Deep in the Oxfordshire countryside sits a fantastical proposition: a vast solar panel-clad circle, as enchanting in its way as Stonehenge on the other side of the North Wessex Downs. The Diamond Light Source synchrotron has unlocked a world of previously impossible scientific investigations. Inside the giant ring, 738m in circumference, electrons are accelerated through sets of magnets until they reach almost the speed of light. As they whizz around, they generate an extraordinary brightness some 10 billion times greater than the sun. One researcher dubs the synchrotron a “Disneyland of science”, and it’s easy to see why: the result is even more illuminatory than the firework display over the Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle.
在牛津郡(Oxfordshire)乡村的深处，矗立着一座奇幻般的宏伟圆形建筑，它周身覆盖着太阳能电池板，其独特魅力堪比北威塞克斯丘陵(North Wessex Downs)另一侧的巨石阵。钻石光源同步加速器(Diamond Light Source synchrotron)为科学探索开启了前所未有的疆域。在这个周长达738米的巨环内部，电子束在多组磁体的作用下被加速至接近光速。当它们高速回旋时，会产生比太阳还要亮百亿倍的非凡光芒。一位研究员将这座同步加速器誉为“科学的迪士尼乐园”，这不难理解：其产生的景象，甚至比迪士尼乐园内“魔法王国”(Magic Kingdom)的灰姑娘城堡(Cinderella Castle)上空绽放的烟花更为璀璨，更富启迪。