VOA常速英语2015--德国科学家发明新的仿生手

'Metal Muscles' Flex¹ a New Bionic Hand 德国科学家发明新的仿生手

Artificial limbs, including the most complex of them – the human hand – are getting more life-like and useful due to constant advances in tiny hydraulic², pneumatic and electric motors called actuators. But now scientists in Germany say the future of the prosthetic hand may be not in motors, but in wires that can ‘remember’ their shape.

The human hand is one of the most mechanically complex systems in nature, so making an artificial replica³ is a daunting⁴ task. An ideal prosthesis should be light and flexible, with a reasonably powerful grip and controlled by the owner’s mind.

人手是自然界最复杂的机械系统之一，所以制造假手是很艰难的任务。理想的假肢应该轻便又灵活，握力适当，且能被主人用意念控制。

Presently, prosthetics rely on relatively⁵ heavy hydraulic, electric or pneumatic actuators to flex artificial fingers, but scientists at Germany's Saarland University are experimenting with much lighter⁶ fibers⁷ made of a nickel-titanium alloy⁸ that change shape when connected to a source of electricity.

目前，假肢要依赖于重液压、电力或气动制动器来让假肢上的手指弯曲，但德国萨尔兰大学的科学家们在试验一种由镍钛合金制成的更轻便纤维，能在连接到电源后改变形状。

“The movement of the hand is done by the wire. This wire, when activated¹⁰, they contract. And we are able to exploit this contraction¹¹ to make the finger move. And we can move each phalanx independently,” said Filomena Simone, a PhD engineering student.

“手部的运动是由线路完成的，这种线路在被激活时会收缩，我们就能利用这种收缩来让手指运动，还能让每个指骨独立活动。”

Artificial muscles, tendons

Bundles of memory wires could form more powerful yet lightweight artificial muscles and tendons. Their flexing¹² can be controlled independently by measuring the electrical resistance of the wires.

一束束的记忆线路能组成更强大但轻型的人造肌肉和腱，可以通过测量线路的电阻来独立控制它们的屈伸动作。

“We can monitor the position of the finger without adding any other sensor¹³; only exploiting this embedded¹⁴ feature of the wire,” said Simone.

“我们可以无需添加其他感应器就能监控手指的位置，只需利用线路的这种内在特点即可。”

Scientists believe that with further advances of so-called shape memory alloys¹⁵, it will be possible to build more natural-looking prosthetic hands.

科学家认为，随着这种形状记忆合金的进一步发展，我们就可能制造出具备更自然外观的假手。

“If you look down the road to future prostheses generations, you'd like to see this integrated with the human body in a way that you can actually sense the nerve stimuli¹⁶ and then can feed that into a micro-controller which there will be translated to a corresponding signal to activate⁹ the muscle," said Stefan Seelecke at Saarland University.

“如果展望下未来的假肢，就能看到它们将会与人体融为一体，能感知神经刺激，然后将这种刺激信号传给微控制器，然后转换成相应的信号来激活肌肉。”

Saarland University scientists are now looking into how natural patterns of hand movements could be applied¹⁷ to memory alloy muscles.

萨尔兰大学的科学家们现在在研究如何将手部运动的自然模式应用到记忆合金肌肉中。

1 flex   

n.皮线，花线；vt.弯曲或伸展

参考例句：

• We wound off a couple of yards of wire for a new lamp flex.我们解开几码电线作为新的电灯花线。
• He gave his biceps a flex to impress the ladies.他收缩他的肱二头肌以吸引那些女士们的目光。

2 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

3 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

4 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

7 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。

8 alloy   

n.合金，(金属的)成色

参考例句：

• The company produces titanium alloy.该公司生产钛合金。
• Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.青铜是铜和锡的合金。

9 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

10 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

11 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

12 flexing   

n.挠曲，可挠性v.屈曲( flex的现在分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌

参考例句：

• Flexing particular muscles allows snakes to move in several ways. 可弯曲的特殊的肌肉使蛇可以用几种方式移动。 来自电影对白
• China has become an economic superpower and is flexing its muscles. 中国已经成为了一个经济巨人而且在展示他的肌肉。 来自互联网

13 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。

14 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

15 alloys   

n.合金( alloy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is essentially a development of thoria dispersion strengthened nickel alloys. 这基本上是用二氧化钍弥散强度化的镍基合金。 来自辞典例句
• The lack of deep hardening in these alloys negates their use. 这些合金缺乏深层硬化能力使它们无法利用。 来自辞典例句

16 stimuli   

n.刺激（物）

参考例句：

• It is necessary to curtail or alter normally coexisting stimuli.必需消除或改变正常时并存的刺激。
• My sweat glands also respond to emotional stimuli.我的汗腺对情绪刺激也能产生反应。

17 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。