Science show with a bang
A new US TV show has ‘captivated people’s attention all over the world, giving rise to numerous newspaper commentaries, interviews and discussions on prime time news broadcasts. No, we are not talking about the hit fantasy series Game of Thrones, but rather, a science documentary series titled Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.
近日，一档新上映的美国电视节目吸引了全球人民的眼球，各大报纸竞相评论，诸多新闻广播也在黄金时段对该节目进行采访报道。我们接下来要说的并不是那部名声大噪的奇幻电视剧《权力的游戏》，而是一部名为《宇宙：一段时空奥德赛之旅》（以下简称为《宇宙》）的科学记录片。
The 13-part show kicked off in March and will come to its journey’s end in June. It has made TV history. According to National Geographic, it is the largest global *rollout of a TV series ever, appearing on 220 channels in 181 countries and 45 languages.
此片共13集，今年三月开播，至六月结束。它创造了电视节目的新历史：据《国家地理》报道，这部纪录片是目前全球覆盖面最广的一档电视节目，已在全球181个国家220个频道用45种语言播出。
The popularity of the show is partly due to its charismatic host, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson, according to some US media outlets, is the most beloved *astrophysicist in the country. He has a knack for making complex scientific facts interesting and accessible to common people. He is a popular science writer, appears in numerous science programs on TV, and hosts the weekly radio show and podcast Star Talk. Cosmos, in turn, has made Tyson the single most visible public face of science in the US today.
该片如此受欢迎，部分原因来自其个人魅力爆棚的主持人——奈尔•德葛拉司•泰森。美国媒体称他为美国最受欢迎的天体物理学家。他总能深入浅出，擅长将复杂的科学事实变成每个普通人都明白的有趣内容。此外，他还是一位高人气科普作家，做客多档科学电视节目，并主持每周电台广播与播客《星语》。而此次，《宇宙》的播出，则使他成为美国当今科学界曝光率最高的公众人物。
Tense topics
颇具争议的话题
But not everyone is happy about the show and to see Tyson become so popular. In the US, because of religious right groups and *conservatism, scientific topics like evolution and climate change have become politically controversial. Religious right groups, according to a Salon article, are “freaking out” about the show. They believe God created the universe and all living things in it.
然而，并非人人都乐于看到这档节目以及泰森的走红。在美国，由于宗教右翼团体与保守主义人士的存在，进化、气候变化等科学话题在政治上颇具争议。据美国《沙龙》网络杂志报道，这部片子让一些宗教右翼团体很抓狂，因为他们相信是上帝创造了宇宙和所有生物。
而来自《纽约时报》的报道称，在最近的投票中，美国仍有很多人不相信全球变暖现象正在发生。
But Cosmos doesn’t shy away from these topics. The first few episodes of the show saw Tyson explain the Big Bang Theory and human evolution. And just before US President Barack Obama unveiled on June 2 regulations to cut carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, Tyson *confronted climate deniers in that week’s episode. He said that global warming is not caused by “those damn *volcanoes”, but rather, we humans are the problem.
但是，《宇宙》并没有因此而回避这些话题。在最初的几集中，泰森就解释了宇宙大爆炸理论，介绍了人类进化史。美国总统奥巴马6月2日揭晓减排法案，期望在2030年前把全国发电站碳排放量从2005年度水准上减少30%。而在此之前，泰森就在该周纪录片中直面否认气候问题的人们，称全球变暖并非因“那些可恶的火山”而起，而是我们人类自己的问题。
Even if you are not interested in science, you should watch the show, simply because you are a member of this universe.
即使你对科学兴趣乏乏，你也不能错过此片，因为你也是这个宇宙的一员。
Tyson said at the show’s premiere: “The goal [of the show] is to convey why science matters to the person, to our society, to us as *shepherds of this planet. It involves presenting science in ways that connect to you, so Cosmos can influence you not only intellectually but emotionally, with a celebration of wonder and awe.
正如泰森在纪录片伊始所言，“这部片子更像是一个守护者，旨在传播科学对于每个人和整个社会的意义。它会从与你息息相关的角度讲述科学，带来智慧与情感的双重影响，让人惊奇的同时让人敬畏。
“Science should be part of everybody’s life. The *prerequisite is not that you become a scientist. It’s that at the end of the series, you will *embrace science and recognize its role in who and what you are,” said Tyson.
泰森还说：“科学应该是每个人生活的一部分。你不一定非得成为一名科学家，但在看过这部片子之后，你将会更加热爱科学，并认识到科学在‘你是谁，你是什么’问题中所扮演的角色。”
