1. perpetual 永久的；反复不断的
<neu> …… the creation of a perpetual union 创立一个永久性公会
<neg> …… perpetual complain 无止无休的抱怨
2. assert
assert that+从句 ：断言声称
[文中例句] He asserted that big objects falls faster than little ones, for example, that if one object has twice the wight of another, it would fall twice as fast.（本句中又关于倍数的表达）
assert your rights/independence/superiority etc. = to state very strongly your right to something
assert oneself : to behave in a determined way and say clearly what you think
assert itself: if an idea or belief asserts itself, it begins to influence something
•National pride began to assert itself. 民族自豪感开始产生影响。
3. empirical 美[ɪm'pɪrɪkl] adj.
[only before noun,仅用于名词前] based on scientific testing or practical experience, not on ideas 以实验[经验]为依据的；经验主义的
empirical evidence 实验证据
4. peer review
N the evaluation by fellow specialists of research that someone has done in order to assess its suitability for publication or further development 同行评审
If it seems to be ture, the result may be sent out for peer review.
5. pick holes
As presented,the bill was poorly drawn, and there publican opposition in the House immediately began to pick holes in it.
现在提出的该法案拟订得不好，国会中在野的共和党立刻开始挑剔它的漏洞。
6. falsify
v. to change figures, records etc so that they contain false information 篡改，伪造〔数字、记录等〕
•The file was altered to falsify the evidence. 文件被动了手脚，以此伪造证据。
补充 许多形容词的结尾加fy表示“使……化”，比如falsify就表示使错误化，其意义中暗含这个东西原本是正确的意思。而beautify，美化，其意义指这个东西原本是不够美的，所以要使其美化。其他可以以此类推。
7. comet
an object in space like a bright ball with a long tail, that moves around the sun 彗星
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to evolve gasses, a process called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma（彗形象差）, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind acting upon the nucleus of the comet.Comet nuclei range from a few hundred metres to tens of kilometres across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. The coma may be up to 15 times the Earth's diameter, while the tail may stretch one astronomical unit. If sufficiently bright, a comet may be seen from the Earth without the aid of a telescope and may subtend an arc of 30° (60 Moons) across the sky. Comets have been observed and recorded since ancient times by many cultures.
Etymology词源
The word comet derives from the Old English cometa from the Latin comēta or comētēs. That, in turn, is a latinisation of the Greek κομήτης ("wearing long hair"), and the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the term (ἀστὴρ) κομήτης already meant "long-haired star, comet" in Greek. Κομήτης was derived from κομᾶν ("to wear the hair long"), which was itself derived from κόμη ("the hair of the head") and was used to mean "the tail of a comet".
The astronomical symbol for comets is☄, consisting of a small disc with three hairlike extensions.
关于行星的补充
在英语国家里，小孩子们用这句话来记住太阳系九大行星的名字，以及它们距离太阳远近的顺序。这句话是这样说的：My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas。如果你仔细看一下这句话中每个单词打头的字母，你就会发现，这句话的确可以帮助你来记住九大行星的名字和它们距离太阳远近的顺序。离太阳最近的行星叫做Mercury 水星，V是Venus 金星，E是Earth 地球，M是Mars 火星，J是Jupiter 木星，S是Saturn 土星，U是Uranus 天王星，N是Neptune 海王星，最后P是Pluto 冥王星，非常可爱的Pluto。
参考 维基百科（https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet）、时光网（http://i.mtime.com/yiansnow/blog/2385707/）
8. speculative
词源 speculate
① to guess about the possible causes or effects of something, without knowing all the facts or details 猜测，推测
speculate on/ about (what, why) She refuse to speculate what happened to him.
speculate that Some experts speculated that jobs will be lost.
② to buy goods, property,shares in a company etc, hoping that you will make a large profit when you sell them 投机，做投机买卖
•The banks made too many risky loans which now can't be repaid, and they speculated in property whose value has now dropped.
银行贷出了太多现在无法偿还的风险贷款，而且他们在房地产业做了投机买卖，其价值目前也已经下跌。
1. based on guessing, not on information or facts 猜测的，猜想的
highly/purely/largely speculative
•a purely speculative theory about life on other planets 关于其他行星上存在生命的纯属猜测的理论
2. bought or done in the hope of making a profit later 投机的
•speculative investments 投机性的投资
3. if you give someone a speculative look, you look at them while trying to guess something about them〔眼光〕揣摩的，忖度的
9. disprove
to show that something is wrong or not true 证明…是错的，给予…反证
•The statistics to prove or disprove his hypothesis will take years to collect.
要花数年来收集证实或推翻他的假设的数据。
10. geocentric universe 地心宇宙（地球是宇宙中心）
11. aether 以太
According to ancient and medieval science, aether (Greek: αἰθήρaithēr), also spelled æther or ether, also called quintessence, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere. The concept of aether was used in several theories to explain several natural phenomena, such as the traveling of light and gravity. In the late 19th century, physicists postulated that aether permeated all throughout space, providing a medium through which light could travel in a vacuum, but evidence for the presence of such a medium was not found in the Michelson–Morley experiment, and this result has been interpreted as meaning that no such luminiferous aether exists.
The word αἰθήρ (aithēr) in Homeric Greek means "pure, fresh air" or "clear sky". In Greek mythology, it was thought to be the pure essence that the gods breathed, filling the space where they lived, analogous to the air breathed by mortals. It is also personified as a deity, Aether, the son of Erebus and Nyx in traditional Greek mythology.Aether is related to αἴθω "to incinerate",and intransitive "to burn, to shine" (related is the name Aithiopes (Ethiopians; see Aethiopia), meaning "people with a burnt (black) visage".
以太是古希腊哲学家亚里士多德所设想的一种物质。19世纪的物理学家，认为它是一种曾被假想的电磁波的传播媒质。但后来的实验和理论表明，如果不假定“以太”的存在，很多物理现象可以有更为简单的解释。也就是说，没有任何观测证据表明“以太”的存在，因此“以太”理论被科学界抛弃。
以太是古希腊哲学家亚里士多德所设想的一种物质。是物理学史上一种假想的物质观念，其内涵随物理学发展而演变。“以太”一词是英文Ether或Aether的音译。古希腊人以其泛指青天或上层大气。在亚里士多德看来，物质元素除了水、火、气、土之外，还有一种居于天空上层的以太。在科学史上，它起初带有一种神秘色彩。后来人们逐渐增加其内涵，使它成为某些历史时期物理学家赖以思考的假想物质。
参考：维基百科（https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_(classical_element)）百度百科（http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BB%A5%E5%A4%AA/518267?sefr=cr）
12. eclipse
1. [C]an occasion when the sun or the moon cannot be seen, because the Earth is passing directly between the moon and the sun, or because the moon is passing directly between the Earth and the sun 日食；月食
•an eclipse of the sun 日食
•a total eclipse全食
2.[singular,单数]a situation in which someone or something loses their power or fame, because someone or something else has become more powerful or famous（权力或名望的）黯然失色
•Many people expected the growth of television to mean the eclipse of radio. 许多人预计电视业的发展会使广播业黯然失色。
3. in eclipse
formal less famous or powerful than you should be
【正式】 被埋没，湮没无闻
•Mrs Bosanquet’s novels are now in eclipse. 博赞基特夫人的小说现在已经湮没无闻。
1.if the moon eclipses the sun, the sun cannot be seen behind the moon, and if the Earth eclipses the moon, the moon cannot be seen because the Earth is between the sun and the moon 遮住〔太阳、月球〕的光，出现〔日食、月食〕
2. [often passive,常用被动态]to become more important, powerful, famous etc than someone or something else, so that they are no longer noticed 使失色，盖过
•The economy had eclipsed the environment as an election issue. 经济作为竞选话题已经盖过环境问题。
13. volcanic crater 火山口
14. supernova 超新星
复数supernovas或supernovae
A supernova is an astronomical event that occurs during the last stellar evolutionary stages of a massive star's life, whose dramatic and catastrophic destruction is marked by one final titanic explosion. This causes the sudden appearance of a "new" bright star, before slowly fading from sight over several weeks or months.
超新星爆发是某些恒星在演化接近末期时经历的一种剧烈爆炸。这种爆炸都极其明亮，过程中所突发的电磁辐射经常能够照亮其所在的整个星系，并可持续几周至几个月(一般最多是两个月)才会逐渐衰减变为不可见。在这段期间内一颗超新星所辐射的能量可以与太阳在其一生中辐射能量的总和相媲美。恒星通过爆炸会将其大部分甚至几乎所有物质以可高至十分之一光速的速度向外抛散，并向周围的星际物质辐射激波。这种激波会导致形成一个膨胀的气体和尘埃构成的壳状结构，这被称作超新星遗迹。
15. mil‧len‧ni‧um
/mɪ'leniəm,məˋlɛnɪəm/n.[C ]
pl:millennia
1.a period of 1,000 years 一千年，千年期
•people who have inhabited this land for millennia 在这片土地上已经居住了数千年的人们
2. [usually singular,一般用单数]the time when a new 1,000-year period begins 新千年开始的时刻，新千年开始之际
•the beginning of a new millennium 新千年伊始
•events which took place atthe turn ofthe lastmillennium在上个千年之交发生的事件
DERIVATIVE 派生词
millennial adj
millennium/mɪˈlɛnɪəm/
1. N-COUNTA millennium is a period of one thousand years, especially one which begins and ends with a year ending in "000," for example the period from the year 1000 to the year 2000. 一千年
•...the dawn of a new millennium.
…新千年的开始。
2. N-SING Many people refer to the year 2000 as the Millennium. 2000年; 千禧年
•...the eve of the Millennium.
…千禧年的前夜。
以上来源于《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》
16. quash
英[kwɒʃ]
1. to officially say that a legal judgment or decision is no longer acceptable or correct
宣布〔判决或决定〕不再有效；废除，撤销
SYN OVERTURN
•The High Court laterquashedhisconvictionfor murder. 高等法院后来撤销了他犯有谋杀罪的判决。
•The decision was quashed by the House of Lords. 这个决议被上议院推翻了。
2.to say or do something to stop something from continuing 制止；阻止；平息
•A hospital chief executive hasquashed rumoursthat people will lose their jobs. 医院院长已澄清了员工将失业的谣言。
•The government immediately moved to quash the revolt. 政府立即采取行动平定叛乱。
17.microscope n. 显微镜
microscopic adj. 微观的
1. extremely small and therefore very difficult to see 极小的，微小的，小得难以看清的
•a microscopic speck of dust 微小的尘粒
•Inspectors discovered microscopic cracks in the hull of the submarine. 检测人员发现潜艇的船身有细微的裂缝。
2. [only before noun,仅用于名词前]using a microscope 用显微镜的
•The cells were identified through microscopic analysis. 那些细胞通过显微镜分析被识别出来。
18.com‧bus‧tion
/kəm'bʌstʃən,kəmˋbʌstʃən/n.[U ] 英[kəm'bʌstʃən]
1. the process of burning 燃烧
2. technicalchemical activity which uses oxygen to produce light and heat【术语】 〔产生光和热的〕燃烧
19. molecular
/məʊˈlɛkjʊlə/
ADJ Molecular means relating to or involving molecules. 分子的
•...the molecular structure of fuel. …燃料的分子结构。
20.daunt
/dɔːnt,dɔnt/ v. T usually passive 一般用被动态 英[dɔːnt]
1. to make someone feel afraid or less confident about something 使害怕；使气馁
•He felt utterly daunted by the prospect of moving to another country. 他一想到要移居别的国家就感到十分害怕。
•Don’t be daunted by all the technology. 不要被所有这些技术给吓住。
2. nothing daunted
old-fashionedused to say that someone continues or starts to do something in spite of difficulties【过时】 毫不气馁，不畏艰难
•It was steep but, nothing daunted, he started climbing. 山很陡峭，但他毫不畏惧，开始攀登。
