VOA慢速英语2014 高科技搜救工具 AS IT IS 2014-04-19 High Tech Aids Search and Rescue

AS IT IS 2014-04-19 High Tech Aids Search and Rescue  高科技搜救工具 

From VOA Learning English, this is As It Is Saturday.  I’m Anna Matteo.

Improvements in technology can save lives.  Stronger buildings do not fall during storms and earthquakes.  Warning systems let people know when tornados¹ or tsunamis² are coming.  Air travel is safer because of changes in airplane technology. 

But even with all of these improvements, disasters, both natural and man-made, will happen.  And when they do, finding victims quickly helps save lives.

On the show today, we tell about the radar³ technology that is searching for the lost Malaysian Aircraft 370. But first, a report on a search-and-rescue tool that is helping⁴ emergency workers find victims and recover bodies.  

Here’s June Simms.

High Tech Rescue Tool 

When a building collapses⁵, every minute is important for victims buried under the wreckage⁶.  That is why two American government agencies teamed up to develop a high-tech⁷ tool to find those who are trapped. The Department of Homeland Security and NASA, the National Aeronautics⁸ and Space Administration, took part in the project.                

Rescue crews have been testing this state-of-the-art radar tool called FINDER. The name is short for Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response.

 

This radar device can recognize a person's smallest movements or even a heartbeat, even when the individual is unable to communicate.

Earlier this year, Homeland Security and rescuers used FINDER to carry out more than 65 test searches in the American state of Virginia.

They say the tests proved successful in recognizing a human heartbeat under nine meters of mixed concrete and other material. The device was also able to identify a heartbeat hidden behind six meters of solid concrete, and from a distance of up to 30 meters in open space.

Jim Lux is with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

“FINDER works by sending a low-power microwave signal, and it illuminates⁹ the rubble¹⁰ pile, and some of the microwaves go in and reflect off the victim inside and come back out. So FINDER sees both the reflection from the rubble, which doesn’t move, and a very tiny reflection from the victim, which does move, because when you breathe and when your heart beats, your skin moves a little bit and we can see that.”  

Jim Lux says the device is small, easy to carry and easy to use. 

“It goes out and collects 30-seconds' worth of data, because that is how long you need to get the heartbeat and the breathing, and then it analyzes¹¹ it and displays it for the user.”

FINDER could be used with other tools rescuers use, such as listening devices or search dogs. Matthew Tamillow is with Virginia Task Force 1. He says the new technology could help rescuers in deciding which buildings to search.

“This type of technology, including FINDER, could aid in the assistance of triaging a building to say, ‘Okay, there is a strong probability that a live victim could be in here, and we need to devote our valuable human resources into searching it.’“

I’m June Simms.

And I’m Anna Matteo.  You are listening to As It Is.

Every airplane has a flight information recorder, often called a black box.  This black box helps answer the question, “What happened?” when an airplane has technical problems or crashes. 

But what happens when you cannot find the plane?  What do you do when a plane disappears as is the case with Malaysia flight 370?

New technology is helping to find the wreckage of planes after the search for survivors¹² ends and a search for answers begins.    

Malaysia Plane Pinger Locator

Australian and U.S. navy officials say they may have heard more signals that may have come from the black box on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.  But they say they cannot confirm where the airplane is until its wreckage is seen in the Indian Ocean. 

The U.S. Navy has received the most helpful information so far in the month-long search.  It has a device called a "pinger locator."  “Pings” are the sounds that black boxes make so that they can be found. 

A “pinger locater” identifies where the pings come from.

An Australian naval¹³ ship is pulling the U.S. navy’s “pinger locator” in deep waters more than 1,500 kilometers northwest of Perth, Australia. 

Paul Nelson is with Phoenix¹⁴ International, the company that makes the pinger locators.

“You might hear that tiny little chirp¹⁵ and say, ‘Did you hear something?’ And then we will listen more intently and try to fine-tune it.” 

Fine-tuning it means turning the boat and changing position of the locator.  The operation takes eight hours.  Search time is limited.  The energy source for the black box does not last forever.  The battery power is guaranteed to last 30 days but can go longer.  However, the sound will disappear at some point.

Jim Gibson is also with Phoenix International ?.  “The advertised shelf life for the pinger when it’s in the water is 30 days.  We have individuals that have been out on operations that have heard the pinger well beyond 45 days.”

Once suspected wreckage is identified, a robotic device is deployed¹⁶ to the area. The small device, called Remora, is controlled from the larger ship. It carries a camera that records video of the area. Remora also has a very strong mechanical arm. It picks up wreckage and puts it into a box.  The box is then pulled to the surface.

Remora helped in the recovery of Air France Flight 447 which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009.  The aircraft was lost for five days.  Remora recovered the plane’s engines, computers, and black box.

The process of finding wreckage in the ocean takes time and patience.  Conditions are difficult.  It is often difficult to see.  The weather can cause problems too.  And, the pressure is extreme in deep water.

Mr. Nelson says finding a wrecked¹⁷ airplane in the ocean is like trying to a needle in a haystack, even with modern technology.  

1 tornados   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And the national weather service reports several tornados touch down. 国家气象中心报告预测龙卷风将来袭。 来自互联网
• They had stock footage of lightning, tornados, and hurricanes. 他们存有关于闪电、龙卷风和飓风的电影胶片。 来自互联网

2 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

3 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

4 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。

5 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

6 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

7 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

8 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

9 illuminates   

v.使明亮( illuminate的第三人称单数 )；照亮；装饰；说明

参考例句：

• The light shines on from over there and illuminates the stage. 灯光从那边照进来，照亮了舞台。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sun illuminates the sky. 太阳照亮了天空。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

11 analyzes   

v.分析( analyze的第三人称单数 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• This approach analyzes management by studying experience usually through cases. 这个学派通常从实例获得经验，用以分析管理。 来自辞典例句
• The econometrician analyzes statistical data. 经济计量学者要分析统计材料。 来自辞典例句

12 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

13 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

14 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

15 chirp   

v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫

参考例句：

• The birds chirp merrily at the top of tree.鸟儿在枝头欢快地啾啾鸣唱。
• The sparrows chirp outside the window every morning.麻雀每天清晨在窗外嘁嘁喳喳地叫。

16 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

17 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞