标签澳大利亚下的文章

阿克拉曼火山口, 澳大利亚 The Acraman crater, Australia (© USGS/NASA Landsat data/Orbital Horizon/Gallo Images/Getty images)

Will we be ready for the 'big one'? 我们准备好迎接“大挑战”了吗？

Asteroid Day

Today is Asteroid Day, and it's a reminder that as our planet follows its path around the sun, it encounters a lot of stuff. Science tells us that, every day, Earth's atmosphere is hit with roughly 100 tons of dust and particles the size of a grain of sand. And every year, at least 30 small meteors make it through, only to burn up before touching the ground. NASA says it's pretty much guaranteed that at least one of them will be about the size of a car. As time progresses, the likelihood increases that even larger celestial rocks will hit the ground and cause significant damage.

Across the globe, there are plenty of reminders of this in the form of craters, like the one in today's photo. The Acraman crater is a point of impact in South Australia. It's believed to have been created about 590 million years ago when hit by an asteroid with a diameter that could have been as large as 56 miles across. For comparison, the asteroid thought to have killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago was 6.2 miles across. NASA says that an asteroid the size of a football field would cause significant damage. One that could really threaten civilization hits every few million years. Hopefully, with Asteroid Day being observed across 78 countries since its inception in 2015, we'll be prepared when the 'big one' shows up.

小行星日

今天是小行星日，它提醒我们，当我们的行星沿着它围绕太阳的轨道运行时，它会遇到很多东西。科学告诉我们，每天，地球大气层都会受到大约100吨沙粒大小的灰尘和颗粒的撞击。每年，至少有30颗小流星穿过，但在到达地面之前就被烧毁了。美国宇航局表示，几乎可以保证其中至少有一辆车的大小。随着时间的推移，更大的天体岩石撞击地面并造成重大损害的可能性增加。

在全球范围内，有很多火山口的形式提醒着我们这一点，就像今天照片中的一样。阿克拉曼火山口是南澳大利亚的一个撞击点。据信，它是在大约5.9亿年前被一颗直径可达56英里的小行星撞击时形成的。相比之下，被认为在6600万年前杀死恐龙的小行星直径为6.2英里。美国宇航局表示，足球场大小的小行星将造成重大破坏。每几百万年就会有一次真正威胁文明的袭击。有希望的是，自2015年小行星日成立以来，全球78个国家都在纪念小行星日，我们将在“大一号”出现时做好准备。

黄金海岸上的冲浪者，澳大利亚 Surfers catching waves at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia (© Darren Tierney/Getty Images)

这是什么水上魔法？ What waterborne wizardry is this?

International Surfing Day

Of all the tricks humans have taught themselves, few delight and impress more than surfing. A sport, a pastime, an art, a philosophy of life, surfing is as close to magic as a person can perform on the untamed ocean. Today, the sport of wave riding gets its well-earned due with International Surfing Day, a time each year to honor the sport, the lifestyle of surfing, and the ocean itself, whose good health is vital to the sport and so much else. Surfers have a special connection to the ocean and the waves it produces. A surfable wave relies on so much: The winds hundreds or thousands of miles away that produced the energy to set the swells in motion—those swells might take days to arrive at the shoreline; and then the reef or point of land or underwater boulder upon which a swell will break into a perfectly shaped wave. Wind and timing are everything, and devoted surfers know the weather and the shore intimately.

Surfing can be done anywhere waves break, from Iceland to Ireland, Brazil to Senegal. But there are a handful of spots renowned for their waves, such as Hawaii, Tahiti, California, and the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, pictured here. As the sport has evolved, surfers have taken on bigger waves, giants that exceed 50 feet in height at now-famous surf breaks like Jaws, Mavericks, and the latest in Nazare, Portugal.

Surfing is believed to have originated in Polynesia more than 1,500 years ago, most likely in Tahiti and was observed by Westerners as early as the 1700s in Hawaii. Native Hawaiians are credited for creating the sport as we know it today. Duke Kahanamoku, Olympic swimmer, great waterman, and one of Hawaii's earliest celebrities, helped spread surfing's popularity to California and Australia in the early 1900s. Today, surfing is an Olympic sport, has a professional tour for both men and women, and is an integral part of popular culture. But for the lucky souls who know how to ride a wave, it's simply the best way to spend a day at the beach.

国际冲浪日

在人类自学的所有技巧中，很少有比冲浪更让人愉悦和印象深刻的了。冲浪是一项运动，一种消遣，一门艺术，一种人生哲学，就像一个人在未驯服的海洋上所能表演的一样，它离魔法很近。今天，冲浪运动因国际冲浪日而备受青睐，每年的国际冲浪日都是纪念这项运动、冲浪生活方式和海洋本身的日子，海洋本身的健康对这项运动和其他许多运动都至关重要。冲浪者与海洋及其产生的波浪有着特殊的联系。冲浪的波浪依赖于这么多：数百或数千英里以外的风产生的能量使涌浪运动，这些涌浪可能需要几天才能到达海岸线；然后是礁石或陆地或水下巨砾的点，在其上，涌浪将变成完美形状的波浪。风和时间是一切，热衷于冲浪的人对天气和海岸了如指掌。

从冰岛到爱尔兰，从巴西到塞内加尔，冲浪可以在任何波涛汹涌的地方进行。但也有一些以海浪闻名的景点，如夏威夷、塔希提、加利福尼亚和澳大利亚昆士兰的黄金海岸，如图所示。随着这项运动的发展，冲浪者们已经开始接受更大的海浪，在如今著名的冲浪休息处，身高超过50英尺的巨人，如大白鲨、小牛队，以及最近在葡萄牙的纳粹队。

据信，冲浪运动起源于1500多年前的波利尼西亚，最有可能发生在塔希提岛，早在17世纪，西方人就在夏威夷观察到了冲浪运动。据我们今天所知，夏威夷土著人创造了这项运动。20世纪初，奥林匹克游泳运动员、伟大的沃特曼、夏威夷最早的名人之一杜克·卡哈纳莫库（DukeKahanamoku）帮助将冲浪运动普及到加利福尼亚和澳大利亚。今天，冲浪是一项奥林匹克运动，男女都有专业的巡回赛，是流行文化的一个组成部分。但对于那些懂得乘风破浪的幸运儿来说，这是在海滩度过一天的最佳方式。

波奴鲁鲁国家公园里的邦格尔邦格尔山脉，澳大利亚 Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu National Park, Australia (© Francesco Riccardo Iacomino/Getty Images)

蜂巢状的山脉 Bungle beehives

Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu National Park, Australia

Aboriginal Australians have lived in this area for more than 20,000 years. But only recently did the rest of the world learn of the otherworldly terrain of the mountains known as the Bungle Bungle Range. In 1982, a nature-documentary crew was filming remote areas within the Kimberley region of Western Australia and 'discovered' the little-known mountain range. Today it is the most popular aspect of Purnululu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Bungle Bungle Range is composed of sandstone domes that can be up to 800 feet tall. Formed by wind and rain over millions of years, the domes get their striking look due to alternating rusty orange bands colored by iron-oxide and grey bands colored by colonies of single-celled microbes called cyanobacteria. Beneath the beehive formations are large pools and caverns, some of which have ancient Aboriginal cave paintings on the walls.

澳大利亚Purnululu国家公园的Bungle Bungle山脉

澳大利亚土著人在这一地区生活了20000多年。但直到最近，世界其他地区才了解到被称为Bungle-Bungle山脉的超凡脱俗的山脉地形。1982年，一个自然纪录片摄制组在西澳大利亚金伯利地区拍摄偏远地区，发现了鲜为人知的山脉。今天，它是联合国教科文组织世界遗产地Purnululu国家公园最受欢迎的部分。

Bungle Bungle山脉由高达800英尺的砂岩圆顶组成。这些圆顶是由数百万年的风雨形成的，由于交替出现由氧化铁着色的锈橙色带和由称为蓝藻的单细胞微生物菌落着色的灰色带，圆顶显得格外引人注目。在蜂巢的下面是大型的水池和洞穴，其中一些墙上有古老的土著洞穴绘画。

蓝山国家公园里的萤火虫，澳大利亚 Glowworms in Blue Mountains National Park, Australia (© Leelakajonkij/Getty Images)

Glowworm caves in Australia

Down under the land in the Land Down Under, cave explorers may find these subterranean spaces illuminated by an unlikely light source. Fungus gnat larvae—more affectionately known as glowworms—speckle the walls and ceilings of caverns here in Australia during the warm season from December to March. To humans they're hypnotizingly harmless and add a little otherworldly charm to the caves in such places as Blue Mountains National Park, as seen in our photo. But if you're a fly or mosquito, beware! Glowworms dangle tiny, sticky silk strands that ensnare winged insects flying toward what looks like a starry night sky, but is in fact the cave ceiling, covered in glowworms, patiently waiting to reel in a deceived fly.

澳大利亚的萤火虫洞穴

在地下，洞穴探险家可能会发现这些地下空间被一种不太可能的光源照亮。在12月至3月的温暖季节，真菌小昆虫幼虫（更亲切地称为萤火虫）在澳大利亚洞穴的墙壁和天花板上散布斑点。在我们的照片中可以看到，对人类来说，它们无害得令人着迷，为蓝山国家公园等地的洞穴增添了一点超凡脱俗的魅力。但如果你是一只苍蝇或蚊子，小心！萤火虫悬挂着细小的、粘乎乎的丝线，诱捕着飞向星空的有翼昆虫，但事实上是洞穴的天花板，上面覆盖着萤火虫，耐心地等待着一只受骗的苍蝇。

伊丽莎白女皇码头桥，澳大利亚珀斯 Elizabeth Quay Bridge in Perth, Australia (© Amazing Aerial Agency/Offset by Shutterstock)

Bridge to infinity

Infinity Day has us visiting Perth, Australia, and the Elizabeth Quay Bridge. From this aerial view, the bridge closely resembles a tilted ∞, the common symbol for infinity first popularized in a 17th-century mathematical text. We recognize this unofficial holiday every August 8, because the number 8 resembles the infinity symbol, and the eighth day of the eighth month is an infinitely superior day to celebrate the infinite.

View this bridge from ground level and you'll quickly realize that the graceful figure-8 seen from above is something altogether different when viewed from below. The architects behind this bridge designed it to dramatically link the Swan River with the city. The upper left and bottom right curves seen in this image are actually double arches that loop up and then under a 360-foot pedestrian and bicycle pathway. This pathway offers striking views of Perth's central business district and links the area with the newly developed Elizabeth Quay mixed-use development, featuring shops, cafés, apartments, and bars. If you do ever have a chance to take a walk on this bridge, we recommend taking a moment to ponder the infinite, just like the mathematicians and philosophers of the 17th century did.

通向无限的桥梁

“无限日”让我们参观了澳大利亚的珀斯和伊丽莎白码头大桥。从鸟瞰图上看，这座桥非常像一座倾斜的桥∞, 无穷大的通用符号首次在17世纪的数学文本中普及。我们每年8月8日都会庆祝这个非官方的节日，因为数字8类似于无限的符号，而8月的第八天是庆祝无限的一个非常好的日子。

从地面上看这座桥，你会很快意识到从上面看到的优美的8号图形与从下面看到的完全不同。这座桥背后的建筑师将其设计成戏剧性地将天鹅河与城市连接起来。图中左上角和右下角的曲线实际上是双拱门，在一条360英尺长的人行道和自行车道下循环。这条小路可以看到珀斯中央商务区的醒目景色，并将该地区与新开发的伊丽莎白码头（Elizabeth Quay）混合用途开发区连接起来，以商店、咖啡馆、公寓和酒吧为特色。如果你有机会在这座桥上散步，我们建议你花点时间思考一下无限，就像17世纪的数学家和哲学家那样。

乌鲁鲁艺术家布鲁斯·蒙罗的《光之领域》, 澳大利亚 'Field of Light' by artist Bruce Munro at Uluru, Australia (© Sheralee Stoll/Alamy)

Illuminated Uluru

This landmark of the Land Down Under is usually pictured in sweltering desert sunlight. Now a 21st-century addition near the ancient rock of Uluru has people flocking here even at night.

Bruce Munro's 'Field of Light' installations—which blanket landscapes in thousands of small LED lights—have appeared around the globe, first in the artist's native England. But it was decades ago while camping here at Uluru that Munro first had the idea for an immersive artwork that would bathe its surroundings in soft light nightly, like desert flowers that bloom after dusk in the Australian Outback. Munro was finally able to bring 'Field of Light' to this forest near Uluru in 2016, and it became so popular with visitors that it's been extended indefinitely.

照明乌鲁鲁

下面这片土地的地标通常是在闷热的沙漠阳光下拍摄的。现在，在乌鲁鲁古岩附近的一个21世纪的新建筑里，人们甚至在晚上都聚集在这里。

布鲁斯·蒙罗的“光的领域”装置覆盖了数千个小型LED灯的景观，出现在世界各地，首先是在艺术家的祖国英格兰。但几十年前，蒙罗在乌鲁鲁露营时，第一次想到了一件身临其境的艺术品，每晚都能沐浴在柔和的光线中，就像澳大利亚内陆黄昏后盛开的沙漠花朵。蒙罗终于在2016年将“光之场”带到了乌鲁鲁附近的这片森林，它受到了游客的欢迎，因此被无限期地延长了。

在伯利角冲浪的人们，澳大利亚黄金海岸 People surfing at Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, Australia (© Vicki Smith/Getty Images)

Surf's up—Down Under

It's International Surfing Day! Here in the US we may be welcoming summer tomorrow, but these Aussie surfers are saying g'day to the rad waves of winter. Though peak surf season is autumn (that is, our spring) here in the Gold Coast area of Queensland, these tropical beaches offer world-class breaks all year long.

We Americans usually think California when we think surfing, but the sport's history runs deeper here in the South Pacific. Fijians, Tahitians, Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders have been riding waves for several hundred years at least. It wasn't until the early 1900s that Hawaiian Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku demonstrated the sport for both US and Australian officials, creating a wave of popularity that has yet to break.

冲浪在下面

今天是国际冲浪日！在美国，明天我们可能会迎来夏天，但这些澳洲人却在向冬天的狂潮致敬。虽然昆士兰州黄金海岸地区的冲浪高峰期是秋天（也就是我们的春天），但这些热带海滩全年都提供世界级的休息。

当我们想到冲浪时，我们美国人通常会想到加利福尼亚，但这项运动在南太平洋的历史更为悠久。斐济人、塔希提人、夏威夷人和其他太平洋岛民至少已经乘风破浪几百年了。直到20世纪初，夏威夷奥运会游泳运动员杜克·卡哈纳莫库（Duke Kahanamoku）才向美国和澳大利亚官员展示了这项运动，创造了一波尚未打破的人气。

摇篮山-圣克莱尔湖国家公园，澳大利亚塔斯马尼亚州 Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, Tasmania, Australia (© Paparwin Tanupatarachai/Getty Images)

The wild heart of Tasmania

This boardwalk leads to one of the many lakes that dot Tasmania's Cradle Mountain–Lake St. Clair National Park, one of the crown jewels of the island's Wilderness World Heritage area. Covering over 623 square miles in the interior of the island, the park is home to an incredible diversity of flora and fauna. Marsupials like Bennett's wallabies, quolls, Tasmanian pademelon, and the legendary Tasmanian devils, as well as short-beaked echidnas, platypuses, wombats, and Tasmanian pygmy possums can be found in its ancient forests and lakes.

In late April and into May, locals and visitors delight in the 'Turning of the Fagus' when the leaves of the deciduous Tasmanian beech trees turn brilliantly yellow, orange, and red. The Overland Track, as 65-mile-long circuit of the park is a popular route for visitors, whether exploring a portion of it over a day or taking a week to complete the entire route. Overnight hikers can stay in warming huts built along the way and spend the night dazzled by the stars and the aurora australis (aka the southern lights) in one of island's best stargazing locations.

塔斯马尼亚的野心

这条木板路通往点缀塔斯马尼亚摇篮山的众多湖泊之一——圣克莱尔湖国家公园，是该岛荒野世界遗产区的王冠明珠之一。这个公园占地623平方英里，是岛上动植物多样性令人难以置信的家园。像贝内特的小袋鼠、小袋鼠、塔斯马尼亚的帕德梅隆和传说中的塔斯马尼亚魔鬼，以及短嘴针鼹、鸭嘴兽、袋熊和塔斯马尼亚侏儒负鼠等有袋动物都可以在其古老的森林和湖泊中找到。

在4月下旬到5月，当地人和游客都喜欢“水青冈的转变”，因为每年落叶的塔斯马尼亚山毛榉树的叶子都会变成明亮的黄色、橙色和红色。陆上赛道，作为公园65英里长的赛道，是游客的热门路线，无论是探索一天的一部分，还是花一周的时间完成整个路线。夜间徒步旅行者可以住在沿途建造的温暖小屋里，在岛上最好的观星地点之一度过被星星和南极光（又名南极光）所眩目的夜晚。

航拍生长着树木的遇难船“阿德莱德市”残骸，澳大利亚磁岛 Aerial view of the 'City of Adelaide' shipwreck with trees growing on it, Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia (© Amazing Aerial Agency/Offset by Shutterstock)

Life carries on, rising from a ship's skeleton

We're on the northeastern coast of Australia in a small bay of Magnetic Island, looking down upon the sunken hull of the steamship, SS City of Adelaide. The vessel got its start in 1863 as a passenger steamship ferrying travelers and cargo between ports in Melbourne, Sydney, Honolulu, and San Francisco. Under sail, it was likened to a graceful bird in flight. In 1912, the City of Adelaide was gutted by fire, and in 1916, its burned hulk ran aground here in Cockle Bay while being transported after sale. Now it serves as an artificial island of sorts to a flock of cockatoos who live in the mangroves that have sprouted from the ship's rusted deck.

生命在继续，从船的骨架中升起

我们在澳大利亚东北海岸的一个小海湾的磁岛上，俯瞰沉没的船体，SS城市阿德莱德。这艘船开始于1863年，是一艘客轮，在墨尔本、悉尼、檀香山和旧金山的港口之间运送旅客和货物。在帆下，它被比作一只优雅的飞翔的鸟。1912年，阿德莱德市被大火夷为平地，1916年，被烧毁的绿巨人在出售后的运输途中在科克湾搁浅。现在，它就像一个人工岛，生活在红树林中的凤头鹦鹉成群，这些红树林是从船生锈的甲板上长出来的。

Stairway to heaven?

Where does this seemingly endless staircase lead? To the mighty Onkaparinga River, of course – a true South Australian highlight. The river itself is crucially important to the area’s ecosystem, acting as a beautiful home to a variety of fish that breed here, as well as hundreds of native plants and animal species. The Onkaparinga River estuary is even seen a habitat for endangered migratory birds.

It’s also a great place for us humans to visit as well. Between both Onkaparinga River Recreation Park and Onkaparinga River National Park there is no shortage of activities to take part in or sights to see. Many locals often stroll along the wetland boardwalks, hike up to the cliff tops or find a cosy spot to camp the night. If the weather is as stunning as is looks in today’s image, kayaking is also a popular choice – providing the perfect opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of life. Sounds peaceful, doesn’t it?

通往天堂的阶梯？

这看似无尽的楼梯通向何方？到浩瀚的翁卡帕林加河，当然-一个真正的南澳大利亚亮点。这条河本身对该地区的生态系统至关重要，是这里繁殖的各种鱼类以及数百种本地动植物的美丽家园。Onkaparinga河口甚至被视为濒危候鸟的栖息地。

这也是一个伟大的地方，我们人类参观以及。在昂卡帕林加河休闲公园和昂卡帕林加河国家公园之间，不乏可参加的活动或可观赏的景点。许多当地人经常沿着湿地木板路漫步，徒步走上悬崖顶，或者找个舒适的地方过夜。如果天气像今天的图片一样令人惊叹的话，皮划艇也是一个流行的选择——提供了一个逃离生活喧嚣的绝佳机会。听起来很平静，不是吗？

星空迷