VOA慢速英语2014 小苍蝇可能是新一代助听器的关键

Technology Report - Tiny Fly May Hold Key to New Generation of Hearing Aids 小苍蝇可能是新一代助听器的关键

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

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 1 -- an organism that lives on or in another organism called a host. This exceptional fly places larvae 2 -- a young fly onto a cricket host. The larvae digs into the cricket and eats the insect from the inside out.

一种具备非常不寻常听力的苍蝇可能是未来一种新改进助听器的原型。这种昆虫的行为就像是寄生虫。寄生虫是指寄生到宿主的生物。这种特殊的苍蝇将幼虫产到宿主蟋蟀身上。这种幼虫挖进蟋蟀体内，并由内而外把蟋蟀吃了。

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 3 voice. The fly can easily find a cricket from as far away as 91 meters.

这种黄色的微小苍蝇生活在中美洲和美国南部。它通过侦听蟋蟀的高声鸣叫来找到这种宿主。这种苍蝇可以轻易发现远到91米的蟋蟀。

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.

尼尔·霍尔（Neal Hall）是一位致力于这种新型助听器模型的声音工程师。他说这种苍蝇的行为非常怪异。霍尔先生及其在德州大学的团队制作了这种苍蝇的听觉结构的复制品。

"And they discovered that the fly has a clever mechanism 4 that instead of using two independent ears, like a human would, the fly's ears are actually coupled," says Hall.

霍尔先生说，“他们发现，这种苍蝇不像人类一样有两个独立的耳朵，这种苍蝇的耳朵实际上是一对。”

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.

这种苍蝇的耳朵只相隔2毫米。该距离是如此之小，声音传播到一只耳朵的时间只比传播到另一只耳朵快百万分之四秒。专家说，这应该不可能判断出声音的来源。但在这种苍蝇的耳朵里面，有一个类似儿童玩具跷跷板的长达1.5毫米的结构。

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.

就像是跷跷板，这种苍蝇的耳朵结构从中心点上下移动。传导至该机构的压力波增加了声音传播所花费的时间，从而让这种苍蝇能够找到它的宿主。

Mr. Hall and his team used the chemical element silicon 5 to copy the fly's ear structure. They also used special electric materials that enable them to measure its movements at the same time.

霍尔先生及其团队使用化学元素硅复制了这种苍蝇的耳朵结构。与此同时他们还利用特殊电材料使得他们可以测量其运动。

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 6 could find where shots are coming from. The second way would be to remove unwanted noise from a person's surroundings.

霍尔先生表示，这种助听器可以用于两方面。第一它能用于帮助战场上的军队，传感器能够找出枪声来自哪里。第二能用于去掉某人周边环境中的不必要的噪音。

"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 7 everything else in the room," said Hall.

霍尔先生说，“这是一大特点，对助听器非常有用。举例来说，现在在这里，如果你打开助听器的增益功能，或调大音量来听周边人的声音，它也会放大房间中所有其它的声音。”

Hall says the next test in marketing 8 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.

霍尔先生说，推广这种助听器的另一大考验是确保其可用。他说，这种设备必须小心操作，因为它是如此之小。但他指出，苍蝇就没这种担忧。

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