ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ. Тексты к государственному экзамену «Теория и практика перевода»

Тексты к государственному экзамену «Теория и практика перевода»

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A home from home: Five planets that could host life

It's one of the big questions: Are we alone on this blue marble or is there life elsewhere in the cosmos? To shed some light, astronomers are searching for habitable worlds circling far-off stars. A team has now published updated evidence for a planet that could be the most Earth-like yet. According to the US Planetary Habitability Laboratory, it would be the fifth potentially habitable world known outside our Solar System. So what do we know about these five Earth-like planets, and how likely is it that they could support life?

The discovery of Gliese 581g was announced in September 2010 by a US-led team. But as soon as they made the announcement, doubts began to surface. The team at the Geneva observatory which had discovered all four other planets around the star Gliese 581 failed to detect it in their own data. However, the original discoverers of 581g have now published an analysis using a greater amount of data to provide more promising evidence for its existence.This would be significant because the Earth Similarity Index (ESI), devised by a team including Dirk Schulze-Makuch from Washington State University and Abel Mendez from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in Arecibo, shows that Gliese 581g is the most Earth-like planet discovered to date. The ESI measures characteristics of exoplanets on a scale from zero to one, with one being identical to Earth. Accordingly, the online Habitable Exoplanets Catalog, based at UPR, has decided to include it in their list of the most promising worlds to support life.

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Gliese 667Cc

• Similarity to Earth (ESI): 0.85
• Minimum mass: 4.5 times that of Earth
• Distance: 22 light-years

Announced in February 2012 by a team from the US Carnegie Insitution and Germany's Goettingen University, Gliese 667Cc belongs to a class of planets known as Super Earths - a class of planet with a size in between that of rocky worlds like Earth and Mars and the gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn. Roughly 4.5 times the mass of Earth, Gliese 667Cc takes 28 days to complete a single orbit of its star, which is located just 22 light-years away. The exoplanet absorbs about as much energy from its star as Earth does from the Sun, which means surface temperatures could be similar to Earth's. This would allow for the presence on the planet's surface of liquid water - one of the pre-requisites for life. However, astronomers say this cannot be confirmed without further information on the planet's atmosphere. Nevertheless, co-discoverer Guillem Anglada-Escude has said of 667Cc: "This planet is the new best candidate to support liquid water and, perhaps, life as we know it."

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HD85512b

• Similarity to Earth (ESI): 0.77
• Minimum mass: 3.6 times that of Earth
• Distance: 35 light-years

Another Super-Earth, with a mass 3.6 times that of our planet, HD85512b orbits on the inner margins of its habitable zone. This means it is closer to Venus than Earth in the amount of energy it absorbs from its star. However, that would not necessarily preclude the possibility of life. How hospitable the planet is may depend on how much cloud cover it has, since clouds reflect solar radiation. Its discoverers calculate that if HD85512b were to have more than 50% cloud cover (on the same order as Earth), it could offset the planet's proximity to its star enough for water to stay liquid at the surface. However, any life forms on HD85512b will have to be suited to very balmy conditions, "It's going to be really muggy, just think about the muggiest day you can think of," co-discoverer Lisa Kaltenegger, from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, said at the time of its discovery. "We're not saying it's habitable for you and me."

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Coal to equal oil as world's top energy source within 10 years

China on top - By 2017 the agency says global coal consumption will stand at 4.32 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, versus 4.4 billion tones for oil itself."Coal's share of the global energy mix continues to grow each year," says IEA executive director Maria Van der Hoeven. "If no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade."The report forecasts that by 2014 China will account for more than half the world's coal consumption, while India will overtake the US in second place. In fact the US is the only region of the world forecast to reduce demand for coal says the report, highlighting the role being played by shale gas in the energy mix."The US experience suggests that a more efficient gas market, marked by flexible pricing and fuelled by indigenous unconventional resources that are produced sustainably can reduce coal use, CO2 emissions and consumers' electricity bills without harming energy security," says Ms. Van der Hoeven. Earlier this year the IEA reported that without a major move away from coal as an energy source, average global temperatures could rise by 6C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, leading to highly damaging climate change.

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Coal to equal oil as world's top energy source

To avoid that, governments are hoping that technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be utilised to curb the growth in emissions.But in today's study, the IEA says that CCS is unlikely to make any impact in the next five years. This pessimistic view was echoed in Brussels as the EU was unable to find a suitable carbon capture and storage project to fund, despite having set aside 275m euros (£224m) to kick start the technology.A number of projects from different European countries including the UK had been in the running for a share of the money but all were forced to withdraw after they failed to secure necessary financial support from their home governments. This is despite the UK outlining a new effort to develop CCS earlier this year.

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'All in the same boat'

"Solo artists in general approach life in a solitary manner - deliberately choosing to go it alone. "They can find themselves in a situation where everyone around them are paid employees - the PR guru, their manger - all interested in them from a financial point of view and not in their personal needs - it's hard for the artist to know who to trust. "They travel a lot, are away from friends and family for long periods of time and only seen for their public image, not their real self - which can make them feel inferior, isolated and invalidated. "Even for the general population, psychology research has found that people with support have increased lifespan - and those in a band may benefit even more from this - they are all in the same boat. "It is easier to know who to trust - other members can stop an individual spiralling into self-destruction and pull them back into the group - both because of concern for the band mate, but also because they are all in it together."

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Europe and Russia are cementing their plans to explore Mars together.

European Space Agency member states have approved the agreement that would see Russia take significant roles in Red Planet missions in 2016 and 2018. The former is a satellite that will look for methane and other trace gases in the atmosphere; the latter will be a surface rover.

Russian participation fills a void left by the Americans who pulled back from the projects earlier this year. For a while, it looked as though the ventures, known as ExoMars, might have to be cancelled. But Russian desire to pick up many of the elements dropped by the US means ExoMars is now on a much surer footing.

Esa member states indicated their happiness with the cooperation text on Monday. All that remains is for the documentation to be signed by both parties. This is likely to happen before the end of the year.

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