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The same process is happening all over the cosmos.
宇宙中到处都在发生这样的碰撞过程
Entire clusters of galaxies are constantly colliding and reforming.
所有的星系都在不断地发生碰撞和重建
Giant collisions as trillions of stars pull on one another,
数万亿恒星相互吸引而产生的巨大冲撞
their vast masses causing them to spin and dance.
所产生的大量碎块使得星系开始旋转起舞
Gravity is driving the cosmic clock work
万有引力仍然像在宇宙大爆炸开始时那样
as it done ever since the big bang.
驱动着宇宙时钟的运行
This is what the universe looks like
这就是当我们脱离人类尺度上的时间
when we are released from time on a human scale.
所看到的宇宙面貌了
But will this cosmic whirlpool go on forever
但宇宙的这种旋转永远持续下去吗
as an endless mild storm of mass and energy, space and time?
让能量与质量，时间与空间无尽地缓慢碰撞
What an extraordinary question to even be able to ask.
能提出这样的问题是多么不简单啊
I think the solution lies back where we began,
我认为答案就在一切开始的地方
with the big bang.
宇宙大爆炸
Ask yourself this.
问问你自己
What caused the inflation or expansion of the universe in the first place?
是什么最先引起了宇宙的膨胀或是扩张
When we can answer that
等我们能够回答这个问题
and fully understand the Big Bang,
并完全理解宇宙大爆炸的时候
we will also learn the fate of the universe.
我们也就能够知道宇宙的命运
The key to it all is something called dark energy.
宇宙命运的关键是一种叫做暗能量的物质
A mysterious form of energy
一种神秘形式的能量
that pushes space itself apart,
它能够使空间本身相分离
even as gravity is making matter clump together.
即便存在着能将物质聚在一起的万有引力
It seems as if dark energy supplied the kick that inflated the universe,
看上去似乎是暗能量使得宇宙得以膨胀
although we are not quite sure how.
尽管我们并不知道究竟是如何做到的
What is certain is
可以肯定的是
that the fate of the universe depends on how this dark energy behaves.
宇宙的命运依赖于暗物质如何进行反应
If the dark energy slowly weakens,
如果暗物质逐渐变弱
then gravity could get the upper hand
万有引力便会占据上风那么大约两百亿年之后
and in 20 billion years or so, the universe goes into reverse
那么大约两百亿年之后，宇宙会开始倒转
and drive everything back to where it came.
将一切都拉回到宇宙的起源
