A Warming World, and a Stranger One: Natural disasters are a normal part of life on Earth, but 2020 layered historic levels of devastation on top of the COVID-19 pandemic. In North America, massive wildfires seared parts of the western U.S. from late summer into fall, forcing more than half a million people to evacuate in the midst of the health crisis.

 一個變暖的世界，一個陌生的世界：自然災害是地球上生活的正常部分,，但2020年在COVID-19大流行之上分層了歷史性的破壞,。
在北美，從夏末到秋天,，大火燒毀了美國西部的部分地區(qū),，迫使超過半百萬人在健康危機中撤離。

(Credit: Noah Berger/AP images)

A derecho — an intense windstorm sometimes referred to as an inland hurricane — pummeled parts of the Midwest in August with 100 mph winds.

(Credit: Daniel Acker/Getty images)

Hurricanes slammed the Caribbean and southern U.S. starting in June, causing flooding and extensive damage. Meanwhile, the pandemic made disaster relief an even more precarious process. Scientists say many of the increasingly severe and compounding events are no fluke of a cursed year but rather part of a distressing trend: As the world warms, natural disasters will likely continue to grow in force and frequency. 

颶風從6月份開始襲擊加勒比海和美國南部,，造成洪水和大面積破壞,。與此同時，大流行使得救災工作更加不穩(wěn)定,?？茖W家們說，許多日益嚴重和復雜的事件并不是詛咒之年的僥幸,，而是一個令人痛心的趨勢的一部分：隨著世界變暖,，自然災害的強度和頻率可能會繼續(xù)增加。

(Credit: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP images)

Up Close: Molten lava or melted gold? Nope, you’re looking at the most detailed shot of the sun to date, taken by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope and released in January. The surface of our closest star is made of plasma, which churns in a cell-like pattern as heat emerges from the sun’s center. 

熔巖還是熔金,？不,，丹尼爾,，最詳細的太陽照片。我們最近的恒星的表面是由等離子體構(gòu)成的,，當太陽中心有熱量出來時,，等離子體會以類似細胞的方式攪動。

(Credit: NSO/AURA/NSF)

Not Quite Twins: Variations between these two squid appear subtle, but the biggest difference is invisible: The one on the right was edited with CRISPR. In July, scientists described the first successfully gene-edited squid, paving the way for future research on organisms with complex brains. 

7月,，科學家們描述了第一批成功的基因編輯烏賊,，

為將來研究復雜大腦生物體鋪平了道路。

(Credit: Karen Crawford)

NEOWISE Lights Up the Sky: Nearly 7,000 years had passed since NEOWISE last zipped past Earth. This summer, stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere caught a glimpse of the dazzling comet’s return.

(Credit: David Hajnal/Shutterstock)

Smile for the Camera: Though scientists had believed the matamata turtles of South America were all one species, DNA analysis published in April proved otherwise. There are, in fact, two genetically distinct lineages: The previously established species is concentrated in the Amazon River basin, while the new-to-science species lives in the Orinoco River basin of Colombia and Venezuela. 

盡管科學家們認為南美洲的馬塔烏龜都是一個物種,，但4月份發(fā)表的DNA分析結(jié)果卻證明了這一點,。事實上，有兩個基因上截然不同的譜系：先前建立的物種集中在亞馬遜河流域,，而新進入科學界的物種生活在哥倫比亞和委內(nèi)瑞拉的奧里諾科河流域。

(Credit: Rune Midtgaard/Senckenberg)

A Long Shot: What might look like a floating shoestring is actually the longest animal in the world — depending on your definition of an animal. With the outer ring alone estimated at 154 feet, this siphonophore, discovered off the coast of Australia in March, may be as long as 390 feet in total. But the creature is actually a chain made up of much smaller individual clones called zooids, making it more of a colony than a singular animal.

(Credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute)

原標題：

Top Science Photos From 2020: Natural Disasters, CRISPR Squids and an Interstellar Visitor 

These photos appeared in Discover’s annual state of science issue. Support our science journalism by becoming a subscriber.

https://www./the-sciences/top-science-photos-from-2020-natural-disasters-crispr-squids-and-an?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BadAstronomyBlog+%28Bad+Astronomy%29

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