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U.S. scientists released fresh data bolstering the case for the existence of the Higgs boson, a long-sought particle crucial to scientists' current understanding of how the universe is built.
美国的科学家公布了支持希格斯玻色子(Higgs boson)存在的最新数据。希格斯玻色子是人类长期以来一直在寻找的一种粒子，它对于科学家目前对宇宙构成的理解非常重要。
The data, from the U.S. Department of Energy's Tevatron collider near Chicago, isn't enough on its own to confirm the existence of the Higgs particle. However, experimental results to be announced by European physicists on Wednesday will provide a stronger signal of where the Higgs is likely to be hiding.
这些数据来自于芝加哥附近的美国能源部正负质子对撞机。单凭这些数据并不能够证明希格斯玻色子的存在。不过，欧洲物理学家周三即将公布的实验结果将为希格斯玻色子可能隐藏在何处提供更多线索。
Proof that the particle exists would help explain a big puzzle: why some objects in the universe-such as the quark, a constituent of protons-have mass, while other objects-such as photons, the constituent of light-possess only energy.
希格斯玻色子存在的证据将有助于解释一个重大疑问：为什么宇宙中的有些物质有质量，比如构成质子的单元夸克，而其他物质仅拥有能量，比如构成光的粒子光子。
By extension, its discovery would help explain the presence of stars, planets and humans, and thus rank as one of the biggest coups for modern-day physics.
进一步讲，希格斯玻色子的发现将有助于解释恒星、行星和人类存在的原因，因此被认为将是现代物理学最重大的发现之一。
The officials at the European particle-physics laboratory CERN, meanwhile, are tight-lipped. "Whatever is announced on Wednesday will be interesting," said James Gillies, spokesman for the European lab. As to whether or not it might confirm the discovery of Higgs, "it's nature who will decide, not us," he added.
欧洲的粒子物理实验室──欧洲核子研究组织(CERN)的官员目前仍保持着沉默。该组织发言人吉利斯(James Gillies)说，无论周三公布了什么消息，都会十分有趣。至于这些数据是否会证实希格斯玻色子的存在，吉利斯说，这要由自然来决定，不是我们。
Because nobody knows what the mass of a Higgs boson might be, the particle must be hunted indirectly, typically in giant machines that propel particles to near-light speed, then smash them together and generate an array of other subatomic particles.
由于没有人知道一个希格斯玻色子的质量可能是多少，该粒子必须通过间接方式被得到。一般是通过庞大的加速器使粒子达到接近光速，然后让这些粒子相互撞击，从而制造出一系列其他的亚原子粒子。
