Atoms of Space and Time

We perceive space and time to be continuous, but if the amazing theory of loop quantum gravity is correct, they actually come on discrete pieces.

A little more than 100 years ago most people - and most scientists -thought of matter as continuous. Although since ancient times some philosophers and scientists had speculated that if matter were broken up into small enough bits, it might turn out to be made up of very tiny atoms, few thought the existence of atoms could ever be proved. Today we have

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imaged individual atoms and have studied the particles that compose them. The granularity of matter is old news.

In recent decades, physicists and mathematicians have asked if space is also made of discrete pieces. Is it continuous, as we learn in school, or is it more like a piece of cloth, woven out of individual fibers? If we could study it closely, would we see "atoms" of space, irreducible pieces of volume that cannot be broken into anything smaller? And what about time: does nature change continuously, or does the world evolve in series of very tiny steps, acting like a digital computer?

The past 16 years have seen great progress on these questions. A theory with the strange name of "loop quantum gravity" predicts that space and time are indeed made of discrete pieces. The picture revealed by calculations carried out within the framework of this theory is both simple and beautiful. The theory has deepened our understanding of puzzling phenomena having to do with black holes and the big bang. Best of all, it is testable; it makes predictions for experiments that can be done in the near future that will enable us to detect the atoms of space, if they are really there.

Задание 42. Переведите предложения, делая необходимые структурные преобразования предложений при переводе инфинитива и инфинитивных оборотов.

1. Any piece of matter or concentration of energy distorts the geometry of spacetime and causes other particles and light rays to be deflected toward it. a phenomenon we call gravity. 2. Calculations carried out in the 1960s and 1970s seemed to show that quantum theory and general relativity could not be successfully combined. 3.Consequently, something fundamentally new seemed to be required. 4. Both quantum theory and general relativity are expected to have large effects. 5. To see how these diagrams work, imagine that we have a lump of space shaped like a cube. 6. We have to write a number next to the dot to specify the quantity of volume, and on each line we write a number to specify the area of the face that the line represents. 7. To start with, what do these quantum states of volumes and area look like? 8. The mathematics and other details of the quantum states are too complicated to discuss here.

А Задание 43. Переведите текст на английский язык, обращая особое внимание на артикли. В двух случаях используйте объектный инфинитивный оборот и один раз инфинитив в функции определения. Затем сравните свой перевод с оригиналом.

Большинство роботов на выставке Рободекс в Йокохаме, Япония, умеют разговаривать, подниматься (climb) по лестнице (stairs) или подбирать (pick up) предметы (objects). Поузи, маленькая девочка-робот, ничего такого не делает. Она создана для того, чтобы выглядеть милой. Поузи - один из роботов нового поколения. Создатели этих роботов не хотят, чтобы они казались людям страшными.

Прежде чем люди начнут покупать роботов себе домой, предстоит решить еще много технических проблем. Ученые отдают себе отчет в том, что существует также и психологическая (psychological) проблема, потому что машина, похожая на человека, заставляет нас нервничать (feel anxious).

Ш Задание 44. Прочитайте текст. Обратите внимание на перевод инфинитива и инфинитивного оборота.