國(guó)家地理:為了結(jié)束這場(chǎng)流行病 我們必須相信科學(xué)(4)

Fauci's worst nightmare? I could barely get to sleep.

這只是福奇最糟的惡夢(mèng)？我可是幾乎無(wú)法入眠。

As this pandemic threatens the entire world, the fight against it has been a very public one. The average citizen is getting insight into scientific theorizing that is normally confined to academic conferences and slow-moving journals. Much of the debate over these ideas is taking place on television, as well as on Twitter, on Facebook, and in the backyard gatherings of lawn chair epidemiologists.

隨著這場(chǎng)大流行威脅了整個(gè)世界，與它的抗戰(zhàn)已完全成為了公眾之事?？茖W(xué)理論通常僅出現(xiàn)在學(xué)術(shù)會(huì)議和出版進(jìn)度緩慢的期刊上，現(xiàn)在一般公民也開(kāi)始有所認(rèn)識(shí)。許多相關(guān)爭(zhēng)論開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)在電視、推特、臉書上，還有坐在草坪躺椅上的流行病學(xué)家的后院聚會(huì)中。

We're seeing that now, as thousands of researchers have reoriented their labs, no matter how far afield from virology or infectious disease, to attack this hydra-headed problem collectively. There has never been anything like it, with scientists collaborating across borders at full throttle -- even as some of their political leaders snipe at one another.

數(shù)千名研究人員已經(jīng)調(diào)整實(shí)驗(yàn)方向，不論他們的領(lǐng)域和病毒學(xué)或傳染病有多么不相關(guān)，為的是共同制伏這個(gè)有多重威脅的病毒。從來(lái)沒(méi)有像現(xiàn)在這樣，科學(xué)家以全速進(jìn)行跨國(guó)合作――即使他們某些人的政治領(lǐng)袖在相互攻訐。

Watching this ramped-up scientific effort has felt double-edged: encouraging to see but so hard to follow that it also added to my free-floating anxiety. So I did what I've done my whole adult life -- called up some scientists to see what they think. This is a wonderful benefit to being a journalist, being allowed to ask dumb questions of smart people. Usually it helps me clarify my own thinking. This time... not so much.

看到這種不斷增強(qiáng)的科學(xué)努力，我有了一種雙重感覺(jué)：我感覺(jué)令人鼓舞卻又很難跟上，這也增加了我飄忽不定的焦慮。因此我做了我成年后一直在做的事情--我打電話給幾位科學(xué)家，看看他們有什么想法。身為新聞工作者的一個(gè)天大好處，就是可以向聰明人問(wèn)笨問(wèn)題。通常這么做有助于我理清自己的想法。但這一次...效果有限。