【英语时差8,16】真的有三录仪

 

 

Don: Time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag.

 

Yaël: A listener writes,

 

     Dear A Moment of Science,

 

     I was watching a Star Trek¹ marathon recently--the original Star Trek, not the newer versions. And I began to wonder if any of the technology imagined on Star Trek actually exists today in the real world?

 

Don: Great question. Of course, most of the technology on Star Trek doesn't exist for real. But at least one cool bit of Star Trek science has been made real. Remember tricorder? It was a scanning device that, among other things, was used by the show's doctor to diagnose disease and assess the health of a patient.

 

Y: Well, real-life scientists are making similar devices. For example, NASA is developing a sensor² to monitor the health of astronauts. It's a device worn on the skin that uses near infra-red light to measure an astronaut's metabolic³ rate, or the rate at which the oxygen in the blood is consumed by the body's tissues.

 

D: This is important because it could help astronauts pace themselves while working on the surface of the moon or Mars. It could also help them exercise more efficiently⁴.

 

Y: And the sensor could be used to help people on earth. Monitoring the metabolic rate of patients could give doctors an early warning of when a patient is about to go into shock or have a heart attack.

 

D: So Star Trek gizmos like phasers and transporter beams are still the stuff of science fiction, but tricorders could be for real.  

1 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

2 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

3 metabolic   

adj.新陈代谢的

参考例句：

• Impressive metabolic alternations have been undergone during embryogenesis.在胚胎发生期间经历了深刻的代谢变化。
• A number of intoxicants are associated with metabolic acidosis.许多毒性物质可引起代谢性酸中毒。

4 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。