--宇宙中的“超级大钻石”

Every woman dreams of receiving a huge, sparkling and priceless diamond. Now scientists have discovered the largest diamond in the universe. But it's well beyond the reach of the most lovestruck men - 50 light years to be precise. Space scientists revealed that they had discovered a ten billion trillion trillion carat gem. Measuring 2,500 miles across and weighing five million trillion trillion pounds, the rock was found on Valentine's Day buried in the core of a white dwarf star in the constellation Centaurus. "It's the mother of all diamonds," said Travis Metcalfe, who led the team of researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in America. "You would need a jeweller's loupe the size of the Sun to grade this diamond." Named Lucy, after the Beatles' song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, the rock has sent a ripple of excitement through the scientific world. The largest diamond found on earth was the 3,106-carat Cullinan. It was cut into nine major stones, including the 530-carat Star of Africa, now a part of the Crown Jewels. Diamonds were first discovered in India more than 2,800 years ago. The Ancient Romans believed that the stones were splinters of stars that had tumbled to earth. In Ancient Egypt, diamonds were symbols of eternity and were used in funeral rites. In the Middle Ages, men wore them to symbolise their courage and virility. The tradition of giving them as love tokens dates from 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy. 　　每个女人都梦想着收到一颗闪闪发光的、价值连城的大钻石。现在科学家们发现了宇宙中最大的钻石。　　但是这颗钻石是绝大多数热恋中的男人怎么也够不着的——精确的说距离有50光年。宇宙科学家们透露他们发现了一块重达10的46次方克拉的宝石。这块石头直径达2500英里，重5×10的42次方磅，藏在人马座中一颗白矮星的中心，是在情人节那天被发现的。　　“这是钻石之母，”美国哈佛史密桑尼安天文物理中心研究组组长特拉维斯·梅特卡夫说。　　“要评价这颗钻石的等级，需要使用像太阳那么大的珠宝商专用放大镜。”这枚钻石名为Lucy，是根据甲克虫乐队的歌曲《Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds》而命名的，这块大石头令科学界兴奋不已。　地球上发现的最大钻石是重3106克拉的克利兰钻石。它被分割成9块大钻石，其中包括530克拉的“非洲之星”，现在是皇冠珠宝中的一部分。2800多年前，钻石首先在印度被发现。古代罗马人相信这种石头是掉到地球上的星星的碎片。　在古埃及，钻石是永恒的标志，被用于葬礼仪式。中世纪，男人们佩戴钻石，作为勇敢和刚强的象征。1477年，奥地利大公马克西米利安把一枚钻石戒指送给了玛利公主，从此赠送钻石作为爱情的象征这个传统便流传下来。鱼类的智商超乎我们想象 Fish are socially intelligent creatures who do not deserve their reputation as the dim-wits of the animal kingdom, according to a group of leading scientists. Rather than simply being instinct-driven, the group says fish are cunning, manipulative and even cultured. The three experts from the universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews and Leeds said there had been huge changes in science's understanding of the screwdriver psychological and mental abilities of fish in the last few years. Writing in the journal Fish and Fisheries, biologists Calum Brown, Keven Laland and Jens Krause said fish were now seen as highly intelligent creatures. They said: "Gone (or at least obsolete) is the image of fish as drudging sea scooters and dim-witted pea-brains, driven largely by 'instinct', with what little behavioural flexibility they possess being severely hampered by an infamous scooter screen fabric 'three-second memory'. "Now, fish are regarded as steeped in social intelligence, pursuing Machiavellian strategies of manipulation, security window punishment and reconciliation, SD cards sea boat sea scooter exhibiting stable cultural traditions, and co-operating to inspect predators and catch food." Recent research had shown that fish Screw Driver screw nails recognised individual "shoal mates", seamless tube social prestige and even tracked relationships. Scientists had also observed them using tools, Screw Compressors building complex nests and exhibiting long-term memories. The scientists added: seal assortment kit "Although it may seem extraordinary to those comfortably security door used to pre-judging animal intelligence on the basis of brain volume, Security camera in some cognitive domains, fishes can even be favourably compared to non-human primates." They said fish were the most ancient Sealing Tape of the major vertebrate groups, giving them "ample time" to evolve complex, adaptable and diverse behaviour Sealing Tape patterns that rivalled those of other vertebrates. "These developments warrant a re-appraisal seals box of the behavioural flexibility of fishes, and highlight the need for a deeper understanding of the learning security equipment processes that underpin the newly Security Product recognised behavioural and social sophistication of this taxon," said the scientists. 　　一批杰出的科学家认为，鱼是具有社会智商的动物，它们不应被称为动物王国中的笨蛋。　　研究组的科学家们说，鱼类不是简单地凭本能行事，它们很机灵，有控制能力，甚至很有教养。　　三位来自爱丁堡、圣·安德鲁斯和利兹大学的专家说，科学界在最近几年里对鱼的心理和心智能力的认识发生了巨大的变化。　　生物学家富勒姆·布朗、凯文·莱兰和延斯·克劳斯在《鱼类和渔业》杂志上发表文章说，目前鱼被认为是非常聪明的动物。　　他们说：“过去鱼类被看作单调乏味、脑袋只有豌豆大的笨蛋，只会受‘本能’驱使，仅有的一点儿行动灵活性也被它那臭名昭著的‘三秒钟记性’严重阻碍了。如今这种说法已经一去不返了（或者至少是过时了）。” 　　“现在，鱼被认为充满着社会智商，运用马基雅维利式的策略，诸如操纵、惩罚和顺从，表现出固有的文化传统，并通过合作来勘查敌情和捕捉食物。” 　　最近的研究表明鱼可以识别各自的鱼群伙伴，社会威望，甚至相关的人际关系。　　科学家们也观察到它们会使用工具，修筑结构复杂的窝，还表现出长期的记忆力。　　科学家们补充说：“尽管对于那些习惯于以脑容量来事先判断动物智商的人来说这看起来非常特别，但是在某些认知领域，鱼甚至可以和人类以外的灵长类动物相媲美。” 　　他们说鱼是最古老的主要脊椎动物，他们有"足够多的时间"来进化出复杂多样并且有适应能力的行为模式，与其他脊椎动物相抗衡。　　科学家们说：“这些进化就是重新评价鱼类行为灵活性的有力依据，并且突出了有必要进一步了解鱼类刚被认可的行为和社交复杂性的进化过程。”

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回复:宇宙中的“超级大钻石”
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真不准发表评论于2007/8/21 20:54:35

这个钻石拿到市场上又可以天价拍卖了。

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