经济学人226:仿生学 我想来点咖啡

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Bionics

　　仿生学

　　I think I'd like some coffee

　　我想来点咖啡

　　A paralysed woman gets herself a drink

　　四肢瘫痪的女人也能自己喝咖啡

　　HELPING¹ yourself to a cup of coffee may seem like a small, everyday thing.

　　给自己倒杯咖啡对普通人来说是一件再平常不过的小事，

　　But not if you are quadriplegic.

　　但对于一个四肢瘫痪的人来说就不是这样了，

　　Unlike paraplegics, for whom the robotic legs described in the previous article are being developed, quadriplegics have lost the use of all four limbs.

　　不像下身麻痹患者，前文中提到的机械腿已经发展得很成熟，但全身瘫痪的人四肢都不能使用，

　　Yet thanks to a project organised by John Donoghue of Brown University, in Rhode Island, and his colleagues,

　　现在多亏了罗德岛州布朗大学的John Donoghue和他同事发起的一项计划，

　　they too have hope.

　　四肢瘫痪者也有了希望。

　　One of the participants in his experiments, a 58-year-old woman who is unable to use any of her limbs, can now pick up a bottle containing coffee and bring it close enough to her mouth to drink from it using a straw.

　　在他的实验中有一位58岁的女患者，她四肢瘫痪，但她现在能够拿起一瓶咖啡并送到嘴边，再用吸管喝下，

　　She does so using a thought-controlled robotic arm fixed² to a nearby stand.

　　她完成这个动作是靠思想控制固定在旁边的机械臂，

　　It is the first time she has managed something like that since she suffered a stroke, nearly 15 years ago.

　　这也是她15年前中风以来，第一次像这样掌控一些东西。

　　Arms are more complicated pieces of machinery³ than legs, so controlling them via electrodes attached to the skin of someone's scalp is not yet possible.

　　由于手臂上的机械零件比腿更复杂，所以通过依附在头皮上的电极来控制它们不大现实，

　　Instead, brain activity has to be recorded directly.

　　而大脑活动是可以被检测到的。

　　And that is what Dr Donoghue is doing.

　　这就是Donoghue博士所做的事情。

　　Both his female participant and a second individual, a man of 66 also paralysed by a stroke, have worked with him before, as a result of which they have had small, multichannel electrodes implanted in the parts of the motor cortexes of their brains associated with hand movements.

　　不仅那个女患者，还有一个66岁的男中风患者也参与了他的实验，Donoghue博士先找到参与者大脑中控制手活动的区域，再把一些小型多波段电极植入该运动皮质。

　　The woman's implant⁴ was put there in 2005; the man's five months before the latest trial, described in a paper just published in Nature.

　　根据刚刚发表在《自然》杂志上的论文，女患者在2005年就植入了，而男患者的最新植入才5个月。

　　Dr Donoghue and his team decoded⁵ signals from their participants' brains as they were asked to imagine controlling a robotic arm making preset movements.

　　Donoghue博士和他的团队先设定一个动作，让参与者想象通过机械臂去完成它，这个过程中大脑的信号就会被记录和破译出来。

　　The volunteers were then encouraged to operate one of two robot arms by thinking about the movements they wanted to happen.

　　然后Donoghue博士再鼓励他们去控制其中一只机械臂去完成自己想要的动作，

　　When the software controlling the arms detected the relevant signals, the arms moved appropriately.

　　机械臂上的控制软件在检测到相关信号之后，机械臂就会进行相应的移动。

　　The arm that the woman used to help herself to a drink is a lightweight device developed by DLR, Germany's Aerospace⁶ Centre, as part of its robotics programme.

　　能让女患者自己喝水的这个轻量级机械臂来自于DLR，这也是机器人计划的一部分，

　　The other, known as a DEKA arm, is being developed in America specifically as a prosthetic for those who have lost an arm.

　　其他的还有DEKA的机械臂，该厂专为残疾人士提供假肢，并且在美国已经相当成熟。

　　Normally, it is operated by the wearer moving his chest or moving his toes over buttons in a shoe.

　　一般情况下，穿戴者会通过移动他们的胸部或者用脚趾按鞋子上的按钮来操作，

　　The participants used it to reach and grasp a ball made of foam⁷ rubber.

　　这样他们还可以抓起泡沫橡胶球。

　　Dr Donoghue and his colleagues have thus shown that a mechanical arm can be controlled remotely by the brain of a person with paralysis⁸.

　　Donoghue博士和他的同事证明了瘫痪者可以通过大脑来控制较远的机械臂。

　　Controlling a true prosthetic—an arm that is attached to the individual's body—will be trickier⁹,

　　要直接控制安装在身体上的假肢还是比较麻烦，即使理论上是可行的，但是现在把机械臂安装在轮椅上是一个更加实用的好事。

　　but in time even that may be possible. In the meantime, a robotic arm attached to a wheelchair will be a real boon¹⁰. For people who have little or no ability to move their arms Dr Donoghue's work promises liberation in the form of quotidian¹¹ action that the able-bodied take for granted.

　　对于那些没有能力或者只有有限能力支配他们手臂的患者来说，Donoghue博士的成果解放了他们，让他们也能够完成那些我们认为理所当然的琐事。

　　1.paralyse v.使瘫痪；使不能正常活动

　　To suppress desire is to suppress all sensation-which is to paralyse the mind.

　　压抑欲望就是压抑所有的感觉，那会使心灵麻痹。

　　2.robotic a.机器人的；自动的

　　Foxconn has good reason to pursue a robotic path.

　　富士康完全有理由实施机器人战略。

　　3.experiment n.实验，试验；尝试

　　Unexpected difficulties arose in the course of their experiment.

　　在他们进行实验的过程中,出现了意想不到的困难。

　　4.stroke n.划；中风

　　When a stroke hits, physicians have few options.

　　发生中风时，医生通常无计可施。

　　5.participant n.参加者，参与者；与会代表

　　China is not a significant participant in the market.

　　中国不是这个市场的积极参与者。

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

4 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

5 decoded   

v.译（码），解（码）( decode的过去式和过去分词 )；分析及译解电子信号

参考例句：

• The control unit decoded the 18 bits. 控制器对这18位字进行了译码。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Scientists have decoded the dog genome. 科学家已经译解了狗的基因组。 来自辞典例句

6 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

7 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

8 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

9 trickier   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则，但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
• The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低，问题就越复杂。 来自互联网

10 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

11 quotidian   

adj.每日的，平凡的

参考例句：

• Television has become part of our quotidian existence.电视已成为我们日常生活的一部分。
• Most solutions to the problem of global warming are tediousl,almost oppressively,quotidian.大多数应对全球变暖的措施都是冗长乏味，几近压制，以及司空见惯的。