经济学人314:三维压制 第三世界的发展空间

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　3D printing

　　三维压制

　　A third-world dimension

　　第三世界的发展空间

　　A new manufacturing technique could help poor countries as well as rich ones

　　一项新的制造技术能够对贫困国家有所帮助，就像对那些富有国家的帮助一样。

　　EVERY summer, Seattle holds a raft race in Green Lake, a park that is the eponymous home of the water the rafts must cross.

　　每年夏天，西雅图都会在绿湖举行一场木筏比赛，参加比赛的木筏必须渡过这个湖，这里的公园因其湖水而闻名。

　　Entries for the Milk Carton Derby have to be made from old plastic milk bottles.

　　参加这场同城牛奶盒比赛的木筏必须是由旧的塑料牛奶盒制成。

　　The result is a wonderfully Heath-Robinson collection of improvised¹ craft.

　　结果，你就会看到一场奇妙的希思-鲁宾逊简易工艺展。

　　But this year one stood out: the entry from the University of Washington's engineering department actually looked like a boat.

　　但是今年，有一个参赛的木筏特别引人注目：这个木筏是华盛顿大学工程系做的，看起来真的像一只船。

　　The students who built it, Matthew Rogge, Bethany Weeks and Brandon Bowman, had shredded² and melted their bottles, and then used a 3D printer to print themselves a plastic vessel³.

　　制造这个木筏的学生—马修罗格、伯斯尼威克斯和布兰登伯曼，把他们收集的塑料盒切碎后再熔化，再使用一种三维压印技术压印成一种塑料容器。

　　No doubt the Milk-Carton-Derby rules will be tightened⁴ next year—though in the end, the team came only second.

　　毫无疑问的是，同城牛奶盒比赛的规则明年会更加严格—虽然最后，这个队只赢得了第二名。

　　But they did come first in a competition that mattered more.

　　但是，他们在比赛中首次出现的意义却更重大。

　　On October 19th they won $100,000 in the 3D4D Challenge, organised by a charity called techfortrade.

　　在10月19日，他们在由一个称为技术为了贸易更美好的慈善组织组织的三维-四维挑战赛中赢得了十万美元的奖金。

　　3D printing is all the rage at the moment.

　　三维压印目前正是风靡一时。

　　Several varieties of the technique exist, using a wide range of materials as the ink.

　　利用几种不同的现有技术，再加上大范围的原料—称之为墨水就可以操作了。

　　One of the most popular methods, though—and the one used by the team—works by extruding⁵ a filament⁶ of molten plastic.

　　尽管，最流利的一种方式—就是那个参加比赛的队伍使用的，只是挤压成一条熔化后的塑料细丝。

　　In the case of the team's printer, this plastic was high-density polyethylene from milk bottles.

　　就这个参赛队伍的印刷技术来说，这种塑料是由牛奶盒提炼出的高密度聚乙烯。

　　The print head makes repeated passes over the thing being printed, leaving a plastic trail as it does so.

　　打印头重复地打压着半成品，当它重复这样的过程后，只留下一条塑料丝。

　　It thus builds up a three-dimensional structure.

　　最后，就生产出了一个三维产品。

　　3D printing is now taken seriously by manufacturers as an alternative to cutting, bending, pressing and moulding things.

　　制造商们正在认真考虑三维压印技术，想用它来替代切割、弯曲和压制成型机器。

　　It is also a popular hobby among those of a geeky disposition⁷.

　　而且，它在那些古怪的配制中也算比较受欢迎了。

　　What it has not been used for so far is to help people in poor countries improve their everyday lives.

　　只是，到目前为止它还没被应用于贫困国家，帮助那里的人们改善他们的生活。

　　Mr Rogge, Ms Weeks and Mr Bowman intend to employ their prize money to do precisely⁸ that.

　　罗格先生，威克斯女士和伯曼先生打算用他们的奖金去实现这个目标。

　　They plan to form a firm that will, in partnership⁹ with a charity called Water for Humans, custom-build composting toilets and rainwater collectors.

　　他们打算与一家称为为人类提供生活之水的慈善组织合作，创建一家专门生产自动堆肥厕所和雨水收集容器的公司。

　　The partnership will look for suitable local entrepreneurs in poor countries and will train them how to build, use and maintain the printers.

　　他们的合伙人将会在那些贫困国家中寻找当地合适的企业家，并且会训练他们怎样组装、使用和保养压印机器。

　　Once the technology is established for toilets and water collectors, other products will be introduced.

　　一旦这种技术应用于厕所和集水箱，那么将会产生一系列的其它附属产品。

　　The local partners will know what products are needed and how much people are prepared to pay for them—and therefore what is worth making.

　　当地的合作者瘵会了解，这里需要什么样的产品，这里的人们愿意花多少钱来购买—因此这是值得试试的。

　　The operation will thus run on a commercial basis.

　　这种运作将会基于一种商业操作模式。

　　But the software that controls the printers will be open-source and available to all, as will many of the designs for things the printers can make.

　　但是，控制压印机器的软件将会成为公共资源，所有人都可以使用，就像当时设计这种压印机器时的设想一样。

　　That way, the technology can spread.

　　这样的话，这种技术将能很快传播开来。

　　A trial will begin soon in Oaxaca, Mexico.

　　墨西哥的瓦哈卡将会很快进行这种试验。

　　The crucial point about the team's printer is that it combines size and cheapness.

　　威克斯小组的压印机最关键的一点是，它的大小正合适而且价格很便宜。

　　Printers used by hobbyists are not expensive, but they are small.

　　供业余爱好者使用的压印机并不贵，而且很小巧。

　　Many would find it hard to make anything larger than a coffee cup.

　　许多人发现这个机器做出的东西都没一个咖啡杯大。

　　Those used by engineering companies cost serious money—and even they might balk¹⁰ at printing an object the size of the Milk Carton Derby boat.

　　那些工程公司使用的压印机成本很高—甚至他们也无法压制出像同城牛奶盒比赛中那样大的木筏。

　　The team's printer is built around a second-hand¹¹ computer-controlled plasma¹² cutter.

　　那个参赛队伍的压印机是由一台二手电脑控制的空气等离子切割机做出来的。

　　This directs the movement of an extruder that melts flakes¹³ of plastic into a thin stream which can be squirted out as required.

　　电脑控制着挤压机里的一切运作—即先熔化塑料，再挤压成细细的液体状，当需要时就可以喷射出来进行压制。

　　It is able to create things with dimensions of up to 2.5 metres by 1.2 metres by 1 metre.

　　这种机器可以生产出长2.5米，宽1.2米，高1米的物品。

　　Appropriately, many of its parts were themselves manufactured on a desktop¹⁴ 3D printer.

　　产品的许多部分还是来自于原材料，只是经过了一台台式三维压印机的处理而已。

　　The ink is cheap, too. High-density polyethylene is as common as muck—literally, for a lot of it ends up on refuse tips.

　　墨水也很便宜。高密度聚乙烯很常见，就像随处可见的泥土一样—就是这个意思，因为垃圾堆中有大量这种材料。

　　Chop it up, though, and it is grist to the mill.

　　但是，一定要记得剁碎它，这对压印机很重要。

　　Mr Rogge estimates that if he and his colleagues had printed their boat from commercial plastic filament it would have cost them $800.

　　罗格先生估计，如果他和他的同事利用商业塑料丝来制作这条船的话，那么成本会高达800美元。

　　Instead, 250 clean, empty milk bottles set them back just $3.20.

　　相反，他们用250个干净的，空牛奶盒只花了3.2美元。

　　Some technical questions remain.

　　不过，还有一些技术问题。

　　High-density polyethylene shrinks when it cools.

　　高密度聚乙烯遇冷会收缩。

　　That stresses the object being printed and can sometimes tear it apart.

　　这个不足也反应到了压制出来的产品上，产品有时都能完全扯开。

　　The students are therefore working on a second prototype that prints things faster, allowing the layers of plastic to cool almost simultaneously¹⁵.

　　因此，这些学生们正在努力制作第二个样品，以提高压制速度，而且确保让塑料层几乎能同时冷却下来。

　　They are also experimenting with making things from other types of waste plastic that suffer less from shrinkage.

　　他们也在试验用其它类型的废塑料制作产品，以减少收缩性。

　　And until a production version of the printer is ready and priced, it remains¹⁶ to be seen how competitive its output really will be with mass-produced items.

　　在压印机生产出来的成品已经完全没有问题，而且定出合理的价格以前，这种产品与大批量生产的成品的竞争力谁高谁低还有待观察。

　　Mr Rogge doubts, for example, that a 3D-printed bucket—even one made from milk bottles—will ever be cheaper than one made in a factory.

　　罗格先生还不确定，比如说，一个三维技术压制出来的水桶—即使原材料是牛奶盒—的价格会低于工厂生产出来的水桶价格。

　　Boats, though, could be a hit.

　　虽然，木筏可能会是个创举。

　　One of the judges at the 3D4D Challenge noted¹⁷ that many small vessels¹⁸ in West Africa are made from trees, such as teak, that are becoming scarce.

　　在三维-四维挑战赛中的一位评委说，在西非，许多小容器就是由树木，比如柚木制成的，而这种木材也越来越少了。

　　Making them from waste plastic instead would be an environmental twofer: rare species would be conserved¹⁹ and less rubbish thrown away.

　　如果用废塑料制作这些容器将会对环境是一举两得：珍稀物种得到了保护，而且还减少了垃圾

　　1.as well as 既…又…；除…之外

　　Yet they provoke fear as well as wonder.

　　然而他们也激起了恐惧以及困惑。

　　That implies criticism as well as support.

　　这句话暗示着夫妻间的相互支持以及相互批评。

　　2.be made from 由…所做成

　　Restorations can be made from flash drives and cd/ dvd created by the app.

　　通过创建的应用程序修复可以从闪存驱动器和cd/dvd进行。

　　Syngas-a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen-can be made from any carbon-containing material.

　　合成气是一氧化碳与氢气的混合物，任何含碳的物质都可以生产。

　　3.build up 逐步建立；增进

　　They actually remove toxins²⁰ from our body that build up courtesy of stress.

　　眼泪事实上排除我们体内由于压力积聚而成的毒素。

　　It is triggered when electrical charges build up in storm clouds.

　　电荷在积雨云中聚积起来就会触发闪电。

　　4.intend to 打算，想要

　　As we both have families, we intend to be discreet²¹.

　　由于我们两人都已成家，所以我们打算谨慎行事。

　　As president I intend to celebrate the rich diversity of human relationships.

　　作为总统，我打算庆祝人类关系上所具有的这种丰富多样性。

1 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

2 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

5 extruding   

v.挤压出( extrude的现在分词 )；挤压成；突出；伸出

参考例句：

• This makes the production process for extruding the powder mass very complicated. 这就使得压伸粉状药料的生产方式变得非常复杂。 来自辞典例句
• Application is made by dipping, rolling, extruding, wiping, or any other conventional techniques. 可采用浸、滚、挤压、刮刀或任何其它一般方式来进行。 来自辞典例句

6 filament   

n.细丝；长丝；灯丝

参考例句：

• The source of electrons in an electron microscope is a heated filament.电子显微镜中的电子源，是一加热的灯丝。
• The lack of air in the bulb prevents the filament from burning up.灯泡内缺乏空气就使灯丝不致烧掉。

7 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

8 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 balk   

n.大方木料；v.妨碍；不愿前进或从事某事

参考例句：

• We get strong indications that his agent would balk at that request.我们得到的强烈暗示是他的经纪人会回避那个要求。
• He shored up the wall with a thick balk of wood.他用一根粗大的木头把墙撑住。

11 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

12 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

13 flakes   

小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人

参考例句：

• It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
• It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。

14 desktop   

n.桌面管理系统程序；台式

参考例句：

• My computer is a desktop computer of excellent quality.我的计算机是品质卓越的台式计算机。
• Do you know which one is better,a laptop or a desktop?你知道哪一种更好，笔记本还是台式机？

15 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 conserved   

v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He conserved his energy for the game. 他为比赛而养精蓄锐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Under these conditions, the total mechanical energy remains constant, or is conserved. 在这种条件下，总机械能保持不变或机械能保存。 来自辞典例句

20 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。