VOA慢速英語:微小的蒼蠅可能是新一代助聽器研發(fā)的關鍵（雙語）

微小的蒼蠅可能是新一代助聽器研發(fā)的關鍵

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語科技報道。

A fly with an extremely unusual ability to hear is the model for what may be the future of new and improved hearing aids. The insect behaves like a parasite -- an organism that lives on or in another organism called a host. This exceptional fly places larvae -- a young fly onto a cricket host. The larvae digs into the cricket and eats the insect from the inside out.

有著極不尋常聽力能力的蒼蠅可能會是未來經過改良的新一代助聽器研發(fā)的模型。這種昆蟲就像一個寄生蟲——一種寄生在另一個生物體(被稱為宿主)上的生物。這種特殊的蒼蠅將幼蟲放置在宿主蟋蟀上，這種幼蟲會鉆進蟋蟀體內，并由內而外把蟋蟀給吃掉。

The tiny yellow fly lives in Central America and the southern United States. It finds its host by listening for the cricket's high chirping voice. The fly can easily find a cricket from as far away as 91 meters.

這種黃色的小蒼蠅生活在中美洲和美國南部。它通過聽蟋蟀的鳴叫聲來尋找它的宿主。這種蒼蠅可以輕易地發(fā)現(xiàn)距離它91米遠的蟋蟀。

Neal Hall is a sound engineer who worked on the new hearing aid model. He says the fly's behavior is very strange. Mr. Hall and his team at the University of Texas made a copy of the fly's hearing structure.

致力于研究這種新型助聽器的音響工程師尼爾·霍爾稱，這種蒼蠅的行為非常奇怪。霍爾先生及其在德克薩斯州大學的團隊復制了這種蒼蠅的聽覺結構。

"And they discovered that the fly has a clever mechanism that instead of using two independent ears, like a human would, the fly's ears are actually coupled," says Hall.

霍爾先生說：“他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種蒼蠅擁有非常聰敏的身體機制，它不像人類一樣有兩個獨立的耳朵，這種蒼蠅的耳朵實際上是一對。”

The fly's ears are two millimeters apart. That distance is so small, that sound reaches one ear just four millionths of a second before arriving at the other. Experts say it should be impossible to identify where a sound is coming from. But inside this fly's ear is a 1.5 millimeters long structure similar to a see-saw -- a piece of children's party equipment.

這種蒼蠅的兩個耳朵之間只相距2毫米，該距離是如此之小，以至于聲音傳播到一只耳朵的時間只比傳播到另一只耳朵快百萬分之四秒。專家稱，想判斷出聲音的來源，這應該不可能的。但是在這種蒼蠅的耳朵里面，有一塊類似兒童玩具蹺蹺板的長達1.5毫米的組織結構。

Like the see-saw, the fly's ear structure goes up and down from a central point. Pressure waves against the structure increase the time it takes for sound to travel and permit the fly to find its host.

就像蹺蹺板一樣，這種蒼蠅的耳朵結構由其中心點而上下移動，碰撞到該結構的壓力波增加了聲音傳播所花費的時間，從而使得這種蒼蠅可以找到它的宿主。

Mr. Hall and his team used the chemical element silicon to copy the fly's ear structure. They also used special electric materials that enable them to measure its movements at the same time.

霍爾先生和他的團隊利用化學元素硅來復制這種蒼蠅的耳朵結構，與此同時，他們還利用特殊的電工材料，這使得他們可以對其運動進行測量。

Hall says the hearing aid device could be used in two ways. One way would be to help the military on the battle field, there, sensors could find where shots are coming from. The second way would be to remove unwanted noise from a person's surroundings.

霍爾先生稱，這種助聽器可以被用于兩個方面，一方面，它的傳感器可以幫助戰(zhàn)場上的軍隊找出敵人在哪里射擊。另一方面，它可以移除掉一個人周圍多余的噪音。

"That is a feature that is incredibly useful for hearing aids, for example, where right now, if you turn up the gain of a hearing aid or turn up the volume to hear someone across from you, it also amplifies everything else in the room," said Hall.

霍爾先生說：“這對于助聽器來說是一個非常有用的功能，例如，就在現(xiàn)在，如果你調大助聽器的音量來聽你周圍人的聲音，它也會放大屋中所有的其他聲音。”

Hall says the next test in marketing the hearing aid device is to make it usable. He says the device must be handled carefully because it is so small. He notes that the fly does not have this concern.

霍爾先生稱，要推廣這種助聽器，所面臨的另一大考驗是確保其可用。他稱，因為這種設備是如此微小，所以必須要小心操作。他指出，蒼蠅就不會有這種擔憂。

And that's the VOA Learning English Technology Report. I'm Jonathan Evans.

以上就是本期美國之音慢速英語科技報道的全部內容，我是喬納森·埃文斯。