IN APRIL the crew of Artemis II(美国重返月球计划的任务) showed that Earth’s loveliness(美丽可爱) from afar(从远处), originally revealed by the Moon-bound Apollo missions(阿波罗登月任务) of the 1960s and 1970s, remains one of the space age’s enduring truths(永恒真理). The home planet’s intricate, swirling, colourful complexities turned out to offer just as wonderful a contrast to the sloe-black of space and the drab dull Moon today as they did when seen half a century ago.(地球复杂多彩的景象与太空和月球形成美妙对比，与半个世纪前一样。)
四月份，阿尔忒弥斯2号的机组人员表明，从远处看地球的美丽——这一最初由20世纪60和70年代登月的阿波罗任务揭示的景象——仍然是太空时代永恒真理之一。地球家园那复杂、旋转、多彩的复杂性，证明正如半个世纪前所看到的那样，与乌黑的太空和暗淡乏味的月球形成美妙对比。
More prosaic(平淡无奇的) observations from space, though, reveal a disturbing change. They show that the brightness with which that beauty burns is dimming(变暗). Seen from afar(从远处看), Earth is looking steadily(稳定地) darker.
然而，来自太空的更平淡无奇的观测却揭示了一个令人不安的变化。它们表明，那种美丽燃烧的光亮正在变暗。从远处看，地球正变得越来越暗。
Evidence of this dimming comes from a project called Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES(云与地球辐射能系统)). Since the end of the 1990s the CERES team at NASA(美国国家航空航天局), America’s space agency, has been using instruments on various satellites to do some basic planetary book-keeping(地球账簿（比喻）). They measure the incoming sunshine (visible light and shortwave infrared) and the fraction(一部分；分数) of this that gets reflected back into space. They also measure the amount of energy shed(散发（能量）) by the planet itself. Everything with a temperature radiates energy. Earth does so in the longwave(长波（红外）) part of the infrared.
这种变暗的证据来自一个名为‘云与地球辐射能系统’（CERES）的项目。自20世纪90年代末以来，美国航天局NASA的CERES团队一直利用各种卫星上的仪器进行一些基本的地球账簿登记。他们测量入射的阳光（可见光和短波红外线）以及被反射回太空的那一部分。他们还测量地球自身释放的能量。任何有温度的东西都会辐射能量。地球则以红外的长波部分辐射能量。
The mirror and the light
镜与光
No good deed goes unpunished
好心没好报
The long and the short of it
长话短说
System crash
系统崩溃