神秘的月球 第3期

 　　The full moon triggers a frenzy 1 of activity.

　　满月会引发一连串狂乱的事件
　　It is the time of the highest tides.
　　海水在此时达到满潮
　　And in the oceans the full moon's bright light
　　在海中，满月明亮的胧光
　　is a mating call for sea creatures all over the world.
　　是世界各地海洋生物的求偶讯号
　　The full moon governs the very reproduction of these species.
　　满月掌控了这些物种的繁衍
　　And now scientists have discovered it may be
　　现在科学家发现
　　doing the same for us humans.
　　满月对人类似乎也有相同的影响
　　Research suggests that the full moon may
　　研究结果显示
　　play a significant role in our own cycles of fertility.
　　满月似乎在人类的生殖周期中扮演了重要角色
　　In the late 1970s scientists studying
　　1970年代末期，研究女性生殖能力的科学家
　　female fertility noticed a baffling coincidence.
　　发现了一个令人困惑的巧合
　　We knew that the moon cycled every 29.5 days
　　我们知道月亮的周期是29.5天
　　and we knew a 29.5 day cycle was
　　我们也知道生理周期为29.5天的妇女
　　the most fertile women's cycle length,
　　生育力最好
　　that a women who had a 26 day cycle or a 40 day cycle
　　若生理周期为26天、40天
　　or a 60 day cycle was much less likely to be fertile in that cycle.
　　或60天的妇女，则比较不容易在生理周期期间受孕
　　At the time it was unclear whether this
　　当时人们不知道这是机缘巧合
　　was a chance phenomenon or whether the two were related.
　　还是两者之间确实相关
　　But further research on women with twenty nine
　　但在进一步研究
　　and a half day menstrual cycles threw up
　　生理周期为29.5天的妇女之后
　　even more links with the patterns of the lunar cycle.
　　科学家发现更多和月亮周期间的关联
　　In that group of women who cycle as frequently as the moon,
　　在生理周期和月亮周期相符的妇女中
　　they tended to be menstruating starting
　　有很多人
　　their periods in the full moon,at the day of the full moon,
　　会在满月的那一天来潮
　　and as you move away from the full moon toward the new moon,
　　随着月亮由望转朔
　　a smaller and smaller and smaller proportion
　　来潮妇女的数目
　　of the group is starting their menstrual period.
　　会越来越少
　　That was a very exciting,
　　这个自然生理现象让我们十分兴奋
　　natural biologic phenomenon that said there's something
　　因为这表示自然界中
　　in nature about the moon that coincides
　　月亮的变化
　　with women getting their period at the full moon.
　　和妇女在满月时来潮有关
　　The fertility cycles of women are related
　　妇女的生育周期和月亮周期有关系
　　to the moon's cycle and I don't think
　　我认为不是妇女的生育周期影响了月亮
　　women's fertility drives the moon, I think it's the other way around.
　　而是恰恰相反
　　No one knows for sure why this phenomenon exists,
　　没有人知道这个现象存在的原因
　　or how it works.
　　或原理
　　It is one of the moon's many mysteries.
　　这是月亮的诸多谜团之一
　　Until very recently, the moon remained an enigma 2.
　　人们一直到最近才揭开了月亮的神秘面纱
　　And it was this mysterious quality
　　月亮神秘的特质
　　which fuelled our fascination 3.
　　挑动了人们的想像力
　　Where did it come from?
　　它来自何处？
　　What was it made of?
　　成分为何？
　　And the biggest question of all: Was it a world like ours
　　人们最想知道的是它是否跟地球一样？
　　did it harbour life?
　　有没有生物？
　　For millennia 4, it was impossible to know.
　　数千年来，这些都是不解之谜
　　No-one even knew what the surface of the moon looked like.
　　我们连月亮的表面是什么样子都不知道
　　All that changed in 1608 when an Italian astronomer 5
　　但这一切在1608年改变了，一名意大利天文学家
　　made a primitive 6 telescope.
　　制作了一具原始望远镜
　　For the first time he was able to get a close up look at the moon.
　　他终于可以近距离观察月亮
　　His name was Galileo Galilei,
　　这位天文学家叫做伽利略
　　and what he saw shattered conventional wisdom.
　　他见到的情景，颠覆了当时的传统观点