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VOA慢速英语 2007 0122a

时间:2007-07-05 06:09:23

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Imagine a world without manufacturers. Or at least not as we now think of them. Instead, we as individuals control the technology to design and make most anything we want.

That world exists now in the mind of Neil Gershenfeld. Professor Gershenfeld is a computer scientist and physicist1 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He directs the Center for Bits and Atoms at M.I.T.

The center is exploring the relationship between computer science and physical science. The work is receiving financial support from the National Science Foundation.

Neil Gershenfeld wants to help developing countries create technological2 tools to solve their own problems. He says this is one way to bring the results of the digital revolution to the developing world.


An antenna3 project at a FabLab in Ghana

And many of those solutions might come out of personal fabrication laboratories -- or FabLabs. So far the center has set up about fifteen of these laboratories around the world.

Each FabLab comes equipped with about twenty thousand dollars' worth of electronics, design tools and computers. The labs are all similar but they are put to use in very different ways.

In Costa Rica, for example, students used a FabLab to develop new educational technologies. They also developed environmental sensing systems for farmers.

In Pabal, India, villagers used a FabLab to improve the design process for diesel4 engines that are used for many purposes in the community. That was one of their first projects. A FabLab in Takoradi, Ghana, is developing machines powered by the sun for cooking and other uses.

Developing countries are not the only ones with FabLabs. In Norway, farmers used one to design what they call sheep radios. They wanted a radio frequency identification system to be able to follow a sheep from birth to market.

People have also used FabLabs to test new designs for business ideas.

Sherry Lassiter works at the Center for Bits and Atoms at M.I.T. She says three laboratories recently opened in South Africa.

The hope is that in the future, FabLabs will become economically self-supporting. They might even be able to design new versions of themselves to keep up with demand.

In fact, Professor Gershenfeld imagines a time when personal fabrication laboratories are truly personal -- a FabLab in every home.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss5. For a link to the Center for Bits and Atoms at M.I.T., go to www.unsv.com. I'm Jim Tedder6.
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1 physicist oNqx4     
n.物理学家,研究物理学的人
参考例句:
  • He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
  • The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。
2 technological gqiwY     
adj.技术的;工艺的
参考例句:
  • A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
  • Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今, 随着科技进步,生活节奏不断增快。
3 antenna QwTzN     
n.触角,触须;天线
参考例句:
  • The workman fixed the antenna to the roof of the house.工人把天线固定在房顶上。
  • In our village, there is an antenna on every roof for receiving TV signals.在我们村里,每家房顶上都有天线接收电视信号。
4 diesel ql6zo     
n.柴油发动机,内燃机
参考例句:
  • We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
  • My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。
5 moss X6QzA     
n.苔,藓,地衣
参考例句:
  • Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
  • He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。
6 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

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