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| Chapter 10 | 10. |
| The Infinite Improbability Drive is a wonderful new method of crossing vast interstellar distances in a mere nothingth of a second, without all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace. | Pogon Beskonačne Neverovatnoće predstavlja divnu, savremenu metodu prelaženja ogromnih međuzvezdanih rastojanja za puki nulti deo sekunde, bez sve one mučne petljavine oko hipersvemira. |
| It was discovered by a lucky chance, and then developed into a governable form of propulsion by the Galactic Government’s research team on Damogran. | Otkriven je srećnom slučajnošću, a potom ga je vladina istraživačka grupa na Damogranu razradila u pogonski oblik kojim se može upravljati. |
| This, briefly, is the story of its discovery. | Ovo je, ukratko, priča o tom otkriću. |
| The principle of generating small amounts of finite improbability by simply hooking the logic circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 Sub-Meson Brain to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) were of course well understood—and such generators were often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molecules in the hostess’s undergarments leap simultaneously one foot to the left, in accordance with the Theory of Indeterminacy. | Načelo generisanja malih iznosa konačne neverovatnoće jednostavnim spajanjem logičkih kola Bamblvini 57 submezonskog mozga za ploter atomskih vektora uronjen u sredinu koja je snažan proizvođač Braunovog kretanja (na primer, lepa, velika šolja vrelog čaja) bilo je, razume se, dobro poznato - takvi generatori često su korišćeni za probijanje leda na žurkama izazivanjem istovremenog skoka svih molekula donjeg rublja domaćice za jednu stopu ulevo, u skladu s teorijom neodređenosti. |
| Many respectable physicists said that they weren’t going to stand for this, partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn’t get invited to those sorts of parties. | Mnogi cenjeni fizičari govorili su da to ne mogu da podnesu - jednim delom zato što je reč bila o omalovažavanju nauke, ali uglavnom zbog toga što ih nisu pozivali na takve žurke. |
| Another thing they couldn’t stand was the perpetual failure they encountered in trying to construct a machine which could generate the infinite improbability field needed to flip a spaceship across the mind-paralyzing distances between the farthest stars, and in the end they grumpily announced that such a machine was virtually impossible. | Druga stvar koju nisu mogli da podnesu bio je večiti neuspeh u pokušajima da načine mašinu koja bi mogla da generiše polje beskonačne neverovatnoće, neophodno da bi se svemirski brodovi prebacivali preko neshvatljivih rastojanja među najdaljim zvezdama, i na kraju su namrgođeno obznanili da je takva mašina doslovce nemoguća. |
| Then, one day, a student who had been left to sweep up the lab after a particularly unsuccessful party found himself reasoning this way: | A onda je neki student, koga su ostavili da počisti laboratoriju posle neke izuzetno neuspele žurke, počeo ovako da rezonuje: |
| If, he thought to himself, such a machine is a virtual impossibility, then it must logically be a finite improbability. So all I have to do in order to make one is to work out exactly how improbable it is, feed that figure into the finite improbability generator, give it a fresh cup of really hot tea … and turn it on! | Ukoliko je, pomislio je on, takva mašina praktično neostvarljiva, onda njeno postojanje mora imati konačnu neverovatnoću. Znači, da bi se napravila, treba samo precizno izračunati koliko je neverovatna, ubaciti taj broj u generator konačne neverovatnoće, dodati šoljicu vrelog čaja... i uključiti ga! |
| He did this, and was rather startled to discover that he had managed to create the long-sought-after golden Infinite Improbability generator out of thin air. | To je i učinio i s priličnim zaprepašćenjem shvatio da je uspeo da dovrši dugu potragu za zlatnim generatorom beskonačne neverovatnoće. |
| It startled him even more when just after he was awarded the Galactic Institute’s Prize for Extreme Cleverness he got lynched by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had finally realized that the one thing they really couldn’t stand was a smart-ass. | Još više ga je zaprepastilo kada ga je, posle uručivanja nagrade Galaktičkog instituta za izuzetnu bistrinu, linčovala razularena gomila cenjenih fizičara koji su konačno shvatili da više od svega mrze pametnjakoviće. |