000年左右历史。它们于2017年在秘鲁地下被发现，并被藻类包裹，这使得其完整保存。

The figures looked like E.T., the fictional movie alien. They were both white, with enlarged heads, three fingers per hand and long, skinny limbs. “These are not mummies,” Maussan said. “These are complete bodies that have not been manipulated.” 
这两具标本形似电影E.T.中虚构的外星人，白皮肤，大头，两手分别有三根手指，四肢又长又瘦。毛桑说：“这些不是木乃伊，它们身体完整，没有被处理。”

Forensic expert and military doctor José de Jesús Zalce Benítez then presented scans of the alleged aliens to the Congress, stating that the beings once had large brains and eyes, and have no relation to human beings.
法医专家兼军医Joséde Jesús Zalce Benítez向国会提交了对这两具所谓的外星人尸体的扫描结果，称它们的大脑和眼睛很大，不属于人类。

However Maussan’s claims regarding “nonhuman” remains have been disputed in the past. 
不过，毛桑关于“外星”尸体的说法在过去一直存在争议。

In 2017, Maussan made similar claims in Peru, and a report by the country’s prosecutor’s office found that the bodies were actually “recently manufactured dolls, which have been covered with a mixture of paper and synthetic glue to simulate the presence of skin.”
毛桑2017年在秘鲁也曾宣称发现了非地球生物的遗体。然而，秘鲁检察官办公室的一份报告说，所谓遗体实际上是“近期生产的玩偶，表面覆盖有纸和合成胶水的混合物，以模仿皮肤”。

重点词汇
1、proclaim
英/ prəˈkleɪm / 美/ prəˈkleɪm /
v. （正式）宣告，（公开）声明；强调，声称；（标志或通知）宣传，告知；清楚表明，显示

2、corpse
英/ kɔːps / 美/ kɔːrps /
n. 尸体
v. <英，非正式>使戏剧演员的演出僵住

3、scrawny
英/ ˈskrɔːni / 美/ ˈskrɔːni /
adj. 骨瘦如柴的；瘦骨嶙峋的

4、limb
英/ lɪm / 美/ lɪm /
n. 肢；大树枝；（某物的）突出部，延伸部分；十字形四个分支中的一个；弓把的上部（或下部）；（日月等天体的）边缘；冠檐，萼檐；（管状花的）瓣片；（四分仪等科学仪器上测量角度的）分度弧
v. 切断……的手足；从……上截下树枝

5、dispute
英/ dɪˈspjuːt / 美/ dɪˈspjuːt /
n. 争论，辩论，纠纷
v. 对……提出质疑，否认；争论，辩论；争夺，竞争；<旧>阻止（着陆），抵抗（进攻）

NASA names new chief to study UFOs
NASA任命新负责人调查不明飞行物

NASA said on Thursday that it had appointed a research director to study "unidentified anomalous phenomenon" (UAP), popularly known as UFOs. 
美国航天局NASA周四（9月14日）表示，该机构已经任命了一名研究主管来研究天空中“不明异常现象”，即大众所说的不明飞行物UFO。

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it was the first time NASA had taken specific action to investigate UFOs.
NASA 局长比尔·尼尔森称，这是NASA第一次采取具体行动来调查不明飞行物。

NASA declined to name the appointee out of concern for possible threats and harassment, noting only that the person has been with the agency “for a while”.
考虑到可能存在人身攻击和骚扰，NASA拒绝透露被任命人员的名字，仅指出这个人已经在该机构工作了“一段时间”。

The new research director will be tasked with developing and overseeing NASA’s studies of UAP, Nelson said.
尼尔森称，新的研究主管的任务是制定和监督NASA对“不明异常现象”的研究。

The agency will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to search for anomalies in the sky and will share them publicly. 
该机构将使用人工智能和机器学习来搜索天空中的异常情况，并将以透明的方式分享出来。

Previously, an independent team of NASA researchers investigated UAP but did not find any alien presence. However, Nelson expressed his personal opinion, saying that the universe is so large, with billions of galaxies, that he believes life exists beyond Earth.
此前，NASA的一个独立研究小组对“不明异常现象”进行了调查，但没有发现任何外星人的存在。但是，尼尔森表达了他的个人观点。他说宇宙如此之大，星系有数十亿个，他相信地球之外存在生命。

重点词汇
1、anomalous
英/ əˈnɒmələs / 美/ əˈnɑːmələs /
adj. 异常的；不规则的；不恰当的

2、anomaly
n. 异常现象，反常现象