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From the depths of space, an asteroid hurtles toward Earth. （Well, our general vicinity.）But this is no ordinary hunk of galactic debris. Because the body of this asteroid seems to defy gravity. It's bound by forces never observed on this scale in space.
在太空深处，一颗小行星急速驶向地球。（当然，只是驶向与我们大致邻近的区域。）这可不是块普通的银河碎片。因为这颗行星天体似乎不受地心引力的作用。它所受的凝聚力在这片太空区域中可谓前所未有。
That's not the plot of a new summer blockbuster. It's the result of a study in the journal Nature.
这不是暑期大片里的一个桥段，而是《自然》杂志中发表的一项研究结论。
The asteroid in question is actually a kilometer-sized collection of rubble. In most cases, such space — faring pebble piles are held together by a combination of gravity and friction. But not so for our rocky interloper, dubbed "1950 DA." This asteroid is rotating so rapidly that its pieces should have flung apart long ago.
这个神秘的小行星事实上是个大小为一公里的碎石堆。通常，这种遨游在太空中的碎石堆是通过重力和摩擦力聚合在一起的。但我们眼前这个被命名为“1950 DA”的入侵者却不是。它旋转得如此迅速，其中的碎石块应该早被甩掉了才对。
Now, by analyzing the 1950 DA's temperature and density, researchers conclude that cohesive forces called van der Waals attractions must be keeping the pieces clustered. Van der Waals forces may sound mysterious, but they're well known on the small scale for their weak influence within and between molecules.
通过分析1950 DA的温度和密度，研究人员得出这样的结论：使得碎石块凝聚在一起的肯定是范德华引力。范德华引力听起来可能有点令人费解，它因能在小范围内对分子或分子间起微小作用而闻名。
Blasting the asteroid, Hollywood style, could overcome these forces. But that might leave us with hundreds of smaller killer space rocks to dodge. The good news is, the asteroid won't be in our area until 2880. So we have some time to figure it out.
将小行星爆破?——好莱坞大片的一贯作风，兴许能摆脱这些引力。但这样一来，我们得躲避数以百计掉落下来的致命陨石。值得高兴的是，该小行星到2880后才会远离地球。所以我们还有一些时间来找出答案。
