《那些古怪又讓人憂心的問題》第117期:太陽熄滅之日(2)
Improved satellite service: When a communications satellite passes in front of the Sun, the Sun can drown out the satellite's radio signal, causing an interruption in service. Deactivating the Sun would solve this problem.
Better astronomy: Without the Sun, ground-based observatories would be able to operate around the clock. The cooler air would create less atmospheric noise, which would reduce the load on adaptive optics systems and allow for sharper images.
天文觀察增強：沒有了太陽，地面上的觀測臺就可以夜以繼日地觀測。更涼爽的空氣產生的大氣噪聲也減小了，這減輕了自適應光學系統的負擔，拍攝得到的圖像也更加銳利。Stable dust: Without sunlight, there would be no Poynting–Robertson drag, which means we would finally be able to place dust into a stable orbit around the Sun without the orbits decaying. I'm not sure whether anyone wants to do that, but you never know.
灰塵軌道穩定：沒有了陽光，坡印亭-羅伯遜阻力也會隨之消失，這意味着圍繞太陽旋轉的塵埃的軌道半徑不會衰減。我不知道會不會有人喜歡這個結果，但說不定就有人喜歡呢。
Reduced infrastructure costs: The Department of Transportation estimates that it would cost $20 billion per year over the next 20 years to repair and maintain all US bridges. Most US bridges are over water; without the Sun, we could save money by simply driving on a strip of asphalt laid across the ice.
基礎花費減少：美國運輸部估計，在未來的20年內，用於維修和維護所有美國境內的橋樑的花費每年會超過200億美元。絕大部分橋樑都架設在水面上空，而如果沒有了太陽，我們直接在冰面上鋪上瀝青就可以通車啦，這樣可以省下一大筆錢。Cheaper trade: Time zones make trade more expensive; it's harder to do business with someone if their office hours don't overlap with yours. If the Sun went out, it would eliminate the need for time zones, allowing us to switch to UTC and give a boost to the global economy.
貿易花費減少：時區的存在讓項目貿易變得更加昂貴，要與那些工作時間和你不一樣的人做生意是很困難的。如果太陽熄滅了，時區也就沒有存在的意義了，大家都會使用協調世界時間，全球經濟也會更上一層樓。Safer children: According to the North Dakota Department of Health, babies younger than six months should be kept out of direct sunlight. Without sunlight, our children would be safer.
兒童更加安全：根據美國北達科他州健康部門發佈的信息，6個月以下的嬰兒應該避免陽光直射。而沒有了陽光，孩子就會更安全了。Safer combat pilots: Many people sneeze when exposed to bright sunlight. The reasons for this reflex are unknown, and it may pose a danger to fighter pilots during flight. If the Sun went dark, it would mitigate this danger to our pilots.
飛行員更加安全：許多人暴露在明亮的陽光下會打噴嚏，這個反射的原因至今不明，但會對戰機飛行員造成威脅。如果太陽熄滅了，這個威脅也就減小了。Safer parsnip: Wild parsnip is a surprisingly nasty plant. Its leaves contain chemicals called furocoumarins, which can be absorbed by human skin without causing symptoms . . . at first. However, when the skin is then exposed to sunlight (even days or weeks later), the furocoumarins cause a nasty chemical burn. This is called phytophotodermatitis. A darkened Sun would liberate us from the parsnip threat.
更安全的防風草：野生的防風草（又稱歐洲蘿蔔）是種很賤的植物。它的葉片含有一種叫作呋喃香豆素的化學物質，它能被人類皮膚吸收而且還不產生症狀——只是一開始——一旦之後（在數天甚至數週後）皮膚暴露在陽光下，這種物質會造成疼痛難忍的化學性灼傷，叫作植物光化性皮炎。一個黑漆漆的太陽能夠讓我們免受歐洲蘿蔔之苦。In conclusion, if the Sun went out, we would see a variety of benefits across many areas of our lives.
總的來說，如果太陽熄滅了，我們生活的各個方面都會享受到好處。Are there any downsides to this scenario?
那有沒有什麼不好的地方？We would all freeze and die.
我們都會被凍死。
