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This is the amazing and beautiful Millennium run
这就是令人惊艳的Millennium Run
- it's a simulation of the large-scale evolution of the universe from just after the big bang all the way to the present.
它模拟了宇宙从大爆炸之后一直到现在的大规模演化过程。
The researchers at the Max Plank Institute in Germany who ran the simulation began with the latest observations of what the early universe looked like
德国马克斯普朗克研究所负责进行模拟的研究人员首先对早期宇宙的样子进行了最新观测
and simulated the evolution of the universe forward in time
并模拟了宇宙随时间的演化过程，
to see how the tiny fluctuations in the density of the early universe give rise to the galaxies and galactic clusters of today.
以了解今天的星系和星系团是如何从早期宇宙密度的微小波动中建立出来的。
As a testament to their success, the Millennium simulation looks strikingly similar to the actual universe
为了证明他们的成功，Millennium Run与实际的宇宙看起来惊人的相似，
here shown in the equally impressive 3D map of the universe created by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
和斯隆数字巡天造出来的实际宇宙立体模型也差不多是一样的。
But the millennium run was no small feat -
Millennium Run并不是小事一桩-
it contained over 10 billion simulated particles and ran on over 500 computers for a total of 350,000 hours, or 40 years, of processor time.
它模拟了超过一百亿个粒子，以及在超过500部电脑上运行了35万个小时（40年）。
Not to be outdone, here's my version that I did on my laptop in only a few minutes.
所以我也不甘示弱，这就是我在我的手提电脑用了几分钟就做了出来的迷你版本。
And I did the simulation using off-the-shelf video special effects software
我使用了现成的视讯软件特效来做这个模拟
in fact, if you want to try this yourself, you can even download a free, fully-functional demo.
事实上，如果你想试试的话，没记错的话你应该可以下载一个免费的试用版。
So how did I simulate the universe on my laptop?
那么我是如何模拟的呢？
Simple - I began with a real image of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago,
很简单-我首先拿一张宇宙137亿年前的图片，
and used it to tell a particle simulator which particles should be lighter and which should be heavier
来决定哪些粒子比较轻和重，
this simulated the slight variations of density in the early universe,
以模拟宇宙早期不同的密度
then I turned on a little bit of gravity, and watched the particles go!
然后加入了一些引力，那些粒子便会自己走来走去了！
Now, it's by no means the millennium simulation -
虽然这并不是真实的宇宙模拟——
for starters, it's only two-dimensional and the gravity isn't physically accurate…
这只是平面，而且引力根本就不正确…
but nevertheless, here you have it: the large-scale evolution of the universe as simulated on a laptop.
可是呢，你现在就成功地在你的手提电脑上运行了第一张大规模宇宙模拟。
For those of you interested in the particular details of how to make this particle simulation in After Effects, check out the tutorial HERE.
如果你想知道详细步骤的话，那就单击这里到教学视频。
And if you just want more cool science, click here to find out what would happen if we dug a tunnel through the earth and jumped in.
如果你想看看更多很酷的科学视频，就单击这里去收看-如果你跳进一条隧道直通地球两端的话，会有什么事发生呢
