今天的音频加了“自动循环功能”！总共会播放三遍

第一遍是常速，第二遍是慢速，第三遍是常速

Good morning folks! 8P here, helping you improve your English all while sharing the latest news. Today, we are taking a look at some of 2016’s greatest mysteries, as well as their most likely explanations. Consider this as our own little episode of The X-Files...and remember, the truth is out there!

NASA Says “Don’t Look!”

NASA and the International Space Station generously offer us Earthlings free live streaming video of our planet’s orbit... until something interesting happens of course. On July 9th, a Youtube clip from NASA’s feed showed a strange object moving across the screen before the video suddenly cut. A similar situation also happened the year before in 2015. Is NASA cutting the feed on purpose?

美国宇航局和国际太空站，慷慨地给我们提供了免费的地球轨道直播... 当然了，直到发生了一些有趣的事情。7月9日，美国宇航局发送回来的一个视频片段显示，就在推送被切断之前，一个不明物体划过屏幕。类似的情况在2015年也发生过。美国宇航局是故意切掉推送的吗？

在推送被切断之前，一个不明物体从屏幕上方划过

The UFO community was freaking out so NASA spokesperson Daniel Huot “made contact”, trying to clear the air. He insisted that the space station “regularly passes out of range of tracking satellites” which leads to frequent dropped signals. Huot also addressed the UFO concerns, saying its possible for things like space debris or reflections in the window to look more interesting than things really are. Well, boo.

UFO社区里炸开了锅，使得美国宇航局发言人--丹尼尔·于奥，不得不出面澄清真相。他坚称，太空站“时常会因为超出检测范围而无法追踪卫星”，从而导致信号丢失。于奥还对UFO的说法做出了解释，称有可能是因为太空碎片或者窗口反射的缘故，导致一些原本平平无奇的东西看起来更有趣罢了。好吧，真扫兴。

That’s One Helluva Radio Signal!

让人叫绝的无线电信号！

Astronomers spent the year monitoring radio waves from a distant star behaving in bizarre ways. The signal spikes were first discovered in 2015 by a Russian radio telescope. In August, the ongoing phenomenaprompted two research groups from the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) program to focus their stations on this star.

天文学家耗费一年时间监测从遥远行星传来的怪异无线电波。该信号峰首次在2015年被俄国一台电波望远镜检测发现。在8月，这一持续现象引起了搜索地外文明组织的两队搜寻小组的注意，使得他们将研究重心放在了这个行星上。

无线电波峰值十分明显

The signals have continued to baffle scientists though they insist that it’s unlikely to be contact from an alien species. So far, the best hypothesis involves a natural occurrence called “microlensing” where shifts in the star’s gravityfocuses signals coming from farther away. Nature’s mysteries are great, and this one may take a long, long time to conclusively explain.

该信号一直困扰着科学家们，尽管他们坚称，该信号不太可能联系上外来物种。目前为止，最合理的解释涉及一个自然现象--“微引力透镜效应”，意旨通过行星引力的聚焦，从遥远的地方发回信号。大自然拥有许多未解之谜，这一现象也许要很长很长的时间才能找到最终解释。

Green Foam Fills the Streets!

绿色软泥攻占街头！

We have plenty of strangeness here on Earth. In July, Utah Lake was suddenly hit with a massive algae bloom. Local government monitored the situation and suggested letting the bloom run its natural course, which often takes weeks to clear. The algae was dangerous though, releasing toxins into the air and over 500 calls were made to poison control by citizens falling ill near the lake.

在地球上就有许许多多的奇异事件，在7月，犹他湖突然出现大量的藻花。当地政府对这一情况进行了监控，建议让藻花自然消失，而这需要花费几周的时间。海藻也是有害的，会在空气中释放毒气，在这期间接到的投诉电话超过五百通，均来自湖周边患病的市民。

藻花的极速繁殖，几乎覆盖了百分之九十的湖面

At the same time, a mysterious green ooze began appearing on the streets of one lakeside town. Local officials insisted this mysterious foam was unrelated to the algae problem but instead a side-effect of their canal’s annual cleaning treatment. Still, many people wondered aloud why they had only this year seen the green ooze appear in their streets.

与此同时，一种神秘的绿色软泥也开始出现在一个靠湖边的小镇街道上。当地官员坚称，此次的神秘软泥与海藻并没有关联，而是当地每年一次的河道治污导致的副作用。虽然如此，许多人心中还是存在疑问，为什么就今年才会有绿色的软泥出现在道路上。

街道上莫名冒出来的绿色软泥，引起居民热议

The cause of the green ooze may be debatable but the monster algae bloom is easier to explain. Spokesperson Donna Spangler gave a clear answer when asked about the cause, “It comes from people using the bathroom.” She suggested that the surrounding water treatment plants all need expensive upgrades. The local citizens must agree, not wanting any more nasty growths in 2017.

出现绿色软泥的原因也许存在争议，但是藻花就很容易解释了。当被问到原因时，发言人唐娜·斯宾格勒则给出了合理的回答，“是由于人们使用浴室所导致的。”她建议，周边的污水治理厂设备都需要进行更新。为了不让更多的脏东西在2017年肆意生长,当地居民都必须表示同意。

Conclusion

总结

From deep space to our own backyards, 2016 offered plenty of strange surprises. Did this year bring you any experiences worthy of further investigation? Which of these mysteries do you find most fascinating? Do you think the explanations in these cases are satisfactory? I’ll be looking for your ideas in the comments!

从遥远的外太空到我们自家后院,2016年给了我们许多怪异的惊喜。今年有没有一些意外经历让你觉得值得去进一步调查的呢？以上这些神秘事件，哪一件最让你着迷？你觉得这些解释能让你满意吗？在评论里留言告诉我吧！

Catch ya later!

周8P 😉

Vocabulary

dropped signals 掉线

phenomena /fə'nɒmɪnə/ ( n.) 现象

gravity /'grævɪtɪ/（n.） 重力

algae bloom 藻花

Useful Phrase

run its natural course 顺应自然

After his wild night, George knew he had no choice but to let his hangover run its natural course.

疯狂了一晚之后，乔治知道自己别无他法，只能让自己的宿醉自然缓解。