中英双语阅读理解-人类未来可能建造的“超级工程” 是什么？

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今天这篇文章，是一篇科技相关的中英双语阅读，关于《人类未来可能建造的“超级工程” 是什么》的问题。#英语阅读#

撬动地球的大炮

人类能够设计建造的最大的工程是什么，从举起行星的装置到太空大炮，安德斯·桑德伯格探索了一些人类历史上最雄心勃勃的计划。还有，为什么它们并非是“不可能”的？

1603年，一位耶稣会修道士发明了一台只用绳索和齿轮就能将整个地球提起来的装置。

克里斯多夫·格林伯格(Christoph Grienberger)见证了耶稣会修士所写的所有数学著作，格林伯格的工作类似于现代科学杂志的编辑。

他谦虚而高效，而且总是想去解决问题。他的理由是，因为10倍力矩的齿轮装置可以让一个人举起10倍重的东西，那么使用24倍力矩的齿轮组，他就举起地球，尽管速度会非常缓慢。

What are the biggest projects that humans can design and build? From planetary lifting devices to space cannons, Anders Sandberg explored some of the most ambitious projects in human history. And why are they not "impossible"?

In 1603, a Jesuit monk invented a device that could lift the whole earth with only ropes and gears.

Christoph grienberger has witnessed all the mathematical works written by Jesuit friars, and his work is similar to that of editor of modern science magazine.

He is modest and efficient, and always wants to solve problems. His reason is that, because a gear set with 10 times the torque allows a person to lift 10 times the weight of things, then with a gear set with 24 times the torque, he will lift the earth, although the speed will be very slow.

重新打造地球

在地球上，超级工程的梦想也激发了各种乌托邦式的蓝图，包括大规模地改变海洋和大气。

在20世纪20年代及以后，赫尔曼索尔(Herman Sorgel)的亚特兰蒂斯项目(Atlantropa project)曾梦想在直布罗陀海峡修建一座水力发电大坝。地中海的海平面将会下降200米(656英尺)，为人们开辟新的居住之地。

作为第一个大坝的补充，另一座大坝横跨达达尼尔海峡，锁住黑海。西西里和突尼斯之间也建一座大坝，进一步降低地中海中心水位， 拓展苏伊士运河并将其锁住， 另外将刚果河引入乍得湖附近盆地，并灌溉撒哈拉沙漠。

今天，即使政治上允许，出于生态的考虑，人们大概也会放弃这种考虑； 但当年如果有意愿和资金，人们很可能已经尝试过了。

On earth, the dream of super engineering has also inspired a variety of Utopian blueprints, including large-scale changes in the oceans and atmosphere.

In the 1920s and beyond, Herman sorgel"s atlantopa project dreamed of building a hydroelectric dam in the Strait of gibraltarian. The Mediterranean sea level will drop 200 meters (656 feet), opening up new places for people to live.

As a supplement to the first dam, another dam crosses the Dardanelles Strait and locks up the Black Sea. A dam was also built between Sicily and Tunisia to further lower the central Mediterranean water level, expand and lock the Suez Canal, and introduce the Congo River into the basin near Lake Chad and irrigate the Sahara desert.

Today, even if it"s allowed politically, people will probably give up this consideration for ecological reasons. But if there were the will and funds in those years, people would have tried it.

为了好玩而狂妄自大

这种超级工程背后的逻辑是什么，这不仅仅是因为纸上扮演上帝很有趣。

在很多情况下，这是“越多越好” 的逻辑： 获得农业用地是好事，为什么不尝试获得尽可能多的土地呢。如果能源是有价值的，为何不利用已知的技术，收集到更多的能量呢。

它告诉我们一些重要的事情，人类能力的极限在哪里？以及如果我们真的想要，我们可以获得多少？其目的不是预测“如何”或“何时”，而更多的是阐明宇宙法则是否真的是最终障碍。它可以帮助我们区分不可能和绝对不可能。

What"s the logic behind this kind of super engineering? It"s not just because it"s fun to play God on paper.

In many cases, this is the logic of "the more the better": it"s a good thing to get agricultural land. Why not try to get as much land as possible? If energy is valuable, why not use known technologies to collect more energy?

It tells us some important things, where is the limit of human ability? And how much can we get if we really want to? Its purpose is not to predict "how" or "when", but to clarify whether the laws of the universe are really the ultimate obstacle. It can help us distinguish between impossible and absolutely impossible.

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