Yeah, well, in reality, not so much. Human bodies store a lot of heat, and in the vacuum of space the only way to dump that heat is to let it radiate away. (On Earth, cold air could conduct the heat away more rapidly, but we’re in space here.) That would take hours.
The real problem with space exposure is the air rushing out of every orifice23) of your body, causing massive tissue damage and giving you anoxia24). So you wouldn’t freeze; you’d suffocate25). And you certainly wouldn’t explode: Humans aren’t balloons.
Still, no matter what, you’re dead. Best to keep that spacesuit helmet closed.
一名深入外太空的宇航员远离了他的飞船,而他随身携带的氧气即将耗尽。为了阻止同伴因试图营救自己而在抵达火星之前命归西天,他打开了自己的宇航服面罩,迅即被冻僵!
嗯,好吧,实际上,没那么离谱。人体内储存着大量的热量,而在真空环境下,消耗掉这些热量的唯一途径就是让它慢慢地散发(在地球上,冷空气可以将人体的热量迅速地传导出去,但这是在太空)。这可是个费时的事儿。
把身体暴露在太空中的真正问题在于,空气会从你身体的每一个毛孔迅速流走,造成大面积组织损伤,并导致缺氧。因此,你不会被冻死;你会因窒息而死。当然,你是不会爆炸的:人又不是气球。
不管怎么说吧,你都是死路一条。所以,你最好还是把宇航服的面罩给扣严实了!
BadScience: Armageddon
《绝世天劫》
This 1998 blockbuster26) was so exquisitely awful that it’s hard to pick a single instance of bad science in it, since the movie is essentially 99.44 percent steaming garbage. The plot is that a Texas-size asteroid is spotted 18 days before it hits Earth. NASA sends a team of wisecracking27) oil-rig workers to plant a bomb that will split it in half so that the two separating chunks will miss Earth, save the day, and allow the boy to get the girl.
But first of all, there is no asteroid that big. Second, if there were, it would be bright enough for Galileo to have seen it. Third, it would take decades for it to get from the asteroid belt28) to Earth. Fourth, oil-rig workers? Fifth, the bomb used to split the asteroid would need to explode with the force of a hundred billion one-megaton29) bombs, millions of times the total yield30) of all nuclear weapons ever detonated31). I, for one, am glad no such bomb exists.
I just wish the movie had bombed32) as well. In the United States it was the second highest-grossing movie of 1998.
这部在1998年红极一时的影片简直糟糕至极,以至于要从中单挑出一个不讲科学的例子都很难,因为它基本上就是一个彻头彻尾的垃圾。
影片的主要情节是说一颗得克萨斯州大小的小行星即将撞击地球,在距离撞击之日仅有18天时,人们发现了这颗行星。于是,美国国家航空航天局派出一组妙语连珠的石油钻井工人去安装炸弹(编者注:根据影片所述,石油钻井工人要在行星上钻洞直至其中心,然后在其中心安装炸弹)。这颗炸弹将把小行星炸成两半,这样两块分离的星体就不会撞上地球,世界将因此转危为安,影片中的帅小伙也就顺利抱得美人归。
但是,首先一点,根本就没那么大的小行星。其次,如果有,那它得多亮啊,伽利略肯定早就注意到它了。第三,它从小行星带到地球要花数十年的时间。第四,石油钻井工人就能把这事搞定?第五,炸弹要炸开小行星所需的爆炸力相当于引爆一千亿颗百万吨级的炸弹,这比所有引爆过的核武器所产生的总当量还要强好几百万倍。就个人而言,我很高兴这样的炸弹不存在。
我倒真希望这部影片也“爆炸”了得了(编者注:此处一语双关,既承接上文表示“炸弹”,也有“惨败”之意),可在美国1998年上映的影片中,这部电影的票房收入居然排名第二。
GoodScience:2001: A Space Odyssey
《2001太空漫游》
The thing about space is that it’s big. Really big. You might consider this to be its defining characteristic. Even our fastest rockets are agonizingly33) slow when faced with the gulf of interplanetary space. Most movies get around34) that by using warp drive35), hyperspace, stargates, or whatever. But 2001 got this right—not surprisingly, since it was penned by the great science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. In the movie, the trip to Jupiter takes years. Some of the crew are in suspended animation36) during the journey to save on resources. A spinning centrifuge37) provides artificial gravity for the astronauts who man the ship.
And everything happens very slowly, which, to be honest, makes for something of a dull movie, but quite a realistic one. The slo-mo38) of bodies moving in zero-g is also eerily depicted. In fact, most scientists consider 2001 to be the most scientifically accurate science fiction movie ever made.
太空最重要的特点就是大,真的很大。你用这个特点来定义什么叫太空一点都不为过。面对浩瀚太空中行星间巨大的间隔距离,即便是我们最快的火箭都显得慢得要死。
为了解决这个问题,大多数电影采用了曲速引擎、超空间跃迁、星际之门或其他诸如此类的传送手法。但影片《2001》在这一点上拿捏得很到位——这并不奇怪,因为这部影片出自杰出的科幻小说家阿瑟·C·克拉克之手。在影片中,前往木星的行程耗费了数年时间。为了节约资源,一些成员在旅途中处于休眠状态。一台不停旋转的离心机为操控飞船的宇航员提供人工重力。
一切都进行得十分缓慢。老实说,影片也确实因此显得有点沉闷,但却相当真实。失重状态下身体移动的慢动作虽然看起来别扭,但却得到了充分展现。实际上,大多数科学家都认为,《2001》是自打有科幻电影以来最对得起“科学”这两个字的影片。
GoodScience: Star Trek《星际迷航》
In the opening scene of 2009’s Star Trek movie reboot, the Federation starship USS Kelvin is under attack by the Romulans. We hear explosions, bulkheads are torn apart, there are screams … and then a torpedo39) rips open40) the hull and a crew member is blown out into space. The camera follows her as she tumbles41) out, and when we pass through the hull breach42) into space there is sudden silence. Hooray! I mean, it’s too bad about the crew member, but it is rare indeed for a movie to show silence in space. And in the case of Trek, scientific accuracy is used for good dramatic effect, as the sudden silence during the battle is unnerving.
2009年,《星际迷航》再次上映。在影片的开场,联合星舰“开尔文号”遭到了罗穆兰人的袭击。在阵阵爆炸声中,船舱壁被炸成碎片,尖叫声此起彼伏……随后,一颗鱼雷炸开了船体,一名船员被甩进了太空。此时,镜头紧紧跟随她翻滚而出的场景。当我们跟随镜头穿过船体被炸开的缺口进入太空时,映入眼帘的是一片死寂。
酷毙了!我是说,对这名船员来说,这实在是糟糕透顶;但对于一部电影而言,能表现出太空中的死寂实属难得。而且就《星际迷航》而言,对科学知识的准确运用也赋予了影片极佳的戏剧效果,正如在一场战斗突然出现的沉寂,才最让人感到恐惧。
GoodScience: Destination Moon《奔向月球》
