Bionics

　　仿生學

　　I think I d like some coffee

　　我想來點咖啡

　　A paralysed woman gets herself a drink

　　四肢癱瘓的女人也能自己喝咖啡

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

　　給自己倒杯咖啡對普通人來說是一件再平常不過的小事，

　　But not if you are quadriplegic.

　　但對于一個四肢癱瘓的人來說就不是這樣了，

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

　　不像下身麻痹患者，前文中提到的機械腿已經發展得很成熟，但全身癱瘓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,

　　現在多虧了羅德島州布朗大學的John Donoghue和他同事發起的一項計劃，

　　they too have hope.

　　四肢癱瘓者也有了希望。

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

　　在他的實驗中有一位58歲的女患者，她四肢癱瘓，但她現在能夠拿起一瓶咖啡并送到嘴邊，再用吸管喝下，

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

　　她完成這個動作是靠思想控制固定在旁邊的機械臂，

　　It is the first time she has managed something like that since she suffered a stroke, nearly15 years ago.

　　這也是她15年前中風以來，第一次像這樣掌控一些東西。

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

　　由于手臂上的機械零件比腿更復雜，所以通過依附在頭皮上的電極來控制它們不大現實，

　　Instead, brain activity has to be recorded directly.

　　而大腦活動是可以被檢測到的。

　　And that is what Dr Donoghue is doing.

　　這就是Donoghue博士所做的事情。

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

　　不僅那個女患者，還有一個66歲的男中風患者也參與了他的實驗，Donoghue博士先找到參與者大腦中控制手活動的區域，再把一些小型多波段電極植入該運動皮質。

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

　　根據剛剛發表在《自然》雜志上的論文，女患者在2005年就植入了，而男患者的最新植入才5個月。

　　Dr Donoghue and his team decoded signals from their participants brains as they wereasked to imagine controlling a robotic arm making preset movements.

　　Donoghue博士和他的團隊先設定一個動作，讓參與者想象通過機械臂去完成它，這個過程中大腦的信號就會被記錄和破譯出來。

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

　　然后Donoghue博士再鼓勵他們去控制其中一只機械臂去完成自己想要的動作，

　　When the software controlling the arms detected the relevant signals, the arms movedappropriately.

　　機械臂上的控制軟件在檢測到相關信號之后，機械臂就會進行相應的移動。

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

　　能讓女患者自己喝水的這個輕量級機械臂來自于DLR，這也是機器人計劃的一部分，

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

　　其他的還有DEKA的機械臂，該廠專為殘疾人士提供假肢，并且在美國已經相當成熟。

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

　　一般情況下，穿戴者會通過移動他們的胸部或者用腳趾按鞋子上的按鈕來操作，

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

　　這樣他們還可以抓起泡沫橡膠球。

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

　　Donoghue博士和他的同事證明了癱瘓者可以通過大腦來控制較遠的機械臂。

　　Controlling a true prosthetican arm that is attached to the individual s bodywill be trickier,

　　要直接控制安裝在身體上的假肢還是比較麻煩，即使理論上是可行的，但是現在把機械臂安裝在輪椅上是一個更加實用的好事。

　　but in time even that may be possible. In the meantime, a robotic arm attached to awheelchair will be a real boon. For people who have little or no ability to move their arms DrDonoghue s work promises liberation in the form of quotidian action that the able-bodiedtake for granted.

　　對于那些沒有能力或者只有有限能力支配他們手臂的患者來說，Donoghue博士的成果解放了他們，讓他們也能夠完成那些我們認為理所當然的瑣事。

　　詞語解釋

　　1.paralyse v.使癱瘓;使不能正常活動

　　To suppress desire is to suppress allsensation-which is to paralyse the mind.

　　壓抑欲望就是壓抑所有的感覺，那會使心靈麻痹。

　　2.robotic a.機器人的;自動的

　　Foxconn has good reason to pursue a robotic path.

　　富士康完全有理由實施機器人戰略。

　　3.experiment n.實驗，試驗;嘗試

　　Unexpected difficulties arose in the course of their experiment.

　　在他們進行實驗的過程中,出現了意想不到的困難。

　　4.stroke n.劃;中風

　　When a stroke hits, physicians have few options.

　　發生中風時，醫生通常無計可施。

　　5.participant n.參加者，參與者;與會代表

　　China is not a significant participant in the market.

　　中國不是這個市場的積極參與者。

　　Bionics

　　仿生學

　　I think I d like some coffee

　　我想來點咖啡

　　A paralysed woman gets herself a drink

　　四肢癱瘓的女人也能自己喝咖啡

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

　　給自己倒杯咖啡對普通人來說是一件再平常不過的小事，

　　But not if you are quadriplegic.

　　但對于一個四肢癱瘓的人來說就不是這樣了，

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

　　不像下身麻痹患者，前文中提到的機械腿已經發展得很成熟，但全身癱瘓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,

　　現在多虧了羅德島州布朗大學的John Donoghue和他同事發起的一項計劃，

　　they too have hope.

　　四肢癱瘓者也有了希望。

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

　　在他的實驗中有一位58歲的女患者，她四肢癱瘓，但她現在能夠拿起一瓶咖啡并送到嘴邊，再用吸管喝下，

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

　　她完成這個動作是靠思想控制固定在旁邊的機械臂，

　　It is the first time she has managed something like that since she suffered a stroke, nearly15 years ago.

　　這也是她15年前中風以來，第一次像這樣掌控一些東西。

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

　　由于手臂上的機械零件比腿更復雜，所以通過依附在頭皮上的電極來控制它們不大現實，

　　Instead, brain activity has to be recorded directly.

　　而大腦活動是可以被檢測到的。

　　And that is what Dr Donoghue is doing.

　　這就是Donoghue博士所做的事情。

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

　　不僅那個女患者，還有一個66歲的男中風患者也參與了他的實驗，Donoghue博士先找到參與者大腦中控制手活動的區域，再把一些小型多波段電極植入該運動皮質。

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

　　根據剛剛發表在《自然》雜志上的論文，女患者在2005年就植入了，而男患者的最新植入才5個月。

　　Dr Donoghue and his team decoded signals from their participants brains as they wereasked to imagine controlling a robotic arm making preset movements.

　　Donoghue博士和他的團隊先設定一個動作，讓參與者想象通過機械臂去完成它，這個過程中大腦的信號就會被記錄和破譯出來。

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

　　然后Donoghue博士再鼓勵他們去控制其中一只機械臂去完成自己想要的動作，

　　When the software controlling the arms detected the relevant signals, the arms movedappropriately.

　　機械臂上的控制軟件在檢測到相關信號之后，機械臂就會進行相應的移動。

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

　　能讓女患者自己喝水的這個輕量級機械臂來自于DLR，這也是機器人計劃的一部分，

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

　　其他的還有DEKA的機械臂，該廠專為殘疾人士提供假肢，并且在美國已經相當成熟。

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

　　一般情況下，穿戴者會通過移動他們的胸部或者用腳趾按鞋子上的按鈕來操作，

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

　　這樣他們還可以抓起泡沫橡膠球。

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

　　Donoghue博士和他的同事證明了癱瘓者可以通過大腦來控制較遠的機械臂。

　　Controlling a true prosthetican arm that is attached to the individual s bodywill be trickier,

　　要直接控制安裝在身體上的假肢還是比較麻煩，即使理論上是可行的，但是現在把機械臂安裝在輪椅上是一個更加實用的好事。

　　but in time even that may be possible. In the meantime, a robotic arm attached to awheelchair will be a real boon. For people who have little or no ability to move their arms DrDonoghue s work promises liberation in the form of quotidian action that the able-bodiedtake for granted.

　　對于那些沒有能力或者只有有限能力支配他們手臂的患者來說，Donoghue博士的成果解放了他們，讓他們也能夠完成那些我們認為理所當然的瑣事。

　　詞語解釋

　　1.paralyse v.使癱瘓;使不能正?；顒?/p>

　　To suppress desire is to suppress allsensation-which is to paralyse the mind.

　　壓抑欲望就是壓抑所有的感覺，那會使心靈麻痹。

　　2.robotic a.機器人的;自動的

　　Foxconn has good reason to pursue a robotic path.

　　富士康完全有理由實施機器人戰略。

　　3.experiment n.實驗，試驗;嘗試

　　Unexpected difficulties arose in the course of their experiment.

　　在他們進行實驗的過程中,出現了意想不到的困難。

　　4.stroke n.劃;中風

　　When a stroke hits, physicians have few options.

　　發生中風時，醫生通常無計可施。

　　5.participant n.參加者，參與者;與會代表

　　China is not a significant participant in the market.

　　中國不是這個市場的積極參與者。